Parliamentary Alchemists and Electric Colossi: The Scientific and the Nostalgic Past in Sir John Tenniel’s Punch Cartoons

The modern world has had a long and uneasy relationship with the nostalgic past, with the line between the harmless and the harmful in this relationship often difficult to parse. This article looks at a particular microcosm of nostalgic medievalism in nineteenth century popular culture—selections from the work of prominent editorial cartoonist Sir John Tenniel in Punch that combine gothic imagery with depictions of modern science and technology—through the literary critical theoretical framework of nostalgia theory, connecting it with strong societal forces in his time.