Male homosociality and social hierarchy in 'Lady Audley's Secret,' 'Adam Bede,' and 'King Solomon's Mines'

Male-male relationships are an important component of nineteenth-century British society. Such homosocial relationships also serve as a means for us to understand British culture in that century and the prevalent issues with which the society grappled, such as social mobility, the changing role of women, and British imperialism. In light of the entangled relationship that male homosociality has with the social issues in nineteenth-century Britain, this thesis investigates the construction, disruption, and restoration of male homosociality in three Victorian novels: Mary Elizabeth Braddon's Lady Audley's Secret, George Eliot's Adam Bede, and H. Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines. Specifically, the thesis first demonstrates how social hierarchy in nineteenth-century Britain enables the establishment of institutions and conditions that facilitate male homosociality, and how in turn male homosociality consolidates and perpetuates the existing social hierarchy. Second, the thesis examines the disruption of male homosociality by a woman, usually an othered figure in terms of race or class, through the critical lens of psychoanalysis. Last but not least, the thesis looks at how the disruption of male homosociality in the novels is resolved in the three novels and how male-male relationships are restored. The analysis of the three elements---the construction, disruption, and restoration of male homosociality---develops the argument of the thesis: male homosociality is encouraged in a hierarchical society so as to preserve the hierarchical structure; but male homosociality is constantly disrupted by transgressive female figures or their symbolic representations. The restoration and perpetuation of male homosociality not only require the elimination of the transgressive female figure but also a heterosexual marriage between two ideologically compatible people. Through the discussion of male homosociality in the three Victorian texts, this thesis seeks to present a unique picture of nineteenth-century British society and culture.