Wife- Sale As Theatre and Self-Divorce
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HUMOUR, HALTERS AND HUMILITATION: WIFE- SALE AS THEATRE AND SELF-DIVORCE Rachel Anne Vaessen B.A., Simon Fraser University, 2003 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS In the Department of History O Rachel Vaessen 2006 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Fall 2006 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. APPROVAL Name: Rachel Anne Vaessen Degree: Master of Arts Title of Thesis: Humour, Halters and Humiliation: Wife-Sale as Theatre and Self-Divorce Examining Committee: Chair: Dr. Roxanne Panchasi Assistant Professor, Department of History Dr. Ian Dyck Senior Supervisor Associate Professor, Department of History Dr. Mary-Lynn Stewart Supervisor Professor, Department of Women's Studies Dr. Mary Ann Gillies External Examiner Associate Professor, Department of English Date Defended: u~~v~~srnlSIMON FRASER I.brary DECLARATION OF PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENCE The author, whose copyright is declared on the title page of this work, has granted to Simon Fraser University the right to lend this thesis, project or extended essay to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. The author has further granted permission to Simon Fraser University to keep or make a digital copy for use in its circulating collection (currently available to the public at the "institutional Repository" link of the SFU Library website <www.lib.sfu.ca> at: ~http:llir.lib.sfu.calhandlell8921112~)and, without changing the content, to translate the thesislproject or extended essays, if technically possible, to any medium or format for the purpose of preservation of the digital work. The author has further agreed that permission for multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be granted by either the author or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood that copying or publication of this work for financial gain shall not be allowed without the author's written permission. Permission for public performance, or limited permission for private scholarly use, of any multimedia materials forming part of this work, may have been granted by the author. This information may be found on the separately catalogued multimedia material and in the signed Partial Copyright Licence. The original Partial Copyright Licence attesting to these terms, and signed by this author, may be found in the original bound copy of this work, retained in the Simon Fraser University Archive. Simon Fraser University Library Burnaby, BC, Canada Revised: Fall 2006 ABSTRACT During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries a number of England's regional newspapers published descriptions of a popular rural custom known as wife-sale. This event incorporated the symbolism of a livestock auction with a public declaration by a husband and wife to part ways. While previous studies have focused on wife-sale as a mode of self-divorce, the present work explores the meaning behind the symbols and rituals of wife-sale within the context of English popular culture. The existence of the newspaper accounts of wife-sale is largely due to the curiosity of middle-class commentators who expressed disgust (sometimes feigned) at the humiliation inherent in wife-sale. Consequently, this investigation into the meanings attached to wife-sale goes beyond the context of the rural plebeian community to include middle-class representations of wife-sale and their influence upon English culture and gender relations. Key Terms: English popular culture; shaming rituals; self-divorce; wife-sale To the memories of Gladys Monroe and June Mander, I admire the lives you lived and think you would have recognized the humour and strength shown by the women who tookpart in wife-sale. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would first like to offer my deep appreciation to my supervisor Dr. Ian Dyck who introduced me to the subject of wife-sale and who wisely encouraged me to see the humour of the custom. His insights and sound judgment have immeasurably shaped this thesis, my appreciation of wife-sale and my intellectual growth. Specific gratitude is owed to Dr. Mary-Lynn Stewart who inspired me to examine wife-sale through representations of sexuality and the body. I am indebted to Dr. Stewart for her suggestions as they pushed me towards a new understanding of wife-sale. Many thanks must also be given to Dr. Mary Ann Gillies for encouraging me to be sensitive to my source materials and respect their nuances. I wish to gratefully acknowledge The State Hermitage Museum, HarperCollins Publishers and Palgrave Macmillan for granting permission to reproduce visual and textual materials as the inclusion of such materials made a substantial contribution to this thesis. Additional thanks are owed to Olga Novoselteeva and Candice Hern for their assistance in this respect and for so kindly answering my questions. I will always appreciate the time spent with my fellow graduate students in the History Department and am glad for the thought provoking conversations but special thanks go to Kristin Schachtel, Aisling Murphy and Debbie Vanden Dungen who have been invaluable sources of support. A large debt is owed to my family and hends who have listened well and shared in my excitement. I give my eternal gratitude to my parents, Ruth and Jon, for their confidence in me. TABLE OF CONTENTS Approval .................................................................................... ii ... Abstract .................................................................................... 111 Dedication. ................................................................................. iv Acknowledgements.. ...................................................................... v Table of Contents ......................................................................... vi List of Figures ............................................................................ vii Prologue..................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: Mr. and Mrs. Prinny Meet Punch and Judy ........................... 4 Chapter 2: Searching for Meaning in Auctions and Halters .................... 23 Chapter 3: Imagination in Wife-Sale Representations.. .......................46 Chapter 4: The Halter's Hold: Complicating Participation.. ................... 65 Epilogue .................................................................................... 86 Bibliography .............................................................................. 89 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Selling a Wife.................................................................................................... 12 Figure 2: A Contemporary French Print on the English Custom of Wife-selling............ 35 Figure 3: Pirates . WenchSale........................................................................................... 79 vii Prologue Who'd be plagued with a wife That could set himself free With a rope or a knife, Or a good stick like me.' In her essay on the "gendering" of po'pular culture Susan Dwyer Amussen criticized cultural historians for focusing on the exceptional aspects of life instead of attending to the values and norms expressed in the course of daily life.2 There is some validity to Amussen's critique as the majority of books and journals written about the history of popular culture concentrate on carnival, charivari, and similar festive occasions. Her point is not that these topics lack value but that they have overshadowed other important areas of research, thereby leading historians away from a comprehensive approach to popular culture. Although I identify with Amussen's desire to expose the meaning ordinary people attached to the activities and interactions that comprised their daily lives I do not think there is much use in viewing popular culture through a dichotomy of the ordinary and the extraordinary. Carnival festivals, May celebrations, and parish wakes were deviations from ordinary life but one of the recurrent arguments about studying 'the world turned upside down' is that it affords an opportunity to explore the norms and hierarchical relationships that governed daily life. Whimsical and grotesque elements are found in the ways that people met the practical needs of life, notably in the English custom of wife-sale. There was a fascinating mixture of pragmatism and spectacle in this custom as it was essentially a Sung by Punch in John Payne Collier, Punch and Judy, with Twenly-four Illustrations Designed and Engraved by George Cruikshank; and Other Plates; Accompanied by the Dialogue of the Puppet-show, an Account of its Origin, and of Puppet Plays in England (London: Bell and Daldy, 1870), 76. 2 Susan Dwyer Amussen, "The Gendering of Popular Culture in Early Modem England," in Popular Culture in England 1500-1850 ed. Tim Harris, 48 (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1995). 2 ritualized sale of a wife by her husband to another man who then became her husband in the eyes of the rural plebeian community. These mock sales typically took the form of a livestock auction with the woman being led to the marketplace in a halter. Wife-sale was practiced throughout England from the middle of the eighteenth to the late nineteenth century. Despite the curious character of the divorces there has been little attention paid to wife-sale