Classic Horror: A Historical Exploration of Literature
A valuable resource for readers exploring the classic horror genre, this book presents primary source documents alongside analysis in an examination of the social, political, and economic factors reflected in 19th century Gothic literature.

The nineteenth century was a time of social, cultural, and economic change; revolutionary scientific developments; and enduring imaginative works. This book explores the classic horror genre of Gothic literature in its historical and social contexts. It contains chapters on four major works of classic horror, with each chapter providing a mix of background information, primary source historical documents, and analysis that will appeal as much to high school and college students as to lovers of literature and the Victorian era.

Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is contextualized through documents pertaining to British imperialism, Antarctic Exploration, and the burgeoning environmentalist movement. Shelley's Frankenstein is explored through sections on galvanism, electricity, grave robbing, and the vitalist debate. Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is read through explanations of nineteenth-century drug use and addiction and early theories of psychology and criminology. Stoker's Dracula is studied with reference to such topics as mesmerism, clairvoyance, alienism, medical ethics, xenophobia, and Victorian pseudoscience.

1127730742
Classic Horror: A Historical Exploration of Literature
A valuable resource for readers exploring the classic horror genre, this book presents primary source documents alongside analysis in an examination of the social, political, and economic factors reflected in 19th century Gothic literature.

The nineteenth century was a time of social, cultural, and economic change; revolutionary scientific developments; and enduring imaginative works. This book explores the classic horror genre of Gothic literature in its historical and social contexts. It contains chapters on four major works of classic horror, with each chapter providing a mix of background information, primary source historical documents, and analysis that will appeal as much to high school and college students as to lovers of literature and the Victorian era.

Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is contextualized through documents pertaining to British imperialism, Antarctic Exploration, and the burgeoning environmentalist movement. Shelley's Frankenstein is explored through sections on galvanism, electricity, grave robbing, and the vitalist debate. Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is read through explanations of nineteenth-century drug use and addiction and early theories of psychology and criminology. Stoker's Dracula is studied with reference to such topics as mesmerism, clairvoyance, alienism, medical ethics, xenophobia, and Victorian pseudoscience.

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Classic Horror: A Historical Exploration of Literature

Classic Horror: A Historical Exploration of Literature

by Anne DeLong
Classic Horror: A Historical Exploration of Literature

Classic Horror: A Historical Exploration of Literature

by Anne DeLong

eBook

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Overview

A valuable resource for readers exploring the classic horror genre, this book presents primary source documents alongside analysis in an examination of the social, political, and economic factors reflected in 19th century Gothic literature.

The nineteenth century was a time of social, cultural, and economic change; revolutionary scientific developments; and enduring imaginative works. This book explores the classic horror genre of Gothic literature in its historical and social contexts. It contains chapters on four major works of classic horror, with each chapter providing a mix of background information, primary source historical documents, and analysis that will appeal as much to high school and college students as to lovers of literature and the Victorian era.

Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is contextualized through documents pertaining to British imperialism, Antarctic Exploration, and the burgeoning environmentalist movement. Shelley's Frankenstein is explored through sections on galvanism, electricity, grave robbing, and the vitalist debate. Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is read through explanations of nineteenth-century drug use and addiction and early theories of psychology and criminology. Stoker's Dracula is studied with reference to such topics as mesmerism, clairvoyance, alienism, medical ethics, xenophobia, and Victorian pseudoscience.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781440858437
Publisher: ABC-CLIO, Incorporated
Publication date: 06/15/2018
Series: Historical Explorations of Literature
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 237
File size: 2 MB

About the Author

Anne DeLong is associate professor of English at Kutztown University.

Table of Contents

Series Foreword xiii

Acknowledgments xv

Introduction and Background xvii

Chronology xxiii

1 "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 1798) 1

Synopsis 1

Historical Background 3

About Samuel Taylor Coleridge 6

Why We Read This Work 9

Historical Explorations of "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," 13

Documenting "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," 21

British Imperialism and Arctic Exploration 21

Document: Captain George Shelvocke, A Voyage Round the World by Way of the Great South Sea (1726) 23

Document: W. Ellis, An Authentic Narrative of a Voyage Performed by Captain Cook and Captain Clerke, in His Majesty's Ships Resolution and Discovery, during the Years 1776, 1777, 1778, 1789, and 1780 (1783) 24

Document: Captain James Cook, A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean (1793) 25

Document: Robert Southey, "The Sailor, Who Had Served in the Slave Trade" (1798) 27

Morality and Environmentalism 30

Document: Jeremy Bentham, An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation (1789) 32

Document: William Bartram, Travels through North & South Carolina, Georgia, East & West Florida, the Cherokee Country, the Extensive Territories of the Muscogulges, or Creek Confederacy, and the Countty of the Chactaws; Containing an Account of the Soil and Natural Productions of Those Regions, Together with Observations on the Manners of the Indians (1791) 33

Document: Joseph Ritson, An Essay on Abstinence from Animal Food: As a Moral Duty (1802) 37

Document: Ernst Haeckel, Principles of General Morphology of Organisms (1866) 39

Document: Ernst Haeckel, "Proofs of the Truth of the Theory of Descent," in The History of Creation: Or, The Development of the Earth and Its Inhabitants by the Action of Natural Causes, Volume II (1887) 40

Suggested Readings 41

2 Frankenstein (Mary Shelley, 1818) 45

Synopsis 45

Historical Background 47

About Mary Shelley 50

Why We Read This Work 54

Historical Explorations of Frankenstein 58

Documenting Frankenstein 65

Lightning Strikes: Harnessing the Power 65

Document: Benjamin Franklin, Experiments and Observations on Electricity (1752) 66

Document: Joseph Priestley, The History and Present State of Electricity (1767) 67

Document: Richard Fowler, Experiments and Observations Relative to the Influence Lately Discovered by M. Galvani, and Commonly Called Animal Electricity (1793) 72

Stolen Corpses: Body Snatchers, Grave Robbers, and Resurrection Men 74

Document: John Aldini, An Account of the Late Improvements in Galvanism; with a Series of Curious and Interesting Experiments Performed before the Commissioners of the French National Institute and Repeated Lately in the Anatomical Theatres of London; to Which Is Added, an Appendix, Containing the Author's Experiments on the Body of a Malefactor Executed at Newgate (1803) 76

Document: James Blake Bailey, The Diary of a Resurrectionist, 1811-1812, to Which Was Added an Account of the Resurrection Men in London and a Short History of the Passing of the Anatomy Act (1896) 83

The Spark of Life: The Vitalist Debate 89

Document: John Aberaethy, An Enquiry into the Probability and Rationality of Mr. Hunter's Theory of 'Life (1814) 91

Document: William Lawrence, Lectures on Physiology, Zoology, and the Natural History of Man (1819) 94

Suggested Readings 98

3 The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Robert Louis Stevenson, 1886) 101

Synopsis 101

Historical Background 104

About Robert Louis Stevenson 106

Why We Read This Work 109

Historical Explorations of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 112

Documenting The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 119

The Dark Double Within; Psychology, Dreams, and the Doppeigänger 119

Document: James Cowles Prichard, A Treatise on Insanity and Other Disorders Affecting the Mind (1837) 121

Document: Henry Maudsley, The Physiology and Pathology of the Mind (1872) 122

Document: Henry Maudsley, Responsibility in Mental Disease (1900) 123

Document: William James, Review of Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodily Death (1903) 125

Altered States: Drug Use and Addiction 127

Document: Thomas Trotter, An Essay, Medical, Philosophical, and Chemical, on Drunkenness and Its Effects on the Human Body (1813) 129

Document: "Effects on the Practice of Opium Eating" (Mr. Mart on Opium-Eating/To the Editor of The Lancet) (1832) 131

Document: "Opium Eating," The Lancet (October 7, 1835) 134

Document: "The Effects of Opium-Eating," The Spectator (July 3, 1875) 135

Racial Profiling: Physiognomy and Criminology 139

Document: "Another Brutal Murder of a Woman in East London," The Guardian (September 10, 1888) 141

Document: Havelock Ellis, The Criminal (1890) 143

Document: Max Nordau, Degeneration (1895) 146

Document: Cesare Lombroso and Gina Lombroso, Criminal Man (1911) 149

Suggested Readings 152

4 Dracula (Bram Stoker, 1897) 155

Synopsis 155

Historical Background 157

About Bram Stoker 160

Why We Read This Work 163

Historical Explorations of Dracula 167

Documenting Dracula 176

Mind Games: Mesmerism, Hypnosis, and Telepathy 176

Document: W H. Rodgers, Facts in Magnetism, Mesmerism, Somnambulism, Fascination, Hypnotism, Sycodonamy, Etherology, Pathetism, &c, Explained and Illustrated (1849) 178

Document: James Esdaile, Natural and Mesmeric Claiivoyance (1852) 179

Document: William Benjamin Carpenter, Mesmerism, Spiritualism, &c, Historically & Scientifically Considered, Being Two Lectures Delivered at the London Institution, with Preface and Appendix (1877) 183

The Science of Vampires: Contagion, Evolution, and Degeneration 188

Document: Thomas Percival, Medical Ethics; Or, a Code of Institutes and Precepts, Adapted to the Professional Conduct of Physicians and Surgeons (1803) 190

Document: Johann Gaspar Spurzheim, Phrenology, Or, the Doctrine of the Mind: And of the Relations between Its Manifestations and the Body (1825) 192

Document: Sir Edwin Ray Lankester, Degeneration: A Chapter in Darwinism (1880) 193

Document: Timothy Holmes, ed., A System of Surgeiy, Theoretical and Practical in Treatises by Various Authors (1881) 194

Document: Louis Pasteur, The Germ Theory and Its Applications to Medicine and Surgery (1909-1914) 197

The Eastern European "Other": Immigration and Fears of Social Contamination 198

Document: George Eliot, "The Modem Hep, Hep, Hep" (1879) 200

Document: Albert Shaw, ed., "Foreigners in London" (1891) 202

Document: Henry Straus Quixano Henriques, The Law of Aliens and Naturalization Including the Text of the Aliens Act, 1905 (1906) 202

Vampiric Communication: The Growth of Technology 208

Document: Thomas Edison, Description of the Phonograph and Phonograph-Gramophone by Their Respective Inventors (1888) 210

Document: Julius Ensign Rockwell, Shorthand Instruction and Practice (1893) 218

Document: Alan C. Reiley, "The Evolution of the Typewriter" (1914) 220

Suggested Readings 221

Index 225

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