Edward Bulwer Lytton and Poisoned Prose

Mulvey-Roberts, Marie

Abstract

Edward Bulwer Lytton was a popular Victorian novelist and leading politician, who experimented with numerous literary genres including Gothic writing, the Newgate novel and early sensation fiction. His novel Lucretia; or, The Children of Night (1846), which drew on contemporary criminal poisoner trials, gained notoriety for allegedly encouraging the art of slow poisoning. Bulwer Lytton’s estranged and embittered wife Rosina even suspected that he was trying to poison her, and she linked him to some of the most notorious poisoners of the day. This chapter will explore the links between Gothic fiction and real life with reference to their toxic marriage.

• Online Publication Date: Feb 4, 2021
• Publication Date: 2021
• Deposit Date: Jun 21, 2021
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Pages: 97-112
• Book Title: The Palgrave Handbook of Steam Age Gothic
• ISBN: 9783030408657
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40866-4_6
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/7482503
• Publisher URL: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-030-40866-4_6