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Marcel Proust's À la recherche du temps perdu is underpinned by an enduring tension between sight and the other senses. Conventional scholarship on Proust claims that the visual pole of this tension is linked to the intellect, as opposed to the association of the remaining senses with intuition and the unfathomable. This reading, however, presents an oversimplification of the complex economy of the senses explored by Proust insofar as it falls prey to visualism, a theoretical predisposition characterised by a double reduction of the perceptual experience. Challenging this tendency, this article draws on sensorial cross-modality and multisensory processes in order to interrogate the connection between sunlight and song in Proust's novel. In particular, we focus on the 'little barometer man' at the start of La Prisonnière, whom the narrator anticipates singing on his death bed 'if there is a blink of sun'. We also consider this Proustian connection between song and sunlight in light of a longer tradition, including St Francis of Assisi's 'Canticle of Brother Sun' and the statue of Memnon's dawn song. Proust's consequent demythologising of light and his materialist approach to song support an attempt to consider light shorn of its usual metaphorical connotations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the putatively axiomatic connection between Irishness and Catholicism, it is not surprising that the ubiquitous deathbed scene in Irish-American fiction is imbricated with the issue of ethnic identity. In romantic didactic fiction, deathbed scenes are not just religiously coded, but also consolidate diasporic figurations of Irishness. However, this article argues that this tradition is not the only guise in which deathbed scenes feature in Irish-American fiction. As we show, some late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century writers of urban realist fiction criticise or satirise the convention to disrupt the dour moralism and ethnic essentialism of writers such as Mary Anne Sadlier and Hugh Quigley. Exploring the dynamics of diasporic memory in fiction by Clara E. Laughlin, James W. Sullivan, Harvey J. O'Higgins, and Kate M. Cleary, this article demonstrates that the deathbed scene is not just used to structure ethno-religious identities, but also to question and subvert such constructions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay reads death scenes in Dickens's early novels as contributions to a wider reformist drive (evidenced in discourses of burial, urban, and sanitary reform) to clean up the nation's ways of thinking about mortality, each of which relied upon the careful policing of sense data surrounding corpses, graves, and deathbeds. In doing so, it seeks to expand our sense of why Dickens adopted a sentimental mode in both Nicholas Nickleby (1838–9) and The Old Curiosity Shop (1840–1), arguing that it derived not just from a desire to provoke emotional responses in readers, but spoke to his interest in association psychology as the mechanism by which both ideas and minds were constructed. It thus argues for Dickens's deathbed scenes as sites of literary experiment: attempts to recruit narrative fiction's affective and psychological power for the causes of aesthetic and social transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A literary criticism of the book "The Death of Ivan Ilyich" by Leo Tolstoy is presented. It mentions about Ivan Ilyich, an ambitious mid- level Russian legal official, plummets into the abyss is incontestable, for the novella opens by announcing his death; and also mentions that Ivan's deathbed epiphany may be a religious experience, but the text's ambiguous stance toward Christianity makes it hard to decipher its exact nature.

This article considers the work of Jonathan Z. Smith, with particular focus on his essay "When the Bough Breaks." After a brief summary of the essay, I will place it and its contributions within the broader context of my interactions with Smith and his work, reflecting on the ways in which Smith's scholarship has allowed me to understand the vital relationship between the questions we ask as scholars and the answers we offer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides an overview of the history of donatio mortis causa (DMC) or deathbed gift that originated in Roman law. It explores DMC as an anomaly in English law as it falls outside the Wills Act 1837 and Statute of Frauds 1677 requirements. It highlights how the doctrine is open to abuse with the courts stressing that DMC should not be applied as a device in order to validate ineffective wills.

The article discusses device Utica Crib used by state hospitals and asylums in North America. Topics discussed include material culture. history of psychology and British and North American alienists. Other topics such as covered bedtseads, neurologists and phasing away for the Ultica Crib is also mentioned.

Rochester's specific avowal some time before his death that although he had been ‘guilty of extravagances’, he was ‘no atheist’ has been generally discounted, posterity preferring to accept Samuel Johnson's contemptuous judgment a century later that the poet's life was spent with ‘a total disregard to every moral, and a resolute denial of every religious obligation’. The œuvre, however, reveals that religion was more important to, and a greater influence upon, Rochester than Johnson allowed: over half of the poems include references to the Bible, The Book of Common Prayer, or Christian concepts of heaven, hell, faith, repentance, love, and truth. The extent to which this literature and vocabulary underpins Rochester's poetic imagination is well evidenced by the short poems ‘How Bles'd was the created state’ and ‘Too longe the Wise Commons have been in debate’, as well as the great satires A Letter from Artemiza to Chloe, A Satyr against Mankind, Upon Nothing, and A Ramble in Saint James's Parke, but it is significant that the spirituality that imbues the verse of Donne and Herbert is not found in his work. The absence of any sense of personal transcendence in Rochester's poems, however, does not mean that he rejected the Christian faith per se, and examining through the lens of faith the bleak world he depicts in his poetry reveals not only a further than expected layer of complexity and meaning but also a surprising concern and respect for religion that he would only fully realize on his deathbed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An essay is presented on the Christian allegory "The Pilgrim's Progress, by John Bunyan, edited by James Wharey, and revised by Roger Sharrock. It states the Protestant reform of death removes certain practices to emphasize the principle of salvation by faith. The author examines the deathbed scenes as manifestation of the nonconformity of Bunyan to the Catholic ritual structures.

Life is an activity and is performed, even to the end. And we perform this act of living, and eventually dying, with others. It is this aspect of mutuality, the relationship, that is important to all healing endeavours. Music is what we do together when we play together as musicians, or take part as listening audiences, or engage with it in that sublime activity of dancing. Actively making music reminds us all that something can be done, that there is an available cultural form of expression that allows us to express ourselves personally and communally. Singing together allows both the person dying and her carers to actively participate in the end stages of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have been researching the experience that dying people and those accompanying them have around the time of death. Many of those who are conscious shortly before their deaths appear to experience deathbed phenomena, and we can see a certain pattern in what they have been able to tell us. The dying process appears to involve the dying person's reaching out from the depth of their being to form an intense connection to the living and the dead. We need contemporary maps and ways of speaking about these highly significant moments of human life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accounts by Gilbert Burnet and Robert Parsons of the earl of Rochester's spectacular 'death bed repentance' provided a staple of the popular devotional diet for a century after the poet's death. This paper explores the context and validity of Rochester's volte face with reference to his upbringing, the contemporary political and religious background, his correspondence and poetry, and the observations of Burnet and Parsons. It concludes that while Rochester's action had a significant long-term impact on the Church, the earlier decline of the Wits as a force in Government meant that the political ramifications were minimal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Probate records have long been recognized as important sources for the lives and concerns of medieval individuals, and the value of those wills and testaments that evolved over a period of years, rather than being drafted m a single sitting on a testator's death bed is all the greater. The will of Humphrey Stafford of Southwick, the Yorkist Earl of Devon, stands out among the latter category as an example of a small number of wills drafted by the victims of the political violence of the Wars of the Roses on the eve of their executions. It sheds new light on the character of an otherwise obscure and poorly documented royal favourite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article deals with the possible roles of professionals in the process of ritual counselling of dying patients in hospital. The key question is: how can rituals performed for the dying in spiritual care meet the diverse needs of patients and what is the professional's role in this regard? The contexts explored are Dutch hospitals in which spiritual caregivers are often not religiously bound. The patients asking for ritual guidance are also in most of the cases religiously unaffiliated. What kinds of rituals can be performed then to enact the process of dying, and from what sources can those rituals be derived? What kind of professional skills are needed when professionals try to meet patients' needs? Those kinds of questions are dealt with from a theoretical and practical perspective. The research material presented has been gathered in projects with professionals, observations and educational programmes in the Netherlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the evidence for the date and authorship of the "De obitu Willelmi," the only extant copies of the B redaction of the "Gesta Normannorum Ducum." It is an intriguing text consisting of 654 words and is proposed to be an account of the deathbed of William the Conqueror and describe how he divided his realm between his sons Robert and William. It notes that the complete text of "De obitu" is contained in the B2, a Durham manuscript and is known to have been corrected in the 12th century. Furthermore, Einhard's "Life of Charlemagne" and the life of Louis the Pious by the anonymous Astronomer are the two ninth-century sources that revealed that "De obitu" is a pastiche on the major study conducted by Engels.

The articles criticizes the book "The Death of Ivan Ilych," by Leo Tolstoy. Citing on the complaint of students of Edward Wasiolek, a distinguished Russian literature scholar that states that the story of "The Death of Ivan Ilych" was arbitrary, preachy, lacks in ambiguity and levels of meaning, the author contends that the story is in fact misleadingly simple. He adds that this narrative about dying and death is remarkable for its briefness and ordinariness. Ivan Ilych's life had been most simple and most ordinary and the dimension of the work is attributed to a very common life experience. He further argues that although the story appears to stress the clinical realities of dying, Tolstoy's unstated cultural references invites reader to consider the story as a meditation on mortality.

The literature confirms illness and hospitalisation can become spiritual encounters for patients and their families. Further, it has been established that both patients and their families are better equipped to deal with loss and change if they have a healthily developed spiritual sense of self. The aim of the study sought to determine the benefit or otherwise of a previous model of spiritual care. It asked 'from the perspective of the nurse and other health care providers, what constitutes spiritual care giving?' An ethnography was undertaken where data consisted of field notes, interviews, records, and diary entries. This paper reports on interview data, from which themes were derived. The major theme titled their space is expressed via a new model of spiritual care. It was shown that when caring for patients and their relatives, nurses and other health care professionals enter the world of the other to determine the other's needs. In so doing they typify agapé (altruistic love), where the individual cares for a complete stranger as if that stranger were family. This connection with the patient and their family is the foundation for spiritual care. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Care of people at the end of life is a challenge for the person with a life-limiting illness, their family and friends, and their professional carers. Clinicians, including pastoral care workers, nurses, doctors, and allied health professionals, find themselves at the bedside of the dying. At times, the professional's sense of self is challenged both by the suffering that they witness (physical, emotional, existential, social, sexual, or financial) and a sense of helplessness to relieve not only the patient's suffering but also that of the people to whom the dying person is close. What framework can help us to deal with the suffering that we cannot help but encounter? Ultimately people connecting in a real and meaningful way with other people is probably the only way that each of us can confront suffering and not have it destroy us. Creating an environment where people can begin to, or continue to connect with others at a level that is meaningful for all concerned is a pivotal starting point in dealing with suffering in any encounter with people at the bedside. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Over the last four decades, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) has become the medical, legal and media standard for behaviour in the face of sudden death. The key therapeutic techniques of CPR: mouth–to–mouth ventilation, external–cardiac–compressions and defibrillation – with their origins in the eighteenth century, strange peregrinations in the nineteenth, and consolidation in the twentieth – are central to what may be seen as a newly dominant form of deathbed ritual. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses upon the emergence of a new phenomenon in the late nineteenth century: institutional provision for the 'respectable poor' medically certified as 'dying'. For the first time this group was identified as having special medical, nursing and spiritual needs, which could only be provided by trained staff through an institutional medium. Through a comparative study of three institutions founded in London - St Joseph's Hospice, the Hostel of God and St Luke's House - this paper aims, firstly, to consider why it is important to look at late nineteenth century homes for the dying; secondly, to understand why they were set up during this period; and thirdly, to explore their foundation and development up to 1914. It argues that the homes were essentially a response to perceived deficiencies in medical, domiciliary and spiritual care for the dying 'respectable' poor: as religious and philanthropic institutions, the homes were profoundly influenced by wider developments in these areas. Within the homes, spiritual care was viewed as the most important part of their work. Although they professed to be non-sectarian, the distinct denominational basis of each home (Catholic, Anglo-Catholic and Methodist) had a profound impact on perceptions of death and dying. Particularly significant are the accounts of patients, written by various members of the homes, which reconstruct the patients' deathbed experiences in certain ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1957, Tumulus MM at Gordion, Turkey, was excavated by The University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania, under the direction of Rodney S. Young. On opening the royal chamber, Young found the buried king lying on the deteriorated remains of what he took to be a massive wooden bed, with headboard, footboard, planks, rails, and four corner posts. Reexamination of the ‘bed’ has yielded a new interpretation of this piece of furniture, providing dues to the disposition of its parts within the chamber and suggesting a reconstruction of the burial rites conducted for the king. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the literary depiction of a dying person in his deathbed as highlighted in the abstract, contrapuntal style of the play "All Over," by Edward Albee. Idea of death as an art of heroic self-sacrifice to a higher cause; Overview of the central position of the dying or dead person with respect to the figures surrounding him; Process of dying and on the mourner's responses to death.

Examines New England poet Emily Dickinson's preoccupation with death and her final acceptance of the human incapacity to close the circle of love, death and immortality. Death of her father in 1874, death of her nephew in 1883 and death of her friends; Courage in Dickinson's spinsterhood; Serene deathbed acceptance among the Puritans; Apprehension of heaven as home; Reputation of Dickinson as a nature poet; Analysis of some of her poems; Dickinson's desire to be remembered long after her death.

A literary criticism is presented of the book "The Death of Ivan Ilyich," by Leo Tolstoy. Ivan Ilyich's pre-occupation with time changes as a result of the accident that he suffers and the knowledge that he will die, which is contrasted to that of character Pyotr. The death-bed visits that are made by members of Ilyich's family show how ordered their lives are and it is also remarked that the family refuses to mention that Ilyich is indeed dying.

A personal narrative is provided in which the author, a physician, discusses his experience with an angry husband of a cancer patient on their deathbed, following an unsuccessful surgery, including his sadness, threat to the surgeon and fear of her death.

We describe the cases of two patients discharged home directly from the ICU. Both patients had the strong wish to die at home after being told that there were no therapeutic options. Sometimes discharge is feasible and can mean very much for patients and their family. Taking measures to ensure a "good deathbed" is an obligation for doctors and nursing staff. However, due to the focus on cure this palliative goal is not always pursued. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]