Femininity, Crime And Self-defence In Victorian Literature And Society: From Dagger-fans To Suffragettes (crime Files)

This exploration into the development of women's self-defence from 1850 to 1914 features major writers, including H.G. Wells, Elizabeth Robins and Richard Marsh, and encompasses an unusually wide-ranging number of subjects from hatpin crimes to the development of martial arts for women. The topic of women and danger has long fascinated historians. This book innovatively situates both well-known and more obscure themes within the cultural context of the development of self-defence for ladies during the period from circa 1850 to 1914. Elizabeth Robins, Mona Caird and Anne Bronte considered the role of physiognomy in spotting rogue suitors, the nature of feminine anger and the dangers inside and outside the home. H.G. Wells's controversial novel, "Ann Veronica" (1909), is refreshingly re-examined as a testament to the growth of women's sports while the accompanying proliferation of women's martial arts classes was promoted by Edith Garrud, the trainer for the suffragette Bodyguard. Richard Marsh's detective, Judith Lee, a lip-reader and jujitsu practitioner, has been likened to Sherlock Holmes; her encounters with the Edwardian criminal underworld are explored here. Emelyne Godfrey introduces major themes in this area, showcasing a wealth of literary sources, artefacts and archival documents Front Matter....Pages i-xiv Introduction....Pages 1-11 Front Matter....Pages 13-13 On the Street....Pages 15-25 Danger en Route....Pages 26-32 Behind Closed Doors in Mona Caird’s The Wing of Azrael (1889)....Pages 33-63 Front Matter....Pages 65-65 Elizabeth Robins’s The Convert....Pages 67-85 The Last Heroine Left?....Pages 86-106 Front Matter....Pages 107-107 Elizabeth Robins and the ‘White Slave Trade’ Panic....Pages 109-131 Read My Lips....Pages 132-155 Conclusion....Pages 156-157 Back Matter....Pages 158-192