RT Journal Article
T1 “Not the Kind of Thing Anyone Wants to Spell Out”: Lesbian Silence in Emma Donoghue’s Neo-Victorian Representation of the Codrington Divorce
A1 Pettersson, Lin Elinor
K1 Lesbianas - En la literatura
AB This article looks into how Donoghue uses the trope of silence to reiterate lesbian history in her reimagination of the relationship between Helen Codrington and Emily Faithfull. I will argue that the public/private dichotomy we generally associate with the Victorians is disrupted during the fictionalization of the Codrington trial, as the private lives of these women are put on public display. Firstly, I will give a brief overview of Donoghue as a lesbian author and then situate her within neo-Victorian fiction. Secondly, I will provide a socio-cultural context to the Codrington divorce. Thirdly, I will examine lesbian affection in The Sealed Letter, focusing on how the author applies subtle and perceptive, rather than descriptive, language to depict queer relations in the Victorian period. I will argue that the representation of the legal struggle in contemporary media entailed a gross invasion of privacy. In an attempt to demonstrate how lesbian identity is put under social pressure I will draw attention to how the protagonist faces the threat of having her sexuality publicly exposed in the courtroom and reported in the media, an idea I will link to the public/private dichotomy.
PB Lambda Nordica
SN https://www.lambdanordica.org/index.php/lambdanordica/article/view/382
SN 2001-7286
YR 2013
FD 2013
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10630/30337
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10630/30337
LA eng
NO Pettersson, L. (1). ”Not the Kind of Thing Anyone Wants to Spell Out”: Lesbian Silence in Emma Donoghue’s Neo-Victorian Representation of the Codrington Divorce. Lambda Nordica, 18(2), 13-43. Retrieved from https://www.lambdanordica.org/index.php/lambdanordica/article/view/382
DS RIUMA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Málaga
RD 22 ene 2026