Round the Corner: Pawnbroking in the Victorian Novel

The nineteenth century was a period of great change in the way that money was made, exchanged, and experienced in Britain, especially as wealth became measured increasingly by capital, and a system of banking and credit developed. As Mary Poovey has explained, Victorian writing\u27s preoccupation with money and personal wealth, and its frequent depiction of financial crises, can be seen as an effort to understand the underlying principles of the confusing yet vital financial world that was taking shape. One flourishing financial institution which received much attention in Parliament, the press, and literature was the pawn shop, perhaps because it encapsulated, in a local and visible way, some of the basic issues at stake in Victorian finance. Deemed indispensable yet sinful, pawnbroking was at the center of a moral and financial argument that continued long after the landmark Pawnbrokers\u27 Act of 1872. Little has been written about the pawn shop\u27s history, particularly its Victorian expansion. A handful of historians have attempted to record the story of how Victorian pawn shops were operated, regulated, and used, but they hardly mention the pawn shop\u27s frequent appearance in the day\u27s fiction, and literary scholars have not engaged with pawnbroking in a thorough manner. Scholars have focused on the sentimental idea of redemption in pawnbroking stories, or lumped the trade together with secondhand sales; neither perspective takes into account the unique aspects of pawnbroking that make it a more complicated business than buying and selling. The amount of critical attention the Victorians paid to pawnbroking demonstrates that it was, for them, a distinctive and puzzling trade, and it is important for literary scholars to understand how its practices, adapted in fiction, served to represent new social realties and problems. This dissertation demonstrates how the pawn shop, with its hodgepodge collections of pledges, customers, and motivations, and the pledge contract, shaped by contingency and trust, allowed the Victorian novelist to explore not only attitudes toward money and commodities, but also social prejudices, personal identity, and individual value in the new economy. The first chapter considers Dickens\u27s descriptions of the trade, which emphasize variety - of pawn shops, patrons, and pledges - and the fluidity of the patrons\u27 social positions. I argue that in Sketches by Boz, The Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist, Martin Chuzzlewit, and Our Mutual Friend, Dickens establishes a pattern of associating pawn shops, places where material articles change from personal property to public commodities and back again, with periods of personal transition and identity transformation. The legal need for the pledger\u27s identification, along with the careful evaluation of the pledged article to assure its authenticity and value, highlight how the frequent pledger in fiction is often someone who is not what he seems, a figure who captures the Victorians\u27 growing interest in personal character and its relationship to economic status. My second chapter, on Barry Lyndon, Vanity Fair, and The Virginians, shows how Thackeray also associates pawnbroking with characters in social transition, adjusting their values and identities, like pledges, for mercenary ends. Frequent but furtive pledgers and social climbers Barry Lyndon, Becky Sharp, and Harry Warrington obscure their embarrassing origins and disadvantages, but their dreams of eminence fail when a literal bad pledge or the figurative pawning of their moral values for financial gain reveals to others the full extent of their lies. In the affected propriety and shifting fortunes of his ambitious characters, Thackeray evokes the distorted value system that pawnbroking represented to many Victorians, allowing it to dwell uncomfortably close to respectability. The third chapter examines how pledging, characterized by contingency and only partial commitment, becomes a model for relationships in Trollope\u27s Can You Forgive Her?, The Eustace Diamonds, and The Way We Live Now. Various characters are explicitly assigned monetary values, either for their personal wealth or their power of attracting it, and are exploited multiple times as pawns for another character\u27s gain, reused and revalued as conditions change. Fittingly, the primary male-female relationship in these novels is not marriage, but prolonged, often broken, engagements, where wealth is the main obstacle to union. In evoking pawnbroking in his marriage plots, Trollope elevates the sense of exploitation in mercenary marriages, demonstrating the potential for long and repeated abuse of valuable individuals. Chapter four turns to George Eliot\u27s Middlemarch and Daniel Deronda, in which the pawn shop, where goods are received, identified, and evaluated, becomes a site for the exploration of unknown or hidden aspects of identity. I focus particular attention on the pawn shop\u27s importance to the novels\u27 discussion of vocation. In Middlemarch, Uncle Bulstrode\u27s dishonest pawnbroking and oppressive philanthropy are all the more offensive for clashing with a calling to ministry, and in Daniel Deronda, Eliot\u27s revisions of pawnbroking language linked to Gwendolen\u27s lost necklace in the novel\u27s third edition assists in her expression of the importance of self-redemption through vocational discernment, which Daniel experiences in the Cohens\u27 pawn shop and encourages Gwendolen to seek for herself. In the fifth chapter, I argue that the pawn shop\u27s presence in George Gissing\u27s The Nether World and New Grub Street and George Moore\u27s Esther Waters modifies the novels\u27 representation of the force of environment on individual destiny. Frequent pledging in these novels is not an inescapable cycle of exploitation; rather, the pawn shop, in which private values and attachments collide with public judgments of market value, conveys the individual\u27s ongoing struggle to assert him or herself as not merely economically productive, but also personally significant and valuable. The practice of pawnbroking in these novels captures the simultaneous expression of these competing value systems, and the uncertainty of which will ultimately come to define a character\u27s existence. My conclusion highlights Fergus Hume\u27s lesser-known novel Hagar of the Pawn-Shop, which draws upon earlier variations of fictional pawnbroking, depicting a young Romany woman managing a pawn shop and solving mysteries while awaiting the return of a suitor. With each chapter relating Hagar\u27s investigation of an unusual customer and pledge, which come from a wide range of social and cultural backgrounds, the novel celebrates the eclectic nature of pawnbroking and challenges assumptions about personal and literary value. Recent literary scholarship has shown a growing interest the seedy side of Victorian finance, examining topics like speculation, gambling, and counterfeiting in literature. My research draws attention to another disreputable financial practice, disavowed but more familiar to the everyday experience of many Victorians than the stock market or gambling halls, and more complicated in its patrons\u27 motivations. Pawnbroking and its fictional representations expose the intersections between broad economic and social forces and private experience, especially how individuals are composed of an array of values and identities that may be drawn out or obscured as needs and situations change. Like old pledges, we are always capable of another transformation

Transforming Experiential Learning in the Honors Interpersonal Communication Course: Interpersonal Enrichment Journeys During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond

Drawing upon my own experience as an educator, I describe and reflect upon my experiential learning-pedagogical process of transforming my fall 2020 Zoom-based honors interpersonal communication course in which my students traversed through a series of experiential learning activities called Interpersonal Enrichment Journeys. Quantitative and written data revealed that students achieved desired learning outcomes and strengthened much-needed interpersonal connections despite the circumstances and stressors induced by the pandemic. Interpersonal Enrichment Journeys can be replicated to maximize the features of quality online courses identified by Kaufman and Vallade (2022), such as helping students develop personal connections in a positive learning climate and ensuring that “students are getting the information and interaction they need to be successful” (p. 153)

Conflict as a relational turning point.

Turning points, which represent changes that transform a relationship, are consistent with a dialectical view of relationships (Baxter & Montgomery, 1996). Previous research has presumed that turning points produce either positive or negative outcomes for relationships, generally in terms of commitment or closeness. Further, extant research has not considered individual differences in the experience of turning points. This study investigated how conflict functions as a turning point, with attention to the antecedents and outcomes of turning points. Participants were 284 individuals in romantic relationships. Almost half of participants reported a combination of positive and negative outcomes resulting from their conflict turning point. As the length of participants' relationships increased, they were less likely to perceive that relational uncertainty and jealousy contributed to their conflict turning point. The constant comparative method showed that participants in early-stage relationships were more likely to perceive alcohol as contributing to their conflict turning point, while participants in more established relationships were more likely to perceive major life changes as contributing to their conflict turning point. The constant comparative method also revealed that outcomes of conflict turning points were aggravated emotions and demonstrations of care and concern. Additionally, individuals high in the solution-oriented conflict style were more likely to report conflict as a turning point with primarily constructive outcomes for their relationship, while individuals who felt persecuted were more likely to report conflict as a turning point with primarily destructive outcomes for their relationship. Finally, Machiavellians were more likely to strategically manage conflict episodes to avoid a turning point. Implications of these findings are noted

A search for passive protoplanetary disks in the Taurus-Auriga star-forming region

We conducted a 12-month monitoring campaign of 33 T Tauri stars (TTS) in Taurus. Our goal was to monitor objects that possess a disk but have a weak Halpha line, a common accretion tracer for young stars, to determine whether they host a passive circumstellar disk. We used medium-resolution optical spectroscopy to assess the objects' accretion status and to measure the Halpha line. We found no convincing example of passive disks; only transition disk and debris disk systems in our sample are non-accreting. Among accretors, we find no example of flickering accretion, leading to an upper limit of 2.2% on the duty cycle of accretion gaps assuming that all accreting TTS experience such events. Combining literature results with our observations, we find that the reliability of traditional Halpha-based criteria to test for accretion is high but imperfect, particularly for low-mass TTS. We find a significant correlation between stellar mass and the full width at 10 per cent of the peak (W10%) of the Halpha line that does not seem to be related to variations in free-fall velocity. Finally, our data reveal a positive correlation between the Halpha equivalent width and its W10%, indicative of a systematic modulation in the line profile whereby the high-velocity wings of the line are proportionally more enhanced than its core when the line luminosity increases. We argue that this supports the hypothesis that the mass accretion rate on the central star is correlated with the Halpha W10% through a common physical mechanism.Comment: accepted for publication in MNRAS; 26 pages, 9 figures, 3 table

Build a Sporadic Group in your Basement

All simple finite groups are classified as members of specific families. With one exception, these families are infinite collections of groups sharing similar structures. The exceptional family of sporadic groups contains exactly twenty-six members. The five Mathieu groups are the most accessible of these sporadic cases. In this article, we explore connections between Mathieu groups and error-correcting communication codes. These connections permit simple, visual representations of the three largest Mathieu groups: M24, M23, and M22. Along the way, we provide a brief, nontechnical introduction to the field of coding theory

Totally Transparent: A Qualitative Study About the Impact of Farm Tours on Bloggers

Producers and agricultural organizations often struggle to effectively and efficiently communicate agricultural practices and values across the green divide. Additionally, producers and agricultural communication professionals must compete with inflammatory or misleading statements communicated to uninformed consumers via the blogosphere and rapidly disseminated on social media. Many organizations are beginning to implement agritourism events as a way of educating the consumer and influential bloggers. This study utilized semi-structured interviews to explore the perceptions, attitudes, and experiences of four bloggers who were invited to a three-day agritourism event. Results showed participants identified personal exposure to transparent farmers yielded an increase in knowledge and appreciation of farming practices that positively impacted their trust in the American farmer and food system. This study expands upon current research being conducted on agritourism events, transparency, and expectancy violations theory and suggests organizations structure agritourism events in such a way as to demonstrate transparency and positively violate the expectations bloggers may have regarding agricultural producers

Socioemotional Outcomes of Children Sexually Abused during Early Childhood

This study investigated the nature and impact of the sexual abuse of children ages birth through 6 years. The purpose was to enhance knowledge about this understudied population through examination of: (1) characteristics of the abuse; (2) socioemotional developmental outcomes of young victims; and (3) potential moderating effects of family dynamics. An ecological-developmental theoretical framework was applied. Secondary data analysis was conducted using data collected from the consortium Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN). A sample of 250 children was drawn from LONGSCAN data, including children who were sexually abused (n=125) and their nonabused counterparts (n=125), matched on demographic variables. Results revealed that young victims of sexual abuse were disproportionately female (91 girls; 73%). The sexual abuse committed against these youngsters was severe in nature, with 111 children (89%) experiencing contact offenses ranging from fondling to forcible rape. Sixty-two percent of child victims demonstrated borderline, clinical, or less than adequate functioning on normative, expected socioemotional outcomes. Child victims reported low degrees of perceived competence and satisfaction in the social environment. When compared with their nonabused counterparts, child victims demonstrated significantly poorer socioemotional functioning, as evidenced by aggressive behaviors, attention and thought problems. Sexually abused youngsters also reported lower self-perceptions of cognitive and physical competence and maternal acceptance. Family dynamic factors did not significantly moderate the relationships between abuse and socioemotional outcomes, with one exception. The caregivers’ degree of empathy for their children had a significant moderating effect on the children’s social problems. This study contributes to an otherwise scant body of literature on the sexual abuse of preschoolers. Findings provide implications for social work practice, especially in the development of assessment and prevention strategies

Simultaneous development of the Pediatric GERD Caregiver Impact Questionnaire (PGCIQ) in American English and American Spanish

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to develop simultaneously a new questionnaire, the Pediatric GERD Caregiver Impact Questionnaire (PGCIQ), in American English and American Spanish in order to elucidate the impact of caring for a child with GERD. METHODS: Two focus group discussions were conducted in American English and American Spanish to develop a relevant conceptual model. Focus group participants were the primary caregivers of children with GERD (newborn through 12 years of age). Participant responses were qualitatively analyzed to identify potential differences in caregiver perspectives by the caregiver's language, socio-economic status and demographic profile as well as the child's age and disease severity level. Items in the PGCIQ were generated simultaneously in English and Spanish by reviewing results of qualitative analysis from focus groups in each language. The PGCIQ was finalized in both languages after testing content validity and conducting an in-depth translatability assessment. RESULTS: Analysis of focus group comments resulted in the development of a first draft questionnaire consisting of 58 items in 10 domains. Content validity testing and an in-depth translatability assessment resulted in wording modification of 37 items, deletion of 14 items and the addition of a domain with five items. Feedback from the content validity testing interviews indicated that the instrument is conceptually relevant in both American English and American Spanish, clear, comprehensive and easy to complete within 10 minutes. The final version of the PGCIQ contains 49 items assessing ten domains. An optional module with nine items is available for investigative research purposes and for use only at baseline. CONCLUSION: The PGCIQ was developed using simultaneous item generation, a process that allows for consideration of concept relevance in all stages of development and in all languages being developed. The PGCIQ is the first questionnaire to document the multidimensional impact of caring for an infant or young child with GERD. Linguistic adaptation of the PGCIQ in multiple languages is ongoing. A validation study of the PGCIQ is needed to examine its psychometric properties, further refine the items and develop an appropriate scoring model