Formally Entangled: Plotting Economic and Romantic Desire in Victorian Narratives

Abstract

This dissertation considers how Victorian narratives use form to critique and reimagine the relationship between romantic and economic desire. Looking at narratives that explicitly avoid the traditional marriage plot trajectory, I argue that patterns of formal choices, like circularity and recursiveness, shape and reflect the thematic convergence of romantic and economic plots within each text. In this project, I stress form and content as a multidirectional relationship. By exploring the impact that form has on the intersection of romantic and economic desire in narratives with female protagonists, and vice versa, I propose an understanding of literary form that is both aesthetically and socioeconomically based. As I explore these kinds of formal tensions and shifts, I suggest that the texts ultimately propose alternative paths forward for Victorian narratives that feature female protagonists.