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In Bed with the Victorians

The Life-Cycle of Working-Class Marriage

  • Book
  • © 2017

Overview

Authors:
  1. Vicky Holmes

    1. Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom

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  • Examines the hidden history of the life-cycle of the marital bed in Victorian England
  • Utilises coroner's inquest reports to give a voice to the working classes
  • Provides greater insight into the Victorian working class and their domestic lives

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Table of contents (7 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xi
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  2. Introduction: Victorian Working-Class Marriage and the Marital Bed

    • Vicky Holmes
    Pages 1-13

  3. Beds of Newlyweds

    • Vicky Holmes
    Pages 15-33

  4. From Marital Bed to Childbed

    • Vicky Holmes
    Pages 35-50

  5. Marital Beds in Marital Strife

    • Vicky Holmes
    Pages 51-64

  6. Beds After Marital Separation

    • Vicky Holmes
    Pages 65-82

  7. Post-marital Beds of the Bereaved

    • Vicky Holmes
    Pages 83-102

  8. Conclusion

    • Vicky Holmes
    Pages 103-107

  9. Back Matter

    Pages 109-125
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Keywords

About this book

This book examines the life-cycle of Victorian working-class marriage through a study of the hitherto hidden marital bed. Using coroners’ inquests to gain intimate access to the working-class home and its inhabitants, this book explores their marital, quasi-marital, and post-marital beds to reveal the material, domestic, and emotional experience of working-class marriage during everyday life and at times of crisis. Drawing on the recent approach of utilising domestic objects to explore interpersonal relationships, the marital bed not only provides a rereading of the experiences of the working-class wife but also brings the much maligned or simply overlooked working-class husband into the picture. Moreover, it also extends our understanding of the various marriage-like arrangements existing throughout this class. Moving through the marital life-cycle, this book provides a greater understanding of marriages from the outset, during childbirth, at times of strife and marital breakdown, and upon the death of a spouse.



Reviews

“The book offers an entirely new contribution to the history of marriage with its use of new sources and its helpful attention to different phases of working-class married life.” (Helena Michie, Victorian Studies, Vol. 62 (4), 2020)

Authors and Affiliations

  • Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom

    Vicky Holmes

About the author

Vicky Holmes is Visiting Research Fellow at Queen Mary University of London, UK.



Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: In Bed with the Victorians

  • Book Subtitle: The Life-Cycle of Working-Class Marriage

  • Authors: Vicky Holmes

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60390-2

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: History, History (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-60389-6Published: 27 October 2017

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-86852-3Published: 23 August 2018

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-60390-2Published: 16 October 2017

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XI, 125

  • Topics: History of Britain and Ireland, Cultural History, Gender Studies, History of Modern Europe, Social History

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