Inspired by real-life scandalous events, such as public divorces, backstreet abortions, and murder cases, Sensation Fiction emerged in the 1860s to shock the reader by ‘preaching to the nerves instead of the judgement’. In its exposure of transgressive and deviant behaviour, this sensational genre is also closely related to Gothic and detective fiction. We will examine the context surrounding these novels by looking at contemporary newspapers and other materials, which will reveal the dreadful and spectacular events that inspired the sensation mania of the 1860s, as well as the novels’ depiction of the secrets hidden beneath the seemingly respectable face of the middle classes.

We will consider authors such as Wilkie Collins, Ellen Wood, and Mary Elizabeth Braddon, and, in our final class, we will extend our studies to twentieth- and twenty-first-century Neo-Victorian literature and culture which further exposes the seamy underbelly of Victorian society. As some of these novels are lengthy, students will have the option to focus on extracts instead of the whole novel if they are short on time.

We will cover sensitive issues, such as eating disorders, violence, alcoholism, and suicide, within this course.