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List of contents
Introduction
1. Love and Jealousy
2. Unemployment and Poverty
3. Fraud and Speculation
4. Military Suicides
Conclusion
About the author
Lyndsay Galpin is a cultural historian of masculinity and suicide. She received her PhD from Royal Hollway, University of London, UK, which was funded by the Friendly Hand.
Summary
This book shows how interpretations of suicidal motives were guided by gendered expectations of behaviour, and that these expectations were constructed to create meaning and understanding for family, friends and witnesses. Providing an insight into how people of this era understood suicidal behaviour and motives, it challenges the assertion that suicide was seen as a distinctly feminine act, and that men who took their own lives were feminized as a result. Instead, it shows that masculinity was understood in a more nuanced way than gender binaries allow, and that a man’s masculinity was measured against other men.
Focusing on four common narrative types; the love-suicide, the unemployed suicide, the suicide of the fraudster or speculator, and the suicide of the dishonoured solider, it provides historical context to modern discussions about the crisis of masculinity and rising male suicide rates. It reveals that narratives around male suicides are not so different today as they were then, and that our modern model of masculinity can be traced back to the 19th century.
Foreword
This volume examines the narratives that surrounded male suicide in 19th-century Britain to explore what they reveal about the moral values of masculinity at the time.
Additional text
The finest work that has yet appeared on suicide in 19th century Britain. At one level it is an engrossing study of the emotional, economic and professional precipitants. But in giving equal attention to how the public strove to make sense of these tragedies, Lyndsay Galpin sheds new light on the contemporary cultures of masculinity.
