A Corpse Reviver and Other Spirits: The Supernatural Victorians

10/29/22 • 81 min

As the leaves continue to crisp and the air becomes even brisker, our study of the Victorians takes another somewhat unsettling turn as we explore their obsession with spiritualism, superstition, and the supernatural.
As industry, technology, and communication evolve exponentially, countless Victorians are searching for comfort and explanations; many believe they find answers through mesmerism, seances, hallucinations, and mediums.

In this episode, we will learn why so many Victorians were looking beyond the earthly realm for answers, and the impact of that exploration on Victorian London society as a whole.
We will also ponder, discuss, and question:
- The deep-seeded superstitions that have thrived in London for centuries, and the the city’s legendary connection to hauntings and unusual phenomena
- How the rigid social mores of the era created an environment conducive to a subversive subculture, one willing to embrace taboo supernatural monsters and terror
- Why more advanced communications methods inspired many to attempt to communicate with the dead
- The emergence of the supernatural in literature, and the imagery that is still referenced today
- How the road was paved for ill-intentioned charlatans to take advantage of society’s desperation for answers

Were the Victorians naive and gullible, or were they everyday citizens just trying to cope with a rapidly changing world by any means possible? Like so many other aspects of Victorian society in London - it’s complicated.
It’s also intriguing: we will examine one celebrated, reputable Victorian who predicted the disaster of the Titanic in great detail - not just once, but twice - and the cruel irony that awaited him at the end of his life.
Join us! There’s still so much to talk about as we begin to wind down our dedicated series on the repressed, exotic, and maddeningly contradictory Victorians.

Photos and links can be found in our show notes HERE
Arthur Conan Doyle episode cover art: https://www.conandoyleinfo.com/life-conan-doyle/conan-doyle-and-spiritualism/
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Previous Episode

The Terror of London: Spring Heeled Jack

Some stories just feel like OCTOBER stories.
We know that Victorian Londoners enjoy a good craze. But what will they make of a social panic? Today our story begins in 1837, the first year of the Victorian era.

In this episode, someone - or something - is assaulting Londoners; springing out at them. Was it a ghost? A devil? Maybe bear, bull, or baboon? Who would be next?

We’ll hear the facts behind what became the legend. Then, we’ll consider...

· How does a true story become a legend? What elements are retained, and which are contrived?

· What does this story tell us about the culture of Victorian London, and maybe our own lives today?

· What ae the elements of a social panic? Or there certain conditions that give rise to public scares?

· What is our relationship to urban spaces, especially women in cities?

We’ll deconstruct the story and look at rumor, press, suspicion, vigilantes, elements that influenced this story, and that this story later influenced?

We’ll consider the most recent recorded rise of this tale, withing the last decade.

Finally, we’ll examine a plausible theory of who the culprit may have been.
How did a short string of incidents so embed themselves into the popular culture and the psyche of a time and place?

Photos and links can be found in our show notes HERE.
*Do you like what you hear? Please help us find our audience by spreading some good cheer with a 5 star rating and review on Apple Podcasts!
Our website: https://yltpodcast.buzzsprout.com/
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Next Episode

Black Victorian Lives

Our Victorian story arc is coming to a close, but not before we explore one of the most important topics of era: the lives of Black Victorians.
The Victorians prided themselves on what they considered to be very socially progressive views. After the abolition of the slave trade at the end of the Georgian Era, an overwhelming number of Victorians joined the abolitionist movement to end the practice of enslaving humans around the world. Victorians read the autobiographies of formerly enslaved humans, attended abolitionist lectures, and the majority viewed slavery in the United States as vile and abhorrent.

But Victorian actions and words often contradicted these efforts. As many Britons condemned American slavery, the British Empire was expanding and forcing its culture upon Black and Brown people worldwide. Minstrel shows perpetuated negative stereotypes of Black people in popular culture, and racist pseudo-science was employed to justify white supremacy.
In this episode, we will ponder, discuss, and question:
- the reality and impact of the Georgian era slave trade and how it influenced subsequent Victorian thoughts on the enslavement of humans
- the problematic, racist contradictions in mainstream Victorian society
- the idea or who writes history, and examine the lenses commonly used to study the past today
- the importance of the application of critical thought when studying history
- the necessity of intentionally seeking Black voices when examining the past
- the legacy of racism in history texts today
Victorian London was awash in change, but the experiences of Black Victorians were unique and are all too often overlooked today. Join us we we seek to hear underrepresented voices tell the stories of extraordinary humans - humans who suffered and humans who thrived - and consider the many ways that their stories still deeply matter today.
Photos and links can be found in our show notes HERE
Episode artwork: Sarah Forbes Bonetta with her husband, James Davies, photographed by Camille Silvy in September 1862 (©️Hulton Archive /Getty Images)
*Do you like what you hear? Please help us find our audience by spreading some good cheer with a 5 star rating and review on Apple Podcasts!
Our website: https://yltpodcast.buzzsprout.com/
Follow us on:
Twitter @YLT_Pod
Facebook @Yesterday’s London Times Podcast
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CounterSocial @YLTPodcast