Date of Award

12-16-2024

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

English

First Advisor

Paul Schmidt

Second Advisor

Calvin Thomas

Third Advisor

Lee Anne Richardson

Abstract

While the use of “nature” as a pretext for controlling women can be traced back to antiquity, biological determinism—the claim that our biological makeup determines our capabilities and consequently should define our social roles—came to prominence in the Victorian era, and its effect on Anglo-American conceptions of difference still reverberates today. Biological determinism posits that sex and gender are dimorphic and inseparable, and that the characteristics of each gender are immutable, caused specifically by biological sex (including chromosomes, hormones, and genes). Gender ideology based on biological determinism holds that a woman’s role in the world should be dictated by her sex/gender: women’s true role is as mothers or domestic helpers because they are “naturally” more emotional and nurturing. In the United States today, biological determinism provides justification for limiting reproductive autonomy and gender-affirming medical care. In order to understand biological determinism’s endurance, in this dissertation I interrogate its development through the lens of poetry. First, I explore how biologically determinist ideas intertwined with Romanticism and notions of the “poetess” role, functioning as an obstacle for Victorian women poets. Then, I examine how Coventry Patmore’s The Angel in the House reinforces and reflects medico-scientific rhetoric surrounding domestic ideology and separate spheres doctrine, portraying woman as solely a wife and mother. The last two chapters foreground Victorian women poets’ tradition of dissent and critique. First, I explicate Constance Naden’s poem “The Lady Doctor,” illustrating how it portrays middle-class Victorian career women in light of biological determinism and the concordant sociocultural expectation that for women, career negated any hopes of a family. Finally, I demonstrate how Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Aurora Leigh resolves Naden’s dilemma through its subversive ending, which the weight of feminist scholarship has critiqued. Furthermore, Barrett Browning’s characterization of Aurora presents an independent, autonomous woman who subverts biologically determinist stereotypes by pursuing a career, becoming educated and self-actualized, and achieving a spiritually meaningful, non-hierarchical love match. Thus, this dissertation contributes an important historical and literary analysis of biological determinism’s effect on Victorian era poetry, contributing to an understanding of its role in gender discourse today.

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