Mapping the world in play -- Fair play in an ugly world : the politics of nautical melodrama -- Toying with the future in Wuthering Heights -- A joy on the precipice of death : Muir and Stevenson in California -- Wilde's folly
Summary
19th-century Britain was a world in play. The Victorians invented the weekend and built hundreds of parks and playgrounds. The playful child became a symbol for the future. This book explores the extent to which play pervades 19th-century literature and culture
