Victorian Secrecy: Economies of Knowledge and Concealment

The essays in this study contradict what editors Pionke (English, University of Alabama) and Millstein (British literature, Stephen F Austin University) call the myth of Victorian society as one based on "probity and candor". Many of the authors discuss evidence of secrets as essential plot devices in Victoria writers such as Dickens, George Eliot, Wilkie Collins and Thomas Hardy. Others look at social topics, such as the debate over removing burials to cemeteries outside of London, government attempts at censoring accusations of homosexuality by military, religious and parliamentary members and the role played by Harriet Martineau in the repeal of the corn laws. The articles suggest that Victorian writers not only had their own secrets but were also keenly aware of the dichotomy between perceived openness and dark reality. They also portray an ambivalence regarding the value of shining light on that darkness. The essay on magicians typifies this. The stage magicians were eager to uncover the fraudulent behavior of spiritualist and carnival tricksters all the while jealously guarding their own craft mysteries. Annotation c2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Albert Pionke is associate professor of English at the University of Alabama, USA and Denise Tischler Millstein is assistant professor of nineteenth-century British literature at Stephen F. Austin State University, USA.