This weeks seminar discussions focused on Clemence Housman’s, an author and illustrator, The Were-Wolf and her wood-cut engraved illustrations. Houseman was a massive supporter of the woman's rights/sufferage movement which resulted in her defying gender norms within her lifestyle choices and literary work. Within the work we focused on, she defies gender norms by depicting a female werewolf within her work during a time where werewolves were assumed to be a symbol representing man. This is why I found the discussions today quite interesting as I enjoy seeing creators include things in their work that are deemed unconventional and controversial, but also pushes a social message. Werewolves were always seen as hypermasculine, and dominating, which are not traits women at this time were meant to embody, and the discussions today allowed me to understand how her feminist politics really reflected within her work and the illustrations. The illustration that intigued me...
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Description
Students in Lorraine Janzen Kooistra's English Capstone Seminar at Ryerson University in Toronto in F2020 aim to make a virtue of pandemic necessity by engaging collaboratively and critically with the digital surrogates of a wide variety of Victorian illustrated books published between 1843 and 1899.
Using the interpretive model of image/text/context for both synchronic and diachronic analyses, and drawing on a range of digital tools, this course aims to understand the past through the present and the present through the past.
Our study begins with Charles Dickens's iconic Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas, illustrated by John Leech (1843), then turns to two examples of poetry and illustration: Alfred Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott," illustrated by Pre-Raphaelite artists William Holman Hunt and Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1857); and Christina Rossetti's "Goblin Market," illustrated by her brother, Dante Gabriel (1862). These mid-century works will provide the foundation for our study of the illustrated books that proliferated at the end of the century. We'll analyze a variety of fin-de-siècle genres and styles, starting with Arthur Conan Doyle's popular detective stories, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, illustrated by Sydney Paget (1892). Next up is Salome: A Tragedy in One Act, Oscar Wilde's censored play based on a biblical story, which was infamously "embroidered" by decadent artist Aubrey Beardsley (1894). Fairy tales and fantasies aimed at adult audiences allowed counter-cultural writers and artists to protest existing norms and imagine other worlds; our examples are Laurence Housman's self-illustrated collection, The House of Joy (1895) and Clemence Housman's gothic novella The Were-Wolf, with wood-engraved illustrations by the author after her brother Laurence's designs (1896). The Annancy Stories, a self-illustrated collection of folktales by Pamela Colman Smith, is the first-known publication featuring this Jamaican trickster figure (1899). Students examine the final work, A Christmas Carol: The Graphic Novel (2019), for evidence of the legacy of Victorian illustrated books today.
The following texts are available in COVE (see D2L for the other digital surrogates):
Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas (1843): A COVE Studio Text for class annotation
Clemence Housman, The Were-Wolf (1896): A COVE Annotated Edition
Christina G. Rossetti, Goblin Market (1862): A COVE Annotated Edition
Alfred Tennyson: The Lady of Shalott (1857): A COVE Studio text for class annotation
Victorian illustrated books resulted from the collaboration of a number of social agents, including authors, artists, engravers, editors, publishers, and readers. Using the COVE toolset, students and instructor work collaboratively to build resources that critically curate Victorian illustrated books in cultural contexts ranging from the nineteenth century to the present.
We will use the COVE annotation tool to hone our close reading and editorial skills. In COVE Studio, each student will provide TWO TEXTUAL ANNOTATIONS, one on "content," one on "craft," for Dickens's A Christmas Carol and Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott."
We will use the Gallery Image tool to provide bibliographic and contextual information and iconographic commentary and analysis on illustrations, and to associate these with events in the Timeline and places in the Map.
We will use the Gallery Exhibition tool to critically curate illustrated books in cultural contexts, situating works synchronically, within their originating moment of production and reception, and diachronically, in terms of their ongoing moments of production and reception.
We will use the COVE Timeline tool to provide information about historical events relevant to Victorian illustrated books, both at the time of their first publication, and in their ongoing re-production over time and across media.
We will use the COVE Map tool to associate places relevant to illustrated books and their makers and the cultural contexts that we showcase in the Gallery and on the Timeline.
Galleries, Timelines, and Maps
I found the discussion today interesting as it really delved into the gothic tropes of transformation and how it has numerous meanings that allows leeway into discussing bigger topics. With Mila's illustration and her discussion, it's neat that White Fell is caught midway between her transformation of becoming a werwolf. I thought it really significant as it hints at the idea that women can be feral - more specifically, that they are capable of being wild and capable of base instinct. It's not the way that White Fell had become some dainty damsel but that because she was the werewolf being hunted, I seen it as something that people feared because she was different. That wildness is often associated to men or something generally not associated to women. Instead of blatantly making it grotesque in her transformation, there's a mixture of being sensual / coy (the upper body) and showing strength and hidden capabilities (the way the wolf's legs are much stronger than the one...
moreThis week, we discussed Clemence Housman’s The Were-Wolf and its illustrations that were designed by her brother Laurence Housman and wood engraved by her. One thing that really stood out to me about this course and all of my classmates’ presentations was how political the Housman’s art often was. The choice by Clemence to make the Were-Wolf a female and portray has as an incredibly fierce and strong figure might not seem very radical to us now, but at a time when women had very little agency and rights, it was. I really enjoyed learning about Clemence and Laurence’s feminism and political rebellion, and that definitely enhanced my understanding of the novella.
I was particularly drawn to the illustration “The Race” because it was really intriguing to look at the Were-Wolf in the midst of transformation and see her as this androgynous figure as Mila had mentioned in her presentation. Something I noticed about the picture was...
moreThis week's seminar focused on Clemence Houseman's The Werewolf, an author and illustrator, who was also the sister of Laurence Houseman. Clemence Houseman was an avid supporter of the women's suffrage movement and was known for flouting gender norms; this is further seen in her work, The Werewolf, which depicts a female werewolf. I think this very interesting since the depictions of female werewolves are rare as werewolves symbolize hypermasculinity, monstrosity, and giving in to one's baser needs. Houseman's depictions of werewolves subvert this narrative of hypermasculinity as White Fell is a woman, and instead, likely hints to female sexuality and female domination. The most fascinating aspect of including these concepts is the connection to the inclusion of pomegranates in the frontispiece, as well as the choice to title the fifth of the six illustrations, 'The Finish'. Pomegranates can be associated with blood, death, and fertility, which might associate...
moreThis week's seminar focused on Clemence Houseman's The Werewolf, an author and illustrator, who was also the sister of Laurence Houseman. Clemence Houseman was an avid supporter of the women's suffrage movement and was known for flouting gender norms; this is further seen in her work, The Werewolf, which depicts a female werewolf. I think this very interesting since the depictions of female werewolves are rare as werewolves symbolize hypermasculinity, monstrosity, and giving in to one's baser needs. Houseman's depictions of werewolves subvert this narrative of hypermasculinity as White Fell is a woman, and instead, likely hints to female sexuality and female domination. The most fascinating aspect of including these concepts is the connection to the inclusion of pomegranates in the frontispiece, as well as the choice to title the fifth of the six illustrations, 'The Finish'. Pomegranates can be associated with blood, death, and fertility, which might associate...
moreThis week's seminar focused on Clemence Houseman's The Werewolf, an author and illustrator, who was also the sister of Laurence Houseman. Clemence Houseman was an avid supporter of the women's suffrage movement and was known for flouting gender norms; this is further seen in her work, The Werewolf, which depicts a female werewolf. I think this very interesting since the depictions of female werewolves are rare as werewolves symbolize hypermasculinity, monstrosity, and giving in to one's baser needs. Houseman's depictions of werewolves subvert this narrative of hypermasculinity as White Fell is a woman, and instead, likely hints to female sexuality and female domination. The most fascinating aspect of including these concepts is the connection to the inclusion of pomegranates in the frontispiece, as well as the choice to title the fifth of the six illustrations, 'The Finish'. Pomegranates can be associated with blood, death, and fertility, which might associate...
moreThis week we discussed Clemence Housman’s wood-cut engraving illustrations of The Were-Wolf. This work initially caught my attention due to its gothic elements which I was interested in exploring especially because it was the only work which included a female were wolf as its main character. During today's presentation, I enjoyed the background information on both Clemence Housman and Laurence Housman's support for women's rights as it definitely shifts the meaning behind a lot of the illustrations. For example, the role of gender roles are vividly explored in this work especially when it comes to Rol's relationship with his older brother Sweyn. Swayn is portrayed as the ideal Victorian man in the text but this idealized image is tainted when it he meets White Fell. Although White Fell's influence is a play on the femme fatale due to Swayn's infatuation with her, I think she also represents a complex hybrid character, one that was not expected of women during the...
moreI really enjoyed this weeks conversation about Laurence Housmans The House of Joy . From seeing Laurence Housmans artistic work in renditions of Goblin Market it was really interesting to see his writing as well. I personally enjoyed the discussion on "Luck of Roses" which brought up the topic of homosexual relationships in the victorian era. I though it was interesting to see where that conversation led and listen to the conversation on some of the difficulties that faced the lgtbq community in the victorian era as well as many in todays world. I enjoyed how Housman took this harsh topic and made it into a beautiful fairytale, though you could sense the serious undertone the story was beautiful with the garden of roses and the rose fairy as well as the lonileness of the house in the back ground of the illustration that helps emphasise the storyline. Overall this weeks discussion of Laurence Housman was very educational for me in terms of learning more about...
moreThis week's seminar was about Laurence Houseman's 'House of Joy', a series of short stories or fairytales published in 1895, with illustrations that were wood-engraved by his sister, Clemence Houseman. The text is filled with many beautiful yet tragic stories accompanied by equally beautiful yet tragic illustrations. Fairytales in the Victorian era were known for being a method of educating young children, by teaching them social mores and customs. Some fairytale authors who accomplished this through their writing include Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm. Houseman's fairytales are a bit different as they don't necessarily teach social mores and customs, instead, they speak to and subvert concepts such as gender, sexuality, and notions of family through coded messages and symbolism. For example, in the 'Luck of Roses', the couple who could not have any children, choosing to tend to their roses and treating them as children can be seen as a coded way of speaking about queer...
moreThe incredible weaving and intricate artwork of Laurence Housman’s House of Joy was truly a sight to behold for this week’s reading. I was familiar with his art from beforehand through Goblin Market, but seeing him illustrate his own writing here is wonderful. A writer who can illustrate his own work truly encapsulates a vision well realized. The sweeping detail and fluid use of languid poses and compositional elements sets his illustrations apart, along with the vivid allusions to women’s rights and same-sex love.
I was particularly fascinated by Alicia’s presentation for “The Story of the Herons”. I found it really interesting how the Prince Heron was yearning for his old life as a bird and could potentially be seen as an allegory for a homosexual man wanting to be freed from the restrictive societal notions and crimes imposed upon him, as would have been common-place during the Victorian...
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Individual Entries
This week's seminar focused on Clemence Houseman's The Werewolf, an author and illustrator, who was also the sister of Laurence Houseman. Clemence Houseman was an avid supporter of the women's suffrage movement and was known for flouting gender norms; this is further seen in her work, The Werewolf, which depicts a female werewolf. I think this very interesting since the depictions of female werewolves are rare as werewolves symbolize hypermasculinity, monstrosity, and giving in to one's baser needs. Houseman's depictions of werewolves subvert this narrative of hypermasculinity as White Fell is a woman, and instead, likely hints to female sexuality and female domination. The most fascinating aspect of including these concepts is the connection to the inclusion of pomegranates in the frontispiece, as well as the choice to title the fifth of the six illustrations, 'The Finish'. Pomegranates can be associated with blood, death, and fertility, which might associate...
moreThis week's seminar focused on Clemence Houseman's The Werewolf, an author and illustrator, who was also the sister of Laurence Houseman. Clemence Houseman was an avid supporter of the women's suffrage movement and was known for flouting gender norms; this is further seen in her work, The Werewolf, which depicts a female werewolf. I think this very interesting since the depictions of female werewolves are rare as werewolves symbolize hypermasculinity, monstrosity, and giving in to one's baser needs. Houseman's depictions of werewolves subvert this narrative of hypermasculinity as White Fell is a woman, and instead, likely hints to female sexuality and female domination. The most fascinating aspect of including these concepts is the connection to the inclusion of pomegranates in the frontispiece, as well as the choice to title the fifth of the six illustrations, 'The Finish'. Pomegranates can be associated with blood, death, and fertility, which might associate...
moreThis week we discussed Clemence Housman’s wood-cut engraving illustrations of The Were-Wolf. This work initially caught my attention due to its gothic elements which I was interested in exploring especially because it was the only work which included a female were wolf as its main character. During today's presentation, I enjoyed the background information on both Clemence Housman and Laurence Housman's support for women's rights as it definitely shifts the meaning behind a lot of the illustrations. For example, the role of gender roles are vividly explored in this work especially when it comes to Rol's relationship with his older brother Sweyn. Swayn is portrayed as the ideal Victorian man in the text but this idealized image is tainted when it he meets White Fell. Although White Fell's influence is a play on the femme fatale due to Swayn's infatuation with her, I think she also represents a complex hybrid character, one that was not expected of women during the...
moreI really enjoyed this weeks conversation about Laurence Housmans The House of Joy . From seeing Laurence Housmans artistic work in renditions of Goblin Market it was really interesting to see his writing as well. I personally enjoyed the discussion on "Luck of Roses" which brought up the topic of homosexual relationships in the victorian era. I though it was interesting to see where that conversation led and listen to the conversation on some of the difficulties that faced the lgtbq community in the victorian era as well as many in todays world. I enjoyed how Housman took this harsh topic and made it into a beautiful fairytale, though you could sense the serious undertone the story was beautiful with the garden of roses and the rose fairy as well as the lonileness of the house in the back ground of the illustration that helps emphasise the storyline. Overall this weeks discussion of Laurence Housman was very educational for me in terms of learning more about...
moreThis week's seminar was about Laurence Houseman's 'House of Joy', a series of short stories or fairytales published in 1895, with illustrations that were wood-engraved by his sister, Clemence Houseman. The text is filled with many beautiful yet tragic stories accompanied by equally beautiful yet tragic illustrations. Fairytales in the Victorian era were known for being a method of educating young children, by teaching them social mores and customs. Some fairytale authors who accomplished this through their writing include Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm. Houseman's fairytales are a bit different as they don't necessarily teach social mores and customs, instead, they speak to and subvert concepts such as gender, sexuality, and notions of family through coded messages and symbolism. For example, in the 'Luck of Roses', the couple who could not have any children, choosing to tend to their roses and treating them as children can be seen as a coded way of speaking about queer...
moreThe incredible weaving and intricate artwork of Laurence Housman’s House of Joy was truly a sight to behold for this week’s reading. I was familiar with his art from beforehand through Goblin Market, but seeing him illustrate his own writing here is wonderful. A writer who can illustrate his own work truly encapsulates a vision well realized. The sweeping detail and fluid use of languid poses and compositional elements sets his illustrations apart, along with the vivid allusions to women’s rights and same-sex love.
I was particularly fascinated by Alicia’s presentation for “The Story of the Herons”. I found it really interesting how the Prince Heron was yearning for his old life as a bird and could potentially be seen as an allegory for a homosexual man wanting to be freed from the restrictive societal notions and crimes imposed upon him, as would have been common-place during the Victorian...
moreI found the discussions this week some of the most interesting of the course thusfar, especially in the case of discussing Laurence Housman's The House of Joy. What made this novel and this discussion stand out to me was that through viewing and analyzing the different images that are included in the book for various fairytales, it was easy to recognize imagery that had the same thematic implications throughout the entire book. This is something that I had not considered when reading it on my own, however since the discussion I have gone back to the book to discover more connections that I can make between all of the images and their individual themes. One theme that stood out to me the most was the depictions of homosexuality as being natural and beautiful, and I was able to notice the idea throughout many of the images, even if it was not explicit. When considering the context for The House of Joy and who the author and illustrator is, you begin to...
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