dudzinsj – Victorian Sexualities

Archive Project: Havelock Ellis

Havelock Ellis’ first volume of Studies in the Psychologies of Sex (1897) closely examines a number of ideas and issues surrounding queer topics. Ellis was a writer, and a doctor, thus where his interest in the body, and sexuality comes into play. His work acknowledges the absurdity of certain ideas or theories that may have previously been believed. In his preface, Ellis states, “Sex lies at the root of life, and we can never learn to reverence life until we know how to understand sex. —So, it seems to me” (X). His work is not just an examination of sex, and other pertaining topics; it is also an attempt to further understand human existence as a whole.

The section that I am focusing on is titled, ‘The Theory of Sexual Inversion.’ This work gives a queer reading of the Victorian era as it allows a current-day reader to see how people of different socioeconomic classes viewed sexual inversion and other non-heteronormative tendencies. This specific excerpt also considers the characteristics of one’s sexuality and how these characteristics come about or if they come about, as the argument that one’s sexual orientation is congenital is approached as well. There is a contrast in the second and third lines, Ellis writes, “Is it [sexual inversion], as many would have us believe, an abominably acquired vice, to be stamped out by the prison? or is it, as a few assert, a beneficial variety of human emotion which should be tolerated or even fostered?” (129). The words ‘many’ and ‘few’ clarify that the more popular belief is also the more negative one. Ellis acknowledges that there are reasonable truths in both sides of the argument, ‘is sexual inversion congenital or not?’ He determines that ultimately, one cannot argue that sexual inversion is acquired without counteracting his or her own point— therefore, the only valid argument is that sexual inversion is congenital. The progressiveness of this argument is made evident in the beginning with the word ‘few’ being attributed to this opinion, and to the opinion that sexual inversion should be accepted.

Ellis states those who wish to “enlarge the sphere of the congenital [opinion]” include “Krafft-Ebing, Moll, Féré” but also “today the majority of authorities” (130). At first glance, this seems to negate my original point of ‘few;’ however, I believe the key word in this line is ‘authorities.’ A question is, who is authorities ascribed to? The answer to this question exposes more about how Ellis’ work gives a queer, or non-heteronormative view of the Victorian Era. Those who have authority are most likely educated to some extent. Though in 1880 an education act made school attendance mandatory for children of any economic standing, this law was not followed and only about 80% of children were attending school. This 80% were mostly from the higher class. However, the majority of adults there, at the time, are not or were not educated, making the authority figures, those who are educated, and of higher social and economic standing, the minority, or the ‘few.’

Ellis’ work gives a queer point of view on the Victorian era by allowing one to see the perspectives that many people of different backgrounds possess on the topic of sexual inversion.

Link to the uploaded work on the VQA: http://vqa.dickinson.edu/essay/studies-psychology-sex

Consulted information on education can be found here:

http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/livinglearning/school/overview/1870educationact/

And here:

http://www.victorianchildren.org/victorian-schools/

Citation of Havelock Ellis’ work: Ellis, Havelock. “The Theory of Sexual Inversion.” Studies in the Psychologies of Sex, vol. 1, London, The University Press, 1897, pp. 129-30. 6 vols.

Alice’s real fear

In class we’ve talked a lot about Alice growing and her desire to stay a child. At the beginning of Through the Looking-Glass Alice is talking to her cat about punishment and utters, “suppose each punishment was to be going without a dinner: then, when the miserable day came, I should have to go without fifty dinners at once! Well, I shouldn’t mind that much! I’d far rather go without them than eat them!” (116) One reason this statement is problematic is simply because one needs food in order to live. A second reason that this is an important part is that it makes evident Alice’s hopes to not grow, and perhaps shows her desire to avoid being nourished in a sexual way. Though it is not stated directly that the food eaten for these dinners would be sweet, the idea of fifty dinners is a whole lot of food. Eating that would be like a desperate attempt to satisfy some sort of desire. After experiencing quite unpredictable growth in the first half of the book, it makes sense that Alice is scared to become bigger and maybe even outgrow her home. Shortly after that statement, Alice speaks to the kitten about the weather. She says, “Do you hear the snow against the window-panes, Kitty? How nice and soft it sounds! […] I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, ‘Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.’ And when they wake up in the summer, Kitty, they dress themselves all in green, and dance about — whenever the wind blows — oh, that’s very pretty” (116-17). There are a lot of different things going on in this passage. First, the fact that she likes that the trees wake up in a changed state, as green beings, reveals something that our assumptions about her may have gotten wrong. Perhaps it’s not the actual act of growing up that Alice is afraid of, maybe she is moreso afraid of the rapid speed at which this growing is taking place. The fact that Alice enjoys the uncontrollable weather, the snow, further suggests that she is not afraid of the inevitable change her body is going through. Adding to this argument her enjoyment that arises about the trees sleeping for such a long time, through a whole spring season. This insinuates that it is, in fact, the rate at which she will experience this change that terrifies her.

A second part of this passage that, when examined, reveals Alice’s beliefs is the banal idea of whiteness representing purity. Snow is the white quilt that would hypothetically cover the trees as they sleep and mature into changed beings. As they emerge into the summer season, the snow is gone. This loss of snow could represent a loss of purity. It is as if snow’s kiss is a goodbye to a young Alice; she is undergoing a change that dictates the rest of her life.

Assumed Power

There are many objects not immediately noticed in the piece of artwork, Debut in the Studio. Through an examination of this work, and a couple of poems read in class, I have come to see the way in which male dominance was accepted as a cultural normality during the Victorian Era. A man’s desire of a nice, virginal woman is suggested in this etching. A couple of objects in the work resemble angels. Angels generally represent purity, they can represent the dead, and they can represent holiness and faith. When looking at the etching, I noticed that at the top left there is what appears to be a doll hanging from the curtains (I’m not actually sure what this is supposed to really be). This doll is a stark white color which reiterates much of what we have talked about in class about the symbolism of this bright, however, quite eerie, color.

I see another angel towards the middle of the picture though looking at the picture in a literal sense, one sees that this purported angel is actually just the curtains and the tie that holds them together. Christina Rossetti’s poem, “In an Artist’s Studio” relates greatly to this piece of artwork. The word angel is included in this poem; Rossetti writes, “A saint, an angel — every canvas means / The same one meaning, neither more or less.” Earlier in the poem the author writes, “One face looks out from all of his canvases.” In the etching, one can see that the focal point is the half clothed woman who is in the middle of the left side of the work. Everyone is looking at her, including the male artist. When one examines the man’s sketch though, he or she sees that a different woman is drawn. The ‘one face’ that Rossetti has written about is collective, it is woman’s face. There is significance in the fact that the artist is looking at one woman while drawing another, even though, both of these women look strangely similar. Their cherubic faces and shockingly white skin exemplify all that a woman of the Victorian Era should be. The angelic features make them desirable character’s in this man’s story. By creating an image where the man is focusing on two very similar-looking women, it is as if he is lusting over their similar features. These attributes are the women’s purity, and heavenly bodies. The man focuses more on those rather than the distinguishable traits that make each woman herself. This man allows himself, whether he realizes it or not, to see the woman as less than human thus asserting and displaying the control he (and other males in the Victorian era) have, and has over females.

A second observation of this work that demonstrates man’s great power over women is shown through the placement of subjects in the artwork. Despite there being five women (including the angels) and only one man, the man has the whole right side of the work for himself and his sketch. The man has so much space all for himself, while the women are cramped! The power that these men believe that they posses is further displayed in Robert Browning’s poem “My Last Duchess.” In this poem the main subject, a man takes control over his now former wife by hiding a picture of her behind a curtain. He is the one who draws the curtain, but only when he pleases. Browning writes, “ […] since none puts by / The curtain I have drawn for you, but I […]” The man has control over who sees the painting of his wife, and the man in the etching has control over what he wants his women to look like as he is the artist (although I’m not sure that the women in this work can get any more white and similar-looking than they already are.)

Both poems and this artwork demonstrate the interesting gender power dynamics of this era. The fact that none of these works blatantly tells readers or viewers that men are in charge, shows that that role a man has, one of power, is just accepted. No one is repudiating the assumptions that these poems, and this etching are making.

Ramus, Edmond. “Debut in the Studio.” Trout Gallery, http://www.troutgallery.org/

Walter’s Mind and Visual Influences

John Ruskin, who was read about in Richard Altich’s “Victorian People and Ideas: A Companion for the Modern Reader of Victorian Literature” is an English art critic. He believes that ‘the quality of man’s inner life was determined by the presence or absence of beauty in his everyday surroundings” (281). By examining Ruskin’s conviction in relation to the language that Collins uses to describe certain environments, and people in his story, readers are exposed to what men, (and in this post, specifically what Walter’s) ‘inner life’ may be like.

Walter’s love interest, Miss Laura Fairlie, is a character who is most evidently seen as beautiful. Collins writes in the beginning of the story about Laura’s appearances saying that she is, “ the woman who first gives life, light, and form to our shadowy conceptions of beauty. […] Take her as the visionary nursling of your own fancy” (52). Using this lense, and assuming that Collins agrees with Ruskin’s opinion (which I don’t totally think he does, but that isn’t exactly important right now), the reader can see that when Walter is with Laura, because she is the one who, ‘first gives life’ and is so visually pleasing, he is most content; he finds her the most beautiful. Though this quote is so early in the story, it is important as it shows that there is attraction between Walter and Laura.

Because we know that the state of a man is based on the presence and absence of beauty in his life, when Laura seemingly passes, the reader can conclude that Walter is not quite at peace inside. Her death brings him into hysterics. When Walter’s mother approaches him to bring him the news of Laura’s death Collins writes, “I saw something in my mother’s face which told me that a secret oppression lay heavy on her heart. […] You have something to tell me” (407). At this point in the story, because of knowing the great significance of the visual appearances of Collins’ characters, one realizes that Walter’s ‘inner life’ is disturbed immediately when he sees his mother’s contorted face. Walter’s newly conflicted state of mind, is a result of Laura, the most beautiful, her death. Supposing man’s inner well-being is mostly dictated by visual cues, Walter’s internal, rapidly growing, feeling of strife is more directly a result of his mother’s reaction. His strife just gets worse after actually hearing the news.

This conflict that Walter is experiencing leads him to dramatics. Shown as Walter’s inner dialogue and as his actions, Collins writes, “Oh death, thou hast thy sting! […] I laid my head, on the broad white stone, and closed my weary eyes on the earth around […] Oh, my love! my love! my heart may speak to you now!” (409). These extreme internal declarations of exasperation make me ask that, had Walter been a woman, would he have been subjected to an asylum due to his extreme emotions, and seemingly hysterical character? At this point in the story, his emotions and actions do not seem all that different than those of Anne Catherick’s. The difference between the two is that Walter does not externally express his thoughts and feelings whereas Anne, many times, seemingly cannot help but wear her heart on her sleeve.

There are many ways to apply Ruskin’s idea of beauty dictating man’s emotional state to The Woman in White. This examination of Walter’s inner self does not even begin to scratch the surface of all that could potentially be uncovered using this lense. But even these small insights learned from applying Ruskin’s belief help to develop a better understanding of the male characters in this story, and how their minds may work.

Loss as a Major Theme

Throughout The Woman in White, many characters go through losses that alter their life and lifestyle; Miss Laura Fairlie is one of these characters. Despite her growing forbidden love for Mr. Walter Hartright, Miss Fairlie marries another character who she does not love, Sir Percival Glyde. One point in this story, Miss Fairlie asks her half-sister, Marian Halcomb to continue to write to Mr. Hartright even though he has left and their love can never be. Laura pleads, “You write to him, and he writes to you, […] While I am alive, if he asks after me, always tell him I am well, and never say I am unhappy. Don’t distress him, Marian – for my sake, don’t distress him” (173). This passage is about people keeping in touch; however, this passage is also darker than it seems. Though not directly discussed, feelings of loss are key matters in this quote.

By telling Mr. Hartright that Laura is well, it is as if Marian is sending this version of her sister away forever, where she will live in his mind. Generally speaking, being sent away is a bad thing, like readers see through character Anne Catherick, who was sent away to an asylum, which she detests. In this case though, the happy Laura gets to be elsewhere (in Mr. Hartright’s thoughts). During this, the conflicted, fragile, and depressed remains of her character, live on and marry Sir Percival Glyde. Her happiness is lost and so are her hopes to develop a relationship with the noble Mr. Hartright.

The latter half of the quote also presents the theme of loss. The continuation of the passage above goes: “If I die first, promise you will give him this little book of his drawings, with my hair in it. There can be no harm, when I am gone, of telling him that I put it in there with my own hands” (173). This idea, of Laura including a piece of her hair in the book, I like to think, is quite significant. Hair is dead right from the start of the scalp, or from the beginning. The potential for Laura and Mr. Hartright’s relationship to grow was automatically seen as a dead idea, right as Mr. Hartright arrived (because she is already engaged). It is as if the hair is a symbol of their bond.

Laura’s loss of Mr. Hartright, and of her independence (after marrying Sir Percival Glyde) ties her to so many other characters, and their experiences in The Woman in White. This theme has been present in the story, even if not blatantly stated, from the beginning. Loss has been haunting Anne Catherick, who is trying desperately to rid, or lose her reputation of being the crazy woman from the asylum. Loss has also affected Marian. When Laura got married it was as if Marian had lost a half of herself. So much of Marian’s identity was being a protector to Laura.

Author Wilkie Collins’ inclusion of this understated theme makes me intrigued to see what is going come of Laura and Mr. Hartright and these character’s futures. The author exemplifies the theme of loss, and specifically, this repetition of women losing things (or people) most prominently through Laura. Through the showcasing of this theme, perhaps Collins is commenting on how easy it is for women to lose power over their futures, as readers see, outside sources can hinder one’s development in many specific ways.