---------- Forwarded Message ---------- Date: 30 June 2004 00:00 -0500 From: Automatic digest processor <[log in to unmask]> To: Recipients of VICTORIA digests <[log in to unmask]> Subject: VICTORIA Digest - 28 Jun 2004 to 29 Jun 2004 (#2004-21) There are 26 messages totalling 793 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. Descriptions of rape (7) 2. Query concerning Victorian Conduct (2) 3. History of Victorian studies (was Victorian conduct) 4. Richard Redgrave's "The Sempstress" - new owner? (3) 5. HG Wells' broken leg (2) 6. water/latrines 7. Redgrave Semptress 8. Copyright and visual images - was RE: Redgrave Semptress (4) 9. seduction scenes 10. Daniel and Mordecai (2) 11. Descriptions of rape/seduction 12. George Eliot's contributions to periodicals. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 08:48:06 GMT From: Lesley Hall <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Descriptions of rape > I am looking at an accusation of rape laid in 1877/78, and am working on an > assumption that the rape may not have taken place,at least not at the time or > location described. (There are other good reasons for the accusation to have > been made) What I would really appreciate from list members is descriptions of > rapes or explicit seductions, particularly in a domestic environment in > fictional accounts. See Shani d'Cruze, _Crimes of Outrage_, which addresses these issues. Lesley Hall [log in to unmask] www.lesleyahall.net ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 05:31:32 EDT From: Susan Hoyle <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Descriptions of rape In a message dated 29/06/2004 02:37:15 GMT Daylight Time, [log in to unmask] writes: >>What I would really appreciate from list members is descriptions of rapes or explicit seductions, particularly in a domestic environment in fictional accounts.<< Tess in _Tess of the d'Urbervilles_ Susan [log in to unmask] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 05:32:19 EDT From: Susan Hoyle <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Descriptions of rape In a message dated 29/06/2004 02:37:15 GMT Daylight Time, [log in to unmask] writes: >> What I would really appreciate from list members is descriptions of rapes or explicit seductions, particularly in a domestic environment in fictional accounts.<< Oh, and Hetty in _Adam Bede_. Susan [log in to unmask] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 16:16:07 +1000 From: Bradley Nitins <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Query concerning Victorian Conduct Dear All, Without meaning to give the impression of irritation or ingratitude i wonder why no one yet has addressed my inquiry concerning Victorian conduct which was posted before both Lesley Hall, Joanna Devereuax and Shelly Martin's queries on much the same topic (23/06). I find it hard to believe that nobody knows anything as clearly you all know so much ;) And so, just in case it was lost for some of you in the cyber-ether i shall repeat it: I would very much like to ask for help concerning information or directions to obtaining information on the following more obscure titles: (Anon) "Self-Reliance; A book for young men; Being brief biographic sketches of men who have risen to independence and usefulness by perseverance and energy" (1852); (Anon) "Success in Life: A book for young men" (1852); as well as D.B Bunce's, "Don't; a manual of mistakes and improprieties more or less prevalent in conduct and speech" (1883); and N.D Umer's "Stop!: a handy monitor, pocket conscience and portable guardian against the World, the Flesh and the Devil" (1884). Furthermore, with all respect, i must disagree with James Eli Adams suggestion of Michel Curtin's "Propriety and Position" as a necessary secondary source for the study of Victorian conduct. I know, it all depends on how you define conduct, but i think it is relatively uncontentious to say that Curtin is primarily concerned with Victorian etiquette literature and not conduct literature. Indeed Curtin, as well as a recent work by Majorie Morgan "Manners Morals and Class in England", both forward the dubious argument (in my humble opinion) that conduct literature had somehow disappeared from the socio-cultural landscape during the Victorian period (for Morgan this takes place by 1830, for Curtin it is the late 18th C, see for example his "Question of Manners: Status and Gender in Etiquette and Courtesy" in _The American Historical Review_). Amongst other things it is exactly these claims that my thesis intends to disprove. Best regards, Bradley Nitins University of Queensland ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 08:20:02 -0400 From: James Eli Adams <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Query concerning Victorian Conduct At 04:16 PM 6/29/2004 +1000, you wrote: Furthermore, with all respect, i must disagree with James Eli Adams suggestion of Michel Curtin's "Propriety and Position" as a necessary secondary source for the study of Victorian conduct. I know, it all depends on how you define conduct, but i think it is relatively uncontentious to say that Curtin is primarily concerned with Victorian etiquette literature and not conduct literature. Indeed Curtin, as well as a recent work by Majorie Morgan "Manners Morals and Class in England", both forward the dubious argument (in my humble opinion) that conduct literature had somehow disappeared from the socio-cultural landscape during the Victorian period (for Morgan this takes place by 1830, for Curtin it is the late 18th C, see for example his "Question of Manners: Status and Gender in Etiquette and Courtesy" in _The American Historical Review_). Amongst other things it is exactly these claims that my thesis intends to disprove. Curtin is indeed "primarily concerned with Victorian etiquette literature and not conduct literature," as he himself stresses; he argues that the social anxieties of the Victorians in effect transformed (diminished, he would argue) conduct literature into etiquette literature, a distinction that he tries to establish through close reading and comparison of over a hundred primary sources. If Mr. Nitins wishes to argue against the claim, then Curtin's book is indeed a "necessary secondary source," because it offers the most effective argument for that claim. The significance of a piece of scholarship, as I hope Mr. Nitins will discover, does not turn on whether one agrees with its conclusions. Best, James Eli Adams Director of Graduate Studies Department of English Cornell University Goldwin Smith 250 Ithaca, NY 14853-3201 607-255-4895/5-6800 fax: 607-255-6661 [log in to unmask] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 10:03:04 -0400 From: Michael Wolff <[log in to unmask]> Subject: History of Victorian studies (was Victorian conduct) I, too was puzzled at the limited response to my asking for comments on various aspects of Victorian studies from VICTORIA subscribers. I'm emboldened by Mr. Nitins' repeating his request to repeat mine. Here it is: I'm planning a sort of professional memoir: 1) going back to 1955 and the beginnings of the journal "Victorian Studies"--it's my impression that interdisciplinarity as stressed in our earliest editorials was not as obvious a mode as it is now; and 2) going back to 1967 and my starting the "Victorian Periodicals Newsletter" and later the Research Society for Victorian Periodicals--again it's my impression that the press wasn't the widely used primary source that it now seems to be. I should very much like to hear from VICTORIA subscribers (and others) about their sense of the impact of VS and VPR and the various regional and national Victorian groups on their work and their sense of the period. Modesty suggests private replies but common sense (mine at least) thinks this sort of archeological dig might be of general interest. Michael Wolff [log in to unmask] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 15:13:57 +0100 From: Nicola Bown <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Richard Redgrave's "The Sempstress" - new owner? The Forbes Collection sale was handled by Christies, rather than Christopher Wood. I know lots of items were unsold at the end of the sale (bought back in), but I'm sure The Sempstress wasn't one of them. Dealers and auction houses are not allowed to tell inquirers who has bought works in sale, but they will normally pass on a letter addressed 'to the owner of ......'. Nicola Bown Birkbeck College ------------------------------------------------- This mail sent through IMP: http://horde.org/imp/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 10:08:39 -0500 From: Kathleen O'Neill Sims <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Richard Redgrave's "The Sempstress" - new owner? Yes, it was handled by Christie's, but Christopher Wood lists the price at which *The Sempstress* was sold on his website. At points in his "blurb" on the sale, he does identify buyers. And he also lists both past and upcoming sales, in which he seems to be involved. In his article, he mentions "Kip Forbes" with familiarity. I erroneously assumed he had something to do with that sale. I also find it hard to distinguish between what is considered art history, and therefore within the public, academic domain, and what is considered private commerce. I had no idea until about a year ago that Christopher Wood was not a professor at some distinguished university. Likewise, I was, and still am not, sure how to distinguish between how the dealer functions for an individual client and how he relates to the auction house. What is considered public information? And what is regarded as private? Perhaps, you could oblige by posting a little more information, or at least maybe the titles of a book or two that describes these processes? And where would one go to find an exhaustive catalogue of prices and buyers, if it's not good etiquette for dealers to divulge this information? How would one go about finding the type of letter you describe? Or do you have to wait for it simply to turn up in an attribution in a book or gallery at some later date? Thanks, Kathleen O'Neill Sims ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 11:16:07 -0400 From: "[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Descriptions of rape The problem with finding these sources is that descriptions of rape in most middle-class novels would be simply elided, as in _Tess_. Other novels invoke threats of sexual violence, such as _Barnaby Rudge_, where Dolly Varden is frightened senseless (if one can say that about Dolly) by Malpole Hugh and later abducted. _Aurora Leigh_ includes Marian Erle's story of abduction of rape, though she understandably glides over the details. Novels of the Indian Mutiny will have more explicit references to rape. James Grant's _First Love and Last Love_ offers the most vivid examples of those I've read. Sensation fiction does offer a couple of examples, especially in Sheridan Le Fanu's work. In _Uncle Silas_, Maud is imprisoned by Silas and it's certainly spooky and tense. There is a suggestion of sexual violence there, but _Carmilla_ is a better example. In this story, Laura is seduced by a female vampire, and the language she uses to describe the experience is very passionate: "it was hateful and yet overpowering . . . her hot lips travelled along my cheek in kisses." But I've found that in sensation fiction, in general, women are more frequently in power (and a threat to men) than victimized. Probably the better place to look for these examples is in the penny bloods, the lower-class cousins of sensation fiction. M.E. Braddon's _The Black Band_ has a heroine who is twice threatened with rape (never successful). In the second she is drawn to a house in Blackfriars under the pretense of doing charity, and locked in; she sets the house on fire to escape. You might also look at Victorian erotica. Peter Webb's article "Victorian Erotica" in _The Sexual Dimension of Literature_ (London: Vision, 1982) includes some descriptions of rape. I assume you've also looked at Anna Clark's _Women's Silence, Men's Violence_ and Carolyn Conley's Victorian Studies article "Rape and Justice in Victorian England." If you find any other good examples in mainstream literature, I'd be interested in hearing about them. Best, Robin Barrow [log in to unmask] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 15:00:38 +0000 From: Dale Bailey <[log in to unmask]> Subject: HG Wells' broken leg Hello All: Every biography of H. G. Wells I've consulted describes how Wells broke his leg at age 7 and fell in love with books while he was incapacitated during his recuperation. None of them that I've consulted tells me which leg it was he broke. Does anybody on the list know? Thanks, Dale Bailey ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 08:58:05 -0700 From: Sheldon Goldfarb <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Descriptions of rape Robin Barrow speaks of "elided" sex scenes, as in Tess. I have just come across another quite marvellous one of these, in Madame Bovary. And even though this was France rather than puritianical England, this is all that Flaubert feels he can say about Madame Bovary's first time with her lover Rodolphe: "The broadcloth of her dress clung to the velvet of his coat. She tilted back her head and her white throat swelled in a sigh. She suddenly felt weak and a long tremor ran through her body; weeping and hiding her face, she abandoned herself. There is then a perhaps significant extra space in the text. (This is from the Bantam translation of Part 2, Chapter 9; but I have consulted the French, and it looks the same.) Interestingly, as I understand it, Flaubert got into trouble for even this much description (and for writing a whole novel about adultery, I suppose). Sheldon Goldfarb [log in to unmask] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 13:15:23 -0400 From: Pat and Govind Menon <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: water/latrines Lucinda Lambton, <Temples of Convenience and Chambers of Delight> St Martin's Press, New York,1995 contains a historical introduction (with some quotations) and bibliography, although it is chiefly given over to coloured photographs with explanatory text. One item in the bibiography that reflects back to the List's discussion of titles is Wallace Reyburn's <Flushed with Pride, the Story of Thomas Crapper> (London: Macdonald 1969). Pat Menon ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 19:01:53 +0100 From: =?iso-8859-1?q?Jan=20Marsh?= <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Redgrave Semptress write or email Martin Beisly or Peter Brown at Christies and ask them to fwd yr inquiry to the purchaser. the work WAS sold, for 100 000 pounds. ===== ************************** ************************** ___________________________________________________________ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - sooooo many all-new ways to express yourself http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 14:02:15 -0500 From: Martin A Danahay <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Copyright and visual images - was RE: Redgrave Semptress The several helpful replies I have received in regard to Redgrave's painting have underscored for me how murky copyright can be with visual images. It was suggested to me by an eminent art historian that since the painting was out of copyright I could simply obtain a copy of the image from Forbes and use that. This would accord with my own sense of the copyright situation - that if I can obtain a copy of the image from a non copyrighted source (for instance, a reproduction in a nineteenth century book) then I am free to use that - or if I want an image made from the painting itself then I have to pay the museum or institution that owns it whatever fees they see fit to impose. Would that be a correct interpretation? Martin Danahay [log in to unmask] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 20:40:30 +0200 From: Amelia Yeates <[log in to unmask]> Subject: seduction scenes Regarding Miranda's question, there's the seduction scene in Tess which I'm sure will get suggested. There's also Hetty's in George Eliot's Adam Bede. It isn't particularly explicit but I think it takes place around Chapter 12: In the Wood. Best wishes, Amelia Yeates [log in to unmask] -- Whatever you Wanadoo: http://www.wanadoo.co.uk/time/ This email has been checked for most known viruses - find out more at: http://www.wanadoo.co.uk/help/id/7098.htm ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 15:41:57 -0400 From: Patrick Scott <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Copyright and visual images - was RE: Redgrave Semptress The painting itself is not in the public domain; a nineteenth or early 20th century (through 1920 ish) engraving, lithograph, etc, is now in the public domain and can be used for whatever fee you negotiate with the library that makes you a copy. Patrick Scott Director of Special Collections, Thomas Cooper Library, & Professor of English, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA. Tel: 803-777-1275 Fax: 803-777-4661, attn Dr Scott E-mail: [log in to unmask] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 16:53:36 EDT From: Susan Hoyle <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Daniel and Mordecai It is a long time since I read _Daniel Deronda_ but rereading it now, I am very struck (amongst much else...) by the interview between Daniel and Mordecai in chapter 40 . Mordecai is older than Dan, but not by much: one in his early thirties, the other in his late twenties -- and one dying and the other, we are often reminded, a beautiful healthy man. In this chapter, Mordecai is waiting for Dan on Blackfriars Bridge -- not by arrangement, but because of his inner vision -- and Dan turns up on cue. Being such a nice chap, he falls in, as far as due modesty allows, with Mordecai's account of him as the answer to his prayers or dreams -- of a messianic saviour. Dan has just seen Mirah for the first time since he became aware of the fact that Hans is in love with her -- which has made him more aware of his feeling for her (so his mind is on sex), but he also feels himself 'strangely wrought upon' by Mordecai. They make their way to Mordecai's workplace -- the bookshop: "In ten minutes the two men, with as intense a consciousness as if they had been two undeclared lovers, felt themselves alone in the small gas-lit bookshop and turned face to face, each baring his head from an instinctive feeling that they wished to see each other fully. Mordecai came forward to lean his back against the little counter, while Deronda stood against the opposite wall hardly more than four feet off....." What I wonder is whether George Eliot intended any of the reading that we have of this passage -- and the rest of the chapter. Perhaps volumes have been written about the homoeroticism of this relationship: or not? Susan [log in to unmask] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 23:23:20 +0100 From: Lee Jackson <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Copyright and visual images - was RE: Redgrave Semptress Having looked at copyright as a librarian, I think this is broadly right ... a museum, library, gallery etc. can impose whatever restrictions it wishes on reproduction of items in its collection, by making this a condition of your entering the premises or accessing the item in question - whatever the correct legal phrase is, its essentially a contractual agreement between you and the museum. It doesn't matter whether the item is 'out of copyright' due to its age, or not. Reproductions are themselves copyright images; you can only reproduce *them* if the creator of the photograph/reproduction has been dead 70 years ... or 70 years from date of publication if anonymous. I *think* these lengths of time are now an international standard and hold good in US as well as UK, but I could be corrected on that. regards, Lee ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 23:05:19 +0100 From: simon poe <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Copyright and visual images - was RE: Redgrave Semptress Martin, It's not the ownership of the original that matters, but of the negative or digital image that you need to use for your reproduction. If the painting was reproduced in a recent Christie's sale catalogue then Christie's Images will be able to email it to you. There'll be a charge for this of course (towards the cost of sending it to you, plus a reproduction fee), but in my limited experience not so high a charge as many art galleries charge for the same service. Simon. [log in to unmask] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 08:55:59 +1000 From: Ellen Jordan <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Richard Redgrave's "The Sempstress" - new owner? Were there a number of versions of this painting? I am sure I saw what I took to be an original oil painting in the Kensington Palace Museum seven or eight years ago. Could this have been a photoreproduction or a painted copy? I don't seem to have kept the brochure, but I remember the painting was described because the author conflated (as indeed Redgrave may have done) the occupations of dressmaker and sempstress. Ellen Jordan University of Newcastle Australia [log in to unmask] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 17:39:36 -0400 From: Daniel Hack <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Daniel and Mordecai See Jeff Nunokawa, _The Afterlife of Property: Domestic Security and the Victorian Novel_ (he actually discusses the passage you cite not in his chapter on Daniel Deronda but in the following chapter, which is mainly on Silas Marner; both chapters are relevant, though); and Jacob Press, "Same-Sex Unions in Modern Europe: Daniel Deronda, Altneuland, and the Homoerotics of Jewish Nationalism," in Sedgwick, ed. _Novel Gazing_. On Tuesday, June 29, 2004, at 04:53 PM, Susan Hoyle wrote: > > What I wonder is whether George Eliot intended any of the reading that > we > have of this passage -- and the rest of the chapter. Perhaps volumes > have been > written about the homoeroticism of this relationship: or not? > > Susan > [log in to unmask] > > Daniel Hack Department of English University at Buffalo SUNY 306 Clemens Hall Buffalo, NY 14260 (716) 645-2575 x1038 [log in to unmask] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 22:42:30 +0100 From: Mike Newman <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: HG Wells' broken leg On Tue, 2004-06-29 at 15:00 +0000, Dale Bailey wrote: > Every biography of H. G. Wells I've consulted describes how Wells > broke his leg at age 7 and fell in love with books while he was > incapacitated during his recuperation. None of them that I've > consulted tells me which leg it was he broke. Does anybody on the > list know? Wells details the incident in his "Experiment in Autobiography" (New York, The Macmillan Company, 1934) p53: > From Ch 2 - Origins: "A Broken Leg and Some Books and Pictures (1874)" "My leg was broken for me when I was between seven and eight. Probably I am alive today and writing this autobiography instead of being a worn- out, dismissed and already dead shop assistant, because my leg was broken. The agent of good fortune was 'young Sutton', the grown-up son of the landlord of The Bell. I was playing outside the scoring tent in the cricket field and in all friendliness he picked me up and tossed me in the air. 'Whose little kid are you?' he said, and I wriggled, he missed his hold on me and I snapped my tibia across a tent peg." Mike ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 18:37:46 -0700 From: "Margot K. Louis" <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Descriptions of rape Although I discuss poetry rather than fiction or nonfiction, you may find something useful in my article, "Swinburne on Rape," _Journal of Pre-Raphaelite Studies_ N.S. 9 (Fall 2000): 55-68, which touches briefly on Shelley's _The Cenci_, Barrett Browning's _Aurora Leigh_ (which makes some interesting points about the division between seduction and rape and how often that distinction was overlooked at the time), and "Runaway Slave," Matthew Arnold's "Philomela," and Macaulay's _Lays of Ancient Rome_ as well as on the various appearances of rape in Swinburne's poetry. There is an essay on rape in _Tess_ in _Rape and Representation_, ed. Lynn Higgins and Brenda Silver. You could also take a look at the moderately graphic description of rape (called "seduction"!) in W. T. Stead's famous series of articles, "The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon" (1885); I think the key passage is reprinted in Patricia Hollis' _Women in Public_. (I am sure even more graphic representations of both rape and seduction are available in the porn of the time.) While you may be right in your theory that the event in the accusation you're concerned with did not occur, I would add that a person's description of something that really happened may well be influenced by fiction. With a topic so difficult to discuss, people will use whatever discourse is available to express their experiences. Margot K. Louis [log in to unmask] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 10:12:47 +1000 From: Lee O'Brien <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Descriptions of rape Miranda asked for fictional accounts of seduction/rape which means, sadly, that poetry is not required, but for the "dramatic moments finely tuned" you mention it is hard to beat. As Robin Barrow has already mentioned *Aurora Leigh* I will add Tennyson's wonderful "Two Sisters" which has the pathologised domestic setting of the gothic and, in 6 stanzas, two seductions and a murder -remarkably good value, I think. The gender politics are interesting as well - the speaker's revenge for her sister's fall is exhilarating: I curl'd and comb'd his comely head, He look'd so grand when he was dead. The wind is blowing in turret and tree. I wrapt his body in the sheet, And laid him at his mother's feet. O the earl was fair to see! Browning's tortured sinner in "The Confessional" - a woman - is neither raped nor seduced, but for a "dramatic moment finely tuned" could you ask for more - I had a lover - shame avaunt! This poor wretched body, grim and gaunt, Was kissed all over till it burned, By lips the truest, love e'er turned His heart's own tint: one night they kissed My soul out in a burning mist. Sorry - this probably doesn't help at all, but don't you think sensation poetry gives sensation fiction a run for its money? Good luck with your work, Regards, Lee [log in to unmask] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 10:17:39 +0800 From: =?iso-8859-1?q?Tamara=20Wagner?= <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Descriptions of rape/seduction An intriguing twist is posed by violent marriage proposals in Victorian fiction: ostensibly respectable men working towards the respectable end of marriage (whether for financial interests or to satisfy uncontrollable passion) feel they have to resort to more or less violent means once all other persuasion has failed. I'm thinking of Mr Pecksniff in _Martin Chuzzlewit_, among others. His pursuit of Mary Graham is at once bizarrely comical (as all Pecksniff-scenes are) and grotesquely sinister, stripping off the last veneer of hypocritical affectation from Pecksniff's pretentions. The way he grasps at Mary (likened to the hug of a bear and the caress of a snake &c.), violently thrusts his fingers between hers, forcing them apart, and alternately hits and fondles her hand, which at one point gets folded up inside his waistcoat, is perhaps among the most explicitly sexual scenes in mid-Victorian fiction. Other violent marriage proposals that spring to mind include Bradley Headstone's in _Our Mutual Friend_ (his own fist ends up all bloody), and Mr Moss's in Trollope's _The Landleaguers_ (my thanks to Ellen Moody for recommending this novel when I was looking for American businessmen in fiction). After repeatedly offering marriage, combined with a business partnership, Mr Moss attempts to fold his adored in his arms - we never learn what else he would dare to do as he ends up on the floor, stabbed by the slight girl (who faints away right next to him), and dying. Apparently the girl (an Anglo-Irish singer) always has a dagger hidden somewhere on her body... (To my amusement/consternation, exactly the same sentence is used in the SF movie _Chronicles of the Riddick_ to describe a gorgeous, but untouchable, prison-girl named "Jack".) Mr Moss dies meekly in a state of forgiveness - so no legal action is taken. Would there have been a concept of self-defence in attempted rape cases? A related question would be issues of rape within marriage. Again, I'm thinking of _Martin Chuzzlewit_ (as I am currently rereading the novel perhaps): whatever happened to Merry Chuzzlewit nee Pecksniff? ===== Tamara S. Wagner http://www.fas.nus.edu.sg/staff/home/ELLTSW/ __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Download the latest ringtones, games, and more! http://sg.mobile.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 14:49:19 +1000 From: Ellen Jordan <[log in to unmask]> Subject: George Eliot's contributions to periodicals. M.M. Bevington, in his book on the Saturday Review, lists four reviews from March 1856 two of which may be those referred to in the Cross Life as written by Eliot. Has anything been turned up since then to confirm or repudiate his guesses? In fact I would be grateful if anyone could point me to the most recent/complete bibliography of George Eliot's periodical writings. Ellen Jordan University of Newcastle Australia [log in to unmask] ------------------------------ End of VICTORIA Digest - 28 Jun 2004 to 29 Jun 2004 (#2004-21) ************************************************************** ---------- End Forwarded Message ----------