Sheridan Le Fanu: Difference between revisions

Sheridan Le Fanu was born at 45 Lower [[Dominick Street, Dublin|Dominick Street]], [[Dublin]], into a literary family of [[Huguenot]], Irish and English descent. He had an elder sister, Catherine Frances, and a younger brother, [[William Richard Le Fanu|William Richard]].<ref name=bill>William Richard Le Fanu (1893) [https://archive.org/details/seventyyearsiri00fanugoog ''Seventy Years of Irish Life''], Edward Arnold, London</ref> His parents were [[Thomas Philip Le Fanu]] and Emma Lucretia Dobbin.<ref>{{cite DNB|wstitle=Le Fanu, Joseph Sheridan|first=Cæsar Litton|last=Falkiner|volume=32}}</ref>

[[File:Sheridan Le Fanu birthplace.jpg|thumb|Inspirationupright=1.22|The inspiration for ''[[The House by the Churchyard]]'': the childhood home of Sheridan Le Fanu in [[Chapelizod]] in [[Dublin]]]]

In 1832 the disorders of the [[Tithe War]] (1831–36) affected the region. There were about six thousand Catholics in the parish of Abington and only a few dozen members of the Church of Ireland. (In bad weather the Dean cancelled Sunday services because so few parishioners would attend.) However, the government compelled all farmers, including Catholics, to pay tithes for the upkeep of the Protestant church. The following year the family moved back temporarily to Dublin, to Williamstown Avenue in athe southern suburb of Blackrock,<ref>Williamstown Castle, now Blackrock College https://www.youwho.ie/williamstown.html</ref> where Thomas was to work on a Government commission.<ref name=ODNB />

Sheridan Le Fanu studied law at [[Trinity College, Dublin|Trinity College]] in Dublin, where he was elected Auditor of the [[College Historical Society]]. Under a system peculiar to Ireland he did not have to live in Dublin to attend lectures, but could study at home and take examinations at the university when necessary. He was called to the bar in 1839, but he never practised and soon abandoned law for journalism. In 1838 he began contributing stories to the ''[[Dublin University Magazine]]'', including his first ghost story, entitled "The Ghost and the Bone-Setter" (1838). He became the owner of several newspapers from 1840, including the ''[[Dublin Evening Mail]]'' and the ''Warder''.<ref name=ODNB/>

On 18 December 1844, Le Fanu married Susanna Bennett, the daughter of a leading Dublin barrister, George Bennett, and granddaughter of [[John Bennett (Irish politician)|John Bennett]], a justice of the [[Court of King's Bench (Ireland)|Court of King's Bench]]. Future [[Home Rule League]] MP [[Isaac Butt]] was a witness. The couple then travelled to his parents' home in Abington for Christmas. They took a house in Warrington Place near the [[Grand Canal (Ireland)|Grand Canal]] in Dublin. Their first child, Eleanor, was born in 1845, followed by Emma in 1846, Thomas in 1847 and George in 1854.

In 1847 Le Fanu supported [[John Mitchel]] and [[Thomas Francis Meagher]] in their campaign against the indifference of the government to the [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Irish Famine]]. Others involved in the campaign included [[Samuel Ferguson]] and Isaac Butt. Butt wrote a forty-page analysis of the national disaster for the ''Dublin University Magazine'' in 1847.<ref>McCormack 1997, p. 101.</ref> His support cost him the nomination as Tory MP for [[Carlow County Carlow (UK Parliament constituency)|County Carlow]] in 1852.

In 1856 the family moved from Warrington Place to the house of Susanna's parents at 18 Merrion Square (later number 70, the office of the Irish Arts Council). Her parents retired to live in England. Le Fanu never owned the house, but rented it from his brother-in-law for £22 per annum, equivalent in 2023 to about £2,000 (which he still failed to pay in full).

In April 1858 she suffered aan "hysterical attack" and died the following day in unclear circumstances. She was buried in the Bennett family vault in [[Mount Jerome Cemetery]] beside her father and brothers. The anguish of Le Fanu's diaries suggests that he felt guilt as well as loss. From then on he did not write any fiction until the death of his mother in 1861. He turned to his cousin Lady Gifford for advice and encouragement, and she remained a close correspondent until her death at the end of the decade.

Le Fanu worked in many genres but remains best known for his horror fiction. He was a meticulous craftsman and frequently reworked plots and ideas from his earlier writing in subsequent pieces. Many of his novels, for example, are expansions and refinements of earlier short stories. He specialised in tone and effect rather than "shock horror" and liked to leave important details unexplained and mysterious. He avoided overt supernatural effects: in most of his major works, the supernatural is strongly implied but a "natural" explanation is also possible. The demonic monkey in "Green Tea" could be a delusion of the story's protagonist, who is the only person to see it; in "The Familiar", Captain Barton's death seems to be supernatural but is not actually witnessed, and the ghostly owl may be a real bird. This technique influenced later horror artists, both in print and on film (see, for example, the film producer [[Val Lewton]]'s principle of "indirect horror").<ref name="js" /> Though other writers have since chosen less subtle techniques, Le Fanu's finest tales, such as the [[vampire]] novella ''[[Carmilla]]'' and the short story "Schalken the Painter", remain some of the most powerful in the genre. He had an enormous influence on one of the 20th century's most important ghost story writers, [[M. R. James]], and although his work fell out of favour in the early part of the 20th century, towards the end of the century interest in his work increased and remains comparatively strong.<ref name=ODNB />

His earliest twelve short stories, written between 1838 and 1840, purport to be the literary remains of an 18th-century Catholic priest called Father Purcell. They were published in the ''Dublin University Magazine'' and were later collected as ''[[The Purcell Papers]]'' (1880).<ref>''The Purcell Papers'' (1880) [https://books.google.com/books?id=FCM7tYvYrfAC Vol. 1], [https://books.google.com/books?id=piVLAAAAIAAJ Vol. 2], [https://books.google.com/books?id=QqUHAQAAIAAJ Vol. 3], Richard Bentley and Son, London</ref> They are mostly set in Ireland and include some classic stories of gothicGothic horror, with gloomy castles, supernatural visitations from beyond the grave, madness, and suicide. Also apparent are nostalgia and sadness for the dispossessed Catholic aristocracy of Ireland, whose ruined castles stand as a mute witness to this history. Some of the stories still often appear in [[anthology|anthologies]]:

* "The Ghost and the Bonesetter" (1838), his first-published, jocular story.

* "The Fortunes of Sir Robert Ardagh" (1838), an enigmatic story which partially involves a [[deal with the Devil|Faustian pact]] and is set in the gothicGothic [[wikt:ambiance|ambiance]] of a castle in rural Ireland.

* "The Last Heir of Castle Connor" (1838), a non-supernatural tale, exploring the decline and expropriation of the ancient Catholic gentry of Ireland under the [[Protestant Ascendancy]].

* "The Drunkard's Dream" (1838), a haunting vision of [[Hell]].

* "Passage in the Secret History of an Irish Countess" (1838), an early version of his later novel ''Uncle Silas''.

* "Strange Event in the Life of Schalken {{sic}} the Painter" (1839), a disturbing version of the [[The Daemon Lover|demon lover]] motif. This tale was inspired by the atmospheric candlelit scenes of the 17th-century Dutch painter [[Godfried Schalcken]], who is the model for the story's protagonist. [[M. R. James]] stated that "{{-'}}Schalken' conforms more strictly to my own ideals. It is indeed one of the best of Le Fanu's good things."<ref>{{cite book |last1=James |first1=M. R. |author-link=M. R. James |editor-first=V. H. |editor-last=Collins|title=Ghosts and Marvels: A Selection of Uncanny Tales from Daniel Defoe to Algernon Blackwood |year=1924|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=London |chapter=Introduction}} Rpt. in {{cite book |last=James |first=M. R. |editor1-first=Christopher |editor1-last=Roden |editor2-first=Barbara |editor2-last=Roden |title=A Pleasing Terror: The Complete Supernatural Writings |year=2001 |publisher=Ash-Tree Press |location=Ashcroft, B.C. |isbn=1-55310-024-7 |page=488}}</ref> It was adapted and broadcast for television as ''[[Schalcken the Painter]]'' by the [[BBC]] for Christmas 1979, starring [[Jeremy Clyde]] and [[John Justin]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/1154981/index.html |title=Schalcken the Painter (1979) |last1=Angelini |first1=Sergio |website=BFI Screenonline |publisher=British Film Institute |access-date=2 June 2013}}</ref>

* ''[[All in the Dark]]'' (1866), satirising [[Spiritualism (movement)|spiritualism]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Carver|first1=Stephen|title='Addicted to the Supernatural': Spiritualism and Self-Satire in Le Fanu's All in the Dark|url=https://ainsworthandfriends.wordpress.com/2013/02/13/addicted-to-the-supernatural-spiritualism-and-self-satire-in-le-fanus-all-in-the-dark/|website=Ainsworth & Friends: Essays on 19th Century Literature & the Gothic|date=13 February 2013 |publisher=Green Door DP (from an anthology from Hippocampus)|access-date=8 August 2016}}</ref>

* ''[[The Tenants of Malory]]'' (1867)<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20140430125959/http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/l/lefanu/tenants-of-malory/contents.html ''The Tenants of Malory''] (1867) University of Adelaide, Australia</ref>

* ''[[A Lost Name]]'' (1868),<ref>''A Lost Name'' (1868) [https://books.google.com/books?id=SdsBAAAAQAAJ Vol. 1], [https://books.google.com/books?id=YNQBAAAAQAAJ Vol. 2], [https://books.google.com/books?id=lNQBAAAAQAAJ Vol. 3], Richard Bentley, London</ref> an adaptation of ''The Evil Guest''<ref>Gary William Crawford <!--[http://www.lefanustudies.com/taletold.html URL has been usurped: no archived version is available] --> "A Tale Told Again: Le Fanu's 'The Evil Guest' and ''A Lost Name''"</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=twhlSYNGaGIC ''The Evil Guest''] (1895) Downey & Co., London</ref>

* ''[[The Rose and the Key]]'' (1871),<ref>''The Rose and the Key'' (1871) [https://books.google.com/books?id=cvQBAAAAQAAJ Vol. 1], [https://books.google.com/books?id=i_QBAAAAQAAJ Vol. 2], [https://books.google.com/books?id=sPQBAAAAQAAJ Vol. 3], Chapman and Hall, London</ref> which describes the horrors of the private lunatic asylum, a classic gothicGothic theme.

His best-known works, still widely read today, are:[[Image:carmilla.jpg|thumb|right|The seductive vampire Carmilla attacks the sleeping Bertha Rheinfeldt.]]

:*"Green Tea", a haunting narrative of a man plagued by a demonic monkey.

:*"The Familiar", a slightly revised version of Le Fanu's 1847 tale "The Watcher". M. R. James considered this to be the best ghost story ever written.<ref>M. R. James. [https://web.archive.org/web/20090914153742/http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/j/james/mr/collect/appendix.html Some Remarks on Ghost Stories] (Bookman, 1929)</ref>

:*"Mr Justice Harbottle", another panorama of Hell and much loved by M. R. James.

:* "A Strange Adventure in the Life of Miss Laura Mildmay", incorporating the story "Madam Crowl's Ghost".

:* "The Haunted Baronet".

:* "The Bird of Passage".

* ''The Watcher and Other Weird Stories'' (1894), another collection of short stories, published posthumously.

:*"Madam Crowl's Ghost", from ''[[All the Year Round]]'', December 1870.

:*"Squire Toby's Will", from ''Temple Bar'', January 1868.

:*"Dickon the Devil", from ''London Society'', Christmas Number, 1872.

:*"The Child That Went with the Fairies", from ''All the Year Round'', February 1870.

:*"The White Cat of Drumgunniol", from ''All the Year Round'', April 1870.

:*"An Account of Some Strange Disturbances in Aungier Street", from the ''Dublin University Magazine'', January 1851.

:*"Ghost Stories of Chapelizod", from the ''Dublin University Magazine'', January 1851.

:*"Wicked Captain Walshawe, of Wauling", from the ''Dublin University Magazine'', April 1864.

:*"Sir Dominick's Bargain", from ''All the Year Round'', July 1872.

:*"Ultor de Lacy", from the ''Dublin University Magazine'', December 1861.

:*"The Vision of Tom Chuff", from ''All the Year Round'', October 1870.

:*"Stories of Lough Guir", from ''All the Year Round'', April 1870.

In addition to M. R. James, several other writers have expressed strong admiration for Le Fanu's fiction. [[E. F. Benson]] stated that Le Fanu's stories "Green Tea", "The Familiar", and "Mr. Justice Harbottle" "are instinct with an awfulness which custom cannot stale, and this quality is due, as in ''[[The Turn of the Screw]]'' [by [[Henry James]]], to Le Fanu's admirably artistic methods in setting and narration". Benson added, "[Le Fanu's] best work is of the first rank, while as a 'flesh-creeper' he is unrivalled. No one else has so sure a touch in mixing the mysterious atmosphere in which horror darkly breeds".<ref>E. F. Benson. "Sheridan Le Fanu". In [[Harold Bloom]], ''Classic Horror Writers''. New York: Chelsea House, 1994. pp. 48–49. {{ISBN|9780585233994}}</ref> [[Jack Sullivan (literary scholar)|Jack Sullivan]] has asserted that Le Fanu is "one of the most important and innovative figures in the development of the ghost story" and that Le Fanu's work has had "an incredible influence on the genre; [he is] regarded by M. R. James, [[E. F. Bleiler]], and others as the most skilful writer of supernatural fiction in English."<ref name="js" />

Le Fanu's work influenced several later writers. Most famously, ''Carmilla'' was to greatly influenceinfluenced [[Bram Stoker]] in the writing of ''[[Dracula]]''.<ref>David Stuart Davies (2007). ''Children of the Night: Classic Vampire Stories''. Ware: Wordsworth. p. x. {{ISBN|1840225467}}</ref> M. R. James' ghost fiction was influenced by Le Fanu's work in the genre.<ref name="jb"/><ref>"The work of other significant horror writers, such as M. R. James, was inspired, in part, by Le Fanu's earlier literary efforts.". Gary Hoppenstand, ''Popular Fiction: An Anthology.'' New York : Longman, 1998. ISBN (p. 31)</ref> [[Oliver Onions]]'s supernatural novel ''The Hand of Kornelius Voyt'' (1939) was inspired by Le Fanu's ''Uncle Silas''.<ref>[[Brian Stableford]] (1998). "Onions, (George) Oliver". In [[David Pringle]], ed. ''St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost and Gothic Writers''. Detroit: St. James. {{ISBN|1558622063}}</ref>

* {{cite book|last=McCormack|first= W. J. |year=1997|title=Sheridan Le Fanu|location=Gloucestershire|publisher= Sutton Publishing|isbn= 0-7509-1489-0|lccn=2005472306}}

Le Fanu, his works, and his family background are explored in [[Gavin Selerie]]'s mixed prose/verse text ''Le Fanu's Ghost'' (2006). Gary William Crawford's ''J. Sheridan Le Fanu: A Bio-Bibliography'' (1995) is the first full bibliography. Crawford and Brian J. Showers's ''Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu: A Concise Bibliography'' (2011) is a supplement to Crawford's out-of-print 1995 bibliography. With Jim Rockhill and Brian J. Showers, Crawford has edited ''Reflections in a Glass Darkly: Essays on J. Sheridan Le Fanu''. Jim Rockhill's introductions to the three volumes of the [[Ash-Tree Press]] edition of Le Fanu's short supernatural fiction (''Schalken the Painter and Others'' [2002], ''The Haunted Baronet and Others'' [2003], ''Mr Justice Harbottle and Others'' [2005]) provide a perceptive account of Le Fanu's life and work.

* {{isfdbISFDB name |name=Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu}}