These posts are a mixed bag but different things may interest different folk.
Sorry to send them unedited but it is final exam week. * David Fahey (Miami)
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>>> Item number 17045, dated 95/12/13 17:09:51 -- ALL
Date: Wed, 13 Dec 1995 17:09:51 -0500
Reply-To: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society
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Sender: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society
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From: "Cara M. Simone" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Alcoholics in Victorian Literature
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
Hello,
Although I've been reading the threads on this list for sometime,
this is my first posting. So, by way of introduction, I am a graduate
student at the University of Vermont with an interest in Victorian
Literature and pop culture. At the moment that translates into looking at
films made from Victorian novels.
But enough about me. The reason for my first post to the group is
for a friend who is doing research on alcoholism in Victorian literature.
If anyone has ideas beyond _Tenant of Wildfell Hall_, _Dr. Thorne_ and
_Janet's Repentance_, please e-mail me privately. Unless, of course, you
think it's of general interest.
Thanks very much in advance,
Cara M. Simone
University of Vermont
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>>> Item number 17046, dated 95/12/13 16:29:30 -- ALL
Date: Wed, 13 Dec 1995 16:29:30 -0600
Reply-To: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society
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Sender: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society
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From: Carol Poster <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Alcoholics in Victorian Literature
George Gissing's _The Odd Women_ has a good portrayal of an alcoholic,
as I remember (though it has been for or five years since I read it).
Carol Poster
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>>> Item number 17047, dated 95/12/13 14:39:49 -- ALL
Date: Wed, 13 Dec 1995 14:39:49 -0800
Reply-To: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society
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Sender: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society
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From: Christine Lynn Alfano <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Alcoholics in Victorian Literature
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]> from
"Cara M. Simone" at Dec 13, 95 05:09:51 pm
Cara:
I wrote a whole dissertation on drink and Victorian fiction which
I am now turning into a manuscript. I would be happy to talk with your
friend if she'd like. The most powerful (and under-recognized) drunkard
I can think of in Victorian fiction is Kate Ede in George Moore's
*The Mummer's Wife* ... she could also look at Gissing, including
*Workers in the Dawn*.
Christine Alfano
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>>> Item number 17054, dated 95/12/14 11:58:33 -- ALL
Date: Thu, 14 Dec 1995 11:58:33 -0400
Reply-To: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society
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Sender: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society
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From: Richard Nemesvari <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Alcoholics in Victorian Literature
Cara Simone's friend might think about that most famous of
"alcoholics-in-reverse," Michael Henchard in _The Mayor of
Casterbridge_. Having sold his wife in a fit of drunken
bravado, he then abstains from liquor for 21 years, only to
go right back to the sauce after being supplanted by Farfrae.
Also, Jude Fawley, in looking for ways to degrade himself even
further after his involvement with Arabella Donn, intentionally
sets out to make himself a drunkard, thus ensuring that these
two "weaknesses" will haunt him for the rest of his life. And of
course, ironically, Arabella eventually manipulates him into
re-marrying her by throwing a party and getting him drunk.
Richard Nemesvari
St. Francis Xavier University
Canada
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>>> Item number 17055, dated 95/12/14 11:16:38 -- ALL
Date: Thu, 14 Dec 1995 11:16:38 -0600
Reply-To: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society
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Sender: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society
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From: Ginger Frost <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Alcoholics in Victorian Literature
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
I know this is obvious, but I will mention Stephen's wife in *Hard
Times.* Her alcoholism is what leads him to want to divorce her, though
he can't afford it.
Ginger Frost
Judson College
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>>> Item number 17056, dated 95/12/14 11:29:48 -- ALL
Date: Thu, 14 Dec 1995 11:29:48 -0700
Reply-To: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society
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Sender: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society
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From: Gail Houston <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Victorians and alcoholism
See the abusive bricklayers in Bleak House.
>>> Item number 17057, dated 95/12/14 12:55:04 -- ALL
Date: Thu, 14 Dec 1995 12:55:04 -0600
Reply-To: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society
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Sender: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society
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From: "William W. Morgan" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Alcoholics in Victorian Literature
. . . on alcoholism in Victorian literature.
>If anyone has ideas beyond _Tenant of Wildfell Hall_, _Dr. Thorne_ and
>_Janet's Repentance_, please e-mail me privately. Unless, of course, you
>think it's of general interest.
>
> I should think Tess's father (in Tess of the d'Urbervilles) would
ualify.
Bill Morgan
____________________________________________________________________________
William W. Morgan
Department of English--4240 Ph: (309) 438-7158--Office
Illinois State University (309) 452-1204--Home
Normal, IL 61790--4240 E-mail: [log in to unmask]
____________________________________________________________________________
>>> Item number 17061, dated 95/12/14 11:14:35 -- ALL
Date: Thu, 14 Dec 1995 11:14:35 -0800
Reply-To: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society
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Sender: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society
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From: Harriet Rafter <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Alcoholics in Victorian Literature
Ms. Simone,
How about Sgt/Private (depending on his drinking) Terence Mulvaney (in
Kipling's soldier stories, esp "The Courting of Dinah Shadd")? And of
course (verse version), there's "Cells."
I cannot recall the name, but _Plain Tales from the Hills_ has a marvelous
story about a man who overcomes his alcoholism for love of a flirtatious
woman who barely knows he's alive.
Have fun. hr
At 05:09 PM 12/13/95 -0500, you wrote:
>Hello,
> Although I've been reading the threads on this list for sometime,
>this is my first posting. So, by way of introduction, I am a graduate
>student at the University of Vermont with an interest in Victorian
>Literature and pop culture. At the moment that translates into looking at
> films made from Victorian novels.
> But enough about me. The reason for my first post to the group is
>for a friend who is doing research on alcoholism in Victorian literature.
>If anyone has ideas beyond _Tenant of Wildfell Hall_, _Dr. Thorne_ and
>_Janet's Repentance_, please e-mail me privately. Unless, of course, you
>think it's of general interest.
> Thanks very much in advance,
>
> Cara M. Simone
> University of Vermont
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
>>> Item number 17062, dated 95/12/14 14:05:06 -- ALL
Date: Thu, 14 Dec 1995 14:05:06 -0600
Reply-To: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society
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Sender: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society
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From: natalie schroeder <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Alcoholism in Victorian Lit
The heroine's husband is a alcholic in Braddon's THE GOLDEN CALF.
Natalie Schroeder
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"God bless us, everyone."
>>> Item number 17063, dated 95/12/14 13:06:29 -- ALL
Date: Thu, 14 Dec 1995 13:06:29 -0700
Reply-To: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society
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Sender: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society
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From: "Celia B. Johnson" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: ALCOHOLICS IN VIC. LIT.
Although I cannot remember the specific character's name (and the novel
is not handy), the long lost prostitute sister (?) of Mary Barton's
mother in Gaskell's *MB* is clealy alcoholic ("I can't do without drink"
is the line I seem to recall). Also, there is an example in Trollope's
*Can You Forgive Her* of one of the central males characters "looking as
if he drank."
Celia Johnson
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>>> Item number 17064, dated 95/12/14 14:28:47 -- ALL
Date: Thu, 14 Dec 1995 14:28:47 -0600
Reply-To: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society
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Sender: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society
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From: James P Silver <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Alcoholics in Victorian Literature
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
Thackeray's _Pendennis_ features Jack Costigan, an Irish boozer,
and the real father of Blanche Amory has spells where he makes a fool of
himself because of drink and cannot remember what he has done and said.
>>> Item number 17067, dated 95/12/14 16:18:38 -- ALL
Date: Thu, 14 Dec 1995 16:18:38 -0500
Reply-To: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society
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Sender: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society
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From: Marianne Eismann <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: ALCOHOLICS IN VIC. LIT.
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]> from "Celia B. Johnson" at
Dec 14, 95 01:06:29 pm
The character is Mary's aunt Esther.
>
> Although I cannot remember the specific character's name (and the novel
> is not handy), the long lost prostitute sister (?) of Mary Barton's
> mother in Gaskell's *MB* is clealy alcoholic ("I can't do without drink"
>>> Item number 17069, dated 95/12/14 13:41:02 -- ALL
Date: Thu, 14 Dec 1995 13:41:02 -0700
Reply-To: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society
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Sender: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society
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From: Lila Harper <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: ALCOHOLICS IN VIC. LIT.
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
Just finished Sarah Grand's _The Heavenly Twins_, so Colonel Colquhoun is
on my mind. Alcoholism is just one of his faults and he believes it is
his wife's duty to rehabilitate him.
Lila Harper
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>>> Item number 17079, dated 95/12/14 23:51:16 -- ALL
Date: Thu, 14 Dec 1995 23:51:16 -0500
Reply-To: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society
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Sender: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society
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From: Tom Hoberg <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Alcoholics in Victorian L...
How about Hindley Earnshaw in "Wuthering Heights", who--in an end eminently
worthy of the rest of his life--locks himself away and grimly drinks himself
to death?
Tom Hoberg
Northeastern Illinois University
@AOL.COM
>>> Item number 17086, dated 95/12/15 05:01:50 -- ALL
Date: Fri, 15 Dec 1995 05:01:50 EST
Reply-To: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society
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Sender: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society
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From: Steve Weissman <[log in to unmask]>
Organization: The American University
Subject: Alcoholics In Victorian Lit & Victorian Life
Picking up on the recent alcoholism-in-Vic-lit theme: ona
somewhat tangentially related subject, what info/ideas/references
do group members have about alcoholism in Victorian life? I have
been doing some research on British music hall and have come
across a phenomenon of a group of male entertainers whose role
on stage was to extoll the virtues of alcohol as part of the
gay life in the content of their songs in order to stimulate
and encourage the audience to drink vast amounts of liquor
and, of course, spend huge amounts of money doing so.
These men were referred to as lion comiques and were superstars
in their day. They were paid huge sums of money to allow them to
lead glamorous lives that their working class audiences identified
with. Generally, the money was referred to as "wet money" because it
was clearly understood that most of it was to be sent in the bars of
the music halls, stimulating the customers to join in by buying
them complimentary rounds on the house.
The best depiction of this in film is Cavalcante's movie CHAMPAGNE
CHARLIE: a film which (like Marcel Carne's CHILDREN OF PARADISE) was
made during the worst of World War II and is a gem of a movie which--
like CHILDREN OF PARADISE--was a regression from the present into the
past (escaping the brutality of war, etc).
In any case, I got interested in alcohol and alcoholism and have started
looking for sources about its role in Victorian Society in general.
So far, I have read (1)that alcoholism reached epidemic proportions in
Victiorian Britain with its zenith occurring in the 1860's which
(2)was the period when the lion comiques were also at their peak
of popularity: perhaps not unlike 20th-century (esp.1960's) rock
stars extolling the virtues of psychedelic and other drugs to their
audiences as culture heroes of their day (although there was no wet
money being paid by the 20th century equivalent of music hall owners).
In any case: any books that give insights into the role of alcohol
in daily life in Victorian times would be of interest to me: the
psychiatric literature that I have found is not very revealing. But
the sociology of it in popular culture interests me a lot. Lest one
assume that this phenomenon of glamourizing alcohol (and even
alcoholism) was confined to lower class music hall audiences: they
clearly saw themselves as aspiring to the carefree sophistication
of the upper classes who were viewed as sophisticated men of the
world, etc.
Steve Weissman
In addition to the list, any comments on booze and boozing in real-life
can be sent to me at [log in to unmask]
>>> Item number 17093, dated 95/12/14 21:51:25 -- ALL
Date: Thu, 14 Dec 1995 21:51:25 EDT
Reply-To: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society
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Sender: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society
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From: Suzanne Keen <[log in to unmask]>
Organization: Washington & Lee University
Subject: Re: alcoholics
I've probably missed an entry to this thread in which someone (must
have) mentioned Raffles in _Middlemarch_. I admit I've been skimming
these digests pretty quickly in the past few days. But just in case.
And (again hazily) I think that there's something about alcohol and
brutality in one of the early Chronicles of Carlingford by Oliphant.
_The Rector and the Doctor's Family_??
Suzanne Keen
Washington and Lee University
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>>> Item number 17115, dated 95/12/16 09:07:36 -- ALL
Date: Sat, 16 Dec 1995 09:07:36 -0500
Reply-To: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society
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Sender: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society
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From: Ellen Miller Casey <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Alcoholics in Victorian Literature
Mrs. Henry Wood's first published novel, _Danesbury House_ (1860), won first
prize in the Scottish Temperance League competition. It is only one of MANY
temperance novels that appeared and were regularly reviewed.
Ellen Miller Casey [log in to unmask]
U of Scranton, Scranton PA 18510
>>> Item number 17116, dated 95/12/16 07:30:11 -- ALL
Date: Sat, 16 Dec 1995 07:30:11 -0800
Reply-To: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society
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Sender: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society
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From: Eve Lynch <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Alcoholics in Victorian Literature
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
I'm coming to this strand a bit late, but does Grace Poole fit in here?
"She would thus descend to the kitchen once a day, eat her dinner, smoke
a moderate pipe on the hearth, and go back, carrying her pot of porter
with her, for her private solace, in her own gloomy, upper haunt." (144
Norton Critical Edition of Jane Eyre)
Eve M. Lynch
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