Romantic Friendship In Victorian Literature (the Nineteenth Century Series)

ROMANTIC FRIENDSHIP IN VICTORIAN LITERATURE This page intentionally left blank Romantic Friendship in Victorian Literature CAROLYN W. DE LA L. OULTON Canterbury Christ Church University, UK © Carolyn W. de la L. Oulton 2007 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. Carolyn W. de la L. Oulton has asserted her moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work. Published by Ashgate Publishing Limited Gower House Croft Road Aldershot Hampshire GU11 3HR England Ashgate Publishing Company Suite 420 101 Cherry Street Burlington, VT 05401-4405 USA Ashgate website: http://www.ashgate.com British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Oulton, Carolyn, 1972– Romantic Friendship in Victorian Literature. – (The Nineteenth Century Series) 1. Friendship in literature. 2. English literature – 19th century - History and criticism. I. Title. 820.9’353’09034 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Oulton, Carolyn, 1972Romantic Friendship in Victorian Literature / Carolyn W. de la L Oulton. p . cm. – (The Nineteenth Century Series) Includes bibliographical references. 1. English literature – 19th century – History and criticism. 2. Friendship in literature. 3. Male friendship in literature. 4. Female friendship in literature. 5. Love in literature. 6. Gender identity in literature. 7. Homosexuality in literature. 8. Lesbianism in literture. I. Title. PR468.F75O86 2007 820’9’353–dc22 2006032274 ISBN 978-0-7546-5869-6 This book has been printed on acid-free paper Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Ltd, Bodmin, Cornwall. Contents The Nineteenth Century Series General Editors’ Preface vii Acknowledgements ix Introduction: A Kind of Enchantment 1 1 Ennobling Genius: Writing Victorian Romantic Friendship 7 2 Extraordinary Reserve: The Problem of Male Friendship 33 3 A Right to Your Intimacy: The Ends of Female Friendship 71 4 Tenderest Caresses: Romantic Friendship and the Satirists 107 5 Sinister Meaning: Crises at the Fin de Siècle 129 Conclusion 153 Bibliography 159 Index 167 This page intentionally left blank The Nineteenth Century Series General Editors’ Preface The aim of this series is to reflect, develop and extend the great burgeoning of interest in the nineteenth century that has been an inevitable feature of recent years, as that former epoch has come more sharply into focus as a locus for our understanding not only of the past, but of the countours of our modernity. It centres primarily upon major authors and subjects within Romantic and Victorian literature. It also includes studies of other British writers and issues, where these are matters of current debate: for example, biography and autobiography, journalism, periodical literature, travel writing, book production, gender and non-canonical writing. We are dedicated principally to publishing original monographs and symposia; our policy is to embrace a broad scope in chronology, approach and range of concern, and both to recognize and cut innovatively across such parameters as those suggested by the designations ‘Romantic’ and ‘Victorian’. We welcome new ideas and theories, while valuing traditional scholarship. It is hoped that the world which pre-dates yet so forcibly predicts and engages our own will emerge in parts, in the wider sweep, and in the lively streams of disputation and change that are so manifest an