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 <[log in to unmask]> Sender: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society <[log in to unmask]> 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 [log in to unmask] >>> 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 <[log in to unmask]> Sender: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society <[log in to unmask]> 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 [log in to unmask] >>> 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 <[log in to unmask]> Sender: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society <[log in to unmask]> 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 [log in to unmask] >>> 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 <[log in to unmask]> Sender: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society <[log in to unmask]> 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 [log in to unmask] >>> 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 <[log in to unmask]> Sender: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society <[log in to unmask]> 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 [log in to unmask] >>> 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 <[log in to unmask]> Sender: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society <[log in to unmask]> 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 <[log in to unmask]> Sender: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society <[log in to unmask]> 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 <[log in to unmask]> Sender: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society <[log in to unmask]> 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 <[log in to unmask]> Sender: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society <[log in to unmask]> 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 [log in to unmask] "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 <[log in to unmask]> Sender: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society <[log in to unmask]> 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 [log in to unmask] >>> 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 <[log in to unmask]> Sender: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society <[log in to unmask]> 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 <[log in to unmask]> Sender: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society <[log in to unmask]> 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 <[log in to unmask]> Sender: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society <[log in to unmask]> 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 [log in to unmask] >>> 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 <[log in to unmask]> Sender: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society <[log in to unmask]> 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 <[log in to unmask]> Sender: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society <[log in to unmask]> 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 <[log in to unmask]> Sender: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society <[log in to unmask]> 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 [log in to unmask] >>> 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 <[log in to unmask]> Sender: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society <[log in to unmask]> 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 <[log in to unmask]> Sender: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society <[log in to unmask]> 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 [log in to unmask]