A Painfully "Nice Family"

Abstract

Through the exploration of Wilkie Collins's The Law and the Lady (1875), a mystery by one of the most successful authors of the era, this article examines gaps in current theories of interdependence. It discusses the text in light of critical disability theory, interdependence theory, Victorian literary studies, and the historical signification of sadomasochism, concluding that the novel's disabled cousins—Dexter and Ariel—highlight non-normative relationships that could complicate assumptions about acts of care in scholarship on disability and interdependence. Recent advances in interdependence scholarship incorporate queer, genderqueer, and other non-normative relationships. However, even recent criticism relies on a normative definition of gentle and generous care that accords with conventional social, moral, and intellectual values. Dexter and Ariel's BDSM eroticism suggests that painful and queer experiences of interdependence challenge these normative models of care.