This project seeks to understand the myriad meanings and seductions of the water sprite in 19th-century culture. It will examine how stories about water sprites were told and circulated, both in popular and elite culture, and identify similarities in these stories from across different European traditions. It will also address how these stories responded to and subverted dominant notions of femininity
(Supervisors: Prof. Bill Gray and Dr Hugh Dunkerley; Advisor: Dr Jonathan Little)