https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ Theses Digitisation: https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/research/enlighten/theses/digitisation/ This is a digitised version of the original print thesis. Copyright and moral rights for this work are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This work cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Enlighten: Theses https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] AT THE VERGE OF THEIR PROPER SPHERE: EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY SCOTTISH WOMEN NOVELISTS Author: Aileen M. Riddell Submitted for qualification of Ph.D. University of Glasgow Department of Scottish Literature February 1998 ProQuest Number: 10992108 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10992108 Published by ProQuest LLC(2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 GLASGOW UNIVERSITY LIBRARY lil5U(co^ I) GLASGOW UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 2 I | ABSTRACT Although much has been written of the male novelists who worked in Scotland in the early nineteenth century, little commentary exists on the women publishing fiction at the same time. This thesis aims to undertake a feminist revision of literary history, reclaiming and discussing some lost women writers. It is argued that novels by Scottish women in the early nineteenth century are of significant cultural interest, as well as having literary value in their own right. In the first chapter, there is discussion of the major feminist and historicist critical works which inform the debate in subsequent chapters and the specific writers selected for study are introduced. Scottish literary histories are surveyed, pointing up their under­ representation of women fiction writers of the early nineteenth century; nineteenth and twentieth century views of the same writers are compared. Each of the subsequent chapters includes brief biographical details of the writer(s) discussed and a consideration of modern and nineteenth century views of their writing, where this material is extant. As women writing in the early nineteenth century, the novelists discussed in this thesis were working within severe cultural constraints. They were expected to remain within the 'proper sphere' of the reputable woman. The simple act of publishing their 3 writings was considered by some enough to place them at the verge of that proper sphere. Often not only their writings, but also their personal character came under the scrutiny of the contemporary critics, hence their frequent preference for anonymity. The ways in which early nineteenth century women writers responded to the cultural constraints upon them are discussed throughout. Consideration is given in each chapter to the genres in which the novelists chose to work; their work tends to belong to genres considered too popular or feminine to hold significant literary value and this may account in part for their exclusion from literary history. Attention to genre also helps the reader to understand their works and further to recognise the ways in which writers transgress or even subvert generic conventions. This approach moreover serves to demonstrate the range and variety of women's fiction writing in the period. In each chapter there is a detailed examination of the novels themselves, and an attempt to locate the writers within traditions of Scottish and women's writing. The individual writers whose works are considered in Chapters Two to Six respectively and the genres within which their novels are positioned are as follows: Jane Porter and Eliza Logan, historical romance; Elizabeth Hamilton and Grace Kennedy, the didactic tradition; Mary Brunton, the courtesy novel; Susan Edmonstone Ferrier, the 4 novel of fashionable life and Christian Isobel Johnstone, whose novels are found to defy genre classification. The final chapter reiterates the cultural constraints within which the women were writing, before concluding that Scottish literary history is greatly enriched by the inclusion of early nineteenth century Scottish women novelists. Appendices comprise a full list of publications by the writers under consideration in the thesis, a selective list of other women writers and works uncovered in the course of research, and a compilation of plot summaries of those novels which are discussed in depth. 5 LIST OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 12 I Literary Theory and Romanticism 13 II Some Issues for Women missing from Scottish Literary History i The Broader Picture of Missing Women 20 ii The Women Writers considered in this Thesis and their place in Scottish Literature 25 III Critical Approaches to Early Nineteenth Century Scottish Women Writers i Negative Views: Scottish Literary History prior to the 1990s 31 ii Voices in History 42 IV Evaluating Women's Writing: Feminist Perspectives 46 V Feminist Theory and this Thesis i Feminist Critiques of Scottish Literature to date 53 ii Feminist Literary History and Scottish Women's Writing in the Early Nineteenth Century 57 iii Methodology 60 CHAPTER TWO JANE PORTER, ELIZA LOGAN AND THE HISTORICAL ROMANCE 66 I Introduction: Jane Porter, Eliza Logan and Scottish Literary History 67 6 II Generic and Gendered Contexts i Romance 77 ii Historical Romance and the Gothic 82 iii The Regional Novel and Scotland as a Backdrop for Romance 86 iv Romance: A Woman's Genre? 95 III History, Fiction and Integrity: Women Voice Opinions 98 IV Re-reading Historical Romance by Scottish Women Writers 112 V Conclusion 133 CHAPTER THREE ELIZABETH HAMILTON, GRACE KENNEDY AND THE DIDACTIC TRADITION 136 I i Introduction: Elizabeth Hamilton and Grace Kennedy 137 ii The Didactic Novel: Definitions, Influences, Critical Dilemmas 143 II Scottish Contexts 150 III The Middle Class Ethos 163 IV i Traditions of Women's Writing: Hamilton and Kennedy Evading Cultural Silencing 171 ii Religious Strands 179 iii Finding a Proper Sphere: The Representation of Exemplary Women 186 V Conclusion 198 7 CHAPTER FOUR MARY BRUNTON AND THE COURTESY NOVEL 200 I Introduction i Mary Brunton and Scottish Literary History 201 ii Some 19th Century Perspectives 206 II The Courtesy Novel 217 III Mary Brunton's Women: Cautions and Inspirations 228 IV Figuring Scotland 243 V Conclusion 253 CHAPTER FIVE SUSAN EDMONSTONE FERRIER: ANTJ-FASHIONABLE NOVELS OF FASHIONABLE LIFE 256 I Susan Ferrier and Tides of Comment i 'The Fair Author' 257 ii Contextualising Ferrier in the Nineteenth Century 261 iii The Twentieth Century Backlash 264 II A Genre for Ferrier: the Anti-Fashionable Novel of Fashionable Life 273 III Scotland in Vogue 282 IV Women by Ferrier i Educating Women for Marriage or Else 295 ii The Fashionable and Not So Fashionable Lives of Ferrier's Women 302 V Conclusion 313 8 CHAPTER SIX CHRISTIAN ISOBEL JOHNSTONE: BREAKING THE BOUNDS OF GENRE 316 I Introduction to Johnstone and the Oscillating Critical Voice 317 II Generic Issues 327 III Representing Scotland 337 IV The Radical Politician 347 V Feminism, Fostering and Fine Ladies 355 VI Conclusion 365 CHAPTER SEVEN: CONCLUSION AT THE VERGE OF THEIR PROPER SPHERE: EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY SCOTTISH WOMEN NOVELISTS 367 APPENDICES I List of Works by Writers Considered in Thesis 375 II Select List of Fiction by Scottish Women Publishing in the Early Nineteenth Century 379 III Plot Summaries of Novels Discussed 383 BIBLIOGRAPHY 405 9 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thanks to Rod Lyall, for encouraging me to undertake post­ graduate studies in the Scottish Literature Department at Glasgow, and to Dorothy McMillan for introducing me, whilst an undergraduate, to the inspiring feminist writings of Ellen Moers, Elaine Showalter, Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar. Thanks are also due to Bridget Fowler and Moira Burgess for useful suggestions for reading and to staff in the University of Glasgow Library Special Collections Department, the Mitchell Library and the National Library of Scotland for their specialist assistance. Help with proof-reading was provided by Val, Frances and Valentina, all of whom made valuable suggestions, for which many thanks. Elspeth and Monica gave lots of encouragement. Sandy provided the word processor which stood me in good stead throughout the enterprise and I am grateful to my parents who have offered support in many ways as I worked on this thesis. I could not have completed this thesis without the generous support of my Supervisor, Carol Anderson, whose enthusiasm for the project never dimmed over the years, in spite of all the crises and assorted dramas in the writer's life. Thank you, Carol, for all your help. DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to my dear daughter, Louisa. 10 AUTHOR' S DECLARATION Some of an earlier version of Chapter One was published under the title, 'What happened to the tales of our grandmothers?' in Chapman, 74-75 (1993), 5-10. Certain paragraphs in Chapters Two, Three and Six were used in a collaborative essay written with Carol Anderson, entitled, 'The Other Great Unknowns: Women Fiction Writers of the Early Nineteenth Century' which appeared in A History of Scottish Women's Writing edited by Douglas Gifford and Dorothy McMillan (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1997) pp.179-195.