Marriage and nation: Victorian literature, the Anglo-Indian tradition, and the 19th-century Indian novel

[摘要] My project looks at the ways that the marriage plot in three literary contexts (Victorian fiction, 19th-century Anglo-Indian fiction, and 19th-century Indian fiction) allegorizes questions of independence and imperialism in both Victorian England and 19th -century India. I argue that in many instances marriage is liberating for Indian women and confining for Victorian women; the ramifications of this argument on idioms of freedom and choice are crucial to critical issues such as nationalism and imperialism. To this end, I have examined works such asJane Eyre, Dombey and Son, The Moonstone, Seeta, The Slaying of Meghanada,and Anandamath. Looking at imperialism through an analysis of the marriage plot will allow a literary relationship to be plotted along the axes of marriage and nation in both 19th-century India and Victorian England.

[发布机构] Rice University

[效力级别] literature