Sisters and the English Household: Domesticity and Women's Autonomy in Nineteenth-Century English Literature

216 Pages·2018·7.671 MB·English

by  Anne D. Wallace

i
Sisters and the English Household
ii
ANTHEM NINETEENTH-CENTURY SERIES
The Anthem Nineteenth- Century Series incorporates a broad range of
titles within the fields of literature and culture, comprising an excellent collec-
tion of interdisciplinary academic texts. The series aims to promote the most
challenging and original work being undertaken in the field and encourages
an approach that fosters connections between areas including history, science,
religion and literary theory. Our titles have earned an excellent reputation for
the originality and rigor of their scholarship and our commitment to high-
quality production.
Series Editor
Robert Douglas- Fairhurst— University of Oxford, UK
Editorial Board
Dinah Birch— University of Liverpool, UK
Kirstie Blair— University of Stirling, UK
Archie Burnett— Boston University, USA
Christopher Decker— University of Nevada, USA
Heather Glen— University of Cambridge, UK
Linda K. Hughes— Texas Christian University, USA
Simon J. James—D urham University, UK
Angela Leighton— University of Cambridge, UK
Jo McDonagh— King’s College London, UK
Michael O’Neill—D urham University, UK
Seamus Perry— University of Oxford, UK
Clare Pettitt— King’s College London, UK
Adrian Poole— University of Cambridge, UK
Jan- Melissa Schramm— University of Cambridge, UK
iii
Sisters and the English

Household
Domesticity and Women’s Autonomy in
Nineteenth- Century English Literature
Anne D. Wallace
iv
Anthem Press
An imprint of Wimbledon Publishing Company
www.anthempress.com
This edition first published in UK and USA 2018
by ANTHEM PRESS
75– 76 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 8HA, UK
or PO Box 9779, London SW19 7ZG, UK
and
244 Madison Ave #116, New York, NY 10016, USA
Copyright © Anne D. Wallace 2018
The author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above,
no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or introduced into
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means
(electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise),
without the prior written permission of both the copyright
owner and the above publisher of this book.
British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN- 13: 978- 1- 78308- 845- 4 (Hbk)
ISBN- 10: 1- 78308- 845- 1 (Hbk)
This title is also available as an e- book.
v
for Todd and Marc
and for Diane, who could not stay
“Like scents from varying roses that remain
One sweetness, nor can evermore be singled”
vi
vii
CONTENTS

Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1. Alternative Domesticities: Revaluing the Sibling in the House 19
2. “Out into the Orchard”: The Departure of the
Sibling in the House 55
3. The Problem of the Sister in the House 85
4. George Eliot’s Natural History of the English Family 127
Notes 175
Works Cited 195
Index 201
viii