History 364-0-01: Gender and Sexuality in Victorian Britain; Northwestern University, Fall 2014

Homosexuality on Trial

1. Cook describes London as a city to invite and thwart fantastical recreation and sensual indulgence. Does this describe the role played by the city in The Picture of Dorian Gray? Why or why not?
2. How might the relationship between Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas be compared to the relationships among Dorian, Lord Henry, and Basil?
3. Did the trials of Oscar Wilde broad fears about the decline or degeneration of British society? How?
4. How does the portrayal of marriage in Wilde’s novel reflect or contrast with the portrayals of Victorian marriages in other texts we’ve read in class?
5. In Douglas’ and Nicholson’s poems, a recurring theme corresponding with homosexuality is shame and secrecy; in what way did Oscar Wilde reject these Victorian attitudes in his life and in The Picture of Dorian Gray?
6. Do you think that the Victorian male beast is at the heart of both The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and The Picture of Dorian Gray? If so, is it a different beast in each novel?
7. How does Showalter characterize the treatment of women in The Picture of Dorian Gray? Do you agree with her assessment?
8. How does The Picture of Dorian Gray reflect the aesthetic ideal of “art for art’s sake”? Can the novel be taken as an argument in favor of that ideal?
9. What makes Sibyl Vane initially attractive to Dorian, and what changes his feelings about her? What is the purpose of the Sibyl/Dorian relationship in Wilde’s novel?
10. In what ways do Wilde’s frequent and vivid descriptions of color reflect a rebellion against Victorian values?

• Culture & corruption, criminal & the aesthetic, beauty & evil
• Decadence: sensory intensity, exploration, pleasures
• The decadent man: homosexual, “the perfect form of male aestheticization” (Showalter)

History 364-0-01: Gender and Sexuality in Victorian Britain; Northwestern University, Fall 2014

Homosexuality on Trial

• Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)
  • Birth and family
    • Born during the Victorian time period
    • Born in Dublin, thinks of himself as Anglo-Irish, English upper- and middle-class
    • His mother was a well-known poet, assumed that all his writing talent comes from his mother’s side; also an Irish nationalist, much more so than Wilde’s father
    • His father, Sir William Wilde, was a well-known eye surgeon; he was knighted for his philanthropy (charity work)
  • Growth
    • Attends Trinity College, went on to study at Oxford (highly educated, very smart, able student) where he wins a prize for poetry
    • Wilde never aspired to be respectable Victorian middle-class
    • Falls under the spell of the aesthetic movement – “art for art’s sake”
    • Undertakes a tour of the United States and Canada in 1881 (still young), and it is “Wilde”ly successful
  • Marriage
    • In 1884, Wilde married Constance Lloyd Wilde (1858-1898) – a heterosexual love match
    • Constance is interested in women’s rights
    • Gives birth to two male children, Cyril (1885) and Vyvyan (1886)
    • As part of the aesthetic movement, Wilde decides to paint the walls of their house white
  • Work
    • Wrote a lot of plays – “Lady Windermere’s Fan” (1892), “A Woman of No Importance” (1893), “Salomé” (1894), “… Ideal Husband” (1895), “The Importance of Being Earnest” (1895)
    • When Wilde was on trial, three of his plays were running in the west end
  • Homosexuality
    • Robbie Ross (1886), a homosexual, was living with Wilde and his wife when he seduced Wilde while his wife was asleep
    • Up until this point, Wilde had been heterosexual and loved his wife, but after the encounter with Ross, his life completely changed
    • Wilde begins to experiment in a discreet way and moves towards a London homosexual circle
    • He is living the double life – he is remaining with his wife and adores his children, but also leads a secret, closeted double-life of a homosexual
    • The Cleveland St. Scandal hits in 1889 when Wilde is ramping up his homosexual life – the scandal involved a 15-year-old telegraph boy in a homosexual brothel

History 364-0-01: Gender and Sexuality in Victorian Britain; Northwestern University, Fall 2014

Marriage, Sexual Independence, and “The New Woman”

1. For each of the historical writers we have read this week, what was the purpose of marriage? With whom do you agree the most?
   • Marriage is union, not necessarily with love, to have children without being out of wedlock
   • Marriage is for the good of the nation and race, happiness is not important
2. In what ways did “The Woman Who Did” challenge Victorian perceptions of gender, and in what ways did it reinforce them? Does this reflect the fact that its author was a man? Why or why not?
   • Enforced gender stereotypes, that women are weaker
   • When people think highly of women, it’s used as a reason not to corrupt them with power and rights because they’re so innocent and pure
3. Is “The Woman Who Did” more a critique of marriage or a cautionary tale regarding the New Woman?
4. To Showalter, was the idea of the New Woman actually a good thing for women?
   • Yes, it was progress, in that time period it was radical
5. Drawing from this week’s readings, was motherhood a blessing or a burden for Victorian women?
   • It was seen as an expectation, and if they don’t meet it, they’re a failure
   • For daughters, the mother needed to take care of them until marriage, or else they end up badly
   • “I can’t commit suicide because I need to take care of the kids”
6. Are there ways in which Allen or Caird hindered the progress of the Victorian Women’s Movement?
   • People may get turned off by excessively radical or extreme viewpoints
   • She is more evolutionary than revolutionary, and is constrained by Victorian views
7. Which of Caird’s arguments would be considered outdated today? Which would be considered radical?
   • Confinement is no longer an issue because children can move out and live on their own
   • Having children without marriage still has a stigma (having a family without marriage, “why aren’t you married yet?”)
8. For Allen, was Herminia’s martyrdom for the sake of the future woman justified? What would Caird or Showalter say? What do you think?
9. Taken as a whole, do you think the primary source readings for this week broke down distinctions between public and private spheres, or reinforced them?
   • The anonymous letters showed aspects of privacy to the public, revealed information about marriage
   • Women talking about private sex-related topics to the public, which broke down the barrier between the two spheres
10. For Victorian women, what was the relationship between sex, love, and freedom?
    • For Victorian women, it was almost impossible to see all three happening at the same time
    • In modern day, all three happen together often, and it is likely

History 364-0-01: Gender and Sexuality in Victorian Britain; Northwestern University, Fall 2014

• Victorian’s Women’s Movements
  • Umbrella term for a variety of interest and lobbying groups
  • Women were not awarded degrees because those with degrees would have a voice on how the university is run, and they wanted to keep women out of that
  • The term “feminism” comes to use in the mid-1890s
  • The Women’s Movement was extremely effective
  • Before the movements kicked in, women had no legal right in their marriage over their own children – the husband has sole rights
  • Infant Custody Acts (1873, 1886)
    • For the first time, gave mothers certain rights over their children
  • Married Women’s Property Acts (1870, 1882)
    • Prior to this act, women’s husbands seized all possession of their property; she loses control over her own property and money
    • Upon marriage, a woman no longer loses rights to her own property, and for the first time, were allowed to represent themselves in court and be sued
  • Matrimonial Causes Act (1857): divorce gets taken out of the church courts and becomes a civil matter
    • A man can divorce a woman due to adultery, but a woman can only divorce a man due to adultery as well as one aggravating factor (i.e. abuse, negligence, bestiality, sodomy, etc.)
• Marriage
  • August 1888: Daily Telegraph asked, “is marriage a failure?”
    • The paper received 27,000 letters, ranging from enthusiasm to dissatisfaction
  • Mona Caird (1854-1932)
    • Saw herself as a progressive feminist and thought the women’s movement was too conservative
    • Publishes a journal article in the Westminster Review earlier in the month (before the question was asked) titled “Marriage”
    • She states that marriage, in its present state, is a failure
    • She asks why, in marriage, they are stuck with an antiquated law and women are always on the losing end
    • She thinks about marriage as a form of legalized prostitution – marriage is the only career choice for a women who could not earn admittance into a higher education institution, and the only way out of the parental home
    • During this time, a newspaper often had stories about Jack the Ripper on one half, and a raging debate about marriage on the other half
    • When a woman marries, she gives up all legal rights to her own body
    • Conjugal rights are the rights a man has to engage sexual activity with his wife – sexual intercourse is his right in marriage, and the woman has no right to say no
    • Free union is a lifelong, committed relationship between two equals
  • Clitheroe/Jackson Case
    • Comes to court in the late 1890s
    • A woman named Emily marries a man named Edmond Jackson in 1887
    • Jackson leaves to travel to New Zealand to take care of business interests
    • Shortly after his departure, she writes to him asking him to return
    • By the time he returns, she is living with her sisters and her family, and she refuses to see him
    • He sues his wife for restitution for conjugal rights
    • In 1891, as she’s leaving church, two accomplices set up by her husband bundle her into a carriage and take her to her husband, where he locks her into his bedroom
    • Her sisters countersuit for the return of her body, and this gets taken to a higher court
    • “Where a wife refuses to live with her husband, he is not entitled to keep her in confinement in order to enforce restitution of conjugal rights.”
    • When Emily left court, there was a massive crowd of mostly men booing and jeering at her because of the judgment; mainstream conservative newspapers claimed that this is the end of marriage in this country as we know it
• Continue reading →

History 364-0-01: Gender and Sexuality in Victorian Britain; Northwestern University, Fall 2014

• Midterm Guidelines
  • The exam will consist of five elements. Allow equal time (approximately 15 minutes) for each. Each element carries equal marks.
  • Part 1
    • Spend approximately 30 minutes on Part 1
    • Part I will require students to identify and contextualize two excerpts from primary sources (from a source of three)
    • Give the full name of the author (where appropriate), the full title of the book, series of articles, or articles, and year of original publication
    • Discuss the significance of the excerpt; the important argument, issues, or salient points raised in the book or article(s) in question; and take a final few sentences to place the book or article(s) in their wider historical context
    • The main purpose of this question is to test your knowledge of the primary sources
    • Keep your answer concise (probably not more than two sides in the blue books per excerpt)
  • Part 2
    • Spend approximately 45 minutes on Part 2
    • Part 2 will require students to write on three topics (from a choice of five)
    • The topics might be broad and require students to engage in a discussion that goes beyond the readings for a particular week
    • It is vital that students draw on both primary and secondary sources as necessary
    • The aim of this question is to test a student’s grasp of themes, issues, or questions arising from the course and course materials
    • Keep your answers concise but include plenty of precise detail (probably not more than two sides in the blue books per topic)
• Excerpt ID Example
  • “I see you feel as I do,” said Mr. Enfield. “Yes, it’s a bad story. For my man was a fellow that nobody would have to do with, a really damnable man; and the person that drew the cheque is the very pink of the proprieties, celebrated too, and (what makes it worse) one of your fellows who do what they call good. Blackmail, I suppose; an honest man paying through the nose for some of the capers of his youth. Blackmail House is what I call that place with the door, in consequence. Though even that, you know, is far from explaining all,” he added, and with the words fell into a vein of musing.
  • Robert Lewis Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886)

History 364-0-01: Gender and Sexuality in Victorian Britain; Northwestern University, Fall 2014

• Lapel Griffin
  • He passes the exams to enter the Indian Civil Service, the arm of the government
  • He seeks to make arguments against demands of Indian power through various methods of feminization of Indian men
  • Although all Indian men get feminized, some are more feminized than others
  • He states that the London liberals who are coming out to India are not as deeply engraved because they are only on several-year terms, unlike himself
• Bengali Baboo
  • Britain brings in the Hindus into the civil service because there are not enough British men to run the whole thing by themselves
  • The Bengali Baboo are western educated, middle-class elite
  • This group will start pushing for power because they’re educated, they know how the government runs (because they are running it and making the country work)
  • Lapel Griffin pushes right back
  • “Bengali Baboo” came from the phrase “Babu” – Babu is intended as a respectable title, while the version with two Os is not
• Ilbert Bill
  • Allows some Indian magistrates and judges some jurisdiction over the trials of some crimes committed by British men and women
  • If the bill was passed as-is in its original form, the tweak to the law was so minor that it was estimated that, across the next decade, only 9-10 Indian judges would preside over the trials of British men and women
  • The Criminal Procedure Code Amendment Act of 1884
    • The compromise of the bill that is struck, in the actual act that gets passed, says that Indian judges and magistrates are allowed as long as there is also a European who is allowed to request a jury that is at least half European
  • “Indian men can’t be trusted with British women, they can’t even be trusted with their own women”
  • Indian Councils Act of 1892
    • Allows greater Indian middle-class, educated representation in legislative councils, which causes an uproar in British India

• The Ilbert Bill and Indian Councils Act (Handout)
  • The Ilbert Bill, 1883-4
    • Criminal Procedure Code Amendment Act, Jan 1884
    • This bill, proposed by  Member of the Government of India in the Legislative Council by the name of Courtenay Ilbert (he was a legal advisor), proposed to give Indian judges and magistrates – who were Indians working for the colonial administration – very limited criminal jurisdiction over British subjects in certain parts of India. As it was, only white officials were allowed criminal jurisdiction over whites. The idea the Ilbert Bill proposed, that of Indians sitting in judgment over the white British subjects (Anglo Indians), was anathema to most British living in India, who regarded the Bill as a threat to British power.
    • The Bill was introduced in India by Viceroy Ripon but did not pass in its original version. It became law in January of 1884, but was severely compromised. Indian judges and magistrates were granted limited jurisdiction over Europeans in certain areas, but Europeans won the right to demand a trial by jury at least half of whose members were European (i.e. white).
  • The Indian Councils Act of 1892
    • The Act authorized an increase in the size of the various legislative councils in India. Enacted due to the demand of the Indian National Congress (established 1885) to expand legislative councils, the number of non-official members was increased. The non-official members of Indian legislative councils were henceforth to be nominated by the Bengal chamber of commerce and provincial legislative council.
    • It introduced the principle of representation for educated Indian men. For example, council members could now put questions to the government concerning matters of public interest.
  • Sir Lepel Henry Griffin (July 20, 1838 – March 9, 1908) was a British administrator and diplomat in India.