Byron's Ghosts: The Spectral, the Spiritual and the Supernatural
Contents
Four Conjuration and Exorcism: Byron’s Spectral Rhetoric
Get access-
Published:15 December 2013
Cite
Abstract
Starting with reference to a hitherto unexamined tract, Spiritual Interview with Lord Byron (1880), and drawing on recent theoretical writing by Derrida and de Man on the signature and epitaphs, this chapter examines the spectral efficiency of Byron’s name and traces the shift in his conceptualization of fame from a positive ghostly entity that is actively pursued and invoked to a negative phantasm that is to be wholeheartedly rejected or exorcised. It emphasizes the way that Romanticism offers itself — even as it is preoccupied with ghosts of its own — ‘as an antidote to Gothic excess’. It highlights Byron’s more complex desire on the one hand to exploit what Wordsworth described as ‘this degrading thirst after outrageous stimulation’; and on the other to present the Gothic vogue for ghosts in a somewhat more positive light. The chapter then turns to Derrida’s Specters of Marx and relates its advocacy of ‘an ethics of ghostliness’ to the defiant elusiveness of Byron’s ghosts, in which the ineradicable alterity of the other is preserved.
Sign in
Personal account
- Sign in with email/username & password
- Get email alerts
- Save searches
- Purchase content
- Activate your purchase/trial code
- Add your ORCID iD
Purchase
Metrics
Metrics
| Month: | Total Views: |
|---|---|
| October 2022 | 2 |
| May 2023 | 3 |
| July 2023 | 2 |
| August 2023 | 3 |
| September 2023 | 1 |
| January 2024 | 4 |
| April 2024 | 3 |
| May 2024 | 1 |
| August 2024 | 1 |
| January 2025 | 2 |
| May 2025 | 2 |
| July 2025 | 2 |
| June 2026 | 3 |
Get help with access
Institutional access
Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. If you are a member of an institution with an active account, you may be able to access content in one of the following ways:
IP based access
Typically, access is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses. This authentication occurs automatically, and it is not possible to sign out of an IP authenticated account.
Sign in through your institution
Choose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Shibboleth/Open Athens technology is used to provide single sign-on between your institution's website and Oxford Academic.
If your institution is not listed or you cannot sign in to your institution's website, please contact your librarian or administrator.
Sign in with a library card
Enter your library card number to sign in. If you cannot sign in, please contact your librarian.
Society Members
Society member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways:
Sign in through society site
Many societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. If you see "Sign in through society site" in the sign in pane within a journal:
If you do not have a society account or have forgotten your username or password, please contact your society.
Sign in using a personal account
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below.
Personal account
A personal account can be used to get email alerts, save searches, purchase content, and activate subscriptions.
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members.
Viewing your signed in accounts
Click the account icon in the top right to:
Signed in but can't access content
Oxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. The institutional subscription may not cover the content that you are trying to access. If you believe you should have access to that content, please contact your librarian.
Institutional account management
For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more.