Sinposis

ARTISTS, SCIENTISTS AND THE WIDER PUBLIC OF THE VICTORIAN ERA ALL SEEM TO HAVE SHARED A COMMON INTEREST IN THE MYTH OF THE BRIAR ROSE AND ITS CONTEMPORARY IMPLICATIONS, FROM THE PRE-RAPHAELITES AND LATE VICTORIAN AESTHETES TO THE FASCINATED CROWDS WHO VISITED ELLEN SADLER, THE REAL-LIFE `SLEEPING MAID' WHO IS REPORTED TO HAVE SLEPT FROM 1871 TO 1880. THE FIGURE OF THE BEAUTIFUL RECLINING FEMALE SLEEPER IS A RECURRING THEME IN THE VICTORIAN IMAGINATION, INVOKING VISUAL, LITERARY AND EROTIC CONNOTATIONS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO A COMPLEX RANGE OF READINGS INVOLVING AESTHETICS, GENDER DEFINITIONS AND CONTEMPORARY MEDICAL OPINION. THIS BOOK COMPILES AND EXAMINES A CORPUS OF SLEEPING BEAUTIES DRAWN FROM VICTORIAN MEDICAL REPORTS, LITERATURE AND THE ARTS AND EXPLORES THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ENDURING REVIVAL OF THE MYTH.