Fascinated by self-fabrication: early sensation fiction's interest in dress and identity

Dress is a facet of identity that is often overlooked by literary criticism and the wider scholarly community. Inspired by the fruitful research carried out by sociologists, dress historians and a small cadre of sartorially interested literary critics, this thesis addresses a crucial gap in Victorian literary criticism. It asks two questions: how does dress contribute to the construction and reception of identity in modern literature? And more specifically, why is the sartorial registered so strongly in early sensation fiction of the 1860's? Throughout its textual analysis of 'The Woman in White' (Wilkie Collins, 1860) and 'Lady Audley’s Secret' (Mary Elizabeth Braddon, 1862) this thesis demonstrates that their themes, characterisation and plots are communicated discursively through the deployment and reception of sartorial cues. Consequently, this thesis contends that sensation fiction texts are inherently sartorial narratives, in which their authors deploy significant descriptions of dress to position and engage with their readers. Sensation fiction’s generic features are also re-examined to highlight how Collins and Braddon use sartorial cues to appropriate detective and gothic fiction elements to reflect on contemporary concerns regarding dress and identity in their novels. In doing so, this thesis asserts that sensation fiction captured the mid-Victorian fascination with sartorial self-fabrication.