Victorian Love Letters in Literature and Art

Through an analysis of a broad corpus of correspondences, novels and paintings, this book aims to re-establish the relevance of letter writing within Victorian culture. In an age of postal reforms and innovations, the representation of love letters in art and literature mirrored new understandings of communication but also of love and marriage.

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«This book is a fascinating study of the love letter in a rich historical context, in which painting played an essential part – not merely illustrating epistolary dynamics, but creating them. Roberta Zanasi’s very engaging approach creates a fresh and significant subject in literary and art criticism. A great read.»


(Clare Brant, King’s College London)








In Victorian times, when postal reforms and technological progress revolutionized communication, letter writing became more widespread than ever. Love letters, in particular, continued to be central in the courtship ritual. However, as new ideas about love and marriage came along, they no longer exclusively represented the quintessential romantic form in the popular imagination.





Through a close analysis of a broad corpus of Victorian correspondences, novels and paintings, this book demonstrates that novelists and painters who dealt with the ever-recurring themes of love and marriage could not refrain from incorporating an epistolary element into their works. Letters still inspired artists of all kinds, and advances in communications, rather than displacing them, made people more aware of the essence and potentiality of this medium.