Month: November 2024 (Page 1 of 2)

• Check-in on project status
  • Have worked on revision plan, gathered sources, read all books and scholarly articles I needed to and have notes organized
  • Writing outline for essay (final around 10-15pgs)
  • Started to fill in outline and draft intro and pull quotes
• Question about a few primary source materials
  • Case law: As of now, getting those primary documents from ENG 216 eportfolio as pdf but need to cite them eventually with full details
  • Hansards for Parliamentary Debates and where to cite from
  • The one I can’t seem to find is any debate on the divorce acts
• Next week for peer review
  • I have 8 pages as of week 12 of a mix of an outline / draft
  • Looking for insight on how long final essay should be … the original essay that I am extending was 4 pages
  • Where to make some cuts

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1h5wL34SV53vNAPZEXOXL9zqXiRTrDjOI0cfgVSGv_lk/edit?usp=sharing

Introduction

The primary goal of this project is to take a previous paper from my English course ENG 216 titled “The Legal Ideal and its Irrefutable Detriments: In Conversation with Brontë and Bodichon” and provide an extension into the political theories and legal discourse that underlie what the literature and progressive thinkers of mid-Victorian England were grappling with. My previous paper’s aim was to place two Victorian writers of fiction and prose, Anne Brontë’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and Barbra Leigh Smith Bodichon’s persuasive essay, in context with one another to formulate a response to how the realities of marriage as dictated by the law proved to be an immense misalignment. After surveying this past work, what emerged as points of intriguing new lines of questioning: What can be understood when different branches of Victorian writing are employed? What through-lines emerge when the implicit connections of the law within Brontë’s novel are actualized by case law? How were the political theorists and social reformers thinking informed by literature? 

Through my in-depth examination of the various branches of writing and discourse of women’s rights and the confines of precedent within this period of mid-Victorian England, I will have highlighted that by identifying what was missing within my original paper, the political and legal sources, and thus incorporating them into this project, makes for a meaningful extension of my interests and subject knowledge within political science and legal analysis. For instance, this extension will draw from prominent political philosopher John Stewart Mill and his piece On the Subjection of Women and writer and social-reformer Frances Power Cobbe and her essay “Criminals, Idiots, Women, and Minors: is the Classification Sound? A Discussion on the Laws Concerning the Property of Married Women.” In addressing a few poignant primary documents such as examples of case law from the period 1850s-1860s and excerpts of parliamentary debates on the reform bills of marriage a divorce, I can illustrate the powerful lived experiences that parallel both the literary sources and theoretical. 

Furthermore, through my extension of this past project, I will provide a foundational framework for my additional research to draw upon this progressive moment of the mid-19th century regarding women’s legal status and challenging the operation of legal precedent as an essential historical context. In arguing that works of literature such as The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë can be read to provide a tangible reality of the result of oppressive laws, it offers connections to both the social and political activists of its era and that questions of equality are always evolving. This project also opens up incredible avenues for contemporary engagement in the law and proves that we must look to the same opportunities today to draw from the empathetic and humanistic nature of literature along with an array of contemporary political, feminist, and legal theorists to question and force the uncomfortable realities of the law’s shortcomings to be reconciled. 

Brontë and the novel as a form of activism 

• To begin, it is essential to first lay out the significance of the novel as a form of activism and resistance to the societal conditions that hindered women’s ability to seek legal action during this period of Victorian England from the early 19th century to the dawn of the 20th century.
  • From “The Politics of Story in Victorian Social Fiction” by Rosemarie Bodenheimer (1988)
    •  → “While any Victorian novel could be profitably subjected to such questions, my scope is limited to the subgenre that has come to be known as the industrial or social-problem novel: work distinguished by its focus on specific social problems raised during the process of industrialization. These novels set themselves in a dramatic way to the task of giving fictional shape to social questions that were experienced as new, unpredictable, without closure.”(Bodenheimer, 4). 
    • “The narratives I consider are full of descriptions and dialogues about the factory system, industrial and rural poverty, working class politics, and the plight of women; they link themselves directly with the conditions-of-England debates that preoccupied so many public minded Victorians during that cultural period”(Bodenheimer 4). 
  • Chapter From “Matrimony, Property, and the “Woman Question” in Anne Brontë and Mary Elizabeth Braddon” by Amy J. Robinson within Book “Twenty-First Century Perspectives on Victorian Literature” (2016)
    • “Though Cobbe’s point is that wives should not be classed with criminals in terms of the law, ironically, female characters in victorian fiction, because there were so few laws to protect them, are often forced to keep secrets, adopt aliases, and even commit criminal acts in order to circumvent bad marriages. Victorians referred to the many questions and issues concerning women’s political rights, education, and economic independence as the “Woman Question”(Robinson 111). 
• Secondary criticism on how women authors like Brontë inserted their opinions through the more subversive, implicit critique of the laws to put forth their own ideas on the era of social change that mid-19th century England contended with. 

Brontë’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall continues to be a foundational within my extension project as when branching out to include works of political philosophers and reformers, the fictional narrative that Brontë crafts showcases that when literature is taken seriously, the social mood greatly benefits from the ability to take abstract intangible theories and force themselves as readers to imagine them as reality. The novel sets the groundwork for the public as well as governmental figures to then hear the calls for reform in a new light. Brontë’s novel encourages her Victorian readers to confront the ideal of the law and through her story, offers what women cannot say in public into a glimpse into the private domestic scenes of martial misalliance. 

• Within her preface to the second edition, after fairly harsh reviews by literary critics, she asserts, “I may have gone too far, in which case I shall be careful not to trouble myself or my readers in the same way again; but when we have to do with vice and vicious characters, I maintain that it is better to depict them as they really are than as they would wish to appear. To represent a bad thing in its least offensive light, is doubtless, the most agreeable course for a writer of fiction to pursue; but is it the most honest, or the safest? Is it better to reveal the snares and pitfalls of life to the young and thoughtless traveller, or to cover them with branches and flowers? O Reader! If there were less of this dellicate concealment of facts – this whispering ‘Peace, peace’ when there is no peace, there would be less sin and misery to the young of both sexes who are left to wring their bitter knowledge from experience”(Brontë 4). → Connection with how the novel and female authors can make arguments that directly correlate to the social questions of issues such as marriage, women’s rights, etc. that we will see Mill contend with. 
• From the novel itself →
  • On women’s role as mother:
    • “…’but you would not judge of a boy by yourself – and my dear Mrs. Graham, let me warn you in good time against the error – the fatal error, I may call it – of taking that boy’s education upon yourself. – Because you are clever, in some things, and well informed, you may fancy yourself equal to the task; but indeed you are not…”(Brontë 28). 
  • On marriage:
    • “And I don’t and won’t complain. I do and will love him still; and I do not and will not regret that I have linked my fate with his”(Brontë 176).
    • “But how can I believe that you love me, if you continue to act in this way? Just imagine yourself in my place: would you think I loved you, if I did so? Would you believe my protestations, and honour and trust me under such circumstances? ‘The cases are different,’ he replied. ‘It is a woman’s nature to be constant – to love one and only one, blindly, tenderly, and for ever – bless them, dear creatures! and you above them all – but you must have some commiseration for us, Helen; you must give us a little more license…”(Brontë 200). 
    • “This is the third anniversary of our felicitous union. It is now two months since our guests have left us to the enjoyment of each other’s society; and I have had nine weeks’ experience of this new phase of conjugal life – two persons living together as master and mistress of the house, and father and mother of a winsome, merry little child, with mutual understanding that there is no love, friendship, or sympathy between them”(Brontë 272). 
    • “The fifth anniversary of my wedding day, and I trust, the last I shall spend under this roof”(Brontë 287). 
  • On property:
    • “ ‘It seems very interesting love,’ said he, lifting his head and turning to where I stood wringing my hands in silent rage and anguish; ‘but it’s rather long; I’ll look at it some other time; – meanwhile, I’ll trouble you for your keys, my dear.’ ‘What keys?’ ‘The keys of your cabinet, desk, drawers, and whatever else you possess,’ he said, rising and holding out his hand…’Now then, sneered he, ‘we must have a confiscation of property…”(Brontë 309-10). 
• On child custody:
  • “I know that day after day such feeling will return upon me: I am a slave, a prisoner – but that is nothing; if it were myself alone, I would not complain, but I am forbidden to rescue my son from ruin, and what was once y only consolation, is become the crowning source of my despair”(Brontë 312). 

Political context: Mill & Cobbe

• JS Mill → 

Whereas Brontë subversively explored the detrimental conditions of the law’s ideals surrounding marriage and women’s rights in her fictional reality, if we turn to political philosopher and reformer John Stuart Mill, we can understand the explicit political context and discourse of women’s rights under the law that circulated during this defining era of social reform. As Mill himself was member of parliament, the linkage between how the literary world’s societal influence coupled real reform in English government can be aided with the works of prose such as The Subjection of Women. This example of Mill’s political essay takes seriously what conditions were in place that made marriage in Victorian England so oppressive and offers several moments of deep reflection. For instance, the foremost argument Mill makes at the open of this essay says, “That the principle which regulates the existing social relations between the two sexes – the legal subordination of one sex to the other – is wrong in itself, and now one of the chief hindrances to human improvement; and that it ought to be replaced by a principle of perfect equality, admitting no power or privilege on the one side, nor disability on the other”(Mill 133). 

• What makes England’s common law regarding marriage so oppressive to women? → “The subjection of women to men being a universal custom, any departure from it quite naturally appears unnatural.

• Frances Power Cobbe → essay: prose enhances literature 

Conclusion

• Call back briefly to that original paper and the gap I hoped to address through this paper
• Look forward to what future research can stem from this piece.

Read texts closely and think critically: Comprehend a text’s literal/factual content ; Distinguish between a passage’s literal/factual content and its figurative/symbolic/interpretive content; Analyze a text closely and identify rhetorical strategies therein ; Connect a passage’s formal structure and thematic content with the text as a whole ; Extrapolate the larger implications (social, philosophical, ethical, argumentative) of these patterns. 

To me this learning outcome establishes that through my time as an English major I should be able to take whatever text is in front of me, whether it is a novel, poem, political treatise, or a journalistic piece and be able to analyze the implicit content along with the explicit cultural, political, social, moral, etc. discourses it joins. I will also showcase skills in more formal literary analysis such as addressing the stylistic choices and strategies along with thematic. 

Examples from course work can include an essay from my first year English course, 

ENG 104 Indigenous Film & Literature, tired “Relationships with Indigenous Languages: How to Maintain Cultural and Self-Identity in an “English-Washed” World?” An excerpt from that is: 

“Learning the Grammar of Animacy by Kimmerer explains the tremendous struggle that an Indigenous person like herself has to deal with in efforts to preserve her ancestral language. Kimmerer feels a sense of responsibility in keeping the Potawatomi language alive, and through her desire to simply learn the language, she encounters a whole new understanding of why she felt so disconnected from her ancestor’s way of life. The power of context, cultural values, and beliefs that are expressed through language can be missed if the language in and of itself is not understood. The futile struggle of knowing that she has no one to practice speaking to in her everyday life could become too discouraging. However, her Potawatomi language teacher reassures her and “thanks us every time a word is spoken—thanks us for breathing life into the language, even if we only speak a single word”(Kimmerer, 53). Kimmerer’s intentions were good, hoping to do her part to learn the language of Potawatomi, which was virtually wiped out due to settler colonialism and leaves only nine people in the world today who speak it fluently. Nevertheless, an essential point is revealed, which can be picked up within the previous quote, is that the language is alive. She realized the disconnect between herself and learning the language because she was so intuned with the way English is conceptualized that she was missing the cultural and more profound meaning behind this Indigenous language. The “…grammar of animacy”, as she described, is her way of reconnecting on a much deeper level with her language. Furthermore, she expresses that it “… could lead us to whole new ways of living in the world, other species a sovereign people, a world with a democracy of species, not a tyranny of one”(Kimmerer, 57-8). Through one experience, we see just how isolated and disconnected an individual could feel from something that so many of us take for granted, language.” 

Another example from later in my course of study could be from an English course taken in my third year from ENG 326 Patient Narratives in a final essay where explored the unique usage of braided narratives: 

Moving into another example of the rhetorical choice of a braided narrative, we can look at Abby Norman’s patient narrative Ask Me About My Uterus: A Quest to Make Doctors Believe in Women’s Pain. Like Lunden, Norman employs impressive research and a woven narrative of another female figure influential to her illness. For instance, Norman discusses, “When I happened upon Gilda Radner’s memoir several years ago, in the midst of my own medical turmoil, I grew deeply concerned about her life”(Norman 20). In providing this framework early in her narrative, Norman’s choice to weave in Gilda Radner’s story sets up a significant theme of believing in women’s pain that draws us to a more extensive critique of women’s experience within the healthcare setting. Norman then expresses, “Radner’s story haunted me, not because she was some comedic legend whose life was cut short, or just because she died from cancer in her ovaries, but because she had died as a result of her doctors not believing her when she said she was unwell”(Norman 21). As Norman’s book delves into her struggle with endometriosis, making the connection to another woman in history whose pain was dismissed and whose experience was made trivial raises an essential question about the diseases themselves or their realities as women. Gilda’s harrowing story of progressively becoming sicker and being told it was all in her head, alongside Norman’s account of then assuming the role of a doctor to find answers herself, highlights the weight and responsibility women feel to advocate for themselves. Norman writes, “If I, or any other woman whose gynecological cancers or pathologies had gone undiagnosed, had just been sick in some other part of the body, in some other way, would it have been any different?”(Norman 23). Through Norman’s use of a braided narrative, she extends her experience with endometriosis far beyond one singular encounter. Moreover, she can raise women’s healthcare – especially reproductive healthcare – to expose the deeply troubling biases surrounding women’s pain. Unfortunately, with the addition of Gilda’s narrative, Norman subtly exposes how those biases and disbelief cost her life and could have the same result for countless other women without a structural shift in women’s healthcare. 

Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of literature in English: Demonstrate familiarity with specified content areas in literature, literary history, theory, and criticism ; Understand literature as a culturally and historically embedded practice ; Relate literature to other fields of inquiry

•  This learning outcome hits on the significance of literature as a practice across disciplines – in my diverse but interconnected medley of majors and minors (english, political science, writing, and gender, women, and sexuality studies) this outcome is incredibly important as it highlights how literature becomes a capsule of history, of social concerns of a given time, of cultural norms and practices, of power and agency, and of a shared human condition that throughout history wishes to meditate on the state of being and interacting with others. 
• Example of course work: 

Communicate effectively: Approach writing as a recursive process ; Develop and support claims about literary texts; Articulate claims in conceptually coherent essays ; Use conventions of standard written English ; Present research findings orally within the conventions of the discipline

•  In thinking about restating this learning outcome from a student perspective I would allege that to communicate effectively means you might have to reorient yourself as not coming to a final decision but employing a series of considerate and evidence based claims that when taken together showcase a depth of understanding. The process of communicating whether it is entering a debate on a piece of literature, showcasing comprehension of a text, or formulating a unique argument in a paper, it is essential to approach that as a process rather than finding a singular answer. 

•  Example of course work: 

Conduct research in literary and cultural studies: Use bibliographic tools to find source material ; Employ appropriate critical approaches in their research ; Contribute to scholarly conversations about literary and cultural texts and phenomena ; Incorporate and document source material using MLA style ; Communicate in accordance with standards of academic integrity

• This idea of as an English major being able to utilize tools and methodologies within a scholarly discipline as a learning outcome I would assert is a big part of fostering discipline skills but also learning how to transfer that process to whatever discipline might come next. While as an English major I have become well versed in what source material is used in scholarly writing versus creative, what style of citation to use, and recognize different organizational patterns are most effective for different forms of writing, I also now understand that each discipline has its own rules and norms. For example, looking forward to my next steps, I know that legal writing does not adhere to the same formal set of tools and methodologies as say if I were getting an post-graduate English degree but I feel comfortable in transferring my knowledge of research and standards of academic integrity to learning new approaches. 

•   Example of course work: