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Xerox University Microfilms 300 North Z M b Road Ann Arbor, Michigan +6t06 76-24,650 MELUCK, Margo Jean Voltz, 1943- DIVERGENT MELODRAMATIC HEROINES OF THE MID-VICTORIAN PLAY; OR, THE WOMAN WHO DOESN'T FAINT. The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1976 Theater Xerox University MicrofilmsAnn , Arbor, Michigan 48106 © 1 9 7 6 MARGO JEAN VOLTZ MELLICK ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DIVERGENT MELODRAMATIC HEROINES OF THE MID-VICTORIAN PLAY; OR, THE WOMAN WHO DOESN'T FAINT DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Margo J. V. Mellick, B.A., M.A * * * * * The Ohio State University 1976 Reading Committee: Approved By Professor Roy Bowen Professor John Walker Professor Alan Woods Co-aclvisors Department of Theatre To my husband, David, whose faithful behind the scenes help and work on his wood lathe made the paper possible. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am grateful for the fine assistance offered me in my research at the Cleveland Public Library by Jay W. Beswick and his staff in the Literature Department. I also must commend the co-operation of David A. Randall's staff at the Lilly Library of Indiana University. Both libraries offered their collections and services with a prompt courtesy which only the busy researcher can appreciate fully. Professor John Morrow, who helped me through the early stages of my research, and Professors Roy Bowen and Alan Woods, my co-advisors, have me in their debt. Professor Bowen gave the much needed editorial and style help while Professor Woods provided a constant source on historical perspective and aided me in avoiding the effusiveness of the contagious Victorian writing style. Their abilities complemented each other in a way which greatly augmented and encouraged my work. iii VITA November 3, 194 3 . Born - Canton, Ohio 1965 ................. B.A. (English and history) Malone College, Canton, Ohio 1965-1966 ........... English teacher. Lake High School, Hartville, Ohio 1968-1969 ........... Technical Assistant to the Costume Designer, The Ohio State Univer­ sity, Columbus, Ohio 1968 ................. M.A., The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1969-1972 ........... N.D.E.A. Graduate Fellow, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1972-1973 ........... Academic Advisor, University Col­ lege, The Ohio State University, Co.umbus, Ohio 1973-1975 ........... Assistant Professor of Theatre, Greenville College, Greenville, Illinois FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Theatre Studies in Dramatic Literature and Criticism. Professors Roy Bowen, John McDowell, John Morrow, and Charles Ritter Studies in Theatre History. Professors John McDowell and John Morrow Studies in Acting/Directing. Professors Roy Bowen and Arthur Housman Studies in Design. Professors Joy Spanable, Russell Hastings, and David Chappell TABLE OF CONTENTS Page DEDICATION ...............................................ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......................................... iii VITA ..................................................... iv Chapter I. INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY ......................... 1 Need for the S t u d y ............................ 2 Purpose of the S t u d y ....................... 6 Methodology and Organization ............... 8 II. A CHAPTER OF B A C K G R O U N D S ........................12 Victorian Paradoxes .......................... 12 The Ideal Woman ............................... 15 The Woman as a Delicate T r a p ................ 20 The Woman as a Status S y m b o l ................ 25 The Woman as a Legal Dependent . * .......... 29 The Woman and the Double S t a n d a r d ............ 35 III. THE IDEAL HEROINE AND HER A UDIENCE ........... 4 4 The Rowdy Victorian Audience ............... 4 5 The Diverse Victorian Audience ............ 4 9 Some Specific Audiences ..................... 52 The Cause of Audience Upheavals ............. 54 The Amoral Audience ........................... 58 The Theatre Audience Versus the Novel P u b l i c ............................. 62 The Ideal Woman in Dramatic L i t e r a t u r e .................................... 65 Isabelle; or, A Woman's L i f e .............. 69 Adeline, The victim of Seduction .......... 74 Lost in London I I I ^ I ^ I ............ 78 v TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Page Chapter IV. THE VICTORIAN IDEAL CHALLENGED BY A D I L E M M A 8 3 The Robber's W i f e ............................. 84 Ellen Wareham .................................. 87 Blanche of J e r s e y ..............................90 The Lucky Horse Shoe; or Woman's Trials .............................. 92 Elizabeth Mowbray; or. The Horrors of Feudalism ........................ 97 The Sin and the S o r r o w ...................... 100 Woman's Love; or, Kate Wynsley, the Cottage G i r l ............................ 101 Miriam's C r i m e ...............................104 Woman's Faith ................................. 108 V. FALLEN WOMEN WHO RETURN TO RESPECTABILITY .................................113 Erring W i v e s ................................. 115 The Stranger . .......................... 115 The Divorce ................................. 122 Broken T i e s .................................124 False Daughters ................. 130 The Beggar's Petition; or, A Father's Love and a Mother's Care . .130 The Lear of Private Life; or. Father and Daughter ........................ 137 Infanticide; or, The Bohemian M o t h e r ..................................... 141 Unmarried Women ...............................143 Masks and Faces ............................ 143 Victorine; or, "I'll Sleep on I t " ......... 154 The New Magdalen .......................... 159 VI. WOMEN WHO ARE PATENTLY E V I L ................... 17 0 Lady Audley's S e c r e t ........................ 171 Sarah the Creole or A Snake in the Grass I I I I I I I ................. 179 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Page Chapter Catherine H o w a r d ............................ 185 Jane Lomax; or, A Mother's C r i m e ........... 195 VII. WOMEN WHO PLAY TRADITIONAL MALE ROLES— SOMETIMES TO MEN WHO PLAY TRADITIONAL FEMALE R O L E S ................................... 206 Women as "Fetching" Males .................... 208 The Daughter of the Regiment .............,208 Capxtola; or, The Masked Mother, and the Hidden H a n d ........................ 210 Women in Charge ! I 7 ........................ 214 A Woman of B u s i n e s s ........................ 214 Aurora Floyd; or, The Dark Deed xn the W o o d ................................. 218 Reversal Situations.......................... 224 Good for Evil; or, A Wife's T r i a l ......... 224 Agnes de Vere; or, The Wife1^ R e v e n g e ..................................... 227 The Sin and the S o r r o w .................... 232 Louise de Lxgnerolles...................... 234 Retribution.................................241 VIII. C O N C L U S I O N ..................................... 246 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................252 vii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY Most people are quite familiar with the ideal woman projected for the Victorian era. They have seen her in the novel; they have watched her in reproductions of the nine­ teenth century melodrama. And, although they may not be aware of it, they frequently have been influenced in their own attitudes towards today's woman by social traditions which carry the imprint of the Victorian period. The ideal Victorian woman, both in the literary world and in the real world, was faithful, modest, beautiful, and delicate. Her whole reason for existence was in order that she might someday marry and be a mother. Both prior to