{"title":"Mary Carpenter, Frances Power Cobbe, “Noble Workers,” and Evangelical Discourse in Action","authors":"Alison Booth","doi":"10.1017/s1060150323000657","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>Victorian activists Mary Carpenter (1807–1877) and Frances Power Cobbe (1822–1904) held different standing in their day: the international founder of reform schools, considered a devout “noble worker,” mentored the Theist journalist who is better known today for feminism and animal-rights organizing. The essay draws on contemporary and recent studies of both figures and the short versions collected in books in Collective Biographies of Women, a database with an XML schema annotating the narratives. Examining different treatment of Carpenter and Cobbe in varied texts, the essay especially focuses on keywords and phrases, “noble,” “worker,” “perishing and dangerous classes,” and tropes of a lady entering low or dark places. Evangelical discourse is disparaged in the current climate among academics and activists seeking health care, education, or rights for the poor, but affect and faith-based activism should not be discounted then or now.</p>","PeriodicalId":54154,"journal":{"name":"VICTORIAN LITERATURE AND CULTURE","volume":"3 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6000,"publicationDate":"2024-01-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"VICTORIAN LITERATURE AND CULTURE","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s1060150323000657","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"LITERATURE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Victorian activists Mary Carpenter (1807–1877) and Frances Power Cobbe (1822–1904) held different standing in their day: the international founder of reform schools, considered a devout “noble worker,” mentored the Theist journalist who is better known today for feminism and animal-rights organizing. The essay draws on contemporary and recent studies of both figures and the short versions collected in books in Collective Biographies of Women, a database with an XML schema annotating the narratives. Examining different treatment of Carpenter and Cobbe in varied texts, the essay especially focuses on keywords and phrases, “noble,” “worker,” “perishing and dangerous classes,” and tropes of a lady entering low or dark places. Evangelical discourse is disparaged in the current climate among academics and activists seeking health care, education, or rights for the poor, but affect and faith-based activism should not be discounted then or now.
期刊介绍:
Victorian Literature and Culture encourages high quality original work concerned with all areas of Victorian literature and culture, including music and the fine arts. The journal presents work at the cutting edge of current research, including exciting new studies in untouched subjects or new methodologies. Contributions are welcomed from internationally established scholars as well as younger members of the profession. The Editors" topic for 2005 is "Fin-de-Siècle Women Poets". Review essays form a central part of the journal, and offer an authoritative view of important subjects together with a list of relevant works that serves as an up-to-date bibliography.