Spiritualism and Medicine in the Fin de Siècle Vampire Fiction of Florence Marryat and Arabella Kenealy.

Abstract

This thesis discusses the fin de siècle vampire fiction of Arabella Kenealy and Florence Marryat, and focuses on their representation of spiritualism and medicine. The works that will be used to explain the spiritual and medical aspects in the authors’ vampire fiction are Kenealy’s essay The Failure of Vivisection and Future of Medical Research, and Marryat’s spiritual works There Is No Death and The Spirit World. The question this thesis answers is: How are Arabella Kenealy and Florence Marryat’s stances on spiritualism and medicine reflected in their analytical works and vampire narratives, and in turn, in their ideal doctor and spiritualist? By comparing the authors’ stances on scientific experimentalism, the interchange of ‘Vital Force’, and vampirism, this thesis argues that Kenealy and Marryat adhere to a similar vision concerning the promising possibilities of spiritual interchange in the science of their respective fields of expertise. Key words: Arabella Kenealy, Florence Marryat, A Beautiful Vampire, The Blood of the Vampire, medicine, spiritualism, fin de siècle, vampire fiction.