Obscured Visions: Psychology, Religion, and Mysticism in J. SHeridan Le Fanu's In a Glass Darkly

During the height of the Victorian Period and the development of the sensation novel, the public eagerly consumed the writings of Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu and the author was a household name. In the current age, however, scholarly criticism often focuses on “Carmilla” (1872) and other texts in isolation instead of viewing In A Glass Darkly as a whole. Additionally, Le Fanu receives less recognition than his contemporaries such as Bram Stoker, Oscar Wilde, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Charles Maturin—even though he likely influenced these later authors. Le Fanu’s novels and short stories explore the cultural zeitgeist of nineteenth-century Ireland and England in great detail—with particular attention being paid to the religious fears, interest in the occult, and the developing psychological knowledge of the era. Though long understood by scholars as inspired by the personal tragedies of his own life, Le Fanu’s In a Glass Darkly goes beyond the biographical and actively engages with the spiritual and psychological debates of his time. By viewing the text through a historical lens, readers understand that his spectators and demons are more than individual repressed fears, but represent larger cultural fears and ills that threaten to destabilize both the characters and society itself.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Fine Arts

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Literature

Grantor

Texas State University

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Murr, Olivia

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Dyck, Denae

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Tally, Robert T., Jr.
• Kapurch, Katie

• Le Fanu, J. Sheridan
• gothic
• Victorian literature
• occult
• Swedenborg
• Hartley
• detection
• hauntings
• Dr. Hesselius
• In a Glass Darkly
• supernatural
• sensational novel
• dream visions
• vampire

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10877/18637

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digital.library.txst.edu:10877/18637