Literature Compass editor and author, Anne Stiles (St. Louis University) shares her thoughts on scholarship regarding Dickens, psychology, gender and the brain.
Papers discussed are:
The Manly Mind? Revisiting the Victorian ‘Sex in Brain’ Debate by Rob Boddice
Victorian Sexualities by Holly Furneaux
Unsettling the Normative: Articulations of Masculinity in Victorian Literature and Culture by Dustin Friedman
Dickens and Women by Kathryn Sutherland
In Such a State of Ink: Adolescents in the Novels of Charles Dickens by Elizabeth Welburn
Victorian Psychology and the Novel by Anne Stiles
David Copperfield as Psychological Fiction by Mark Spilka
#1 by Dr. Bibhudutt Dash on March 8, 2012 - 10:47 am
Exposition of a classic triad of psychology, gender and the brain in Dickens scholarship. Excellent!
#2 by Joanne Ella Parsons on March 8, 2012 - 11:40 am
Fantastic and productive overview of these articles, I particularly enjoyed her discussion of Boddice’s “Manly Mind”
#3 by Dr. Bibhudutt Dash on March 8, 2012 - 11:53 am
I’m interested to know about Dickens’ depiction of Nature in his works. His portrayal of The Ivy Green is so powerful.
#4 by Anna on March 8, 2012 - 5:08 pm
Victorian Sexualities-
While reading Oliver Twist and Bleak House, both which feature orphans who had “fallen women” as mothers, I was struck by how the Dickensian representations of women and women’s sexuality conflicts with what the Victorian Era presented. Dickens wrote women, such as Miss Nancy and Agnes Fleming in Oliver Twist and Lady Dedlock in Bleak House, that were condemned because of their sexual “improprieties.”
In Victorian Sexualities the idea that sexuality was not as shamed as we seem to think it was in Victorian England was pursued. Though the article presented some interesting theories on homosexuality and lesbianism in historical Victorian England, Dickens’ writing reflected his society and in his books pre-martial sex caused many women to fall from society’s grace.
#5 by Jessica Stillwell on March 8, 2012 - 7:29 pm
I find the idea of homosexuality in Dickens novels to be fascinating. As I read Bleak House for the first time I cannot help but feel as though Esther and Ada’s relationship has an underlining lesbian context that is more than just Esther fawning over Ada because she is her companion and/or due to the safety for a friendship over allowing herself to experience male relationships.
#6 by Rosie Reeves on March 8, 2012 - 10:23 pm
I find it interesting how Dickens portrays the role of women in his novel on his own experiences with women in his lifetime. I found the artical Dickens and women interesting to read.
#7 by Anna on March 8, 2012 - 11:16 pm
In response Jessica Stillwell’s comment-
I saw that as well! In my Dickens class a few other students and I discussed the possible lesbian subtext that occured between Ester and Ada. At first I assumed that their affections for one another was platonic, but the more I read the more I got the feeling that there might be more going on in their relationship.
#8 by Makenzie on March 9, 2012 - 3:43 am
I found the brainwaves study mentioned to be particularly interesting. The idea that middle class men were only just above women and “savages” is seen in Oliver Twist. Oliver has a complex vocabulary that is rarely found in someone who hasn’t been educated, isn’t well read, or hasn’t been exposed to that language regularly. However, he is from a fairly wealthy family, thus he’s simply naturally more intelligent.
#9 by Anne Stiles on March 9, 2012 - 4:51 am
I love this idea — I never thought to connect Oliver’s extraordinary vocabulary with superior brain power, but it would make sense according to Boddice’s article.