Ellen Wood's East Lynne, Mary Elizabeth Braddon's Lady
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AMBIVALENCE IN VICTORIAN WOMEN’S WRITING: ELLEN WOOD’S EAST LYNNE, MARY ELIZABETH BRADDON’S LADY AUDLEY’S SECRET, MARGARET OLIPHANT’S HESTER A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY SEDA COŞAR ÇELİK IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LITERATURE JULY 2014 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Meliha Altunışık Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nurten Birlik Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Prof. Dr. Nursel İçöz Assist. Prof. Dr. Hülya Yıldız-Bağçe Co-Supervisor Supervisor Examining Committee Members Prof. Dr. Meral Çileli (METU, FLE) Assist. Prof. Dr. Hülya Yıldız-Bağçe (METU, FLE) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nazan Tutaş (Ankara U., IDE) Assist. Prof. Dr. Nil Korkut-Naykı (METU, FLE) Assist. Prof. Dr. Seda Pekşen (Ankara U., IDE) I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name : Seda Coşar Çelik Signature : iii ABSTRACT AMBIVALENCE IN VICTORIAN WOMEN’S WRITING: ELLEN WOOD’S EAST LYNNE, MARY ELIZABETH BRADDON’S LADY AUDLEY’S SECRET, MARGARET OLIPHANT’S HESTER Coşar Çelik, Seda Ph.D., Department of English Literature Supervisor : Assist. Prof. Dr. Hülya Yıldız-Bağçe Co-Supervisor : Prof. Dr. Nursel İçöz July 2014, 255 pages The simultaneous rise of Victorian women’s movement and the dominance of female authorship and readership in the nineteenth century prompted scholars of Victorian literature to interpret women’s novels as fictional examples of Victorian feminism or anti-feminism. Yet, this study stresses the ambivalent nature of women’s fiction by paying attention to the contradiction between the feminist and subversive content in women’s texts and their anti- feminist and disciplinary treatment. Exemplary underread novels from two opposing literary genres are examined in detail: Ellen Wood’s East Lynne (1861), Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s Lady Audley’s Secret (1862), as representative samples of the sensation genre and Margaret Oliphant’s Hester (1883), as an anti-sensational domestic novel. Close readings of these novels and the examination of additional non-fiction writings by Margaret Oliphant demonstrate that (1) Victorian women’s writings cannot be clustered as feminist or anti-feminist, they represent a bifurcated voice due to the disciplinary power that operate on different levels and with varying effects both in the novels (through characterization, plot formation, narrative voice and perspective) and among the texts, the genres and the novelists, (2) the moralizing reading experience can turn into a tool of controlling and disciplining Victorian women iv readers (3) although the generic conventions of both the sensation novel and the domestic novel proceed to the disadvantage of the heroine, the ways of disciplining in both genres are different. The sensational narratives display severe and grievous forms of disciplining while the disciplinary power of domestic narratives is subtle, milder and less transparent. Keywords: Feminism, Anti-feminism, Ambivalence, Underread Fiction, Disciplinary Power v ÖZ VİKTORYA DONEMİ KADIN YAZARLARDA DUYGU KARMAŞASI: ELLEN WOOD’UN EAST LYNNE, MARY ELIZABETH BRADDON’UN LADY AUDLEY’NIN SIRRI VE MARGARET OLIPHANT’IN HESTER BAŞLIKLI ROMANLARI Coşar Çelik, Seda Doktora, İngiliz Edebiyatı Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Yrd. Doç. Dr. Hülya Yıldız-Bağçe Yardımcı Tez Danışmanı: Prof. Dr. Nursel İçöz Temmuz 2014, 255 sayfa Viktorya dönemi kadın hareketi ve kadınların dönem edebiyatında yazar, okur ve roman kahramanı olarak ön plana çıkmaya başlamasının eşzamanlı ortaya çıkışı dönemin edebiyatı üzerine çalışan araştırmacılarda kadın yazarların eserlerini feminist ya da anti-feminist olarak sınıflandırma eğilimini tetiklemiştir. Fakat, bu çalışma, kadın eserlerindeki feminist öğelerin anti-feminist ve disciplin edici şekilde ele alınma yollarına bakarak, kadın yazarlardaki duygu karmaşasına odaklanır. Bu bağlamda, dönemin birbirinden oldukça farklı iki roman türü olan sansasyonel roman (sensation novel) ve domestik roman (domestic novel) türlerinden basıldıkları zamanda çok satan eserler oldukları halde günümüzde genellikle uzmanlar tarafından bilinen üç roman karşılaştırmalı olarak çalışılmaktadır. Sansasyonel roman örnekleri olarak Ellen Wood’un East Lynne (1861) ile Mary Elizabeth Braddon’un Lady Audley’nin Sırrı (1862) ve domestik roman örneği olarak ise Margaret Oliphant’ın Hester (1883) başlıklı romanları detaylı incelenir. Bu çalışma, ayrıca, Margaret Oliphant’ın sansasyonel roman eleştirileri ile dönemin kadın hakereti üzerine yazdığı makalelerin feminist okumasını da yapar. Tüm bunlar, öncelikle, Viktorya dönemi kadın edebiyatının feminist ya da anti-feminist olarak sınıflandırılamayacağını gösterir. Aksine, vi kadın yazını, romanlar, edebi türler ve yazarların kendileri arasında işleyen iktidar ilişkilerinin de etkisi altında bir tür duygu karmaşası içinde gelişmiştir. İkinci olarak, bu metinler anlatıların zaman zaman ahlaki bir derse dönüşebilen nitelikleri nedeniyle kadın okurlarının duygu ve davranışlarını kontrol etme ve şekillendirme aracına dönüşebilir. Son olarak, iki roman türü de ana kadın kahramanı dezavantajlı bir konuma sürükler fakat kadın karakterler ve okurlar üzerinde iktidar kurma yöntemleri birbirinden farklıdır. Sansasyonel romanlar daha keskin kontrol yöntemleri kullanırken, domestik romanlardaki kontrol mekanizmaları gündelik ilişkiler içine işlemiştir ve çok sert olmayabilir. Anahtar kelimeler: Feminism, Anti-feminism, Duygu Karmaşası, İhmal Edilmiş Eserler, İktidar vii To my son Alaz İhsan Çelik who was born to dissertation-writing parents and could still retain a lively spirit viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There are so many people to thank after a long and arduous period of research and writing. I always feel fortunate to have been surrounded by inspiring academics, discerning friends and a supportive family. I wish to express my gratitude, first and foremost, to my advisors Prof. Dr. Nursel İçöz and Assist. Prof. Dr. Hülya Yıldız-Bağçe, whose effective guidance, and insightful reviews of the early draft chapters carried this study to completion. I thank them not only for their academic guidance and help but also for caring about my compelling experience as a ‘Mama PhD student.’ It would have been impossible to finish this work sane and sound, had it not been for their always positive and encouraging attitude. I would also like to thank my examining committee members Prof. Dr. Meral Çileli, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nazan Tutaş, Assist. Prof. Dr. Nil Korkut-Naykı and Assist. Prof. Dr. Seda Pekşen for reading this dissertation thoroughly and offering constructive criticism and suggestions. I consider it an honour to work with Prof. Adrienne Munich, whose Victorian seminars at Stony Brook University incited my initial interest in the Victorian literature and culture. I cannot find words to express my gratitude to Prof. Munich for her serious dedication of time and attention. She read my draft chapters with genuine interest, made brilliant contributions, suggested and mailed additional sources which were unavailable in Turkey. Also, I would like to thank Prof. Munich for her cordial hospitality during my one year visit to New York City. I feel indebted to Prof. Edward Timms and Saime Timms for hosting us in their wonderful house in Brighton in the fall of 2012. I met Saime at a time when I was having a really hard time balancing scholarly work and motherhood. I have to confess that Saime was the person who tried hardest to reassure me about my capabilities as a mother and scholar. I owe her more than I can ever ix express. Ted (Prof. Edward Timms) has always been an inspiration to me with his daily working routines, serene personality and wisdom. He read the second and the third chapters of my work thoroughly and made helpful suggestions. I thank Ted for being an involved reader and an attentive listener, even concerning a topic which is remote from his own research. I feel blessed to have friends around me who cheerfully put up with my eccentricities. I shared the ordeal of writing with my dearest friends, Reyyan Bal, Özlem Türe-Abacı and Seda Örmengül, who were also engaged in writing their dissertations in completely different topics. Upon Özlem’s suggestion, we used to come together once in every two weeks to discuss our works. I will never forget how our PhD discussion gatherings turned into PhD pastry meetings, where we found ourselves enjoying Reyyan’s creative and tasty cakes. I already feel nostalgic about those days. I think I have the best office friends ever. Though I have been envious of Mehmet Akkuş’s unique reading habits, I should say that witnessing him reading 2-3 books at the same time motivated me to finish my dissertation so that I can spare time for pleasure reading. Gözde Balıkçı fired my interest in the field of Children’s Literature as a reader, writer and critic even when I am so busy with my dissertation. Fatma Gümüşok generously offered me tea and coffee from the department’s kitchen. I thank them all for making the office a peaceful and fun place to work. Plus, I would like to thank Gözde again for taking her precious time to arrange a warm and lavish farewell dinner for me though I do not feel ready to say goodbye to anyone. Emel Yüksel and Şermin Sezer always made me feel confident about what I was doing at home as a mother and at school as a scholar. Buket Doğan, who is also mothering a baby boy, teaching various courses and writing her own dissertation, shared the agony of my speedy days and she was always supportive and encouraging. Gülşat Topsakal, Şule Akdoğan and Aslı Kutluk were always patient about my repetitive questions and gloomy personality.