Purdue University Purdue e-Pubs Open Access Dissertations Theses and Dissertations Spring 2015 The Law and the Lady: Consent and Marriage in Nineteenth-Century British Literature Heather Lea Nelson Purdue University Follow this and additional works at: https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_dissertations Part of the English Language and Literature Commons, History Commons, and the Women's Studies Commons Recommended Citation Nelson, Heather Lea, "The Law and the Lady: Consent and Marriage in Nineteenth-Century British Literature" (2015). Open Access Dissertations. 525. https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_dissertations/525 This document has been made available through Purdue e-Pubs, a service of the Purdue University Libraries. Please contact
[email protected] for additional information. THE LAW AND THE LADY: CONSENT AND MARRIAGE IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY BRITISH LITERATURE Submitted to the Faculty of Purdue University by Heather Nelson In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2015 Purdue University West Lafayette, Indiana ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thank you to the professionals who assisted me with this dissertation: Emily Allen, dissertation committee chair; Pat Boling, Maren Linett, and Joe Palmer, dissertation committee members; Anne Humpherys; Rebecca Probert; and Jill Quirk. Thank you to my family and friends who supported this dissertation and me, especially: Amber Befort; Megan Bolick; April Burke; Courtney Conn; Sarah Cooper; Laci Cornelison; Christina Dodd; Bee Erickson; Olivia Garnett; Betsy Harpe; Stacey Kolomer; members of my dissertation and writing groups, particularly Elizabeth Cuddy, Laura Eidam, Lydia Magras, and Nancee Reeves; Lori Messinger; Garrett Nelson; Patty Nelson; Carrie Olsen; Jerry Olsen; Ross Olsen; Stephanie Orstad; Mr.