Ruin lust in George Gissing's Veranilda

Abstract

Ruinenlust (‘ruin lust’) or ruin aesthetics is a prominent feature of George Gissing's unfinished historical novel, Veranilda (1904), which is set in sixth-century Italy and contains many memorable images of ruins. Drawing on the work of Georg Simmel, Rose Macaulay, Brian Dillon, and others, this article argues that, by examining these images in relation to the novel's characters' psychological states and motives, the thematic significance of decadence and anti-imperialism is heightened. The article closes by considering the unfinished nature of Veranilda, arguing, with reference to Susan Stewart's The Ruins Lesson: Meaning and Material in Western Culture (2020), that the novel itself can be appreciated as a kind of ruin. In doing so, it aims to shed light on an underexplored aspect of Gissing's work.