Author: A

Christina Rossetti’s poem Goblin Market shows the fear that women’s sexuality brought upon men in the Victorian era as well as the fear of women’s growing knowledge and awareness that was becoming prevalent due to access to education in the middle classes. Rossetti does so by dropping evident hints throughout the poem
using fruit to indicate the object being bartered which in this case is sex and everything ‘unholy’ that comes with being impure. I also think that because Rossetti would have been biased against men especially because of her bitterness towards not being a part of her brother’s pre-Raphaelite brotherhood and so she might have used the evil, demonic goblins to represent men and their tendencies. Another hint would be Laura exchanging a lock of her hair for fruit from the goblin men. In class we talked about how lovers would carry around a lock of each other’s hair-representing Laura having a romantic connection or affiliation to the goblins. I found this really interesting so I decided to look into hair in the Victorian era and what it meant in society and apparently hair also represented women’s sexuality and empowerment because the longer your hair was the more fertile you were so by the Goblins taking a lock of Laura’s hair could mean taking away a part of her womanhood- i.e. virginity and purity or taking away her wholesomeness an
d tarnishing her for future marriage. This poems takes the idea of sexual desire and appetite and instead of using men to show the ‘forwardness’ of desire, Rossetti uses female characters to have those traits. “I ate and ate my fill, yet my mouth waters still,” in this context the author means sexually Laura couldn’t get enough of the fruit (sex) but could also mean generally women are the same as men and have the same urges and should therefore be treated equally. Giving some idea of how Rossetti might have been seeking equality and standing up for feminism even in the Victorian era.

Dracula is based on typically conventional ideas regarding marriage, men and women as well as playing with the themes of ‘abnormal’ sexuality, homosexuality and ideas about the ‘New Woman’.

In chapter 12 (page 172; Penguin Classics edition) Lucy is on her deathbed and so the doctors awaken Holmwood and bring him to Lucy in order to say his goodbyes. ‘Her breathing grew stertorous, the mouth opened, and the pale gums, drawn back, made the teeth look longer and sharper than ever. In a sort of sleep-waking, vague, unconscious way she opened her eyes, which were now dull and hard at once, and she said in a soft, voluptuous voice, such as I had never heard from her lips: – “Arthur! Oh, my love, I am so glad you have come! Kiss me!”‘

Throughout Lucy’s vampire transition, she becomes increasingly sexualised because her suppressed sexuality is becoming more obvious and transparent as well as becoming the sexual aggressor, which in 1897, was not the norm. Women were supposed to accept their husband’s sexual needs and expectations but never act on their own. Throughout the novel a scale was set, Mina on one end, representing the ideal Victorian woman with traditional ideals and Dracula’s three daughters on the other end, depicting the Victorian idea of evil and impurity mostly shown with their hyper-sexuality and vampirism and as Stoker made clear that vampires are evil, then therefore so are hyper-sexual women.

 

In the text above, Lucy portrays a wanton creature, ‘her breathing grew stertorous’, ‘the mouth opened’ and ‘she said in a soft, voluptuous voice’ as well as asking Holmwood to kiss her, ‘Arthur! Oh, my love, I am so glad you have come! Kiss me!’. Indicating her sexual aggression and her desire to the point that even on her deathbed, she is showing signs of impurity and lust.

I think that sexuality figures so centrally in our novel because Stoker uses the character of Lucy to tackle the concept of the ‘New Woman’ and Victorian men’s fear of women rightly taking advantage of newly available educational and employment opportunities to break free from the intellectual and social restraints imposed upon them by a male-dominated society. Stoker portrays her as having weak morals and ‘an unruly desire’ which was so different to what the typical 1897 Victorian woman strived towards in order to please her husband and society but what was starting to happen. Stoker used the character of Lucy to depict the decline from the Victorian feminine ideal to the perceived selfish, wanton, unnaturalness of the ‘New Woman’.

 

 

“Now is the dramatic moment of fate, Watson, when you hear a step upon the stair which is walking into your life, and you know not whether for good or ill. What does Dr. James Mortimer, the man of science, ask of Sherlock Holmes, the specialist in crime? Come in!” (pg 7)

This passage hints at the relationship between science and crime which are incredibly strong themes throughout the book and throughout many other novels written around the same time because of the industrial revolution and the ripple effect that technology and new ideas seemed to cause. In Wednesday’s class we discussed the standardisation of education and the rise in literacy rates which sparked interest in people to gain knowledge and information in all things new and exciting which, at the time, revolved massively around science and medicine. In 1901 when the book was set, a year prior to it being written, Queen Victoria died at the ripe old age of 81, which caused a massive negative reaction in the public as it was common folklore and believed by the English of that period, that if Queen Victoria died before the age of 101, God would be angered and as punishment, the common people of England would suffer. God wasn’t angered and therefore no Englishmen were punished, however, because of the amount of belief people had in this folklore, many turned to and were influenced by recent scientific discoveries and scientific explanations instead of immediately turning to God.

Referring back to the passage when Holmes says, ‘Now is the dramatic moment of fate, Watson, when you hear a step upon the stair which is walking into your life, and you know not whether for good or ill.’, I feel as though Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was using his character of Sherlock Holmes to ask the questions he would be asking. Specifically questions regarding modern technology, were they to be trusted? Were they safe? Were they reliable? What were their purpose? Especially in 1901, when God and religion as sturdy pillars in society were being doubted and criticised, people wanted something to believe in and someone to answer their questions. Without any other way to release his opinions into the public, Doyle might have, in a sense, used his characters as a communication device between himself and his readers.

 

 

 

 

 

“How I hate this desolate month!” my lady said, as she walked about the garden, shivering beneath her sable mantle. “Everything dropping to ruin and decay, and the cold flicker of the sun lighting up the ugliness of the earth, as the glare of gas-lamps lights the wrinkles of an old woman. Shall I ever grow old, Phoebe? Will my hair ever drop off as the leaves are falling from those trees, and leave me wan and bare like them? What is to become of me when I grow old?”

She shivered at the thought of this more than she had done at the wintry breeze, and muffling herself closely in her fur, walked so fast, that her maid had some difficulty in keeping up with her. (108,109)

After closely looking at this passage, it was evident to me that although Lady Audley is referring to the literal, ‘ugliness of the earth’ and to what will happen to her when she grows old, the passage reveals Lady Audley’s guilt towards her actions thus far. When she describes, ‘everything dropping to ruin and decay, and the cold flicker of the sun lighting up the ugliness of the earth,’, she could be alluding to the complicated situation she is now in due to George Talboys’ return to England and the unlikely chance that he ends up residing in Audley and how George or someone else could piece the story together if they find out about her past which relates to when Lady Audley says, ‘the cold flicker of the sun lighting up the ugliness of the earth.’, which almost sounds like, ‘the harsh reality lighting up the truth of the situation’.

Lady Audley also make herself seem much older than she actually is from this passage, she repeats the word, ‘old’, three times in relation to herself, which is odd considering how short the passage is as well as how young she is. This hints at her past because she sounds as if she is already tired and ready to give up and the life that Phoebe thinks Lady Audley lived, gives no reason for her to sound so disheartened. However, because Phoebe found the baby slipper and lock of hair, she might begin to piece things together. Also, as readers we know about more about Lady Audley’s past so this passage perfectly describes someone much older than their years, already defeated.

Braddon even adds, ‘she shivered at the thought of this more than she had done at the wintry breeze,’, confirming my thoughts about her guilt and panic towards her secret.