A Necessary Luxury
A NECESSARY
Luxury
Tea in Victorian England
JULIE E. FROMER
Ohio University Press
Athens
Ohio University Press, Athens, Ohio 45701
© 2008 by Ohio University Press
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Fromer, Julie E., 1970–
A necessary luxury : tea in Victorian England / Julie E. Fromer.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8214-1828-4 (alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8214-1829-1 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. English literature—19th century—History and criticism. 2. Literature and society—Great Britain—History—19th century. 3. Tea—England. 4. Tea in literature. 5. National characteristics, English—History—19th century. 6. England—Social life and customs—19th century. I. Title.
PR461.F76 2008
820.9'355—dc22
2008039562
Contents
Tea, a Necessary Luxury: Culture, Consumption, and Identity
Mediating Class Distinctions: The Middle-Class Englishness of Drinking Tea
“Tea First Hand”: Gender and Middle-Class Domesticity at the Tea Table
four
Class, Connection, and Communitas: Wuthering Heights, North and South, and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
five
Gender, Sexuality, and the Tea Table: David Copperfield, Middlemarch, and Orley Farm
six
Tea Drinking, Nostalgia, and Domestic Entrapment: Hester, The Portrait of a Lady, and Jude the Obscure
conclusion
Tracing the Trajectory of Tea
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Illustrations
1.1. The English “constitution,” tea wrapper from Charles Ashford, Grocer and Tea Dealer
1.3. The hybrid English teacup, cover illustration from Arthur Reade’s Tea and Tea Drinking
1.4. “Tea First Hand,” advertisement for United Kingdom Tea Company
2.1. “Immense Saving in the Purchase of Tea,” advertisement for Sidney and Company
2.2. Advertisement for Lipton, Tea, Coffee and Provision Dealer
3.1. “A Fire Side Chat,” from Edward Bell’s Tea Warehouse
Preface
My scholarship in Victorian literature has always been grounded in my interest in material culture. My initial exploration of tea began from the vantage point of anthropology, analyzing Victorian histories of tea as examples of tourism. As a reader who has always loved nineteenth-century novels—the longer the better—I started to notice how much attention authors paid to the rituals associated with drinking tea, and I gradually traced the patterns that emerged from literary scenes of tea drinking. Since an awareness of the larger significance of tea in English culture and history helps to create a broader understanding of literary tea scenes, the structure of this book follows my own path to tea.
