Neo-Victorian Madness

Neo-Victorian Madness: Rediagnosing Nineteenth-Century Mental Illness in Literature and Other Media investigates contemporary fiction, cinema and television shows set in the Victorian period that depict mad murderers, lunatic doctors, social dis/ease and madhouses as if many Victorians were “mad.” Such portraits demand a “rediagnosing” of mental illness that was often reduced to only female hysteria or a general malaise in nineteenth-century renditions. This collection of essays explores questions of neo-Victorian representations of moral insanity, mental illness, disturbed psyches or non-normative imaginings as well as considers the important issues of legal righteousness, social responsibility or methods of restraint and corrupt incarcerations. The chapters investigate the self-conscious re-visions, legacies and lessons of nineteenth-century discourses of madness and/or those persons presumed mad rediagnosed by present-day (neo-Victorian) representations informed by post-nineteenth-century psychological insights. 

“The volume … offers a good overview of the different shapes Neo-Victorian engagements with madness can take, a thorough exploration of Victorian mental-health-related medical discourses and some very strong individual contributions.” (Anne Reus, The Wilkie Collins Journal, wilkiecollinssociety.org, Vol. 18, 2021)

“In this generous volume, Sarah E. Maier and Brenda Ayres gather an engaging variety of essays that offer new insights into the trope of madness that pervades neo-Victorian literature, film and television. Chapters in this collection provide fresh perspectives on a range of examples that revise perceptions of Bertha Mason, that quintessential madwoman in the attic; analyse neo-Victorian investments in nineteenth-century constructions of hysteria; queer and glamorise insanity; and explore imaginative forms of madness induced by childhood trauma. This significant contribution to neo-Victorian studies gifts us an overdue reconsideration of Victorian madness. It shows us how contemporary re-imaginings of nineteenth-century discourses on mental illness can enrich our own self-knowledge and highlights how Victorian attitudes to gender, sexuality and social hierarchy may themselves be construed as forms of madness.” (Patricia Pulham, Professor of Victorian Literature at the Universityof Surrey, UK, and Secretary of the British Association for Victorian Studies and editor of the EUP journal, Victoriographies)

“Neo-Victorian Madness shines a light on nineteenth-century representations of mental health and sexuality and the crucial role played by neo-Victorian fiction, film and television in re-interpreting and re-evaluating classic Victorian texts.  Maier and Ayres bring together incisive studies of neo-Victorian re-readings that challenge our preconceptions.  Stimulating and utterly persuasive.” (Joanne Shattock, Emeritus Professor of Victorian Literature, University of Leicester, UK)

"Neo-Victorian Madness: Rediagnosing Nineteenth-Century Mental Illness in Literature and Other Media, edited by Sarah E. Maier and Brenda Ayres, brings together two of the most innovative, influential and relevant fields in 21^st-century literary studies. With creative expansion and critical engagement, the critics in this volume investigate re-visions, adaptations and legacies of nineteenth-century discourses of madness, as well as the diagnostic and treatment practices of the nineteenth century through a postmodern examination. The book is a welcome addition to neo-Victorian studies.” (Elaine Showalter, Emeritus Professor of English, Princeton University, USA)

 

Sarah E. Maier is Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of New Brunswick Saint John, Canada.

Brenda Ayres teaches online courses for Liberty University and Southern New Hampshire University, USA.

Maier and Ayres have coedited several collections of essays. The most recent are Neo-Gothic Narratives: Illusory Allusions from the Past (2020), Animals and Their Children in Victorian Culture (2019) and Reinventing Marie Corelli for the Twenty-first Century (2019).