British Women Writers 1914-1945

‘Sentimental Follies’ or ‘Instruments of Tremendous Uplift’? reconsidering women's same-sex relationships in interwar Britain

“…1897), cited by Clay, her hesitations in approaching Stella Benson seem based in awe of and respect for an older and at that time more professionally successful woman writer. 20 Mitchison, who had an open marriage, had a relaxed attitude towards homosexuality male and female: her depiction of same-sex relationships in her historical novels was 'sympathetic and matter-of-fact'. In her memoirs she described close friendships with women as part of the rich emotional tapestry of her life: 'when I think back to those I loved it is not only the ones I went to bed with that matter': 21 but she was somewhat evasive as to whether those she went to bed with included women friends (she also listed among those she loved several dear male friends with whom she never became sexually involved).…”

“…52 Stella Benson in her diaries described Dane, rather enviously, as having a circle of female adorers, a 'harem of wives' attentive to her needs. 53 In the novel, Clare Hartill, a charismatic and gifted schoolmistress, is introduced as 'a woman of feverish friendships and sudden ruptures' . 54 Although not at all masculinised, she is presented as defectively feminine in a number of ways-'unmaternal to the core' , 55 and despite her love for art and beauty, uninterested in personal adornment.…”

“…Catherine Clay reads Benson's shrinking as being about anxieties to do with lesbianism. 73 However, in the light of the very slow percolation of sexological notions of sexual identity beyond very limited circles, this seems possibly over-interpreting what may well equally be read as the very reticent and reserved Benson's shrinking from too much emotional intensity.…”

“…76 Again, too much inequitable dependency was seen as problematic, although Klein seems a good deal more optimistic about reciprocity than Hutton, who inclined to depict such relationships as always featuring an adorer and an adored, which may have reflected her own experiences. 77 Thus there were circumstances in which close female friendship might be deemed to be non-pathological and even beneficial for the women involved. Nonetheless, this was at the cost of the women in question developing an awareness of their own psychology and being careful not to tilt the balance into overdependency, jealousy and scene-making, and having this spectre hanging over such relationships.…”

Margery Spring Rice: Pioneer of Women’s Health in the Early Twentieth Century

“…Cherished daughter (1887Cherished daughter ( -1907 to sermons she had heard, while the Scottish medical missionary Jane Waterston's description of her as 'hard and godless' may say as much about the writer as about Elizabeth. 51 Margery's other godmother, Theo, was also devout, though later in life she leaned away from Anglicanism towards Quakerism. Clara makes conventional references to religion in her letters (and her paternal grandfather and his father were both clergyman), but there is no sense that it was a particularly important part of family life.…”