Working in Shifts: Character and Mobility in Late Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century Literature
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WORKING IN SHIFTS: CHARACTER AND MOBILITY IN LATE NINETEENTH- AND EARLY TWENTIETH-CENTURY LITERATURE by Kara Wedekind A dissertation submitted to Johns Hopkins University in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Baltimore, Maryland October, 2016 © 2016 Kara Wedekind All Rights Reserved Abstract Virginia Woolf’s quip, "On or around December 1910, human character changed,” is by now perhaps the most widely quoted of statements about character by a writer. But how effectively did writing capture characters or their transformations in the years around 1910? This dissertation examines literary experimentation with character that produced results that were incomplete—but also that prove to be revealing about literature, work, and their interrelation. In body swap fiction, the reader is required to see one character (typically from the upper middle class) in the body of another (typically someone who performs wageless labor). In Charlotte Perkins Gilmans’s Herland, the reader must see the male characters as both victors and victims of gender-based and labor asymmetry. And in Virginia Woolf’s Night and Day, observations of characters at work heighten the reader’s sense of the inaccessibility of characters. In all three cases, there is an implicit worry that classical economic wage system cannot recognize particular kinds of work and, by extension, particular kinds of characters. Yet as I show, these narrative constraints or problems have their compensations: raising previously undisclosed wageless and other "invisible labors" to visibility; theorizing forms of solidarity about what counts as work; and heightening the reader’s capacity to perceive the labor processes that underlie the object world. Advisor and First Reader: Professor Douglas Mao. Second Reader: Mark Thompson. ii Acknowledgements A dissertation is an unfinished work, submitted by a perfectionist who has learned just enough about her field of scholarship to understand how limited her insight is. Submitting a dissertation is therefore no easy feat. The process, in my case, has been made bearable because of the support I have received from colleagues, friends, and family. I am forever indebted to my advisor Professor Douglas Mao, who has worked tirelessly to help me complete this project. Crafting these acknowledgements is such a difficult task because it is impossible to capture how much I admire him and how much I owe him. In reading his work on aesthetics, I have been freed from my skepticisms about the subject and, in turn, have developed a keener appreciation of beauty—a great gift indeed. As an advisor, Doug has supported me during three major health crises, several misdiagnoses, and countless medical tests. He has read every draft I have written, listened patiently to every incoherent articulation of my ideas, and championed me when I could not do so myself. His insights are always finely observed, thoughtfully prepared, and gently delivered. Early in my doctoral candidacy, I admired Doug because he seemed guided by a true generosity of spirit, an indefatigable work ethic, and a boundless intellectual curiosity. Through the intervening years, my admiration has only grown and he has since become the best model of how to be a scholar in the world that I have yet encountered. Simply put, I am a better writer and thinker for having known him. I only wish that he could have edited this passage to help me more effectively communicate my thoughts, to elevate my language, and to help me better convey my sincere appreciation and gratitude. iii I must next thank Professor Anne-Elizabeth Brodsky, who truly saved my life. When a doctor did not prescribe me antibiotics after a freak accident, I developed an infection that ultimately proved to be life-threatening. When Anne-Elizabeth learned that I was in pain several days after the accident, she encouraged me to seek further treatment at the university clinic. That decision was crucial because I was subsequently rushed to a local emergency room, where I learned that my infection could have been fatal or required amputation. Luckily, after weeks of rehabilitation, my condition improved: there are simply no words that can adequately express my gratitude for her counsel during that distressing period of my life. I must also thank Anne-Elizabeth, Will Evans, and Pat Kain for enabling me to be a more effective teacher and public speaker through their extensive training at the Expository Writing program. I am also grateful to Tracy Glink, who has helped me navigate the university bureaucracy and has ameliorated every crisis that I have encountered. I have lately been reminded of how remarkable the English department at Johns Hopkins University can be. The graduate students and faculty have created an intellectual community that can be challenging in the best way possible. It has been a rare gift to study with so many exemplary thinkers who listen so attentively to other peoples’ ideas. I have found that this training has made me a much better collaborator and intellectual in all subsequent career opportunities and experiences. Professor Mark Thompson graciously helped me with logistics and provided a helpful sounding board in the final years of my research, Professor Chris Nealon has shaped my scholarship by introducing me to some of my favorite thinkers, and Professors Amanda Anderson, Sharon Cameron, Simon During, and Frances Ferguson were critical to my early iv scholarly development. I must thank Christiane Gannon, who brought me food during my recovery and provided me with a more spiritual kind of sustenance during our graduate tenure. I will always admire the steely resolve and crackling wit of Beth Steedley, the unwavering kindness of Jessica Valdez, and the wry intelligence of Maggie Vintner. I have sincerely benefitted from being in the presence of so many brilliant minds in graduate school, including my writing partner Elisha Menzies, Nan Zhang, Joe Haley, Chris Westcott, Erica Tempesta, Mande Zecca, Courtney Andree, Jess Wagoner, Ksenia Gorbenko, Ksenia Sidorenko, Joe Varghese, Michelle Duncan, Elisha Cohn, Robert Day, Patrick Fessenbecker, Doug Tye, and Nick Bujak, among many others. I must also thank my friends for all the support they have given me before, during, and after graduate school. Maren Hozempa and Erik Donald opened their home to me when my medical bills were at their height, Jenny Orrico has provided me with a steady supply of humor and hijinks, Rachel Calvin and John Whitehead live their ideals in a way that will always inspire me, and Shannon Harwick has been my long-time confidante. I will only be able to acknowledge briefly the following friends who have had a monumental impact on my life: David Crane, Margaret Hagan, Vijay Menon, Devon Freeny, Shakir Standley, Mehr Qayuum, Kenny Nguyen, Nicole Howard, Maya Ganguli, Nicole Chaudhari, Jessica Cooperman, Vicki Cheung, Maria Mora, Irina Gordon, Bella Gordon, Dan McCormick, Liz Ptacek, Whet Moser, Kyle Holtan, William Wan, Johanna Juni, Mike Robinson, Corey Dubois, Jon Fogg, Alicia Peden, Brian Trump, among countless others. I have been shaped by these people in profound ways and consider myself incredibly fortunate to have known them. I must also thank my family: my uncle Larry Demski, whose good-natured teasing has prevented my v scholarship from being untethered from reality, and my cousins Cheryl and Michael Demski for their warmth and care. Neither of my grandmothers nor my aunt was able to see me complete the doctoral program, but their unshakeable belief in me has made it possible nonetheless. I carry their love with me always. My brother was my first friend in life and he has been supporting all my endeavors ever since. I finally must thank my mother and father because they have motivated me to accomplish this and every other goal. My father has always believed me capable of greatness and my mother will do anything in her power to help me achieve my dreams. I could fill many more pages describing their deep and abiding kindness, but they would rather have me spend my time working on whatever goal I might cherish next. vi Table of Contents Introduction 1-24 Chapter One: Formal Problems and Pleasures in Body Swap Fiction 25-81 Chapter Two: Utopia and Exodus in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s Herland 82-123 Chapter Three: Managing Narration in Virginia Woolf’s Night and Day 124-204 vii Introduction At twenty-six years old, Thomas Anstey Guthrie could boast that his first novel Vice Versa (1882) would be published by the same imprint that had carried William Makepeace Thackeray’s Vanity Fair.1 The strength of the publishing house signified a great deal to Guthrie because he assumed that the association would garner his fantasy novel, in which an importer-exporter trades identities with his boarding school-bound son, the kind of acclaim that the realist novel had received. The immediate critical response was, in fact, quite good, and Guthrie’s commercial success granted him entrée into the best literary salons and cultural events of the time. At one gathering, Bram Stoker whispered the plot for a fantasy epic that he thought would make a good sequel to Vice Versa. Demurring politely, Guthrie declined to borrow the premise and only regretted the decision years later, when he read the finished product of Dracula (1897). If Guthrie’s autobiography is to be trusted, it was at another of these parties that he became acquainted with Henry James, who sought advice on his most recent play. Whatever guidance was offered or received, the aspiring playwright did not achieve comparable acclaim: Guthrie includes an account of the boos and jeers that he heard in the audience on opening night. The biographical vignette ends with Guthrie counseling James to make his work more accessible to the audience, as well as an intimation that such advice was not appreciated.2 Despite his failure to guide James’s stage career, Guthrie could pride himself on affecting the theatrical world in a different way: he was able to influence his literary hero, 1 Thomas Anstey Guthrie.