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UBC Theses and Dissertations
Dancing in the "eye of the world" : voyeurism, performance, and the public text in Jane Austen’s scenes of dance Bjarnason, Palma
Abstract
Life in Jane Austen's fictional world is carried on under the constant public scrutiny of the "eye of the world." The consciousness of being watched reaches its most intense for Austen's heroines during social dances, one of the only societally sanctioned opportunities for the sexes to intermingle openly. Austen is thereby enabled to use the dance scenario for an investigation of female response to a "surveillance society." In exploring aspects of the dancing-watching relationship (voyeurism; performance; public text), I have grouped the novels into three pairs, according to the aspect which seems to predominate. In Chapter I, I look at voyeuristic acts of observing dance in Sense and Sensibility and Persuasion. Marianne Dashwood, an avid dancer, represents the passive watched object; the other, "active" alternative for women is to watch -- both Elinor Dashwood and Anne Elliot relinquish dance, and thereby preserve themselves from the threats of the performative space. In Chapter II, I focus on performance in Northanger Abbey and Emma: for both Catherine Norland and Emma Woodhouse, awareness of audience becomes a requisite feature of relation to a spectator society, as Austen illustrates the responses of the innocent and the experienced female, respectively, to a performative environment. In Chapter III, I look at Pride and Prejudice and Mansfield Park, where a close examination of Austen's construction of the dance scenes reveals clearly that she emphasises the powerlessness of watched females within the ballroom, and by extension within society. Austen uses the ballroom as a microcosm of a voyeuristic and performative society: the actions of her heroines during scenes of dance are therefore illustrative of the various ways in which a female may negotiate dancing -- and living -- in the eye of the world.
Item Metadata
Title |
Dancing in the "eye of the world" : voyeurism, performance, and the public text in Jane Austen’s scenes of dance
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Creator | |
Publisher |
University of British Columbia
|
Date Issued |
1999
|
Description |
Life in Jane Austen's fictional world is carried on under the
constant public scrutiny of the "eye of the world." The
consciousness of being watched reaches its most intense for
Austen's heroines during social dances, one of the only societally
sanctioned opportunities for the sexes to intermingle openly.
Austen is thereby enabled to use the dance scenario for an
investigation of female response to a "surveillance society."
In exploring aspects of the dancing-watching relationship
(voyeurism; performance; public text), I have grouped the novels
into three pairs, according to the aspect which seems to
predominate. In Chapter I, I look at voyeuristic acts of observing
dance in Sense and Sensibility and Persuasion. Marianne Dashwood,
an avid dancer, represents the passive watched object; the other,
"active" alternative for women is to watch -- both Elinor Dashwood
and Anne Elliot relinquish dance, and thereby preserve themselves
from the threats of the performative space. In Chapter II, I focus
on performance in Northanger Abbey and Emma: for both Catherine
Norland and Emma Woodhouse, awareness of audience becomes a
requisite feature of relation to a spectator society, as Austen
illustrates the responses of the innocent and the experienced
female, respectively, to a performative environment. In Chapter
III, I look at Pride and Prejudice and Mansfield Park, where a
close examination of Austen's construction of the dance scenes
reveals clearly that she emphasises the powerlessness of watched
females within the ballroom, and by extension within society.
Austen uses the ballroom as a microcosm of a voyeuristic and
performative society: the actions of her heroines during scenes of
dance are therefore illustrative of the various ways in which a
female may negotiate dancing -- and living -- in the eye of the
world.
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Extent |
5038338 bytes
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Genre | |
Type | |
File Format |
application/pdf
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Language |
eng
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Date Available |
2009-08-18
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Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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Rights |
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
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DOI |
10.14288/1.0090343
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URI | |
Degree | |
Program | |
Affiliation | |
Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
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Graduation Date |
2000-05
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Campus | |
Scholarly Level |
Graduate
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Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.