On knowing nature's syntax: Preliminary cisness, victorian physiology and George Eliot

Abstract

As a trans intervention in Victorian studies and historical extension of recent work in trans studies, this article argues that the theorisation of natural laws in mid-nineteenth century, British physiology produces a ‘preliminary cisness’ in Victorian sexual science. By then juxtaposing George Eliot's Adam Bede with work by Herbert Spencer and George Henry Lewes and undertaking a close study of the characters Hetty Sorrel and Dinah Morris, this article suggests that Eliot offers social sympathy as a non-cis, epistemological alternative to the ethical risks of pre-cis sex.