Medical obstacles and eugenic solutions in Arabella Kenealy’s The Mating of Anthea (1911)

Abstract

ABSTRACT Eugenics told many stories. A story of a degenerative present, a story of a dystopian future and, more importantly, a story of how to avert this perceived imminent decay. Put together, these stories read like an unraveling of a linear plot, with a suspended conclusion. At the same time, eugenicists liked to constantly highlight the scientific foundations of their theory. In the “science” of eugenics, however, the narrating is contained and limited, only serving to legitimize the scientific ideas. Literature, on the other hand, remains free to speculate further. An investigation of literary texts might reveal how the combination of eugenic ideas with fictional plots and literary innovation inevitably introduced complexity and ambiguity, thus undermining rather than reinforcing the scientific authority eugenics was eager to claim. By looking at some of Dr. Arabella Kenealy’s novels, this article analyses the problems associated with dramatizing eugenic aims in fictional plots, especially when it comes to women’s professional and familial position.