Stretched Out on Her Grave: Pathological Attitudes Toward Death in British Fiction 1788-1909

Nineteenth-century British fiction is often dismissed as necrophillic or obsessed with death. While the label of necrophilia is an apt description of the fetishistic representations of dead women prevalent at the end of the century, it is too narrow to fit literature produced earlier in the century. This is not to say that abnormal attitudes toward death are only a feature of the late nineteenth century. In fact, pathological attitudes toward death abound in the literature, but the relationship between the deceased and the survivor is not always sexual in nature. Rather, there is a clear shift in attitudes, from the chaste death fantasy, or attraction to the idea of death, prevalent in Gothic works, to the destructive, stagnant mourning visible in mid-century texts, and culminating in the perverse sexualization of dead women at the turn of the century. This literary shift is most likely attributable to the concurrent changes in attitudes toward sex and death. As sex became more acceptable, more public, via the channels of scientific discourse, death became a less acceptable idea. This “denial of death” is a direct reaction to the religious uncertainties brought about by industrialization. As scientists and industrialists uncovered increasing evidence against a literal interpretation of the Bible, more people began to doubt the nature of God and the existence of an afterlife. If there was no God, then there was no heaven, which raised questions about what happened to the soul after death. With the certainty of an afterlife gone, death became mysterious, something to fear, and the passing of loved ones was doubly-mourned as their fate was now uncertain.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of North Texas

Year dc:date

2003

Author dc:creator

• Angel-Cann, Lauryn

Contributors dc:contributor

• Shillingsburg, Peter
• Preston, Thomas R.
• Adams, Jenny

• Death in literature.
• English literature -- 18th century -- History and criticism.
• necrophilia
• mourning
• British literature
• death
• industrialization
• Shelley

Statement dc:rights

• Use restricted to UNT Community
• Copyright
• Angel-Cann, Lauryn
• Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

oclc: 53378274
https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc4271/
ark: ark:/67531/metadc4271

OAI identifier oai:identifier

info:ark/67531/metadc4271