The Motherless Heiress in Big House Novels
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University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--English English 2019 UNCERTAIN INHERITANCE: THE MOTHERLESS HEIRESS IN BIG HOUSE NOVELS Anna Bedsole University of Kentucky, [email protected] Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2019.412 Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Bedsole, Anna, "UNCERTAIN INHERITANCE: THE MOTHERLESS HEIRESS IN BIG HOUSE NOVELS" (2019). Theses and Dissertations--English. 98. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/english_etds/98 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the English at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--English by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. 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Anna Bedsole, Student Dr. Jonathan Allison, Major Professor Dr. Michael Trask, Director of Graduate Studies UNCERTAIN INHERITANCE: THE MOTHERLESS HEIRESS IN BIG HOUSE NOVELS ________________________________________ DISSERTATION ________________________________________ A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky By Anna Bedsole Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. Jonathan Allison, Professor of English Lexington, Kentucky 2019 Copyright © Anna Bedsole 2019 ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION UNCERTAIN INHERITANCE: THE MOTHERLESS HEIRESS IN BIG HOUSE NOVELS Thus, Uncertain Inheritance traces the heiress in Anglo-Irish Big House novels situated at key times of change for the Irish Ascendancy. The Gothic triad of orphaned heiress, dead mother, and sinister uncle does not belong exclusively to the realm of Irish Gothic authors, but rather this triad is used for different discursive purposes than in its English counterparts. Sheridan Le Fanu’s Uncle Silas (1864), Sommerville and Ross’s An Irish Cousin (1903), and Elizabeth Bowen’s The Last September (1929) use the Gothic trope of absent mothers both to address anxieties about and to question the Irish “half” of the Ascendancy Anglo-Irish identity, and use a feminist, postcolonial framework to show how Ascendancy women were both privileged and oppressed by the patriarchal structure of Ascendancy families. This dissertation examines the intersection of Big House and Gothic scholarship in the form of the feminine Irish Gothic: the Gothic trope of the dead mother plays a different role in Irish Gothic novels than in the English counterparts. Namely, the dead mother is used in these Irish Gothic texts to signal Anglo- Irish anxieties about their declining political, social, and cultural power in Ireland, and about the ambivalent political and cultural relationship of the Ascendancy Anglo-Irish to Great Britain. This dissertation argues that the absent mother, and thus absence of maternal lineage, in these texts directly mirrors concerns and uncertainties about the Irish half of Anglo-Irish identity, and that the quest for the mother in these Irish Gothic texts is also a quest for origins. KEYWORDS: Gothic, Irish, Big House, Feminism, Anglo Irish, Mother Anna Bedsole 23 October 2019 Date UNCERTAIN INHERITANCE: THE MOTHERLESS HEIRESS IN BIG HOUSE NOVELS By Anna Bedsole Dr. Jonathan Allison Director of Dissertation Dr. Michael Trask Director of Graduate Studies 23 October 2019 Date DEDICATION To my grandmothers: Gwendolyn Virginia Dyar Perry (1928-2019), a beauty inside and out, a beloved educator and lifelong learner who gifted me the double legacy of tenacious curiosity and infinite kindness, and Doris Marie Speigner Bedsole, whose library formed my affinity for British literature and whose love for reading is exceeded only by her love for her family. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thank you to Dr. Jonathan Allison, advisor extraordinaire, a keen-eyed writer and scholar, and an endlessly supportive instructor and mentor. Thank you for guiding this dissertation, keeping my work rigorous, and making sure I always have my shoes tied, so to speak. Dr. Jill Rappoport, where do I begin? I admire you in every way imaginable. Thank you for your constant encouragement, pushing me to challenge myself, and being an incredible role model and mentor. You are brilliant, kind, and tireless in your fierce commitment to your work, your students, and your sons. I want to be like you when I grow up. Professor Julia Johnson, thank you for sticking with me when this dissertation veered sharply away from poetry and into the Gothic novel! You are a keen writer and thinker, in addition to being a delightful human being, and I am so lucky to have worked with you. Dr. Francie Chassen-Lopez, you have made this dissertation better for advising it. You demand the sharpest arguments and the clearest definitions, all the while making me feel like I’m a colleague and fully capable of meeting the challenge. You are amazing in every possible way. Dr. Morris Grubbs, thank you being my Gandalf. The graduate students at the University of Kentucky will never know just how much we owe you, but it’s a lot. You are one of the smartest and kindest people I know, and I just adore you. Thank you for your never-ending work and boundless generosity of spirit. You are a treasure. iii To my Samford University professors, I simply wouldn’t be here without you. Dr. Rosemary Fisk, the very first course I took as a baby freshman with you made me start to dream pursuing the life of the mind. You are such a beautiful person as well as a brilliant mind. Thank you for letting me drop by your office and treat you as my unofficial advisor, and for supporting me in everything I explored and undertook. Dr. Julie Steward, you are the inspiration for my scholarship and teaching. For so many key points of change and growth, both personal and intellectual, I point to your class on Literary Theory. Thank you for taking me under your wing as a research assistant and then as a teaching assistant. I channel you when I teach and when I write, and I hope just a little bit of your fabulous brilliance shines through. Dr. Johnson, my Doktorvater and number one mentor, my gratitude is so deep that it’s hard to know where to start. Thanks to you, I have never been alone on this journey through academic life. You are the best academic dad a student could ask for. You pushed me to think harder than I had ever thought before, and gave me the confidence that I could do it. For every hard thing you asked me to do, you affirmed me with quiet confidence. You have meant so much to so many students, and I am deeply grateful I make up part of that group. Thank you for your poetry, your teaching, your brilliance, and your care for us. Special thanks also to my amazing high school writing and English teachers, Jon Carter and Betty Smartt Carter. I majored in English because of both of you. Jon, you made me love poetry, both reading and writing it. You are both incredible writers, teachers, and people. iv In addition to the best professional mentors, I have also been lucky enough to be surrounded with brilliant, kind colleague and friends. Dr. Valerie Stevens, thank you for being my academic older sister, reading (so many) really terrible drafts, and giving me endlessly patient feedback and support. You are one of the smartest people I know, and I am so grateful to call you my dear friend. Dr. Gokce Tekeli: rarely do such brilliance and warmth meet as they do in your beautiful spirit. We have both changed so much and traveled so far in the past five years, and I am grateful we have been companions in that journey. Dr. Rachel Carr, how are you so brilliant, funny, kind, and great at everything you undertake? Margaret Kelly, thank you for reading my messy drafts, introducing me to good red wine, and being my work wife. You are so incredibly smart and innovative in your scholarship and your teaching, and I constantly learn from you. Brittany Sulzener, thank you for listening to my office rants, being both sarcastic and sweet, and for formatting this document! In addition to being brilliant and brave, you are also just a wonderful human.