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 38 – The Game of Bear
Episode 37 – Wailing Well
Episode 36 – Suffolk and Norfolk
Episode 35 – Rats
Episode 34 – Marcilly-le-Hayer (with Helen Grant)
Episode 33 – Mark Gatiss’ The Tractate Middoth
Episode 32 – An Evening’s Entertainment
Episode 31 – A Warning to the Curious – Part 2 of 2
Episode 30 – A Warning to the Curious – Part 1 of 2
Episode 29 – A View from a Hill
Investigating James: an interview with Patrick J. Murphy and Fred Porcheddu
Episode 28 – After Dark in the Playing Fields
Episode 27 – There was a man dwelt by a churchyard
Episode 26 – A Neighbour’s Landmark
Interview with A.N. Donaldson
Episode 25 – The Uncommon Prayer-book
Episode 24 – The Haunted Dolls’ House
Reading – ‘Sredni Vashtar’ by Saki
Episode 23 – The Fenstanton Witch
Episode 22 – Two Doctors
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