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Ann Aibor, MI 48106 THE TIE THAT BINDS: THE IDEALIZATION OF SISTERHOOD IN VICTORIAN LITERATURE DISSERTATION Presented In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy In the Graduate School of the Ohio State University By Diane Marie Chambers, B.S., M.A. The Ohio State University 1994 Dissertation Committee: Approved by David G. RIede Clare A. Simmons ^ 72~i, C Adviser Phoebe S. Spin rad Department of English To Sharon Torrison, Debbie Dahlgren, Allen Greenbaum, Linda Greenbaum, and Bob Flagler ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank all the people who have supported and encouraged me in this project. I particularly appreciate the guidance, support, and wisdom of my advisory committee, David Riede, Clare Simmons, and Phoebe Spinrad. David Riede not only read innumerable drafts and offered pertinent advice, but he also calmed my anxieties and redirected my energies toward more productive endeavors. Clare Simmons’s meticulous reading of my drafts proved invaluable. Her vital criticism and suggestions for revision helped me clarify my objectives and fine-tune my language. Through coursework and beyond, Phoebe Spinrad has helped me remember why I returned to school and encouraged me to keep working. I would also like to thank everyone who passed on sister narratives to me. With their assistance I accumulated a long list of texts that goes beyond the scope of this project and that will keep me reading about sisters for a long time. And I extend a special thank you to the Interlibrary Loan Department of the Ohio State Library. They found every text I requested, and their endeavors greatly enhanced the breadth of my research and the contents of this paper. My office mates deserve recognition for cheering me on and listening to my whining, particularly in the last few months when I wondered if I would meet my deadlines. To my husband Don Parsisson I offer my love and thanks for all that he has done. When recently asked what “Mr. Chambers” contributed to this iii dissertation, he replied, “the cooking, cleaning, and laundry.” But his support went far beyond the practical. He provided me with an emotional environment which helped us weather the stresses of dissertation writing. It speaks to the strength of our relationship that this paper is finished when it is. Finally, Sharon Torrison, Debbie Dahlgren, Allen and Linda Greenbaum, and Bob Flagler, my Supportive Services Program family, provided me with a community that allowed me to grow professionally and personally. Without their love and support, I would never have believed enough in myself to return to school. To them, this thesis is dedicated. IV VITA January 28, 1951 .................................... Born — Minneapolis, Minnesota 1972 ............................................................ B.S. in Education, Majors in English and German, Bemidji State University, Bemidji, Minnesota 1972-1973 ................................................. English Teacher, Centennial Junior High, Circle Pines, Minnesota 1976 ............................................................ M.A., Secondary Reading, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, Colorado 1976-1986 ................................................ Instructor, Supportive Services Program, University of Minnesota- Duluth, Duluth, Minnesota 1986-1989 Assistant Professor and Assistant Director, Supportive Services Program; Acting Director, Achievement Center (1987-1988), University of Minnesota-Duluth 1989-Present ........................................... Graduate Teaching Associate, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio PUBLICATIONS ‘“Salvation to All That Will Is Nigh’: Public Meditation in John Donne’s ‘La Corona.’’’ Explorations in Renaissance Culture ^9 (1993): 1-12. “Gender and Writing: Biblio(bio)graphical Stories.” Rhetoric Society Quarterly 20A (Fall 1990): 367-401. With Kelly Belanger and others. “Instrumental Enrichment: A Pilot Project.” Innovative Learning Strategies 1987-1988; Eighth Yearbook of the College Reading Improvement Special Interest Group of the International Reading Association. T. J. Betenbough, ed. Silver City: Western New Mexico U, 1988. 92-103. with Allen Greenbaum and JoAnn Crawford. ‘Teaching Cognitive Skills to Underprepared Students.” Strategies for Active Teaching and Learning in University Classrooms. Steven F. Schomberg, ed. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 1986. “Promoting Disabled Readers’ Problem Solving and Reasoning Skills.” Innovative Learning Strategies 1983-1984; Sixth Yearbook of the College Reading Improvement Special Interest Group of the International Reading Association. Madeleine D. St.Romain and Glenna Howell, eds. Commerce: East Texas State University Printing, 1984. 27-33. “A Beginning for Main Ideas.” Journal of Reading 26.3 (December 1982): 264-265. FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: English Studies in Nineteenth-Century British Literature, Women’s Literature, John Donne VI TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION.......................................................................................................... il ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ....................................................................................... ill VITA....................................................................................................................................... V INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER I. “THAT CHARMED CIRCLE OF THE SISTERHOOD”: PUBLIC DISCOURSE ABOUT SISTERS ........................................................ 38 II. FOR MY SISTER’S SAKE: SISTERLY HEROISM AND SELF- SACRIFICE ............................................................................................. 89 III. “THAT MYSTIC BOND . PREVAIL’D”: THE PROBLEM OF TWO SISTERS AND ONE MAN......................................................... 153 IV. “THE ASSURANCE WHICH WE GAVE TO EACH OTHER”: THE SECULAR SISTERHOOD OF CRANFORD........................... 204 WORKS CITED....................................................................................................... 248 VII INTRODUCTION My interest In the relationships of biological sisters in literature began with a reading of D. H. Lawrence’s Women in Love. I was struck by the power of Ursula and Gudrun’s sororal bond and the depth of Birkin’s fear of that bond. At the same time, I was reading Harriet Martineau’s Deerbrook, written almost 100 years earlier, and since I had the Brangwen sisters on my mind, I thought the novel was as much about the two sisters Margaret and Hester Ibbotson as about the male protagonist Hope, but the criticism of the novel focused mainly on him. I also noticed that Hope, unlike Birkin, was not afraid of the bond between the sisters even when it influenced his relationship with both women; instead he sought ways to protect it. Puzzled and curious, I paid attention to sisters in the various works I read over the next two years, and I eventually focused on sisters in the literature of the Victorian period. Feminist use of the metaphor of sisterhood has been criticized in recent years for its idealization of the relationships between and among women, especially arguing that it tends to gloss over differences. For example, Helena Michie identifies the metaphor as “a distressingly utopian term” because it minimalizes conflict and contains and obscures differences among women, including differences of race, class, and sexual preference (8).’ In examining ’ See also Bonnie Thornton Dill’s “Race, Class, and Gender: Prospects for an All-Inclusive Sisterhood” and Iris Marion Young’s “The Ideal of Community and the Politics of Difference.” 1 2 the source of the metaphor—biological sisters—during the Victorian period, I discovered the idealization is neither new nor limited to women’s perceptions. Biological sisterhood was a culturally sanctioned