Woman Question in Dollie Radford's Diary and Poetry Hadeel Jamal Azhar
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Marginalisation Vs. Emancipation: The (New) Woman Question in Dollie Radford’s Diary and Poetry Hadeel Jamal Azhar A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Edinburgh Napier University, for the award of Doctor of Philosophy February 2016 Table of Contents List of Figures ........................................................................................................ iv Abstract .................................................................................................................... v Acknowledgment .................................................................................................. vii Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1 Research Questions and Aims .......................................................................... 1 Methodologies and Sources .............................................................................. 2 Thesis Structure ................................................................................................ 4 First Encounter with Dollie Radford’s Name ................................................... 8 Dollie Radford (1858-1920): A Short Biography ........................................... 11 Chapter One: Between the Private and the Public Spheres: Laws, Social Attitudes, Literary Genres, and Victorian Women ................................................................. 18 Overview ......................................................................................................... 18 Part One: Women in the Private Sphere ............................................................. 21 The Marriage Contract .................................................................................... 21 Confined Sexuality Vs. Prostitution ............................................................... 25 Passionate Female Friendships ....................................................................... 28 Part Two: Women in the Public Sphere ............................................................. 30 Women and Education .................................................................................... 30 Female Authorship .......................................................................................... 37 Part Three: Literary Genres and the Role of Woman in Late Victorian England ............................................................................................................... 40 Women Writers and Aestheticism .................................................................. 40 The New Woman ............................................................................................ 43 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 51 Chapter Two: The Woman Question in Victorian Women’s Poetry: Literary Traditions, Forms, and Common Themes .............................................................. 53 Overview ......................................................................................................... 53 Part One: Victorian Women Poets and their Strategies to Escape Literary and Social Expectations of the “Poetess” Figure ...................................................... 56 Part Two: Forms and their Significance in Understanding Victorian Women’s Poetry .................................................................................................................. 61 Dramatic Monologue ...................................................................................... 61 Sonnet ............................................................................................................. 64 Decadent Poetry .............................................................................................. 67 Part Three: Common Themes and Contrary Representations in Victorian Women’s Poetry ................................................................................................. 70 i Marriage and Gender ...................................................................................... 70 Nature.............................................................................................................. 77 Female Authorship and Poetic Identity .......................................................... 83 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 86 Chapter Three: Women’s Passion and Domestic/Social Walls: Depictions of Marriage and Love in Radford’s Diary and Poetry ................................................ 87 Overview ......................................................................................................... 87 Part One: Passion, Love and Marriage in Radford’s Diary and Letters ............. 89 Radford’s Romantic Expectations of Marriage and her Early Marital Years. 89 Facing the Reality of Marriage and the Burden of Domestic Duties .............. 91 The Emotional Struggle of a Lonely Wife with an Ill Husband ..................... 93 Part Two: Passion, Love and Marriage in Radford’s Poetry .............................. 95 A Bride’s “High Thoughts” and Marriage’s “Fragrant Wall”: Expectations Vs. Reality ...................................................................................................... 95 The Marginal Wife/Lover and (her) Neglected Passion ............................... 105 Domestic/Social Confines and the Birds Imagery ........................................ 120 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 130 Chapter Four: Female Authorship and Visual Art in Radford’s Diary and Poetry ................................................................................................................... 131 Overview ....................................................................................................... 131 Part One: Authorship and Art in Radford’s Diary ........................................... 133 Editorship and Critical Prejudice against Radford’s Talent ......................... 133 Limitations Surrounding Radford as a Woman Writer ................................. 137 The Value of Visual Art and Literature in Radford’s Life ........................... 139 Part Two: Authorship and Visual Art in Radford’s Poetry .............................. 145 The Suffering of Marginalised Poets and Artists.......................................... 145 Radford’s Depiction of Art and the Female Muse ........................................ 159 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 174 Chapter Five: Female Emancipation and the “New Woman” Question in the Life and Poetry of Dollie Radford ............................................................................... 175 Overview ....................................................................................................... 175 Part One: Early Feminism in Radford’s Life ................................................... 177 Contemporary Scholarship on Radford’s Feminism .................................... 177 Feminism in Radford’s Diary and Letters .................................................... 178 Part Two: Female Emancipation and The New Woman Question in Radford’s Poetry ................................................................................................................ 180 Adopting Schreiner’s Dreams ...................................................................... 180 ii Beyond Schreiner’s Dreams: The Interrelationship between Aestheticism and the New Woman ........................................................................................... 186 Dance and the New Woman ......................................................................... 197 The Metaphor of “Cigarette” and the Smoking New Woman ...................... 203 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 212 Chapter Six: Surpassing Conventional Heterosexuality: Free Love and Lesbian Possibilities in Radford’s Poetry .......................................................................... 214 Overview ....................................................................................................... 214 Part One: Radford’s Acquaintance and Correspondence with Radical and Homosexual Figures ......................................................................................... 216 Eleanor Marx and her Free Love with Edward Aveling ............................... 216 Homosexuals and Sexologists in Radford’s Life .......................................... 220 The Possibility of Radford’s involvement in Romantic/Intimate Friendships .................................................................................................... 223 Women’s Sexuality and Further Evidence for Possible Bisexuality: Turkish Baths (in Radford’s Life) .............................................................................. 227 Part Two: Unconventional Sexuality in Radford’s Poetry ............................... 237 (Anticipating) Free Love as Opposed to Conventional Marriage................. 237 The Masked Lover and Potential Homosexuality in Radford’s Poems ........ 242 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 257 Afterword ............................................................................................................