Specular Metamorphoses: Harriet Prescott Spofford’s “The Ray of Displacement”
This paper focuses on Harriet Prescott Spofford’s short story “The Ray of Displacement” which appeared in The Metropolitan Magazine in October 1903. The story deals with a crystal structure and the adventures of an unnamed scientist falsely accused of stealing it. The scientist’s invention of a Y-ra...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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European Association for American Studies
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| Series: | European Journal of American Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/15139 |
| _version_ | 1797310307008249856 |
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| author | Asunción López-Varela |
| author_facet | Asunción López-Varela |
| author_sort | Asunción López-Varela |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper focuses on Harriet Prescott Spofford’s short story “The Ray of Displacement” which appeared in The Metropolitan Magazine in October 1903. The story deals with a crystal structure and the adventures of an unnamed scientist falsely accused of stealing it. The scientist’s invention of a Y-ray, capable of separating atoms and molecules so that solid bodies can penetrate one another, leads him to the discovery of disembodiment and invisibility. The story indirectly refers to St. Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians where Revelation is shown as a riddle or enigma reflected on a looking glass. Spofford offers a hybrid narrative which fuses philanthropy, ethical concerns, and the power of sympathy, typically attributed to the female gender, with scientific forms of perceiving transcendence dominated by male consciousness. Inverting the angelic rhetoric present in the conception of the “Angel in the house,” Spofford displays a complex story that engenders the supernatural. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T01:41:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2b29eda9164c43069980336c350918d4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1991-9336 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T01:41:06Z |
| publisher | European Association for American Studies |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Journal of American Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-2b29eda9164c43069980336c350918d42024-02-14T13:22:00ZengEuropean Association for American StudiesEuropean Journal of American Studies1991-933614310.4000/ejas.15139Specular Metamorphoses: Harriet Prescott Spofford’s “The Ray of Displacement”Asunción López-VarelaThis paper focuses on Harriet Prescott Spofford’s short story “The Ray of Displacement” which appeared in The Metropolitan Magazine in October 1903. The story deals with a crystal structure and the adventures of an unnamed scientist falsely accused of stealing it. The scientist’s invention of a Y-ray, capable of separating atoms and molecules so that solid bodies can penetrate one another, leads him to the discovery of disembodiment and invisibility. The story indirectly refers to St. Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians where Revelation is shown as a riddle or enigma reflected on a looking glass. Spofford offers a hybrid narrative which fuses philanthropy, ethical concerns, and the power of sympathy, typically attributed to the female gender, with scientific forms of perceiving transcendence dominated by male consciousness. Inverting the angelic rhetoric present in the conception of the “Angel in the house,” Spofford displays a complex story that engenders the supernatural.https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/15139Harriet Prescott Spoffordtheosophyscience fictionthe Angel in the Housegender hybriditythe power of sympathy |
| spellingShingle | Asunción López-Varela Specular Metamorphoses: Harriet Prescott Spofford’s “The Ray of Displacement” European Journal of American Studies Harriet Prescott Spofford theosophy science fiction the Angel in the House gender hybridity the power of sympathy |
| title | Specular Metamorphoses: Harriet Prescott Spofford’s “The Ray of Displacement” |
| title_full | Specular Metamorphoses: Harriet Prescott Spofford’s “The Ray of Displacement” |
| title_fullStr | Specular Metamorphoses: Harriet Prescott Spofford’s “The Ray of Displacement” |
| title_full_unstemmed | Specular Metamorphoses: Harriet Prescott Spofford’s “The Ray of Displacement” |
| title_short | Specular Metamorphoses: Harriet Prescott Spofford’s “The Ray of Displacement” |
| title_sort | specular metamorphoses harriet prescott spofford s the ray of displacement |
| topic | Harriet Prescott Spofford theosophy science fiction the Angel in the House gender hybridity the power of sympathy |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/15139 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT asuncionlopezvarela specularmetamorphosesharrietprescottspoffordstherayofdisplacement |