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University of Southern Mississippi

Haunted to Death: Subverting Genre and Reader Expectations in Lewis Carroll's Phantasmagoria

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

<p>This study of Lewis Carroll’s Phantasmagoria argues that the poem failed to achieve critical and popular success due to unmet reader expectations. The poem is a haunted house or ghost story and in many ways follows the familiar formula of the Victorian ghost story. However, Carroll’s political and generic satire alters various aspects of the anticipated structure, thereby creating a work that fails to satisfy readers on multiple levels. The failure of a work by a successful author writing within a popular genre is particularly significant for what it shows us about the relationship between genre, consumerism, and literary criticism.</p>

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Arts (MA)
Level thesis:degree_level
Masters Thesis
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
English
Year dc:date.available
2014

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Graeser, Elissa Anne
Contributors dc:contributor
  • Alexandra Valint
  • Kate Cochran
  • Kay Harris

Subjects

dc:subject × 6

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Repository record dc:identifier
https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/47
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:aquila.usm.edu:masters_theses-1042

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
University of Southern Mississippi
Base URL
aquila.usm.edu/do/oai/
Last updated
2026-07-24
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Graeser, Elissa Anne. Haunted to Death: Subverting Genre and Reader Expectations in Lewis Carroll's Phantasmagoria. Masters Thesis thesis, 2014. https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/47