Research Article
BibTex RIS Cite

Illegitimacy and Laws in Wilkie Collins’s The Woman in White and No Name

Year 2024, Issue: Special Issue: Wilkie Collins, 67 - 76, 28.01.2024
https://doi.org/10.47777/cankujhss.1418501

Abstract

Victorian sensation novels, in addition to their scandalous topics such as fraud, murder, adultery, bigamy, and madness, refer to Victorian laws and their construction by social and cultural standards. As a significant sensation novelist, one of the most important subjects Wilkie Collins calls for attention is illegitimacy, a social, political, and literary topic he recurrently employs in his fiction. In his novels The Woman in White (1860) and No Name (1862), he dwells on this issue, motivating the characters’ crimes and scandalous acts. In both novels, illegitimate characters act illegally to reconstruct their identities by challenging Victorian norms especially about illegitimacy. Concerning his life and his critique of Victorian laws and moral certitudes, this paper explores how Wilkie Collins employs and questions the theme of illegitimacy about crime, sensations, and social and legal problems that influence illegitimate children. After briefly examining illegitimacy and laws about it in Victorian England, it explores how the concept of illegitimacy is shaped and influenced by Victorian conventions and gender ideologies in the two novels.

References

  • Bartley, P. (2000). Prostitution: Prevention and Reform in England, 1860-1914. Routledge.
  • Blain, V. (1986). Introduction to No Name, Oxford University Press, pp. xii-xxi.
  • Brantlinger, P. (2011). Class and Race in Sensation Fiction. In P. K. Gilbert (ed.), A Companion to Sensation Fiction (pp. 430-441). Blackwell Publishing.
  • Cox, J. (2004). Representations of Illegitimacy in Wilkie Collins’s Early Novels. Philological Quarterly 83 (2), pp. 147-169.
  • Collins, W. (1994). The Woman in White. Penguin Books. (Original work published in 1860)
  • Collins, W. (1986). No Name. Oxford University Press. (Original work published in 1862)
  • Loesberg, J. (1986). The Ideology of Narrative Form in Sensation Fiction. Representations 13, pp. 115-138.
  • Maceachen, D. B. (1950). Wilkie Collins and British Law. Nineteenth-Century Fiction 5 (2), pp. 121-139.
  • Meisel, M. (1983). Realizations: Narrative, Pictorial, and Theatrical Arts in Nineteenth-Century England. Princeton University Press.
  • Pedlar, V. (2001). Drawing a blank: the construction of identity in The Woman in White. In D. Walter (ed.), The Nineteenth-Century Novel: Identities (pp. 69-74), Routledge.
  • Pykett, L. (2005). Wilkie Collins. Oxford University Press.
  • Stone, L. J. (1977). The Family, Sex and Marriage in England, 1500-1800. Harper & Row.
  • Taylor, J. B. (1996). Representing Illegitimacy in Victorian Culture. In R. Robbins & J. Wolfrey (eds.). Victorian Identities: Social and Cultural Formations in Nineteenth-Century Literature (pp. 119-142), Macmillan.
  • Teichman, J. (1978). The Meaning of Illegitimacy. Engelhardt Books.
  • Wolfram, S. (1987). In-Laws and Outlaws: Kinship and Marriage in England. Croom Helm.

Wilkie Collins’in The Woman in White ve No Name Adlı Eserlerinde Gayrimeşruluk ve Yasalar

Year 2024, Issue: Special Issue: Wilkie Collins, 67 - 76, 28.01.2024
https://doi.org/10.47777/cankujhss.1418501

Abstract

Viktoryen sansasyon romanları, sahtekarlık, cinayet, zina, iki eşlilik, ve delilik gibi sansasyonel konulara ek olarak Viktoryen yasalarına ve bunların toplumsal ve kültürel normlarla nasıl inşa edildiğine de değinirler. Sansasyonel roman türünün en önemli yazarlarından olan Wilkie Collins, gayrimeşruluk konusuna da romanlarında sıkça değindiği toplumsal, politik, ve edebi bir unsur olarak dikkat çeker. Bu konuyu The Woman in White (Beyazlı Kadın) (1860) ve No Name (1862) romanlarında karakterlerin suçlarını ve sansasyonel eylemlerini tetikleyen bir mesele olarak inceler. Her iki romanda da gayrimeşru karakterler, Viktorya dönemi normlarına karşı çıkarak eski kimliklerini yeniden edinmek için yasadışı yollara başvururlar. Bu çalışma, Wilkie Collins’in hayatını ve Viktorya dönemi yasaları ile ahlaki kuralları eleştirisini ele alarak, gayrimeşruluk konusunu suç, sansasyon, ve gayrimeşru çocukları etkileyen toplumsal ve hukuki sorunlar çerçevesinde nasıl işlediğini ve sorguladığını incelemektedir. Bu makale, Viktorya dönemi İngiltere’sinde gayrimeşruluk konusuna ve bununla ilgili yasalara kısaca değindikten sonra, gayrimeşruluk kavramının Viktoryen gelenekleri ve cinsiyet eşitsizliği ile nasıl şekillendiğini ve bunların söz konusu romanlarda nasıl resmedildiğini tartışmaktadır.

References

  • Bartley, P. (2000). Prostitution: Prevention and Reform in England, 1860-1914. Routledge.
  • Blain, V. (1986). Introduction to No Name, Oxford University Press, pp. xii-xxi.
  • Brantlinger, P. (2011). Class and Race in Sensation Fiction. In P. K. Gilbert (ed.), A Companion to Sensation Fiction (pp. 430-441). Blackwell Publishing.
  • Cox, J. (2004). Representations of Illegitimacy in Wilkie Collins’s Early Novels. Philological Quarterly 83 (2), pp. 147-169.
  • Collins, W. (1994). The Woman in White. Penguin Books. (Original work published in 1860)
  • Collins, W. (1986). No Name. Oxford University Press. (Original work published in 1862)
  • Loesberg, J. (1986). The Ideology of Narrative Form in Sensation Fiction. Representations 13, pp. 115-138.
  • Maceachen, D. B. (1950). Wilkie Collins and British Law. Nineteenth-Century Fiction 5 (2), pp. 121-139.
  • Meisel, M. (1983). Realizations: Narrative, Pictorial, and Theatrical Arts in Nineteenth-Century England. Princeton University Press.
  • Pedlar, V. (2001). Drawing a blank: the construction of identity in The Woman in White. In D. Walter (ed.), The Nineteenth-Century Novel: Identities (pp. 69-74), Routledge.
  • Pykett, L. (2005). Wilkie Collins. Oxford University Press.
  • Stone, L. J. (1977). The Family, Sex and Marriage in England, 1500-1800. Harper & Row.
  • Taylor, J. B. (1996). Representing Illegitimacy in Victorian Culture. In R. Robbins & J. Wolfrey (eds.). Victorian Identities: Social and Cultural Formations in Nineteenth-Century Literature (pp. 119-142), Macmillan.
  • Teichman, J. (1978). The Meaning of Illegitimacy. Engelhardt Books.
  • Wolfram, S. (1987). In-Laws and Outlaws: Kinship and Marriage in England. Croom Helm.
There are 15 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects British and Irish Language, Literature and Culture
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Sercan Öztekin

Early Pub Date January 22, 2024
Publication Date January 28, 2024
Published in Issue Year 2024 Issue: Special Issue: Wilkie Collins

Cite

APA Öztekin, S. (2024). Illegitimacy and Laws in Wilkie Collins’s The Woman in White and No Name. Cankaya University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences(Special Issue: Wilkie Collins), 67-76. https://doi.org/10.47777/cankujhss.1418501

Çankaya University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences
Genel Yayın Yönetmeni, Öğretmenler Caddesi No.14, 06530, Balgat, Ankara.
İletişim | Communication: e-mail: mkirca@gmail.com | mkirca@cankaya.edu.tr
Website: http://cujhss.cankaya.edu.tr/about-the-journal/
Basım | Printed and bound by Teknoart Digital Ofset Reklamcılık Matbaacılık İth. İhr.
San. ve Tic. Ltd. Şti. Cevizlidere Mahallesi 1288 Sokak No.1/1 Çankaya, Ankara, Turkey
Çankaya University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Dergisi ulusal ve uluslararası
araştırma ve derleme makalelerini yayımlayan uluslararası süreli bir yayındır. Yılda iki
kez yayımlanır (Haziran ve Aralık). Derginin yayın dili İngilizcedir.
Basım | Printed in Ankara
CUJHSS, ISSN 1309-6761
cujhss.cankaya.edu.tr