Music in New Woman Fiction
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“SUCH GENIUS AS HERS”: MUSIC IN NEW WOMAN FICTION Maura Goodrich Dunst Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of PhD Cardiff University March 2013 DECLARATION PAGE This work has not been submitted in substance for any other degree or award at this or any other university or place of learning, nor is being submitted concurrently in candidature for any degree or other award. Signed ………………………………………… (candidate) Date ………………………… STATEMENT 1 This thesis is being submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of PhD. Signed ………………………………………… (candidate) Date ………………………… STATEMENT 2 This thesis is the result of my own independent work/investigation, except where otherwise stated. Other sources are acknowledged by explicit references. The views expressed are my own. Signed ………………………………………… (candidate) Date ………………………… STATEMENT 3 I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter- library loan, and for the title and summary to be made available to outside organisations. Signed ………………………………………… (candidate) Date ………………………… STATEMENT 4: PREVIOUSLY APPROVED BAR ON ACCESS I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter- library loans after expiry of a bar on access previously approved by the Academic Standards & Quality Committee. Signed ………………………………………… (candidate) Date ………………………… SUMMARY OF THESIS This thesis examines music and its relationship to gender and the related social commentary woven throughout New Woman writing, putting forth the New Woman musician figure for consideration. In contrast to the male-dominated world of Victorian music, New Woman fiction is rife with women who not only wish to pursue music, but are brilliantly talented musicians and composers themselves. These women are the focal point of this thesis. The primary texts used are Kate Chopin’s The Awakening (1899); Sarah Grand’s Ideala (1888), The Heavenly Twins (1893), and The Beth Book (1897); George Egerton’s Keynotes (1893), Discords (1894), Symphonies (1897), and Fantasias (1898); George Moore’s Evelyn Innes (1898) and Sister Teresa (1901); and Mona Caird’s The Daughters of Danaus (1894); with George du Maurier’s Trilby (1894) (and, to a lesser extent, the Moore texts) offered in contrast to the foregoing. This thesis seeks to answer the following question: what is music’s function in New Woman fiction, and to what end? Each chapter offers an answer to this question using different areas of women’s musicianship: stifled musicians, performers, composers, and auditors. In addition, the penultimate chapter works toward a theory of “melopoetic composition,” or the blending of literary and musical composition, and discusses the role of mirror neurons in creating a unique reading experience which is visual, aural, and neural. Ultimately, this thesis illustrates that the sister arts of music and literature were woven together by the sisterhood of the New Woman writers, who used fiction as a medium through which to assert their multi-layered creative capabilities. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Firstly, I would like to thank my supervisor, Professor Ann Heilmann, who has been an endless source of knowledge, advice, and support throughout this process. Ann has exceeded my expectations at every turn, and it has been an absolute privilege to work under her supervision. I could not have asked for a better mentor. I am very grateful to the University of Hull English Department for the Overseas Research PhD Studentship which made my doctoral study possible, for giving me a fantastic base from which to conduct the first two years of my research, and for gracefully accepting my decision to follow my supervisor to Cardiff University. I am equally grateful to the Cardiff University School of English, Communication, and Philosophy for welcoming me in my third year and providing me with ample support as I completed the final stages of my PhD. Funds for Women Graduates awarded me a Foundation Grant for the 2012-2013 academic year; I happily acknowledge and appreciate their generosity. I owe a debt of gratitude to Dr. Angelique Richardson, for her support and guidance; to Gillian Kersley, for her help and hospitality; and to Dr. Audrey Fessler, for planting the seeds which eventually grew into this project. My friends and colleagues at the University of Hull and Cardiff University have been instrumental—we worked hard and played hard, and I am lucky to have found such kindred spirits in my fellow PhD students. With a heavy heart I give my sincerest thanks to Tom Chesters (1984-2013), for all the laughter. See you in the mountains. Finally, to my amazing parents, Jill Goodrich and Terry Dunst: thank you for everything. Thank you for your unfaltering encouragement, enthusiasm, and love, and most of all, thank you for believing in me. For my beloved grandmothers: Mary Ellen Chinnock Goodrich (in gratitude) and Mary Louise Coles Dunst (in memoriam) i TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Abbreviations…………………………………………………………………………………………………….. iii List of Figures………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… v Chapter 1 – Prelude………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 1 a. Revolting Maids: The New Woman in Late Nineteenth-Century Britain…………….. 10 b. “Prejudice and Custom are Against Her”: Victorian Women Musicians.…………….. 26 c. Queen George’s Daniel Deronda……………………………………………………………………….. 30 d. Music in New Woman Fiction: Variations on a Theme……………………………………….. 40 Chapter 2 – “Muffled—or morbid”: Stifled Musicians Dying of Dullness…………………….. 46 a. The Touch of a Master Hand: Angelica Hamilton-Wells……………………………………… 48 b. The Woman of Genius: Beth Caldwell………………………………………………………………… 70 c. Grand’s Weary Woman: Ideala…………………………………………………………………………… 81 d. Musical Education in “Mamma’s Music Lessons”……………………………………………….. 86 e. Conclusion………………………………………………………………………..………………………………… 90 Chapter 3 – “She of the Song”: Women Musical Performers and Performance……….….. 94 a. Concert to Convent: Evelyn Innes/Sister Teresa……………………………………………….... 102 b. “Vive La Svengali!” And/Or Tone-Deaf Trilby………………………………………………………. 124 c. Close…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 145 Chapter 4 – “Rebel Music”: Woman Composers and Composition………………………………. 147 a. The Lost Women…………………………………………………………………………………………………. 148 b. Hadria…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 156 ii c. Angelica………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 169 d. Beth…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 172 e. Coda……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 179 Chapter 5 – “What does the music rouse inside that frail frame?”: Music’s Effect on Female Auditors……………………………………………………………………………………………………….…... 181 a. Ibscenity……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 185 b. Awakenings…………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 194 c. Sexuality and the Supernatural……………………………………………………………………………. 209 d. Healing Hearing………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 217 e. Final Note……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 219 Chapter 6 – Reading Music, Composing Literature: Melopoetic Composition……………… 221 a. Blended Boundaries: Word and Music Studies…………………………………………………….. 225 b. Melopoetic Composition……………………………………………………………………………………… 227 c. Musical Form………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 228 d. Variations on the Theme of Women: Grand Compositions………………………………….. 230 e. The Elusive Melody: Egerton’s Musical Fiction…………………………………………………….. 247 f. Meta Composition: Writing in Writing…………………………………………………………………. 258 g. Mirroring Music: Melopoetic Synesthesia……………………………………………………………. 268 h. Recapitulation……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 271 Chapter 7—Finale…………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 273 Works Cited……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 294 iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Caird, Mona DD The Daughters of Danaus. 1894. New York: The Feminist Press at the City University of New York, 1989. Chopin, Kate A The Awakening and Other Stories. 1899. Ed. Pamela Knights. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. 1-128. Du Maurier, George T Trilby. 1894. London: Harper & Brothers, 1927. Egerton, George K Keynotes. London: John Lane, 1893. D Discords. London: John Lane, 1894. S Symphonies. London: John Lane, 1897. F Fantasias. London: John Lane, 1898. Eliot, George DA Daniel Deronda. 1876. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1984. Grand, Sarah “MM” “Mamma’s Music Lessons.” 1878. Sex, Social Purity, and Sarah Grand. Volume III. Eds. Ann Heilmann and Stephanie Forward. London: Routledge, 2000. 57-76. I Ideala. 1888. Kansas City, MO: Valancourt Books, 2008. HT The Heavenly Twins. London: Heinemann, 1893. iv “JA” “Janey, a Humble Administrator.” 1894. Sex, Social Purity, and Sarah Grand. Volume IV. Eds. Ann Heilmann and Stephanie Forward. London: Routledge, 2000. 249-285. BB The Beth Book. 1898. Bristol: Thoemmes, 1994. Ibsen, Henrik DH A Doll’s House. 1879. Harlow: Longman, 2008. Moore, George EI Evelyn Innes. London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1898. ST Sister Teresa. London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1901. Smyth, Ethel, and Cicely Hamilton “MW” “The March of the Women.” 1911. Voices and Votes: A Literary Anthology of the Women’s Suffrage Campaign. Ed. Glenda Norquay. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1995. 94. v LIST OF FIGURES 1. “‘The Angel in the ‘House’ or, the Result of Female Suffrage (A Troubled Dream of the Future).” Punch (14 June 1884): 279. ………………………………………………………. 23 2. “Where are you going, Revolting Maid?” Punch (27 Oct 1894): 198. …………………. 25 3. du Maurier, George. “Thought is Free.” 1871. The Art of George du Maurier. Richard Kelly. Aldershot: