Holly Blue: an Historical Novel and Exegesis

Holly Blue: an historical novel and exegesis by Jacqueline Ross Doctor of Philosophy 2010 Swinburne University of Technology Abstract My exegesis and artefact are intended to be read together. Although they stand as individual pieces of work, they have been written with the intention that they will ‘speak’ to each other in a symbiotic way. I recommend that the artefact be read first as this reflects the way the works were produced, giving the reader an authentic experience of this PhD by artefact and exegesis journey. The artefact comprises a neo-Victorian novel of some 80,000 words. It is set in both London and Melbourne in the year 1885. The novel is narrated in the first person by the main protagonist who is a fraudulent spiritualist medium. Some of the central themes of the novel are: nineteenth century femininity; spiritualism; madness and the meaning of friendship. A large section of the novel is set in the Kew Asylum. The exegesis is in three parts. The first part looks in detail at the areas that were most important while writing the first draft of the novel, utilising practice led research. These areas are: a discussion of the neo-Victorian genre; an exploration of how historical fiction writers incorporate research into their writing, and the difficultly of narrating a novel from the point-of-view of an unreliable and unlikable narrator. In the second part, the focus is on nineteenth century madness at both an experiential level, such as visiting museums, and a theoretical one, through academic research. The last section of the exegesis is devoted to the central research question of this project: the significance of clothing in the artefact and the importance of this as a writerly tool for the neo-Victorian novelist. Although clothing is only a minor theme in the novel, it comprises the major research focus of the exegesis. The research on clothing focuses specifically on three areas of most relevance to the artefact: clothing and class, clothing in the asylum, and the Victorian corset. This research is underpinned throughout by a feminist research methodology. i Acknowledgements I would like to thank my main supervisor Professor Josie Arnold for all her time, never- failing encouragement and academic insight; my second supervisor Dr Dominique Hecq for her thoughtful and valuable input into several drafts of my work and also Dr Martin Andrew for offering his perceptive comments. I would also like to thank my friends who have given me great feedback and, most importantly, my family who have been a constant support throughout this journey. ii Declaration by Candidate I certify that the thesis entitled ‘Holly Blue: an historical novel and exegesis’ submitted for the degree of PhD contains no material that has been accepted for any other degree of diploma; to the best of my knowledge contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the text; and is not based on joint research or publications. The exegesis has been proofread. Full name: . Signed: . Date: . iii Table of Contents Abstract . .i Acknowledgements . ii Declaration by candidate . iii Table of contents . iv Preface . v Holly Blue: an historical novel . 1 An exegesis on Holly Blue . 208 Introduction . 209 Methodology . 213 Literature review . 217 Part One: history, genre and narration Research and the historical novel . 222 The neo-Victorian genre . .228 Narrative challenges . 231 Part Two: Victorian ‘madness’ Reflections on research and data collection . .235 Part Three: women’s clothing in the neo-Victorian novel Clothing as text . 246 Fashion circa 1885 . 253 Dress reform . 257 Dress, class and femininity . 261 Clothing and ‘madness’ .. .267 The corset and its symbolism . 272 Conclusion . .280 Bibliography . .282 iv Preface This PhD began modestly with a few words in a writer’s journal. Over time it evolved into an exegesis and an eighty thousand-word artefact that takes the form of a neo- Victorian novel. Before I began writing the novel, I did a great deal of general historical research about the nineteenth century. As a first-time writer of an historical novel, this research was significant. It necessitated much reading, as well as experiential research, such as visiting museums, collections and places of relevance to the novel. Practice led research, with its focus on research that arises from the creative art of writing, allowed me the freedom to shape the research as the novel evolved. My research unfolded according to the dictates of the work itself, rather than something that was externally imposed upon it. The findings from this detailed research and reflections on the possible shape of the intended novel were kept in a journal. I then used this journal as a springboard and inspiration for my reading, which broadly covered three areas. These areas were relevant academic literature; reading widely in the neo-Victorian fiction genre; and other writer’s reflections on their research and writing processes, which offered many valuable insights for my own work. The first draft of my novel was written when I had conducted approximately 75% of the historical research that I deemed necessary before beginning. The remaining 25% was done at the end of the first draft and was much more specific - such as looking up Victorian terminology, checking dates etc. During the writing of this first draft, I found several research areas that I thought would be appropriate topics for my exegesis. They all arose as a direct result of writing the first draft and, as such, are a significant part of my writerly journey. Again, the first tentative explorations of these areas were recorded in my journal. These reflections were then deepened by my reading, and form the first two sections of the exegesis. The experiential historical research I undertook for the novel led me to discover v what would become the major focus, or part three, of the exegesis. While viewing a collection of historical costumes, I became fascinated by ‘human patina’, such as stains and rips in the fabric, that are inherent in second-hand clothing. I found that I was able to read a piece of clothing like text, giving me a rich resource for multifaceted character creation in my novel. I also realised that if clothing was so redolent with meaning, then surely it was an essential tool for the fiction writer. This discovery was the beginning of my subsequent exploration of nineteenth century women’s clothing in the neo-Victorian novel that became the major focus for the exegesis. Whilst I was thrilled to have finally discovered this topic, I continued to see the areas I had previously explored as being no less valid to my research journey and subsequently my artefact. So for this reason, I chose to devote the first two sections of the exegesis to these various findings. Clothing, while not a major theme in the artefact, is nonetheless significant. My neo-Victorian novel, set in London and Melbourne, is about a fraudulent spiritualist medium who ends up incarcerated in an asylum. The themes of spiritualism and madness are the most explicit themes in my work. I initially favoured both of these themes in my reading; but by allowing my writing practice to lead my research, I was taken to an unexpected place. I see my interest in nineteenth century women’s clothing as something unplanned and fortuitous, a discovery to be celebrated. In the third section of my exegesis, I focus generally on these findings and more specifically on the areas regarding clothing that were most relevant to my novel. These areas are: clothing and class, clothing in the asylum and the corset. Up to this point, all my research had been what I would term as writerly. This means that it was undertaken to give me information that I could use to produce a historically accurate narrative and write descriptive prose in my novel. Although all of this information was vital for a readable novel and worthy of inclusion in the exegesis, it was not an intellectual or academic enough interpretation in itself. So the next step was to deepen my analysis of clothing as it pertains to the neo-Victorian novel in general and my artefact in particular, through academic research. To this end I read widely about the many theories around women’s clothing. I chose to use a feminist methodology to underpin this knowledge gathering as this allowed me to cross many disciplines and use myself freely in the research. It was also most relevant to my artefact, as my story is narrated by a female character who struggles vi within the strict confines of femininity as defined by the nineteenth century patriarchy. This academic reading added yet another, and arguably the deepest, layer of meaning to my novel, imbuing it with metaphor and imagery that would not have been possible before. Although both the artefact and exegesis are able to stand alone as works within their own right, it would be my preference for the novel to be read first. This reflects most accurately the way this PhD was produced and as such reads more authentically. vii ‘Holly Blue: an historical novel’ 1 1 My father was a lepidopterist and I was his most prized butterfly. Among the many specimens in his glass cabinets was a petite Holly Blue; a beautiful butterfly with black spots on its wings and a silvery blue body. Although Father’s specimen had its wings open, a Holly Blue would nearly always rest with them tightly closed, concealing the vivid blue upper-wings, which were visible only during flight. This butterfly was my favourite, so Father renamed it Empress Elizabeth, after me, his only child.

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