ReSisters: an examination of sororal resistance in the works of Christian Rossetti, Wilkie Collins and Margaret Oliphant

Abstract

Coming from current scholarly debate and research about relationships between women, this study seeks to situate the current debate amongst larger examinations of gender relations in Victorian England as well as examine the importance of sister relationships to understanding female relationships and how these relations provide multiple ways of subverting the dominant culture of the Victorian age. After a review of several different nineteenth-century and Victorian writers, I have selected a small sample of poetry and prose with which to form an argument about the importance of sisterly relationships. This importance is two-fold: it allows women a space in which to define themselves without masculine interference and it allows women to subvert the patriarchy in ways which are much more socially acceptable than others. Relationships between women are discussed in the framework of a variety of scholarly debate and criticism which allows a more comprehensive understanding of the complexity of female relationships and their importance in the development of an emerging consciousness that would encourage women to agitate for women's rights.

Notes

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Thesis Completion

2010

Semester

Spring

Advisor

Jones, Anna Maria

Degree

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)

College

College of Arts and Humanities

Department

English

Degree Program

English Literature

Subjects

Arts and Humanities -- Dissertations, Academic;Dissertations, Academic -- Arts and Humanities

Format

Print

Identifier

DP0022585

Language

English

Access Status

Open Access

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Document Type

Honors in the Major Thesis

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