1 ‘Do the duty that lies nearest to thee’: Elizabeth Gaskell, Philanthropy and Writing Louise Simone Armshaw Submitted by Louise Simone Armshaw to the University of Exeter as a thesis for the degree of Master of Philosophy in English September 2011. This thesis is available for Library use on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. I certify that all material in this thesis which is not my own work has been identified and that no material has previously been submitted and approved for the award of a degree by this or any other University. (Signature) ……………………………………………………………………………… 2 3 Abstract This thesis examines the relationship between Gaskell’s philanthropy and her three social problem novels. Examining Gaskell in the context of Victorian philanthropy, I will argue that this is a relationship of far greater complexity than has previously been perceived. Gaskell’s Unitarian faith will be of particular relevance as different denominations often had unique approaches to philanthropy, and I will begin by examining Gaskell’s participation with philanthropy organised by her congregation, taking the charity bazaar as my example of this. Examining Gaskell’s three social problem novels in chronological order I will demonstrate that Gaskell rejects these forms of organised Victorian philanthropy, referred to as ‘associated philanthropy,’ in favour of developing her own vision of philanthropy in her novels. I will examine how Gaskell’s participation with ‘associated philanthropy,’ and the individual pursuit of her own philanthropic interests, shapes the development of her philanthropic vision in her fiction. I perceive her first novel, Mary Barton, as a tentative exploration of this vision, and by examining Gaskell’s three philanthropic novels in chronological order, I will demonstrate how Gaskell rewrites the traditional philanthropic relationship to offer a reciprocal form of philanthropy which has the ability to cross class boundaries in both directions. I argue that Gaskell’s rejection of associated philanthropy was an integral part in the development of this vision, as inspired by her faith, she founds her own vision in a more personal approach. 4 5 Acknowledgements I am grateful to all who have assisted with the completion of this thesis, and in particular, to my supervisor, Prof. Jane Spencer, for all her help and encouragement. Many thanks are also due to all of my friends and family; especially my parents, for their unfailing support. 6 7 Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................. 5 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 9 1.1 Gaskell and Philanthropic Writing ........................................................................................... 9 1.2 Unitarian Background ........................................................................................................... 11 1.3 Victorian Philanthropy .......................................................................................................... 14 1.4 Women and Philanthropy ..................................................................................................... 17 2 Mary Barton and the Charity Bazaar ............................................................................................. 27 2.1 ‘lavish expenditure’: Gaskell and the Charity Bazaar ............................................................ 27 2.2 ‘so lazy a way of doing good’: Middle-Class Philanthropy in Mary Barton ........................... 45 2.3 ‘the Spirit of Christ as the regulating law’: Gaskell’s Vision .................................................. 54 3 Ruth and Dressmakers .................................................................................................................. 63 3.1 “stitching away as if for very life”: Gaskell and the Victorian Seamstress ............................ 63 3.2 The Unitarian Influence ......................................................................................................... 76 3.3 ‘the power of giving’: Social Exchange Theory and the theme of money ............................. 84 3.4 ‘the tender exchange of love’: Gaskell’s vision ..................................................................... 93 4 North and South and Christian Socialism ...................................................................................... 99 4.1 Christian Socialism ................................................................................................................ 99 4.2 ‘the owners of capital’: The Political Economist in Manchester and the novel .................. 112 4.3 ‘we have all of us one human heart’: Gaskell’s vision ........................................................ 122 5 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................. 135 6 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................ 141 6.1 Primary Sources................................................................................................................... 141 6.2 Secondary Sources .............................................................................................................. 146 8 9 1 Introduction ‘She has a purpose in life; and that purpose is a holy one’1 1.1 Gaskell and Philanthropic Writing Any discussion of Elizabeth Gaskell, however brief, will nearly always allude to her many philanthropic acts, so it was perhaps not surprising in the early 1990s when her writing itself was redefined as a philanthropic act. In particular, critics such as Dorice Williams Elliott and Pamela Corpron Parker, in their important essays on Gaskell’s philanthropic writing, focused on Gaskell’s early novels, Mary Barton and North and South, those previously defined as social problem novels, or social fiction.2 Kathleen Tillotson’s Novels of the Eighteen Forties, published in 1954, initiated the study of the social problem genre, and the fact that she was soon followed by Marxist critics Arnold Kettle and Raymond Williams reinforced Gaskell’s reputation as a social problem novelist.3 Joseph Kestner revived the field in 1985 to argue that women played a far greater part in this tradition than previously assumed.4 Kestner locates these social novelists within the context of ‘intervention’: the number of ‘social investigations’ available, plus the publication of Blue Books in 1836, provided writers wishing to offer an accurate portrayal of life in their chosen setting with a wealth of information.5 It would appear that Gaskell belonged firmly in this context, especially with her first novel; Monica Correa Fryckstedt discovered that the language of Mary Barton had been significantly influenced by the reports of the Domestic Home Mission.6 1 Elizabeth Gaskell, “Libbie Marsh’s Three Eras,” The Works Of Elizabeth Gaskell Volume 1, ed. Joanne Shattock (London: Pickering, 2005) 69. Referred to hereafter as LM. 2 Dorice Williams Elliott, “The Female Visitor and the Marriage of Classes in Gaskell’s North and South,” Nineteenth Century Literature 49.1 (1994); Pamela Corpron Parker, “Fictional Philanthropy in Elizabeth Gaskell’s ‘Mary Barton’ and ‘North and South,’” Victorian Literature and Culture 25.2 (1997). 3 Arnold Kettle, “The Early Victorian Social-Problem Novel,” From Dickens to Hardy, ed. Boris Ford (Penguin: Harmondsworth, 1958); Kathleen Tillotson, Novels of the Eighteen Forties (Oxford: Clarendon, 1954); Raymond Williams, Culture and Society, 1780-1950 (London: Chatto and Windus, 1958). 4 Joseph Kestner, Protest and Reform: The British Social Narrative by Women, 1827-1867 (London: Methuen, 1985). 5 Kestner 12. 6 Monica Correa Fryckstedt, Elizabeth Gaskell’s Mary Barton and Ruth: A Challenge to Christian England (Uppsala, 1982) 90-93. 10 Definitions of the social problem novel vary, but Josephine Guy provides a good working definition as an “attempt to comment on, and stimulate debate about matters of general public and political concern.”7 From this we can position the social problem novelist as an observer, a commentator; whereas from Deirdre D’Albertis’ definition of the philanthropic novel we see that the novelist takes on a more active role, with the novels functioning as “literary interventionism.”8 Whilst Williams and Parker focus on Gaskell’s industrial novels, Guy’s definition offers a broader spectrum of social problems and I will also be examining Ruth. Elliott’s and Parker’s critical discussion of Gaskell’s philanthropic novels was from a feminist perspective, focusing on debates surrounding woman’s entry into the public sphere. Whilst Dorice Williams Elliott was also interested in Gaskell’s creation of a defensible form of public woman by rewriting the traditional Lady Bountiful role for an urban setting in North and South, equal, if not greater, attention has instead been focused on the novelist herself. The novel becomes a form of philanthropy through the ability of the narrative structure to mediate between the classes, with some arguing that this also allows