The 20th annual Symposium will be held on Thursday, April 23, 2009.

Fallen Gentlemen: The Late-Victorian Fascination with Double Lives
Towsley Lecture Hall/Norris 101, 8:45 AM

Kristin  Butler,   '10 22
   Majors: English, History
   Hometown: Temperance, MI

Sponsor(s): Lanya Lamouria
Support: FURSCA

Abstract: 
This project explores the Victorian fascination with “fallen gentlemen,” respectable gentlemen who simultaneously led lives of crime, adultery, and immorality—men with qualities similar to those of the character Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde. Although many scholars have observed that Victorian writers demonstrate an obvious obsession with characters who lead double lives, I wondered if this literary fascination reflected a broader cultural preoccupation. After researching nineteenth century British newspapers now available in an online database, I successfully established this connection between the literary and cultural worlds. I located dozens of articles whose stories range from a trusted churchwarden swindling money and “victimizing hundreds of unfortunate people” (Northern Echo, 1895) to a diligent, disciplined office clerk who stole large amounts of money from his company and lived in a mansion, successfully convincing neighbors and relatives that he was a high placed official. These findings are significant because, while scholars of the Victorian era argue that the double life was a metaphor for the period’s hidden sexual world, I discovered that the accounts of double lives in newspapers often revolved around secret financial scandals.

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