Talk with Professor Catherine Maxwell on Saturday April 6th

This talk will be given by Professor Catherine Maxwell who is Professor of Victorian literature at Queen Mary University, London.

The lecture will examine perfume in decadent writing, with special refrence to two male authors - Oscar Wilde and Arthur Symons - both of whom have a strong awareness of fragrance, and present themselves as olifactifs - individuals with a strong sene of smell.Establishing the prevalence of refererences to scent and perfume in Wilde's writing, Professor Maxwell will ask what purposes do these references serve and what do they signify?

And, in answering these questions, Professor Maxwell will consider whether such references to perfume reflect the taste and use of the time, taking note of scents like or cultivated by both writers.

Professor Maxwell is a widely acknowledged authority on Victorian literature. She has written extensively on th`e great Victorian poet Algernon Swinburne, whose family home was at Bonchurch. Indeed,the idea for this event came about following a short visit that Professor Maxwell made to the Island last summer to visit Bonchurch and other locations connected with Victorian Arts.

Professor Maxwell's talk will take place at Dimbola on Saturday, April 6th at 8.00pm.

Tickets are £7.00 each. There is £3.50 concession ticket avaialble to members of the Farringford Tennyson Society on production of their membership card. Tickets are available in advance from Dimbola or by phoning 01983-730930.