“Behind the house at the Rue Fossette there was a garden--large, considering that it lay in the heart of a city, and to my recollection it seemed pleasant: but time, like distance, lends to certain scenes an influence so softening; and where all is stone around, blank wall and hot pavement, how precious seems one shrub, how lovely an enclosed and planted spot of ground!” NostalgiaVilletteCharlotte BronteVictorian Literature Book:Villette Source: Villette
“The world of shadows and superstition that was Victorian England, so well depicted in this 1871 tale, was unique. While the foundations of so much of our present knowledge of subjects like medicine, public health, electricity, chemistry and agriculture, were being, if not laid, at least mapped out, people could still believe in the existence of devils and demons. And why not? A good ghost story is pure entertainment. It was not until well into the twentieth century that ghost stories began to have a deeper significance and to become allegorical; in fact, to lose their charm. No mental effort is required to read 'The Weird Woman', no seeking for hidden meanings; there are no complexities of plot, no allegory on the state of the world. And so it should be. At what other point in literary history could a man, standing over the body of his fiancee, say such a line as this: 'Speak, hound! Or, by heaven, this night shall witness two murders instead of one!' Those were the days. (introduction to "The Weird Woman")” HorrorVictorianGhost StoriesVictorian EraGhost StoryVictorian AgeVictorian LondonVictorian Literature Book:Terror by Gaslight: More Victorian Tales of Terror Source: Terror by Gaslight: More Victorian Tales of Terror