An Analysis of the Social and Psychological Causes of Suicide in Victorian Literary Texts

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24520278
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Literature in English
• Research Institution: Nagoya University
• Principal Investigator: Matsuoka Mitsuharu 名古屋大学, 国際言語文化研究科, 教授 (70181708)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 自殺 / 狂気 / ヴィクトリア朝 / ディケンズ / ギャスケル / ギッシング / 社会的文脈 / 心理的文脈

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research addressed the issue of suicide explicitly/implicitly described in Victorian literary texts and discussed in literary and non-literary journals of the time. The cultural paradigm shift attending the Industrial Revolution created new psychological pressures for citizens faced with a broad range of social changes and repressive conditions which often generated isolation and despair. The research clarified the way in which suicide, as an extreme measure taken to erase emotional pain, was thus sustained by the social and psychological contexts of Victorian Britain.

Free Research Field

人文学