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Spectral stowaways : Elizabeth Stuart Phelps’s ‘Kentucky’s Ghost’ (1868)

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Baker, Jen (2017) Spectral stowaways : Elizabeth Stuart Phelps’s ‘Kentucky’s Ghost’ (1868). Gothic Studies, 19 (2). pp. 45-57. doi:10.7227/GS.0028

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.7227/GS.0028

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Abstract

Elizabeth Stuart Phelps’s Gothic short story ‘Kentucky’s Ghost’ (1868) is amongst the most distinctive of ghost-child narratives to be published in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This is owing, foremost, to its unique topographical and social setting; taking place at sea amongst an all-male crew of mostly lower-class sailors, rather than in the large suburban or rural house of middle or upper-class families that were typical of this AngloAmerican literary sub-genre. This article considers the child-figure in Phelps’s tale within intersecting frameworks: firstly, within a tradition of nautical folklore that is integral to producing the tale’s Gothic tone. Secondly, within a contemporary context of frequently romanticised depictions of child-stowaways in literature, but a reality in which they were subjected to horrific abuse. Finally, her tale is discussed as a reformist piece that, despite its singularities, draws on darker versions of literary and folkloric dead-child traditions to produce a terrifying tale of retribution.

Item Type: Journal Article
Subjects: P Language and Literature > PS American literature
Divisions: Faculty of Arts > English and Comparative Literary Studies
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Phelps, Elizabeth Stuart, 1844-1911 -- Criticism and interpretation, Gothic fiction (Literary genre), American -- 19th century
Journal or Publication Title: Gothic Studies
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISSN: 1362-7937
Official Date: 1 November 2017
Dates:
DateEvent
1 November 2017Available
7 August 2017Accepted
Volume: 19
Number: 2
Page Range: pp. 45-57
DOI: 10.7227/GS.0028
Status: Peer Reviewed
Publication Status: Published
Access rights to Published version: Restricted or Subscription Access
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