Women and the Social Machinery in the Novels of Anthony Trollope

321 Pages·2000·18.58 MB·English

"What Should a Woman do with her Life?":
Women and the Social Machinery in the Novels of Anthony Trollope
Arpita Ghosal
A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Graduate Department of English
University of Toronto
@ Copyright by Arpita Ghosal(1999)
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'What Should a Woman Do with Her Life?":
Women and the Social Machinery in the Novels of Anthony Trollope
Arpita Ghosal
Doctor of Philosophy 1999
Department of English
University of Toronto
Trollope criticism tends to locate female characters within Trollope's personal attitudes
and cultural milieu.Adopting a different approach, this thesis examines depictions, in
Anthony Trollope's novels foregrounding women, of a constraining "social machinery"
within which wornen characters negotiate what they "should" do with their lives.
The Victonan "separate spheres" ideology posited woman's invisible and intangible
moral function within the domestic sphere, and man's visible and measurable functions in
the public sphere. After brief historical and critical surveys, this thesis treats four major
elements of the "social machinery":
1. Chapter Two analyzes female abenor-figures. Successful abettors are agents and
oracles of both the socid machinery and the novel's plot. OffrciaIly "invisible", they are
publicly efficient, shepherding stalled marriage-plots to socially and peaonally
appropriate conclusions. Novels examined are Rachel Ray, Miss Mackenzie, Can You
Forgive Her?, Phineus Finn, Ralph the Heir, nie Duke 'iC hildren, The Vicar of
Buff hampton ,A n Eye for an Eye.
2. Chapter Three describes ways successful female ambition is defined and achieved.
Through conscious pre-marital negotiation with self, society and lover, a woman's
initially vague ambition takes a concrete form harmonizing personal needs and social
realities. Ultimate success involves achieving an official "invisibility" which pemlits
covert use of public power. Novels examined are Rachel Ray, Cm You Forgive Her?,
Ralph the Heir, Ayala's Angel.
3. Chapter Four describes unsuccessful female ambition as a woman's failure to negotiate
with her social context. Placing personal iieeds first, she sells henelf imprudently into
maniage. Her larger personal ambitions become inaccessible, as inevitable repression
precludes ail exercise of public power. Novels exarnined are The Eustace Diamon&, He
Knew He Was Right, Phineas Finn, Ralph the Heir.
4. Chapter Five examines use of an arbitrary "line" to police female behaviour through
extemally and intemally conferred labels. Female sexuality becomes a regdatory
mechanism defining the individual woman, her personal and social identity, and her
relationships. Novels exarnined are The Vicar of Bullhampton, The Small House at
Allington, An Eye for an Eye.
The Conclusion treats how female characten must negotiate "moments of visibility"
which determine what they shouI&and can-âo with their lives.
Acknowledgements
1 am profoundly grateful to my supervisor Professor Harvey Kerpneck, without whom
this dissertation would not exist. 1 very much appreciated his constant support of and
unflagging enthusiasm for my project, his keen wit, our many discussions (over coffee
and challa toast) about Trollope-and other equally interesting topics-and his
generosity in encouraging this dissertation to take shape in unconventional and
unpredictable ways. 1 have learned many things from Prof. Kerpneck, Trollope-wise and
otherwise, and have benefited greatly from his influence.
1 would like to thank my advisory coinmittee, Professor Marjone Garson and Professor
Fred Flahiff for their careful reading of individual chapters and always cogent
cornmentary. Their comments and suggestions have greatly strengthened my argument.
Many thanks to my extemal examiner Professor Maurice Elliott for his detailed and
enthusiastic appraisal of my dissertation. 1 am very gmteful for his subtie reading of my
argument and his genuine appreciation of my topic.
Kind thanks to my intemal examiner Professor Henry Auster for his longtime support of
my work and his detailed commentary on my dissertation.
I appreciate Dr. Antje Anderson's guidance about John Shiart Mill and recent scholarship
on his works. Her cornmentary has contributed to the detailed footnote on Mill in my
C hapter 1 .
A heartfelt thank-you to rny fnend and colleague Catherine Came11 Watt for her patient
checking of quotations, timely encouragement, constant good humour and unabiding faith
in me.
1 c mn either fully account for my debt to Scott Sneddon nor sufficiently express my
gratitude to him. May he know how he has inspired this dissertation and how great is my
appreciation of him.
Finally, and most importantly, 1 would like to thank my parents, Kalpana and Shyamal
Ghosal, for their unfailing faith in my ability to succeed and excel-and for giving me an
education far more significant than any institution ever could.
Contents
Chapter 1: m a tS hould a Woman Do with Her Life?" ............................................. 1
1. From the Meaning of "Should" to the Social Machinery: An Overview of the
..................................................................................................................
Thesis 1
. ..................
II Historical Background I : Separate Spheres and Femaie Invisibility 3
.
III Historical Background 2: The Changing Legal Status of Women-A Graduai
.........................................................................................
Increase in Visibility 18
IV . Critical Background: Women in Trollope's Fictions .............................2 7
. .....................................................................................
V The Goal of the Thesis 35
Chapter 2: "Sundry Mighty Magnates": Agents and Oracles of the Social
.......................................................................................................................
Machinery 42
I . Introduction ......................................................................................................4. 2
II . "Why Married Women Go to Balls": The Agents of the Social Machinery .......4 6
. ................................ .
III "Sagacious Heads": The Oracles of the Social Machinery .66
. ........................... .
IV "A Matter of Sagacious Bargaining": Unsuccessful Abettors 84
V . Conclusion. .......................................................................................................... 109
........
Chapter 3: The Achievement of "Tme Insight": Successful Female Ambition 112
1. Introduction. ...................................................................................................... 1 12
II . The Pursuit of "A Woman's Right": Ambition in Rachel Ray.. .................. A13
III . Denning an "Undefined Idea": Alice's Ambition in Can You Forgive
................................................................................................................
Her? 137
IV . Searching for a "Grand Passion": Polly's Ambition in Ralph the Heir ......... 150
. .....
V "Poetic Perfection" in Prosaic fom: Ayala's Ambition in Ayala S Angel 163
VI . Conclusion. ....................................................................................................1 78
Chapter 4: "They Are Most Happy who Have No Story to Tell": Unsuccessful
Female Am bition. ............................................................................................ 181
1. Introduction. .................................................................................................... 181
II . The Pursuit of "Higher Ideas": Lime's Ambition in The Eusface
.....................................................................................................
Diamon& 1 83
.
III "She Would Use the World as Men Use It": Lady Lam's Ambition in
...................................................................................................
Phineas Finn 208
. ...................
IV The Feminization and Absence of Ambition in Ral?h the Heir 222
.
V "We Can't Compare Ourselves to Men": Emily's Rights in He Knew He Was
................................................................................................................
Right 229
VI . Conclusion. .......................... ......................................................................2 40
,
................................
Chapter 5: "A Certain Line": Female Sexuality as Regulation 244
1. Introduction .................................................................................................... 244
II . "The Law of Custom": Cany and Mary in The Vicar of Bullhampton .......... 246
III . "These Things Are Different with a Man": Lily's Reinvention of Self in The
................................................................................
Small House at Allington 266
IV . "The Plaything of an Idle Hour": Exploiting the "Line" in An Eye for an
..................................................................................................................
Eye 275
V . Conclusion. ............ .................................................................................. 282
..,
vii
Conclusion: What a Woman Should Do with Her Life .............................................2 85
1. Summary : Elements of the Social Machinery ............................................ 285
. . .
II . Moments of Visibility ................................................................................ 291
..........................................................................................................
Works Consulted 298
viii
Chapter 1: "What Should a Woman Do with Her Life?"
I. From the Meaning of "Should" to the Social Machinery: An O v e ~ e wof the Thesis
"What should a woman do with her life?' (Can You 1 1) The narrator of Anthony Trollope's
Can You Forgive Her? poses this question when the mamageable Alice Vavasor fin&
heeelf caught between two options. The first is marriage to a respectable man, the traditional
choice of the matrons of society. The second is the option of "not marriage", advocated by
the progressive "Iearned ladies" of her society. The question, like that posed in the title "Can
You Forgive Her?', eludes precise definition. Does "shoulà" imply obligation, in the sense
of, "What is every woman or any woman supposed to do, according to societd strictures?"
Or does "should" connote individual choice, meaning "What might, or what can a specific,
individual woman choose to do, in the light of her particular circumstance?~ec onfusion-
and the trafic-between these two possible interpretations is suggestive. It identifies the
source of Alice's indecision, and posits the idea that there is no easy answer. It dso leads to a
second question: can the second paraphrase, which postulates a woman's independent and
individual choice, even be asRed (let alone answered) in the universe of the Trollope novel? It
is this question which my thesis d lex plore.
In order to undertake this project, 1 will begin Chapter 1 by providing histoncal and critical
conte-. An historical background seems essential to an analysis of women in Trollope's
fiction, though it must be recognized that Trollope's novels almost never discuss explicitly
the specific issues and protagonists of the Victorian "Woman Question" debate, and the