Literary illumination : the evolution of artificial light in nineteenth-century literature / Richard Leahy.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Leahy, Richard, author.

Series:

Intersections in literature and science

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Literature, Modern--19th century--History and criticism.

Literature, Modern.

Light and darkness in literature.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

vi, 241 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm.

Place of Publication:

Cardiff : University of Wales Press, 2018.

Contents:

1 Firelight p. 9

1.1 Nineteenth-Century Firelight: Hearth, Home and Industry p. 10

1.2 Gaskell, Dickens, Fire and Reverie: The Domestic and the Individual p. 18

1.3 Variable Flames in Urban Domesticity p. 28

1.4 Fire and Reverie in Industrial Desperation p. 38

2 Candlelight p. 49

2.1 A Brief History of Candlelight: An Ancient Light in the Nineteenth Century p. 50

2.2 Candle Theory and its Symbolic Value in Literature p. 53

2.3 The Candle and the Literary Detective p. 60

2.4 The Candle and the Gothic Unknown p. 71

2.5 The Candle and Ambiguity of Mental States p. 82

3 Gaslight p. 91

3.1 Gaslight in the Nineteenth Century p. 92

3.2 The Networked City: Gaslight on Literary Streets p. 103

3.3 The Theatre: Gaslight's Stage p. 114

3.4 The Department Store: Gaslight's Dressing Room p. 126

4 Electric Light p. 137

4.1 Electric Light in the Nineteenth Century: Evolution and Revolution p. 138

4.2 Jules Verne's prophetic electric light of the 1860s and 1870s p. 149

4.3 The Transient Light of H. G. Wells's Fin-de-Siècle p. 162

4.4 Electric Light 1900-14: Realisation and Realism p. 174.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [221]-237) and index.

ISBN:

1786832682

9781786832689

OCLC:

1028189485