Introduction -- "The demon in the dock": domestic murder in street literature and the newspaper press -- "The theatre of his deep dyed guilt": domestic murder and the Victorian stage -- "Mixed motives and mixed morality": the Newgate novel debate -- "Monsters of affection": the male domestic murderer and models of masculinity -- "Changed, indeed, but not transformed": the fin de siècle and the female domestic murderer -- Conclusion
Summary
"Examining novels, trial transcripts, medico-legal documents, broadsides, criminal and scientific writing, illustration and, notably, Victorian melodrama, Bridget Walsh focuses on the relationship between the domestic sphere, so central to Victorian values, and the desecration of that space by the act of murder. Her book tackles crucial questions related to Victorian ideas of nationhood, national health, inequality, newspaper coverage of murder, contested models of masculinity, and the portrayal of the female domestic murderer at the fin de siècle"-- Provided by publisher
