The Pen and the Planchette

The Influence of Spiritualism and the Paranormal on Victorian Literature

De: Cara R. Cilento, Gail A. Gamble

Narrado por: Virtual Voice

Dive into the mysterious intersections of ghostly phenomena, Gothic fiction, and the rise of spiritualism during the 19th century—a time when séances, spirits, and mysticism captivated public and private imaginations alike.

As scientific progress and industrialization upended traditional beliefs, Victorian writers turned to the otherworldly to make sense of a rapidly transforming world. This book traces how their engagement with death, the afterlife, and the metaphysical infused literature with haunting beauty and psychological depth.

Blending biography, cultural history, and literary analysis, The Pen and the Planchette explores the spectral threads running through the works of Charles Dickens, the Brontë sisters, Edgar Allan Poe, Christina Rossetti, Arthur Conan Doyle, Henry James, and many more. From the ghostly redemptions in A Christmas Carol to the metaphysical terror of The Turn of the Screw and the esoteric vision of W.B. Yeats, this book reveals how the paranormal became a powerful vehicle for expressing grief, doubt, morality, and the fragility of human certainty.

Whether examining Louisa May Alcott’s dark feminist tales or Oscar Wilde’s decadent flirtation with Gothic tropes, each chapter illuminates the unique way in which these literary icons wove spiritualist currents into their timeless works.

Perfect for readers fascinated by Gothic fiction, Victorian literature, or the history of the occult, The Pen and the Planchette invites you to step beyond the veil and into the minds of the authors who defined an age haunted by its ghosts.