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Date: 27 May 2002 00:00 -0500
From: Automatic digest processor <[log in to unmask]>
To: Recipients of VICTORIA digests <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: VICTORIA Digest - 25 May 2002 to 26 May 2002 (#2002-146)
There are 18 messages totalling 710 lines in this issue.
Topics of the day:
1. Who is "Jane" in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's, "The Yellow Wallpaper"?
(2) 2. Who is "Jane" in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's, "The
Yellow Wallpaper"?
3. Stultsian evening costume (2)
4. Researching costs, 1880s (2)
5. Burial Alive (6)
6. prisons and prisoners (2)
7. prisons and prisoners/black maria
8. <No subject given>
9. Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Jane in YWP
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 26 May 2002 10:50:48 -0500
From: Elvira Casal <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Who is "Jane" in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's, "The Yellow
Wallpaper"?
On Sat, 25 May 2002 Becky Bratby <[log in to unmask]>
> As part of a course on Women Writers, I have recently read Charlotte
> Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wall-Paper". After losing her
> battle with madness and suffering a complete mental breakdown, the
> narrator of this text tells her husband, "I've got out
> at last...in spite of you and Jane!" [...]
> [...] alternatively, would
> anyone care to share their own ideas on this topic.
For my part, I have always interpreted "Jane" as another name for "Jenny." I
don't think it is odd that the name "Jane" is used in this spot instead of
"Jenny" because "Jenny" would have to be a diminutive, a sort of pet name
and if the narrator is feeling hostile toward the relative who is "taking
care of" her and her house, she would not be using the diminutive.
The suggestion that the name Jane may allude to Jane Eyre is a good one. But
it works even if Jane = Jenny. That is, the author may have the "madwoman in
the attic" in mind when naming her characters, and Jane/Jenny could be the
sane woman who replaces the mad one in the "real" world. (In this case, the
narrator's name might be Bertha. ;) )
Jane as the narrator's own name doesn't work for me. My feeling is that
it couldn't be the narrator's own name precisely because it is not used
before. How effective is it for the narrator to refer to her own name for
the first time at the end if the reader doesn't know that it is her name?
We'd need some hint before.
Lastly, I have always thought that there is a pairing between the husband
(John) and Jane/Jenny. The female caregiver (who may be the husband's sister
or other close relative) is identified with the man, not the woman in the
attic.
Elvira Casal
[log in to unmask]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 26 May 2002 08:59:39 -0700
From: Maggie Charleston <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Who is "Jane" in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's,
"The Yellow Wallpaper"?
While teaching three sections of Comp & Lit this past
semester, I encountered an anthology ("Discovering
Literature" by Prentice Hall) in which that
proclamation reads: "I've got out last... in spite of
you and Jennie!" Very different from the original
text as found in *The New England Magazine* in 1892.
My first searches when looking for original MS left me
disappointed, but I believe the change from Jane to
Jenny may be a variation of the name- as indicated in
the Norton anthology. However- many sudents pointed
out the schizophrenic disorder touted by
psychologists- Jane has been "displaced" in some
manner due to her condition. One student even
suggested (as many do) that the previously unnamed
marrator has been left in an insane asylum (as
Perkins herself was) and her husband, John, visits her
with his new girlfriend.
I suppose access to original MS would be the only way
to confirm- even on matters of punctuation- as the
1892 printing uses a question mark instead of an
exclamation point- "in spite of you and Jane?"
This questioning implies the narrator is more confused
than ever- adding to the ghastly notion of the story
where she does, in fact, go stark raving mad.
--- Becky Bratby <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
<HR>
<html><div style='background-color:'><DIV><TT>Hi
all!</TT></DIV>
<DIV><TT>As part of a course on Women Writers, I have
recently read Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow
Wall-Paper". After losing her battle with madness
and suffering a complete mental breakdown, the
narrator of this text tells her husband, "I've
got out at last...in spite of you and
Jane!" As there is no previous mention of "Jane"
in the text, there is some question, in my mind at
least, about who she really is.
Elaine R. Hedges provides a number of possible
explanations, including; Jane as an
alternate name for Jennie or Julia (two other
characters in the text) or, Jane as the narrator's own
name - i.e. she has escaped from herself and the
identity she has constructed for herself/had
constructed for her by the restrictions of her
society. Personally, I lean towards the
second of these possibilities. However, my
question is: could anyone on the list guide me towards
any critical material for further exploration!
of this subject or, alternatively, would anyone care
to share their own ideas on this topic.</TT></DIV>
<DIV><TT>Thanks in advance,</TT></DIV>
<DIV><TT>Rebecca Bratby.</TT></DIV>
<DIV><TT></TT> </DIV>
<DIV><TT><A
href="mailto:[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]</A></TT></DIV>
<DIV><TT>Student of ENGL2045 @ The University of
Queensland.</DIV></TT></div><br clear=all><hr>Get your
FREE download of MSN Explorer at <a
href='http://g.msn.com/1HM301201/41'>http://explorer.msn.com</a>.<br></html>
=====
"I'm extraordinarily patient
provided I get my own way in the end."
Margaret Thatcher
__________________________________________________
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------------------------------
Date: Sun, 26 May 2002 13:59:42 -0300
From: Beth Sutton-Ramspeck <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Who is "Jane" in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's,
"The Yellow Wallpaper"?
I believe the explanation for your anthology's use of "Jennie" at the
end was the editors' decision to "helpfully" "improve" Gilman's story.
Gilman's manuscript and the versions published during her lifetime all
had "Jane," though the punctuation varied: exclamation mark in
manuscript, period in _New England Magazine_, period in several other
editions that appeared during Gilman's life time.
All this, and much more, appears in Julie Bates Dock's remarkable
edition, _Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wall-paper" and the
History of Its Publication and Reception: A Critical Edition and
Documentary Casebook_ (Penn State P, 1998). Dock briefly argues that
Jennie was a common 19th c. diminutive of Jane (which is of course the
feminized version of "John"), and that there is thus no reason to reject
it as the name of John's sister. Dock also notes the frequency with
which editors have chosen to do so.
In addition to several charts of all substantive differences among the
various editions of the story, Dock's book includes Gilman's comments
and correspondence about the story and contemporary responses.
Essential stuff for anyone engaged in serious study of the story--but
also extremetly interesting in its own right, not least to those
interested in the theory and practice of editing literary texts.
Beth Sutton-Ramspeck
[log in to unmask]
----- Original Message -----
From: Maggie Charleston <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sunday, May 26, 2002 11:59 am
Subject: Re: Who is "Jane" in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's, "The Yellow
Wallpaper"?
> While teaching three sections of Comp & Lit this past
> semester, I encountered an anthology ("Discovering
> Literature" by Prentice Hall) in which that
> proclamation reads: "I've got out last... in spite of
> you and Jennie!" Very different from the original
> text as found in *The New England Magazine* in 1892.
>
> My first searches when looking for original MS left me
> disappointed, but I believe the change from Jane to
> Jenny may be a variation of the name- as indicated in
> the Norton anthology. However- many sudents pointed
> out the schizophrenic disorder touted by
> psychologists- Jane has been "displaced" in some
> manner due to her condition. One student even
> suggested (as many do) that the previously unnamed
> marrator has been left in an insane asylum (as
> Perkins herself was) and her husband, John, visits her
> with his new girlfriend.
>
> I suppose access to original MS would be the only way
> to confirm- even on matters of punctuation- as the
> 1892 printing uses a question mark instead of an
> exclamation point- "in spite of you and Jane?"
> This questioning implies the narrator is more confused
> than ever- adding to the ghastly notion of the story
> where she does, in fact, go stark raving mad.
>
> --- Becky Bratby <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> <HR>
> <html><div style='background-color:'><DIV><TT>Hi
> all!</TT></DIV>
> <DIV><TT>As part of a course on Women Writers, I have
> recently read Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow
> Wall-Paper". After losing her battle with madness
> and suffering a complete mental breakdown, the
> narrator of this text tells her husband, "I've
> got out at last...in spite of you and
> Jane!" As there is no previous mention of "Jane"
> in the text, there is some question, in my mind at
> least, about who she really is.
> Elaine R. Hedges provides a number of possible
> explanations, including; Jane as an
> alternate name for Jennie or Julia (two other
> characters in the text) or, Jane as the narrator's own
> name - i.e. she has escaped from herself and the
> identity she has constructed for herself/had
> constructed for her by the restrictions of her
> society. Personally, I lean towards the
> second of these possibilities. However, my
> question is: could anyone on the list guide me towards
> any critical material for further exploration!
> of this subject or, alternatively, would anyone care
> to share their own ideas on this topic.</TT></DIV>
> <DIV><TT>Thanks in advance,</TT></DIV>
> <DIV><TT>Rebecca Bratby.</TT></DIV>
> <DIV><TT></TT> </DIV>
> <DIV><TT><A
> href="mailto:[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]</TT></DIV>
> <DIV><TT>Student of ENGL2045 @ The University of
> Queensland.</DIV></TT></div><br clear=all><hr>Get your
> FREE download of MSN Explorer at <a
> href='http://explorer.msn.com.
> </html>"
>
target="l">http://g.msn.com/1HM301201/41'>http://explorer.msn.com.</html
>
>
>
> =====
> "I'm extraordinarily patient
> provided I get my own way in the end."
> Margaret Thatcher
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup
> http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com
>
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 26 May 2002 18:09:15 +0100
From: Chris Willis <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Stultsian evening costume
Hi!
Please can I pick people's brains?
In *The Trail of the Serpent* Mary Elizabeth Braddon refers to a waxwork
model of a murderer in "faultless Stultsian evening costume".
I've searched dictionaries, encylopedias, glossaries of slang and the
internet, but haven't been able to find out what "Stultsian" means. If
anyone can enlighten me, please, I'd really appreciate it. Many thanks.
All the best
Chris
================================================================
Chris Willis - London Guildhall University
[log in to unmask]
http://www.chriswillis.freeserve.co.uk/
"Books expand to fill more than the space available."
================================================================
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 26 May 2002 08:37:28 -0700
From: Myrtle Stanhope <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Researching costs, 1880s
Hello,
I'm researching costs of various everyday items in the mid to late 1880s,
and wonder if anyone can suggest sources for this information. For
household and clothing items, I have found contemporary advertisements (as
in, for instance, _The Illustrated London News_) to be helpful, though
hardly exhaustive. I also imagine that a personal diary or journal from
the period would be useful, if it noted expenditures. Unfortunately, I'm
not familiar enough with the era to know which authors are likely to record
such information.
If anyone can suggest sources or an alternative plan of research, I would
be very grateful. At present, I'm stuck on two particular items (unrelated
to each other): men's hats, and horses.
Many thanks,
Myrtle Stanhope
University of British Columbia
([log in to unmask])
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------------------------------
Date: Sun, 26 May 2002 18:57:01 +0100
From: Chris Willis <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Burial Alive
Hi!
Having recently read Jan Bondeson's *Buried Alive,* I'm looking for examples
of premature burial in Victorian fiction. I know about Poe's "The Premature
Burial" but I suspect there are lots more.
I'm particularly interested in any examples of premature burial in mausolea
or family vaults, and I'd be grateful for any suggestions.
Many thanks
All the best
Chris
================================================================
Chris Willis - London Guildhall University
[log in to unmask]
http://www.chriswillis.freeserve.co.uk/
"A lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the
Titanic."
================================================================
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 26 May 2002 14:40:59 EDT
From: Tom Kennney <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Burial Alive
There are several examples in Rider Haggard's novels of characters who are
at risk of being trapped forever inside a cave. I am thinking of She and
King Solomon's Mines in particular.
Tom Kenney
Doctoral Student
Fordham University
Bronx, NY
[log in to unmask]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 26 May 2002 12:21:14 -0700
From: "Peter H. Wood" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Stultsian evening costume
Dear Chris,
You asked for an explanation of the term "Stultsian" as referring to
men's evening dress.
From various references in Victorian novels and reminiscences, and later
writers of "Regency" works, I would say it refers to a suit made by Stulz,
Binnie & Son of 10 Clifford Street. Like all men's tailors, his suits went
in and out of fashion for the *haut ton*, but seem to have been approved by
most clubland customers until at least 1905 (the firm is still in Baedeker
for that year).
I would recommend the London Sherlock Holmes Society for information on
the late Victorian period. M.C. Black, an administrator with the Law
Faculty, is a member and an old friend of mine, and may be worth contacting
if you are anywhere near the Senate House where his office is.
Also there is the Sherlockian.Net:
www.sherlockian.net/
This is the major Canadian web-site, with links to dozens of other
Sherlockian sites world-wide.
Good luck,
Peter Wood
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 26 May 2002 16:38:11 -0500
From: Peter Garrett <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Burial Alive
In addition to "The Premature Burial," there's Poe's "The Fall of the
House of Usher," in which Madeline returns from a tomb that's a substitute
for the family mausoleum.
___________________________________________________________________________
____ Peter Garrett
Department of English (217) 333-2391
Unit for Criticism and Interpretive Theory (217) 333-2581
University of Illinois (217) 333-4321 FAX
608 S. Wright St. [log in to unmask]
Urbana, IL 61801
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 26 May 2002 22:36:11 +0100
From: K Eldron <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Burial Alive
There's a near miss in the Sherlock Holmes story [The Disappearance of] Lady
Frances Carfax. Her coffin is intercepted on its way to burial:
"With a united effort we tore off the coffin-lid. As we did so there came
from the inside a stupefying and overpowering smell of chloroform. A body
lay within, its head all wreathed in cotton-wool, which had been soaked in
the narcotic. Holmes plucked it off and disclosed the statuesque face of a
handsome and spiritual woman of middle age. In an instant he had passed his
arm round the figure and raised her to a sitting position.
"Is she gone, Watson? Is there a spark left? Surely we are not too late!"
For half an hour it seemed that we were. What with actual suffocation, and
what with the poisonous fumes of the chloroform, the Lady Frances seemed to
have passed the last point of recall. And then, at last, with artificial
respiration, with injected ether, and with every device that science could
suggest, some flutter of life, some quiver of the eyelids, some dimming of a
mirror, spoke of the slowly returning life."
It's not one of the best stories (by a long way) but I read it at 8 years
old and it took several night mares and a long time for my imagination to
shake free of the horror of what might have happened to poor Lady F if
Holmes hadn't been there.......
K Eldron
[log in to unmask]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 26 May 2002 18:02:38 -0400
From: Hugh MacDougall <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Burial Alive
"Injin" Joe in Mark Twain's Adventures of Tom Sawyer. He is trapped and
starves to death in a cave (to Twain's evident delight).
Hugh C. MacDougall
Secretary/Treasurer
James Fenimore Cooper Society
8 Lake Street, Cooperstown, NY 13326
[log in to unmask]
http://www.oneonta.edu/external/cooper
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris Willis" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, May 26, 2002 1:57 PM
Subject: Burial Alive
> Hi!
>
> Having recently read Jan Bondeson's *Buried Alive,* I'm looking for
examples
> of premature burial in Victorian fiction. I know about Poe's "The
Premature
> Burial" but I suspect there are lots more.
>
> I'm particularly interested in any examples of premature burial in
mausolea
> or family vaults, and I'd be grateful for any suggestions.
>
> Many thanks
> All the best
> Chris
>
> ================================================================
> Chris Willis - London Guildhall University
> [log in to unmask]
> http://www.chriswillis.freeserve.co.uk/
>
> "A lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the
> Titanic."
> ================================================================
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 26 May 2002 18:03:45 -0400
From: Kainoa Harbottle <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Burial Alive
A thoroughly enjoyable "near burial" (in which the narrator, paralyzed
but conscious, is able to watch the conspirators prepare to stick him in
the family vault) can be found in Sheridan Le Fanu's "The Room in the
Dragon Volant", published in his Dr. Hesselius collection of stories *In
a Glass Darkly*.
Kainoa Harbottle
English Department
University of Delaware
Chris Willis wrote:
>
> Hi!
>
> Having recently read Jan Bondeson's *Buried Alive,* I'm looking for
> examples of premature burial in Victorian fiction. I know about Poe's
> "The Premature Burial" but I suspect there are lots more.
>
> I'm particularly interested in any examples of premature burial in
> mausolea or family vaults, and I'd be grateful for any suggestions.
>
> Many thanks
> All the best
> Chris
>
> ================================================================
> Chris Willis - London Guildhall University
> [log in to unmask]
> http://www.chriswillis.freeserve.co.uk/
>
> "A lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the
> Titanic."
> ================================================================
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 26 May 2002 17:20:55 -0400
From: Carolyn Nelson <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: prisons and prisoners
I would appreciate any help I can get answering these questions:
Why did prisoners in the late 19th and early 20th centuries have arrows on
their clothing? When did prisoners stop wearing clothing with arrows? I
note in photos that suffragette prisoners had arrows stamped their clothing.
Why were the vans that took people to prison called Black Marias? Where did
that term orginate?
Thank you,
Carolyn Nelson
West Virginia University
[log in to unmask]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 26 May 2002 22:57:35 -0400
From: Hugh MacDougall <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: prisons and prisoners
An unsourced assertion from: http://www.i-way.co.uk/~sid/sidney.html
"The broad arrow design - best known on prisoners uniforms - which is used
to identify property of the government is based on the Sidney family coat of
arms. Henry Sidney, Earl of Romney, was Master of Ordnance to William and
Mary and was asked to mark all government property to reduce theft. He chose
to use his family emblem which is a broad arrow, or Pheon, and this is still
in use today by the UK government 300 years later."
Whether or not this is accurate, the "broad arrow" has long been used to
mark British government property -- and for a long time this included the
uniforms worn by prisoners. Like the "stripes" worn in America, it was
obviously intended to make escape by prisoners difficult, and no doubt also
to impress on the prisoners their lowly status.
The use of the broad arrow on prison uniforms was apparently abolished in
Britain in the 1920s. See: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/prisons/prishist.htm
Hugh C. MacDougall
Secretary/Treasurer
James Fenimore Cooper Society
8 Lake Street, Cooperstown, NY 13326
[log in to unmask]
http://www.oneonta.edu/external/cooper
----- Original Message -----
From: "Carolyn Nelson" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, May 26, 2002 5:20 PM
Subject: prisons and prisoners
> I would appreciate any help I can get answering these questions:
>
> Why did prisoners in the late 19th and early 20th centuries have arrows on
their clothing? When did prisoners stop wearing clothing with arrows? I note
in photos that suffragette prisoners had arrows stamped their clothing.
>
> Why were the vans that took people to prison called Black Marias? Where
did that term orginate?
>
> Thank you,
> Carolyn Nelson
> West Virginia University
> [log in to unmask]
>
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 26 May 2002 23:00:42 -0400
From: Hugh MacDougall <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: prisons and prisoners/black maria
There is a long discussion of the origin of "black maria" at:
http://www.quinion.com/words/qa/qa-bla1.htm
There doesn't seem to be any definitive answer.
Hugh MacDougall
----- Original Message -----
From: "Carolyn Nelson" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, May 26, 2002 5:20 PM
Subject: prisons and prisoners
> I would appreciate any help I can get answering these questions:
>
> Why did prisoners in the late 19th and early 20th centuries have arrows on
their clothing? When did prisoners stop wearing clothing with arrows? I note
in photos that suffragette prisoners had arrows stamped their clothing.
>
> Why were the vans that took people to prison called Black Marias? Where
did that term orginate?
>
> Thank you,
> Carolyn Nelson
> West Virginia University
> [log in to unmask]
>
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 26 May 2002 23:28:17 -0400
From: Angela Bryant <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: <No subject given>
Though it may not exactly fit, the fiance of Lucy Westenra (Mina Harker's
best friend in Dracula) fears she has been the victim of a premature burial
before he discovers the is the babyeating bloofer lady!
angela bryant
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 26 May 2002 22:52:47 -0500
From: Patrick Leary <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Researching costs, 1880s
Shirley Nicholson's _A Victorian Household_ (rev. ed. 1998) could be
a help with this. The book is based on the very detailed diaries of Marion
Sambourne (wife of Punch cartoonist Linley Sambourne), in which she
frequently recorded where she shopped and what she paid for various
items. The diaries begin in 1881 and were continued for over thirty years.
-- Patrick
____________
Patrick Leary
[log in to unmask]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 28 May 2002 07:08:05 +1000
From: Donna Wright <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Jane in YWP
In some research I have done for further reading (simply to understand =
and get different perspectives on the novella), I came across an =
interesting page with a full text and notes to specific words or =
phrases. With reference to Jane, it says:
=20
"when the narrator uses her name in the third person, she depicts 'the =
conflict between the heroines two selves'. Gilman's use of this word =
'shows subconscious signs of resentment towards her roles of wife and =
mother'".
=20
The address of the site is
http://itech.fgcu.edu/faculty/wohlpart/alra/gilman.htm
=20
It appears to be a genuine academic site, and you may find more useful =
information if needed! Sorry about any errors, but my fingers are =
frozen! I hate the winter!!!
Hope this helps!
Donna Wright,
Undergraduate, UQ St Lucia.
------------------------------
End of VICTORIA Digest - 25 May 2002 to 26 May 2002 (#2002-146)
***************************************************************
---------- End Forwarded Message ----------
|
