연구논문 : 캐롤라인 노턴의 법적 글쓰기와 읽기 = Caroline Norton`s Legal Writings and Reading

국문 초록 (Abstract)

본고는 캐롤라인 노턴의 기혼여성 법률 개혁에 관한 그녀의 활동과 텍스트에 관한 논의이다. 남편의 폭언과 폭력, 자녀들과의 이별, 멜버른 경과의 간통 사건, 재정 문제로 인한 법정 소송 등은 결혼 생활 내내 그녀를 괴롭혔던 문제들이었다. 무엇보다 그녀를 분노케 했던 것은 여성의 법적 부재의 현실이었다. 아버지에게 자녀의 보호에 관한 모든 권한을 부여하는 법률은 그녀에게는 커다란 고통을 안겨주었다. 또한 멜버른 경과의 간통소송에서도 캐롤라인은 자신을 변호할 수 없었다. 이 사건은 그녀에게 ‘스캔들의 여인’이라는 오명을 안겨주었다. 게다가 재정 문제로 인한 법정 소송에서 남편과 아내는 한 사람이므로 계약을 체결할 수 없다는 규정에 근거해 부부 사이에 맺은 ‘별거 합의서’가 효력을 발휘하지 못하면서 그녀는 소송에서 패소하게 되었다. 이러한 일련의 과정에서 그녀는 기혼여성에게 불공평하게 적용되는 법률의 모순을 진단하고 그 처방을 제시하고자 법적 글쓰기를 시도하였다. 나아가 정치적 지인들의 도움을 받아 의회에서 법적 개혁에 상당한 영향력을 행사했다. 1839년 아동보호법, 1857년 결혼이혼법 통과는 이러한 항거의 과정에서 양산된 역사적 산물인 것이다. 캐롤라인 노턴은 영국의 근대 페미니즘의 전통을 수립하는 데 공헌하였다. 물론 그녀가 단독으로 시대와 유리되어 행동할 수는 없었을 것이다. 그녀의 작품들은 이 후 전개될 페미니즘의 구체적인 이슈, 특히 법적 개혁에 관한 이슈들을 포함하고 있다는 점에서 중요한 의미를 갖는다. 자신의 부당한 행위와 개인적인 분노에 관한 극적인 서사는 기혼여성의 상황을 개혁하려는 젊은 세대를 고무시켰다. 무엇보다 공적으로 항거하는 행동은 독립할 수 없는 기혼여성을 규제하는 법률적 측면에서 볼 때 매우 급진적이고 개혁적인 시도라고 할 수 있다. 캐롤라인 노턴은 사적인 부당행위로 고통당하는 여성에서 공적 활동의 대변인으로 변모한 것이다. 요컨대 그녀는 개인적인 불행을 현행법에 대한 비난으로 전환시키면서 불법이 저지되지 않는 사적 영역과 남성들에 의해 제정되고 시행되는 법률의 공적 영역 사이의 경계를 무너뜨린 것이다. 이것이야말로 페미니스트로서 그녀를 재평가해야 하는 분명한 이유인 것이다.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This paper examines Caroline Norton``s legal writings and activities which related to married women``s legal reforms. The violent language and violence of her husband, separation of children and lawsuits were problems which had bothered her for all her married life. Above all, The thing which enraged her was the legal absence of married women in England. The English law bestowed right of the custody of child on father. She couldn``t defense herself in an adultery case with Lord Melbourne. This case was branded with infamy, ‘A Scandalous Woman’. She tried to write legal pamphlets for herself and married women had experienced a similar situation and require politicians to pass the laws for them. These pamphlets crossed the boundaries of public and private spheres by combining a personal appeal for justice with a general critique of the legal ``non-existence`` of women. For her, the personal was deeply political and she connected closely her own sufferings, and the private sufferings of many other women, with the public world of law. In the process, She broke the barrier between the private sphere and the public domain, elevating her personal complaint to a political demand. Moreover, as a wronged wife, and one against whom no charge of adultery or illicit sexual behaviour could be sustained, Caroline Norton had a standing and a known figure within later feminism around whom a younger generation could gather. Her writings were very influential in turing the attention of the next generation of feminists to the question of married women and their legal disabilities. She diagnosed legal structural contradictions and made alternative measures through legal writings which related to her own experiences. In addition to, She undertook to reform for married women in legal aspect through political network. It means a ``political activitism``. In short, Infant Custody Act of 1839 and Marriage and Divorce Act of 1857 were the historical results which produced in the process of her legal battles.

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