THE MAKING OF A FAMILY: CONSTRUCTING COMPANIONATE MARRIAGE IN NINETEENTH ...

214 Pages·2014·0.8 MB·English

THE MAKING OF A FAMILY: CONSTRUCTING COMPANIONATE MARRIAGE
IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY LYON

by

EMILY GILKEY

A DISSERTATION

Presented to the Department of History
and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy

June 2014
DISSERTATION APPROVAL PAGE

Student: Emily Gilkey

Title: The Making of a Family: Constructing Companionate Marriage in Nineteenth-
Century Lyon

This dissertation has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in the Department of History by:

George Sheridan Advisor
April Haynes Core Member
Raymond Birn Core Member
Fabienne Moore Institutional Representative

and

Kimberly Andrews Espy Vice President for Research and Innovation;
Dean of the Graduate School

Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School.

Degree awarded June 2014

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© 2014 Emily Gilkey

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DISSERTATION ABSTRACT

Emily Gilkey

Doctor of Philosophy

Department of History

June 2014

Title: The Making of a Family: Constructing Companionate Marriage in Nineteenth-
Century Lyon

During the nineteenth century, companionate marriage became a dominant marital
model for the French bourgeoisie, but that ideal was poorly defined and became a point
of contestation between spouses. This study focuses on Joseph and Fanny Bergier, a
bourgeois couple from Lyon who created together an archive of journals and diaries
spanning from 1800 to 1878. Their struggle with infertility forced them to confront the
issue of what it meant to be a family and whether children were integrally necessary or if
life as a couple was enough. Following a common male pattern, Joseph committed
adultery, raising the issue of the place of fidelity in a companionate relationship. Their
conflict over this issue, expressed in letters and diary entries, brought to light the
divergence between their gendered expectations of what a companionate marriage should
look like.
The Bergiers’ experience of infertility led them to cultivate fictive kinship
networks through philanthropy and sociability. They also used ego writing as an
alternative form of family creation. Their attempts to create a family through non-
biological means suggests that, despite the concurrent drop in birth rate, children were
crucially important to the French vision of family life. Their disagreements over how
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companionability should find expression, and what the rules governing a love-based
marriage ought to be, show that the transition toward a modern family model was
contested and uncertain.

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CURRICULUM VITAE

NAME OF AUTHOR: Emily Gilkey

GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED:

University of Oregon, Eugene

DEGREES AWARDED:

Doctor of Philosophy, History, 2014, University of Oregon
Master of Arts, History, 2009, University of Oregon
Bachelor of Arts, History, French, 2005, University of Oregon

AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST:

Modern France
Gender and Family History

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

Graduate Teaching Fellow, University of Oregon, 2007-2014

GRANTS, AWARDS, AND HONORS:

John L. and Naomi Luvaas Fellowship, 2012-2013

Center for the Study of Women in Society Graduate Research Grant, 2011

Oregon Humanities Center Graduate Research Support Fellowship, 2011-2012

Department of History Doctoral Research Award, University of Oregon, 2010-
2011

PUBLICATIONS:

Gilkey, Emily. “La gourmandise au XIXe siècle à Lyon: Une approche ‘sexuée’
de la nourriture.” In Gourmandises! Histoire de la gastronomie à Lyon, edited by Maria-
Anne Privat-Savigny, 46-49. Lyon: Silvana Editoriale, 2011.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank the people who have made my dissertation possible. My
advisor, George Sheridan, introduced me to the Bergiers’ diary and facilitated the
research process. I also appreciate April Haynes, Ray Birn and Fabienne Moore for their
feedback and support of this project. Funding from the University of Oregon History
Department Doctoral Research Award, a grant from the Center for the Study of Women
in Society and a Research Support Fellowship from the Oregon Humanities Center
allowed me to travel to Lyon to do the research necessary for this dissertation. I am also
thankful for funding from the John L. and Naomi M. Luvaas fellowship allowed me to
dedicate myself to writing. Additionally, I owe a debt of gratitude to the curators of the
Musée Gadagne who provided research space and unrestricted access to the materials in
the archive. Finally, I would like to thank my family for their love and support. My
father helped fund my research and encouraged me to continue. My brother and sister
cheered me on and believed I could succeed. My husband, Chris, has never complained
of the sacrifices and separations necessary for my research, and is always supportive of
my dreams. My mom has always been my inspiration and has encouraged me every step
of the way. Thank you to all the friends and family who have made this possible.

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For Mom, who always walked with me

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter Page

I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1

II. “TO BECOME A WOMAN LIKE ANY OTHER”: INFERTILITY
AND THE MEANING OF MARRIAGE .............................................................. 11

Family Formation in the Bourgeois Restoration .................................................... 17
Dynastic Aspirations: The Inheritance-Driven Vision of Family .......................... 23
No Cost Was Too Great to Heal Herself: Cure and Conflict ................................. 33
Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 49

III. ADULTERY AND EXCLUSIVITY: DEFINING THE PARAMETERS
OF COMPANIONATE MARRIAGE ................................................................... 51

Adultery as an Alternative Site of Companionability: Agathe and Joseph ........... 57
The Aftermath of Adultery: Exclusivity and Companionability ........................... 78
Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 88

IV. “ALMOST OUR ADOPTED DAUGHTER”: PHILANTHROPY AND
SURROGACY AS FAMILY CREATION ................................................................. 91

Patronage as an Instrument of Social Control........................................................ 93
Patronage as an Avenue of Pseudo-Adoption ........................................................ 101
Creating an Heir: The Dynastic Potential of Philanthropy .................................... 109
Contested Surrogacy: Family Creation and Informal Sociability .......................... 118
Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 131

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Chapter Page

V. BETWEEN CONFIDENCE AND SECRECY: DIARY WRITING AS
FAMILY FORMATION ....................................................................................... 134

Defining the Archive.............................................................................................. 136
Composing Companionate Marriage: Fanny’s Record .......................................... 138
Writing for Posterity: Joseph’s Writing ................................................................. 145
Keeping the Diary Jointly: Fanny and Joseph Write as a Couple.......................... 159
Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 172

VI. CONCLUSION...................................................................................................... 175

REFERENCES CITED ................................................................................................ 187

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