This episode we speak with two experts to better understand Eleanor Scott and her story Randall’s Round, Dr Vicky Margree and Prof Dan Orrells. We discuss what’s known about Eleanor Scott, her time at Oxford University in the early 1900s and the role of gender, folklore and imperialism in her writing.
Vicky is a specialist in literary fiction and feminist theory. Her book British Women’s Short Supernatural Fiction, 1860-1930: Our Own Ghostliness looks at stories by Margaret Oliphant, Charlotte Riddell, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Edith Nesbit, Alice Perrin, Eleanor Scott and Violet Hunt.
Dan focuses on the history of the interpretation of classical literature. He’s interested in the Greeks and Romans in the Victorian imagination, including how these inspired Gothic and ghostly tales at the turn of the 20th century. He co-edited with Vicky a study of Richard Marsh, a fascinating late-Victorian author who wrote about “shape-shifting monsters, morally dubious heroes, lip-reading female detectives and objects that come to life.”
In our conversation we learn more about the folklore revival, Edward B Tylor’s ideas about primitive cultures and notions of “survivals” amd the experience of women at Oxford and Cambridge (Dan recommends the Dorothy L Sayers novel Gaudy Night!).
Massive thank you to Vicky and Dan for being such engaging and insightful guests and sharing their expertise with us! If you want to read ahead, we’ll be back next time with The Weird of the Walfords by Louisa Baldwin.
Episode 58 – The Familiar by J Sheridan Le Fanu
Episode 57 – The White and the Black by Erckmann-Chatrian
Episode 56 – A Relation of the Apparition of Mrs Veal by Daniel Defoe
Episode 55 – A Vignette
Episode 54 – Eton and Kings, part two
Episode 53 – Jacqueline Simpson interview
Episode 52 – Eton and King’s, part one
Episode 51 – M.R. James Conference 2016
Episode 50 – A Night in King’s College Chapel
Episode 49 – Twelve Medieval Ghost Stories
Episode 48 – Auditor and Impresario
Episode 47 – The Five Jars, Part 3
Episode 46 – The Five Jars, Part 2
Episode 45 – Conference Report: MR James and the Modern Ghost Story
Episode 44 – The Five Jars, Part 1
Episode 43 – The Malice of Inanimate Objects
Episode 42 – Christmas bonus – The goblins who stole a sexton by Charles Dickens
Episode 41 – The MR James and Charles Dickens Christmas Special (with last minute gift guide!)
Episode 40 – The Experiment
Episode 39 – Merfield Hall
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