DownloadNineteenth-Century Female Crusoes: Rewriting the Robinsonade for Girls
Relocating Victorian Settler Narratives: Emigrants, Exiles, Returnees in Nineteenth-Century Fiction, Ed. Tamara Wagner, London, Pickering and Chatto, 2011, pp. 165-176.
This chapter considers the impact of both the eighteenth-century “female Crusoe” and the nineteenth-century adaptation... more
This chapter considers the impact of both the eighteenth-century “female Crusoe” and the nineteenth-century adaptation of the Robinsonade for children in order to compare how the genre was later transformed specifically for girl readers. Close reading of the serial “Robina Crusoe” (1882-1883) in The Girl’s Own Paper, L.T. Meade’s Four on an Island (1892) and Mrs George Corbett’s Little Miss Robinson Crusoe (1898) show that girl Crusoes displayed appropriate Victorian femininity but were able to move beyond the domestic not only because their survival was contingent upon their ability to do so but also to take pleasure in the exploration of uncultivated environments. Girl Crusoes actively seek adventure, have the capacity for self-defence and, as a result of these unique qualities, constitute the core of these texts rather than inhabiting their periphery as did female characters in mid-nineteenth century children’s Robinsonades.
This paper situates the emergence of a juvenile version of the “female Crusoe” in British girls’ fiction within the context of the “new girlhood” of the late-Victorian period. It argues that the “girl Crusoe” was emblematic of women’s participation in late-nineteenth century imperial expansion and was fostered by a developing girls’ culture, which sought literary heroines who were independent and adventurous. The article contends that the appearance of the “girl Crusoe” coincided with the promotion of a civilising function for women in the British Empire, one that is commonly enacted by this literary figure in her interactions with indigenous inhabitants. Whether she is gun-toting or somewhat dependent on male assistance, the freedom afforded to the girl Crusoe in her temporary or permanent settlement may be contained by the way in which she channels her abilities into bringing British ways, particularly religion, to the “natives”.
The origins of the late-Victorian figure rest more than a century earlier in a handful of “female Crusoe” novels written in English. Unca Eliza Winkfield’s The Female American (1767) and Charles Dibdin’s Hannah Hewit, or The Female Crusoe (1792) demonstrate how the Robinsonade was initially adapted to accommodate female protagonists. The heroines of these two novels are marked out as “uncommon” for their competence in the outdoors, particularly in the case of the Native American Unca, and for their eventual settlement on the islands on which they are reluctantly cast away. Both novels serve as a point of comparison to the industrious but “ordinary” girl Crusoe who actively seeks adventure and an unfettered space in which she may live the fantasy of girlhood unrestricted by domestic norms.
One of the most significant transformations in the Robinsonade was its popularisation for an expanding juvenile readership in the nineteenth century. Johann D. Wyss’s The Swiss Family Robinson (1814 English translation) inspired countless imitators, many of which, like Wyss’s novel, relegated women to domestic chores. Catherine Parr Traill’s Canadian Crusoes: A Tale of the Rice Lake Plains (1852) relocates the conventions of the genre to a colonial frontier setting. Traill’s girl protagonist, like the minor female figures in boys’ novels, is associated with domestic competency and is incapable of survival without male assistance. These children’s novels show the unique nature and historical specificity of the late-nineteenth century girl Crusoe who, in comparison with earlier juvenile examples, is physically and mentally strong enough to survive independently and to form the centre of these narratives.
'The Freedom Suits Me': Encouraging Girls to Settle in the Colonies
Relocating Victorian Settler Narratives: Transatlantic and Transpacific Views in the Long Nineteenth Century. Ed. Tamara Wagner. London: Pickering & Chatto, 2011. 177-92.
The nineteenth-century periodical press was a crucial site for the promotion of emigration. In a variety of girls'... more The nineteenth-century periodical press was a crucial site for the promotion of emigration. In a variety of girls' magazines, especially the weekly Girl's Own Paper but also monthly periodicals like Atalanta, the Girl's Empire, the Girl's Realm and Aunt Judy's Magazine, girls were informed about and encouraged to consider emigration as the solution to limited employment possibilities, unpalatable terms of service, limited opportunities for advancement and ever poor health. This chapter examines the role of the immensely popular Girl's Own Paper to demonstrate how girls were prompted to think of emigration to a British colony. It also considers the extent to which the magazine created and reinforced an ethos supportive of the imperialist objectives of the nation, the requirements of the colonies and the demands of its readers for a feminine ideal of morality and purity consistent with late Victorian definitions of femininity.
Feminine Bravery: The Girl's Realm (1898-1915) and the Second Boer War
Children’s Literature Association Quarterly 34.3 (Fall 2009): 241-54.
When The Girl’s Realm began in 1898, it was keenly interested in developing a readership that was both contemporary... more When The Girl’s Realm began in 1898, it was keenly interested in developing a readership that was both contemporary and modern. Appearing just prior to the advent of the Second Boer War in 1899 and pre-dating the Edwardian era by only three years, the magazine differed from other middle-class girls’ magazines, like The Young Woman and the Girl’s Own Paper, by rejecting mid-Victorian notions of femininity and depicting girlhood as a time of heroism and bravery. Moreover, the Boer War would prove to be highly influential to the development of the heroic girl in the pages of the magazine as The Girl’s Realm often veered from its officially apolitical stance to comment on the behaviour of women in the public arena, such as its support for women involved in the siege of Ladysmith. The changed circumstances of girls’ lives at the turn of the century, combined with the availability of a wide variety of reading material, meant that a new entrant into the field of girls’ publishing had to be easily distinguishable from other girls’ magazines to attract readers and generate sales. Although the magazine’s editors wished to remain apolitical, they nonetheless used current events to create an ethos of bravery and heroism for its girl readers. The Boer War was instrumental in the magazine’s production of English feminine bravery while also defining the limits of that bravery. The courage of girls in The Girl’s Realm could involve waiting at home for loved ones to return from war as well as more active wartime contributions like nursing and caregiving in besieged cities.
Learning What Real Work... Means: Ambivalent Attitudes Towards Employment in the Girl's Own Paper
Co-authored with Michelle Smith. Victorian Periodicals Review 43.4 (Winter 2010): 429-45.
Under Charles Peters’ editorship until his death in 1907, the Girl’s Own Paper (1880-1956) reflected and responded to... more Under Charles Peters’ editorship until his death in 1907, the Girl’s Own Paper (1880-1956) reflected and responded to its readers’ needs for practical information about employment opportunities. Articles like “On Earning One’s Living,” “Female Clerks and Book-Keepers,” and “Nursing as a Profession” all appeared in the magazine’s first year. The Correspondence sections likewise discussed issues of employment. In response to her letter, “Isolated Hetty,” for example, is asked whether her elderly relatives would be inconvenienced by her seeking employment and, if not, she is advised “to apply to some hospital for nursing” and directed towards other numbers of the GOP, where “much has been said about” nursing as a profession. Alongside these informational articles and advice columns were fictional stories depicting working girls in their struggles to support themselves and their families while also remaining virtuous and pure. Despite this overt support for working girls, however, the popular Girl’s Own Paper contains a curious ambivalence towards girls’ employment. Although it was ostensibly targeted towards working- and lower middle-class girls – most of whom would have worked – the GOP reinforces a traditional feminine ideal discouraging middle-class girls from working outside the home, while also reaffirming the necessity for working-class girls to earn income through paid labour.
'Never read anything that can at all unsettle your religious faith': Reading and Writing in The Monthly Packet
Women’s Writing 17.3 (December 2010): 57-75
The Monthly Packet of Evening Readings for Younger Members of the English Church (1851–99) reveals the interest that... more The Monthly Packet of Evening Readings for Younger Members of the English Church (1851–99) reveals the interest that Charlotte Yonge had in promoting and supporting girls as readers and writers. As the editor and as a major contributor, Yonge provided a variety of material for the magazine as part of a strategy for the development of girls' reading and writing habits in ways that were consistent with their High Anglican beliefs and that would never cause them to question their faith.