UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones 8-1-2016 A Natural History of Teasing: British Women Writers and the Shakespearean Courtship Narrative, 1677-~1818 Mary Vance University of Nevada, Las Vegas, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations Part of the English Language and Literature Commons Repository Citation Vance, Mary, "A Natural History of Teasing: British Women Writers and the Shakespearean Courtship Narrative, 1677-~1818" (2016). UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 2812. https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations/2812 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Scholarship@UNLV. It has been accepted for inclusion in UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A NATURAL HISTORY OF TEASING: BRITISH WOMEN WRITERS AND THE SHAKESPEAREAN COURTSHIP NARRATIVE, 1677-1818 By Mary Vance Bachelor of Arts in English Bachelor of Arts in Theatre University of Nevada, Las Vegas 2009 Master of Arts in English University of Nevada, Las Vegas 2011 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy — English Department of English College of Liberal Arts The Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas August 2016 Dissertation Approval The Graduate College The University of Nevada, Las Vegas July 14, 2016 This dissertation prepared by Mary Vance entitled A Natural History of Teasing: British Women Writers and the Shakespearean Courtship Narrative, 1677-1818 is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy - English Department of English Anne Stevens, Ph.D. Kathryn Hausbeck Korgan, Ph.D. Examination Committee Chair Graduate College Interim Dean Richard Harp, Ph.D. Examination Committee Member Kelly J. Mays, Ph.D. Examination Committee Member Michael Tylo, M.F.A. Graduate College Faculty Representative ii Abstract This dissertation considers the complex roles that nascent Bardolatry, the rise of women writers, and the persistence of satiric impulses played in engineering the teasing relationships of eighteenth-century courtship fiction. I argue that in a period reputedly dominated by sentiment, women’s comedy largely hinged on anti-sentiment, particularly in its appropriation of the antithetical wooing practices so pervasive in Shakespeare’s romantic comedies. Such a perspective endows female authors (and their protagonists) to assume control of the discursive field and resituates the love story into a love game. I begin by tracing the continued influence of the Elizabethan culture of jest, aligning it with eighteenth-century debates regarding women’s speech and sexual propriety. I then illustrate, through satirical cartoons and ephemera, the growing taste for levity in love. Contravening the mawkish declarations of sentimental couples, these couples revel in biting vitriol and acerbic wit. In my analysis, I use three representative plays from Shakespeare to exemplify three distinct facets of adversarial couples. As You Like It anticipates those romantic bonds which are engineered through physical or emotional disguise, The Taming of the Shrew forecasts those couples whose affection stems from splenetic humour, and Much Ado about Nothing prefigures those pairs whose temperaments are more alike than they are different—even if they affect otherwise. To illustrate Shakespeare’s influence on women writers, I draw on select works from the following authors: Aphra Behn, Mary Davys, Susannah Centlivre, Charlotte Lennox, Eliza Haywood, Frances Sheridan, Joanna Baillie, Hannah Cowley, Elizabeth Inchbald and Jane Austen. Using a synthesis of game theory, speech act theory, philosophies of language, and play theory, I outline the ways in which teasing couples exhibit true attachment even as they iii ostensibly refuse it. In so doing, they create egalitarian relationships which depend upon mutual love and affective choice. iv Acknowledgements I would like to thank the committee members for their endless help and boundless expertise. In my studies as a theatre major, Michael Tylo taught me a deep-seated respect for the art of performance; so much of what I learned from him in acting studios underscores and permeates the following pages. Throughout my years as a graduate researcher, he has shared with me a vast amount of knowledge and a true passion for scholastic endeavor, and I am sincerely thankful for his fellowship. Dr. Kelly Mays remains one of the most insightful professors I have ever been fortunate enough to study with, and I am truly grateful for the countless ways in which she has not only imparted her subject knowledge, but also improved my writing technique. Though I know I am yet in dire need of her discerning pen, I will be forever grateful for all that she has shown me. To Dr. Richard Harp I owe my sincere thanks for fostering my love of Shakespeare’s works and for first encouraging me years ago to examine the playwright’s relevance to the literature of the eighteenth century. I strive to model his thought- provoking questions and thorough critique for my own students, inspired by his genuine love of literature and of teaching. Dr. Anne Stevens, my chair, deserves far more gratitude than it is possible to express, even if I used the whole substance of this dissertation to attempt it. To her I am indebted for answering all of my “quick questions” (which were never quick), and for inspiring me with confidence in those moments when I lacked it most. I thank her especially for demonstrating what it means to be a true scholar, teacher, and mentor. I am also obliged to Dr. Timothy Erwin and Dr. Evelyn Gajowski, who each exposed me to foundational concepts which pervade this project. It was in Dr. Erwin’s seminars that I first learned about visual culture and the popularity of caricatures and prints, and it was through Dr. Gajowski’s course that I was originally exposed to the history of Petrarchan and Ovidian v discourses. Some portions of this project have as their origin my final paper for her 2012 class on the intersections of Shakespeare and gender. Within the broader academic community at UNLV, I would like to extend a special thanks to our Humanities Librarian, Priscilla Finley. Her generosity of time and expertise are much appreciated, as is her nearly preternatural response time to any e-mail (even on weekends!). I also thank the countless unseen hands behind our Link+ and Interlibrary Loan services that swiftly and efficiently ensured that I could have access to vital sources in order to complete this dissertation. Lastly, I am very appreciative of the guidance that the Graduate College has provided throughout this journey, particularly in these last few weeks of its completion. To my family and friends I am grateful for their abundant patience and unfaltering cheer. They have always encouraged me to take my goals seriously, but never myself. I am deeply grateful for their support as well as their faith in me. A thousand thanks to my husband, Zach, who always knows how to tease me into good humor, even when I am at my most vexed. I could not have written this dissertation without his support, whether it was through his expert edits or ice cream runs at four in the morning. I am endlessly indebted to him for making every day better than a Jane Austen novel. vi To my parents, for teaching me the importance of hard work, but more importantly for teaching me that if I found something I loved, then all work would amount to play. vii Table of Contents Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………….….iii Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………….…v List of Figures………………………………………………………………………………….ix Act One: Setting the Stage Chapter 1: Introduction……………………………………………………...………………….1 Chapter 2: Talking about Talk and Talking about Love………………………………………18 Chapter 3: Sex and Language in the Eighteenth Century……………………………………..56 Chapter 4: Courting Shakespeare: Bardolatry and Women Writers…………………………109 Intermission Chapter 5: Comedies of Error: Game Theory, Play, and Establishing the “Raillery Rules”...145 Act Two: Felicitous (Conjugal) Felicity Chapter 6: Acting out: Women Writers and Shakespearean Courtship……………………..172 Chapter 7: Epilogue: From Aphra to Ephron……………………………………..…………247 Works Cited………………………………………………………………………………….254 Curriculum Vitae…………………………………………………………………………….284 viii List of Figures 1. A receipt for courtship. 1805. The Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. The Library of Congress. Web. 3 January 2014. 19 2. Gillray, James. Harmony before Matrimony. 1805. The Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. The Library of Congress. Web. 8 November 2012. 20 3. Courtship and marriage. 1770-1800. The Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. The Library of Congress. Web. 3 January 2014. 21 4. Courtship and Marriage, reversed. 22 5. Stages of Matrimony. 1796. The British Museum, London. The British Museum. Web. 16 February 2015. 23 6. Rowlandson, Thomas. The Comforts of Matrimony. 1809. The British Museum, London. The British Museum. Web. 8 January 2015. 25 7. The Comforts of Matrimony—A Smoky House & Scolding Wife. 1790. The British Museum, London. The British Museum. Web. 8 January 2015. 26 8. Byron, Frederick George. The Sweet Delights of Love. 1788-1792. The Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. The Library of Congress. Web. 28 July 2014. 27 9. Gillray, James. Les Plaisir du Ménage. (1781). Etching. The Huntington Library, Pasadena, California. 28 10. Details of The Comforts of Matrimony, The Sweet Delights of Love, and Les Plaisir du Menage (flipped horizontally for consistency). 29 11. Gillray, James. Matrimonial-Harmonics. 1805. The British Museum, London. The British Museum. Web. 8 January 2014. 29 12. Detail of James Gillray. Matrimonial-Harmonics. 1805. The Lewis Walpole Library, New Haven, Connecticut. The Lewis Walpole Library. Web. 2 July 2014. 30 13. Frontispiece. The Art of Ingeniously Tormenting. Jane Austen Society of North America. Web. 11 January 2014. 31 ix 14. Love and Folly. 1807. The British Museum, London.