Embryology and the Rise of the Gothic Novel (Palgrave Studies in Literature, Science and Medicine)

This book argues that embryology and the reproductive sciences played a key role in the rise of the Gothic novel in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Diana Pérez Edelman dissects Horace Walpole’s use of embryological concepts in the development of his Gothic imagination and provides an overview of the conflict between preformation and epigenesis in the scientific community. The book then explores the ways in which Gothic literature can be read as epigenetic in its focus on internally sourced modes of identity, monstrosity, and endless narration. The chapters analyze Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto ; Ann Radcliffe’s A Sicilian Romance , The Italian , and The Mysteries of Udolpho ; Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein ; Charles Robert Maturin’s Melmoth the Wanderer ; and James Hogg’s Confessions of a Justified Sinner , arguing that these touchstones of the Gothic register why the Gothic emerged at that time and why it continues today: the mysteries of reproduction remain unsolved. Acknowledgments 7 Praise for Embryology and the Rise of the Gothic Novel 9 Contents 10 Chapter 1: Conceiving the Gothic; or, “A New Species of Romance” 12 “Seeds of Poetry and Rhyme” 18 “Modes of Perception”; Or, Eighteenth-Century Embryology 31 The Gothic: Preformationist or Epigenetic? 43 Internal Sources of Identity 44 Monstrosity, Hybridity, Endless Narration 47 References 51 Chapter 2: “A Very Natural Dream”; or, The Castle of Otranto 55 Origin Stories: The Dream and the Prefaces 57 The Houses of Manfred and Alfonso 62 The Statue as Symbol of Epigenesis 69 References 73 Chapter 3: “The Liberty of Choice”; or, the Novels of Ann Radcliffe 74 Radcliffe and Science 76 Individual Passion versus Parental Control 80 Family Resemblance 85 The “Explained Supernatural” 88 The Miniature 91 Endless Narration 93 References 94 Chapter 4: “Dark, Shapeless Substances”; or, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein 96 M. W. Shelley & Embryology 101 Interrogating Embryology 103 Agrippa and Paracelsus 103 Epigenesis & Preformation 109 Egalitarian Embryology: The Female Creature 118 References 123 Chapter 5: “Nature Preached a Milder Theology”; Or, Melmoth the Wanderer 128 Biddy Brannigan: Birthing the Story 130 Alonzo: From Preformation to Epigenesis 137 Adonijah: Symbol of Epigenetic Power 146 Immalee/Isidora: From Epigenesis to Preformation 152 The Novel’s Monstrous Form 158 References 162 Chapter 6: “Something Scarcely Tangible”; Or, James Hogg’s Confessions 164 “Stern Doctrines” Versus “Free Principles” 166 The Editor’s Scientific Narrative 168 Robert Colwan’s Preformationist Nightmare 170 The Monstrous Form of Confessions 173 References 176 Chapter 7: Conclusion: Gothic Offspring; or, “The Qualitas Occulta” 177 Diversity of Identities: The Fiction of Reproductive Technologies 178 Hauntings in the Body: Supernatural Fiction 179 References 182 Index 183 "This book argues that embryology and the reproductive sciences played a key role in the rise of the Gothic novel in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Diana Perez Edelman dissects Horace Walpoles use of embryological concepts in the development of his Gothic imagination and provides an overview of the conflict between preformation and epigenesis in the scientific community. The book then explores the ways in which Gothic literature can be read as epigenetic in its focus on internally sourced modes of identity, monstrosity, and endless narration. The chapters analyze Horace Walpoles The Castle of Otranto; Ann Radcliffes A Sicilian Romance, The Italian, and The Mysteries of Udolpho; Mary Shelleys Frankenstein; Charles Robert Maturins Melmoth the Wanderer; and James Hoggs Confessions of a Justified Sinner, arguing that these touchstones of the Gothic register why the Gothic emerged at that time and why it continues today: the mysteries of reproduction remain unsolved"--Page [4] of cover