Gender, the New Woman, and the Monster
This book views late Victorian femininity, the New Woman, and gender through literary representations of the figure of the monster, an appendage to the New Woman. The monster, an aberrant occurrence, performs Brecht’s “alienation effect,” making strange t
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Gender, the New Woman, and the Monster
Elizabeth D. Macaluso
Gender, the New Woman, and the Monster
Elizabeth D. Macaluso Queensborough Community College Queens, NY, USA
ISBN 978-3-030-30475-1 ISBN 978-3-030-30476-8 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30476-8 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Cover illustration: Maram_shutterstock.com This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Preface
My book considers the way that the figure of the monster contributes to the debate about the New Woman and gender at the British fin de siècle. The figure of the monster contributes three conclusions to this discussion. (1) The figure of the monster reveals that there was a conflict in culture in Britain at the fin de siècle between British subjects who held traditional values (conservatives) and those who exhibited progressive viewpoints (New Liberals, radicals, and socialists). (2) The figure of the monster collapses social categories and boundaries that traditionalists held dear, like race and colonialism (native-ness versus foreignness), gender and the New Woman, homo/sexuality, and discourses on poverty. (3) The figure of the monster shows that the New Woman and gender are also indeterminate and liminal subjects. Friendships between women can be queer. The British populous viewed the New Woman as either a monstrous figure (a threat to family, nation, and Empire) or a laudable figure (a role model for New Women and women to emulate). The foreign and perverse violence of the monster shows that conflict was embedded in colonialism, the New Woman, sexuality, and poverty at centu
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