Victorian Legs : Degeneracy, Disability, Decorum, Desire (Interventions: Rethinking the Nineteenth Century)

Tarr, Clayton

Manchester University Press（2025/09発売）

• 製本 Hardcover:ハードカバー版／ページ数 350 p.
• 言語 ENG
• 商品コード 9781526188953
• DDC分類 391.6209034

Full Description

Victorian legs is about the science (sometimes spurious) and sexuality (often frivolous) of legs during the Victorian period. The book argues that legs occupy a particularly vexed position in Victorian culture. Strong legs formed the foundation (or the columns) of the civilized subject, but the politics of who could show their legs remained gendered. For the most part, men exhibited and admired, while women concealed and demurred. This book not only joins and advances the lively critical discourse on the Victorian body, but also marks new paths to pursue. While legs made us human, they could also dehumanize.

Contents

Introduction: Bifurcated beings
Part I: Degeneracy—Backpedaling
1 Atrophy in The Time Machine
2 Atavism in Heart of Darkness
Part II: Disability—Cane and able
3 Prosthesis in Our Mutual Friend
4 Posthuman in The Law and the Lady
Part III: Decorum—Right ankles
5 Form in Barchester Towers
6 Reform in Armadale
Part IV: Desire—Calf worship
7 Muscle in Barnaby Rudge
8 Masculinity in King Solomon's Mines
Conclusion: See legs
Index