Somnambulists in peril
The Victorians in general, and readers of the weekly newspaper the Illustrated Police News (IPN)
in particular, had a fascination with the mobile but unconscious female
body. Sleepwalkers, or ‘somnambulists’ as the Victorians called them,
were among the favourite subjects for the IPN’s bawdy-minded
draughtsmen. Male somnambulists may have been news, but they were never Illustrated Police news, even if they performed a tap-dance on the roof of the House of Lords; the IPN’s somnambulists were all young, female, and scantily clad.
No comments:
Post a Comment