Signifying woman : culture and chaos in Rousseau, Burke, and Mill

229 Pages·1994·11.333 MB·English

by  Burke, Edmund, Burke, Edmund (Politiker), Mill, John Stuart, Mill, John Stuart, Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, Zerilli, Linda Marie-Gelsomina

Signifying Woman
C O N T E S T A T I O NS
A series edited by
WILLIAM E. CONNOLLY
The Other Heidegger
by Fred Dallmayr
Political Theory and the Displacement of Politics
by Bonnie Honig
The Inner Ocean: Individualism and Democratic Culture
by George Kateb
The Anxiety of Freedom: Imagination and Individualist in Locke's Political
Thought
by Uday Singh Mehta
Signifying Woman: Culture and Chaos in Rousseau, Burke, and Mill
by Linda M. G. Zerilli
Signifying Woman
Culture and Chaos in
Rousseau, Burke, and Mill
Linda M. G. Zerilli
Cornell University Press
Ithaca and London
Copyright © 1994 by Cornell University
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts
thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from
the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House,
512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850.
First published 1994 by Cornell University Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Zerilli, Linda M. G. (Linda Marie-Gelsomina), 1956-
Signifying woman : culture and chaos in Rousseau, Burke, and Mill /
Linda M. G. Zerilli.
p. cm. — (Contestations)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8014-2958-7 (alk. paper). — ISBN 0-8014-8177-5 (pbk. : alk. paper)
i. Feminist theory. 2. Feminist theory—Political aspects. 3. Political
science—History. 4. Women in public life. 5. Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 1712-
1778. 6. Burke, Edmund, 1729-1797. 7. Mill, John Stuart, 1806-1873.
I. Title. II. Series.
HQ1190.Z47 1994
305.42'.ol—dc20 93-31618
Printed in the United States of America
© The paper in this book meets the minimum requirements of the
American National Standard for Information Sciences—
Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
To my parents
Marie A. Zerilli and Armand F. Zerilli
Woman is field and pasture, but she is also Babylon.
—Simone de Beauvoir
. . . the outline of the signified thing vanishes.
—Julia Kristeva
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
1. Political Theory as a Signifying Practice 1
2. "Une Maitresse Imperieuse": Woman in Rousseau's
Semiotic Republic 16
The Maternal Voice 19
The Field of Female Voice and Vision 30
Making a Man 39
The Semiotic Republic 50
The "Furies of Hell": Woman in Burke's "French
3.
Revolution" 60
Terror and Delight 63
Burke's Reflections as Self-Reflections 73
Breaking the Code 77
The Furies at Versailles 85
Postscript: The Maternal Republic 90
4. The "Innocent Magdalen": Woman in Mill's Symbolic
Economy 95
Political Economy of the Body 99
Political Economy of the Female Body 109
Angel in the House 111
Angel out of the House 117
The Innocent Magdalen 127
vii
5. Resignifying the Woman Question in Political Theory 138
Notes 155
Index 209
viii
Acknowledgments
Like all discursive productions, this book emerged through a dialogic
interplay of multiple voices. I am deeply indebted to several people.
To begin, I thank Zillah Eisenstein, from whom I learned about the
fascinating world of feminist theory, and whose work has been an
inspiration to me. I also express my gratitude to Paul Thomas and
Michael Rogin, both of whom encouraged me to pursue nontradi-
tional lines of argument and to take intellectual risks. They made
graduate school the experience it ought to be—emotionally exhila-
rating and intellectually intoxicating. Hanna Pitkin's work on Ma-
chiavelli and gender served as my model for the kinds of readings
that are possible in political theory.
To my colleagues at Rutgers University I owe a large measure of
thanks. Stephen Bronner has been the kind of friend one needs when
undertaking the seemingly endless task of rewriting a book manu-
script. Benjamin Barber offered encouragement and valuable advice
on various matters. And lively conversations with Gordon Schochet
and Gerry Pomper have helped me to clarify some conceptual mat-
ters. To Susan Carroll and Cynthia Daniels I owe my sanity.
Several graduate students at Rutgers are dear to me as both friends
and colleagues. Patrick Moloney read the entire manuscript and
offered detailed comments. His help, support, and advice were in-
valuable. Wendy Gunther-Canada provided me with insights into
Rousseau, and her work on Mary Wollstonecraft has helped me to
think through eighteenth-century debates on gender. The students
who participated in my seminars on French feminist theory and
ix