Understanding ‘George Egerton’s’

1. Understanding ‘GeorgeEgerton’s’ "Wedlock" A tragic short story written in Feminism’s earliest years

2. Contents • BiographyBiography (contd.1) • Egerton’s Works • Historical Context • “Wedlock” • PlotPlot (contd.1) Plot (contd.2) • Themes and IdeasTI1TI2TI3TI4 • Importance to Feminist Literature

3. Biography of ‘George Egerton’ • Mary Chevalita Bright: nomme-de-plume of George Egerton • 1860-1945 • Intended to be an artist; finances prevented schooling • Traveled extensively in youth • Chose to write

4. Biography (contd.) • Married three times: 1888: H.H.W. Melville; 1891: Egerton Clairmonte; 1901: Reginald Golding Bright • Labeled the voice of the “advanced” New Woman of the Victorian Period • Considered controversial writer and “erotomaniac” • More information on ‘George Egerton’

5. Egerton’s Works • Keynotes: 1893 • Discords: 1894 • Symphonies: 1897 • Fantasies: 1898 • Wheel of God: 1898 • Rosa Arorosa: 1901 • Files in Amber: 1905 • His Wife’s Family: 1908 • The Backsliders: 1910 • Camilla states her Case: 1925

6. Historical Context • Victorian period, rising theory of “New Woman” • Darwin’s Origin of Species, 1859 • Struggle for woman’s suffrage • Reign of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert • British empire expanding rapidly

7. “Wedlock” • Printed in Discords in 1894 • Known for its “trenchant pathos” • Read “Wedlock”

8. Plot • Setting: English suburb, site of new residential development • Family: Mr. & Mrs. Susan Jones and Mr. Jones’ three children from previous marriage • Mrs. Jones has child who, because of misfortunate circumstances, lives with her sister • Mrs. Jones struggles with alcoholism

9. Plot (contd.) • Mr. Jones has promised Susan to get her child, if she agreed to marry • They married; he failed to keep his promise • Wife embittered • Her daughter became deathly ill • Husband purposely intercepted correspondence telling of child’s sickness

10. Plot (contd.) • Wife finds hidden letter • Rushes to child, who has recently died • After attending the funeral, she rushes home • Kills Mr. Jones’ three children

11. Themes and Ideas • Title • Character of female writer • Significance of setting and introduction • Purpose of woman’s actions

12. Title • “Wed” + “lock” • Bond of marriage • Abuses of bond • The unfulfilled promises of the “lock” • The influences of the poor marriage on the woman’s alcoholism

13. Character of Female Writer • Epitome of feminist, “New Woman”? • Significance of Susan Jones’ life as “material • The impact of class on the relationship between Susan Jones and the woman writer • The writer’s insensitive apathy

14. Setting and Introduction • Poorer suburb: employment of slang English • A new development settled by old ruins • The intelligence of workers: alcoholism can be hereditary • The relationship, because of setting, between woman and writer

15. Woman’s Actions • Why kill children? Why not kill husband? • The hierarchy of control • The disassociation with motherhood

16. Importance to Feminist Literature • Dissected both class and gender • Reveals possible inadequacies of the Feminist movement • Discusses the bondage of a bad marriage on both partners-- its destructiveness