Sensationalism - Sensation Novels of the Nineteenth Century The "sensation novels" began to appear during the mid-to-late 1800's. The term first used by W. M. Thackeray, in his own Cornhill Magazine, was in reference to "a particular literary or dramatic phenomenon." Courtroom scenes, corpses, secrets, adultery, insanity and prostitution were all staples of the novel's plot that would offer the many unexpected twists and turns of the story. The author's goal was to have the reader feel basic
Mary Elizabeth Braddon's "Lady Audley's Secret" - Is Lady Audley Mad? Mary Elizabeth Braddon's "Lady Audley's Secret" was published in 1861 and was a big success: a best-seller that sold over one million copies in book form. The protagonist, Helen Maldon - also known as Helen Talboys, Lucy Graham and Lady Audley - is a poor young beautiful woman when she marries the dragoon George Talboys, but his money only lasts for one year of luxury. When he no longer is able to offer her the life she always
What makes a great novel? What makes a great novel? Is it the unknown, the lies, the secrets, the drive to figure out what going on? Many writers have express many opinions on what they believe makes a great novel. Some feel it’s the mystery within the novel. Some feel it the underlying message that the author is trying to portray the reader, and others may feel it is the rising action of drama and conflict of the characters within the story. All these assumptions and opinions can be true. Every
The Style and Genre of Lady Audley’s Secret Lady Audley’s Secret, by Mary Elizabeth Braddon, is a novel of many elements. It has been placed in many different style or genre categories since its publication. I feel that it best fits under the melodrama or sensational genre, and under the subgenre of mystery. It contains significant elements of both types of writing, so I feel it is best to recognize both, keeping in mind that melodrama is its main device and mystery is a type of Victorian
affection, I contrived to find a pleasure in loving and cherishing a faded graven image, shabby as a miniature scarecrow. It puzzles me now to remember with what absurd sincerity I doated on this little toy, half fancying it alive and capable of sensation. I could not sleep unless it was folded in my night-gown; and when it lay there safe and warm, I was comparatively happy, believing it to be happy likewise...." --from Jane Eyre, chapter 4 "...I left a light on the chair by my bed and waited
(Bernik). Historically there have been many uses for hypnosis, as David Deegan describes. The most general is to relieve all types of physical pain. During hypnosis, many patients have described their physical pain as feeling closer to a warming sensation. Another use involves the treatment of diseases such as asthma and irritable colon. Hypnosis can also be used to control various impulses that can contribute to anorexia, obesity, chemical addictions, and sexual impulses. Finally, hypnosis can be
literary figures of the Victorian Period. In his more than forty books, Lawrence celebrated his vision of the natural, whole human being, opposing the modern society. This opposition of society was used to write books, stories, poems of the heightened sensation and emotion he felt. D.H. Lawrence believed in organic writing. 	Most of Lawrence’s writing reflected nature. The nature in his book came from his own experiences he had while traveling abroad with his wife or just on the nature of where he grew
Journey through Hell in Blood Meridian Cormac McCarthy's novel Blood Meridian details what can only be described as the kid's journey through hell. Throughout the novel McCarthy gives the reader the sensation of being in hell. The is brutal and unforgiving physical setting adds a hellish atmosphere in which there is no evidence of any morals or sympathy for the innocent. Judge Holden is even described in terms reminiscent of the devil. All of these factors lead the reader to compare the kid's journey
Marcel Proust Defines the Self in Remembrance of Things Past Proust seems to be unique among the twentieth century authors in that his denial of rational thought is through the use of sensation to respond to the problem--instead of experience, for example--by defining the self as a retrievable essence comprised of all past experiences. Our human condition is defined by mortality, contingency, and discontentment. This reality combined with the new outlooks of relationships between our lives
fell from a ship 16 years earlier (when he was a 19 year old sailor) and has lived with an aboriginal tribe ever since. He hardly remembers English, and his culture and sensibility have become those of his adopted people. At first Gemmy creates a sensation in the settlement and people want to help him, despite his obvious savage mentality (after all, he isn't even embarrassed by nakedness!). He goes to live with the McIvor family, whose daughter, Janet, and nephew, Lachlan Beattie, were among the children
I Love Horror This is no fantasy. This is no fallacious delusion of a sick, twisted mind. This is the honest-to-God truth. I love horror novels. Stephen King and Edgar Allen Poe are my idols. Perhaps having these two, demented madmen as my personal mentors sounds sick, but I tend to think as they do. Most of my writings are short stories of horror (usually about the length of Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Masque of the Red Death"). My friends often ask me four questions:
and hard work, Joyce developed his own literary voice. He labored for ten years on Portrait of the Artist, the fictionalized account of his youth. When it appeared in book form in 1916, twelve years after Joyce's flight from Ireland, it created a sensation. Joyce was hailed as an important new force in literature. Portrait of the Artist is usually read as an autobiography, and many of the incidents in it come from Joyce's youth. But don't assume that he was exactly like his sober hero, Stephen
assimilates difference and denies what cannot be assimilated. In his novel, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Kundera relies on the word kitsch to describe the force of denial. "Kitsch is a absolute denial of shit" (Kundera 248). Kitsch is an inescapable part of the human condition. Though Nietzsche was not aware of the word, much of his philosophy is a reaction to the concept of kitsch. He wanted to revitalize passion, raw sensation, in hopes that he and others could transcend kitsch and relate authentically
Dorian Gray begins with Basil describing his fascination with Dorian, and ends with his masterpiece reverting to its original splendour. He describes his reaction to Dorian in these words: "When our eyes met, I felt I was growing pale. A curious sensation of terror came over me. I knew that I had come face to face with some one whose mere personality was so fascinating that, if I allowed it to do so, it would absorb my whole nature, my whole soul, my very art itself." (6) Such a reaction is not
Metaphysical Rebel in The Stranger (The Outsider) The Stranger by Albert Camus was published in 1942. The setting of the novel is Algiers where Camus spent his youth in poverty. In many ways the main character, Meursault, is a typical Algerian youth. Like them, and like Camus himself, Meursault was in love with the sun and the sea. His life is devoted to appreciating physical sensations. He seems so devoid of emotion. Something in Meursault's character has appealed primarily to readers since the book's
Trainspotting is a drop-dead look at a dead-end lifestyle. Set among the junkies and thugs of Edinburgh's slums and made by (director Danny Boyle, writer John Hodge, producer Andrew Macdonald) that created "Shallow Grave," "Trainspotting" caused a sensation in Britain, where it took in more money than any U.K. film except "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and ignited strong controversy over its attitude toward heroin. Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor), the film's narrator, unleashes an overpowering verbal
Christopher Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus exhibits just as much pain, but in an emotional sense. This poses an interesting question: Is one pain worse than the other? Can pain be measured? Pain, whether it be physical or emotional, is an unpleasant sensation. However, something like being poked with a safety pin or feeling sad would not be considered true pain. Physical pain is sent to the brain from other parts of the body, and when the brain recognizes the pain, the body feels it as well. There
first to advance a theory of sensation, the idea that the brain and nervous system have a role in producing the perception of pain. But it was not until the middle ages and well into the Renaissance-the 1400s and 1500s-that evidence began to accumulate in support of these theories. Leonardo da Vinci and his contemporaries came to believe that the brain was the central organ responsible for sensation. Da Vinci also developed the idea that the spinal cord transmits sensations to the brain. In the 17th
a conscious morality" (1 Wildermuth). In his attempt to create a new and realistic portrayal of the times, Salinger first, effectively creates Holden Caulfield, the main character. Second, he sends his character on a quest, and third he titles his novel to sum up the whole overview of the story. In creating his character, Holden Caulfield, Salinger uses profanities and obscenities as an attempt to portray the world of most adolescents. He creates a character that is not really in rebellion
The Christmas Tree Tightly squashed like sardines my family and I travel back to my childhood in thirty simple minutes. The sunshine tickles my eyelids through the salt- stained window. Bing Crosby chimes in his monotone voice singing, "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas", setting the mood. His voice is like a familiar calling that Christmas is near. Bundled in our scratchy layers of insulation reminds me of deep sea diving. Pine sap and burning wood greet my nose, as we reach our destination