Sometimes a Stamen is Only a Stamen: Sexuality, Women and Darwin's Loves of the Plants

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Acknowledgements

My thanks go to Deirdre Coleman and Clara Tuite for their insightful comments on this paper. Research for this paper was generously funded by a Daphne Elliott Bursary from the Australian Federation of University Women—South Australia.

Notes

[1] Darwin's own lifestyle has suggested to some scholars that the commentary on human sexuality should instead be read in the foreground. Darwin, between his two marriages, had a relationship with his sons' governess, Mary Parker, which produced two daughters whom he raised in his own home with his other children. There have been suggestions of at least one other extra‐martial relationship. Regardless of whether Darwin is to be understood as a practitioner of “free love” who may have intended to promote liberal sexual practices in his work, his biography in this respect does not seem to have affected his contemporary literary reception as scant information about his life was published and most readers knew very little about him. Even his satirists mention nothing about his personal life. See King‐Hele for details, and an example of a biographically‐oriented reading.

[2] See Scrivener, especially 12.

[3] See especially Shteir 62–73, George 122–33 and Pascoe 200–201.

[4] Seward devotes much of her Memoirs of Dr. Darwin to a generally sympathetic reading of his poetry. More admired Darwin's writing style, but found his argument for plant sentience implausible (295). See also Polwhele.

[5] See Shteir 62–66, 72 and George 124–31.

[6] Further references to Smith are to volume 2 of the Conversations, unless otherwise specified.

[7] For further discussion of Rousseau's depiction of luxuriance and its influence, see George 30–35.

[8] Periodical reviews of The Loves of the Plants, all of which were positive, do not distinguish between male and female readers, despite the suggestion in the Proem that Darwin's target audience includes women. Had Darwin's poem been considered unsuitable for certain audiences, it is likely that this would have been mentioned; eighteenth‐century reviews generally did not flinch at identifying a text as containing inappropriate sexual content. See for example the discussion of Mimosa: or, the Sensitive Plant above.

[9] For example, volume I: iv–v.