Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu was a man who employed his own kind of fiery shorthand to describe and explain the Irish society in which he lived. He was almost constantly at work throughout his lifetime as an author of fourteen novels, short stories, poetry and a verse drama. Although the majority of his novels are specifically set in the English countryside, they become clearer when they are transferred to an Irish setting. During Le Fanu’s last years, his mind become almost completely occupied by the supernatural and all the short stories he wrote at this time were of that nature e.g. ‘Carmilla’ and ‘Green Tea’. His peculiar habits of life contributed to this obsession and there can be little doubt but that many of these weird tales came to him in the form of dreams. Brinsley Le Fanu, his son, gave S.M. Ellis an account of his daily routine: Le Fanu wrote mostly late at night in bed, using copybooks for his manuscript and would always have two small candles lit on a bedside table beside him. At approximately 02.00, he would wake up amid the dark shadows of the heavy furnishings and hangings of his old fashioned room and continue to brew a pot of tea, of which he would drink continuously throughout the day. He would write for a couple of hours in that eerie period of night when human vitality is at its lowest ebb and the powers of the darkness are terrifying. ‘Carmilla’ is the last story in the collection ‘In a Glass Darkly’. It is an ‘orthodox’ account of the materialization of the disembodied dead in its grossest form, the vampire. Carmilla is the quintessence of vampire lore. Not the least horrible thing about Carmilla is the strain of lesbian perversity in her passionate declarations for Laura. ‘Green Tea’ is a story of a ma...
... middle of paper ...
...Browne, Nelson. ‘Sheridan Le Fanu’.
Sullivan, Jack. ‘Elegant Nightmares’
‘AN ASCENDANCY AND ITS VAMPIRES.’ D.R. O'Connor Lysaght. History Ireland , Vol. 20, No. 3 (May/June 2012).
Stoddart, Helen. ‘The Precautions of Nervous People Are Infectious": Sheridan le Fanu's Symptomatic Gothic’. The Modern Language Review , Vol. 86, No. 1 (Jan., 1991)
Cahill, Ann, 'Irish Folktales and Supernatural Literature: Patrick Kennedy and Sheridan Le Fanu', in: That Other World The Supernatural and the Fantastic in Irish Literature and Its Contexts, Vol. 1, ed. Bruce Stewart (Gerrards Cross: Colin Smythe,1998).
Johansen, Ib. ‘Shadows in a Black Mirror: Reflections on the Irish Fantastic from Sheridan Le Fanu to John Banville’. Nordic Irish Studies , Vol. 1, (2002).
McCormack, W.J., ‘Dissolute Characters: Irish Literary History through Balzac, Sheridan Le Fanu, Yeats and Bowen’
Included within the anthology The Penguin Book of Irish Fiction,1[1] are the works of great Irish authors written from around three hundred years ago, until as recently as the last decade. Since one might expect to find in an anthology such as this only expressions and interpretations of Irish or European places, events or peoples, some included material could be quite surprising in its contrasting content. One such inclusion comes from the novel Black Robe,2[2] by Irish-born author Brian Moore. Leaving Ireland as a young man afforded Moore a chance to see a great deal of the world and in reflection afforded him a great diversity of setting and theme in his writings. And while his Black Robe may express little of Ireland itself, it expresses much of Moore in his exploration into evolving concepts of morality, faith, righteousness and the ever-changing human heart.
"Ricorso: A Knowledge of Irish Literature." Ricorso: A Knowledge of Irish Literature. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2014.
Written in 1818, the latter stages of the Gothic literature movement, at face value this novel embodies all the key characteristics of the Gothic genre. It features the supernatural, ghosts and an atmosphere of horror and mystery. However a closer reading of the novel presents a multifaceted tale that explores
Dunne’s work, Tom Dunne, `The Gaelic Response to Conquest and Colonisation: the Evidence of the Poetry’ in Studia Hibernica 1980, does a good job of explaining the inherent problems in attempting to ascribe cause to the Gaelic reaction. As he aptly points out, the conquered rarely write their own history. The Gaelic, as victims of colonization had very little voice. Dunne attempts to give the Gaelic a voice by analyzing poetry from the later decadedsof the seventeenth century, through to 1729. He attempts to discuss the effects of conquest and colonization on the Gaelic population. I response to Branden Bradshaw’s argument that the Leabhar Branuch shows the development of Irish Nationalism, Dunne, rebuts this stating “ Neither the evidence of the Leabhar Branuch itself, or of gaelic poetry as a whole, in this time or later periods, allows this interpretation”.
The ancient mythology of Ireland is one of its’ greatest assets. The glorious, poetic tales of battles, super humans, demigods and heroes ranks among the best of ancient literature. The book of the Dun Cow, (Lebor na huidre), was written around 1100 and contains stories from the eighth and ninth centuries. The Book of Invasions, (Lebor Gabala), tells how the mythical ancestors of the Irish, the God-like Tuatha Dé Danann, wrestled Ireland (or Erin) from misshapen Fir Bolg in fantastic battles. The Fir Bolg were traditionally linked to Gaul and Britain so the analogy between them and the invading English was complete.
There is particular consideration given to the political climate in this story. It is incorporated with social and ethnic concerns that are prevalent. The story also addresses prejudice and the theme of ethnic stereotyping through his character development. O'Connor does not present a work that is riddled with Irish slurs or ethnic approximations. Instead, he attempts to provide an account that is both informative and accurate.
Le Fanu veils the true meaning of “Carmilla” by presenting it as a vampire story, which is genius because writing “Carmilla” as a vampire story prevents the reader from feeling overwhelmed by the ideas of the story’s true reality. His main purpose in writing this story was to challenge a society who is very afraid of change or to be questioned. According to Sheri R. Wohl, “Carmilla” is “Frightening for more than the monsters that inhabit the tales. They are frightening because they reflect much truth in both society and human behavior that persist through generations and centuries” (50). What Wohl is conveying is that “Carmilla” is not terrifying because it is a horror story, but it is terrifying because Le Fanu veils society’s reality through
Kiberd, Declan, Inventing Ireland: the Literature of the Modern Nation, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1996.
Gerald of Wales’ was most likely never in Ireland, and his writing is not an accurate portrayal of the Irish, but a chance to discuss hybridity and turn his readers against it while also the Irish.
The contribution that Emyr Estyn Evans (E.E Evans) has made to Irish studies is not just realised in his works and academic achievements, it is also realised in the present and it will continue to be recognised in the future. As we all share in one way or another, the same proud feeling for our Irish heritage in all its forms from historical, geographically, orally and traditionally. The author will seek to discuss this in this essay; it is in large, partly attributed to the foundations laid and explorations undertaken by E. E Evans. Although a lot of Evans life and achievements were lived and realised in Ulster and Belfast his lasting legacy is felt as a whole on the island of Ireland. He believed in the nine counties of Ulster being just that rather than making aware or highlighting the divide that is North and South of the border. He once recalled how he saw the Irish heritage as a single theme with many variations (Hamlin, A, 1989).
Ronsley, Joseph, ed., Myth and Reality in Irish Literature, Wilfrid Laurier University Press, Canada, 1977
Gothic fiction’s mesmerisation of its Victorian audience can be pinned to the “fears connected ...
Edgar Allen Poe was an English short-story writer whose work reflects the traditional Gothic conventions of the time that subverted the ambivalence of the grotesque and arabesque. Through thematic conventions of the Gothic genre, literary devices and his own auteur, Edgar Allan Poe’s texts are considered sublime examples of Gothic fiction. The Gothic genre within Poe’s work such as The Tell-Tale Heart, The Black Cat, and The Raven, arouse the pervasive nature of the dark side of individualism and the resulting encroachment of insanity. Gothic tales are dominated by fear and terror and explore the themes of death and decay. The Gothic crosses boundaries into the realm of the unknown, arousing extremes of emotion through the catalyst of disassociation and subversion of presence. Gothic literature utilises themes of the supernatural to create a brooding setting and an atmosphere of fear.
Thomas, Steve. "Dubliners by James Joyce." ebooks@Adelaide. The University of Adelaide, 23 Aug 2010. Web. 20 Jan 2011
...d that Ireland had a unique and interesting cultural identity through the works of literature during this time period (Hachney and Hernon an McCaffrey 142).