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Angels and Monsters: Exploring the Restraining Binary in Late Victorian Fiction
- Date Issued:
- 2021
- Summary:
- This thesis explores the limited economic, professional, and political opportunities for women in the Victorian era and how these roles are perpetuated through literature. Often, the lack of opportunities confined women to two choices: the angel or the monster. While there has been significant research on this binary, Virginia Woolf’s cry to “kill the angel of the house” has not been rectified. To discuss the binary, I have analyzed Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s Lady Audley’s Secret and Charlotte Perkins Gilman “The Yellow Wallpaper” to discuss how these female writers reflect their authorial anxieties through Gothic tropes and a close identification with their heroines. Additionally, I have analyzed Thomas Hardy’s Tess of D’Urbervilles and Stephen Crane’s Maggie: A Girl of the Streets to discuss how these male authors take a naturalistic approach to critique the fallen woman trope.
Title: | Angels and Monsters: Exploring the Restraining Binary in Late Victorian Fiction. |
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Name(s): |
Boyar, Michelle, author Buckton, Oliver, Thesis advisor Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor Department of English Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters |
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Type of Resource: | text | |
Genre: | Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation | |
Date Created: | 2021 | |
Date Issued: | 2021 | |
Publisher: | Florida Atlantic University | |
Place of Publication: | Boca Raton, Fla. | |
Physical Form: | application/pdf | |
Extent: | 70 p. | |
Language(s): | English | |
Summary: | This thesis explores the limited economic, professional, and political opportunities for women in the Victorian era and how these roles are perpetuated through literature. Often, the lack of opportunities confined women to two choices: the angel or the monster. While there has been significant research on this binary, Virginia Woolf’s cry to “kill the angel of the house” has not been rectified. To discuss the binary, I have analyzed Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s Lady Audley’s Secret and Charlotte Perkins Gilman “The Yellow Wallpaper” to discuss how these female writers reflect their authorial anxieties through Gothic tropes and a close identification with their heroines. Additionally, I have analyzed Thomas Hardy’s Tess of D’Urbervilles and Stephen Crane’s Maggie: A Girl of the Streets to discuss how these male authors take a naturalistic approach to critique the fallen woman trope. | |
Identifier: | FA00013719 (IID) | |
Degree granted: | Thesis (MA)--Florida Atlantic University, 2021. | |
Collection: | FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection | |
Note(s): | Includes bibliography. | |
Subject(s): |
Victorian literature Feminism Tropes |
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Held by: | Florida Atlantic University Libraries | |
Sublocation: | Digital Library | |
Persistent Link to This Record: | http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00013719 | |
Use and Reproduction: | Copyright © is held by the author with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder. | |
Use and Reproduction: | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ | |
Host Institution: | FAU | |
Is Part of Series: | Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections. |