Seeing in flowers : Ecofeminism and the Victorian Gothic

Stewart, Jemma Elaine (2025) Seeing in flowers : Ecofeminism and the Victorian Gothic. PhD thesis, Birkbeck, University of London.

Abstract

Author: Jemma Stewart Title: Seeing in Flowers: Ecofeminism and the Victorian Gothic Degree: Doctor of Philosophy, English and Humanities This thesis investigates the role of a popular literary genre, the language of flowers, in the construction of British femininity in the nineteenth century. Imported from France, translated and reproduced in the same vein as gift books and annuals, the language of flowers anthologies aimed to provide a floral code that lovers might use to communicate covertly and cultivate a romance. Considering the dominant male editorial imperative within language of flowers books in Britain, the genre may be viewed as an extension of a phallocentric, patriarchal culture that promoted the conflation and oppression of women and flora. The genre’s influence expanded to include dictates on ‘appropriate’ female behaviours, expectations, fashions and remits of learning, and as such, I ask how this was received by a female audience. As it becomes clear that a reaction to the conservative leanings of the language of flowers could not be found within the pages of the florilegiums themselves, I turn to the subversive literature of the Female Gothic to uncover a response from women writers. Incorporating the language of flowers or floriography into the Gothic may appear a jarring interpolation, given the stark contrasts between the sentimental, romantic and chaste (language of flowers) and the transgressive, frightening and uncanny (the Gothic). However, the methods used by women writers of the Gothic ensure an effective manipulation of floriography as part of their plots, provocations and reprovals. This thesis then traces the inception and development of the language of flowers in Britain from 1834 through to the early twentieth century. Within these developments, I consider the impact of Charles Darwin’s botanical works on the sentimental flower genre and the Gothic mode. As the language of flowers evolved, the Gothic response from women writers in turn adapted, and the mainstream language of flowers continually found its dark reflection in the Female Gothic. Turning to a range of authors, beginning with L.E.L. and ending with Edith Nesbit, this thesis looks at how floriography was reshaped by authors of the Female Gothic, and finally debates floriography’s afterlives.

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