The secret vice masturbation in Victorian fiction and medical culture /
Diane Mason.
- Manchester : Manchester University Press, (c)2008.
- 1 online resource (193 pages)
Includes bibliographies and index.
Copyright; Contents; Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1 'It is more than blackguardly, it is deadly'Masturbation in the male; 2 'A beauty treatment that leaves us glowing'? Female masturbation and its consequences; 3 'The languor which I had long felt began to display itself in my countenance 'Vampires, lesbians and masturbators; 4 'That mighty love which maddens one to crime' Masturbation and same-sex desire in Teleny; 5 'His behaviour betrays the actual state of things' Onanism and obsessive behaviour in Our Mutual Friend. 6 'Sin is a thing that writes itself across a man's face' Conflicting signifiers of vice in The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Mystery of Edwin DroodAfterword; Bibliography; Index.
The secret vice: Masturbation in Victorian fiction and medical culture provides a unique consideration of writings on self-abuse in the long nineteenth century. The book examines the discourse on masturbation in medical works by English, Continental and American practitioners and demonstrates the influence and impact of these writings, not only on Victorian pornography but also in the creation of fictional characters by canonical authors such as Bram Stoker, J.S. Le Fanu, Charles Dickens and Oscar Wilde. The book also features the first detailed and balanced study of the largely overlooked li.
9781847791795
Masturbation in literature. Masturbation--History--Great Britain--19th century. English fiction--History and criticism.--19th century