Abstract
This article is an ecostylistic examination of Sub-Umbra, one of the six serialised novels in the Victorian pornographic magazine The Pearl (1879–1881). It explores the stylistic strategies utilised to depict landscapes and masculinity – stylistic choices at word- and phrase-level, collocation and compounding, semantic crescendo, humour and point of view – applying an ecostylistic approach. The investigation reveals that the unfolding of the licentious narrative develops from the description of the setting, more precisely the landscape and natural scenery, as feminised and sexualised (Kolodny. 1975. The lay of the land: Metaphor as experience and history in American life and letters. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press). It also demonstrates that the sociological model of gentry masculinity (Connell. 2005. Masculinities. Oxford: Blackwell), characterised by landownership and domination of the physical environment, is the most appropriate to define the main character and narrator interacting with the gendered countryside setting.
Funding statement: This research was funded by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (PRIN Projects, 2015 Call, granting no. 2015YHYWSH).
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the anonymous JLS reviewers of this article, and Prof Michael Toolan and Dr Ernestine Lahey for their invaluable comments and advice on previous drafts of this work.
Appendix
Text [1]: The pond and the summer-house
[1.1] This lake, as I call it, was a pond [1.1.1] of about four or five acres in extent, [1.1.2] every side thickly wooded to the very margin, [1.1.3] so that even anglers could not get access to the bank, except at the little sloping green sward, of about twenty or thirty square yards in extent, which had a large hut, or summer-house, under the trees, where the bathers could undress, and then trip across the lawn to the water. [1.2] The bottom of the pond being gradually shelving, and covered with fine sand at this spot, and a circular space, enclosed with rails, to prevent them getting out of their depth.
[1.3] The back door of this hut opened upon a very narrow footpath, [1.3.1] leading to the house through the dense thicket, [1.3.2] so that any party would feel quite secure from observation. [1.4] The interior was comfortably furnished with seats and lounges, besides a buffet, generally holding a stock of wine, biscuits, and cakes, during the bathing season. (The Pearl 1996: 73—74)
Text [2]: The old sand pit
[2.1] It so happened that there was an old sand pit close by, [2.1.1.1] in which several years before Master Frank had amused himself by making a Robinson Crusoe’s cave, [2.1.1.2] and planted bushes in front of it, [2.1.2.1] so that the entrance was perfectly out of sight, [2.1.2.2] and no one would fancy anyone could be screened by the small amount of cover which seemed to grow on the side of the pit; [2.1.3] this was just the place for our purpose, and it had been beforehand arranged that we were not to be found for a long time. [2.2] Gliding into the cave Frank let fall the old curtain that hung at the entrance, and we were at once in the dark, the place was large enough for us all to sit together on a heap of fine soft sand at the further end. (The Pearl 1996: 215)
Text [3]: “Convenient” spots on Walter’s uncle’s grounds
[3.1] passing rapidly down a shady walk […], we soon arrived at a very convenient spot, and the instinct of love allowed me to guide the willing girls into a rather dark arbour without the least demur on their part. (The Pearl 1996: 108)
[3.2] we at once set off for the scene of our anticipated fun, which was a rough bower covered with flowering honeysuckle and clematis, at the end of a long, shady, private walk, more than half-a-mile from the house. (The Pearl 1996: 213—214)
[3.3] we soon managed to give the others the slip, and lost ourselves in a dense copse. Sitting down on the soft mossy turf, under a shady little yew tree, we were quite hidden from observation. (The Pearl 1996: 276)
Text [4]: Walter’s uncle’s grounds
[4.1] My uncle’s is a nice country residence, [4.1.1] standing in large grounds of its own, [4.1.2] and surrounded by small fields of arable and pasture land, [4.1.3] interspersed by numerous interesting copses, [4.1.4] through which run footpaths and shady walks, [4.1.5] where you are not likely to meet anyone in a month. [4.2] I shall not trouble my readers with the name of the locality, or they may go pleasure hunting for themselves. (The Pearl 1996: 2)
Text [5]: The bull
I stood up and prepared to take possession of the seat of love — when, alas! a sudden shriek from Annie, her clothes dropped, all my arrangements were upset in a moment; a bull had unexpectedly appeared on the opposite side of the gate, and frightened my love by the sudden application of his cold, damp nose to her forehead. It is too much to contemplate that scene even now. (The Pearl 1996: 5—6)
Annie was ready to faint as she screamed, “Walter! Walter! Save me from the horrid beast!” I comforted and reassured her as well as I was able, and seeing that we were on the safe side of the gate, a few loving kisses soon set her all right. We continued our walk, and soon spying out a favourable shady spot, I said: “Come, Annie dear, let us sit down and recover from the startling interruption […].” (The Pearl 1996: 37)
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