KUKU

KU ScholarWorks

  • myKU
  • Email
  • Enroll & Pay
  • KU Directory
    • Login
    View Item 
    •   KU ScholarWorks
    • Dissertations and Theses
    • Dissertations
    • View Item
    •   KU ScholarWorks
    • Dissertations and Theses
    • Dissertations
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Criminal Respectability: The Nineteenth-Century British Bigamy Novel

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    Available after: 2018-05-31 (1.003Mb)
    Issue Date
    2014-05-31
    Author
    Kiehna, Lauren Harmsen
    Publisher
    University of Kansas
    Format
    211 pages
    Type
    Dissertation
    Degree Level
    Ph.D.
    Discipline
    English
    Rights
    Copyright held by the author.
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract
    In this project, I work to establish a wider understanding of the bigamy novel as a nineteenth-century genre, moving beyond the classification of the novel as a mere subgenre of sensation fiction. I will also explore the way that bigamy novels responded to the complex and real anxieties about respectability and marriage in Britain over the course of the nineteenth century. One of the objectives of this project is to expand the lens through which scholars view the genre itself, moving beyond the common categorization of the bigamy novel as merely a sub-genre of sensation fiction and toward an understanding of the genre as a longer-ranging phenomenon that responded and engaged with anxieties about marriage and respectability at different points during the period. While Victorians viewed a complex and conflicted concept like respectability as a central and even crucial part of their public lives, they also took much about respectability for granted. Along with asking important questions about what respectability really was during the nineteenth century, the bigamy novels that I have selected for this project form a significant body of work within the history of the concept of respectability itself. To critique the concept, all of these texts also must confront it head on; this results in a series of frank discussions about how to be respectable in British society. The bigamy novel may seem like a strange, sudden phenomenon when viewed solely in the context of sensation fiction, but when the scope of the genre is enlarged to take into account bigamy texts from throughout the century, their true importance both in the history of the novel and in the history of British respectability is revealed.
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/1808/21711
    Collections
    • Dissertations [4660]
    • English Dissertations and Theses [449]

    Items in KU ScholarWorks are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.


    We want to hear from you! Please share your stories about how Open Access to this item benefits YOU.


    Contact KU ScholarWorks
    785-864-8983
    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    785-864-8983

    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    Image Credits
     

     

    Browse

    All of KU ScholarWorksCommunities & CollectionsThis Collection

    My Account

    Login

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics

    Contact KU ScholarWorks
    785-864-8983
    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    785-864-8983

    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    Image Credits
     

     

    The University of Kansas
      Contact KU ScholarWorks
    Lawrence, KS | Maps
     
    • Academics
    • Admission
    • Alumni
    • Athletics
    • Campuses
    • Giving
    • Jobs

    The University of Kansas prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, national origin, age, ancestry, disability, status as a veteran, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, gender identity, gender expression and genetic information in the University’s programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies: Director of the Office of Institutional Opportunity and Access, IOA@ku.edu, 1246 W. Campus Road, Room 153A, Lawrence, KS, 66045, (785)864-6414, 711 TTY.

     Contact KU
    Lawrence, KS | Maps