![\"Black](\"https:\/\/cdh.rula.info\/y90sclassroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/Yellow-Book-Cover-V-1-205x300.jpg\")
Irremediable<\/em> chronicles the beginnings of and the dissolution of Willoughby and Esther\u2019s relationship. Two characters from divergent backgrounds slip into their Victorian roles of summer romance and courting, while in some respects, deconstructing gender roles within the Victorian marriage dynamic. These ideals were questioned through the main conflict between the seemingly ideal couple, as their idealized romance burn out in their domesticity. I argue that it\u2019s through this depiction that D\u2019Arcy was able to express feminist sentiments regarding marriage and gender roles in a forum where it wouldn\u2019t be held to mere scrutiny. Its discourse would challenge not only its mostly middle-class audience on traditional social norms, but would advocate for progressive change into the 20th century as a form of aesthetical social commentary.<\/p>\n Irremediable<\/em> boasts several thematic tensions that challenged Victorian social norms, and to some extent, satirize Victorian tropes in its storytelling. One such tension is the relations between social classes. As the story\u2019s main character, Willoughby represents the Victorian male archetype, a representative of the middle class. Irremediable<\/em> depicts this through creating duality in his interactions with Esther. For instance, Willoughby\u2019s dialogue is posh and refined, similar to the narrative voice: \u201cI\u2019m a stranger in these parts\u201d (D\u2019Arcy 88). It suggests Willoughby\u2019s background as educated and socially dignified among members of his social class. On the other hand, Esther\u2019s dialogue contains English slang with a rough, unfiltered delivery: \u201cImer stranger here too\u201d (D\u2019Arcy 89). It suggests Esther\u2019s background as uncultured and modest, befitting of Victorian ideas of lower-class neighborhoods and towns. Despite both having come from London, this exchange establishes a power dynamic between Willoughby and Esther. Willoughby gains \u201cinterest\u201d in Esther, after making a judgment based on her social standing (D\u2019Arcy 89). Irremediable<\/em> also dwells on inter-class relations through Esther\u2019s job as a \u201ctailoress\u201d (D\u2019Arcy 90). The narrator unveils a peek into her life through the scene where Willoughby visits her aunt\u2019s shop. Esther\u2019s aunt reprimands her in front of Willoughby, and orders her to return to her sewing duties (D\u2019Arcy 92). This interaction alludes to how Esther is treated as a working-class woman. During the Victorian era, working-class women worked long hours, especially in jobs they were predominately associated with, mostly due to low wages (Parratt 31). Esther working alongside family members instead of in a factory shows her limitations of attaining any form of social mobility aside from marrying into a higher social class. Seamstresses were the subject of \u201cstereotypical depictions\u201d of overworked conditions (Parratt 41). For Esther, moving away from her family on her own wouldn\u2019t improve her living standards; Willoughby therefore becomes an escapist distraction for her. Her subsequent dependence on him for peace of mind, is something Willoughby seems to use to his advantage in courting her.<\/p>\n Throughout Willoughby\u2019s time with Esther, he assesses her domestic appeal through established social expectations of working-class women. The narrator points out his sentiment that \u201cwoman should also earn her keep by the sweat of her brow\u201d alluding to a moral standard he believes Esther should live by (D\u2019Arcy 90). Therefore, by exhibiting this ideal image, Esther attracts him. D\u2019Arcy explores this relation further, as Willoughby condescends to Esther as he courts her into a marriage (Maier 44). For instance, the story follows a pattern where Willoughby always has Esther waiting for him, from during their courtship to their marriage. For example, he decides after a long day to visit Esther, who\u2019s been waiting for him (D\u2019Arcy 94). Esther\u2019s waiting becomes a form of dependence, used as a means of keeping her eager and interested. However, this dependence encounters a roadblock in the scene where Willoughby consoles Esther after his absence, in part by bringing up the idea for marriage. Willoughby displays sympathy towards Esther, after she shares her emotional and physical plight regarding her living situation. Her question, \u201cDon\u2019t you care for me one little bit?\u201d appears to Willoughby as a sign to take up the mantle of the Victorian romantic hero, and rescue the apparent damsel by marrying her out of her working-class status (D\u2019Arcy 98). At this point, the power dynamic between Esther and Willoughby begins to shift. As Sarah Maier had noted, Willoughby had played with the idea of marriage with Esther in an earlier scene (44). Subsequently, he\u2019s being asked for real proof of his feelings and commitment to her, to \u201cjustify his kisses\u201d (D\u2019Arcy 98). He feels compelled to saving her, and as a result, makes the hasty decision to marry based on his seemingly benevolent convictions in Esther as an ideal woman. From her appearance and behavior, he views her as someone who\u2019s socially and economically beneath him. However, his efforts to save her display a willingness to accommodate and cater to her. While this portrays Esther as a Victorian damsel, she\u2019s positioned where she expresses a demand for Willoughby to follow. Her power in her ability to compel Willoughby stems from gendered social norms. She has no power based on autonomy, but on Willoughby\u2019s autonomous desires for her. This power starts to transform to encompass her own autonomy once they\u2019re married, challenging the power dynamic between them.<\/p>\n Irremediable<\/em> depicts the romantic nature of Esther and Willoughby\u2019s relationship as diametrically opposed between their courting and their marriage. Willoughby\u2019s friend refers to this sarcastically, by referencing Willoughby\u2019s reluctance to disclose details of his honeymoon (D\u2019Arcy 99). Willoughby\u2019s romantic convictions had fleeted. When he returns home in the following scene, he does so reluctantly instead of invoking Esther\u2019s eagerness. It implies that his home had become in some respects a prison, rather than a refuge. For example, Willoughby finds himself \u201cvexed\u201d by Esther\u2019s behavior at home (D\u2019Arcy 107). Conversely, Esther behaves in ways not befitting of a Victorian housewife. Annie Swan describes the role of the domestic housewife of Victorian times as a woman who shows her devotion to her husband through love, obedience, cleanliness, and domesticity (qtd in Phegley 6). Willoughby instead finds his home \u201cin its disorder\u201d; at this point, Esther rejects the image of the Victorian housewife (D\u2019Arcy 101). She resists Willoughby\u2019s attempts to assimilate her to a domesticated, middle-class lifestyle. Interestingly, Willoughby\u2019s own actions isn\u2019t befitting of the typical Victorian husband. Annie Swan describes the husband\u2019s role in which he shows his love through providing comfort and contentment in the home, among other things (qtd in Phegley 6). He doesn\u2019t fulfill these requirements, resorting instead to empty gestures to dampen Esther\u2019s frustration, to which she replies with \u201cscorn\u201d (D\u2019Arcy 103). Through this exchange, we see that Willoughby doesn\u2019t retain control over his house, as society bids him. Instead, he regrets and laments over the emotional death of his marriage. He finds himself trapped in it, not unlike the domestic housewife. In his hopes of married life with Esther, he ends up with an inverse of power between himself and her.<\/p>\n Through Irremediable\u2019s<\/em> depiction of Victorian marriage, Ella D\u2019Arcy provides a feminist critique regarding the entrapment of female domesticity. These underlying themes corelate with notions of the New Woman, a literary movement that promoted feminist commentary through associated women writers. It gained prominence in the 1890s (Tusan 169), mingling with the literary movements of decadence and aestheticism. Sally Ledger argued that stories embodying elements of these literary movements clashed in the form of \u201ccultural dialogues\u201d over The Yellow Book\u2019s<\/em> tenure, debating over the social landscape of the new century (9). Regarding the New Woman, it challenged notions of traditional femininity through ideals of \u201csocial reform\u201d and \u201csuffrage\u201d (Tusan 171).<\/p>\n However, Esther doesn\u2019t necessarily resemble the image of the New Woman. In addition to literature, the New Woman had a fashionable image depicting a modernized, socially independent middle-class woman who\u2019s \u201cflamboyantly clothed\u201d (Ledger 12, 16) and became a template a woman could identify with, which diverted from \u201cwomen\u2019s traditional status as wives and mothers\u201d (Tusan 172). Esther was of the working-class, and while married, she appears as a middle-class housewife. Yet, as a wife she shows a form of independence that didn\u2019t leave her beholden to Willoughby\u2019s expectations. Her defiance against him prompts his efforts to calm her (D\u2019Arcy 102). Esther represented a version of working-class women in a domestic stage of life, a life few aspired to, as opposed to social stagnancy (Parratt 33). This visual subversion of The New Woman lends itself to notions of aestheticism, focusing more on Irremediable\u2019s<\/em> appearance of a Victorian romance, than an unfiltered tribute to the New Woman.<\/p>\n Aestheticism within Irremediable<\/em> refers to its lack of commitment to delivering a sense of moral catharsis to the audience. For instance, it plays off certain Victorian tropes, particularly the Victorian hero and damsel, as discussed earlier. However, these tropes are interpreted from a grounded and realistic perspective to produce moral ambiguity based in the \u201cdepressing truth\u201d of reality (D\u2019hoker and Eggermont 299). An interesting element to note regarding Irremediable\u2019s<\/em> appeal to aestheticism is how it seemingly caters to its target demographic: middle-class men. It\u2019s clear from the narrator\u2019s fixation on Willoughby and his thoughts over Esther\u2019s, and that it seemingly asks the audience to sympathize with him by the story\u2019s ending. On the surface it appears as normal: the idyllic opening of when Willoughby and Esther meet, their subsequent courting, Willoughby\u2019s role as Esther\u2019s Victorian male hero, and the swiftness of their marriage. But the story obviously continues on from there. It follows Willoughby into his bemoaning of the entrapment of his marriage; his inability to remediate Esther into the domesticated housewife renders him powerless against her.<\/p>\n It\u2019s here, I think, that Irremediable<\/em> shows its cleverness. Its flair for aestheticism acts as a trojan horse for its feminist social commentary. It uses the typical Victorian romance tropes and subverts them to muddle its faux-message to offer Willoughby sympathy. Considering how Willoughby uses his social privileges to attempt remediating Esther once their married, the narrator considers Esther\u2019s perspective in regards to her treatment. She accuses Willoughby of his emotional neglect (D\u2019Arcy 103). His parents barely acknowledge her, or their marriage; their landlady\u2019s rudeness toward Esther labels her as an unfit wife by which, Willoughby deserves sympathy (D\u2019Arcy 103). Esther\u2019s frustration is justified; yet Willoughby\u2019s more concerned with calming her, rather than understanding her. The narrator refuses to make a judgment for the reader to follow, nor moral stance to take. By using this aesthetic principle, Ella D\u2019Arcy denies the reader finality in moral takeaways; she instead offers a social and cultural introspection.<\/p>\n Irremediable<\/em>, among other works chronicled the social and artistic tensions of the fin-de-si\u00e8cle through challenging social norms in anticipation of progressive changes. From its literature to its physical craftwork, they documented the anticipations of society moving into the 20th<\/sup> century. Parts of this included thought-provoking works of avant-garde literary magazines like The Yellow Book<\/em> released during the fin-de-si\u00e8cle. Published works of the New Woman movement would serve as part of the cultural milieu which led to the Suffrage movement. However, such connections haven\u2019t been fully explored. Other areas regarding fin-de-si\u00e8cle literature include writers of color who\u2019ve depicted racialized aspects of Victorian life and culture. Through the literary methods shown in Irremediable<\/em>, and their distant connections to modernist literature, it also serves a closer look into fin-de-si\u00e8cle literature\u2019s influence on the subject, especially regarding social commentary. Examining these literary elements of fin-de-si\u00e8cle commentary can help recontextualize their lingering influence in today\u2019s literature, by how we employ our sentiments of society, politics, and our environment to challenge and shape existing worldviews.<\/p>\n D\u2019Arcy, Ella. \u201cIrremediable.\u201d\u00a0The Yellow Book<\/em>, vol. 1, April 1894, pp. 87-108.\u00a0Yellow Book Digital Edition<\/em>, edited by Dennis Denisoff and Lorraine Janzen Kooistra, 2010-2014.\u00a0Yellow Nineties 2.0<\/em>, Ryerson University Centre for Digital Humanities, 2019. https:\/\/1890s.ca\/YBV1_darcy_irremediable<\/p>\n D\u2019hoker, Elke and Stephanie Eggermont. \u201cFin-de-Si\u00e8cle Women Writers and the Modern Short Story\u201d English Literature in Transition, 1880-1920<\/em>, vol. 58, no. 3, 2015, pp 291-312.<\/p>\n Ledger, Sally. \u201cWilde Women and The Yellow Book: The Sexual Politics of Aestheticism and Decadence.\u201d, English Literature in Transition, 1880-1920<\/em>, vol. 50, no. 1, 2007, pp. 5-26.<\/p>\n Maier, Sarah. \u201cSubverting the Ideal: The New Woman and the Battle of the Sexes in the Short Fiction of Ella D’Arcy\u201d, Victorian Review<\/em>, vol. 20, no. 1, 1994, pp. 35-48.<\/p>\n Parratt, Catriona M. \u201cLittle Means or Time: Working-Class Women and Leisure in Late Victorian and Edwardian England\u201d, International Journal of the History of Sport<\/em>, vol. 15, no. 2, 1998, pp. 22-53.<\/p>\n Phegley, Jennifer. \u201cVictorian Marriage: Love, http:\/\/ebookcentral.proquest.com\/lib\/ryerson\/detail.action?docID=820313.<\/p>\n Tusan, Michelle Elizabeth. \u201cInventing the New Woman: Print Culture and Identity Politics During the Fin-de-Siecle\u201d Victorian Periodicals Review<\/em>, vol. 31, no. 2, 1998, pp. 169-182.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Images in this online exhibit are either in the public domain or being used under fair dealing for the purpose of research and are provided solely for the purposes of research, private study, or education.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a9 Copyright 2020 Kenroy Ricketts, Ryerson University Introduction Ella D\u2019Arcy\u2019s Irremediable examines the social constructs of gender roles and cross-class relations while satirizing the middle-class Victorian male archetype. It served as one of the few female contributions to The Yellow Book\u2019s first volume, while blending into its goals of promoting …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":161,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,7],"tags":[12,239,19,63],"class_list":["post-4664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-eng-810-f2020","category-the-yellow-book","tag-aestheticism","tag-marriage","tag-the-new-woman","tag-victorian-gender-roles","column","threecol"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cdh.rula.info\/y90sclassroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cdh.rula.info\/y90sclassroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cdh.rula.info\/y90sclassroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cdh.rula.info\/y90sclassroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cdh.rula.info\/y90sclassroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4664"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cdh.rula.info\/y90sclassroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4664\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8030,"href":"https:\/\/cdh.rula.info\/y90sclassroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4664\/revisions\/8030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cdh.rula.info\/y90sclassroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cdh.rula.info\/y90sclassroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cdh.rula.info\/y90sclassroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Tensions of Social Class<\/h1>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/cdh.rula.info\/y90sclassroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/Friedrichsen-Seamstress-214x300.jpg\")
Tensions in Victorian Gender Roles<\/h1>\n
![\"Illustration](\"https:\/\/cdh.rula.info\/y90sclassroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/11\/Their_First_Quarrel_Gibson-1-300x225.jpg\")
Tensions Within Victorian Marriage<\/h1>\n
Shades of the New Woman<\/h1>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/cdh.rula.info\/y90sclassroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/11\/PP_D289_poster_by_a_morrow_for_the_new_woman-244x300.jpg\")
Notions of Aestheticism<\/h1>\n
![\"black](\"https:\/\/cdh.rula.info\/y90sclassroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/11\/new-woman-watching-300x290.png\")
In Conclusion<\/h1>\n
\nWork Cited<\/h3>\n
\nCompanionship, and the Law\u201d, Courtship and Marriage in Victorian England<\/em>, ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2011. pp. 1-29, ProQuest Ebook Central,<\/p>\n