Imperialism and widowhood: British widows of the 1857 Indian 'mutiny'
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2011
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Abstract
Just as women who accompanied their husbands into the spaces of the British Empire have been termed imperial wives, those whose husbands died there can be considered imperial widows. To date, discussions of British nineteenth-century attitudes toward death and mourning practices have had a primarily domestic focus. This study examines how the British women widowed by the 1857 Indian Mutiny negotiated the Victorian prescriptions for death and mourning, not only in imperial spaces but under the duress of conflict and deprivation. In doing so, it looks at the inherent tension in domestic/imperial marriages as well as nuances in the determination of women's complicity in or resistance to imperial missions. Furthermore as remnants and representatives of the imperial conflict, these women symbolized both domestic and national loss to Britain. This study follows the women to Britain where they were received as both victims and heroines. It examines the response of the traumatized nation to the women whose vulnerability echoed its own. The anxiety of the population became largely focused on the perceived duty of the nation to provide financial succour for all the widows whose protectors and providers had been sacrificed to the imperial cause. While the substantial Indian Mutiny Relief Fund, which resulted from generous public donations, ensured that all deserving widows received support, its regulations that the widows of soldiers in particular be industrious and respectable reinforced the imperatives of class. In addition to the Relief Fund, an examination of the range of other sources of income provides insight into how the widows negotiated their individual circumstances. Shortly after experiencing the fanfare which greeted the returning widows, the women disappeared from public view. This study looks at where the heroines went by examining the lives and subjectivity of several of the widows. It engages with their choices to remarry or remain widows, where and with whom to live, and their continuing ties to India and/or the imperial missions. In doing so, it not only demonstrates the diversity of widows' experiences but through them how the mutiny and the empire became woven into the narrative of British families and communities.
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Bibliography: p. 272-289.
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Citation
Hinshaw, J. (2011). Imperialism and widowhood: British widows of the 1857 Indian 'mutiny' (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/4354