عنوان

Dickens and the business of death /

1107098637

9781107098633

dltt

Dickens and the business of death /

[Book]

Claire Wood

x, 225 pages :

illustrations ;

24 cm

Cambridge studies in nineteenth-century literature and culture ;

98

Includes bibliographical references (pages 205-221) and index

Introduction; 1. Profitable undertakings and deathly business; 2. Revaluing The Old Curiosity Shop; 3. Death and property in Bleak House; 4. Parts and parting in Our Mutual Friend; Conclusion. Stealing Dickens; Bibliography

0

"Charles Dickens is famous for his deathbed scenes, but these have rarely been examined within the context of his ambivalence towards the Victorian commodification of death. Dickens repeatedly criticised ostentatious funeral and mourning customs, and asserted the harmful consequences of treating the corpse as an object of speculation rather than sympathy. At the same time, he was fascinated by those who made a living from death and recognised that his authorial profits implicated him in the same trade. This book explores how Dickens turned mortality into the stuff of life and art as he navigated a thriving culture of death-based consumption. It surveys the diverse ways in which death became a business, from body-snatching, undertaking, and joint-stock cemetery companies, to the telling and selling of stories. This broad study offers fresh perspectives on death in The Old Curiosity Shop and Our Mutual Friend, and discusses lesser-known works and textual illustrations"--

9781316237434

Dickens, Charles,1812-1870-- Knowledge-- Economics

Death care industry-- England-- History-- 19th century

Death in literature

Literature and society-- Great Britain-- History-- 19th century

Literature publishing-- England-- History-- 19th century

Wood, Claire,1984-

20161117082044.3

rda

[Book]

Y