Innocent Blood: Powerpoint Presentation

My Biography Posting: Mary Eleanor Bowes, Countess of Strathmore

A Few Facts You Should Know About Mary Eleanor Bowes...

• b. 1749, d. 1800
• Became the wealthiest heiress in Britain (some said Europe) when her coal mining and entrepreneurial father died when she was 11; he left everything to her
• Before then was extremely well-educated and coddled from infancy onward
• Studied a wide variety of subjects, as well as becoming proficient in French and Italian
• Fostered a life-long passion for botany
• Participated in the exclusive French salons with other social ladies of her day
• Also pursued her literary interests and in 1769 published The Siege of Jerusalem
• Married twice: First unhappily married to John Lyon, the 9th Earl of Strathmore, a loveless marriage that produced 5 children
• Perhaps best remembered for her second marriage to Andrew Robinson Stoney

And Now, On To the Good Stuff...

• Ever-charming "Captain" Stoney participated in a previously arranged duel in which he pretended to defend her honor due to some scurrilous articles published about her
• He had almost certainly written the articles himself
• He managed to seduce his way into her bed, heart, and most importantly, father's fortune
• Plunged Mary into the most miserable of marriages
• Mercilessly beat her and controlled her every action (quite literally, as she was not allowed to enjoy her favorite beverage of tea)
• Mary attempted a divorce after 9 years of heinous beatings
• Due to the prevailing Georgian legal climate at the time, this was a nearly impossible task, especially for a woman
• Grounds for divorce since Henry VIII only included incest, impotence, or possibly infertility (maybe if by some miracle you could prove adultery)
• Always the wife's fault, of course (divorce only granted to 132 male plaintiffs before 1800)
• In the case of Mary and Stoney, exhaustive cross-examinations of many witnesses were required, who were frequently paid off by Stoney or refused to testify altogether out of both fear and lack of funds
• Mary ultimately did file for divorce through the ecclesiastical courts
• Finalized after many rounds of legal battle
• Included his abduction of her and attempted rape in the meantime
• Proved that he had repeatedly denied her basic liberties and had physically, emotionally, mentally, and sexually abused her

Why Should We Care About the Case of Mary Eleanor and Her Remarkable Divorce?

I think that Mary's escapade in trying to sever her chains (literally) to Stoney shows the extreme difficulty women like her in abusive relationships would have had to suffer and endure during her time in Georgian England. The truly sad part is that, while particularly violent, Mary's case was certainly one of many. Male violence and total dominance over their wives was somewhat accepted without question. I imagine that most of it went on behind closed doors. In fact, when, in some cases, mistreated wives emerged and tried to make known their husbands' violent ways, they were shunned as being "mad" and "insane;" indeed, some men managed to have their wives committed for trying to be vocal and escape from abusive relationships, especially by having their friends stand in on "committees" to declare the woman as such. Again, what was so difficult, I think, and important for us to remember about eighteenth century Georgian society at the time through our discussion for the campaign for women's rights was that society had such a tolerance for violence and male sexual freedom. This shows the need for an end to the faulty system in what was supposed to be the "sanctity of marriage."

Public Playhouses of Early Modern England

Both of the following are sketches

of just some of the indoor playhouses

by the famed Jacobean architect

Inigo Jones:

The Cockpit

The Swan

Wollstonecraft

Question: Remember how, as we were making modern connections with Wollstonecraft, and how she described that, in being educated, women of the eighteenth century (and their subsequent generations, I assume) would become more productive members of society?

Well, I ironically wrote about basically-the-same-thing for my Chinese final paper. I chose "Chinese women's education," and the research I found asserted that exact thing: that, with compulsory higher education for Chinese women (who have lived through quite an oppressive history), they would be able to lead fuller and more productive lives as participating members of society. Ma Wanhua, for example, is a professor at Peking University, and has written at length on the topic of higher education in China. It's funny how Wollstonecraft's thoughts are so relevant, not just in the West, even, but in the East today too.

The only qualm I have would be to ask exactly how women (eighteenth century, Chinese, or what have you) are going to contribute more to society. In other words, what does the phrase "contribute to society" actually mean for these women? And then, what if other things continue to stand in their way? I guess I might say that education for women, at any point in time, is one step towards a higher goal.

Olaudah Equiano and the Middle Passage

I think it would be super interesting to do some research on the middle passage. After seeing that small picture of it in the Equiano book in which there is the diagram of the layout of the ship and it shows how the people taken for slavery were "packed" in there, quite like sardines, it has really captured my interest as an interesting aspect of Equiano's life. It's interesting to think about because the total disregard for their physical (and by extension, possibly mental) comfort on the journey through the middle passage therefore also blatantly ignores their basic human rights. The fact that more would-be slaves died en-route also speaks to the irony of those basic human rights, too - besides not being able to help becoming seriously ill due to the conditions on the ships, some slaves attempted to throw themselves overboard. It's shocking to consider that they would have rather died in that way than remain alive and enslaved. I would love to do more research on this! An interesting topic, but still chilling nonetheless.

Golden Is Thy Fame

Yes, I went there with the title. It totally fits! Inspired by the rad cover of the Oxford edition of Letters of a Peruvian Woman and by our discussion of such gilded things (what up Hoop) I thought I would do a little research and see what I could enlighten myself with about golden Incan art.

I think we can safely assume that the golden objects present everywhere in Peru (as observed by Zilia) are a symbol of Incan civilization. There's a twist, though: the Incans do not seem to realize the value of the gold, in stark contrast to their overly greedy captors. It's everywhere you look: pounded into furniture, adorning the Temple of the Sun, and probably draping from more than a few human appendages (at least maybe some special people). Heck, it's über pretty and why not use it as a tool to represent the most sacred part of their culture and religion: the sun? A fair part of their lives seems to have been centered around sun worship. Indeed, Zilia assumes this new European land she has been brought to must be hallowed ground as well, for if the sun - assuming its fatherly figure, of course - allows its rays to reach here, then things must be alright somewhere.

The Incas probably would have retained an extensive knowledge of this precious metal. I bet they were great metallurgists (would goldsmiths be a better word? Did they work much with other metals?)

Here are some really cool artifacts similar to the mask-looking item from the cover. I found them on an online photo gallery called Odyssey, in case you wanted to look them up yourself (click on Odyssey). There are a ton of beautiful pictures of other Incan treasures, too.

1. Feline Idols (maybe to adorn the walls of a temple or home?)2. Nose-ring - HB, I suppose maybe you could consider this? Just kidding. Where would this even go? 3. Mask. I really like this one. Maybe it's the photo but it's such a brilliant color!

4. Earrings. I REALLY REALLY MUST HAVE A PAIR!

5. Crown. Notice how elaborate it is!

6. Goblets. (for drinking mais, or "corn beer"!)

Oroonoko

Remember how I was saying in class that, in compiling my bibliography for my preliminary topics, I was finding a lot of sources on both Othello and Oroonoko (together) about interracial relationships? The term for it is actually miscegenation, and if you look on JSTOR or any other database there's lots of information on the subject. For my topic it had a

I wanted to bring this article from Associated Content to the table because it has some interesting things to say about racism in Aphra Behn's story. If you have a look, you'll notice how critical it is of Behn's racist writings. It says that the many episodes of racism prove to "dilute the power of the story itself," stipulating that this "drag on the theme" was not intended. It goes on to cite a couple of remarks that reveal a "racist mind at work." The logic there is quite interesting.

The next page talks a bit about what we were saying in class, about Oroonoko being "Europeanized" by Behn, and confirms an interesting new take on the hero image we wrestled with. It's like Behn wanted to make him European in order to be a hero. The article then says that "Behn may decry racism loudly, but it didn't stop her from incorporating it into her writing."

However, the article takes an unexpected turn when the author suggests that Behn's "most dangerous form of racism is reserved for members of her own race," mentioning the various ways the white people in the story are portrayed in such negative lights. Still, the book is fairly heavily criticized, with the author implying that the story could have been written much better and its goals could have been achieved without the racist elements.

Did anyone else find Oroonoko to be particularly racist?