Leydi Hester Stanhope ve Levant Macerası (1810-1839)
Selda Güner ÖzdenBu çalışmanın konusu; İngiliz üst sınıfının üyelerinden, başbakan çıkarmış bir ailenin ferdi Leydi Hester Stanhope (1776-1839) ve onun 19. yüzyılın başında Londra’dan Levant’a uzanan seyahatleri ile Doğu Akdeniz’deki uzun ve dramatik yaşantısıdır. Bu yaşantı onun ölümünden sonra doktoru tarafından toplam 6 cilt hâlinde yayımlanan metinlerden izlenebilmektedir. Bu metinler 19. yüzyılın ilk yarısındaki yolculuk güzergâhlarından, dönemin kimi aktörlerinden bahsettiği ve oryantalist literatüre katkı verecek birinci elden gözlemlerden oluştuğu için değerlidir. Leydi Hester Stanhope kadın, aristokrat ve macera düşkünü kimliklerini mezcetmiş biri olarak sıradışıdır. Yaşadığı çağın İngiliz aristokratik kültürünün katı kuralları dışında bir hayat sürmeyi tercih etmiştir. Daha sonra Viktorya çağında bir kültürel forma dönüşecek bu kurallara göre soylu kadınlara biçilen rol “ideal bir eş ve anne” olmaktı. Leydi Hester ise 1810’da İngiliz monarşisinin kendisine sunduğu imkânları ve ülkesini terk ederek bu role itiraz etti. 29 yıl boyunca ölümüne dek Levant’ta, o sıralar Osmanlı idaresindeki Cun’da yaşamayı seçti. Leydi Hester “Doğu”ya giden kadın seyyahlar arasında yalnız değildir; öncesinde Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762), sonrasında ise Gertrude Bell (1868- 1926) gibi tanınmış isimler Osmanlı coğrafyasının farklı bölgelerini ziyaret etmiş ve bu ziyaretlerini kâğıda dökmüşlerdir. Leydi Hester’in, bölgede daha uzun süre ikamet etmesine rağmen, tanınırlık açısından onlar kadar şanslı olduğunu söylemek zordur. Bu yüzden makale, onun belge niteliğindeki metinlerinden hareketle ona ve Levant’ına dair bilgiyi arttırmayı hedeflemektedir.
Lady Hester Stanhope and Her Levant Adventure (1810-1839)
Selda Güner ÖzdenThe subject of this study is Lady Hester Stanhope (1776-1839), a member of the British upper class whose family included a prime minister, and her extensive and dramatic life in the Eastern Mediterranean, including her travels from London to the Levant at the beginning of the 19th century. Her life can be traced in six volumes published by her doctor after her death. These texts are valuable because they consist of first-hand observations that contribute to the travel routes, include some accounts from the period, and orientalist literature from the first half of the 19th century. Lady Hester Stanhope was an exceptional figure for her time, as she initiated her travels as a woman, aristocrat, and adventurer. She chose to live outside the strict rules of the English aristocratic culture of her time. According to rules that would evolve into a cultural form then in the Victorian era, the role assigned to noblewomen was to be an “ideal wife and mother.” However, Lady Hester objected to this role by abandoning the opportunities offered by the British monarchy and leaving her country in 1810. She chose to live in the Levant, specifically in Joun, which was under Ottoman administration at the time, until her death 29 years later. Lady Hester was not alone among female travelers to the Levant or “East”; familiar names such as Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762) and Gertrude Bell (1868-1926) had also visited various regions of the Ottoman territory and documented their visits. Although Lady Hester resided in the region for a longer time, it is difficult to say that she was as fortunate in terms of recognition as the formers were. Therefore, this article increases knowledge about her and her Levant based on her documentary texts.
One of the most significant features of the modern era is its acceleration and facilitation of travel and transportation for both men and women. It is undeniable that the global power struggles and influence competitions of the new imperial era were important factors behind this. In the 19th century, when the Industrial Revolution expanded new imperial ambitions geographically, it is known that, along with scientific curiosity, meeting different cultures also shaped the travel motivations of Western people. In fact, there was a relationship between scientific research and travel during this century. The desire of explorers to understand and record the experiences and cultures of the nations they always encountered motivated their next expedition.
Apart from scientists, diplomats, writers, and journalists, the travels of Western women and their motivations for venturing out of their comfort zones and the travel notes they left are also important. This study addresses the interest, travels, and observations of Lady Hester Stanhope, a famous name of English aristocracy, regarding the Levant. Observing the heterogeneous cultural and societal characteristics of the Eastern Mediterranean and settling permanently there, Lady Hester would never return to England. The adventure of a woman from an aristocratic family who left the English way of life to establish a new life in the Levant is remarkable. However, her aristocratic background provided her with wealth, fame, and reputation in England. However, the price of all these opportunities was to behave according to status and etiquette specific to the stagnant, noble class and to live within a suffocating household regime. It was the gloom of this life that caused Virginia Woolf to write A Room of One’s Own (1929), almost a hundred years after Lady Hester. The gloom surrounding this life inspired Lady Hester to go to the Levant to build her own room. Why had she chosen the old East over the New World, for example, America, where English immigrants had established a new and glittering order? The spirit of the Enlightenment, -Voltaire’s Candide had almost traveled around the whole world-, Napoleon’s landing in Egypt in 1798, the spread of sympathy for Ancient Greece in European capitals, and the increase in transportation opportunities and travel culture among the upper classes provide an explanation. Likewise, the fact that almost all men, such as Byron, Chateaubriand, Lamartine, Gabriel Charles, Melchior de Vogué, Hellespont, Chevron, and Edouard Blanc, went to the Levant shows that it became a fashion. This is precisely a form of traveling that continued from the end of the 18th century until the middle of the 19th century, a movement we call “Grand Tour”. Indeed, some of these famous
figures met Lady Hester in Istanbul, Damascus, and sometimes in Joun. In short, the East in the early 19th century was a place of adventure and enterprise, compared to the standard life of the modern West; it was dangerous but unrestricted. For adventurous people, there are exciting aspects that await discovery.
The main texts on which this study is based were written by Hester’s close friend and doctor, Charles Lewis Meryon (1783-1877). Meryon had witnessed a significant part of Lady Hester’s life as her doctor and friend. Dr. Meryon published a 6-volume work that saved her from oblivion in 1845 and 1846. Hester's Memoirs was first published in three volumes in 1845. The following year, he published her Travels in another three volumes. This extensive collection, written by Dr. Meryon based on his observations while accompanying Lady Hester and using her letters, diaries, and other notes, complements each other. Memoirs and Travels not only recount the personal adventures of Lady Hester, who conducted archeological excavations, dressed like a man, learned Arabic, and incited the Druze to rebel against Mehmed Ali Pasha, but they also provide detailed information about the lifestyles, customs, and cultural habits of the people living in what is now Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine. Therefore, it is important to present the life story of the person at the center of all these adventures.
Lady Hester began her Levant journey in 1810 at the age of 35 and first came to Malta. While traveling to the Near East, she dressed like a man. The location of ancient monuments is an important part of her travels. She even determined her route from the Great Pyramids to Palmira based on ancient sites. However, in 1821, she settled in Joun, Lebanon and lived there until her death. Lady Hester hosted European and local guests at her mansion in Joun. Through these contacts, she acquired information about both the region and the state of post-Napoleon Europe. She also employed spies to collect intelligence on the region. The newspapers of that period showed interest and support for her adventures in the Levant. She was bestowed with titles such as “Queen of the Desert”, “modern Zenobia”, and “uncrowned queen of Lebanon”. The period in which she lived witnessed the strengthening of the authority of Mehmed Ali and his son Ibrahim Pasha in Egypt and Bilad al-Sham against the Sultan. Although her aristocratic background did not prevent her from admiring Napoleon, she had no sympathy for Mehmed Ali Pasha and his son Ibrahim and supported the Ottoman Sultanate.
From her Memoirs, we also understand that Lady Hester adopted a mission for herself. The fact that she aimed to “civilize” this Ottoman region, not just as a woman seeking adventure and respected for her adventures in the Levant but also as a British missionary of civilization, shows that she became a product of 19th-century orientalism. Initially, she pursued a sense of mission typical of 19th-century Orientalism, the sentiment that could be summarized as bringing Western light to the East. However, over time, she herself transformed, adopted the mystic customs of the Near East. The same person who disciplined Arab servants with a whip in her mansion in Joun was also the one who opened her home to the poor, beggars, and nobles pursuing Ibrahim Pasha at the cost of increasing her debts. Choosing to die in poverty in Joun instead of spending her last years in London shows that she maintained her aristocratic values.
