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Theses and Dissertations--English English
2014
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Nicola Anne Tarrant-Hoskins
University of Kentucky, [email protected]
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Tarrant-Hoskins, Nicola Anne, "KATHERINE MANSFIELD AMONG THE MODERNS: HER IMPACT ON
VIRGINIA WOOLF, D. H. LAWRENCE, AND ALDOUS HUXLEY" (2014). Theses and Dissertations--English.
17.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/english_etds/17
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The document mentioned above has been reviewed and accepted by the student’s advisor, on
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Nicola Anne Tarrant-Hoskins, Student
Dr. Jerome Meckier, Major Professor
Dr. Andy Doolen, Director of Graduate Studies
KATHERINE MANSFIELD AMONG THE MODERNS: HER IMPACT ON
VIRGINIA WOOLF, D. H. LAWRENCE, AND ALDOUS HUXLEY
____________________________________________
DISSERTATION
____________________________________________
A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the
College of Arts and Sciences
At the University of Kentucky
By
Nicola Tarrant-Hoskins
Lexington, Kentucky
Director: Dr. Jerome Meckier, Professor of English
Lexington, Kentucky
2014
Copyright © Nicola Tarrant-Hoskins 2014
ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION
KATHERINE MANSFIELD AMONG THE MODERNS: HER IMPACT ON
VIRGINIA WOOLF, D.H. LAWRENCE AND ALDOUS HUXLEY
Katherine Mansfield among the Moderns examines Katherine Mansfield’s
relationship with three fellow writers: Virginia Woolf, D. H. Lawrence, and Aldous
Huxley, and appraises her impact on their writing. Drawing on the literary and the
personal relationships between the aforementioned, and on letters, diaries, and journals,
this project traces Mansfield’s interactions with her contemporaries, providing a richer
and more dynamic portrait of Mansfield’s place within modernism than usually
recognized.
Hitherto, critical work has not scrutinized Mansfield in the manner I suggest:
attending to representations of her as a character in other’s work, while analyzing the
degree to which her influence on the aforementioned authors affected their writing and
success. Albeit, her influence extends in vastly different ways, and is affected by gender
and nationality. While Woolf’s early foray into Modernism is accelerated by Mansfield’s
criticism of her work, several of Woolf’s texts – “Kew Gardens,” Jacob’s Room, and
Mrs. Dalloway – are similar in certain respects to Mansfield’s work – “Bliss” and “The
Garden Party.” A repudiation of Mansfield, personally, and a retelling of her work are
seen in Lawrence’s The Lost Girl and Women in Love. Huxley’s Those Barren Leaves
and Point Counter Point, contain characterizations of Mansfield that undermine her
writing, and her person: both are affected by the mythical misrepresentation of Mansfield,
created by Murry after her death, known as the “Cult of Mansfield.”
Using Life Writing, this study asserts that Mansfield had impact on the writing of
Woolf, Lawrence, and Huxley. Taking into account the many issues that surround the
recognition of this, among them: gender politics, colonialism, marginality by genre, and
personal relations – these all, to varying degrees, prevented critics from acknowledging
that a minor modernist author played a role in the undisputed success of three major
authors of the twentieth century.
KEYWORDS: British Modernism, Katherine Mansfield and Virginia Woolf, Katherine
Mansfield and D.H. Lawrence, Katherine Mansfield and Aldous Huxley.
Nicola Tarrant-Hoskins
_________________________________
Student’s Signature
12/12/2014
_________________________________
Date
KATHERINE MANSFIELD AMONG THE MODERNS: HER IMPACT ON
VIRGINIA WOOLF, D. H. LAWRENCE, AND ALDOUS HUXLEY
By
Nicola Tarrant-Hoskins
Dr. Jerome Meckier
_________________________________
Director of Dissertation
Dr. Andy Doolen
__________________________________
Director of Graduate Studies
12/12/2014
__________________________________
For Roger
Because I promised
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Most assuredly without the guidance and support of so many fine mentors and
friends at the University of Kentucky this project could not have been completed. I am
thankful to Dr. Janet Eldred, Dr. John Cawelti, Dr. Walt Foreman, Dr. Armando Prats,
Dr. John Greenway, Deborah Kirkman, Andy Johnson, and Jennifer Walton who have
shown immense kindness to me during my years at UK.
I am grateful to my committee members – Dr. Ellen Rosenman, Dr. Jonathan
Allison, and Dr. Karen Tice, for their enthusiasm for my project, and for remaining on
board even when personal crises have meant that this dissertation has taken longer than
most. Not only have they been exemplary mentors, but their friendship has been most
appreciated. A special thanks goes to Dr. Phil Harling, my outside committee member,
who has so generously given his time. I am overwhelmingly grateful and honored for the
generosity of my director, Dr. Jerome Meckier, who provided me with years of mentoring
and support. He has gone above and beyond all that is required of a director, and I believe
this means he may now officially retire.
Special thanks goes to my friend, Dr. Rebecca Huffman, for her support and
gentle nudging over the years. Without her constant mantra – “you can do this” – I might
not have done it. I am also grateful for my friends who have shown such love during the
years in which my dissertation, by necessity, took a backseat to my family’s needs: Emily
Dotson, Mark Woods, Cassie Fetters, Judi Prats, Diane and Bill Campbell, Katherine
iii
Rogers-Carpenter, Lisa Schroot, and George Phillips –whether it was a cooked meal, a
card, or a bottle of wine, you’ve all seen me through.
There aren’t words enough for my adopted family – Richard Greissman and
Randolph Hollingsworth—you’ve made my second home, Kentucky, just that – home. I
am forever indebted to Gary – my “behind-the-scenes” – cook, cleaner, moral support,
even research assistant, above all, the person who always has my back. I’m thankful for
his optimism and encouragement which pushed me to the end, and for sharing the
journey – the moments of success and discovery, as well as those of doubt and failure. In
this final phase, I’ve tested his love.
As for my birth family… My father instilled in me a love of learning; my mother
taught me endurance, and my sister, Kristi, taught me what courage looks like: these
qualities have seen me through this project. I wish they were here to share this moment
with me. The last promise I made to my husband was to finish my dissertation. I’ve often
wished he had asked me to take a cruise, or travel the world. But he didn’t. So here I am
–finally finished. And while I completed this project for Roger, I started it for my
daughter, Frith, my heart. More than anything I wish to make her proud.
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgments…………………………………………………………………… iii
List of Abbreviations………………………………………………………………… vi
Chapter One: Introduction: New Zealand Context – Woman Alone ………………....1
Mansfield in Her Place………………………………………………………...8
Current Mansfield Studies…..………………………………………………..13
Chapters………………………………………………………………………15
Chapter Two: Katherine Mansfield and Virginia Woolf: Unattempted……………...19
The Civet Cat –Petty & Personal Criticism…………………………………..25
The Public of Two: Spectators, one of the other……………………………..31
Influences: Conversation Set to Flowers……………………………………...35
The Genesis for “Kew Gardens” …………………………………………….40
“The Wind Blows,” and Jacob’s Room ……………………………………...42
“Bliss,” and Mrs. Dalloway…………………………………………………..45
Death Comes to the Party: “The Garden Party,” and Mrs. Dalloway………..50
Rivalry, Remorse, and Recognition…………………………………………..60
Chapter Three: Katherine Mansfield and D.H. Lawrence: Old Moorings…………...65
Literary Confrontation: Rejection, Repudiation and Retelling………………72
Katherine Mansfield as Alvina Houghton in The Lost Girl………………….76
Katherine Mansfield in The Rainbow………………………………………...88
Women in Love: Failed Ranamin……………………………………………..93
Katherine Mansfield as Gundrun: A Terrible Void…………………………102
Chapter Four: Katherine Mansfield and Aldous Huxley: The Cult of Mansfield…..115
Katherine Mansfield as Mary Thriplow in Those Barren Leaves…………..119
Background to Burlap: The Cult of Mansfield……………………………...125
Point Counter Point: The Burial of Burlap…………………………………131
Re-creating Susan: In Search of a Good Death –Gurdjieff’s Embrace……..138
Different Disciples: Mansfield, Lawrence, Huxley…………………………154
Chapter Five: Conclusion: The Taint of the Pioneer ……………………………….161
Bibliography: ……………………………………………………………………….170
Vita………………………………………………………………………………….190
v
Description:intergenerational patterns with which these settings will become associated” (161). In reality, Mansfield was strident in breaking these patterns, both in the smaller domestic space of a home, and in her larger escape from New Zealand itself. 6 Pākehā: The term has traditionally been accepted a
