Reading Victorian Fiction: The Cultural Context and Ideological Content of the Nineteenth-Century Novel

206 Pages·1989·29.093 MB·English

by  Andrew Blake (auth.)

READINGVICTORIANFICTION
Reading Victorian
Fiction
The
Cultural Context and Ideological Content
ofthe Nineteenth-Century Novel
AndrewBlake
* ©Andrew Blake 1989
Softcover reprint ofthe hardcover 1st edition 1989 978-0-333-45826-6
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ForMy Parents
Contents
Preftue ix
1 The Problem of Literatureand History 1
2 The Interpretation of Past Cultures 15
3 The Context of the Investigation 40
4 Mid-Victorian Literary Culture 63
5 ThePointofContact:FictioninBlackwood'sandTheCornhillin 88
the early 1860s
6 ALongerView:Fictionand TheFortnightly Review, 1865-75 107
7 Conclusion 134
Notes 154
Selected Bibliography 183
Index 197
Preface
Thisbookgrewfrom abeliefinthe value ofamultidisciplinary approachto the
past which has been fostered by two working environments. The Keele
UniversityMAinVictorian Studies providedhard work,muchinformation,and
great stimulus to independent thought. The encouragement given by course
leadersJohn Briggs,AndorGomme, DavidVincent and CharlesSwann, and by
fellowstudentssuchasPhilHardy,Melanie LaingandDorothyBrownhelpedto
clarify my thoughts on the problematic relationship between literature and
history. The project itself was carried through with the help of a Research
Assistantshipin the School ofHumanities, Thames Polytechnic. To allthe staff
and students Iworked with in the years 1980-84 I am most grateful; special
thanksareduetoValeriePitt,PeterWiddowson,PaulStigantandGarethJenkins.
An article based on parts of this study appeared in the journal Literature and
History (Autumn 1985), run from the Polytechnic. Others have been generous
with their time and interest; Ihave benefited greatlyfrom the advice of David
Cannadlne, Leonore Davidoff, Paul Gurowich and Simon Heans. I must also
thank LordHyltonforpermission to use the privatelyprintedA Politicianinthe
Fifties.
Noneofthosementionedisresponsiblefortheerrors andeccentricities ofthe
following text. Asusual,societyisto blame:the bookwouldundoubtedlyhave
beenthebetterformoreadviceandcriticism,andfrommycontinuedexposureto
an academic environment. The confused anti-intellectualism of the present
governmentmadethisimpossibleforme,asformostofmygeneration:nothanks
to them. On a more positive note, Imust thank the colleagues in the musical
world who have helped keep my mind occupied and my pockets occasionally
half-full: thanks especially to all associated with The Lost Jockey and Man
Jumping.Authorsneedsympatheticpublishers:FrancesArnoldatMacmillan has
been encouragingand understanding. Finally,thisbookand the dissertation on
which it is based would probably still be thoughts rather than pages without
Commodore Business Machines' decision in late 1983 to provide, on the
Commodore 64, the firsthome microcomputerwith an affordable, professional
word processor.
Finsbury A. J. B.
1
The Problem of Literature and
History
Tothatmythologicalcreature,thegeneralreader,there mayappeartobenosuch
problem: the use of fictional literature as historical evidence is commonplace.
FromMacaulay, quoting Gulliver'sTravels to support hisclaim that WilliamIII
counted the Englishpopulationby sects, to A.l-P.Taylor, using H. G.Wells's
characterMrBritlingas'typical'ofthegrowthofvisionarypatriotismduring the
earlypartoftheFirstWorldWar,historiansoftheancient,medievalandmodem
worlds have drawn on the literatures produced by their periods of study to
amplify or to exemplify; to provide evidence of social, economic and political
factsand values they have claimedto have occurred in,or to have pertainedto,
pastsocieties. Literarytextsaresofreelyusedbyhistoriansandsociologiststhat
I
we often fail to see the very real problems involved in using them as direct
evidence either ofpast or present realities.This studyaddresses these problems,
askinginwhat ways literature canbeseenand usedasahistorialphenomenon.It
isnot hopedmerely toreachatheoreticalconclusion on thispoint,however: the
major part of the essay isdevoted to an investigation of a concrete historical
placeandperiod,themid-nineteenthcenturyinBritain,andoftheways inwhich
literature canbe seenashaving played apartinsocialconstruction at thistime.
The concluding Chapter then attempts to demonstrate the relevance of this
approach bothtohistoricalandliterarystudiesand to thestudyofcontemporary
society.
1
The nature of the literature and history problem in this period must first be
confronted. Historians of Victorian Britain are faced with over-abundant
evidence,bothinprintedandinwrittensourcematerial.Somuchofthisexistsas
to induce ineven the most sanguine researcher feelings offrustration at forced
selectivity. The result is often that aptly portrayed in the preface to Lytton
Strachey's Eminent Victorians; faced with this abundance of material, all the
studentcando isto 'rowout over that greatocean ofmaterial,and lowerdown
2 ReadingVictorian Fiction
intoit,hereandthere,alittlebucket, whichwillbringup to the lightofdaysome
characteristic specimen from those far depths, to be examined with a careful
curiosity'.'Theuseoftheword'characteristic'isimportanthere.Howconvenient
ifthe bucketcouldbringup for the historianawork, oraseries ofworks, which
maybesaidtobe trulycharacteristic,or'typical',asTaylorsaidofMrBritling:in
citing one piece of evidencefor all,the historian helps to solve the problem of
abundance.Itisoftenclaimedthatthisorthatpieceoffictionalwritingcanindeed
be seen to represent the typical life or ideas of a part of the nation- that the
novelist has achieved an exact portrayal of such characteristic types as the
middle-class woman, the working-class man, the Liberal nonconformist, or the
Tory squire.'
Citationsoftypicalityare oftenthepretextfor the use offictional literatureas
historical evidence.Inthe caseofmid-VictorianBritain,G.F.A.Bestprefacedhis
textbook on the period with a defence of his use of fiction:
Ihave welcomed the help ofmid-Victoriannovelists, where theirrepresenta
tionsofaspectsofcontemporarylife,theirdistillationsofcertainofitsessential
qualities,seemsharperthanthoseofwritersofnon-fiction. . .'Impressionism'
or not, the intelligent use of all relevant evidence can produce plausible
generalisations and judgments about matters which, without such alchemy,
stay unspecific and unfocussed.'
The writings of one novelist in particular, Anthony Trollope, have often been
usedinthiswayby historiansand sociologists.Trollope'swritingsareclaimed to
befaithfulportrayalsofthe ways oflivingofthe mid-Victorianmiddleandupper
classes,andhischaractersareused asexamplesoftypesofpeople.Aptlyenough,
Michael Sadleir called Trollope The voice of an Epoch', and many historians
agree:OwenChadwick,forexample,referstoTrollope'scharactersandeventsas
realities throughout The Victorian Church, and W. L. Bum takes Trollope's
characters as typical throughout TheAgeof Equipoise? Trollope, it seems, has
oftenbeen seenas'typical'or 'characteristic'insomespecialsense, and hisnovels
quotedasprecise, realistic portrayals of the world inwhich he lived. Theuse of
fictionherecanbestbedescribedas'naive'.Noattemptismadeeitherto analyse
or contextualiseotherthan chronologically,norto assess the statusof fiction as
compared with other forms of writing.This study will itself discuss Trollope's
workas 'realistic', but not in the limited way in which the authors above have
used the word.
A briefdiscussionofsomewaysinwhich writersindifferent disciplines have
madeuseofAnthonyTrollope'swritingswillhelpto pointoutthe limitationsof
suchanapproach,and the necessityfor amorecarefullytheorisedview. Tostart
with,arecentpieceofjournalismwhichused aVictoriannoveltoattackanaspect
TheProblemofLiteratureandHistory 3
oflate twentieth-century life.IanAitken's column in The Guardian, 19January
1987,appearedunder theheading 'VictorianValues,or theWayWe LiveNow'.
DiscussingthehistoryofcorruptionintheCityofLondon,inrelationtoacurrent
scandalinvolving 'insider-dealing', Aitken claimed that 1fyou want to get the
authenticflavouroftheseedy sideoftheCityofLondon you couldnot dobetter
than buy apaperbackversionofAnthonyTrollope'sThe Way We LiveNow:6
Thiswaswritten,according toAitken'sreadingofTrollope'sAutobiography,after
alongabsencefromLondon,anddescribestheauthor'sangerattheeventsofthe
1870s:
Thestory. . .hasasitscentrepieceaCity scandalwhichcouldwithverylittle
difficulty be translated directly into the boardrooms of some of our late
twentiethcenturymerchant bankingcompanies.Yetitwaspublished in1875
... the book isa supremely relevant commentary on those same Victorian
Valueswhichwearecurrently invited toadmireandtoemulatebythepresent
Conservative government.'
Largeclaimsindeed;they areclearlybasedon the suppositionthat Trollope was
portrayingaccurately,inaworkoffiction,boththeeventsand valuesofhisown
time.
A rather more sophisticated approach to The Way We Live Now has been
offeredbythehistoricalsociologistJ.A.Banksinhisarticle'TheWayTheyLived
Then: Anthony Trollope and the 18705'.& The starting point here is a
consideration both of economic history (the growth to powerand influence of
City people and money) and more biographical detail than offered by the
journalist Aitken - stressing Trollope's feelings during his gradual decline in
popularity as a writer; his increasing bitterness led him, Banks argues, to
exaggeratethe evilsofthe modem world whichwas rejecting him:the 'realism'
implicitly accepted by Aitken is qualified. Importantly, Banks argues that
althoughhisrecordingofthesocialaspectofCityinfluenceisasaccurateasareall
hisportrayalsofsociallife,showingtherulesandpatternsofsocialconductmuch
as they were,his observation of City business is characterised by a mixture of
bitternessandignorance.Hedidnot understandhow moneywasmade.but saw
theeffectmadeonothers whenmoney waslost,andtherefore thoughtofallCity
dealersasliars,cheatsand hypocrites- muchasdoes IanAitken inhisGuardian
article.Already 'fact' and'value' aremixinginaway whichshould underline the
dangerinreadingfictionforhistoricalevidence:dangerofwhichBanksisaware.
Buthisanalysisitselfreliesonanaivereading oftheAutobiography.Itispossible
to argue,forexample, that what Trollope was presenting in The Way We Live
Now was not in any simple sense a realistic portrayal, but a commentary on
contemporaryvalueswhichincludedaswellasthe explicitcomplaints notedby