Description
Book SynopsisSuicide was regarded as a heinous crime in Tudor and Stuart England; it was in practice de-criminalized, tolerated and even sentimentalized in Georgian England. The authors trace the causes of this dramatic change in attitude.
Trade ReviewMagisterial in research, forceful in analysis, a joy to read ... MacDonald and Murphy have not merely documented suicide; they have significantly advanced the debate about the motors and media of cultural change. * Roy Porter, Times Higher Education Supplement *
they have written a very distinguished book indeed ... It is extremely learned in fields ranging from coroners" inquests to literary criticism ... They have done a fine job, and their close, on Dickie Bracknell's ghost from Lark Rise to Candleford, is as imaginative and intelligent as the rest. * Times Literary Supplement *
Table of ContentsList of tables; List of figures; Abbreviations; Introduction; I. The Era of Severity: The rise of self-murder; The instigation of the devil; Opposition and ambivalence; II. The Secularization of Suicide: The revival of leniency; The invention of suicide; Elite opinions, Plebeian beliefs; III. The Hermeneutics of Suicide: The identification of suicides; Motives for suicide; The medium and the message; Epilogue; Appendices: 1. Sources; Statistics; Bibliography: Manuscript sources; Contemporary periodicals; Index
