Barbara T. Gates, ed. In Nature's Name: An Anthology of Women's Writing and
Illustration, 1780-1930. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2002.
xxvi + 673 pp. Illustrations, chronology, biographical sketches,
bibliographical references. $75.00 (cloth), ISBN 0-226-28444-1; $27.50
(paper, ISBN 0-226-28446-8.
Reviewed by Amy Thompson McCandless, Department of History, College of
Charleston.
Published by H-Albion (November, 2002)
Dame Nature
The anthology In Nature's Name is the third of Barbara T. Gates's volumes
on women and science.[1] This latest volume was envisioned as a "companion
text" (p. xxi) to Kindred Nature. In all three works Gates, who is Alumni
Distinguished Professor of English and Women's Studies at the University of
Delaware, argues that gender stereotypes affected British women's views of
and participation in the world of science. The excerpts and illustrations
in the anthology were chosen to "offer new insights into women's role in
redefining nature, nature study, and nature writing," while illustrating
"some of the difficulties women encountered when they tried to speak in
nature's name" (pp. xxii and xxiv).
The book is divided into seven sections--"Speaking Out," "Protecting,"
"Domesticating," "Adventuring," "Appreciating," "Popularizing Science,"
"Amateurs or Professionals?"--and each has a short introduction
highlighting the chapter themes. Sections are organized thematically and
include materials from a variety of artistic genres and historic periods.
The earliest is an excerpt from Sarah Trimmer's Fabulous Histories,
published in 1786, and the latest is a 1929 poem by Charlotte Mew.
Biographical sketches and an extensive list of suggestions "For Further
Reading" are included.
The Victorian gospel of self-improvement pervades the selections. As Lydia
Ernestine Becker notes in a 1869 essay published in Contemporary Review,
"Many women might be saved from the evil of the life of intellectual
vacuity, to which their present position renders them so peculiarly liable,
if they had a thorough training in some branch of science, and the
opportunity of carrying it on as a serious pursuit, in concert with others
having similar tastes" (p. 21). Women are chided for putting their own
vanities before the welfare of nature. "Love of dress and fashion is
leading to the extinction, complete or partial, of all the most ornamental
birds in every part of the world" (p. 173), Margaretta Lemon tells the
Society for the Protection of Birds in 1899.
Many of the authors invoke the doctrine of separate spheres. Given women's
maternal and domestic roles, it seemed natural that they would be
interested in the domestication of animals and plants, the protection of
non-human as well as human "babies," and the promotion of a clean
environment. As the teachers of the young, it seemed logical that they
would be the best "translators" of scientific language and theory to the
next generation. Several authors ridicule the sexual essentialism of the
time, especially the tendency to explain only female behavior in terms of
biological determination. Rosa Frances Swiney in The League of Isis
suggests that the truth is quite the contrary: "There is no living organism
so completely under the tyranny of sex as the human male. The majority of
men are utterly incapable of freeing themselves from the limitations of
masculinity. They cannot view humanity whole" (p. 76). Until males learn
continence, she concludes, the species will never progress. Similarly, Mona
Caird ponders why, if nature intended maternity to be the chief duty of
women, nature did not likewise require paternity to be the chief duty of men.
Several of the more interesting selections deal with sex and sexuality. In
Baby Buds, published in 1895, Ellis Ethelmer (the penname of Elizabeth
Wolstenholme Elmy) uses plant analogies to discuss human reproduction with
her young readers. "We shall now, darling, be more able to trace and
perceive the further resemblances and differences in the method by which
plants and animals (including human beings) come into existence." The exact
process of fertilization, Elmy explains, "you can scarcely understand till
you are older; but you may understand even now that the action of the
ovules is very similar to what takes place in a flower" (p. 485). And just
as the buds of flowers are very delicate and must be protected if they are
to grow to maturity, so in humans the sexual organs "are as a delicate bud
to the coming flower" and boys and girls need "to be most daintily cautious
that no playing or meddling with them ever takes place." She concludes that
this care is necessary not only for protecting the fertility of the
individual but also for "continuing the life of the nation" (p. 486). But
it was one thing to talk about sex in terms of continence; quite another to
encourage women to express and enjoy their sexuality. When Marie Stopes
published her Married Love in 1918, there was a public outcry. Stopes, who
held a Ph.D. in paleobotany from the University of Manchester, employs the
imagery of tides to explain women's sexual ebbs and flows. Both men and
women must understand women's natural rhythms if couples are to have
satisfying sex lives. Both must be disabused of "the idea that sex-life is
a low, physical, and degrading necessity which a pure woman is above
enjoying" (p. 600), Stopes contends.
Most women writers expressed their didacticism in more oblique language
than Stopes. Quite a few used humor to satirize contemporary scientific
notions and practices. One of the cleverest pieces is Frances Power Cobbe's
critique of vivisection. In her "Science in Excelsis: A New Vision of
Judgement," the angels decide to practice the "science" of vivisection on
the physiologists themselves. As the angel Raphael explains to the
scientists, "You have always loudly proclaimed that theory without
experiment is of little worth, so we intend to try some of your own choice
examples on yourself and your friends" (p. 149). The angels announce their
intention to "collect and verify as many facts as possible about [the
scientists'] various organs--how they are kept alive, and how long it takes
to kill them when they are dipped in boiling water, or starved, or put in
an oven, and so on" (p. 147).
Animal stories were also a popular means of teaching the moral implications
of nature study. Gates includes several selections from Anna Sewell's Black
Beauty. This children's favorite, first published in 1877, provides
examples of the mistreatment of domestic and wild animals. In his musings
on the world around him, Black Beauty stresses the importance of kindness
and consideration for all of nature's creatures. Similar lessons could be
also learned from studying the world of plants. In "A Few Words about
Window-Gardens," Elizabeth Twining informs readers that: "Cleanliness,
fresh air, and pure water, are three remedies both for plants and for
ourselves" (p. 293). These lessons could be spiritual as well as material.
Jane Loudon in The Young Naturalist; or, The Travels of Agnes Merton and
Her Mamma (1863) explains that "Natural history has always appeared to me a
particularly suitable study for young people; as it excites the youthful
mind to the contemplation of the infinite wisdom which has been shown in
making all creatures form one vast whole.... Nothing has been made in vain"
(p. 466). Margaret Gatty offers similar "Parables from Nature." After
observing the effect of a winter wind that tore the garden plants from
"their fastenings," a young girl tells her mamma, "at last I understand
what you say about the necessity of training, and restraint, and culture,
for us as well as for flowers" (p. 273). But children's nature books could
be quite whimsical as well. Gertrude Jekyll illustrates her "Pussies in the
Garden" (From Children and Gardens, 1908) with architectural labels; e.g.,
"Pinkie, West Elevation; East Elevation" (p. 265) and entitles a sketch of
three cats feeding at a dish "An Equicateral Triangle" (p. 267).
A number of the selections describe women's explorations of the natural
world outside the British Isles. Eliza Brightwen relates her excitement
upon obtaining an Indian fruit-eating bat (despite the fact that it
sickened in captivity and had to be chloroformed). Louisa Anne Meredith
describes the birds, kangaroos, porcupines, and wombats she encounters
during her nine-year sojourn in Tasmania. Isabel Savory recounts a
tiger-shooting party in India. Nina Mazuchelli tells of crossing the Indian
Alps when her husband, an army chaplain, is stationed at Darjeeling.
Elizabeth Gould spends her years in the colonies helping her husband
illustrate his book on birds of Australia. Annie Martin writes of "Home
Life on an Ostrich Farm" (1890) in South Africa. No doubt the readers back
in Britain were enamored with her details of feeding the offspring of the
"superfluous progeny" of "several prolific cats" to her ostrich Jacob (p.
255). Two of the most interesting women profiled in "Adventuring" were Mary
Kingsley and Marianne North, who both traveled solo throughout the Empire.
North's autobiography recalled her days observing, collecting, and
sketching in the far-flung corners of the world. She later helped create
the Marianne North Gallery at Kew Gardens to house her drawings. Kingsley
collected fish specimens for the British Museum of Natural History in West
Africa and subsequently wrote two books describing her collecting adventures.
Generally speaking, In Nature's Name does not compare female collectors or
commentators, either in approach or interpretation, to their male
counterparts. In "Appreciating," however, Gates contends that
late-nineteenth century aestheticism looks quite different when women's
nature writing is considered. "Victorian women," she argues, "perceived
sublimity differently from men.... [I]f looked at from a female
perspective, aestheticism was not anti-nature, but in part a continuation
of the romanticism of nature.... Dorothy Wordsworth...forces us to redefine
the idea of the early romantic movement as characterized by the ego of the
male poet" (p. 382). Indeed, Gates feels that an examination of women's
nature writing "illustrates how deeply what we have come to identify as
romantic attitudes toward nature ... were embedded in women's writing
throughout the period covered in this anthology" (p. 383). "What a charming
beautifier Dame Nature is!" (p. 399) Eliza Brightwen exclaims, and from the
writings of other women Gates cites, it is apparent she was not alone in
her celebration of the sublimity of nature.
The variety of formats and styles employed by women nature writers is
indeed impressive. Women confront the natural world in poems, short
stories, speeches, autobiographies, adventure tales, scientific essays, and
illustrations. Their subject matter is equally diverse. The authors write
about natural selection, optics, hedgehogs, taxidermy, algae, entomology,
gymnosperms, and reproduction. This variety is both the strength and
weakness of In Nature's Name. On the one hand, Gates presents works that
would not be found in standard literary anthologies or historical
collections. On the other hand, it is unclear what to conclude from such a
disparate array of materials. Gates is familiar with the historiography of
the "long nineteenth century," but she chooses to organize her selections
"by theme and subject rather than by type or chronological order" (p.
xxiv). This may be aesthetically more pleasing, but it is difficult as a
consequence for the reader to see how attitudes toward women and toward
women in science changed (or did not change) over time. Unless one has read
Kindred Nature, there is not enough background information in the section
introductions to provide context for the excerpts. For those familiar with
the history and literature of the period, the chronology at the back is
helpful in this regard, but it would not be sufficient for most
undergraduate students or for a general audience. The anthology is a good
reference source for those in the history of science, women's studies, and
literary studies; its classroom use would be more problematic.
Note
[1]. Along with Natural Eloquence: Women Reinscribe Science, ed. with Ann
Shteir (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1997); and Kindred Nature:
Victorian and Edwardian Women Embrace the Living World (Chicago: University
of Chicago Press, 1998).

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