Introduction

The Dialectic of Shame and Grace

Perfect Wagnerites

Christianity as Paradis Artificiel

Verlaine's Amour

In Praise of Shame



Huysmans Mystérique

Unconscious Unction

Conversion Hysteria

Christianity by the Back Door

Refined Thebaids

Pater Dolorosa

Pater Noster

Renaissance and Resurrection

Virgin Marius

Monkish Miracles

The Temptation of Saint Oscar

Christ for Christ's Sake

Ritualism and Dandyism

Seduction and the Scarlet Woman

The Confessional Unmasked

Priests and Acolytes

Fragrant Prayers

Father Silverpoints

Pio Corvo

Saint Oscar Redivivus

Conclusion

Notes

Index

Illustrations

The Wagnerites, by Aubrey Beardsley

The Ascension of Saint Rose of Lima, from Aubrey Beardsley's Under the Hill (1895)

Engraving of Charcot at the Salpêtrière

Drawing of Saint Philip, from Charcot and Richer's Les Démoniaques dans l'Art (1887)

The Crucifixion (1512-1516), by Matthias Grünewald (detail)

Salomé Dancing before Herod (1876), by Gustave Moreau

"Height of Fashion" (1866), from Punch

"Selling off!" (1851), from Punch

John and Salomé by Aubrey Beardsley, from Oscar Wilde's Salomé (1892)

"A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing" (1877), from Punch

Ellis Hanson is Assistant Professor of English at Cornell University.