Thesis (MA (English))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / This thesis focuses on the relationship between Dora Carrington and Lytton Strachey and
offers three models for reading their unconventional relationship. Carrington was in love
with the homosexual Strachey and the two lived together at Tidmarsh, and later Ham
Spray House, for more than fourteen years. The three models make extensive use of
primary sources, namely the letters and diaries of Carrington and Strachey. Furthermore,
I draw on two seminal biographies of Carrington and Strachey written by Gretchen
Gerzina and Michael Holroyd respectively.
The first model I examine is a form of pederasty. I argue that, soon after they met,
Carrington and Strachey began a friendship which was based on his educating her in a
variety of ways. He served as a mentor both intellectually and sexually. Strachey was
familiar with the concept of pederasty as a result of his involvement with the Cambridge
Conversazione Society, better known as the Apostles, and used his knowledge to induct a
rather naïve Carrington into new ways of thinking. This pederastic relationship also
allowed Carrington a certain amount of freedom as it enabled her to pursue her art
without the demands a heterosexual male would make of her.
The second model for reading their relationship is that of parody. While Carrington and
Strachey’s relationship resembles a heteronormative relationship, it can, at times, be read
as parodic. I argue that they both subvert heteronormativity in humorous ways as a means
to critique their parents’ Victorian marriages and to interrogate notions of masculinity
vi
and femininity. I discuss the roles they played within their domestic environment, and
pay particular attention to how this intersected with Carrington’s artistic endeavours. This
parodying of heteronormativity was, I suggest, also one of the only ways they could find
of expressing the love they felt for one another.
The last model I offer draws on theories of kinship. I examine how Carrington and
Strachey resorted to familial constructions of descent as a means to veil the love they had
for one another and to avoid criticism and ridicule from the Bloomsbury group and
beyond. When they established a home at Tidmarsh, they altered their form of kinship to
utilise principles of alliance. However, another shift took place with the introduction of
Ralph Partridge, Carrington’s husband, and I argue that the terms they used to address
each other changed to constructions, once again, of descent, at least until the dissolution
of the Carrington-Partridge marriage.
Carrington and Strachey’s relationship is often viewed as unconventional and she is often
depicted as being utterly subservient towards him. However, the three models I have used
demonstrate that their love was mutual. The models also reveal their relationship to be
quite conventional in the manner in which Carrington and Strachey expressed their love
for one another and how these expressions of love developed during the different phases
of the life they spent together.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:sun/oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/2504 |
| Date | 12 1900 |
| Creators | Loedolff, Janine |
| Contributors | Viljoen, S. C., Hees, E. P. H., University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of English. |
| Publisher | Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 713799 bytes, application/pdf |
| Rights | University of Stellenbosch |
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