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144 visualizações128 páginas

ENGLEZA

fragmente engleza

Enviado por

diana d
Direitos autorais
© All Rights Reserved
Levamos muito a sério os direitos de conteúdo. Se você suspeita que este conteúdo é seu, reivindique-o aqui.
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_ Victorian Fiction. _ S. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens ‘EER Bn- If you were to write a short account of your childhood, what would you include? The following questions will help you | / What are your happiest memories of childhood? | What do you remember about your early years at school? | Were you particularly close to any adults as a child? I Were you afraid or intimidated by any adults as a child? i ‘Can you remember any funny things that happened to you? | @auNe INTRODUCTION + Charles Dickens and his works have become synonymous with Victorian England Many of his novels came out in monthly instalments and were awaited by his readers as eagerly as viewers today await the next episode of their favourite serial or soap-opera, His popularity lay in his abi- lity to write gripping, sentimental stories filled with memorable characters. On a more serious level, is novels are a detailed account of both the good and bad sides of Victorian life, ‘Tue story CHARACTERS * David Copperfield Following the death of his father, David's mother, Clara, rematries. She dies soon after, so «Clara, is mother David is left in the care of his cruel and tyrannical stepfather, Mr Murdstone, «and his just as * Mr Murdstone, his unpleasant sister, Miss Murdstone. (» Text F1). A te aati David runs away and starts to build a life for himself. He continues his studies in Mr Murdstone’s Canterbury and finds a job as a clerk in London. He does nat like his job but he has a wide i oe en range of contacts and friends, among whom the most memorable are the impecunious but *ip, David and lovable Mr Micawber, and the conniving, greedy Uriah Heep. Dora's dog He marries Dora (> Text F2), a pretty but sily gil, and launches out on a new career as a writen, When Dora dies, he marries his lifelong friend, Agnes, and becomes a successfitl > Visual ink 5 writer, % I Fall into Disgrace GLOSSARY David remembers what his lessons used to be like when he studied at home tn the 1. parlour: siting room preserice of his mother, Clara, Mr Murdstone and Miss Murdstone, 2, slates small board Sea Let me remember how it used to be, and bring one morning back again, 3. easy-chalr: annchalr 1 come into the second-best parlour! after breakfast, with my books, and 4, stringing steel beads: an exercise-book, and a slate’. My mother is ready for me at her writing- putting tiny round Peet desk, but not half so ready as Mr Murdstone in his easy: by the onto st window (though he pretends to be reading a book), or as Miss Murdstone,—s 5. heen at infinite sitting near my mother stringing steel beads*, The very sight of these two pany eed has such an influence over me, that I begin to feel the words I have been * Ghappearing at infinite pains* to get into my head, all sliding away®, and going } don't 7. by the by: by the way. know where. | wonder where they do go, by the by’? David Copperfield ~ Chorles Dickens Thand the first book to my mother. 10 Perhaps it is a grammar, pethaps a history, or geography. I take a last drowning* look al the page as! give it into her hand, and start off aloud at a racing pace while } have got it fresh. 1 trip over? a word. Mr 1s Murdstone looks up. f tip over another word, Miss Murdstone looks up. I redden, tumble over™ half-a-dozen words, and stop. | think my mother would show me the book if she dared, but she does not 20 dare, and she says softly: ‘Oh, Davy, Davy!’ ‘Now, Clara,’ says Mr Murdstone, ‘be firm with the boy. Don't say, ‘Oh, Davy, Davy!’ ‘That's childish. He knows his lesson, or he 25 does not know it! ‘He does not know it,’ Miss Murdstone interposes awfully. “am really afraid he does not,’ says my mother. 20 ‘Then, you see, Clara,’ returns Miss Murdstone, ‘you should just give bim the book back, and make him know it.’ 'Yes, certainly,’ says my mother; ‘that is what | intend to do, my dear Jane. Now, Davy, try once more, and don’t be stupid.’ 38 J obey the first clause of the injunction” by trying once more, but am not so successful with the second, for J am very stupid. 1 tumble down’ before 1 get to the old place, at a point where I was all right before, and stop to think. But J can’t think about the lesson. I think of the number of yards of net in Miss Murdstone’s cap, or of the price of Mr Murdstone’s dressing- 40 gown!®, or any such ridiculous problem that I have no business with, and don’t want to have anything at all to do with. Mr Murdstone makes a movement of impatience which I have been expecting for a long time Miss Murdstone does the same, My mother glances submissively at them, shuts the book, and lays it by" as an arreay! to be worked out when my 45 other tasks are done There is a pile of these arrears very soon, and it swells’ like a rolling snowball. The bigger it gets, the more stupid 1 get. The case is so hopeless, and | feel that | am wallowing in such a bog!” of nonsense, that I give up all idea of getting out, and abandon myself to my fate, The despairing way so. 8. drowning: desperate part ofthe request 15,an arrear: work still tobe 9. trip over: hesitate in saying —[Link] down: get confused —__ done [Link] over: say in a TBadiessing-gown: long loose T6-pnelss Pevomes bigger and Digger [Link] ... bog: rolling [Link] of the ixjunctions ——[Link] it by: puts it aside lover ina mtely poo! confused way coal warn indoors other children of my age, had very fle of that.” A scene frora the fir Davi. Copperfield (1970), 3 4 1 4 THE VICTORIAN AGE [Link] on: continue to make mistakes 19. cues missing word [Link] . faintly: oes slightly red in the face 21. boxes: hits 22. appalling suum: hateful maths problem [Link] over: giv all my attention (© 24. wretched: unfortunate 25, endure; tolerate 26,untasked: with nothing to do [Link]: foolishly [Link] down to: obliged to do 29. warm: group [Link] the gloomy Disciples: the Mardstones, who were religois, believed that all ‘children were bad ‘even though there was a cblid among Chris’ disetples in the Bibte 31 held: believed COMPREHENSION —— 1 Who is present in the parlour while David recites 5 What is the ‘appalling’ task that David faces when his lesson? What effect does this presence have on the lessons are over? him? 2 What does Miss Murdstone suggest that David's mother should do? 3s David more or less successful the second time he in which my mother and | look at each other, as I blunder on! is truty melancholy. But the greatest effect in these miserable lessons is when my mother (thinking nobody is observing her) tries to give me the cue"? by the motion of her lips. At that instant, Miss Murdstone, who has been lying in wait for nothing eise all along, says in a deep warning voic ‘Clara!’ My mother starts, colours, and smiles faintly”. Mr Murdstone comes out of his chair, takes the book, throws it at me or boxes*! my ears with it, and tums me out of the roam by the shoulders Even when the lessons are done, the worst is yet to happen, in the shape of an appalling sum. This is invented for me, and delivered to me orally by Mr Murdstone, and begins, ‘IFT go into a cheesemonger’s shop, and buy five thousand double-Gloucester cheeses at fourpence-halfpenny each, present payment’ ~ at which | see Miss Murdstone secretly overjoyed. 1 pore over these cheeses without any result or enlightenment until dinmer-time, when, having made a Mulatto of myself by getting the dirt of the slate into the pores of my skin, I have a slice of bread to help me out with the cheeses, and am considered in disgrace for the rest of the evening. It seems to me, at this distance of time, as if my unfortunate studies generally took this course. J could have done very well if I had been without the Murdstones; but the influence of the Murdstones upon me was like the fascination of two snakes on a wretched® young ditd. Even when | did get through the morning with tolerable credit, there was not much gained but dinner; for Miss Murdstone never could endure® to see me untasked”®, and if [ rasbly” made any show of being unemployed, called her brother’s attention to me by saying, ‘Clara, my deat, there’s nothing like work - give your boy an exercise’; which caused me to be clapped down to’ some new labour, there and then. As to any recreation with other children of my age, I had very little of that; for the gloomy theology of the Murdstones made all children out to be a swarm”? of little vipers (though there was a child once set in the midst of the Disciples, and held*! that they contaminated one another, 6 How, in Davie's opinion, might his studies have been different if the Murdstones had not been present at his lessons? tries to recite his lesson? What does he think about playing with other children? instead of concentrating on the lesson? 4 How does David's mother try to help her son? 7 Why did the Murdstones not approve of David 58 wo 65 0 80 Po ANALYSIS 1 In the passage, a first-person narrator* is speaking about hls younger self. identify the sentences in the passage that underline the distance in time between the point of narration and the moment when the events took place, 2 Which verb tense does the narrator use to describe the lessons he had! as a child? What effect does this choice of verb tense have on the narration? #8 It makes it more vivid and dramatic. It makes it seem more childish, It makes it seem as though it happened recently. 3 ind evidence in the text that David's mother is \imidated by Me and Miss Murdsione. Is David critical of his mother’s behaviour? 4 Focus on the characters of Mr and Miss Murdstone, a. What striking simile* suggests the evil and predatory nature of their behaviour? b. Where is it suggested in the text that Miss Murdstone derives sadistic pleasure from tormenting David? ¢. What associations do you make with the name Murdstone? eS Extended metaphor An extended metaphor or simile is a metaphor or simi lines in a passage or throughout an entire passage. A writer uses words or expressions Charies Dickens Dovid Copperfield 5 The passage gives the reader some insights into the relationship between children and adults in nineteenth century Britain. How would you define this relationship? "Loving 2 Format Detached 28 Nurturing Understanding #4 Other: Consider the relationship between men, as represented by Mr Murdstane, and waren, as represented by David's mother and Miss Murdstone. Does the passage suggest that the status of men and women was equal in nineteenth-century Britain? Justify your answer by referring to the text, ae ee 5 i¢ which is sustained over several literally denoting one kind of object, idea or action in place of another to suggest Jikeness or analogy between the two. The use of extended metaphors and similes, like all figurative use of language, adds a further layer of intellectual and emotional significance toa writer's work, following sentence, How? M4] Charles Dickens establishes an association between speaking and walkingfrunning in the “7 take a ast drowning look at the page as I give it into her hand, and start off aloud at a racing pace while {have got it fresh’ (Limes 12-15) How is the parallel between speaking and walking/running extended in the next three lines? Select a topic of interest to you (dancing, music, reading, love, a person you know) and compare it to something else in an extended metaphor or simile. 7 1 First establish the association: My cat Sheeba is ike a ball of fire. 2 Extend the metaphor or simile by using associated terms to continue your description: Her coat is made of flames and coals. She brings me fttle dead birds to show her love. She sits motionless eyeing her prey ~ a glowing ember ready to spark into life. Then when the mament is right she darts fike a flame along spilt petrol. Sa Have you ever felt ike David? Do you feel nervous or even intimidated when you do an oral test? Have you ever _ Been so nervous that you could not speak? Tell your classmates. 6 THE VICTORIAN AGE ~ Fiction GB Our Housekeeping © GLOSSARY David tells us how his wife, Dora, tried fo come to grips with household management. 1, Accordingly consequently Dora told me, shortly afterwards, that she was going to be 2 wonderful FE ee aeah housekeeper. Accordingly’, she polished the tablets’, pointed the pencil, 3, stitched up. bought an immense account-book, carefully stitched up with a needle and Sete thread? all the leaves of the Cookery Book which Jip bad tom, and made 4, Bure: numbers quite a desperate little attempt ‘to be good’, as she called it. But the figures? 5. laborious items: had the old obstinate propensity = they would not add up. When she had : ete nea i entered two or three laborious items® in the account-book, Jip would walk. A and right over the page, wagging® his tail, and smear’ them all out, Her own little 7. smear: dirty right-hand middle finger got steeped to the very bone in ink; and I think otaeaauai aa that was the only decided result obtained 10 LOalikeness: sesemblance Sometimes, of an evening, when ] was at home and at work ~ for T wrote a ‘.sphuttered: dripped good deal’ now, and was beginning in a smail way to be known as a writer es ~ would lay down my pen, and watch my childawife trying to be good, First of all, she would bring out the immense account-book, and lay it down upon the table, with a deep sigh. Then she would open it atthe 15 place where Jip had made it illegible last night, and call Jip up, to look at his misdeeds. This would occasion a diversion in Jip’s favour, and some ing of his nase, perhaps, as a penalty. Then she would tell Jip to lie down on the table instantly, ‘like a lion’ - which was one of his tricks, though | cannot say the likeness’? 20 was striking ~ and, if he were in an obedient humour, he would obey. Then she would take up a pen, and begin to write, and find a hair in it. Then she would take 25. up another pen, and begin to write, and find that it spluttered”, ‘Then she would take up another pen, and begin to write, and say in a low voice, ‘Oh, it’sa talking 40 pen, and will disturb Doady!” And then she would give it up as a bad job, and put the accownt-book away, after pretending to crush the lion with it 48 Or, if she were in a very sedate and serious state of mind, she would sit down with the tablets, and a little basket of bills and Z +22) Another scene trom 2 the fim David © 2% Coppertield (1970) a Duvid Copperfield ~ ©} other documents, which looked more like curl-papers'® than anything else, and endeavour" to get some result out of them. After severely comparing one with another, and making entries on the tablets, and plotting’ them out, and counting all the fingers of her left hand over and over again, backwards and forwards, she would be so vexed’ and discouraged, and would look so unhappy, that it gave me pain to see her bright face clouded ~ and for me! ~ and T would go softly to her, and say: “What's the matter, Dora?” Dova would look up hopelessly, and reply, ‘They won’t come tight. They make my head ache so. nd they won't do anything I want!" Then I woukl say, ‘Now let us try together. Let me show you, Dor hen I would commence a practical demonstiation, to which Dora would pay profound attention, perhaps for five minutes; when she would begin to be dreadfully" tired, and would lighten the subject!” by curling my hair, or trying the effect of my face with my shirt-collar tumed down. If T tacitly checked this playfulness'®, and persisted, she would look so scared and disconsolate, as she became more and more bewildered”, that the remembrance of her natural gaiety when I first strayed into her path, and of her being my child-wife, would come reproachfully upon me”; and I would lay the pencil down, and call for the guitar. Uhad a great deal of work to do, and had many anxieties, but the same considerations made me keep them to myself. | am far from sure, now, that it was right to do this, but I did it for my child-wife’s sake”. | search my breast®’, and I commit’ its secrets, if | know them, without any reservation to this paper. The old unhappy loss or want’ of something. had, Tam conscious, some place in my heart; but not to the embitterment of my life’®, When 1 walked alone in the fine weather, and thought of the summer days when all the air had been filled with my boyish enchantment, | did miss something of the realization of my dreams; but I thought it was @ softened glory of the Past, which nothing could have thrown upon the present time. I did feel, sometimes, for a litte while, that ! could have wished my wife had been my counsellor; had had more character and purpose”’, to sustain me and improve me by; had been endowed with” power to fill up the void which somewhere seemed to be about me”; but I felt as if this were an unearthly* consummation of my happiness, that never had been meant to be, and never could have been. Twas a boyish husband as to years. | had known the softening influence of no other sorrows or experiences than those recorded in these leaves. If 1 did any wrong, as T may have done much, I did it in mistaken Jove, and in my want of wisdom. [ write the exact truth, It would avail me nothing to extenuate it” Thus it was that I took upon myself the toils*? and cares of our life, and had no partner in them. We lived much as before, in reference to” our scrambling" household arrangements; but I had got used to those, and Dora ~ I was pleased to see ~ was seldom vexed now. She was bright and cheerful in the old childish way, loved me dearly, and was happy with her old trifles** now. 0 as so 8s 60 65, ” 80 85 aries Dickens 7 [Link]-papers: pieces of ‘paper that are put in Fair to make it eur! [Link]: make an effort 14. blotting: rubbing 15. vexed: annoyed [Link]: terribly [Link] the subject: be Jess serious [Link] this playfulness: kept her playful mood under control [Link]: confused 20,strayed into her path: met her 21, would come ... upon sme: [would fee) gollty about i 22. childe-wife’s sake: owt of love for her [Link] my breast ‘explore any heart 24,commit: entaust 25, wants lack 26,the embitterment of my life: to the point of making my hfe miserable 27, punpose: objectives [Link] been endowed with: possessed [Link] .. me: the feeling of emptiness that Het amearthly: unnatural 31. It would avail cextenuate its it would de of no advantage to mie now to make the situation look better than it actually was 32. tolls: haxd work [Link] reference to: 28 regards, 34. scrambling: confused [Link]: Ile ‘unimportant sstters 6 THE VICTORIAN AGE ~ Fiction COMPREHENSION =~ 1 What did Dora mean when she said that she was. going ‘to be good’? (Line 5) 2 How did lip interfere with Dora’s work? How did she punish hin? What did she tell hirn to do while she worked on the household accounts? 3 Why did Dora become ‘vexed and discouraged’? (ines 44-45) 4. How long did Dora concentrate while David showed her how to do the accounts? What did she start doing instead of paying attention? Why was David reluctant to reproach her for her behaviour? ANALYSIS 1 Focus on the character of Dora. a, Which of the following adjectives would you choose to describe her? Immature = Childish Stubborn 5 Responsible 4 Self-confident si Playful © Arrogant * Other: b, Find evidence in the text of Dora's: ~ desire to please her husband. ~fear of angering him, 2 David seems to be torn between wishing his wife ‘were more mature and reproaching himself for wanting to change her. Find evidence of both of these aspects of his personality in the text. 3. How would you define the relationship between David and Dora? © A partnership of equals. = A father/child relationship. 2A master/servant relations u— 1 | | David is older than Dora and feels sympathy for her much in the same way as an adult feels sympathy for a child. | | Do you think that a big age difference matters in relationships? i ‘What do you feel is an acceptable age difference? | 18.2 relationship hetween an older man and a younger woman looked on in the same way by society as one between an older woman and younger man? Do you know of any famous couples where there is or was a big age difference? 5. Did David's sense of ‘loss or want of something’ Gine 64) make his life bitter? What qualities did he sometimes wish his wife had? 6 Did he believe that he would ever truly be happy in this world? Did David fee! that his wife helped him with the concerns and tasks of daily life? 4 Underline the expressions which suggest that there is something missing In David's life. Has marriage to Dora filled the emptiness in his life? 5 Atwhich point in the text does the narrator make a direct appeal for the reader’s understanding and sympathy? Which of the following adjectives would you choose to describe the style of the passage? » Objective 8 Confessional % Poetic # Scientific Slronic 6 Other: 6 How would you describe the tone of the passage? * Melancholic 3 Angry Humorous ' Bitter © Other: iiard Times ~ Chaves Dickens ard Times by Charles Dickens (MERE Bi = Which subjects? ~ Discipline i In Victorian England, schools tended to be drab, dreary places where pupils studied a fimited curriculum under a | regime of unbending and punitive discipline (> Visual Link FS). | The situation has greatly changed today, though hardly any educationalist would claim that we have reached | perfection, } In groups of three, say what your perfect school would be like with reference to your own type of school. Include | the following information: : | ~ Daily and weekly timetable Didactic and recreational facilities j | — The school year - Assessment of pupils | ~ Number of subjects ~ Assessment of teachers : CHARACTERS: + Thomas Gradgrind, a leading citizen of Thomas Gradgrind is a leading citizen of Coketown (> Text F4), an industrial city in the north of England. He believes that life should only centre around practical matters and that the use of the imagination is a time-wasting distraction fiom the serious world Coketown of factual reality (» Text F3). His efforts to bring up his children according to these spi Renna principles, however, meet with disaster. His danghter’s marriage to a mach older man, + Mr Choaiumehila, Mr Bounderby, which he strongly encouraged, collapses, while his son leaves the country catia in disgrace having robbed the local bank, Gradgrind finally admits that his theories on life and how to bring up chflaren have been proved wrong. The One Thing Needful Mr Gradgrind expounds his theories on education to the pupils in Coketown School. Chapter I - Book the first - Sowing > visual lank ‘NOW, what | want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts Facts alone ase wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out! everything else, You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon Facts: noth- ing clse will ever be of any service to them. This is the principle on which GLOSSARY J bring up my own children, and this is the principle on which I bring up 5 1, raot ost: destroy these children. Stick” to Facts, sir!" 2, Sticks limit yourset 3. plain, bares ugly and ‘The scene'was a plain, bare*, monetonous vault" of a school-room, and the ‘with litte tumishing speaker's square forefinger emphasized his observations by underscoring 4. vault; with a very every sentence with a line on the schoolmaster’s sleeve. The emphasis was ab helped by the speaker's square wall of a forehead, which had his eyebrows 10 emphasising for its base, while his eyes found commodious cellarage’ in two dark caves, pecimmollont ts overshadowed by the wall. The emphasis was helped by the speaker’s foo EEE mouth, which was wide, thin, and hard set”. The emphasis was helped by 7, Ward set: rigid the speaker’s voice, which was inflexible, dry, and dictatorial. The emphasis Be feaaatted hs skint: stood up stishy was helped by the speaker's hair, which bristled on the skirts’ of his bald 15 around the edges £10) THE VICTORIAN AGE ~ Ficti head, a plantation of firs? to keep the wind from its shining surface, all cov- ered with knobs"®, like the crust of a phim pie, as if the head had scarcely warehouse-room' for the hard facts stored inside. The speaker's abstinate % a pare ina carriage”, square coat, square legs, square shoulders, ~ nay, his very neck- eaves et cloth, trained to take him by the throat with an unaccommodating grasp", 20. [Link]: lamps, like a stubborn" fact, as it was, ~ all helped the emphasis. {warehouse oom ‘in this life, we want nothing but Facts, sir; nothing but Facts!” teegeee ee The speaker, and the schoolmaster, and the third grown person present, all ee walks ancl backed a iittle'*, and swept with their eyes the inclined plane of little ves- a unwestnindeddne sels!® then and there arranged in order, ready to have imperial gallons’? of 25 asp uncomionsble facts poured into them until they were full to the brim'®. i: Sime Chapter II - Murdering the Innocents step backwards. THOMAS GRADGRIND, sir. A man of realities, A man of facts and i tanen (ete calculations. A man who proceeds upon the principle that two and two children) are four, and nothing over"®, and who is not to be talked into allowing for [Link]! gallons: a anything over®. Thomas Gradgrind, sir peremptorily Thomas ~Thomas 30 Minduan cat Gradgrind. With a rule and a pair of scales”, and the multiplication table top always in his pocket, sir, ready to weigh and measure any parcel of human. pone oe oe nature’, and tell you exactly what it comes to. It is a mere question of ie ielied tigi figures, a case of simple arithmetic. You might hope to get some other pessades! Dian s nonsensical belief into the head of George Gradgrind, or Augustas 38 [Link] sates: Gradgrind, or John Gradgrind, or Joseph Gradgrind (all supposititious”, instrament used to non-existent persons), but into the head of Thomas Gradgrind ~ no, sit! a vente heen In such terms Mr Gradgrind always mentally introduced himself, whether mature person to his private circle of acquaintance, or to the public in general. In such 23,supposititious: not terms, no doubt, substituting the words ‘boys and girls,’ for ‘sir,’ Thomas 40 Beeches Gradgrind now presented Thomas Gradgrind to the little pitchers before for quits him, who were to be filled so full of facts. i Tana Indeed, as he eagerly sparkled?’ at them from the cellarage before mentioned, [Link]: mouth he seemed a kind of cannon loaded to the muzzle with facts, and prepared 27. discharge: shot {0 blow them clean out of the regions of childhood at one discharge”, He 4s a seemed a galvanizing apparatus, too, charged with a grim mechanical destroyed [substitute forthe tender young imaginations that were be stoned away, COMPREHENSION ———~— ~ Sa — oo 7 Find information about Mr Gradgrind’s physical 2 Which adjectives are used to describe Mr appearance. Gradgrind's voice? Forehead 3 What is the basic principle of his educational Eyes theories? Mouth 4 What kind of man is he? What mathematical air instruments are associated with him and why? Legs eras 5 What did he wish to destroy in the minds of the boys and girls who sat before him? ord Times ~ Charles Dickens 11 ANALYSIS } 1. Which expression does Mr Gractgsind use to refer 4 Identify the metaphor used for schoolchifdren in to children in the first paragraph? What does he lines 24-25, Which wards extend this metaphor in the bolieve distinguishes people from animals? following lines? What idea of education is conveyed 2 Where does the scene take place? What details of by this extended metaphor? the setting reinforce Mr Gradgrind’s philosophy that. 5 Mr Gradgrinai’s rationat philosophy towards lite is education should be based solely on facts? underlined by the use of terms from the spheres of 3 Find examples of personification, metaphor and ‘Slee, Mathematics, mechanies, weapon. Find simile’ in the description of Mr Gradgrind dines examples in the text. 9-21), Complete the table below. & Repettion* of words and sentence structures is a a ee ree istic feature of the passage. Fin examples. fase Giana TVenicie] Syl feature ofthe passage. Find some examples, What aspect of Mr Gradgrind’s personality is Mr Gradgrind’s neckclotit underlined through the use of repetition? Mr Gradgrind!’s hate f . 7 The verb ‘to grind’ mee rush bet Mr Gradgrina’s scalp The verb ‘to grind!” means ‘to crush between two ‘i hard surfaces or with a machine’. in what sense does Mr Gradgrind’s head ‘ Pee eee the name Gradgrind give us some clues about the Are the terms of comparison conventional or original? character's personality? What effect do they have on the description? They make it more: "humorous ® caricatural ™ objective striking 1 ridiculous as re . TRE OD es aL dd SL Revealing | When we wish to understand a character's personality, we generally Joak carefully at character dialogue ~ what the character says ~ and action — what the character does. We should through not, however, limit ourselves to analysing dialogue and action. A writer may provide physical other sources of information about a character. He may, for example, reveal character description through physical description, i.e, use the character's physical traits to convey information about his identity, Certain clues may alert us to the fact that a writer is using physical description to reveal character: the physical description may be extremely detailed, the writer may repeatedly refer to some aspect of a character's appearance, or, as in the case of Dickens's Mr Gradgeind, the description may be carieatural and therefore es aggerate physical traits which reflect aspects of personality, AE What exaggerated details make the description of Mr Gradgrind in Text F3 caricatural? Which geometric shape is associated with the physical description of Mr Gradgrind? Which, . personality traits does this shape convey? » Creativity 3 Lack of imagination inflexibility Stubborness Pedantry © Sensitivity Humour i Other: ‘What other details in the physical description provide clues about Mr Gradgrind’s personality? B12) THRE VICTORIAN AGE - Fiction SGMERTEXES ZENA Choose one of the character types from the list below, or invent one yourself, and write a caricatural physical description which reveals aspects of his or her personality. ~ Someone who is sly and cunning, ~ Someone who is evil and malicious. ~ Someone wine believes they are always right. ~ Someone who is self-conscious and shy. = Someone who is extremely self-centred and vain, ‘You may include information about facial features, body shape, typical clothes, characteristic gestures, way of walking and way of speaking, Use similes* or metaphors" to establish appropriate associations. For example: = Someone who is stubborn and never changes his mind: Jack Imanass was a donkey an two legs. He had a fong face and two enormous ears. His large, round, brown eyes, which seemed slighty too far apart, rarely blinked and when he spoke BO 7 Do you feel that your schooling is based too much on learning facts by heart? Are you being taught to think for yourself or are you like one of Dickens's ‘vessels’ that is being filled with pre-packed knowledge? Do you sometimes think that school does not give you information about things you would fike to know more about and understand better? Discuss with the rest of the class, LINK nf £0 the world Of music Read the lyrics of Pink Floyd's song ‘Another Brick in the Wall’ from the album ‘The Wall’ (1979) and answer the questions helow. Another Brick in the Wall We don’t need no education We don't need no thought control No dark sarcasm in the classroom Yeachet! Leave them kids alouel Hey! Teacher! Leave them kids alonel Allin all its just another bik in the wall. Allin all you'e just another brick in. the wal s from the fi The Wall (1982), dliecte by } tea Hf Alan Parker and inspired by the Pink Floyd olbur, ETAT 1 In Hord Times Charles Dickens criticises the overemphasis on facts in education in Victorian England, What aspect of contemporary education is criticised in this song by Pink Floyd? 2 Square or rectangular shapes are associated with an overly rational and unimaginative approach to life in the text from Hard Times. Which lines in the song seems to re-establish this association? Hord Times ~ Charles Dickens 13, 2) The Keynote f&¢ Coketoun is representative of the many industrial towns that sprang ap in the north of Englead in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (> Visual Link F3), COKEYOWN, to which Messrs Bounderby and Gradgrind now walked, was a triumph of fact; it had no greater taint of fancy! in it than Mrs Gradgrind herself. Let us strike the key-note’, Coketown, before pursuing our tune’, It was a town of red brick, or of brick that would have been red if the smoke and ashes had allowed it; but as matters stood, it was a town of unnataral red and black like the painted face of a savage, It was a town of machinery and tall chimneys, out of which interminable sexpents of smoke trailed themselves' for ever and ever, and never got uncoiled®. It had a black canal in it, and a river that ran purple with ill-smelling dye’, and vast piles of buildings full of windows where there was a rattling® and a trembling all day long, and where the piston of the steam-engine® worked monotonously up and down, like the head of an elephant in a state of melancholy madness, It contained several large streets all very like ‘one another, and many smaill streets still more like one another, inhabited by people equally like one another, who all went in and out at the same hours, with the same sound upon the same pavements, to do the same work, and to whom every day was the same as yesterday and to-morrow, and every year the counterpart of the last and the next, ‘These attributes of Coketown were in the main'® inseparable from the work by which it was sustained; against them were to be set off", comforts of life which found their way all over the world, and elegancles of life which made, we will not ask how much of the fine lady, who could scarcely bear to hear the place mentioned”, The rest of its features! were voluntary", and they were these. You saw nothing in Coketown 25 but what was severely workfull, If the members of a religious persuasion" built a chapel there ~ as the members of eighteen religious persuasions had done- 30 they made it a pious warehouse!” of red brick, with sometimes (but this is only in highly ornamental examples) a bell in a birdcage on the top of it. The solitary excep- a5 tion was the New Church; a [aos ato of ed vk or of brick tht woul have ben red f the smoke and axes fad allowed | Aview of anieteenth century [ind town 0 20 GLOSSARY 1, taint of fancy: touchy of fantasy 2. strike the key-note: establish the most Important fact 3. pursing our tune: continuing ou story 4, as matters stood: as tings were 5. teailed themselves: ‘went around in ‘endless ciciey 6. uncoiled: straightened out 7. dye: substance used to colour doth, 8 rattling: repetitive, ‘licking sound 9. steam-engine: motor powered by steam 10. the main: generaily 11. set off: compared [Link] scarcely mentioned: did not ‘even want to hear anyone say “‘Coketown [Link]: ‘characteristics, 14, voluntary: intentional 15. warkful: useful 16, persuasion: faith 17. warehouse: building used to store goods 14. THE VICTORIAN AGE - Fietion | stuccoed edifice with a square steeple"® over the door, terminating in four short pinnacles like florid wooden legs. All the public inscriptions in the town were painted alike, in severe characters of black and white. The jail!” might have been the infirmary, the infirmary might have been the jail, the 49 town-hall might have been eithes, or both, or anything else, for anything that appeared to the contrary in the graces of their constructions”. Fact, fact, fact, everywhere in the material aspect of the town; fact, fact, fact, everywhere in the immaterial, The M’Choakumehild schoo! was all fact, and the school of design was all fact, and the relations between master 45 and man were all fact, and everything was fact between the lying hospital’! and the cemetery, and what you couldn't state in figures, or show to be purchasable” in the cheapest market and saleable in the dearest, was not, and never should be, world without end, Amen. [Link]: tower on the roof of a church 19, jail: pison [Link] anything . ‘constructions: there ‘was nothing dégcorative that made ‘one building stand ‘out from another 21 yingsin hospital maternity hospital [Link]: that ‘could be bonght Visual Link F9), en STOR a CHARACTERS Wathering Heights and Thrushcross Grange are neighbouring houses on a wild and > Hamshave, one of windswept moor. The Grange is owned by the Lintons while the Heights is owned by the WrtheringHeigtas Eqrshaws, Much of the story is narrated by Nelly Dean, : Deed oa Heathcliffis found on the streets of Liverpool as a child by Earnshaw, who brings hisn home sreton, Hindle’s «and raises him as his own child, Ble is mistreated by Earnshaw's son, Hinlley, who takes son over te property on his father’s death, but he forges an almost incestuously tight bond with cae Hindley’ sister, Catherine, Catherine, huwever, decides to marry Bdgar Linton ( Text I), daughter Heathcliff disappears for a number of years, but returns bent an getting revenge on those who : pee ie ristreated hirn andl on vwresting Catherine from Edgar. He marries Hedgar’s sister Isabella aud ‘on Decomes master of Wuthering Heights and Thrushicross Grange. + Hagar Linton, Catherivte dies shortly afterwards and, although he snanages to make the lives of those who live pre ar Grange in both houses « misery, Heathcliff can never forget his childhood love. Tived of hating those + Nelly Dean, she Iiousekeeper at «aroun i he looks forward to death, which wil reunite hina with Catherine ( Text ¥6), Weta Heights Jam Heathcliff '% Nelly is singing quietly while Heathcliff is sitting anid maybe sleeping in a darkened part of the room where he cannot be seen, Nelly is verp angry because Catherine has recently insulted Doth herself and Belgar Linton. Catherine comes in and wants to talk to her, Chapter 9 (...) ‘Are you alone, Nelly?” “Yes, miss,’ { replied. She entered and approached the hearth’ (...) | zesumed my song, not having GLOSSARY © forgotten her recent behaviour. 1, hearth: fireplace 18. TRE VICTORIAN 2. into a doze: asleep 3. trickle: fall 4. flags: stone floor 5. pursued: continued 6. sulkily: annoyed 7. phedged: promised 8. chafing: mbbing 9, frowning: looking unhappy [Link] pompously. [Link] then a better answer sy: AGE ~ Betion ‘Where's Heathcliff? she said, interrupting me. ‘About his work in the stable,’ was my answer. He did not contradict me; perhaps he had fallen into a doze®. These followed another long pause, during which | perceived a drop or two trickle* from Catherine's cheek to the flags’, (..) ‘Oh deat!" she cried at last, ‘I’m very unhappy!” ‘A pity,’ observed 1. ‘You're hard to please. So many friends, and so few cares, and can’t make yourself content!’ ‘Nelly, will you keep a secret for me? she pursued’, kneeling down by me G2. ‘is it worth keeping?’ J inquired less sulkily® ‘Yes, and it worties me, and 1 must let it out. F want to know what I should do. To-day Edge answer. (...) | accepted him, Nelly. Be quick, and say whether I was wrong.’ ‘You accepted him! Then what good is it discussing the matter? You have pledged? your word, and cannot retract’ ‘But say whether I should have done so ~ do!’ she exclaimed in an irritated tone, chafing’ her hands together and frowning’. ‘There are many things to be considered before that question can be answered properly,’ J said sententiously". ‘First and foremost, do you love Mr Edgar?” “Who can help it? Of course I do,’ she answered. (...) ‘Why do you love him, Miss Cathy?” ‘Nonsense; 1 do ~ that’s sufficient! ‘By no means; you must say why. ‘well, because he is handsome and pleasant to be with.’ “Badl’ was my commentary. ‘And because he is young and cheerful.’ ‘Bad still’ ‘And because he Joves me ‘Indifferent, coming there!” ‘And he will be rich, and I shall like to be the greatest woman of the neighbourhood, and I shail be proud of having such a husband.’ (. "You love Mr Edgar because he is handsome, and young, and cheerful, and rich, and loves you. The last, however, goes for nothing: you would love him without that probably (...) And he won't always be handsome and young, and may not always be rich.’ ‘He is now; and I have only to do with the present. t wish you would speak rationally. ‘Well, that settles it. If you have only to do with the present, marry Mr Linton.’ ‘I don’t want your permission for that - 1 shall marry him; and yet you have not told me whether I'm right.’ ‘Perfectly right, if people be right to marry only for the present. And now, Jet us hear what you are unhappy about. (...) All seems smooth and easy, Where is the obstacle?” Linton has asked me to many him, and {'ve given him an 1 20 2s a0 ‘Here, and here!’ rephied Catherine, stedking one so hand on ber forehead and the other on her breast; ‘in whichever place the soul lives. In my soul and in my heart I'm convinced I'm wrong.’ ‘That's very strange. I cannot make it out (...) She seated herself by me again; her counte- 55 nance™? grew sadder and graver, and her clasped" hands trembled. (...) “If | were in heaven, Nelly, I should be extreme- ly miserable." “Because you are not fit to go there,’ Ianswered. 60 ‘All sinners would be miserable in heaven,’ ‘But it is not for that. I dreamt once that ] was there! ‘tell you I won't hearken' to your dreams, Miss Catherine! 1] go to bed,’ f interrupted again. 63 She laughed and held me down, for | made a motion to leave my chair, ‘This is nothing,’ cried she. ‘I was only going to say that heaven did not seem to be my home, and I broke my heart with weeping’’ to come back to earth; and the angels were so angry that they fhung® me out into the middle of the heath’? on the top of Wuthering Heights, where J woke sobbing” for joy. That will do to explain my secret as well as the other. I've no more business to marry Edgar Linton than I have to be in heaven; and if the wicked! man in there had not brought Heathcliff so low, I shouldn’t have thought of it. it would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now, so he shal! never know how I love him; and that, not because he's handsome, Nelly, but because he's more myself than | am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same; and Linton’s is as different as a moonbeam from lightning, or frost from fire.’ Ere" this speech ended I became sensible of Heathelif’s presence. Having noticed a slight movement, 1 turned my head and saw him rise from the bench’! and steal out noiselessly. He had listened till he heard Catherine say it would degrade her to many him, and then he stayed to hear no fur- ther. My companion, sitting on the ground, was prevented by the back of the settle?? from remarking” his presence or departure; but [ started and bade her hush” ‘Why? she asked, gazing nervously round, ‘Joseph’* is here,’ I answered, catching?” opportunely the roll of his cart- wheels’ up the road; ‘and Heathcliff will come in with him. !’m not sure whether he were not at the door this moment.’ ‘Oh, he couldn’t overhear me at the doar!’ said she. ‘Give me Hareton, while you get the supper, and when it is ready ask me to sup with you, | want to cheat my uncomfortable conscience, and be convinced that Heathcliff has no notion of these things. He has not, has he? He does not know what being in love is?” 7» 15 80 85 oo 95 aes nance: face [Link]: hola together 14. hearken: listen [Link]: crying [Link]: threw {7-heath: open land [Link]: crying [Link]: evi 20. re: before 2A. bench: seat [Link]: seat with high, back and arms [Link]: noticing 24. started: moved suddenly [Link] her Inush: tole herto stay quiet 26.}oseph an elderly servant [Link]: hearing [Link] of his cart wheels: the noise made by the whe of the cart [Link] my ‘uncomfortable myself of something that my consclence tells me is wrong £20. THE VICTORIAN AGE - Fiction 30, deserted: abandoned BL. pray: please tell me’ [Link]'l.. Milos they vil le (bo was a Greek arloie who was devoured by wolves) '38,melt into nothing: disappear 34. forsake: leave [Link] wrete ‘egotistical person 36, beggars: people who ask for money in the street 37. help 38. pliable: flexible, easily manipulated 39.,9hims: sudden wishes [Link] El his good, 41, What wore the use coalained hae? What meaning does ‘my lfe have itis all contined (contained) ally to my own boxly and sou! (hero)? 42.19n well aware: | saow [Link]: betow 44. jerkeck pulled 45,umndertake: take om 46, wicked: ba A7-cagerly: excitedly sresedaddniaaaniane ‘ssake: for ‘I see no reason that he should not know, as well as you,’ I returned; ‘and if you are his choice, he will be the most unfortunate creature that ever was born! As soon as you become Mrs Linton, he loses friend, and Jove, and allt Have you considered how you'll bear the separation, and how he'll be deserted in the world? Because, Miss Catherine ~ ‘He quite deserted! We separated!” she exclaimed, with an accent of indig- nation. ‘Who is to separate us, pray? They'll meet the fate of Milo™! Not as long as | live, Bllen: for no mortal creature, Every Linton on the face of the earth might melt into nothing", before I could consent to forsake Heathcliff. Oh, that’s not what | intend ~ that’s not what | mean! I should- nt be Mrs Linton were such a price demanded! He'll be as mach to me as he has been all his lifetime, Edgar must shake off his antipathy, and tolerate him, at least, He will, when he leams my true feelings towards him, Nelly, | see now, you think me a selfish wretch*; but did it never strike you that if Heathcliff and I married, we should be beggars? Whereas, if | marry Linton, I can aid*? Heathcliff to rise, and place him out of my brother's power.” ‘With your husband's money, Miss Catherine?’ I asked. ‘You'll find him not $0 pliable* as you calculate upon: and, though I'm hardly a judge, I think that’s the worst motive you've given yet for being the wife of young Linton.’ ‘itis not,’ retorted she; ‘it is the best! The others were the satisfaction of my whims": and for Edgar's sake", too, to satisfy him. This is for the sake of one who comprehends in his person my feelings to Edgar and myself. 1 cannot express it; but surely you and everybody have a notion that there is or should be an existence of yours beyond you. What were the use of my creation, if 1 were entirely contained here?*? My great miseries in this world have been Heatheliff’s miseries, and 1 watched and felt each from the beginning: my great thought in living is himself. If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger: I should not seem a part of it. My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods: time will change it, I'm well aware, as winter changes the trees. My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath": a source of little visible delight, but necessary. Nelly, 1 am Heathcliff! He's always, always in my mind: not asa pleasure, any moze than I am always a plea- sure to myself, but as my own being, So don’t talk of owr separation again: it is impracticable; and She paused, and hid her face in the folds of my gown; but I jerked’ it forcibly away. | was out of patience with her folly! ‘461 can make any sense of your nonsense, miss,’ I said, ‘it only goes to convince me that you are ignorant of the duties you undertake** in marry- ing; or else that you are a wicked", unprincipled girl, But trouble me with no more secrets: I" not promise to keep them.! ‘You'll keep that?’ she asked eagerly”, 'No, I'l not promise,’ I repeated. 100 105 110 ns 120 125 130 140 COMPREHENSION —~ Put these statements into the correct chronological oxcler [E] Nelly tells Catherine that her marriage to Linton will separate her from Heathcliff [1] Catherine asks Nelly if she is doing the right thing by marrying Linton. [7 Catherine tells Netly of a dream. (21 Catherine tells Nelly that marrying Heathcliff would degrade her. 1] Nelly asks Catherine if she toves Linton, [J catherine says Heatheliff’s soul is made of the same substance as her own, ANALYSIS 1 Focus on the character of Nelly Dean, a. How would you define Nelly’s attitude towards Catherine in the opening lines of the text? (Lines 1-49) , On two occasions Nelly lies to Catherine. What are they? Can you think of any justification for Nelly's untruthfulness? . In lines 25-36 Catherine says that she wishes Nelly ‘would speak rationally’. Do you find the questions Nelly asks ‘irrational’? Would you ask similar questions in an analogous situation? d. Does Nelly seem to side more with Catherine or Heathcliff? Does this shed any light on her decision nat to tell Catherine of his earlier presence in the room? €, Which of the following adjectives would you choose to describe Neliy’s personality? Realistic "4 Rational 3 Helpful 2 Affectionate " Spiteful —& Dishonest * Deceitful Intelligent = Other: 2 Focus on the character of Catherine, How would you define Catherine's reaction to Nelly’s questioning? (Lines 23-36) Nelly asks Catherine questions about her love for Edgar Linton, Catherine dismisses these questions as inappropriate and asks Nelly to ‘speak rationally’ i, Catherine's decision to marry Linton based on love (emotion) or practical necessity (reason)? b. Language seems to fail Catherine in her attempls to explain the source of her unhappiness. Find an example in the text where she uses gestures and an irrational analogy to explain how she feels ©. Like a tragic hero* Catherine seems torn between two conflicting forces: EE | Nelly rejects Cath ine's declaration of love for Heathcliff as folly’. Do you think that such a love can exist between | | two people or is it simply the stuff that books, fitms and songs are made of? L aaah [J catherine says that Heathcliff does not know what being in love i {2] Nelly tells Catherine that Heathcliff is working in the stable, when in fact she knows he is in the room, [J catherine explains the difference between her iove for Linton and her love for Heathciif. [1] Catherine says that nothing in the world could separate her from Heathcliff. [J Nelly says that Linton will never accept her plan [_] Nelly notices Heathcliff leaving the room but does not tell Catherine. — reason, which tells her to marry Linton and help Heathdlif to overcome his degradation; = passion, which tells her that Heathcliff is her soulmate and that they belong together. tn your opinion, will marriage to Linton solve her problems or lead to her tragic downfall? 3 Focus on the theme* of love. a tn tines 77-78 Catherine tries to find words to express her feelings for Heathcliff. Which expressions does she use to suggest that she and Heathciif are soulmates? bb, In her attempt to explain her feelings for Linton and Heathcliff, Catherine compares the two men in lines 78-79. Complete the following sentences referring to the text: ~ Heathcliff is compared to ... and .. = Linton is compared to ... and .. ‘What associations do you make with the natural elements used in the simifes*? ¢. In lines 127-130 Catherine draws a second comparison between her love for Linton and her love for Heathcliff. Complete the fellowing sentences referring to the text: ~ Her love for Heatheliff is compared to ... and = Her love for Linton is compared to ... and The image which Catherine chooses to explain her love for Heathcliff is striking. What associations do ‘you normally make with rock? What qualities does Catherine see in rock that makes ita suitable symbor of her love for Heathclt? Hidden £4 Eternal SiNecessary © Strong Enduring = Impervious Solid + Irremovable = Irreplaceable Do you find this image effective? (22° THE VICTORIAN AGE -Fetion —~ GLOSSARY 1, sexton: person in charge ofa church cemetery 2, coffin Hd: cover of tne box where a dead petson is placed stir: move 4. struck ... loose: ‘opened one side of te coffin 5. soldered in fead! placed in a coffin sealed with soft heavy etal so that H cout not be opened! 6, ‘bribed: gave money. to 7, stide mine out too: ‘pen one side of my coffin as well 8, ease: comfort 9. a great deal: a lat 10.1t blew bleak as vwarnters i was a dake and windy day [Link] up the dea: come up to this desolate phice [Link]: not compact and firm, [Link]: makes me fee! very cold spade: tool used to lig earth, [Link]: ig 6, serapea seratehext V?.eracking about: breaking around [Link] my object reaching my objective [Link] sie in a ‘very low voice 20,shovel: throw. 2 wrenched: twisted ‘and pulled [Link] the sleet. Jaden wind: replacing the icy wind [Link]: seen [Link]: comfort [Link]: aa or leg 26,relinguishe: stopped Shea Her Pro once Was with Me Ie is the day affer the funeral of Edgar Linton, Catherine's husband, ancl eighteen years since her own death. Heathcliff has been fo the graveyard and is explaining to Nelly what he did there. Chapter 29 Ga) ‘I'll tell you what I did yesterday! I got the sexton!, who was digging Linton’s grave, to remove the earth off her coffin lid®, and | opened it. 1 thought, once, 1 would have stayed there: when 1 saw her face again ~ itis hers yet - he had hard work to stir? me; but he said it would change if the air blew on it, and so I struck one side of the coffin loose!, and covered it up: not Linton’s side, damn him! I wish he'd been soldered in lead’, And | bribed® the sexton fo pull it away when I’m Jaid there, and slide mine out too’; I'll have it made so: and then, by the time Linton gets to us, he'll not know which is which!’ "You were very wicked, Mr Heathcliff? I exclaimed, ‘were you not ashamed to disturb the dead?” “{ disturbed nobody, Nelly,’ he replied; ‘and I gave some ease to myself. 1 shail be a great deal? more comfortable now; and you'll have a better chance of keeping me underground, when I get there, Disturbed her? No! She has disturbed me, night and day, through eighteen yeass ~ incessantly ~ remorselessly ~ till yestemight; and yesternight | was tranquil.’ (...) “You know I was wild after she died; and eternally, from dawn to dawn, praying her to return to me her spirit! | have a strong faith in ghosts: 1 have @ conviction that they can, and do, exist among us! The day she was buried there came a fall of snow. In the evening I went to the churchyard. Jt blew bleak as winter"® ~ all round was solitary. I didn't fear that her fool of a husband would wander up the den" so late; and no one else had business to bring them there. Being alone, and consctous two yards of Jose"? earth was the sole barrier between us, I said ¢o myself ~ ‘I'll have her in my arms again! If she be cold, I'll think it is this north wind that chills’? me; and if she be motionless, it is sleep.’ | got a spade! from the tool-house, and began to delve’ with alJ my might - it scraped’® the coffin; I fell to work with my hands; the wood commenced cracking about!” the screws; I was on the point of attaining my object”, when it seemed that | heard a sigh from someone above, close at the edge of the grave, and bending down. ‘If I can only get this off,’ } muttered’, ‘I wish they may shovel” in the earth over us both!’ and 1 wrenched”* at it more desperately still. There was another sigh, close at my ear. | appeared to feet the warm breath of it displacing the sleet-laden wind. 1 knew no living thing in flesh and blood was by; but, as certainly as you perceive the approach to some substantial body in the dark, though it cannot be discemed®S, so certainly 1 felt that Cathy was there: not ender me, but on the earth. A sudden sense of relief flowed from my heart through every limb®S, 1 relinquished? my labour of agony, and turned consoled at once: 15 20 0 Wuthering Heights unspeakably consoled. Her presence was with me: it remained while i refilled the grave, and led me home. You may laugh, if you will; but | was sure | should see her there. I was sure she was with me, and I could not help talking to her. Having reached the Heights, } rushed eagerly” to the door. It was fastened”; and, 1 remember, that accursed” Earnshaw and my wife opposed my entrance, I remember stopping to kick the breath out of him, and then hurrying upstairs, to my room and hers. I looked round impatiently ~ 1 felt her by aie ~I could almost see her, and yet I could ot! | ought to have sweat blood then, from the anguish of my yearning* ~ from the fervour of my supplications to have but one glimpse"! I had not one. She showed herself, as she often was in life, a devil to me! And, since then, sometimes more and sometimes less, J've been the sport of that intolerable torture! infernal! Keeping my nerves at such a stretch, that, if they had not resembled catgut, they would long ago have relaxed to the feebleness of Linton's®, When I sat in the house with Hareton, it seemed that on going out, {should meet her; when | walked on the moors" 1 should meet her coming in. When I went from home, I hastened to return®: she must be somewhere at the Heights, 1 was certain! And when L slept in her chamber ~ I was beaten out of that*®, | couldn't lie there; for the moment I closed my eyes, she was either outside the window, or sliding back the panels, or entering the room, or even resting her darling head on the same pillow as she did when a child; and I must open my Hids®? to see. And so F opened and closed them a hundzed times a night - to be always disappointed! It racked* me! I’ve often groaned”? aloud, till that old rascal’? Joseph no doubt believed that my conscience was playing the fiend*' inside of me. Now, since I've seen her, I'm pacified ~ a little. Jt was a strange way of killing! Not by inches, but by fractions and hairbreadths’, to beguile”® me with the spectre of a hope, through eighteen years!” COMPREHENSION ~—~-——— 40 so o 65 Emily Bronté 23) 27. rashed eagerly: ran impatiently [Link]:finnly closet [Link]: damneet 80. yearning: desire 31. glimpse: quick look [Link]: victim 33. Keeping my nerves feebleness of Hinton’s: she kept me ‘ander seh stress that had any nerves not been so strong bike catgut) } would have ended up as weak (feebleness} as Linton [Link]: oper land covered with rough grass [Link] to revue Imurrled back 36.1 was. of that: 1 contd not relay either [Link]: eyelids [Link]: tormented 39. groaned made a noise as ifn pain [Link]: disreputable person 41. flend: devil [Link]: very small guantities 43, beguile: tick EI 1 How, according to Heathclif’s plan, will his own coffin eventually be united with Catherine's? had on 2 What effect has seeing Catherine ag Heathcliff? 3 What did Heathelif do on the evening Catherine was burled? What stopped him from removing the lid? 4 Where did Catherine's spirit lead Heathcliff? 5 Did Heathcliff actually see Catherine on the night she was buried? 6 Catherine's spirit continued to elude Heathalilf. Where did he think he would meet her when he: ~ was in the house with Hareton? —walked on the moors? went from home? 7 According to Heathcliff, how has Catherine heen slowly kiliing him for eighteen years? Boi 24 TE VICTORIAN AGL ~ Fiction ANALYSIS 1 Identify the narrators in the text. Who does! refer to in fine: “7 -10? 2 The time sequence in the passage Is quite complex and involves flashbacks*, Which fines in the text refer to the events of: = the previous day? = the day Catherine was buried? ~ the intervening period? 3 Focus on the character of Heathcliff Find evidence in the text of his: = contempt for Linton, his rival for Catherine's love, ~ spirituality and belief in the supernatural. physical strength, ~ fearlessness. ~ disregard for social conventions. 4 Consider how Heathcliff describes his relationship with Catherine, Which expressions in the text suggest the intensity of his love for Catherine? Has his love been the source of suffering or pleasure? 5 In Text FS Catherine describes her love for Heathcliff Do the two lovers describe the relationship in similar or contrasting terms? Refer to the two texts in your answer, Plot ‘We use the term plot to refer to the way a writer arranges the events that make up a story. ‘The plot of a work is not necessari the same as the story: events in a story are usually told in chronological order; the plot, on the other hand, rarely follows this pattern. Writers often start when many events have already unfolded, using flashbacks or dialogue to fill in missing information. By manipulating the plot, a writer can highlight the elements of a story that he feels are most significant. 3 The list of events below are in the orcler in which they occur in Text F6. Place them in chronological order as if you were telling the story from beginning to end, [7] Heathetif told Nelly that he was going to tell her what he dict on the day of Linton’s burial ] Heatheliff asked the sexton to dig up Catherine’s grave and remove a side of her coffin so that they could be together in death. (J Nelly criticised Heathcliff for disturbing the dead, [_] Heathcliff tried to dig up Catherine’s grave but felt her spiritual presence and returned to ‘Wuthering Heights, where he did not find her [—] Heathcliff was tortured by Catherine's elusive spirit and knew no peace. What effect does the re-ordering of events have? “IL builds suspense by slowly disclosing the events of the past = It makes the storytelling seem more natural. 1 It reflects Heatheliff’s almost delirious state of mind. 2 Other: MOMTTSGELEE) Write the opening p: order. “Itadds to the unreal, supematurat atmosphere created in the passage. agraph of a narrative in which the events are not in a chronological For example: Billy looked out the window of the car as his father drove up the driveway to Rushmore House. He had spent every summer of his childhood in this large imposing country house surrounded by aunts and cousins. He remembered how he had spent long fun-filled hours the previous year in a tree house that he had built with Walter. Walter would not be there this year. He had broken his leq while playing rugby and was still convalescing. As the car came to a hait he saw his unt Dawn descend the steps and approach the car ... To open a coffin to see if someone is really dead, as Heathcliff does, would normally be construed as abnormal taehaviour, but the fact that he is so helplessly in fove makes his action understandable. Love and passion can make us do things that we would never dream of doing under normal circumstances. Think of an example from a book or film where people in love behave strangely, and tell the class about it, LINK ——-——{ to the world of music Read the [ytics to this song by English singer/songwriter Kate Bush which was inspired by Emily Bronté’s Wuthering Heights : Wathering Heights Heathcliff, its me, Cathy, Out on the wiley!, windy moors Fve come home. I'm so cold! We'd? roll and fall in green, Let me in-a-your window, (fice) You hada temper like my jealousy ‘Too hoi, too greedy? . : How could you leave me, Ce 1 rated you, [loved you, too, F 7 - ye You know it’s me, Cathy! ‘Ooh! Let me have it Bad dreams in the night ; “They told me I was going o lose the fight, Heathclifitsme Cathy, Leave behind my wuthering, wathering teers tae ite a 7 Wuthering Heights, Let me inva-your window. (vie) Heathcliff, i's me, Cathy, Pye come home. tm so cold! Let me in-a-your window, (twice) Ooh, it gets dark! It gets lonely, On the other side from you, Ipine! a Jot. find the lot Falls throughS without you Vm coming back, love. Cruel Heathcliff, my one dream, My only master, Yoo long {roam® in the night. Yin coming back to his side, to put it ight. in conning home to wuthering, wuthering, Wothering Heights GLOSSARY 1. wiley: rough 5. lot Falls through: my 2, Weld: we nsed to dlestiny is incomplete 3. greedy: possessive 6, roam: wander 4. pine: suffer 7. gras take 1. On the basis of the texts you have read, which elements of the novel can be found in the song? 2 tn the song Catherine refers to Heathcliff as cruel, but also her one dream and her master. Is there any evidence of this ambivalent attitude towards Heathcliff in the texts you have read? 1 26 YH VICTORIAN AGE - Fietion Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte BERD Ha- r | One reason why generations of readers have admired Jane Eyre is because she has a strong character. | What do we mean when we say that someone has a strong character? Think of two more examples to add to the | following and read them out to the rest of the clas. | ; | For example: A person with a strong character always says what he believes. i : INTRODUCTION & In an age when women were denied access to education and excluded from political debate, the publication of Jane Eyre was like a breath of fresh air, Her fiery independent temperament and fearless conviction were characteristics that went against the traditional portrayal of women Charlotte Bronté, the most outgoing of the Bronté sisters, was not prepared to accept a world where women were second-class citizens (> Visual Link F9). THe story Jane is a poor orplian who lives with her aunt, the authoritarian and tnfeeling Mrs Reed. Mrs CHARAC Jane Byre te eater Reed accuses her of lying and as a punishment sends her to Lowood Institution (> Text F7). *Johnand Afler an unhappy adolescence there, she becomes a teacher and finds a job as governess £0 Sha peer hinad Adele, the illegitimate daughter of Mr Rochester, |i Lowood, the Jane and Rochester fallin love, but on their wedding clay she discovers that tte raysterions mad gover of Lowod ‘woman wit Fives it (tal seclusion in Rochester's house is veally his wife. Despite his desperate + Mr Rochester, pleas Jane runs away (o Text ¥8) and is cated for by she Rivers funily. She learns that she and Jane’ enplayer the Rivers are cousins and that she has inherited a considerable sun of money. Wihen she is om ol an mad the point of marrying Reverend St Joa Rivers anc emigrating to fndia, she telepathically hears Rochester's voice asking her fo help him. She goes to Rochester Hall and finds it burnt dow, Although Rochester itas heen blinded, she marvies hin and his sight is partially restored. (2 My Soul Began to Expand Mis Reed has just told Mr Brocklehurst of Lowood Institution that Jane tells les, Jane is deeply offended. Chapter 4 () ‘Go out of the room; return to the nursery,’ was her mandate’. My look or something else must have struck her as offensive, for she spoke with extreme though suppressed irritation. | got up, I went to the door; | came > GLOSSARY back again; 1 walked to the window, across the room, then close up to her. i feerdeteaclteeteah Speak | must: | had been trodden on? severely, and must tum: but how? § 2. wrodden on: offended ‘What strength had 1 to dart retaliation’ at my antagonist? ] gathered my 3 ae energies and launched them in this blunt? sentence: cea ‘am not deceitful’: if T were, I should say | loved you; but J declare I do 5. deceitful: insincere not love you: J dislike you the worst of anybody in the world except John Jane tyre ~ Charlotte Bronté 27 Reed; and this book abour the liar’, you may give to your girl, Georgiana, for itis she who tells ies, and not I Mrs Reed's hands still lay on her work inactive: her eye of ice continued to dwell freezingly’ on mine. “what more have you to say?’ she asked, rather in the tone in which @ person might address an opponent of adult age than such asis ordinarily used to a child, That eye of hers, that voice stitred® every antipathy | had, Shaking from head to foot, thrilled with ungovernable excitement, | continued: "Tami glad you are no relation of mine: } will never call you aunt again as Jong as | live. 1 will never come to see you when | am grown up; and if any one asks me how | liked you, and how you treated me, I will say the very thought of you makes me sick, and that you treated me with miserable cruelty,’ 30 ‘How dare you affirm that, Jane Byre?! ‘How dare I, Mrs Reed? How dare 1? Because it is the iruth, You think I have no feelings, and that | can do without one bit of love or kindness; but | cannot live so; and you have no pity. | shall remember how you thrust” me back - roughly and violently thrust me back ~ into the red-room, and locked re up there, to my dying day; though | was in agony; though 1 cried out, while suffocating with distress™, 'Have mercy!" Have mercy, Aunt Reed!’ And that punishment you made me suffer because your wicked!” boy struck! me ~ knocked me down for nothing. | will tell anybacly who asks me questions, this exact fale, People think you a good woman, but you are bad, hard-hearted. You are deceitful!” Ere! | had finished this reply, my soul began to expand, to exult, with the strangest sense of freedom, of triumph, I ever felt. It seemed as if an invisible bond'$ had burst, and that I had struggled out into unhoped-for liberty. Not without cause was this sentiment: Mrs Reed looked frightened; her work had slipped from her knee; she was lifting up her hands, rocking herself to and fro!®, and even twisting her face as if she would cry. ‘Jane, you are under a mistake: what is the matter with you? Why do you tremble so violently? Would you like to drink some water?” ‘No, Mis Reed.’ ‘Is there anything else you wish for, Jane? | assure you, I desire to be your friend.’ ‘Not you, You told Mr Brocklehurst J had a bad character, @ deceitful disposition; and I'll let everybody at Lowood know what you are, and what you have done! 38 40 45 50 85, | Chorlotte Gainsbourg’s expression in this scene from F. Zelfrell’s film version of Jane Eyre (1996) denotes the heroine’ strength of characte: 6. liar: person who does not say the truth 7. dwell reoxinghy! look cokly 8. stirred inspired 9. Srust: pushed 10, distress: unhappiness Hamerey: pity [Link] evil [Link]: hit 14. before [Link]: restriction, chain 16.0 and fro: forwards ‘and backwards THE VICTORIAN AGE - Fiction “Jane, you don’t understand these thin; their faults.’ ildren must be corrected for “Deceit is not my fault!’ [cried out in a savage, high voice. “But you are passionate, Jane, that you must allow"; and now return to the nursery — there's a dear’ - and lie down a little.’ “am not your dear; I cannot lie down: send me to school soon, Mrs Reed, for | hate to live here.’ ‘Twill indeed send her to schoo! soon,’ murmured Mrs Reed sotta voce; and gathering up her work, she abruptly quitted the apartment, [Link]: adit 18 there’s a dear: bo a good gicl ° COMPREHENSION 4. What has Mrs Reed said that provokes such a passionate reaction from jane? 2 Who, according to Jane, should be given ‘the book about a liar’ and why? 3 in lines 24-30 Jane states her intentions for the future, How does she pian to punish Mrs Reed for her cruelty? ANALYSIS 1 Jane's enraged outburst at Mrs Reed's accusation offers the reader considerable insight into her character. Find evidence in the text which shows that she: = cannot tolerate injustice and hypocrisy: lines understands the importance of social appearances to Mrs Reed and threatens to expose her: lines = shows vulnerability and a need for love: lines is exalted by the freedom she experiences through speaking her mind: fines .. 2 Focus on Mis Reed's reactions. Which image in fine 14 contrasts Mrs Reed's restraint with Jane’s heated anger? What effect does jane’s outburst have on Mrs Reed? in answering refer to the text. 3 Jane is unconventionelly passionate. She expresses her thoughts and feelings in bold, direct statements, Line 8: fam not deceitful, Line 24: 1am glad you ave no relation of mine. Find other examples in the text. Bei 4 What example does jane give of Mrs Reed's heartlessness? 5 How does Mrs Reed react to what Jane says? 4 in describing the episode of the red-room (lines 34~39) Jane uses particularly emotional language. Underline words and expressions which convey how psychologically damaging this incident was to the young child, 5 Mrs Reed, who represent the hypocrisy and repression of the middle-class society to which she belongs, does not know how to deal with Jane’s unrestrained, passionate outburst. Which lines in the text suggest that she interprets Jane's passion as a forrn of illness? 6 What type of narrator* is used in the text? In your opinion, is the passage told from a child's point of view" or from the point of view of an adult reliving a childhood experience? Jane is furious because she has been wrongly accused of lying by her aunt. Adults sometimes accuse young people | of doing things they have not done and this injustice hurts doubly when the victim Is powerless to react. Have you | ‘or has anyone you know ever been in such a situation? Tell the class, For example: The teacher accused me of copying durivig a fest and what made it worse, my parents backed him up. o | : & Jane Fyre Chartotte Brome I Will not Be Yours i Kochester tries to convince Jane not to pill out of their marriage just after she has learnt that he is already married ta the insane woman who lives in total isolation upstairs Chapter 28 (2) ‘Jane, you understand what I want of you? Just this promise ~ “! will be yours, Mr Rochester.”” ‘Mr Rochester, I will not be yours.’ Another long silence. ‘Janel’ recommenced he, with a gentleness that broke me down with grief!, and tuned me stone-cold with ominous terror? — for this still voice was the pant# of a lion rising ~ ‘Jane, do you mean to go one way in the world, and to let me go another?" "do." ‘Jane’ (bending towards and embracing me), ‘do you mean it now?! ‘do. ‘And now? softly kissing my forehead and cheek, ‘1 do,’ extricating myself from restraint rapidly and completely. ‘Oh, Jane, this is bitter! This ~ this is wicked!. It would not be wicked to love me.’ "It would to obey you.’ A wild look raised his brows ~ crossed his features*: he rose; but he forebore yet®, | laid my hand on the back of a chair for support; ! sheok, 1 feared - but I resolved, ‘One instant, Jane, Give one glance to my horible life when you are gone, All happiness will be torn away with you. What then is left? For a wife have but the maniac upstairs: as well might you refer me to some coxpse in yonder churchyard’, What shall I do, Jane? Where turn for a companion and for some hope?" ‘Do as td again there! ‘Then you will not yield*?" ‘No. ‘Then you condemn me to live wretched? and to die accursed?" His voice. rose, ‘T advise you to live sinless", and 1 wish you to die tranquil’ ‘Then you snatch™ lave and innocence from me? You fling me back on lust for a passion"? - vice for an occupation?” “Mr Rochester, I no mote assign this fate to you than J gra rust in God and yourself, Believe in heaven, Hope to meet p at it for myself", We were born to strive and endure! — you as well as I: do so, You will forget me before I forget you.’ "You make me a Har by such language: you sully’® my honour. [ declared could not change: you tell me to my face I shall change soon, And what a ‘listortion in your judgment, what a perversity in your ideas, is proved by your conduct Is it better to drive a fetlow-creature to despair than to 10 20 2s 30 35 40 GLOSSARY 1. broke .. grief: made aie feel great pat 2, turned .. ter mide me feel that something terible s going to happen 3. pant: shot breath wicked: bad 5. features: face 6. forebore yet: controlled hnimself a lie 7, yonder churchyard the cemetery over ‘here 8. yleld: change your ‘mind 9. wretched: unhappy [Link] coridemaed by God and msm sintess: without breaking the moral lave 12. snateh: steal 13. fling me... fora passion: oblige me to 0 back to sex without love 14.1 no more assign ., myself: Flo not warst ts to happen to either you ar me 15, strive and endure: fight hard and savive ‘no mater what happens [Link]: offend 1 30 THE VICTORIAN AGE 17.10 man ... breach: no one having to suffer because of this ‘transgression [Link]: peuple you know [Link] traitors... re: betrayed me [Link]: accept 21 headlong nature ‘unthinking temperament 22,nocklessness ‘behaviour mindless fof rsks and ‘consequences 23,soothe: comfort 2a. xnsustained: alone and without support [Link]: severe 26,worth: value [Link]: Deals 28. foregone: absolutely certain 20, stand by: emai loyal to 30,smoothed: gently rubbed 31 harm: damage ‘sojace you: give you comfort [Link] you well ‘give you good tings A retura, [Link] flashed ... bis ‘eyes: he looked at me svith angry passion a Fiction transgress a mere human law ~ no man being injuzed by the breach'”? for you have neither relatives nor acquaintances" whom you need fear to offend by living with me?’ “This was true: and while be spoke my very conscience and reason turned traitors against me", and charged me with crime in resisting him. They spoke almost as loud as Feeling: and that clamoured wildly. ‘Ob, comply"! it said. ‘Think of his misery; think of his danger—look at his state when left alone; remember his headlong nature”; consider the recklessness”? following on despair tell him you love him and will be his. Who in the world cares for you? Or who will be injured by what you do?” Still indomitable was the reply~'l care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained [ am, the move | will respect myself. | will keep the law given by God; sanctioned by man, I will hold to the principles received by me when I was sane, and not mad-—as | am now. Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this, when body and soul rise in mutiny against their rigour; stringent are they; inviolate they shall be. If at my individual convenience I might break them, what would be their worth? They have a worth—-so J have always believed; and if 1 cannot believe it now, it is because | am insane—quite insane: with my veins running fire, and my heart beating faster than T can count its throbs”, Preconceived opinions, foregone’* determinations, are all | have at this hour to stand by”: there J plant my foot.’ (...) He turned away; he threw himself on his face on the sofa. ‘Oh, Jane! my hope—my love-my life!" broke in anguish from his Tips. ‘Then came a deep, strong sob. Thad already gained the door; but, reader, | walked back—walked back as determinedly as I had retreated. I knelt down by him; | turned his face from the cushion to me; | kissed his cheek; 1 smoothed*” his hair with my hand. ‘God bless you, my dear master!’ I said. “ soothe’ him; save him; love him; sad keep you from harm! and wrong—direct you, solace you"*—reward you well® for your past kindness tome! ‘tile Jane's love would have been my best reward,’ he answered; ‘without it, my heast is broken. But Jane will give me her love: yes—nobly, generously! Up the blood rushed to his face; forth flashed the fire from his eyes*; erect he sprang; he held his arms out; but | evaded the embrace, and at once quitted the room ‘Farewell!’ was the cry of my heart as I left him. Despair added, for ever!" ewell 50 oo 6s ” 8 80 COMPREHENSION ————— 4 What does Rochester want jane to do? nae 2 What is Jane’s reaction when Rochester speaks with 4. Which of Jane's faculties turn against her? gentleness (fines 5-6)? What does Jane advise 5 When ate laws least and most necessary, according Rochester to do? to Jane in lines 56-58? 3 What is the ‘mere human law’ that Rochester 6 How doas Rochester respond to Jane’s rejection? wishes Jane to transgress (line 41)? What arguments does he put forward to justify the breaking of this, 7 What does Jane do before she leaves him? ANALYSIS ~ _———____—. oe 4 In the first part of the text (lines 1-31) Jane's replies 5 Lines 44-51 build to a climax* in which Jane's to Rochester's appeals are extremely terse, Underline resolve seems to give way. in line 45 she says that them in the text. What does Jane’s economy of conscience and reason have hecome ‘traitors’, in what language suggest? way have they been allies up to this point? Which of her faculties has told her all along to comply with expressions convey the Idea that below th 2 Which express y hat below the Rochester's requests? sophisticated exterior Rochester has a primitive, almost animat-like, nature? Find evidence in the text to Find evidence in the text to support these two suggest that Jane fears that Rochester, in his anger, may _ statements about Jane's determination to do what she become physically abusive, has decided. ~ Jane’s resolve weakens when she looks outside herself at Rochester's suffering and at her isolation in the world. ~ Jane's resolve strenghtens when she looks inside herself at her personal moral code. 3 Throughout the novel, fire and ice imagery is associated with emotions. What emotions are identified with cold and heat in lines 6 and 61-627 4 Jane draws strength from two sources: her strong religious beliefs and her ability to endure suffering and hardship, Find examples in the text of how Jane pproposes religion and the acceptance of suffering as sources of consolation for Rochester, for example: ‘Do as | do: trust in God and yourself (line 25). & How do you interpret Rochester's last words to jane in the scene? 2 7 The climax of the passage comes in line 62. Explain the choice of the adjective ‘indomitabie’ (line 52). ‘What, in the final analysts, has convinced Jane that her decision to leave Rochester is correct? Dialogue to ~ in real life what people say reveals a Jot about who they are. The same is true of the reveal world of fiction where writers often use dialogue to reveal character, What a character character says in the form of dialogue provides information about his personality, feelings, atti- tude towards self and others, moral values, origins, education and social class. Re-readl the dialogue between Rochester and Jane in Text F8. What information does it provide about Jane's: Se moral values and religious beliefs? — feelings for Rochester? ~ self image? ~ family background? How would you describe jane’s personality as it emerges from this dialogue? {Jane's refusal to submit to Rochester's wishes suggests that she is a strong, independent minded and self-respecting woman. Imagine the author had wished to portray Jane as mote submissive. At what point in the dialogue do you think a weaker character may have given in to Rochester? Rewrite the section of the dialogue portraying Jane as less determined. Do you admire Jane for standing by her principles and refusing to stay with Mr Rochester even though she really | does love him? In this case, the principle she stands by Is monogamy because she knows that he is already | married, Can you think of any other situations where people do or do not do things on principle? 32 THE VICTORIAN AGE ~ Fiction. 88) Family background Charlotte £2228 and Emily Bronté were born in the smail isolated village of Haworth on the Yorkshire moors where they lived with their father, who was the local vicar, their mother, three sisters and a brother, In 1821, when Charlotte and Emily were just five and three years old respectively, their mother died and all five sisters were sent to live in an orphanage. Due to the harsh conditions in the onphanage two sisters fell ill and consequently their father brought all five of them back to the family home, The Bronté children were avid readers of Shakespeare, Milton, Byron, Scott, the Classics and the Bible. They showed an early gift for writing, and as a form of amusement they wrote miniature books about fantasy worlds of their own creation, Bronté (1816-1855) Exty ane ueaee Careers outside writing In 1835 Chartotte left family home with thelr sister ANNE and took up a position as a teacher, Emily attended the school —— where her sister taught for a short period, but soon returned home suffering from homesickness. Charlotte worked for a time as a governess in Brussels before returning and settling in Haworth, The two sisters opened a schoo! but the project failed because there were no enrolments. Literary careers In 1846 Charlotte, Emily and Anne published at their own expense a selection of their Poems under the male pen names of Currer (Charlotte), Ellis (Emily) and Acton (Anne) Bell. Despite almost non-existent public response the sisters continued writing and the following year Charlotte’s Jane Eyre, Emily's Wuthering Heights and Anne's Agnes Grey were all accepted for publication, again under the Bell pscudonyms, All three novels were well received and the response a Jane Byre was particularly enthusiast Last years The sisters spent the following year taking care of their alcoholic brother, who died in 1848. Later in the same year Emily died of tuberculosis and was soon followed by Anne. After the publication of two more novels, Charlotte began to move in literary cizcles. She travelled around England and wrote a novel set in Brussels, Villette (1853). In 1854, after much he tatio , she agreed to marty a local clergyman, but after just a few months of married life she died due to complications associated with pregnancy, Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights shocked contemporary readers for its portrayal of intense and negative passions such as hatred and revenge and its depiction of wild outbursts of violence. The loss of Catherine pushes Heathcliff, the dark and brooding hero of the novel, into a spiral of despair and violence. His destructive force does not spare those axound him and the repercussions of his actions are lasting and tragic. The novel contains Romantic elements such as the mirroring of the characters! passions in the wild, natural landscape and Gothic elements such as the sinister atmosphere of the house and Catherine's ghost. Jane Fyre The main theme of all of Charlotte's novels is the need for women to be independent. Jane Eyre is a new type of woman in the English novel. She reflects a change of attitude that gradually developed into the fight for women’s rights. In Victorian times women were not encouraged to search for self-fulfilment or independence. ‘They were taught to be submissive to their fathers or husbands and to dedicate themselves to their household duties, ‘This common Victorian attitude explains why the Bronté sisters used male pseudonyms when they published their works. Writers’ Gallery ~ Charlotie and Emily Bronte, According to Victorian conventions, Jane Eyre, a woman and an arphan, should have passively fe accepted her fate. Instead she rebels against her destiny and develops into a self-confident, strong-willed and intensely passionate woman When the novel opens, the reader learns that she has reached her goat: she is married to Rochester and has a son by him, The novel celebrates her ambition and determination in overcoming adversity and social prejudice. The novel has a distinctly Gothic atmosphere, Both the setting {a mansion with a mysterious attic) and Rochester’s mad and violent Wife create mystery and suspense. An element of the supernatural is also introduced through such devices as the telling of dreams which foreshadow real events. Jone helps Rochesters daughter, adele, with her | Scolwerk in another seene ftom jane Eyre (1996). TASK On the basis of what you know about jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, which aspects of the novels are drawn from the personal lives of Emily and Charlotte @rant&? Which elernents in the novel appear to be the product of imagination? THE VICTORIAN AGE ~ Fiction Silas Marner by George Eliot BERG GD ; | Look at the following proverbs and well-known phrases about money. Choose the one from the list which you | { think is the truest anc explain why. | 11 Money cannot buy love. 4 Money is the root of alt evil. i oe Heda | 2B A fool and his money are soon parted. 6 Money talks, ! INTRODUCTION % When Mary Ann Evans, who wrote under the pseudonym of George Eliot, died in 1880, she was widely regarded as the greatest writer in the language. Her novels are intelJectually and linguistically challenging for the reader but they provide a brilliantly subtie insight into the complexi- ties of human character CHARACTERS ———~ The story oi waineea Silas Marner, a weave, is exiled fiom his native village om a false charge of theft and moves ‘weaver to another village, Raveloe, He lives a solitary, friendless existence and his only satisfaction + Eppie, a young gird in life is the money he makes front his work, He gradually saves a substantial quantity of ioe ene Sold, which he counts every night (> Text ¥9). + Godfrey, Dustan’ Silas arrives home one evening to discover that the gold has been stolen, 3t has Been taken by brother Dunstan Cass, the dissolute son of the local squire. Dunstan's brother, Godffey, was earlier matried to a poor wornant whom he has since aban dloned. One snowy evening she sets out with their infant daughter to look for Goifiey and ask hhim 10 take on his responsibilities as a father. When she collapses from exhaustion the baby crals into Silas’ house. Silas brings up the child, whom he calls Eppie, but when she lias grown into a young woman Dunstan claims her as his daughter, Eppie refuses t go witht hin and stays with Silas, whon she regards as her real, loving father (b "Text F10). < Old Master Marner > Visual Link 3 Silas is at home with his money, Chapter 2 6) So, year after year, Silas Marner had lived in this solitude, his guineas! rising in the iron pot, and his life narrowing? and hardening itself more © GLOSSARY 1, guineas: gold coins 2, narrowing: becoming less and and more into a mere pulsation of desire and satisfaction that had no 4 ee ee relation to any other being. His life had reduced itself to the mere Sone functions of weaving? and hoarding’, without any contemplation of an 4. hoardings cotstng end towards which the functions tended. The same sort of process has and saving Siesta perhaps been undergone by wiser men, when they have been cut off from used to produce cloth, faith and love ~ only, instead of a loom and a heap of guineas, they have Silas Marner ~ George Eliot 35 had some evudite research, some ingenious project, or some weil-knit® theory. Strangely Marner’s face and figure shrank’ and bent themselves into a constant mechanical relation to the objects of his life, so that he produced the same sort of impression as a handle® or a crooked? tube, which has no meaning standing apart’, The prominent eyes that used to look trasting and dreamy, now looked as if they had been made to see only one kind of thing that was very small, like tiny grain, for which they hunted everywhere: and he was so withered’! and yeliow, that, though he was not yet forty, the children always called him ‘Old Master Marner’ Go) This is the history of Silas Marner until the fifteenth year after he came to Raveloe, The livelong!? day he sat in his loom, his ear filled with its monotony, his eyes bent close down’ on the slow growth of sameness in the brownish web'’, his muscles moving with such even” repetition that their pause seemed almost as much a constraint as the holding of his breath’®. But at night came his revelry'’: at night he closed his shutters, and made fast"® his doors, and drew’ out his gold. Long ago the heap of coins had become too large for the iron pot to hold them, and he had made for them two thick leather bags, which wasted no room in their resting-place”, but lent themselves flexibly to every comer™. How the ‘guineas shone as they came pouring out” of the dark leather mouths! The silver bore no large proportion in amount to the gold", because the long pieces of linen which formed his chief work were always partly paid for in gold, and out of the silver he supplied his own bodily wants’, choosing always the shillings and sixpences to spend in this way. He loved the guineas best, but he would not change the silver ~ the crowns and half- crowns” that were his own earnings, begotten by?” his labour; he loved them all. He spread them out® in heaps and bathed his hands in them; then he counted them and set them up in regular piles, and felt their rounded outline between his thumb and fingers, and thought fondly’ of the guineas that were only half-eamed by the work in bis loom™, as if they had been unborn children ~ thought of the guineas that were coming slowly through the coming years, through all his life, which spread far away before him", the end quite hidden by countless days of weaving. No wonder® his thoughts were still with his loom and his money when he made his journeys through the fields and the lanes" to fetch* and carry home his work, so that his steps never wandered to the hedge-banks® and the Jane-side in search of the once familiar herbs: these too belonged to the past, from which his life had shrunk away, like a rivulet that has sunk far down from the grassy fringe of its old breadth into a little shivering thread, that cuts a groove for itself in the barren sand*, 6. well-knit: well constructed 7. shrank: became thinner 8 nding apart: being, separated from: the other 20 35 40 45 part ish webs the Handles past of an object 44. withered: dsiet up, lke a brownish coloured fabric he uised fe hold it ant oll leat was wenving 9. crooked: bent [Link]: regular 12.7he livelong: ait [Link] pauise seemed his breath: the pauses seemed! as onsiatural and unwanted! 3s holding one's bx [Link]: fun [Link] fast: locked 19, drew: took [Link]: pte DL wasted ... resting: place: left no free space where they were placed [Link] ... corner: filled every comer 23. pouring outs flowing out [Link] silver .. ol: hese wese fewer silver ccolns than gold coins [Link] of the silver wants: he used the silver coins fo provide fr his persona] noes [Link] sixpences .. guineas Crowns half crowns: coins with lfferent face values [Link] by: obtained from [Link] them out: put ‘them out in front of him [Link]: with alfection [Link] that oom: money hie had riot cashed in yet hhecause he had not finished the work spread far away before him: he woud ‘earn in the futwze [Link] wonder: itis not surpusing [Link]: narrow roads 34. fetch: get 35. heelge-banks: bashes atthe sides ofthe road [Link] tow belonged! _ barren sands his life, which was on like a wide old Breadth) stream (ivuted, has now been so diminished (camk far down) that Is ike a tiny Jine of water (ttle shivering thread} that flows (cuts a groove for isel through infertile soit (barren sand) 3 B36 THE VICTORIAN AGE - Fiction COMPREHENSION ~~~ mo 1. How did Silas Marner spend his life? Did he think about his future? 2 What have wiser men tured to when they have found themselves in situations similar to Silas Marner’s? 3 How and why dic! Silas Mamner’s physical appearance change? ANALYSIS ‘T What kind of nasrator tells the story? i first person* # omniscient third person* "5 limited third person®™ ‘At which point in the text does the narrator interrupt the narrative ta make a generaiisation? 2 Consider the description of Silas’s eyes in lines 13-16, What type of animal is he compared to? What is the ‘tiny grain’ that he is hunting for? Analyse the metaphor* by completing the following table, t Tenor 3 In describing Silas's obsession with his money (lines 27-41) the narrator uses some striking images that appeal to different senses. Find an image that appeals to: ~ the sense of sight Ground Vehicle tiny grain ~ the sense of touch. - yreedy? Discuss with your classmates, 44 What did he hear and see as he worked? 5 What did he do before he took out his gold? 6 Which coins did Silas use to pay for his routine needs? Which were his favourite coins? What did he do with them? 4 Lines 32-35 establish an association between Silas’s money and children. it seems as if Silas is filing the hole created by the lack of family with money. Where In the text is this idea reinforced? 5 Ariver is a standard symbol for fife, How have the events of Silas's fife affected the river which is his life, according to lines 46-48? Why does Silas life/river flow through ‘barren sand’? The style* of the opening paragraph is characterised by balanced couples linked by the conjunction ‘and’, for example, ‘narrowing and hardening’ (line 2). Find six more examples. Which idea does this stylistic feature underline? Silas Marner's: ® obsession with mone} monotonous and repetitive Ifestyle, "i deformed physical features. 7 How would you describe the tone* of the passage? Is the narrator critical of Silas or is he syrnpathetic? Which expressions convey the narrator's neaative/positive attitude towards the protagonist? re people in today’s world as obsessed with money as Silas was? What things do people do that show they are Silas Marner ~ George Eliot 37 -[ to the world of music In Text F9 you have read how money became the centre of Silas Mamer’s world, Read the lyrics of this song from Pink Floyd! 1973 album ‘Dark Sice of the Moon’, which seems to suggest that money is indeed the surest sicane to happiness, Money ‘Money get away, Don't give me that do goody good bullshit Get a good job with more pay and you're O.K, Vm in the bi-fidelity frst class travelling section Money it'sa gas And 1 think Teed a Lear jet Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash New car, caviat, four star daydream, Money ita cxime Think 171 buy me a football team Share it fairly but don't take a slice of my ple : Money so they say Money get back 7 is the root of all evil today Vm all right Jack keep your hands off my stack, Buti you ask fora rise i’s no surprise that they're giving Money it’s hit none away. SSNs 7 Inwhich lines does the singer make it clear that he does not wish to share his money? 2 What kind of things does he mention that can be bought with money? 3 in which lines in the song i the conventional belef that money is evil expressed? How does the singer question this belief in the finat line of the song? 4 Is the singer’ attitude to money similar ta Silas Marners? Does he delight in money itself or is he more interested in what money can buy him? Our Life Is Wonderful age 3 This scene takes place onthe evening of « momentous day in Silas’ life. His money has Deen found while Eppie has just refused to live with her natural father and has decided to stay with him. Chapter 19 GLOSSARY \ eight and nine o'clock that evening, Eppie and Silas were seated alone in the cottage. After the great excitement the weaver! had 1. weaver: person who undergone from the events of the afternoon, he had felt a longing? for this 2, fonging: desire quietude, and had even begged Mrs Winthrop and Aaron‘, who had 3. begged: asked naturally lingered’ behind everyone else, to leave him alone with his temas ne rearno child, The excitement had not passed away: it had only reached that stage 5. Iingered: stayed when the keenness of the susceptibility’ makes external stimulus 6 Lara intolerable ~ when there is no sense of weariness’, but rather an intensity intesity of emtion of inward life, under which sleep is an impossibility, Anyone who has 7. weariness: extreme Watched such moments in other men remembers the brightness of the 10 fe epsee arena eyes and the strange definiteness that comes over coarse® features from that transient influence. It is as if a new fineness of ear for all spitituel voices had sent wonder-working vibrations? through the heavy mortal 9. wonder-working vibrations: vibrations that can do wondectul things ~ 38° THE VE CTORIAN AGL - Fiction Eee “th, my precious chile, the blessing was mine.” J Silas ord pe trom | 0 late nineteenth | century edition | ef Sis Mamer frame! - as if ‘beauty born of murmuring sound’ hed 15 passed into the face of the listener, Silas’s face showed that sort of transfiguration, as he sat in his arm-chair and looked 20 at Eppie. She had drawn her own chair towards his knees, and leaned forward, holding both his hands, while she looked up at him. On the 2s table near them, lit by a candle, lay the recovered gold ~ the old long-loved gold, ranged"! in orderly heaps, as Silas used to range 30 it in the days when it was his only joy. He had been telling her how he used to count it every night, and how his soul was utterly"? desolate as. till she was sent to him. ‘At firs, I'd a sort 0” feeling come across me now and then,’ he was saying in a subdued" tone, ‘as if you might be changed into the gold again; for sometimes, tura my head which way I would, 1 seemed to see the gold; and | thought I should be glad if I could feel it, and find it was come back. 40 But that didn’t last Jong, After a bit, I should have thought it was a curse come again, if it had drove you from me, for I'd got to feel the need o” your looks and your voice and the touch o” your little fingers. You didn’t know then, Eppie, when you were such a little un-"4 you didn’t know what your old father Silas felt for you." 45 ‘But | know now, father,’ said Eppie. ‘If it hadn’t been for you, they’d have taken me to the workhouse, and there'd have been nobody to love me.! ‘Eh, my precious child, the blessing! was mine. If you hadn't been sent to save me, I should ha’ gone to the grave in my misery, The money was taken away from me in time; and you see it’s been kept ~kept tlh it was 50 wanted for you. It’s wonderful — our life is wonderful.’ si me" now,’ he said, ponderingly'? ~ ‘the money doesn't. | wonder if it ever pt come to think } s sat in silence a few minutes, looking at the money. ‘I fakes no hold of could again ~ 1 doubt it might, if lost you, Eppie. I mig) was forsaken" again, and lose the feeling that God was good to me.’ 88 [Link]: body [Link] one) gid [Link] ina veective Hranged: displayed 25, blessing: git from God igo [Link]: completely 16.1 takes no hold of mes it [Link]: aandonest [Link] soft does not interest me COMPREHENSION + Why did Silas ask Mrs Winthrop and Aaron to leave? Was Silas tired? Did he wish to sieop? 2 When Eppie first entered Silas’s life, did he completely forget his lost gold? 3 What would have happened to Ep; not taken her in? if Silas had ANALYSIS 1 The passage contains a number of spititual/religious references. Underline them, Where in the text is it suggested that Epic is Silas's saviour? 2 In Text F9 itis suggested that Silas’s relationship Silas Marner = George Etiet 39 4 Why does Silas say that his and Eppie’s life “is wonderful’? (Line 51) 5 What i Silas now more fearful of losing for a second time: Epppie or his money? 3 On the basis of the texts you have read, which of the following adjectives would you use to describe the character of Silas? Unconvincing Predictable with his money is quite sensual, Where is this % Pathetic 8 Fairy tale-tike reinforced in this passage? Which of Silas’s senses did Other: : Eppie appeal to as a child, according to lines 42-43? 4 How would you formulate the theme’ of this passage? TERS WORKSHOP. Omniscient — the omniscient obtrusive narrator i obtrusive narrator Eo 2 both a storyteller and a commentator. He interrupts the narrative and uses it as a starting point for some comment or generalisation he wishes to make, The omniscient obtrusive narrator may step into the story for various reasons, He can: ~ Summ up past events andl anticipate furture developments in the story; ~ provide missing infermation; comment on what is happening in the story; make generalisations; ~ moralise and phitosophise; — guide the reader's interpretation; ~ digress on subjects that have little or nothing to do with the story. At which point in Text F10 does the narrator interrupt the storytelling? What is the purpose of this interruption? Write a closing paragraph that could be acided at the end of Text £10. Address the reader directly and summarise, generalise, philosophise or guide the reader's interpretation, For example: Anyone can see that Silas Marner had finally found true happiness. The love of his daughter Eppie was worth more than all the gold in the world, Many of us spend too much of our time in pursuit of material goods which do not always bring happiness. Let Silas’s story be a lesson to us, dear reader. Let us aiways remember that the fove of those we care about is far more important than any material possession. Silas, through his relationship with Eppie, found out that there are things in life that money cannot buy, but few | Sy Academic success i | would disagree that lack of money can lit what you have and do in fe, Can money buy the fellowing? | t 1 Sporting success love ® Friendship (D140 THE VICTORIAN AGE - Fletion ROA Karly years Mary Ann Evans giles was born in 1819 in the Midlands, When her mother died, she left school to take charge of the household but, encouraged by her father, continued her education by reading widely, Serious and shy, she soon realised that she could not conform to popular beliefs unthinkingly, and in 1842 her decision to stop gaing to church caused a break with lier father, ‘which was later only partly resolved. Life and work in London After her father's death she moved to London, where in 1851 a publisher asked her to write articles for his paper, She worked anonymously as editor anid essayist for two years, during which time she was introduced to the intellectual circles of London scholars, whom she impressed with her bright inteigenc In 1854 she went to live with a married man, George Henry Lewes. Her family disowned het, Grtorce ELoT (Mary ANN Evans) (1819-1880) Literary career and ostracism In 1856 she wiote her fisst novel, Scenes of Clerical Life, which she published under the male pseudonym ‘George Bliot’, Two years later her second novel, Adan Bede (1858), became a critical and popular success. As her literary fame geew, the true identity af George Eliot became known but society still treated her as an outcast because of her union with Lewes. Her next novel, The Mill on the Floss (1860), was at first refused by the publisher, who feared that the controversy surrounding the author's private life would affect sales. It was eventuaily published and was an outstanding critical and popular success, as were the novels that followed. Marriage and death tn 1878 Lewes’s death left ber in great distress, Two years later she accepted & mantiage proposal which again provoked controversy: at the time she was sixty-one years old and her husband was twenty years younger than her. She died in 1880, G28 Themes and setting More than any of her contemporaries, George “5 Eliot tied to increase the possibilities of the novel as a literary form, and her ability to penetrate deeply into the minds of her characters sets her apart from other writers of her day. In her novels she deals with a wide range of issues: gender, justice, love, religion and relationships. Many of her stories ave set in the pre-industrial English countryside of her childhood, which she describes with great nostalgia, Mer characters are mainly country people, whom she depicts in all their dignity and deep humanity. Her novels are strongly moralistic in tone and the narrative is often interrupted to underline the moral of the story. Characters George Eliot wrote about strong, intelligent, amibisious women in an age when women were not expected to be ambitious or independent, Most af her protagonists are female like Maggie, in her most tautobiogeaphical work The Mill on the Moss (1860), or Dorothea, in her masterpiece Middlemarch (1871-1872), Love and duty ‘The theme of Jove and duty not to God but to other men is often present in her work, as i the value of self-sacrifice. In Silas Mamer (1861), perhaps her most optimistic novel, she shows how the sacrifice of @ miserly weaver who adopts an orphan girl is rewarded when the girl grows up and comforts himn in his old age. George Blots morthodox beliefs were in contrast with many Victorian views and she was in many ways ahead of her times (> Visual Link F6). She lived by her words, making very difficult choices that contravened the rules of Victorian society and paved the way towards a new awareness for women to come. TASK ‘George Fliot was in many ways ahead of her times’, Examine her biography and works and prepare a short talk in which you support this statement with reference to her life and the themes of her works. | The Siraage Case of Dr jekyit and Mr Hyde ~ Robert L, Stevenson — 41 The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert L. Stevenson Bue sop Dr Jekyl, like many human beings, is fascinated by evil. Millions of television viewers and newspaper readers | tlt in deta stories about mass murderers or psychopath les. Books and fs about seri ies enjoy | | phenomenal success. In groups of two collect evidence to support the view that people are fascinated by evil. Mention news stories, filins and books, both past and present, where public attention was gripped by some inexplicable horror. For example: Jack tie Ripper, 0 Seria! killer in fate nineteenth-century London. | [ Asa cas, lacus why people ate so entra by el | INTRODUCTION © Robert Louis Stevenson ended his days on a South Sea island in Samoa, There could hardly be a greater contrast between this tropical paradise and the dark, gloomy streets that provide the setting for The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Stevenson invents a character who both fascinates and hortifies as he delves into the very nature of good and evil. Tur story — — Dr Jekyll believes that man is a mixture of good and evil and catties out experiments to sepa- rate one from the other. He eventually develops a drug that transforms him into Mr Fiyde, CHARACTERS + Dr Jekyll, scientist + Mr Hyde, a who represents pure evil itunsformotion of As time goes by, Hyile seems to gain ascendancy over Jekyll, wha cannot control the transfor= oe : mations, Hyde commits a vicious murder and, in order to avoid arrest and disgrace, Jekyll friend and coiteague conmnits suicide. of De jek Dr Lanyon’s Narrative {fi Dr Lanyon received a strange letter from his old friend Dr Jekyll. hn it he asked hin to break into his house, take a cheanical compound from his cabinet, bring i back f0 his own house and give it 1. @ man who would come to get it later in the evening. Dr Lanyon has done what he was asked to do and is now speaking to the man who has éalled to collect the compound. ‘Twelve o’clock had scarce! rung out over London, ere? the knocker sounded very gently on the door, } went myself at the summons’, and found a small man crouching* against the pillars of the portico. oasadete ‘Are you come from Dr Jekyll?" I asked, eae feet He told me ‘yes! by a constrained® gesture; and when [had bidden® him 5 he enter, he did not obey me without a searching backward glace” into the ‘crouching: squatting darkness of the square. There was a policeman not far off, advancing with éonstraineds his bull’s-eye* open; and at the sight, ] thought my visitor started and Esiaai wed made greater haste’. 7. glance: look These particulars struck me, I confess, disagreeably; and as followed him 1a. | 8 bulleye: lantern into the bright light of the consulting-room, 1 kept my hand ready on my Pe ee moved suddily and weapon, Here, at last, 1 had a chance af clearly seeing him, T had never set rote guiekly VICTORIAN AGE, [Link]: weakness AL his neighbourhood: being near ira [Link] rigor sucktemly feling very ald 13, sinking: fing wondered: was surprised 15, pang; pain 16 suffer me to muster allow me to have [Link] impatience politeness: I have Deen so impatient that | have forgotten w be pollie [Link] the Instance: on the advice 19, moment: hnporience 20, colleetva: composed 1, wrestling: fgbiting, 22. ghastly: horrifying [Link]: honible [Link]: pulled [Link]: cry 26. graduated glass measuring giass [Link]: forward nioverent of the neat 28. minims: very small quantities [Link]; aleoholic solution Hietion eyes on him before, so much was certain. He was small, as | have said; | was struck besides with the shocking expression of his face, with his remarkable combination of great muscular activity and great apparent debility" of constitution, and - last but not least ~ with the odd, subjective disturbance caused by his neighbourhood!", This bore some resemblance to incipient rigor’, and was accompanied by a marked sinking’? of the pulse, At the time, I set it down to some idiosyncratic, personal distaste, and merely wondered" at the acuteness of the symptom; but I have since had reason to believe the cause to lie much deeper in the nature of man, and to turn on some nobler hinge than the principle of hatred. (. ‘These observations, though they have taken so great a space to be set down in, were yet the work of a few seconds. My visitor was, indeed, on fire with sombre excitement, ‘Have you got it?” he cried. ‘Have you got it? And so lively was his impatience that he even laid his hand upon my arm and sought to shake me, 1 put him back, conscious at his touch of a certain icy pang'* along my blood. ‘Come, sir,’ said 1, ‘You forget that { have not yet the pleasure of your acquaintance. Be seated, if you please.’ And I showed him an cxample, and sat down myself in my customary seat and with as fair an imitation of my ordinary manner to a patient as the lateness of the hour, the nature of my pre-occupations, and the horror I had of my visitor would suffer me to muster'®, ‘Teg your pardon, Dr Lanyon,’ he replied, civilly enough. ‘What you say is very well founded; and my impatience has shown its heels to my politeness'”. I come here at the instance! of your colleague, Dr Henry Jekyll, on a piece of business of some moment”; and I understood ...’ be paused and put his hand to his throat and I could see in spite of bis collected”? manner, that he was wrestling” against the approaches of the hysteria ~ 1 understood, a drawer ... But here | took pity on my visitor's suspense, and some perhaps on my own growing curiosity. “here it js, si’ said J, pointing to the drawer, where it lay on the floor behind a table, and still covered with the sheet. He sprang to it, and then paused, and laid his hand upon his heart; | could hear his teeth grate with the convulsive action of his jaws; and his face was so ghastly” to see that I grew alarmed both for his life and reason, ‘Compose yourself,’ said 1. He turned a dreadful” smile to me, and, as if with the decision of despair, plucked®* away the sheet. At sight of the contents, he uttered one loud sob** of such immense relief that | sat petrified. And the next moment, in a voice that was already fairly well under control, ‘Have you a graduated glass" he asked. J rose from my place with something of an effort, and gave him what he asked: He thanked me with a smiling nod”’, measured out a few minims”® of the red tincture” and added one of the powders. The mixture, which was at first of a 20 20 35 40 45 50 5s The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde ~ Robert L. tevenson 43 reddish hue®, began, in proportion as the crystals melted”, to brighten in colour, to effervesce audibly, 50 ‘nd to throw off small fames of vapour, Suddenly, ancl at the same moment, the ebullition ceased, and the compound changed to a dark purple, which faded® again more slowly to a watery green. My visitor, who had watched these metamorphoses with a keen eye™, 65 smiled, set down the glass upon the table, and ¢hen ‘turned and Jooked upon me with an air of scrutiny ‘and now said he, ‘to settle what remains, Will you be wise? will you be guided? will you suffer me to® take this glass in my hand, and to go forth from your 70 house without further pariey’?? or has the greed of curiosity too much command of you? Think before you answer, for it shall be done as you decide. As you decide, you shall be left as you were before, and neither richer nor wiser, unless the sense of service 75 rendered” to a man in mortal distress“ may be counted as a kind of riches of the soul. Or, if you shall so prefer to choose, a new province of knowledge and new avenues"! to fame and power shall be laid open to you, here, in this room, upon the instant; and your sight shall be blasted by a prodigy to stagger the unbelief 80 of Satan." [Link] ‘Sir,’ said I, affecting a coolness that I was far from truly possessing, ‘you 0. distress: suffering speak enigmas, and you will perhaps not wonder that I hear you with no 41.-avenues: roads [Link] ‘you will see some- Ling so prodigious that it would shock even Satan very strong impression of belief, But I bave gone two far in the way of inexplicable services to pause before | see the end "It is well,’ replied my visitor. ‘Lanyon, you remer nber your vows"*: what follows is under the seat" of our profession. And now, you who have so 43. vows: solemn Jong been bound’ to the most narrow and material views, you who have ee tee denied" the virtue of transcendental medicine, you who have derided covered by the your superiors ~ behold” 0 secrecy [Link] tied He put the glass to his lips, and drank at one gulp. A cry followed; he Mig eset manne reeled, staggered’, chitched at’? the table and held on, staring with non-existent infected eyes, gasping® with open mouth; and as I looked, there came, f ee ee thought, a change ~ he seemed to swell*! — his face became suddenly moved abot black, and the features seemed to mett*® and alter ~ and the next moment $5 uunsteely Thad sprung’ to my feet and leaped back against the wall, my arm eee Taised fo shield*® me from that prodigy, my mind submerged in terror, 50. gasping: taking ‘© God!’ 1 screamed, and ‘0 God!’ again and again; for there before my quick, violent breaths [Link]: get bigger eyes ~ pale and shaken, and half fainting’, and groping®? before him with Smells gues his hands, like a man restored from death ~ there stood Henry Jekyll! 100) $[Link]: jumped EEE aa oe 54. 2eaped: jumped shield: proet 30. hue: ctor [Link] eye: concentinied 48. guided sensible Sé. fainting: losing [Link]: changed toatiqu! —eok [Link] me t: let me consciousness state [Link] settle what remains: to [Link]: tek $[Link]: moving [Link] changed finish everything up 3B. greed: strong desive blindly ORIAN AGE ~ Fiction pp. F118-123) and poetry. po THe story CHARACTERS : 7 : i Tabancuy Dorien Gray is an extraordinarily hondsome young man, Encouraged by his friend, Lord lord Henry Henry Wooton, he has his portrait painted by Basil Hallward (> Text F13). Dorian cam see | Wooton, is find hhis own soul in the painting and Uhrough it he realises he can achieve eternal youth; while + Sagil Hallward, @ ine the painting ages, he stays the samme. Saje i the knowledge tut he will always be young and handsome, he lel a life of debauchery without any moral restraints for many years. The painting continues to age and the honific, ugly face it depicts seems to represent the degradation of Dorian’s soul (» Text F14), Dorian can nto longer stand the strain of his fake existence. He stabs the painting, w returns to its original state, while he turns into an old man and dies, > Visuat Link P12 ich #28 Beauty Is a Form of Genius Basil Hallward had been painting Dorian in the house while Lord Henry Wooton looked on, Dorian needed a break so they moved ont to the garden, where they are now talking. Chapter 2 (a) ‘Let us go and sit in the shade,’ said Lord Henry. ‘Parker has brought out the drinks, and if you stay any longer in this glare’, you will be quite spoiled”, and Basil will never paint you again. You really must not allow yourself to become sunburnt. It would be unbecoming*’ 4 GLOSSARY "What can it matter?’ cried Dorian Gray, laughing, as he sat down on the 1. glare: bright btincing seat at the end of the garden, light ‘At should matter everything to you, Mr Gray.’ en ait ane ‘it should matter everything to you, Mr Gray, your comptenion will “why?” he ruined Sa "Because you have the most marvellous youth, and youth is the one thing 3. unbecoming: g Inappropriate worth having.’ The Picture of Dorian Gray ~ Oscar Wilde 49. "don’t feel that, Lord Henry.’ ‘No, you don't feel if now. Some day, when you are ald and wrinkled and ugly, when thought has seared your forehead with its lines, and passion branded® your lips with its hideous’ fires, you will feet it, you will feel it terribly. Now, wherever you go, you charm the world, Will it always be so? -» You have a wonderfully beautiful face, Mr Gray. Don’t frown’, You have. And beauty is a form of genius ~is higher, indeed, than Genius, as it needs no explanation. It is of the great facts of the world, like sunlight, or spring-time, or the reflection in dark waters of that silver shell we call the moon. It cannot be questioned, it has its divine right of sovereignty. It makes princes of those who have it. You smile? Ah! when you have lost it you won't smile. .., People say sometimes that Beauty is only superficial. ‘That may be so, but at least it is not so superficial as ‘Thought is, To me, Beauty is the wonder of wonders. it is only shailow? people who do not judge by appearances, The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible. ... Yes, Mr Gray, the gods have been good to you. But what the gods give they quickly take away. You have only a few years in which to live really, perfectly, and fully. When your youth goes, your beauty will go with it, and then you will suddenly discover that there are no triumphs left for you, or have to content yourself with those mean’? triumphs that the memory of your past will make moze bitter than defeats!!, Every month as it wanes!” brings you nearer to something dreadfal", Time is jealous of you, and wars’ against your lilies and your roses, You will become sailow'®, and hollow-cheeked", and dull-eyed?’, You will suffer horribly ... Ah! realize your youth while you have it, Don't squander'® the gold of your days, listening to the tedious", trying to improve the hopeless failure, or giving away your life to the ignorant, the common, and the vulgar. These are the sickly aims”®, the false ideals, of our age. Live! Live the wonderful life that is in you! Let nothing be lost upon you. Be always searching for new sensations, Be afraid of nothing. ... A new Hedonism ~ that is what our century wants. You might be its visible symbol. With your personality there is nothing you could not do. ‘The World belongs to you for z season. ... The moment I met you | saw that You were quite unconscious of what you really are, of what you really might be. There was so much in you that charmed me that I felt | must tell you something about yourself. | thought how tragic it would be if you were wasted, For there fs such a little time that your youth will last — such alittle time. The common hill-tlowers wither", but they blossom” again. ‘The laburnum? will be as yellow next June as it is now. In a month there will be purple stars on the clematis, and year after year the green night of its leaves will hold its purple stars. But we never get back our youth, ‘The Pulse of joy that beats in us at twenty becomes sluggish’, Our limbs’ fail, Our senses rot”. We degenerate into hideous puppets’, haunted”! by the memory of the passions of which we were too much afraid, and the exquisite temptations that we had not the courage to yield?” to. Youth! Youth! There is absolutely nothing in the world but youth!” 20 30 35 0 50 4. wrinkled: covered with wiinkles, Le Lines on ole peop’ faces 5. seared: cut 6, branded: marked 2. hideous: hortihle 8. frown: look penplexed 9, shatiow: superficial 10,mean: low, valgar [Link]: lost battles [Link]: gradually sappeirs [Link]: horrible 14. wars: fights [Link]: pale and unhealthy looking [Link]-checked: with skinny checks [Link]-eyeet with expressionless eyes [Link]: waste ¥[Link]: baring. people [Link] aims: ‘worthless objectives 21 wither: dry up and ‘le 22, blowoni: generate ew flowers 23. taburnum: small ice [Link]: type of climbing plant 28. sluggish: slow: moving 26. timbs: aris and legs 27.c0t: lose thelr vitality 28, hideous puppets: horse hifeless creatures 29. haunted: deeply saddened 30. yield: surrender 50. THE Vi ORIAN AGE ~ Hetion COMPREHENSION — 1. Why does Lord Henry tell Darian to sit in the shade? 2 What is the one thing worth having, in his opinion? 3 When does he believe Dorian will realise the importance of youth? 4 Why does he consider beauty to be higher than genius? 5 Which, in his opinion, is more superticial: beauty or thought? ANALYSIS. 11 Lord Henry compares the beauty of youth to the ugliness of ageing. a, Find expressions in the text where he refers to: ~ the physical degeneration caused by ageing ~ the psychological anxiety caused by growing older. Find examples in the text where he compares beauty: ~ to intellectual ability: lines ~ to natural phenomena: lines = toa precious metal: lines ¢. Underline sentences in the text where he speaks of the social status endowed by youth and beauty. = ee I TS pha Heciaaree Seaman RETR, Paradox A paradox is a st SESE ;ement which initially seems absurd or self-contradictory ar 6 Whatis the enemy of youth and beauty, according to Lord Henry? 7 What are, in his opinion, the false ideals of the age? B What does he think Dorian should always be searching for? 2 How, in his view, do youth and beauty differ from the elements of nature he mentions in the passage (hill-lowers, clematis)? Z Focus on Lord Henry's references to other people and their opinions. Does he share the views held by others? How would you describe the views expressed by Lord Henry? Do you think a character such as Lord Henry could exercise a strong influence over a young rman like Dorian? Are young people atiracted by transgression? 3 Focus on the style of Lord Henry's speech. Find examples of: ~ personification* ~nature imagery* ~ metonyiny*. How would you describe his style? Is the style of his speech appropriate to the content? Litton atte a yet turns out to have a valid meaning, Oscar Wilde created paradoxes by tuming the clichés of common belief on their head and revealing new and unconventional perspectives on life, In Text F13 Lord Henry's opinions often seem to contradict the accepted view of things. He says, for example, that thought is more superficial than beauty (line 23), while the opposite is generally accepted to be true. Find other examples of Lord Henry's paradoxical statements, Do you agree with any of Lord Henry's unconventional views? (ER Which clichés are turned on their head in these paradoxical statements made by ~ In marriage, three is company and two is none. ~ Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes ~ One should always be in love. This is the reason one should never marry. ~ Whenever people agree with me, | always feet | must be wrong. ~ Only the shallow know themselves. ~The clever people never listen, and the stupid people never talk. Do you agree with any of these unconventional views? | The English saying ‘You should never judge a book by its cover’ means that you should not judge people on what i classmates. they look tike but you should get to know what they are really like. Does this happen in real life? Discuss with your the Picture of Dor It Is the Face of My Soul fav Dorian shows the painting to Basil Hallward, who has not seen it sinee he first painted it Chapter 13 G) ‘So you think that it is only God who sees the soul, Ba curtain back, and you will see mine, ‘The voice that spoke was cold and cruel. ‘You are mad, Dorian, or playing a part,‘ muttered? Halfward, frowning?, ‘You won't? Then 1 must do it myself,’ said the young man, and he tore the curtain from its rod? and flung’ it on the ground. An exclamation of horror broke from the painter's lips as he saw in the dim! light the hideous face on the canvas grinning® at him. There was something in its expression that filled him with disgust and loathing” Good heavens! It was Dorian Gray’s own face that he was looking at! The horror, whatever it was, had not yet entirely spoiled’ that marvellous beauty. There was still some gold in the thinning hair and some scarlet on the sensual month. The sodden” eyes had kept something of the loveliness of their blue, the noble curves had not yet completely passed away from chiselled nostrils" and from plastic throat. Yes, it was Dorian himself, But who had done it? He seemed to recognize his own brushwork, and the frame’! was his own design. The idea was monstrous, yet he felt aftaid. He seized the lighted candle, and held it to the picture. In the left-hand comer was his own name, traced in Jong letters of bright vermilion!2, It was some foul" parody, some infamous ignoble satire. He had never done that. Still, it was his own picture, He knew it, and he felt as if his blood had changed in a moment from fire to sluggish ice. His own. picture! What did it mean? Why had it altered? He turned and looked at Dorian Gray with the eyes of a sick man. His mouth twitched’, and his parched! tongue seemed unable to articulate, He passed his hand across his forehead. It was dank with clammy sweat!”, ‘the young man was icaning against the mantelshelf', watching him with that strange expression that one sees on the faces of those who are absorbed in a play when some great artist is acting. There was neither real sorrow in it nor real joy. There was simply the passion of the spectator, with perhaps a flicker”? of triumph in his eyes, He had taken the flower out of his coat, and was smelling it, or pretending to do so. ‘What does this mean?! cried Hallward, at last. His own voice sounded shrill’? and curious in his ears, “Years ago, when I was a boy,’ said| Dorian Gray, crushing the flower in his, hand, ‘you met me, flattered! me, and taught me to be vain of my good looks, One day you introduced me to a friend of yours, who explained to me the wonder of youth, and you finished a portrait of me that revealed to me the wonder of beauty. In a mad moment that, even now, I don’t know whether} regret”* or not, I made a wish, perhaps you would call ita prayer...’ 1? Draw that » #0 40 ~Oscar Wilde 51 GLOSSARY Geom 1. motored: ssid in a low voice 2. frowning: looking Lispleased 3. rod: long stick 4. Hung: threw S. dim: weak 6. grinning: siting 7. loathing: hatred 8 spoiled: ruined 9. sodden: wate [Link] nostatls: ‘wellshaped nose 11. srame: the border surrounding the pleture 12. vermilion: a bright redldish-orange colour [Link]: obscene [Link] slow= aioving [Link]: made quick, small movements 16. parched dry [Link] with Jammy sweats wet with, sticky old perspiration I. mantelshelf: top of 3 Dreplae 19. flicker: fh 20. shill: high sounding 21, Hlattered: paid me compliments 22,regret: ami sory about 2 dD 32. THE VICTORIAN AG | A scene from the film Wilde (1997). [Link]: huni 24, Mildew: whitish ‘substance that forms ina damp place was: cloth sed te paint on, 26, wretehved awtul 2?.mist-staineds wot 28, shauneful: to fee! bod about 29, worshipped adored 30. gazed: looked 31. faney: think 32,within: inside [Link]: ugliness Bé-leprosles .. away: as leprosy destroys bits ‘ofthe body, sin was, destroying the portrait 35. rotting: decomposing [Link]: round hole holding it 37. spuitering: almost extinguished [Link]: thew 239. rickely: unsteady. [Link]: crying 41. tear-dimmed eyes: ‘eyes blinded by tears [Link]: said hesitantly - Fiction ‘Tremember it! Oh, how well I remember it! No! The thing is impossible, The room is damp. Mildew”! has got into the canvas’’, The paints I used had some wretched”¢ mineral poison in them. | tell you the thing is impossible. ‘ah, what is impossible?’ murmured the young man, going over to the window and leaning his forehead against the cold, mist-stained”” glass, "You told me you had destroyed i.’ ‘I was wrong. It has destroyed me.’ ‘don’t believe it is my picture,’ rn’ you see your ideal in it?” said Dorian bitterly. ‘My ideal, as you call it ..' ‘As you called it! “There was nothing evil in it, nothing shameful**, You were to me such an ideal as I shall never meet again. This is the face of a satyr.’ ‘Tis the face of my soul.! ‘Christ! what a thing [ must have worshipped™! It has the eyes of a devi ‘Each of us has heaven and hell in him, Basil,’ cried Dorian with a wild gesture of despair. Hallward turned again to the portrait and gazed at it. ‘My God! If it is true’ he exclaimed, ‘and this is what you have done with your life, why, you must be worse even than thase who talk against you fancy*! you to bel’ He held the light up again to the canvas and examined it. The surface seemed to be quite undisturbed and as he had left it. It was from within”, apparently, that the foulness*? and horror had come. Through some strange quickening of inner life the Ieprosies of sin were slowly eating the thing away*, The rotting’ of a corpse in @ watery grave was not so fearful, His hand shook, and the candle fell from its socket®® on the floor and lay there sputtering’. He placed his foot on it and put it out. Then he flung* himself into the rickety” chair that was standing by the table and buried his face in his hands. ‘Good God, Dorian, what a lesson! What an awful lesson!’ There was no answer, but he could hear the young man sobbing” at the window. ‘Pray, Dorian, pray,’ he murmured. ‘What is it that one was taught to say in one’s boyhood? ‘Lead us not into temptation. Forgive us our sins. Wash away our iniquities.' Let us Say that together. The prayer of your pride bas been answered, The prayer of your repentance will be answered also, 1 worsbipped you too much, I am punished for it, You worshipped yourself too much, We are both punished.’ Dorian Gray turned slowly around and looked at him with tear-dimmed eyes". ‘It is too late, Basil,’ he faltered”, 45 30 56 cy 65 ” 80 85 COMPREHENSION —— 1 What does Dorian think the painting represents? 2 What is Basil’s reaction to the painting? Does he immediately recognise the painting as his own work? 3 Basil's disgust manifests itself in physical symptoms What are they? How does Dorian respond to Basil's sense of repugnance? ANALYSIS 1 Focus on the character of Dorian and examine the contradictory duality of his nature. a, Find expressions in the opening section of the passage (lines 1-32) which suggest that Dorian is, quite detached and unmoved by the scene he Is witnessing. ind words anc expressions in the final paragraph of the passage which indicate that his emotional state has changed dramatically. . Dorian says ‘Each of us has heaven and hell in him” ine 62). What does he mean by this statement? Does he, himself, assume any of the responsibility for what has happened? Is there any evidence in the text that Darian lames Basil for what has happened? (Be shows his moral and physical degradation, { | tn groups of tree, do two drawings, one which shows Dorian atthe height of his beauty and the second which | | 4 What explanations does Basil offer for the transformations in the painting? What conclusions does Basil draw about Dorian’s life on the basis of the changes in the painting? 5 What ‘sin’ does Basil think both he and Dorian have committed? 2 Unlike Dorian, Basil seems to think that God could intervene to save the situation. Where is this indicated in the text? 3 Indeterminacy in description is at times more effective than detail; what is hinted at or implied often has more impact. Consider how the painting is described in the passage. Two techniques are employed: = stating what is missing or has been lost from the painting compared to the original, ~ description of Basil's reaction to the painting Find examples of both techiniques. THE VICTORIAN AGE - Fictio: ean URE EES cepocerpueremscemuenesess Studies and aestheticism = S| Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin in 1854 into an upper-middle class family. He was educated in Dublin and at Oxford where he excelled as a student, At Oxford he came under the influence of Walter Pater (> p. F133) whose Aestiietic Movement proposed that art was not meant to instruct, of provide moral, social or political guidelines, The phrase ‘art for art’s sake’ captured the aesthetic belief that art was an end in itself London When he finished his studies Wilde moved to London where his wit, iony and brilliant conversational skills opened the doors to fashionable society for him. He applied the aesthetic ideals to all areas of his life, He wore flamboyant clothes, adopted extravagant poses and considered eccentricity to be the outward appearance of genius. He became a celebrity long before he wrote a single word of literary significance. (1854-1900) Lecture four in USA. Short of funds, in 1882 he went to Canada and the USA on @ lecture tour on ‘he aesthetics’. He played the role of the Aesthete and the English Decadent in front of stunned audiences. HHe became famous for his outrageous and witty remarks, When asked, Jor example, by @ customs official if he had anything to declare, he replied, ‘Nothing but my genius’ Marriage and early works In 1884 Wilde got married. The wedding, was a sensational society event, which was carefully staged and choreographed by Wilde himself. The couple had two children, In 1888 he published a volume of fairy stories, The Happy Prince and Other Tales. In 1891 his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, appeared arousing scandalised protest against what was considered its immoral content, In 1887 Wilde became editor of a magazine and published essays and more fairy stories. Playwriting Wilde then turned to playwriting. In the early 1890s he wrote and produced a series of hilarious comedies which were showcases for his epigrammatic brilliance and shrewd social observations. The witty style and provocative themes of the plays attracted huge audiences and Wilde was haited as the saviour of British theatre Trial and rejection In 1891 he met Lord Alfred Douglas, with whom he had a homosexual relationship. When the young man’s father, the Marquis of Queensbury, publicly insulted him Wilde aved for libel but lost hnis case. He was prosecuted and sentenced to two years’ hard labour for homosexaal acts. Everyone who had admired him, friends, acquaintances, and his own family rejected him. The sentence also ruined him financially, After his release, he left England and wandered around Europe, under a false name, living on borrowed money. Humniliated and in poor health, he died a lonely death of cerebral meningitis in a modest hotel room in Paris at the age of forty-six, 8 Oscar Wilde expressed his talent in poetry, fiction and drama “S83 Poems Wilde's literary career started in 1881 with a collection of Poems which he published at his own expense. The book attracted favourable critical reviews. He seturned to poetry just before dying, writing he Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898), a gripping account of nis brutal experience as a convict that includes a plea for prison reform, At the time the poem was Writers’ Gailery - Oscar Wilde published, Wilde's name was so unacceptable in England that it appeared under the pseudonym of C33, Wilde’s prison number, Prose Jn the late 1880s Wilde published his much acclaimed collection of fairy tales The Happy Prince and Other Tales, stories which he had first invented for his own children, The book was followed by other collections that show the talent of a master storyteller: Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime and Other Stories, The Canterville Ghost and A House of Pomegranates Wilde's only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, was published in 1891. The novel is based on the myths of Narcissus and Paust: a young hedonist in love with his youth and beauty wishes to remain etemally young and handsome. His wish is:granted, but over time his portrait grows old and ugly and shows the physical consequences of his amoral and criminal life. The Victorian public considered the novel shocking and immoral. However, many recognised the homibly corrupt picture as a fitting symbol for the immorality and hypocrisy of theit society. Comedies Wilde's everlasting fame lies in his plays. His resurrection of the Comedy of Manners (> pp. D96-97) breathed new life into the stagnant English stage. One successful play followed another: Lady Windermere’s Faw (1892), A Wontan of No Importance (1895), Art Ideal Husband (1895) and his masterpiece, The Importance of Being Eamest (1898) (F Text F32). Wilde had finally found a way of turing his genius for conversation into literature. The plays are simply vehicles for his inimitably witty dialogues. The Importance of Being Earnest best illustrates Wilde’s ability to mix far romantic comedy and social satire, igrams Wilde challenged Victorian society with his wit and cynical views. His name has become \< oy] * synonymous with witty dialogue and aphorisms and he . is probably the most quoted author after Shakespeare. Age eS é Sayings such as: ‘A man who moralizes is usually a hypocrite, and a woman who moralizes is invariably plain‘, ‘Women are meant to be loved, not to be understood’ and ‘The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it’ are still widely quoted today, Reputation i is often said that Oscar Wilde's greatest ‘work of art was his life, and indeed the events of his life tend fo overshadow his achievements as a writer, Today he is remembered for his beautifully written fairy tales, his intriguingly ambiguous novel and his delightful and witty plays, which are still widely performed. of 4 oO \SCARWILDE ee iv Wsirated a‘ we, lllivated dy Chas o | Oscar Witte: westhete [a1 eccentet Kendvi TASK Use the section headings as guidelines Lo take notes on Oscar Wilde's biography. Then, referring to your Notes, prepare a short report on the author's life and works. 58 1B f 96. rue vicroman ac ‘Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy ABO BI | In Victorian England, an unmarried woman who had a baby risked being ostracised by many people on moral grounds. What would happen today if a very poor young unmarried women had a baby and was immediately abandoned by the father? Which of the following scenarios do you think are most likely? Order them from 1 (most likely) to 4 (least fikely). CE she woutd raise the baby herself and forget about the father completely She would try to convince the father to change his mind and marry her. 7 _] She would go to court to prove by means of a DNA test that he is the father and make him pay for the upkeep of the child. Explain the advantages of your first choice, | | | i! | i | [J she woutd have the baby adopted. | IC i INTRODUCTION & When Thomas Hardy died in 1928 his coffin was carried by, among others, Rudyard Kipling and George Beard Shaw. They were paying homage to a colleague who had brought to life in his novels the beauty of rural England, and in particular of the south-west counties, which he called ‘Wessex. In this rural setting he described the lives of ordinary men and women who, like Tess in Tess of the d’Urbervilles, were often forced to lead restricted lives by a backward and uncaring society. — THe sory CHARACTERS. ag ap cn Tess Durbeyfield, a poor country girl, learns that she is descended from a noble farnily, the aa a’Urbervilles, Wher she goes to find her rich relatives, she is sestuced by Alec d’Urbervilles + Mec U'Urbervilles, aarich young man + Angel Clare, Tess’ Jnusband and kas a baby (> ‘Text F15) who les in infianey. She goes to work on a dairy fan and falls in Jove with Angel Clare, On their wedding night she reveals the secret of her relationship with Alec, Angel reacts angrily, abandons hier and goes to Brazil Out of necessity, and fo help her family, she goes back to Alec, When she hears that Angel dias returned to England and realises he has forgiven her, she kills Alec ina fivof anger Tess and Angel run away to escape fiom the police but she is eventually captured at Stonehenge (> ext FL6) and hanged. > visual Dank ¥3 2 The Girl in the Pink Cotton Jacket For the first time since the birth of her child, Tess returns to work other people fiorn the village with the harvesting. She is helping te GLOSSARY 1, finely draven: Shapter 14. distinctively good Chapter 14 looking ( fej ae eea ‘This morning the eye returns involuntarily to the girl in the pink cotton 4, binds: ties: jacket, she being the most flexuous and finely-drawn'! figure of them all. 5. complexion: skin But her bonnet? is pulled so far over her brow? that none of her face is 6. stray twine: loose disclosed while she binds’, though her complexion® may be guessed from piece a stray twine® or two of dark brown hair which extends below the curtain’ 7. camtuin: & Tess of the d’'Urbervilles ~ Thomas Hardy 57, of her bonnet. Perhaps one season why she seduces casual attention is that she never courts it*, though the other women often gaze? around them, ) It is Tess Durbeyfield, otherwise «’Urbervilles, somewhat changed ~ the same, but not the same; at the present stage of her existence living as a stranger and an alien here, though it was no strange land that she was in. After a long seclusion" she had come to a sesulve to undertake”! outdoor work in her native village, the busiest season of the year in the ageicultural world having arrived, and nothing that she could do within the house being so remunerative for the time as harvesting’? in the fields, ‘The movements of the other women were more ot less similar to Tess’s, the whole bevy" of them drawing together like dancers in a quadeille™ at the completion of a sheaf’S by each, every one placing her sheaf on end against those of the rest, till a shack, or ‘stitch’! as it was here called, of ten or a dozen was formed. ‘They went to breakfast, and came again, and the work proceeded as before. As the hour of eleven drew near!? a person watching her might have noticed that every now and then Tess's glance flitted wistfully to the brow’* of the hill, though she did not pause in her sheafing. On the verge of the hour”? the heads of a group of children, of ages ranging from six to fourteen, rose above the stubbly” convexity of the hill ‘The face of Tess flushed slightly”, but still she did not pause. The eldest of the comers, a girl who wore a triangular shawl, its corer draggling on the stubble, carried in her arms what at first. sight seemed to bea doll, but proved to be an infant in long clothes, Another brought some lunch. The harvesters ceased working, took their provisions, and sat down against one of the shocks, Here they fell to”, the men plying stone jar freely, and passing round a cup. ‘Tess Durbeytield had been one of the last to suspend her labours, She sat down at the end of the shock, her face turned somewhat away from her companions. When she had deposited herself a man in a rabbit-skin cap and with a red handkerchief tuckee into his belt, held the cup of ale over the top of the shock for her to drink. But she did not accept his offer, As soon as her lunch was spread” she called up the big girl her sister, and took the baby of her, who, glad to be relieved of the burden’, went away to the next shock and joined the other children playing there. Yess, with a curiously stealthy? yet courageous movement, and with a still rising colo, unfastened her frock™ and began suckling" the child, The men who sat nearest considerately* tumed their faces towards the other end of the field, some of them beginning to smoke; one, with absent-minded fondness®, regretfully stroking the jas that would no longer yield a stream®, All the women but Tess*® fell into animated talk, and adjusted the disarranged knots of their hair 8. cours it looks for it Ha resolve to undertake: 3 the wheat ®. gave: look Aecision to stast [Link]: group 10, seclusion: sottary hfe [Link]: gathering in 14, quadrille: popular dance » 2» 28 30 40 ‘ti ss Brbel,oherie Erber, somentet change the same bul ot the same A Sen | rom the in Tess by tomo ofan (1979), staing Nestssa Kins, [Link]: bunch of ‘wheat ted together [Link], ox ‘tive’ accumuiated pile [Link] near: came closer [Link] Nitied ‘row: looked thoughtfully (vistfutly) at the top, 19,0n the verge of the Dour: whea i ws almost eleven, _20,stubbly: rough 21. lashed slighty: went atte ed 22. dragging: hanging ‘down [Link] to: started (their tone) [Link] @ stone jar freely: drinking, om stone container [Link]: pasted 26, as spread: pat in front of ber 27 xctieved of the Dundes food of the heavy load [Link]: quietly so as | nat to he noticed 29.4 stil sising eolowy setting redder in the face nfastened her frock: copyee er dress 31 sleing: breast. feeding [Link]: kindly [Link]: Kindness stroking: caressing [Link] longer... stream: sr was empiy 36, brutes: with the ‘exception of Tess 30, 37.1n her ap: on her legs 38,dandledt it: moved #1 up and down 39,onsel: attack [Link] hate Ashe mid en: she ‘might pretend to hate it 42, petticoat; underskirt 43,leave off: stop [Link] bull. yellowAown TRE VICTORIAN AGE ~ Fiction When the infant had taken its fill the young mother sat it upright in her lap”, and looking into the far distance dandled it®* with a gloomy indifference that was almost dislike; then all of a sudden she fell to 50 violently kissing it some dozens of times, as if she could never leave off, the child crying at the vehemence of an onset® which strongly combined passlonateness with contempt’®. ‘She's fond of that there child, though she mid pretend to hate en, and say she wishes the baby and her too were in the churchyard,’ observed the 55 48.'tls wonderful time! is amazing (wonderful) how a person (body! ean get used to something like ‘hat (0! that sort) ever 2 period of tine COMPREHENSION ~ 1 In the opening paragraph Tess is clescribed physically. Fil n the table with the details you can find in the text. Clothes Headwear Physique woman in the red petticoa ‘She'll soon leave off’ saying that,’ replied the one in buff. ‘Lord, ‘tis wonderful what a body can get used o’ that sovt in time!" ANALYSIS: ‘What kind of natrator is used to tell the story? i Thied person" First person* Twice the narrator intrudes into the text: “This morning the eye returns involuntarily to the git in pink..." dine 1) ‘As the hour of eleven drew near a person watching her might have noticed...’ (line 21) On the basis of these intrusions what attitude does the narrator seem to have towards telling the story? He is eager to tell the story. He is detached and objective, He is drawn reluctantly into telling the story. He is passionately involved in Tess's dilemma, 2 Hardy’s descriptive style is often described as cinematagraphic. His descriptions move from the general {o the particular like @ cameraman who starts with a ‘wide angle’ or ‘long shot’ and moves nearer for a ‘close-up’. The opening paragraph, for example, starts with a long shot of a git! in a pink cotton jacket working in a field and then moves in for a close-up of the stray strands of dark brown hair. Find other examples in the text of ‘long shots’ and ‘close ups’, 12 2 Why had Tess decided to return to outdoor work? 3 What happened at eleven o'clock? What was the girl in the triangular shaw! carrying? -& What did the men and women do as Tess breast fed her child? 5 What did Tess do when she had finished feeding the infant? 6 What, according to the woman in the red peiticoat, did Tess wish for herself and her child? 3 Focus on the description of Tess in the opening paragraph (lines 1-8). What features are underlined? 4 In fines 9-10 the narrator says that Tess is ‘iving as a stranger and an alien’. Find exanples in the text wh ‘Tess does not join in the activities of her fellow workers, ~ there is physical distance between her and the other workers, 5 How would you define Tess's attitude towards her child? (Lines 48-53) On the basis of what you know of the story, can you explain her attitude? “Tess ‘dandled it (the infant) with a gloomy indifference and ‘fell to violently kissing it’. (Lines 49-51) Which of these ways of behaving reflects: - her moral and religious upbringing? | = her natural matemat instinct? 6 Focus on the reaction of the other workers to Tess and her infant. Do they show any interest in the child? What attitudes do the comments made at the end of the passage suggest? Tess of the dUrbervilles ~ Thomas Hardy 59 Having lived a lonely and isolated existence through pregnancy and immediately after the birth of her child, Tess has found the inner strength to rejoin her community even though she still feels estranged from it. ‘Ave there situations today where people feel cut off from society because it juciges them unjustly? Are we more tolerant of those who are different from the majority than people were in the nineteenth century? Is your society intolerant of the following? '8 Young people who drass in an FS Beggars on the streets, Different religious practices unusual way, have piercings, etc. = Unmarried couplestiving together st Teenage pregnancy : It Is Stonehenge! FeCe2 ‘ess anil Angel Clare are on the nun fiom the police, who want to arrest her for the | murder of Alec d’Urbervilles. | Chapter 58 ‘They had proceeded thus gropingly! two or three miles further when on a sudden Clare became conscious of some vast erection? close in his front, sising sheer from’ the grass. They had almost struck themselves against it. ‘What monstrous place is this?” said Angel ‘Tt bums')’ said she. 'Hearken’?” 5 He listened. The wind, playing upon the edifice, produced a booming tune, like the note of some gigantic one-stringed harp. No other sound came from it, and lifting his hand and advancing a step or two, Clare felt the vertical surface of the structure, It seemed to be of solid stone, without joint or moulding®, Carrying his fingers onward he found that what he had 10 come in contact with was a colossal rectangular pillar’; by stretching out GLOSSARY his left hand he could fee) a similar one adjoining®. At an indefinite height 1. gropingly: with, overhead something made the black sky blacker, which had the semblance sttienity because of a vast architrave uniting the pillars horizontally. They carefully entered | a, erection: building beneath and between; the surfaces echoed their soft rustle; but they 15 | 3. sheer from: directly seemed to be still out of doors. ‘The place was roofless, ‘Tess drew her breath en eee ee fearfully, and Angel, perplexed, said ‘What can it be?’ like bees Feeling sideways they encountered another tower-like pillaz, square and 5. Vearken: listen uncompromising” as the first; beyond it another and another, The place froma ini ania ‘was all doors and pillars, some connected above by continuous architraves, 20 piece ‘Avery Temple of the Winds," he said. 2, pillar column The next pillar was isolated; others composed a trilithon"; others were Ee email ores prostrate, their flanks forming a causeway!? wide enough for a carriage; 9, rustle: sound. and if was soon obvious that they made up a forest of monoliths grouped eee upon the grassy expanse of the plain, The couple advanced further into 25 arieaidysntncadcent this pavition of the night till they stood in its midst, ‘of Ene stones [Link] ewways posing [Link]: pagan 14. shelter: protection ‘itis Stonchenge!’ said Clare. “The heathen" temple, you mean?’ “Yes. Older than the centuries; older than the d’Urbervilles! Well, what 1S flung: threw shall we do, darling? We may find shelter further on.’ But Tess, ceally 30 16, Dae tired by this time, flung’® herself upon an oblong slab" that lay close at stone [Link] to: because of [Link] and chitls ‘uncoarfortuble and coke [Link] vet 20), tevel streak horizontal ine 21. The uniform of a pots the black clouds, ‘which looked like a solid dome (uniform, concavity) nese Bisinng up in dhe seine way a cover lifts off a por 22,carth’s edge: healzon [Link]; tall 24,presently: soon [Link]: hoe [Link] that impress: give an impression ayy _grassy expanse of the plain’, hand, and was sheltered from the wind by a pillar. Owing to” the action of the sun during the preceding day the stone was warm and dry, in comforting contrast to the rough and chill’ grass around, which had damped"? her skirts and shoes, ‘J don't want to go any further, Angel,’ she said stretching out her hand for his...) in the far north-east sky he could see between the pillars a level streak” of light. The uniform concavity of black cloud was lifting bodily like the lid ofa pot?!, letting in at the earth's edge the coming day, against which the towering monoliths and trilithons began to be blackly defined ‘Did they sacrifice to God here?’ asked she, 'No,' said he. “who to?” ‘Cbelieve to the sun, That lofty® stone set away by itself is in the direction of the sun, which will presently” rise behind it.’ (...) In a minute or two her breathing became more regular, her clasp’ of his hand relaxed, and she fell asleep. The band of silver paleness along the east horizon made even the distant parts of the Great Plain appear dark and near; and the whole enormous landscape bore that impress”° of reserve, taciturnity, and hesitation which is ustial just before day. The eastward pillars and their architraves stood up blackly against the light, ‘se ond it wos soon obvious thet they mode H] up a forest of monoliths greuped upon the | Stonehenge by JM.W, Turmer (1775-1851). 35 45 ess of the d'Urbervilles ~ and the great flame-shaped Sun-stone beyond them; and the stone of sacrifice midway. Presently the night wind died out, and the quivering?” Jittle pools in the cup-like hollows’* of the stones lay still, At the same ss time something seemed to move on the verge” of the dip™ eastward ~ a mere ¢ot®. It was the head of a man approaching them from the hollow beyond the Sun-stone, Clare wished they had gone onward, but in the circumstances decided to remain quiet. The figure came straight towards the citcle of pillars in which they were, 0 He heard something behind him, the brush of feet, Turning, he saw over the prostrate columns another figure; then before he was aware", another was at hand on the right, under a trilithon, and another on the leit. The dawn shone full on the front of the man westward, and Clare could discern from this that he was tall, and walked as if trained. They all closed 6s in’ with evident purpose, Her story then was true! Springing" to his feet, he looked around for a weapon, loose stone, means of escape, anything, By this time the nearest man was upon him. ‘it is no use, sir,’ he said. ‘There are sixteen of us on the Plain, and the whole country is reared?” 7 ‘Let her finish her sleep!" he implored in a whisper of the men as they gathered round When they saw where she lay, which they had not done till then, they showed no objection, and stood watching her, as still as the pillars around, He went to the stone and bent over her, holding one poor little 75 hand; her breathing now was quick and small, like that of a lesser creature than a woman, All waited in the growing light, their faces and hands as if they were silvered, the remainder of their figures dark, the stones glistening green-grey, the Plain still a mass of shade. Soon the light was Strong, and a ray shone upon her unconscious form, peering” under her so eyelids and waking her. ‘What fs it, Angel?’ she said, starting up. ‘Have they come for me?! ‘Yes, dearest,’ he sald. ‘They have come,’ ‘Its as it should be,’ she murmured, ‘Angel, 1 am almost glad - yes, glad! This happiness could not have lasted. it was too much. Ihave had 8s enough; and now | shall not live for you to despise mel’ She stood up, shook herself, and went forward, neither of the men having moved. "Iam ready,’ she said quietly. ‘COMPREHENSION ~——— 1 Find expressions that are used to refer to 3 At what time of day does the action take place? 7 What request does Clare make have come for Tess? 8 Does Tess resist the arrest? 4 What was Stonehenge used for in the past, according to Clare? Thomas Nordy [Link]: [Link]: cavities 29. verge: edge 30. dip: lower Janet [Link]: spot 32. brush qulek, light sound aves vealed ‘4a hand: close by ‘8. closed in: came loser [Link]: jumping 7 reated: looking for you 28. glistening: shining 39, peering: penetratiny 40, despises hate 5 From which direction does Clare see the first man Stonehenge, for example ‘monstrous place’ (fine 4). approaching? 2 Tess lies down on a stone. How does it comfort her? 6 What does Clare realise when he sees men coming towards therm from all directions? of the men who 61 rembling BF. 62 IME VICTORIAN AGE ~ Fiction ANALYSIS on 1 Focus on the setting*. Find expressions in the text that: ~ suggest it was extremely dark. ~ convey the enormity of the stones. - underiine the lack of shelter provided by them. Which of the following adjectives would you choose to describe the setting? “Hostile Alien 5 Inhospitable ‘Welcoming Familiar ® Comforting 2 In view of what is about to happen, Tess’s declaration that she does not ‘want to go any further’ (line 36) can he interpreted on two levels. What are they? 3 Identify the simile in lines 39-40 which creates a striking visual image of daybreak 4 Re-tead lines 48-55, Does the arrival of daylight suggest the idea of comfort or impending doom? Which human characteristics are attributed to the early morning landscape? What kind of person do they suggest? 5 The descriptive passage in lines 1-60 has a cinematographic quality. The description starts from a general ‘wide angle’ view andl then focuses on the particular, Complete the sentences below which analyse the description in cinematographic terms. |. Wide angle camera shot: The eastward pillars and their architraves stood up ... bb. The wide angle camera picks out an indistinct detall:. Una ea Re OA ces Symbolic setting c. The camera focuses on the detail which becomes, clearer: d. The camera draws closer to the detail: . 6 What is Tess compared to in line 74 as she ties sleeping on the stone? Who are the men that are standing around her and what are they about to do? How can this striking scene be finked to the concept of sactifice that has been associated with Stonehenge earlier in the passage? 7 The sun plays an important symbolic rote in this passage. Find the line references in the text for the following: ~ the sun as the god to which sacrifices were made in ancient times: = the sun that warms and dries the stone Tess fies on when she cannot ‘go any further’ - the sun that creates an early moming landscape of “reserve, taciturnity and hesitation’: ~ the sun that awakens Tess's ‘unconscious forrn’ On the basis of your reading, what symbolic meaning do you attribute to the sun? In line 84 Tess says ‘It is as it should be’. What does this statement suggest about her outlook on life? How would you describe her reaction to being arrested? The place in which a story or an episode from a story takes place is usually of considerable importance. A writer may, for example, choose a setting which reinforces the central theme of his work; a stormy landscape may underline the emotional turmoil ofa character; a bleak, isolated house may suggest loneliness and alienation. ‘The setting in these cases comes to s it as a symbolic setting. mbolise the centyal ideas of the work and we therefore refer to ‘The final episode of Thomas Hardy's novel is set in the prehistoric temple of Stonehenge. What is the symbolic significance of this choice? symbolic setting for Example episode in a story: a couple falling in love symbolic setting: Verona cultural association: Romeo and Juliet Think of a place that has historical or cultural assaciations. Suggest how it could be used as a nN episode in a story. Two examples have been provided to help you. episode in a story: the realisation that the German plan to invacle Great Britain has failed symbolic setting: a beach in Normandy historical association: D-Day invasion | Stonehenge is one of the major European Megalithic sites and was built by Celtic or pre-Celtic peoples. Why do these sites hold a fascination for many people today? Keep in mind their location, what they were used for and | [ any spiritual significance they may have had, Discuss with the rest ofthe class, Writers’ Gatlery Thomas Hardy 63 ee Licata anda eG Karly years Thomas Hard in nn Ds sts ie in 1840 in Dorchester, in south-west England, the son of a mason. His mother encouraged his early interest in reading and, aithough he was self-taught, he had a good grounding in the classics. At the age of sixteen he became an apprentice to a local architect and in 1862 he moved to London, where he worked as an architect's assistant. ny Sint First litevary efforts In 1867 he started work on his first novel, which was rejected by the publishers. Despite this initial disappointment, he continued writing and in 1871 his first published novel, Desperate Remedies, appeared. This was followed by Under the Greenwood Tiee (1872) and A Pair of Blue Eyes (1873), which were moderately successful, The publication in 1874 of Far fom the Madding Crowd launched bis literary career, The success of this novel allowed him to give up his job in architecture and dedicate himself to writing. Intense writing Having finally reached financial stability, Hasdy marvied and started a long fruitful period (1875-1895) of intense writing. He travelled on the Continent and spent three months of the year in London, Most of his time was spent in the countryside of his native Dorset which he used as the setting for most of his novels and called ‘Wessex’ after the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Aifred the Great. He dedicated himself to writing short stories, but then returned to writing novels and Produced two works of great stature: Tess of the d’Urbervilles (1891) and Jude the Obscure (1898). Literary critics of the day attacked these works, accusing Hardy of pessimism and immorality. This hostile reaction convinced Hardy to give up fiction and to go back to poetry, which he had written since his youth. Poetry Over the next thirty years he published eight collections of poetry which include over 800 poems, At the height of his fame, in 1910, he was awarded the Order of Merit as one of the county's prominent men of letters. Although his marriage was not happy, the sudden death of his wife in 1912 triggered a period of depression and remorse out of which came one of his finest collections of poetry, Pocins of 1912-1913. In 1914 he remarried and continued working relentlessly until he died at the age of eighty-seven, He was buried in the Poets’ Corner at Westminster Abbey, ARE £2 Novels of character and environment Vardy’s fictional RODRALTAULCSSOSEES production was enormous and includes fifteen large novels, five smaller novels and three collections of short stories. ‘The novels that have best endured the test of time are Far from the. Madding Crowd (1874), The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), Tess of the d’Urbervilles (1891) and Jude the Obscie (1895). In the so-called ‘novels of Character and environment’ Hardy tells the tragic stories of characters who are powerless to fight against their adverse fate, The setting is the southwestem region of England where Hardly spent most of his ife and which he called "Wessex". His description of the English countzyside is fat removed from the idealised version offered by the Romantics. The hard labour of the farmers, their eness and often ‘unrewarded toil is depicted with grim realism. ‘Phe rural settings are generally described in great detail 4nd are often used to help the reader interpret the moods and feelings of the characters 7 - ear Phomeatingy (0S England, i a region 4 he called Wess. te th ie NAGE - Hetion Hardy's novels ore set in the south-west of eo Auntie, sex ES [oie oak ho Tonio again {" \ fUPPERS, “teiaeeine a i Pessitnism and fate All of Hardy's fiction reflects his deep pessimism. In the world he describes, man cannot fight against a malign fate which corrupts any possibility of happiness and leads him towards tragedy, Tess, for example, whom Hardy deseribes as a ‘pure woman’ in the full title of the novel, is subjected to endless indignities, assaults and defeats before finally surrendering to her destiny and dying for her ‘sins’. Victorian hypocrisy Another element that plays a role in crushing the hopes of Hardy's characters is Victorian society, whose hypocritical values straitjacket thoughts, plans and hopes. This is especially true for Hardy's female characters, whose bleak lives and loveless marriages are mastesfully exposed (Visual Link F6), Narrative technique Most of Hardy's novels are told from the third-person omniscient point of view*, which allows the narrator to intervene and comment on the action, Colourfal, convincing dialogue and moving descriptions are also characteristic of his art, Hardy had a great ear for speech and was one of the first English novelists to use segional dialects without condescension. His descriptive genius captured an English countryside that was fast disappearing. His technique of ‘long range’ to ‘close-up! description foreshadowed the cinematic technique of ‘zooming in’, Poetry The tragedy of men and women, tormented by the cruelty of life, is also a major theme in Hardy's poetzy. His reputation as a poet today, however, rests on the beauty of his natuse poetry and the moving saciness of the poems he wrote after the death of his wife, Reputation ‘Thomas Hardy knew both the acclaim and hostility of the Victorian reading public. Although he received many distinctions, accolades and various honorary degrees, he was also subjected to harsh criticism for bis unrelenting pessimism and his frankness about sexual matters Today he is admired for his rejection of nineteenth-century materialism and his ability to bring to the novel the dignity of high tragedy. TASK ~ Prepare a short report about the main life events and achievements of Thomas Hardy. i erican Fiction, © | Se The Scarlet Lett by Nathaniel Hawthorne BEAD GB Read the following story, which encapsulates one of the themes of The Scarlet Letter, and complete it in no more | than three lines, Shaun Horlock had reached the top. He had jeined the company as a cleaner and now, twenty y 509, he was Chief | lxecative Oficer of what Had become ene of the work’ lexting multinationals, His success, however, had been paid for | tebe price. When his ain rival fr the top jb had die in cat crash a year eal, is colleagues had moumied | the las of one o the company’s ssing stars. Noboxy i ther wiklest deans could have suspected that it was Shaun who hrad engineered the accident. Now, at thie pionacle of his career, his conscience demanded that he reveal what he had done, Dut he was afraid of the consequences that such a revelation would liave on himself andl on his family INTRODUCTION © Nathaniel Hawthome was descended directly from America’s first Puritan settlers, In his work he examines the strict moral code that formed the comerstone of Puritan life, In The Scarlet Letter, one of the first great American novels, the characters have to come to terms with this code, Tue srory ~ The novel is set in the Puritan world of seventeenth-century Boston. Hester Prynne’s [CHARACTERS + Hester Prynne Iusband disappears for two years an, in the aneantime, she has an affair with a young + Arthun Dimmescate, and highly respected minister, Arthur Dimmesdate, She has a daughter by him called 4 pn mister an Pearl, For her sin of giving bleth outside marriage she has to wear a scarlet leter ‘A on + Pea, Hester and her breast. The letter identifies her as an adulteress and leaves her open to insult and Adtiur’ dager derision as she walks around the town. Her husband returns incognito and settles in the Sauna town under the name of Richard Chillingworth, a physician, He only reveals his true Hester's husband identity to Hester as he tries (o find out who her lover is, When he does, he hounds Dimmesdate day and night and subjects hinv to psychological torture Ditnmesdale cracks under the pressure and tries to make amends for his sin (> Text F12), Arthur and Hester plan to escape to Europe but Arthur backs out at the last minute, He makes a public confession on the scaffold in the centre of the town, where he dies in Hester's arms (m Text FI8), The Light that Is to Reveal all Secrets £¢4 Seven years have passed since Pearl's birth and Hester's condemnation as an adulteress, > Visual Link F6 Dinmnesdale, who has never raised any suspicion that he is the father of the child, is formented by qualms of conscience, In the middle of the night, he goes trto the central Sgtiare in the town and climbs onto the pillory where Hester was publicly condenmed, He cries out in the hope that people will come out of their homes and that he can then explain to thera what he has done, Nobody comes out except Hester and Pearl, who ellinb onto the pillry. GLOSSARY Chapter 12 2 wipe dng (..) ‘Ministerl! whispered? little Pearl. 2. wowldst thou: do ‘What wouldst thou? say, child” asked Mr Dimmesdale. EE esate ‘Wilt? thou stand here with mother and me, to-morrow noontide!? inquired Pearl 4. noontide; smidday “.. Hester Prynne, with the embroidered letter glimmering on her bosom .. ‘An itustvation from 0 ineteenth-century edition of “The Scarlet Letter, njunction: situation . nevertheless: despite thy motherand thee: your mother and you [Link] tried 12,judgment day: the day when God vl] decide who shall 20 LBimpetleds obliged [Link]: finished [Link]: shone [Link]: covered [Link] out 10 ‘waste: until ir burns [Link]: ight 21 betwixt: benvecn [Link]: large rounded Aanerieans ‘Nay®; not so, my little Pearl,’ answered the minister; for, with the new energy of the moment, all the dread’ of public exposure, that had so long been the anguish of his life, had returned upon him; and he was already trembling at the conjunction’ in which - with a strange joy, nevertheless* ~ he now found himself, ‘Not so, my child. I shall, indeed, stand with thy mother and thee” one other day, but not to-morrow! Pearl laughed, and attempted" to pull away her hand, But the minister held it fast", ‘A moment longer, my child!’ said he. ‘But wilt thou promise, asked Pear, ‘to take my hand, and mother's hand, to-morrow noontide?’ "Not then, Pearl,’ said the minister, ‘but another time. ‘And what other time?’ persisted the child. “At the great judgment day’,’ whispered the and, strangely enough, the sense that he was a professional teacher of the truth impelled!® him to answer the child so. ‘Then, and there, before the judgment-seat, thy mother, and thou", and 1, must stand together. But the daylight of this world shall not see our meeting!’ Pearl laughed again. But, before Mr Dimmesdale had done’ speaking, a light gleamed”® far and wide over ail the muffled’? sky. [t was doubtless caused by one of those meteors which the night-watcher may so often observe burning out to waste", in the vacant regions of the atmosphere, So powerful was its radiance'®, that it thoroughly” illuminated the dense medium of cload betwixt?" the sky and carth, The great vault brightened, like the dome” of an immense lamp, It showed the familiar scene of the street, with the distinctness of mid-day, but also with the awfulness that is always imparted to familiar objects by an unaccustomed” light. The wooden houses, with their jatting stories and quaint gable-peaks”'; the doar-steps and thresholds®, with the early grass springing up about them; the garden-plots®®, black with freshly twmed earth; the wheel-track, little worn’, and, even in the market-place, margined with green on either side all ~ were visible, but with a singularity of aspect that seemed to give another moral interpretation to the things of this world than they had ever bore” before. And there stood the minister, with his hand over his heart; and Hester Prynne, with the embroidered” letter gimmering™ on. her bosom™; and little Pearl, herself a symbol, and the connecting link between those two. They stood in the noon of that strange and solemn splendour, as if it were the light that is to reveal all secrets, and the __Saybreak that shat! unite al who belong to one another, ninister [Link]: unvsnal 25. treshokds: entrances toa 28,bosne: had 24, jutting stories... gable building 29, embroidered: sewn on peuks: floors that stick ont [Link]: small ploces of and cecoratively Guiting) and pretty [Link] whecL-track, little worn; [Link] shining (quaint) oof (gable-peals) the almost unnsed road 3I-bosom: breast ee Zi amen icici Ulan Sia eee COMPREHENSION ~ 1 Pearl innocently asks the minister to stand with her and her mother the following day (line 3), This simple act would have serious implications for the minister which the small child does not understand. What are they? 2 When does Dimmesdate promise to join hands \with his daughter and Hester? ANALYSIS 1 Peart has a symbolic function in this scene: (Line 40) a, What does she represent in your opinion? Bk Innocence Pure love i Human nature unspoiled by sacial conventions Bi Dimmesdale’s conscience b, Why do you think she faughs and tries to pull away when she hears the minister's replies to her questions? 2 Which does Dimmesdale seem to fear most, the judgement of his fellow-men or the judgement of God? 3 The sudden change from darkness to artificial light is of clear symbolic significance. The unaccustomed light gives ‘another moral interpretation to the things of this world. (Line 37) a, Which expression in the text suggests that the new light shines favourably on the relationship between these people? b, What does the new light represent? Fi Truth Enlightenment 5 God * Forgiveness Other: Pearl, although only a small child, embarrasses Dimmescale by asking him if he will stan and her mother in broad daylight the following day. Children, because of their innocence, sometimes say thin where children have innocently brought the Scarlet Letter ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne 3 Why does he feel impelied to tell the child the truth? 4 What, according to the narrator, causes the night sky to be illuminated? What became visible in the artificial light? 4 What kind of narrator* is used in this passage? First person* ° Limited third person” Onmisclent third person? ‘Where does he comment on and guide the reader’s interpretation of events? 5 The language in the passage is highly figurative. The narrator makes wide use of symbols, He also uses other figures of speech, Find examples of ersonitication* and simile’, \s the poetic style of the language appropriate to the theme® of the passage? igs that reveal the truth of a situation whieh adults would Lalher hide. in groups of three, think ofa situation from your own personal experiences or from films and books, tolight an embarrassing truth. if you cannot think of any, try to invent one. i on the pillory with her | 67 } 5.68 THE VICYORIAN AGE ~ American Fiction SUEIEED A Spell Was Broken Dintmesdate has finally found the resolve to adinit in public that he is Peaat’s father. in broad daylight, on the pillory in the middle of the central square, he addresses the assembled connmunity. Chapter 23 Co) ‘People of New England!’ cried he, with a voice that rose over them, high, solemn, and majestic - yet had always a tremor through it, and sometimes a shriek’, struggling up* out of a fathomiless? depth of remorse and woe! ~ ‘ye®, that have loved me! ~ ye, that have deemed® me holy ~ behold me” here, the one sinner of the world! At last! ~ at last! ~ 1 stand upon the spot where, seven years since®, | should have stood; here, with this woman, whose arm, more than the little strength wherewith [ have crept hitherward’, sustains me, at this dreadful!” moment, from grovelling down” upon my face! Lol, the scarlet letter which Hester wears! Ye have all shuddered’ at it! Wherever her walk hath" been - wherever, so miserably burdened'5, she may have hoped to find repose - it hath cast a lurid gleam of awe'® and horrible repugnance round about her, But there stood one in the midst’? of you, at whose brand" of sin and infamy ye have not shuddered! (...) Demi Moore as Hester Prynne on the pillory in the middle ofthe square ina scene trom the fim | The Searet Letter (1995). | NF GLOSSARY 1. shriek: acate sound 2. streggting wp: Sighting ts way up 3. fathomless bottomless 4. woe: pleut pa 5. yeryou 6. deemed: considered 2, ‘behold me: lok at me 8, since: ago 9, wherewith . Iitherward: with ‘which F have come slowly here 10, dreadful: terse 1. grovelling down: Jying down on the ground Gn shame) 42.10: look [Link] rembled, shaken (in disgost) hath has [Link]: loaded down, [Link] gleam of awe: Dorie light of fear [Link]: middle [Link] type the Scarlet Letter « Nathaniel Nawthorne 69 ‘Now, at the death-hour, he stands up before youl! He bids"? you look again at Hester's scarlet fetter! He tells you, that, with all its mysterious horror, it is but’? the shadow of what he bears! on his own breast, and that even this, his own red stigma, is no more than the type of what has seared his inmost heart! Stand any here™ that question God’s judgment on a sinner? Behold”*! Behold a dreadful witness® of it! With a convulsive motion, he tore away the ministerial band from before his breast. it was revealed! But it were irreverent to describe that revelation. For an instant, the gaze” of the horrar-stricken multitude was concentred on the ghastly?” miracle; while the minister stood, with a flush of triumph in his face, as one who, in the erisis of acutest pain, had won a victory. Then, down he sank upon the scaffold?! Hester partly saised him, and supported his head against her bosom*. Old Roger Chillingworth knelt down beside him, with a blank, dull countenance", out of which the life seemed to have departed, “Thou hast*? escaped mel’ he repeated more than once. “Thou hast ese ‘aped mel” ‘May God forgive thee’ said the minister, ‘Thou, too, hast deeply sinned!’ He withdrew his dying eyes from the old man™, and fixed them on the woman and the child, ‘My little Peasl,’ said he, feebly®5 ~ and there was a sweet and gentle smile over his face, as of a spirit sinking into deep repose; nay”, now that the burden” was removed, it seemed almost as if he would be sportive™ with the child ~ ‘dear little Pearl, wilt thou” kiss me now? Thou wouldst not, yonder*®, in the foyest! But now thou wilt?! Pearl Kissed his lips. A spell! was broken. The great scene of ariel, in which the wild infant bore a part, had developed all her sympathies"; and as her tears fell upon her father's cheek, they were the pledge“ that she would grow up amid" human joy and sorrow, nor for ever" do battle with the world, but be a woman in it. COMPREHENSION — 0 28 30 40 [Link] asks 20,it is but: Is only 2. bears: cakes 22,seared: burnt ‘Stand any here: Is there anyone here? [Link]: look: 25. witness: example [Link]: homible 28. flush: colouring, [Link]: raised wooden stnuetune use! to execute cviminals 30. bosom: breast 31. blank, dull countenance: almost icless expression 2.-Thow hast you have [Link]: you 4. withdrew his. ole he looked invay ftom the old man [Link]: weakly [Link]: no 87. burden: heavy weight [Link]: playful 39, wilt thou: will you 40,Thou woutdst not, yonder: you did not want te, over there SL spells incantation 42. grief pain [Link]: feelings 44. pledge: promise Saami in [Link] for ever: ane not always 7 What has been the people of the village's attitude foward and opinion of Dimmesdale up to this point? 2 How, according to the minister, have the villagers lreated Hester? 3 What does Dimmesdale show the crowd? What Is their reaction? 4 When Dimmesdlate falls to the ground, why does Chilingworth accuse him of escaping him? 5 What is Dimmesdale’s reaction to Chillingworth’s | accusation? | & What does Dimmesdale ask Pearl to do? 7 What silent promise does the gid make to her dying father? VICTORIAN AGE Americ ANALYSIS: 1 In his final scene Dimmesdale experiences a wide range of conflicting emotions. Find references in the text which suggest that he feels: ~ proud ~ fearful ~ relieved ~ victorious = compassionate Z The passage builds to a climax’. Where does it occur? 3 How does the narrator* suggest rather than describe the horrific nature of Dimmesdale’s stigma? Is this indirect form of description effective? Justify ‘your response. Eee Pathos Bee ae ssions or deep feelings. It is used asa literary term to refer to a scene or passage that is designed to evoke feelings of tendern Pathos is the Greek word for pa 4 This passage has been described as an example of intensified reality’. While the setting® is the real world, there are elements that add a mystica, spiritual, almost supernatural dimension to the scene, Identify these elements in the text, 5 Dimmosdale believes that his sin is greater then Hester's, What sin is he guilty of? G Hawthorne cited the King ames Bible as one of his Greatest literary influences, Does this scene recall any episode from the Bible? Are there any thematic links between the two scenes? 7 How would you describe the themet of this passage? pity or sym pathetic sorrow fom the reader or audience. following: ‘The description of Arthur's voice 7. What elements in Text F18 contribute to building up pathos in the passage? Consider the Arthur's account of Hester’s social isolation Arthur's revealing of the stigma on his breast The compassion Arthur shows towards Chillingworth The reconciliation between Arthur and Peart 2 The language used throughout the passage is emotionally charged. Find some e aaegsicm ENTER caraples. EE Do you think modern readers would find this passage from The Scarlet Letter emotionally involving or is the pathos overstated for contemporary tastes? Think of an episode from a book or a scene from a film that evoked strong feelings of tenderness, sympathy or sorrow in you. Try to explain what elements contributed to making you respond in an emotional way. i | | standard i | 2 A politician reveals that he is an alcoholic. | I Should leading public figures resign their posts if they commit an offence or do not live up to the highest moral | | J Should the person resign in the following cases? Give reasons, 11 Atop police officer admits not paying his taxes for two years, 3 An Olympic champion says that he took performance-enhancing drugs three years ago but has since stepped, al tS ae ee alas 2 : i & Writers! Gallery ~ Nathaniet Hawthorne YE Family background Nathaniel discs Hawthorne was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, into a prominent Puritan family, His ancestors were among the earliest settlers in the colony, and one of his family members was a magistrate at the Salem witeherait trials, Early writing After graduating from college in 1825, Hawthorne returned home and devoted himself entirely to writing, leading an almost reclusive life, During this period £ contributed articles and short stories to periodicals and wrote his first novel, Fanshawe, published anonymously at his own expense in 1828. eee ct NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE (1804-1864) The Brook Parm Comunity Reaction to his novel was disappointing. However he persevered with his writing and produced several successful short stories. 4s his earnings from writing were insufficient, he took a job in the Boston customs house, but he left in 1841 to join other leading intellectuals in a co-operative community farming project, the Brook Farm Community, outside Boston. ‘Those who worked on the farm wished to withdraw from an increasingly commercial society and find time for intellectual and spiritual self-improvement. Hawthorne left Brook Farm after just one year but the experience was to influence some of his works and inspire a novel, The Rlithedale Romance (1852). A successful author ‘The years between 1846 and 1852 established Hawthome's reputation as a successful author. He produced a collection of stories called Mosses from an Old Manse (1846), bi most acclaimed novel, The Scarlet Letter (1850), and a second novel, The House of the Seven Gables (1851), The Scarlet Letter Tie Scarlet Letter is regarded as America’s first psychological novel. Set in the seventeenth century, the novel displays a strikingly modern psychological insight into the forces that drive human behaviour. Hawthorne's interest lies primarily in the exploration of the human soul and in the processes that take place in a character's mind. The development of the plot is secondary; what happens in society at large and the events surrounding his main characters are of little consequence. ‘The novel’s main passions ~ sin and guilt, punishment and redemption, fear and shame, pride and selfishness, hatred and destructive revenge ~ are described in allegorical sty through rich suggestive symbolism, le and England \n 1852 Hawthome wrote a biography of his old college friend Franklin Pierce, who we Tunning for the Presidency. After his election, Pierce rewarded Hawthome with the post of consul in Liverpool, England. The years which Hawthorne spent there (1853-1857) inspired a collection of notes and impressions on England, Our Old Home. Last years in. 1860 Hawthorne retumed {o the United States, where he worked on several novels that he could not complete. He died in 1864 alter a long illness. TASK Prepare a short report about the life and achievements of Nathaniel Hawthorne. viqgqnan roetryg Alfred Lord Tennyson INTRODUCTION % ‘Tennyson was by far the best known English poet of the Victorian period, and in his role as Poet Laureate he was a regular visitor to the queen, There is often a mood of sadness in his lyrics > Text F and narrative epics (® Text F23) because of the devastating effect the death of his close friend, Arthur Hallam, had on him. ‘BERG M— Have you ever felt sad when everyone around you seems to be happy? If you have, you should be able to sympathise with Tennyson in the following poem. Break, break, break, ‘On thy cold grey stones, © Sea! And I would that my tongue could utter! ‘The thoughts that arise in me. O well for the fisherman’s boy, 5 That he shouts with his sister at play! ‘O well for the sailor lad?, ‘That he sings in his boat on the bay! And the stately? ships go on ‘To their haven under the hill; 10 ut O for the touch of a vanish'd hand, And the sound of a voice that is stilll GLOSSARY Break, break, break 1, utter express ° fo eat 2. Ind: boy At the foot of thy crags!, © Seal 3. stately: graceful jut the tender grace of a day that is dead 1s ignifice ‘Wil never come back to me. ‘5. rags: rocks OMPREHENSION = Who of what does the poet address in the opening 3 Whats the fisherman's boy doing? What is the nd closing verses of the poem? sailor fad doing? Where are the ships headed? ‘What is the poet unable to express, according to 4 What does the poet long for? res 3 and 4? 5 What has the poet lost forever? 4 88 THE VICTORIAN ANALYSIS = 11 What atmosphere is created by the opening image of the poem of the sea breaking on ‘cold grey stones’? 2 The poet focuses on the sound of the sea crashing ‘on stones, which he evokes in the opening line ‘Break, break, break’, How does the fact that the sea makes this sound contrast with what the poet says about himself in fines 3 and 4? Do you think that he finds 5 Inines 11-12 the poet speaks of his loss, Which senses does he appeal to? 6 What metaphor" does the poet use for his lost friend in the final two lines of the poem? 7 Apart from the opening lines of the first and fourth verse, the metrical structure of the poem is quite regular (iambic trimeter*). Lines 11 and 15 have an extra iambic foot. Why, in your opinion, does the poet | wish to draw attention to these lines? the sound of the sea relaxing or frustrating? Consider the harshness of the ward ‘brea B In the second verse the poet describes children at play and a sailor singing. Which expression suggests that the poet is envious of the people he describes? What does he envy, in your opinion? # Their happiness Their youth 8 Theie carefree spirit ‘Which words in lines 6 and 8 contrast with the poet's silence? 8 The poom contains several musical features. Find examples of repetition’, chymet, alliteration* and internal shyme® 9 In this poem the poet explores how the oss of his Close friend has affected his relationship with the world of nature and mankind. Does the post feel at one with the external world or is he feeling a sense of alienation? Justify your answer by referring to the text. 4 How does the image of the ‘stately ships’ reaching their ‘haven’ contrast with the poet's circumstances? ee eo CE el Punctuation when we speak we express our attitude and emotions through our tone of voice. Writers do not have a speaking voice, so they are obliged to create tone by other means, Punctuation is one of the elements writers use to express feelings. Dashes in a text may, for example, convey excitement, anger or confusion, Question marks may convey surprise, insecurity or disbelief. Exclamation marks may indicate indignation, intense emotion or joy. ; ; ‘SAMESESSAAER What punctuation mark does the poet use to intensify his feelings of dejection and alienation in the poem? PESMTEASEREEIT The growing popularity of communicating by e-mail or in chat rooms on the Intemet has ted to the creation of a whole new series of ‘punctuation marks’ to convey emotions and attitudes, for example (+ indicating humour. Waite an e-mail text that includes as many punctuation marks as possible to convey your feelings. (ule : | What emotions does the sea stir up in you? Does it make you happy or sad? Does it relax you or does it make you | feel uneasy? Think of one occasion when you were beside the sea and explain how you felt. tee ares Mfred Tennyson 89% INK of to the world of music In his poem ‘Break, Break, Break’ Tennyson describes the sense of loss he feels as he listens to the sound of the sea, In the song “(Sitting on) the Dock of the Bay” Otis Redding describes a similar sense of dejection as he looks cout across San Francisco bay. (sitting on) the Dock of the Bay by Seve Cropper and Otis Reding sitting in the moming sun Til be sitting when the evening comes ‘Watching the ships rol! in ~ and I watch ‘em roll away again, - (Refiain)) ~ Sitting on the dock of the bay ‘Watching the tide roll away «Tim just sitting on the dock of the bay | Wasting time [eft my home in Georgia “Headed for the "isco bay ‘Cause Thad nothin to bve for ‘And look like nothing's gonna come my way ‘Look like nothing’ gonna change Everything still remains the same “Lcan’t do what ten people tell me to do ‘$0 guess (1 remain the sane Sitting here resting my bones ‘And this loneliness won't leave me alone It’s two thonsand miles } roamed Just to make this dock my home Now, In just. 1. How does the singer spend his time? 2 Why did he leave his home in Georgia? Have things changed since he moved to San Francisco? 3 What do peopie ask him to do that he is unable to do? 4 What kind of feelings isthe singer experiencing? 5 What similarities and cifferences can you find between Lord Tennyson’s poem and Otis Redding’s song? DORIAN AGE, GER G-—— i | What happens when we die? Where, if anywhere, do we go? Maybe it would be nice to go where King Arthur | believes he is going in this poem. SMOSH Morte d’Arthur i) And slowly answer'd Arthur from the barge! ‘The old order changeth’, yielding? place to new, And God fulfils Himself! in many ways, 4 GLOSSARY Lest® one good custom® should corrupt the world 1. barge: boat Comfort thyself”: what comfort is in me? 5 2. changeth: changes i have lived my life, and that which I have done ee May He within Himself make pure! but thou ~ develops If thou shouldst® never see my face again, 5, Lost: in case Pray for my soul. More things are wrought? by prayer ica uRnauaEnLeeae ‘Than this world dreams of. Wherefore", let thy voice 0 7. thyself yourset Rise like a fountain for me night and day. 8, shouldst: should wr what are men better than sheep or goats 9, wrought: done : That nourish" a blind life within the brain, [Link]: for this reason Hf, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer ML nourish: five Both for themselves and those who call them friend? 18 12, Bound: tied 14, With these thou For so the whole round earth is every way ‘seest: with these Bound! by gold chains about the feet of God i i bad id But now farewell. | am going a long way ‘nythlca! Celtic land ‘With these thou seest!* - if indeed I go ~ paradise (For all my mind is clouded with a doubt) a 15,hall: frozen dhops of i Fig ion": a To the island-valley of Avilion™; [Link] ies Dee Where falls not hail'S, or rain, or any snow, eadow'd: there ate Nor ever wind blows loudly; but it lies Papas d ee hatte Deep-meadow’é!, happy, fait with orchard-lawns?” gardens And bowery hollows'® crown’d with summer sea, 2s SE yeoiea Where ! will heal me!® of my grievous wound, 19,heal me: be cured So said he, and the barge with oar! and sail 20 eins rer Maved from the brink™, like some full-breasted swan* Biba ne piece ote ‘That, flutinga wild carol* ere’® her death, wood used to move a Ruffles®* her pure cold plume, and takes the flood Pe cae With swauthy webs”, Long stood Sir Bedivere [Link]-breasted swan: Revolving many memories, till the hull”* See Look'd one black dot against the verge of dawn2®, ea fhaing hyd ete And on the mere™ the wailing" died away. singng a song with L ‘great emotional Intensity [Link] the flood With with her dark warty) feet [Link] of dawn: Horizon 28, cre: betore warthy webs: seis out on ‘wetss) [Link]: hike [Link]: shales the water flood) pushing 28. hulls main part ofa boat wailing: uncontrollable eying Gece eee COMPREHENSION + Where is Arthur and what circumstances does he {ind himself in? 2 Why, according to Arthur, is the change of order taking place? (Line 4) 3 How does he view the life he has ted? 4 What does he ask the acdressee to do for him? Does he believe in the power of prayer? ANALYSIS 1 Focus on the character of Arthur, Which of the {ollowing adjectives would you choose to describe him? 18 Philosophical 2 Resigned Be Fearful Angry Content: » Spiritual Optimistic 3 Defeated 8 Other: 2 Examine the spiritual and religious references in the poem. What medieval beliefs do they include? 3 Consider the simife* in lines 10-11. What is a voice in prayer compared to? What does the speaker wish to underline by using this image? 8 The notion of prayer ascending towards heaven, #4 Prayer, like water, as a life-giving force, £2 The beauty of prayer. Othe 4 Avalon is the home of the soul. Is it described in abstract, spiritual terms or in concrete, natural terms? a, The beauty of Avaton is conveyed through adjective-rich language. Circie all the adjectives, adjective-noun compounds and noun-noun compounds in fines 21-26. stg ——— King Arthur sails of into the micldle of the lake towards death and the legendary paradise of Avalon Different cuitures, throughout history, have developed funeral rites to honour their dead. in groups of two, do Some research into the funerat rites of a culture other than your ov, either past or present. Here are some suggestions: The Parsees in India ~ The Hindus in India - The Aztecs, Mayas and Incas in Central and South America Alfred Tennyson 91 5 What does he believe distinguishes man from beasts? How, in his opinion, is the world linked to God? © Where is he travelling to? Is he travelling alone? Which line suggests that he is still not sure about his departure? What does he hope to find in Avalon? 7 What does Sir Bedivere do as he watches the boat disappear in the distance? What sound can he hear? b, The sound of the fanguage in these lines is highly melodious, Circle all the vowel sounds, Are they predominantly open and full (o’, ‘u" sounds)? “closed and short (7, ‘e” sounds)? 5 What is Arthur's boat compared to in the simile in lines 27-312 The graceful dignity of the boat that sets out for Avalon is underlined by the flowing beauty of the language. Underline the assonance of ’u’ sounds in these lines. & Find examples of archaisms in the language which help create a medieval atmosphere. 7 Discuss how the mood" of solernn dignity in the passage is created through: ~ images of natural beauty; ~ the resigned tranquillity of Arthur's speech; ~ the flowing melody of the language. i | i i His father, who was the rector in a small village and a scholar, educated his twelve children at home. Education and first poems \n 1827 ‘Tennyson went to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he met the brilliant young poet Arthur Hallam. The two became close friends and Hallam encouraged him to write poetry, He published his first important collection of poems, Poems, Chiefly Lyrical, in 1830 before leaving Cambridge without a degree. Death of Hallam in 1832 Tennyson travelled on the continent with Hallam, who was engaged to one of his sisters. Hallam died ¢ suddenly in Vienna at the age of twenty-three. Tennyson was — deeply affected by the death of his friend and began writing In ‘Memoriam [Link]., which expresses his grief over the tragic loss and which took him seventeen years to complete. Success and marriage He returned after this period of mawining and silence with a new collection entitled Poems, which established his reputation as the leading poet of the age. He was granted an annual government pension and appointed Poet Laureate in 1880. In the same year he finally married Emily Sellwood, whom he had not been able to marry because of his unstable economic situation, As the country’s leading poet, Tennyson was very much in demand. He was, however, extremely shy, and to avoid the public spotlight he moved with his family to the relative privacy and seclusion of the Isle of Wight. Last years ‘Tetnyson’s last years were meventful and spent in comfort. He was admired and enjoyed a solid reputation, In 1884 he was made a baron by Queen Victoria, the first Englishman to receive the title for literary merit alone, He died at the age of cighty-three in 1892 and was buried in Westminster Abbey. 224 Karly works Tennyson first came to public attention with two 465 collections of poems: Poets, Chiefly Lyrical (1830) and Poems (1833) Poems (1842) After a ten-year period of silence, he published a two-volume collection, Poems (1842) which established his reputation as one of the leading poets of the age. The second volume contained new poems such as ‘Break, Break, Break’ (» Text F22), ‘Morte d’Arthur’ (> Text F23) and ‘Ulysses’, which recounts the last voyage of the ageing Greek hero who is dissatisfied with his tife in Ithaca and embarks on a new adventure. In Memoriam In 1850 Tennyson published lr Memoriam AJH.H., the end product of seventeen years of work, The long eleglatc poem #5 composed of 132. connected lyrics and records ‘Tennyson's years of pain and philosophical doubts following the death of his close friend. More success nyson’s fame was now established and Mand, and Other Poems (1855S) and The ylls of the King (1859), a series of poems narrating the epic glory and tragic downfall of King Arthur, sold extremely well. ‘Themes and style ‘Tennyson's poetry captures the spirit of his age. His work expresses the national pride, love of order, sentimentality and optimism of his times while also addressing the growing concems about materialism and the loss of spiritual direction. Reputation In the last yeass of his life and the early years of the twentieth century, admiration for Tennyson's work began to wane. He was accused of lack of depth, meaning and originality, Critics since the 1920s have been more favourable ~ 1.8, Eliot described him as ‘the master of metre’ ~ and have admired the beauty of his yvies and short poems. Today he is praised for his extraordinary technical skill. TASK - Prepare a short report about the life and achievernents of Alfred Tennyson. Robert Browning — 93 Robert Browning INTRODUCTION % Browning and Tennyson were the two major Poets of the Victorian era. While ‘Tennyson, as Poet Laureate, became an institutional and very public figure, Browning enjoyed less critical and popular acclaim ducting his own lifetime. ‘The two poems that follow are Jinked to the many years he spent in Italy with his wife, Elizabeth Barrett Browning. My Last Duchess is set during the Renaissance and is regarded as one of the finest examples of dramatic monologue in the language, while in Home-Thoughts from Abroad (» ‘Text P25), the poet nostalgically thinks of England. BBG MG 1 Have you ever looked carefully at a portrait and wondered what the person was like? | In this poem, a5 the Duke looks at the portrait of is late wife, he points out some details that he believes are very revealing. Tie story —— The Duke is talking to an emissary fronn his future wifes father, the Count, As they took at the porteait of his first wife, he explains what she was like and gives a hint as to how she ‘may have died, My Last Duchess S873 ‘That's my last Duchess painted on the wall, Looking as if she were alive. { call That piece a wonder, now: Fra Pandolt’s! hands Worked busily a day, and there she stands, ‘Will’? please you sit and look at her? I said s ‘Fra Pandolf’ by design’, for never read Strangers like you that pictured countenance, The depth and passion of its earnest glance, But to myself they tumed® (since none puts by* The curtain I have drawn for you, but }) 10 And seemed as they would ask me, if they durst®, How such a glance came there; so, not the first Are you to turn and ask thus”. Sir, ‘twas® not Her husband's presence only, called that spot Of joy into the Duchess’ cheek: perhaps 5 Fr Pandolf chanced to say, ‘Her mantle laps Over my Lady’s wrist too much?’ or ‘Paint Must never hope to reproduce the faint Half-flush! that dies along her throat’; such stuff shail I say? ~ fa9 soon made gle.’ William Holman Hunt, doke tar ponte (7860), ‘ GLOssaRY 4, for never turned 5. puts by: pulls back 9. Mer mate 190 a : everyone who, ike you, has 6, dursts dared, had the ince si 1. Fad Pando a fetus cor ipatan sees Ase deta Covers oo much of pane inthe eanest ook (glance) S™aae her wrist 2 Will sit ‘of this face (pictured 7 this this way [Link]-flosh: nosy pink 3. by design: on purpose countenance} tums to me 8, “twas: itvas colour VICTORIN favour: gift, present [Link]: branch, [Link]: too willing wo help [Link] a sudden redltening of her cheeks ABaranked .. anybody's sift: thought franked) that my gift of a noble title (nine- hhundred-yeass-old namie} was the same as any other gift [Link]’d .. trifling? who would humble ‘hernselves (stoop) by fpenly criticising (blame) such ‘unimportant things withing)? [Link] an on somebody like that [Link]: accepted standard [Link]:loetured [Link] plainly. to yours: and didnot ‘oppose you 21. forsooth: truly 22.K'en: even 23,.Whene’er: whenever 24, The Count . disallowed: the Count’ generosity (Guuinificence) is 8 guarentee (warrant) that any justifiable request (pretence) for money before | mzry (@owsy) Il not be reused (disallowed) [Link] sad 26,At starting: at the ‘beginning 27-Nay:no 28:taming: tying to lomesticate [Link] of Innabeuck 9 fictitious seulptor [Link] in bronze: made a bronze statue COMPREHENSION 1 What is the Duke showing his visitor? Poetry ‘Was courtesy, she thought, and cause enough For calling up that spot of joy. She had A heart ~ how shall | say? — too soon made glad, ‘Too easily impressed; she liked whate’er She looked on, and her looks went everywhere, at her breast, ‘The dropping of the daylight in the West, ‘The bough”? of cherries some officious!? fool Broke in the orchard for her, the white mule he rode with round the terrace ~ all and each ‘Would draw from her alike the approving speech, Or blush’, at least. She thanked men, ~ good; but thanked Somehow ~ | know not how ~as if she ranked My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name With anybody's gift’, Who'd stoop to blame ‘This sort of trifling’? Even had you skill In speech ~ (which 1 have not) ~ to make yous will Quite clear to such an one”, and say, Just this Or that in you disgusts me; here you miss, Or there exceed the mark" — and if she let Herself be lessoned" so, nor plainly set Her wits to yours™, forsooth”!, and made excuse, ~ F’en™ then would be some stooping; and I chuse Never to stoop. Oh sir, she smiled, no doubt, Whene’er** | passed her; but who passed without Much the sane smite? This grew; I gave commands; ‘Then all smiles stopped together. There she stands Asif alive, Willt please you rise? We'll meet ‘The company below, then. I repeat, The Count your Master’s known munificence Is ample warrant that no just pretence Of mine for dowry will be disallowed*;, Though his fair daughter's self, as | avowed?> At starting”, is my object. Nay”, we'll go Together doven, sir! Notice Neptune, though, Taming” a sea-horse, thought a rarity, Which Claus of Innsbruck” cast in bronze® for me. Sir, ‘twas all one! My favour 2 Which artist painted the portrait? What do people behaviour? who see the portrait comment on? What may Fra Pandolf have said that called up ‘that spot of joy’ on ‘the Duchess's face? (Line 21) 3 What things gave the Duchess pleasure? (Lines 25-29) 4 What Is the ‘git’ th the Duke refers to in line 33? meet the company below? 5 Did the Duke confront his wife directly about her 6 What orders did the Duke give? 7 ‘The Duke is speaking to an emissary from a Count ‘What does the Duke want from the Count? What does the Duke call to the emissary’s attention as they go to 2» 25 20 35 40 4s 5s ANALYSIS - Hee 1 Identify: —the person who is speaking; ~ he is obsessively possessive of his wife both in life and | ~ the person he is speaking about; death; ~ the listener ~he is proud and inflexible; he is boastful of his ancestry; 2 The listener is silent. However, his presence may be i ~heis ruthless and remorseless; inferred from clues in the poem. Find evidence of his presence in lines 5, 7, 12-13, 43, 47, 49 and 53-54, he believes that he can have anything he desires 3 Which adjectives would you choose to describe the While she was alive, the Duke wished to own his image of the Duchess that emerges in lines 25-297 wife as if she were one of his prize possessions, How, in iz Young * Playful < Sophisticated _@ €ertain way, has the Duke now achieved this goal? 18 Frivolous ‘\Unprelentious — Shy 7 The language of the poem displays some of the | i Sensitive Devious “8 Other: characteristics of natural spoken language. Find 4 Make a list of the failings the Duke attributes to his examples of wife, for example: ‘She had a heart... too soon made —_~ filers Chow shall | say?, ine 22) glad, Too easily impressed’ (lines 21-23). ~ internal pauses How does the Duke punish her for her shortcomings? run-onslines*, Does the punishment seem appropriate? Work out the rhyming scheme* of the poem. isi irregular? 5 Focus on the character of the Duke. The rhyme in the poem does not emerge strongly Find evidence in the text that because of the use of run-on lines, Why, in your = he enjoys impressing people with his possessions; opinion, does the poet understate the rhyme? Re eee * Dramatic the dramatic monologue is a poetic form in which a single person, who is not the monologue — poet himself, speaks to a silent audience in a specific situation at a critical moment, ‘ ‘The speaker may be a fictitious character who is invented by the poet or a historic or legendary figure. The reader is aware of the presence of the listener(3) only from clues i in what the speaker says, The dramatic monologue allows the poet to create psychologically complex and . intriguing characters who often reveal aspects of their own personality that they wish to keep secret. In Robert Browning's poem ‘The Bishop Orders His ‘Tomb’, a dying Renaissance bishop insists that all worldy things are vanity, though his main concern appears to be that his sons should build him a magnificent tomb, The origins of the dramatic monologue go beck as far as Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, - Dante's set speeches and Shakespeare's soliloquys. It was a popular poetic form during the Victorian period, when it was perfected by Robert Browning, It has also been used by twentieth-century poets including TS, Eliot and Ezra Pound, What does the Duke unintentionally reveal about himself in ‘My Last Duchess’? Although they were not written for the stage, dramatic monologues create a great sense of Grama, Work in pairs and explore the dramatic possibilities of “My Last Duchess’, Organise the poem as a script by adding lines (questions, comments, asides) for the Count’s emissary (see question 2, Analysis), Prepare to dramatise the scene for your classmates, The Duke was jealous of his wife. Are you jealous by nature? Are you jealous of other people's good looks or i | Possessions or good fortune? How can you see if someone Is jealous? Is jealousy always negative? Discuss with } | Your classmates, t E VICTORIAN AGE ~ Poetry GERD G-— | Sometimes, when people live abroad for a long time, they start missing simple things from their native =| | Read the following poem and find out what Browning misses about England, | u : = Home-Thoughts, from Abroad Oh, to be in England Now that April's there, And whoever wakes in England + GLOSSARY Sees, some morning, unaware’, That the Lowest boughs? and the brushwood sheaf? 8 1, unaware: not noticing 2. boughs: ranches Round the ela-tree bole! are in tiny leaf, Laid See ae While the chaffincit® sings on the orchard bough small broken branches 4, botes bunk In England - now! 5. chalfinch: small bird Cr tecanueie And after April, when May follows, wings And the whitethroat” builds, and all the swallows? ~ 10 Se ee Hark, where my blossomed" pear-tree in the hedge" 7. whitetbsoat: Leans to”? the field and scatters? on the clover!# Sonat at i Blossoms and dewdrops'* ~ at the bent spray’s edge’ — 8, swallows migratory That's the wise thrush’; he sings each song twice over, ‘birds that return to Lest!® you should think he never could recapture as 4, humpetespanatine The ist fine careless rapture! 10, blossomed: covered And though the fields look rough with hoary” dew, abla All will be gay?" when noontide wakes anew”? fee eer The buttercaps®, the little children’s dower 12. Leans to: bends ~ Far brighter than this gaudy’’ melon-flower! 20. down to LA scatters: throws [Link] small three Teaved given plant [Link]: tiny daops of water 36. spray’s edge: the tip of the branch 17. Ahrusls brown songbird with & spotted breast 18. Lest: In case [Link]: joy [Link]: whitish-grey 21. gay: happy [Link]: again Douttercaps: small fellow flowers 24, dower: he money or goods which are a gift ‘ from a woman's - a father to the man she Robert Browning's marvies NA, wife, Hizabeth Barrett 25. gauely: 00 bright 7 Browning. ‘and colowrfl COMPREHENSION ~~ 1 Where does the poet wish to be? What time of year isit? 2 According to the poet, those who wake in England are ‘unaware’ of the beauty that surrounds them, What has made the poet more aware? 3 What aspect of England does the poet appear to miss most? Its: people "8 towns natural beauty. SUANALYSIS. 1 The poem opens with the exclamation ‘Oh’, What ‘does this opening suggest? ‘at Surprise = Nostalgia #8 Anger 5 Frustration Hf Resignation 8 Other: 2 The geographical and temporal settings* of the poem are very specific. What are they? Does the fact that the poet deals with a very specific time and place make his work: Hi less universally appealing? Fi more authentic and therefore easier to relate to? 3 Circle all the names of birds and plants that the poet uses, What effect clo they have on the impact of the poem? 38 They make the language more poetic. & They make the setting of the poem more specific. Bi They add a scientific tone to the poem. H& They make the images in the poem seem more authentic. 4 Which word in line 11 suggests the poet's personal involvement in the countryside he is describing? EO lf you were living abroad, what do you think you would miss about your home country? Fil in al least one entry in each of the sections of the table below. Sights Smells Sounds Tastes 4 What is the whitethroat building in line 107 5 What falls from the poet’s pear-tree in May? 6 Why does the thrush repeat his song, according to the poet? 7 What colour are the fields in early morning? What will make them gay by miciday? 5 Which human quality is attributed to the thrush in line 14? 6 What colour are buttercups? In what sense are they the ‘little children’s dower’? 7 How does the poet express his discontentment with his present situation in the final line of the poem? 8 Work out the chyming scheme! of the poem. Is it regular? Focus on the rhythm* of the poem. Find examples of run-on lines* and internal pauses* (caesura). How do the run-on lines and caesura affect the flow of the poem? They make it 1& more regular {more disjointed Which of the following statements do you agree with? Justify your choice. © The smooth flowing rhythm of the poem reflects the beautifully harmonious landscape the poet is describing, The ‘stop and start’ rhythm of the poem conveys the itregular thought patterns of the poet as he leaps from one nostalgic image to the next. | | 98 ‘THE VICYORIAN AGE » Poetry [to the world of music Like Browning in ‘Home Thoughts, from Abroad’, Everything But The Girl duo, Tracey Thom and Ben Waits, find themselves drawn back to England. Lonesome for a place I know by Bverything But The Gi So here we are in Waly, But something pulls, something I can’t define with a sun hat and a dictionary. {ells ne Enghand calls, whatever she's done wtong, The air is warm, the sky is bright, Always cals, ‘This is where you belong.” ‘your arms are brows, you'te sleeping well at night, And I'm lonesome for a place 1 know, so why does England call? % The hedgerows and the townhall. ‘Oh Dut Florence you tempt me to stay, ‘Afterall, there’ soon be nothing left at all amidst your his to while* years away But your roots in soil fie, mine in paving stone: If we were bomn outside of place andl time, and L hate what it's become, but in my bones to make our choice, well this would be min: Vim lonesome for a place I know. to live and die under a sun that shines. Why does England call? (zo feild by Everything Put The Girl) + while (away): pass time ina pleasant way 1 Where is the singer? Why Is she surprised that she is feeling homesick for England? 2 What details of English life does she mention in the first verse? She feels that there will ‘soon be nothing left’ of the England she knows. Why? 3 The picture of England painted by Browning in his poem is idyllic, The picture painted in this song underlines some negative aspects of contemporary England, Identify the lines in the song where the singer expresses reservations about her homeland. The Lungarne in Florence at th end of the nineteenth century. | Writers’ Gallery - Robert Browning 99 | pebeleialdl ACC Ty years Robert Browning s born in a London suburb in 1812. His father, a bank clerk, was a scholar and an avid reader; his library of over 6,000 volumes included works in many languages, including Greek, Hebrew and Latin. As a young boy, Browning was educated by private tutors who gave him an excellent grounding in the classics First publications ‘The anonymous publication of his first work in 1833 was the start of a prolific poetic career that spanned over fifty years. His next work, Paracelsus (1835), attracted the attention of some literary critics and persuaded Browning to continue writing, ROBERT BROWNING Lack of commercial success \n 1838 he took his first trip to (1812-1889) Italy in order to find inspiration for a Jong narrative poem, pee Soriello, which on publication in 1840 received harsh reviews. In the next decade he kept writing and publishing: Bells and Pomegranates, Dramatic Lyries, Dramatic Romances and Lyrics and some plays that were never performed on stage, None of these works met with the approval of the public or the critics, who considered him too obscure. Marriage 1n 1845 Browning met the poct Blizabeth Barrett, They married the following year and moved to Italy, where they had a son in 1849. They returned to England for a while, but then moved back to Italy hoping that the warm weather might improve Elizabeth's failing health. She died in Rome two years later and Browning retuned to London. Critical acclaim In London he published the collection Dramatis Personae and a long narrative poem, The Ring and the Book (1868). The poem received widespread critical acclaim and earned Browning the recognition he was tong overdue, Final years In his later years Browning led a hectic social life and produced a series of remarkable works. He divided his time between England and Italy, where he died in 1889. His body was returned to England and he is buried in Poets’ Cornes, in Westminster Abbey. Ws SRMSARA Early works Critical and popular success came relatively late to 5 9) Soule Robert Browning. The Victorian reading public tended to disregard his early work as obscure and unappealing. More recent appraisals have shown that there is much to be admired in his early publications. Collections such as Dramatic Lyrics (1842) and Dramatic Romances and Lysics contain some of his mast memorable poems, Including ‘My Last Duchess’, ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ and ‘Andrea del Sarto’ Dramatic monologue Browning's greatest achievements as a poet are written in the form of dramatic monologues’. Browning's intense interest in human psychology drew him to this particular poetic form, His greatest achievement in this literary form is The Ring and the Book (1868-1869). Browning chose as his subject a seventeenth-century murder which took place in Rome. The murder is described by different characters, each from his own personal point of view. The work foreshadows the twentieth-century interest in the concept of the fragmentation of reality. Reputation While some of Browning's work continues to be criticised for its impenetvable obscurity and intellectual arrogance, most critics agree that he was the undisputed master of the dramatic monologue, and his achievements in writing short, simple and memorable lyrics such as ‘Home-Thoughts, from Abroad’ ( Text F25) have been equalled by few. TASK — oe Prepare a short report about Robert Browning's life and achievements. 100 He RIAN AGE - Poctey Matthew Arnold INTRODUCTION & Matthew Arnold, who was a schools inspector for thirty-five years, ly in the value of education and argued that England had much to learn from continental Europe, where greater efforts were made to foster intellectual and cultural pursuits. In his role as one of the lead. ing literary critics of his day, he stressed the need for writers and artists to aim for the highest standards and not be caught up in the petty materialism of Victorian England. This pursuit of excellence, both in, form and content, is an important feature of his poetry. HEE Hn — | Change is often upsetting and even frightening for people because the certainties and habits of the past are | challenged and the future is filled with uncertainty. As you read this poem, try to find out the one thing that the } poet feels will help him to survive in a world which is changing beyond recognition Q Visual Link FB). believed strong. @) BREE Dover Beach The sea is calm to-night, The tide is full!, the moon ties fair Upon the straits?; ~on the French coast, the light Gleams? and is gone; the cliffs of England stand, Glimmering’ and vast, out in the tranquil bay. 8 Come to the window, sweet is the night-ait! Only, from the long line of spray Where the sea meets the moon-blanch’d® sand, Listen! you hear the grating roar® Of pebbles’ which the waves suck back, and fling’, 0 At their return, up the high strand”, Begin, and cease™, and then again begin, With tremulous cadence slow, and bring ‘The eternal note of sadness in. Sophocles! long ago 1s Heard it on the Agean, and it brought Into his mind the turbid ebb!? and flow! Of human misery; we Find also in the sound a thought, Hearing it by this distant northem sea. » ‘Whe sea of Faith, © GLOSSARY Was once, too, at the full, and round earth's shore 1, The tide is full: the sea isin around the shore 4. Glimmering: shining, 2. pebbles: small siones 11 Sophocles: Greek dramatist, 2. straits: the Lnglish 5, moon-blanch’: made white 8. fling: (brow (296-406 BC Channel by the light of the moon 9. strand: beach [Link]: moving backwares 3, Gleams: shines 6, roar: oud noise [Link]: stop [Link]: moving forwards b | | | t | | | | | i i | | | | | Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furl’d" But now 1 only hear Its melancholy, long, withdrawing!’ roar, Retreating, to the breath Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear!® ‘And naked shingles"? of the would. Ah, love, let us be tue ‘To one another! for the world, which seems To lie before us like a land of dreams, So various, so beautiful, so new, Hath’ really neither joy, nor love, nor fight, Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain; And we are here as on a darkling plain ‘Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight”, Where ignorant armies” clash by night, Mand round ... furtds tke a [protective belt (a bright girdle furl) itencircled (ay) the whole world COMPREHENSION ————_____. 1 Where is the poet? What can he see? 2 What does the poet ask his acidressee to do in line 6? What sound can they hear (lines 9-14)? What emotional response does it evoke? 3 Why does the poet's mind turn to Sophocies in line 15? What links the poet to the Greek dramatist? Co ANALYSIS. 1 In the opening six lines the poet describes the view from his winclow. Which words create a sense of: = tranquility? ~ beauty? The scene is nocturnal. However, two verbs signal the Presence of ight, What are they? What are the sources af light? 2 The image of the idyllic noctural seascape is broken by a sound, @. What striking expression does the poet use to describe the sound in line 9? ', The sound is caused by the ebb and flow of the Waves. Which verbs in line 10 describe the action of the waves? What does the choice of verbs suggest? 3 How does the poet suggest the repetitive ‘Movement of the tice in line 12? The expression ‘tremulous cadence’ (line 13) attributes human characteristics to the ebbing and flowing of the tide. What state of mind does the 15, withdrawing: moving away Matthew Arnold 10 [Link]: desolate [Link]: savll stones con a beach 28, Hath nas 19.a darling plain .. Fights a dark pleve of land (daring pain) where you can hear 20 the noise (alarms) (of people hurrying around (swept) a5, they fight (struggle) and run avvay (ight) [Link] armies: ‘he final bv tines refer to passage in the Fistorian Thucydides’ ‘The Bate of Epipotae, whew in a night ecounter the’ ‘wo sides could not ‘lstinguish friend from toe 38 (round earth's shore) 4 Is the ‘sea of faith’ ebbing or flowing, according to the poet in ines 21-287 5 What pact does the poet make with his love in lines 29-30? What type of world does he describe in lines 33-377 et adjective ‘tremulous’ suggest? What emotion has taken over the poet's mind by the end of the verse? 4 There is a sharp contrast between the calm, sweet beauty of the opening lines and the melancholy, pessimistic atmosphere refiected in the closing lines of the verse, This contrast is unclerfined In the poet's choice of sense imagery. Which sense do lines 1-8 appeal to primarily? Which sense do lines 9-14 appeal to? What causes the poet's change in mood"? 5 In the second verse the poet compares his experience with that of ‘Sophocles long ago’. By associating himself with Sophocles what effect does the post achieve? He introduces a mock-heroic* element which adds a lighter touch to the poem. He underlines the universality of his reflections by showing that they extend beyond geographical and temporal boundaries, 02. THE VICTORIAN AGE Poetry © In the third verse the poet reflects on the spititual bankruptcy of the Victorian society in which he lives: a, What does the poet compare faith to in fine 237 ‘What was the role of spirituality in the past, according to this simile’? », What metaphor* does the poet use to suggest the loss of religious faith in his society? © When the tide of spirituality has withdrawn, what, according to the poet in line 28, is left exposed? Do you find this image of a world without spirituality positive or negative? 7 In the final verse the poet suggests that love is man’s only defence against a hostile world. in which lines does the poet describe what tire world ~ seems to be? fines ~ is? lines How do the two differ? What device does the post use to underline the negativity of the world in lines 33-34? 8 In the final image the poet depicts his view of the spiritually bankrupt world he lives in, kdentify elements of darkness, confusion, violence and conifict, eee Mood In Titerature, the term mood refers to the distinctive, 2 Like Sophocles, the poet hes found in a ‘sound a thought’ (ine 19). What is the sound that triggered the poet's thought process? What is his final ‘thought? as expressed in the last verse of the poem? 70 The poem is written in the form of a monologue* addressed to a silent auditor. Where is the audlitar mentioned in the poern? Who is the auditor? 11 Although there is end-rhyme* in the poem (tonight — light, fair ~ air, bay ~ spray, etc,), when we listen to the poem we are not aware of the rhyming scheme’. This is due to the irregular fine length and the use of run-on lines*. Find examples Why does the poet soften the impact of shyme in the poem? To make the poem seer more like natural speech, To create an atmosphere of pervading melancholy, To make the poem sound more joyous. The shythm* of the poem is slowed down by the use of broad vowel sounds and assonance®, Find some examples. emotional quality of a work. When Speaking of a poem, play or novel, we can say that there isa prevailing mood of joy, anger, melancholy, resignation, etc. Mood in poetry is closely vailing psychological state ~ is the poet/speaker happy, these questions can be found in an analysis of the choice of language Musical elements, such as rhythm and shyme, are also important in determining mood. ® Joyous Despaiting Bui Matthew Arnold felt that great changes were about to take place in England as the Victorian era drew to a close f } | | Today we seem to be living in a world of constant change, i the near future, What changes do you think will take Family life ~ Religion ~ Work » Education | Discuss your predictions with your classmates. on you think of another poern that you have studied in which the Dover Beach? Can you think of a poem that How would you define the speaker's state of mind in Matthew Arnold's poem? & Optimistic Confused What words, expressions, imag Melancholy Angry Meditative Jes and metaphors convey this general attitude? @)sten to the recording of the poem. Does the musicality of the poem reinforce the mood? a very different mood? where itis difficult to predict what life will be like even place in the following areas aver the next flty years? linked to the poet’s/speaker's pro. sad, angry, confused? Answers to and imagery. mood is similar to that of J Writers’ Gallery ~ Matthew Arnold Sees Family background and education : 6G) born into a well-to-do family, Matthew Arnold was educated at Rugby, Winchester and Oxford, where he won a prestigious prize for one of his early poems. Inspector of schools Having completed his education, he became an Inspector of schools ~a jab he held for thirty-five years, Part of his work involved travelling around the country visiting schools. It was during these travels that he witnessed the horrific social conditions that would become the subject of much of his later critical work. weer aS a poet Aynold’s career as a poet started in 1849, when his first volume of poetry was published, and ended in 1867, when his final volume appeared. MATTHEW rami e 85 e married a sed pa (1822-1888) Family life In 1851 he married and composed part of his most celebrated poem, ‘Dover Beach’ Text 26), while on his honeymoon The poem was completed and published in his 1867 volume New Poems, The couple had six children, three of whom predeceased him, In 1858 he was appointed professor of poetry at Oxford. He continued to work as a schools inspector, and between 1859 and 1865 he travelled extensively on the Continent observing various education systems. Prose writing and literary criticism From 1867 onwards he turned his attention to writing prose. He wrote essays on literary, educational, theological andl social issues. In his work he criticised the provincialism and materialism of nineteenth-century English society, arguing that England needed more cultural awareness and a more European outlook. He also established himself as one of the leading literary critics of his day. In 1883 he delivered a series of lectures in America which were published as Discouses in America, He continued working until he died in 1888. LCL Poeny Matthew Amold wrote relatively few poems, but what his, Fe BE work tacks in quantity is compensated for by variety and quality. His melancholy verses perfectly capture the sense of alienation, despair and spiritual emptiness which pervaded the late Victorian period, ‘The search for spiritual peace in an age of doubt and scepticism is the theme of many of his most famous poems. He wrote in a variety of poetic forms, often turning to classical Greek literature for inspiration, His greatest poetic achievements include “The Forsake Marman’, ‘Thrysis’, “The Scholar Gipsy" and ‘Dover Beach’, in which his sadness and frustration ave beautifully conveyed in quiet, classical perfection. Prose As a prose writer Amold tackled the most pressing problems of his day. His contribution to reforming the English education system was significant, Although educated at the most exclusive private schools himself, he was a strong advocate of state education. He wrote extensively in favour of the teaching of the Classics. Amold was also the leading literary critic of his day, and his influential prose writing in this field, Essays in Criticista (1865), had a profound effect on the subsequent development of literary theory. Amold’s other prose writing dealt with social reforms and theological issues, He condemned the tampant materialism and spiritual barrenness of his age in clear, precise and persuasive prose. He showed great courage in his writing and had no hesitation in speaking his mind even when his views aroused considerable hostility. TASK — Prepare a short report about Matthew Amold under the following headings: the poet - the prose writer ~ the education reformist. THE VICTORIAN AGE ~ Poet Gerard Manley Hopkins INTRODUCTION Gerard Manley Hopkins was both a poet and a priest. Pied Beauty, like many of his poems, is a mixture of exuberant enthusiasm for life and a solemn sense of gratitude to God, the Creator. BEBE i | By just looking at the poem quickly, you can see how rnuch alliteration there is, Before studying it in detail, read it # alou @ HEF Pied! Beauty Glory be to God for dappled? things - 2G SSARY 1, Pld having woo For skies of couple-colour’ as a brindled cow’; nore fern 7 tose PPE For rose-motes® all in stipple® upon trout that swi 2 dappled: masked Fresh-firecoal” chestnut-falls®; finches”? wings; ‘with spots of colour etched Landscape plotted & pieced! — fold, fallow, & plough"; 5 © colours And all trades, their gear & tackle & trim’, 4. brindled cow 9 Bown cow with bands of a different All things counter", original, spare", strange; colour Whatever is fickle’®, freckled!®, (who knows how?) etmipie qo With swift’”, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim’; 7. Feesh-fiecoals a He fathers-forth"® whose beauty is past change: 10 Dag turng ice Praise bim 8. chestnut-falls; in aiee é autumn, chestnuts, the had brown fit [Link] & pieced acanged ——[Link] & tacke & tri: [Link]: covered in spots of the chestnut wee, In smal ark regular pleces ‘equipment 17. swit as fall o the ground [Link] fallow & ploughs place [Link] opposite, [Link],adarze, dian bite, 98. finches small bids {nthe open wire aniats p. F128) had little or no impact on her. Published posthumously After her death in 1886 her sister found her poems, all bound up in handmade booklets. The first volumes of her poetry to be published appeared in 1890 and 1891 ee Tos eadtfonalthemesforignat style During ber xechsive hie Emit eAOE SLE E Dickinson wrote almost 2,000 pooms, mostly short lyrics in simple quatrains andl almost all untitled and undated, in her poetry she scrutinised the material world that surrounded her and the Inner world of her eniotions. The subjects of her poems are traditional — Jove, nature, religion and mortality, However, her treatment of these subjects is highly osiginat. The language is cryptic and dramatic; the imagery and metaphors are strikingly original. Parly publishers corrected her eccentric punctuation, which included the frequent ase of dashes, seemingly random capitalisation of nouns, angrammatical sentences and broken metre, Metaphysical influence ‘The influence of the seventeenth-century Metaphysical poets (* p. D can be seen in the intensity of the emotions she expressed and her use of startling metaphors, Inner stuggle and nature Her poetry often reveals a painful inner struggle that may have been caused by religious doubt, Although she could not accept the doctrines of orthodox religion, she seemed fo Jong for the comforts of unquestioned faith. Hers is the poetry of funerals, valeanoes, storms and shipwrecks, but it is also the poetry of butterflies, birds and sunrays, Her ability to capture in words the smallest detail of nature was one of her greatest talents Reputation Initially Emily Dickinson was considered to be an eccentiic minor poet. Today she is regarded as one of the outstanding poets of the nineteenth century and a major influence on the Poets of the twentieth century. iar tacsasat * Lette to Mr Higginson, ceived April 26, 1862, TASK Emily Dickinson is often associated with the words ‘originality’ and ‘eccentricity’. Explain what is eccentric and original about her life and work, m1 ED 2112) VME VICTORIAN AGE ~ American Poetry Walt Whitman INTRODUCTION Walt Whitman is the voice of America. In his great work Leaves of Grass he establisheq himself as the national poet of a great new nation, He travelled widely in the United States and grew to love its wicle open spaces and the sense of awe and wonder they inspired. He also managed to put the feelings of his fellow countrymen into words, as can be seen in O Captain! My Captain! (» Text F31) Which mourns the death of one of America’s greatest leaclers, SED Gn- ff | can academic knowledge be a satisfactory substitute for first-hand experience? Find out what Walt Whitman | thinks in this poem. {282 When I Heard the Learned Astronomer When I heard the Jearned astronomer, When the proofs, the figures, were ranged! in columns before me, When J was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide, GLOSSARY and measure them, 1. ranged: arangedin | -—- When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with much s ee ie applause in the lecture-room, > thou explanation How soon unaccountable? I became tired and sick, 3 alin ont gong Till rising and gliding out? | wandered off* by myself eee g In the mystical moist night-ai, and from time to time, hound Looked up in perfect silence at the stars COMPREHENSION 1. Where is the poet in the opening lines of the 3 Where is the poet in lines 8-10? What does he do poem? What is he doing? ‘from time to time"? 2 What is the public’s reaction to the astronomer's lecture? What is the poet's reaction? ANALYSIS. 1 The poem is a single sentence formed by am 3 Initially the reader is mislead. What effect does this clause and a series of subordinate ‘when’ clauses. have? Identify the main clause: line ...... to 2 It confuses the reader and makes the meaning of 2 The opening six fines of the poem purposely the poern more ambiguous, mislead the reader. What does the poet’s attitude #3 It shows the reader that there is more than one toward the astronomer seem to be in line 1 when itis, point of view* on this issue. read for the first time? What key word in line 1 * It surprises the reader and helps the poet to make suggests this attitucle? his point more dramatically. ‘At what point in the poem does the reader realise that his first assumption is incorrect? Walt Whi 14 The contrast between lines 1-6 and lines 7-10 is . Underline the first verb in the poem. What expression ‘conveyed by the dictiou* of the poem. does it contrast with in the final fine of the poem? a. Lines 1-6 are characterised by scientific language. 5 Why is the key word ‘unaccountable’ (line 7) central | Find some examples. Which expression stiggesting to the main theme* of the poem? mystery and wonderment in line 9 contrasts with the dry, academic language of the frst part of the Literary critics in the past claimed that Whitman's poem? work was more like prose than poetry because certain b. Which verbs of movement in line 8 contrast with ‘traditional’ musical elements were missing. What the passive ‘sitting’ of fine 5? elements do you think they were referting to? [WRITERS WORKSHIOD Free verse _ In free verse the poet allows his work to develop ‘freely’ without the restraints of ge traditional rhythm or rhyme. The rhythm of free verse is similar to that of ordinary prose, but it is controlled by the length of line, If we read the following work by William Carlos Williams as a prose sentence, it has the rhythm of natural speech: 1 have eaten the plums that were in the icebox and which you were probably saving for breakfast. Forgive me they were delicious so sweet and so cold. If, on the other hand, we read it in the free verse form that he intended, a poetic thytlim Is created by the length of the line: Thave eaten fe plums ‘hat wore in the icebox and which you were probably saving for breakfast Forgive me they were delicious so sweet and so cold. Length of line is not the only feature that adds shyt and musicality to free verse = allit- sed. eration", assonance’, repetition’, balance and variation of phrases are also frequently {As the one of the first poets to use free verse, Walt Whitman shocked the nineteenth-century reading public. Which of the features of free verses mentioned above can you find in his poem ‘When | Heard the Learned Astronomer’? This is another example of a free verse poern by Alan Maley, presented here as two prose sentences: % An easly moming goat, rampant against a wall, calmly chews strips of the Chief Ministers face Like the electorate, goats can digest anything ~Dbut he at least is getting some nourishment, Work in groups. Rewrite the poem in a free verse form, organising the lines so that they » produce poetic rhythm (OE Whitman believes that looking up at the stars teaches us more than listening to a lecture on astronomy. | | Sometimes, however, if we analyse and study something, it increases our appreciation of it, For example, no expert knowledge is needed to admire a beautiful painting, but if we know something about the technique used hy the painter or the context in which the work was painted, our pleasure can be increased. When have your studies given you new and profound perspectives on something that helped you to fully appreciate it when you actually savy it? Tell the rest of the class. man 113, 8 V4 THEE VICTORJAN AGE ~ American Poetry (Oo oo ‘Abraham Lincoln ied the North to victory aver the South in the American Civil War and paved the way for the | abolition of slavery (> Visual Link F11), An assassin’s bullet, however, prevented him from carrying on in his attempt to unite the minds and hearts of all the citizens of the United States, “= O Captain! My Captain! © Captain! My Captain! our fearful tip is done, The ship has weather'd every rack’, the prize we sought? is won, The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting, While follow eyes the steady keel’, the vessel grim and daring’ But O heart! heart! heart! the biceding drops of red, Where on the deck® my Fallen cold and dead. Captain lies, © Captain! My Captain! rise up and hear the bells; Rise up ~ for you the flag is tflung® - for you the bugle tills’, 0 For you bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths* — for you the shores a-crowding’, For you they call, the swaying"? mass, their eager'? faces turning; Here Captain! Dear father! ‘This arm beneath your head! It is some dream that on the deck, as You've fallen cold and dead, 10 Captain! my Captain!’ A scare from the lm Dead | Poats Society 989) by | Peter Wer, with Robin | Wats and Ethan Howse. [ih sthe moment inthe | fan In which the teacher | says Whitman's poem as" 4 aloud ta his cass. Ee My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still, My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will, The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done, From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with abject won; » Exult O shores, and ring O belis! But 1 with mournful tread’, Walk the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead. GLOSSARY 5, deck: the top evel of a ship 9, the shores s-crowdlag: you walk on there are thousands of weather'd every rack: 1. sweather'd every people wating for you survived every stom 6. Mung: out ‘Sought: looked for 7, the bugle trills; the small §[Link]: swinging from steady eck stale bost ‘rumpet plays side to side J. grim and daring: resolute 8. ribbon'd wreaths: [Link]: enthusiastic and courageous, decorated bouguets V2amouratil tread: sad sep COMPREHENSION ~ 4 What words and expressions in the opening two lines suggest that the ship's joumey has been difficult but successful? 2 What is happening on shore as the ship approaches the port? 3 What has happened to the captain of the ship? ANALYSIS 7 The poem takes the form of an allegorical narrative* in which the characters and story may be linked to historical figures and events. Link the following elements of the poern to historical personages and events, = the captain: =the ship — the ship's difficult but successful journey: ~ the people ashore: ~ the death of the captain: 2 The poet expresses an admiration for the captain which is intensely personal, How is the poet's attachment to his leader conveyed in the following expressions? Consider the terms he chooses when referring to the captain and his use of possessive adjectives and pronouns. © Captain! My Captain! cour fearful tip is done the prize we sought is won Here Captain! Dear father! My father does not feet my arm 3 Lines 3 and 4 contain several examples of non- conventional word-order, for example ‘the bells I hear’, Find other examples 4 In the first and second verses the poet describes the celebrations which are taking place on shore. Find images that appeal in particular to the senses of sight and hearing, 5 The poem contains features that are usually associated with ballads*, many of which were written about sea journeys and shipping disasters. It is based, for example, on a storyline which contains etements of mystery, e.g. why has the captain died? -E—-- Walt Whitman 4 Why does the poet want the captain to rise up? (line 9) 5 What does the poet do to assist his captain? Does the poet succeed in reviving him? 6 When the ship has docked what does the poet do instead of celebrating on shore? Look for other ballad features in the poem: a, Identify the rhyming schemet. Is it strong regular? b, The typical rhythinic structure of a ballad Is four stressed syllables followed by three stressed syllables, This rhythmic pattern dominates much of the poem: ‘The port is near the bells hear, the people all exulting, Scan lines 4, 10 and 18 to see if they conform to is pattern. «. Find examples of repetition d, An example of a stock expression can be found in line 16: You've fallen cold and dead. Find another example in line 19. . The poem contains strong musical features. Find ‘examples of alliteration* and internal rhyme*, 6 Circle the exclamation mari in the text. What do they tell you about the emotional state of the poet? 7 ‘The story in the poem is told in the present tense. How does this affect the impact of the poem? It makes the speaker in the poem seem more detached. I makes the events of the poem seem more immediate and dramatic. * It makes the events of the poem seem more unrealistic. & Does the post simply celebrate the life of a great leader in this poem or does he also express a sense of personal loss? Justify your answer by referring to the text HS 1 | Does the death of a great leader or a very wellsknown person leave a sense of loss in a community? Have you ever i felt very sad or shocked when you heard that iat somebody famous had ced? Tell your classmates, BLV16> THE VICTORIAN AGE ~ Amorican Poetry osapmes parly jobs Walt Whitman was born in 1819 into a \g-class family on Long Island, New York. He completed his institutional education at the early age of twelve and worked as, an office boy, a printer’s apprentice and a wandering school teacher, He then became the editor of two local newspapers and began writing poetry and shost stories, In the late 1840s he spent a brief period as an editor of a newspaper in New Orleans, which, ended when his opposition to slavery became an issti¢ of friction with the owners. He travelled through the South and Midwest nid was deeply impressed by the vastness of the American —— a landscape and the variety of its people. He was also influenced by [ Watt WHITMAN the work of the poet Ralph Waldo Emerson and the revolutionary Pini eaecneoe) ideas of the American Tr scendentalist movement (b p, F141). Writing poetry Not much is known of what he did in the early 1850s apart from the fact that he returned to New York and started writing poetry. Jn 1855 Leaves of Grass, a collection of twelve poems, was published with a portrait of the anonymous poet in working man's clothes on the title page. Whitman's mentor, the influential poet Relph Waldo Emerson, hailed his work as ‘the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom that an American has yet contributed’, However, other literary critics and the reading public were unimpressed. The Civil War years During the Civil War, Whitman served as a volunteer nurse in military hospitals and as a correspondent for The New York Times. His experience among the wounded inspired him to write two collections of poems: Drum Taps (1865) and Sequel (1865-1866), which includes his famous elegy to Abraham Lincoln, ‘O Captain! My Captain! (» Text £31), Last years Whitman spent the rest of his life working on the six subsequent editions of Leaves of Grass, which grew to include 400 poems. His literary achievements were largely disregarded by the public of his day, which was shocked by his frankness in sexual matters and his rough working man image, He held a series of minor posts in Washington and struggled to survive on a meagre income. In 1873 he suffered a paralysing stroke. He ¢ death in 1892, ntinued to add to Leaves of Grass right up until his & Father of American poetry Walt Whitman was the first broke with the British literary tradition which had influenced American poetry up until that point Style He was boldly experimental in his work, He believed that American poetry should be like the country it represented ~ free of restrictive rules and repression. Instead of the tightly constructed sentences of his contemporary poets, he used long, loosely rhythmic lines that replicated the natural stresses of ordinary speech. Whitman believed that a poet should be a man of the common people. He wrote in strong, declarative sentences, avoiding rhetorical figures such as metaphors and similes*, Leaves of Grass Leaves of Grass (1855), Whitman's masterpiece, is the work of a lifetime, Originally published with just twelve poems, it eventually grew to inchicle 400 in what is now referred to as the ‘Deathbed? edition, published just before his death in 1892. Writers’ Gaile -Walt Whitman 177, { Themes Many of the poems in this collection are a celebration of America ~ its landscape, its people and the democratic principles on which it was founded. The poet himself is the subject of other poems in which he explores his own feelings, perceptions and intuitions, and his task asa poet of giving voice to his people. He also deals with physical Jove and the celebration of the body. His frank openness about sexual matters and bis exaltation of both the male and female body shocked contemporary audiences, Repmtation At the time of its first publication in 1855, only a handful of intellectuals expressed favourable opinions about Leaves of Grass. The average reader was shocked and outraged both by Whitman's innovative form and controversial content, In many respects he was half a century before his time. The changes in social and literary attitucles which took place towards the turn of the century led to a reappraisal of his work, Today he is considered to be the father of American poetty, a dating innovator, and a major influence on later poets, eaves of Gra IMPRINTS. fergie PR SS ala na pag nee ASR MAT norm muriom apices [7% wecterhon 13 REE rene, E Anmerieqn agd Envopeay Critisis “LEAVES OF GRASS.” is it, ie 8 Foe 5 Ter in Za SE me SSertso Peavenr | DERE Eaten ACT oem, Bee ia Beamon ee ¢ | ee BOSTON: | ze seme Oe dat Boss THAYER AND ELDRIDGE. | eee baal farge gaan iste tee = at [ine imac co TASK ©xplain briefly why Walt Whitman is considered to be the father of American poetry. ] ‘The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (BEBO Ga 1 | Oscar Wilde (> p. £54) was renowned for his wit. Both in his works and in his speech he could conjure up short, | | epigrammatic phrases that were funny and thought-provoking. Choose the epigram* you like best from the | following list and explain why you like it. + Life sa much too important thing ever to talk seriously about it. | + | never travel without my diary, One should always have something sensational to read an the train. 1 + | like Wagner's music better than anybody's. It is so loud that one can talk the whole time without anyone hearing what one says. + Why will parents always appear at the wrong time? Some extraordinary mistake in nature, | suppose, Education is an admirable thing. But itis well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught. + can resist everything except temptation. # The truth is rarely pure and never simple. + tis better to take pleasure in a rose than to put ils root under a microscope. + The reason we are so pleased to find other people's secrets is that it distracts public attention from our own, + Duty is what one expects from others ‘+ Men marry because they are tired; women because they are curious. Both are disappointed. INTRODUCTION 4“ Oscar Wilde, although a novelist and a poet, is best remembered for his plays. In them he gave full vent to his verbal dexterity and cutting wit, while at the same time poking fun at and ridiculing upper-class English society. The Importance of Being Earnest is generally held to be his finest play, CHARACTERS Gere aero Thanh wating Jack Worthing (Jack) and Algemnon Moncrieff (Algy) are friends. Jack is in love with Algy’s (ac, fove with cousin, Gwendolen, while Algy isin love with Cecily. ee Jack lives in the couniry, but whem he goes to London he does not want to be recognised so hte jeer uses the naine Ernest. This works surprisingly to his advantage when he meets Gwendolen + Lady Bracknell, because she says that she can only love a man called Ernest. She accepts his proposal of Cendolens atte marriage, but her mother objects when she learns that Jack has no parents and was ford, whew newly born, in the claakroomn at Victoria Station (> ‘Text F32). Gwendolen tren calls off the engagement when she finds out that his name is not Ernest Jn the end the mystery of Jack’s origins is revealed. Miss Pris, Cecily’s governess, adits that when Jack was a baby she mistakenly left him in the cloakroom at Victoria Station, Jack is, in fact, the son of Lady Bracknel?s dead sister and Algy is his brother, To cap it al, his real manne is Emest, so he can now marry. The play ends with Jack and Gwendolen, Algy and Cecily, and Miss Pristm and Chasuble, « local clergyasen, looking forward to their vespective weddings. Guwenciolen has just accepted Jack’s proposal of marriage. Act 1 G) {ner LaDy BRACKNELL] Lapy BRackNitl: Mr Worthing! (Ie tries to rise; she restrains him.) Rise, sir, from this semi-recumbent! posture. it is most indecorous, GWENDOLEN: Mamma! I must beg you to retire, This is no place for you. Besides, Mr Worthing has not quite finished yet, Lapy BRackNalt: Finished what, may I ask? Gwenooren: Tam engaged to Mr Worthing, Mamma. (They rise together.) Lany Bracken: Pardon me, you are not engaged to anyone. When you da become engaged to someone, I, or your father, should his health permit him, will inform you of the fact. An engagement should come on a young girl as a surprise, pleasant or unpleasant, as the case may be. [tis hardly? a matter that she could be allowed fo arrange for herself ... And now | have a few questions to put to you, Mr Worthing. While | am making these inquiries, you, Gwendolen, will wait for me below in the carriage. GWenbouen: (reproach fully’) Mamma! Lapy BRACKNbLL: In the carriage, Gwendolen! (GwEnvousn goes to the door She and Jack blow kisses to each other behind Lady Bracknell’s back, LADY Brackneu. looks vaguely about as if she could not understand what the noise was. Finally turns round.) Gwendolen, the carriage! Gwinoin: Yes, Mamma, (Goes out looking back at Jack.) Lapy Bracentit: (sitting down) You can take a seat, Mr Worthing. Jaci: Thank you, Lady Bracknell, 1 prefer standing, Lapy Bracknnia: (pencil and notebook in has) | feel bound to tell you that you are not down on my list of eligible young men, although | have the same list as the dear Duchess of Bolton has. We work together, in fact However, | am quite ready to enter® your name, should your answers be what a really affectionate mother requires. Do you smoke? Jack: Well, yes, I must admit I smoke. Laby BRacKNeit: Tam glad to hear it. A man should always have an occupation of some kind. ‘There are far too many idle® men in London as itis, How old are you? Jack: Twenty-nine, Lapy Bracknsit: A very good age to be married at. | have always been of the opinion that a man who desires to get m: everything or nothing. Which do you know? Jack: (after some hesitation) | know nothing, Lady Bracknell. Lapy Bracks: 1 am pleased to hear it, I do not approve of anything that tampets with’ natural ignorance. Ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom! is gone, The whole theory of modern education is radically unsound’, Fortunately in England, at any rate!) vied should know either Importance of Being E 10 20 x0 aia 1 Was Found in a Handbag fg i aaa Phest ~ Oscar Wikde GLOSSARY 1. semirecumbent: slmest lying down hhardly: certainly oe 3. reproach fully Esappiovingy 4, bound obliged 5. enter: write, inchide 6. idle: doing nothing 7. tannpers with: loterferes ith 8, bloom: colone 9. ansounds not sensible 10, at any rates in any case i194 Uwhatsoever: at all 32. Grosveriar Squares ‘one nf the mast fasblonable squares in Nondon 13. duties: dates 14. poachers: lel Dunters 415. Liberal Unionist ‘conservative liberal [Link]: severely 17. Tories: Conservatives 18. ponple of commerce: the world of business IKE VICTORIAN AGE = Deama education produces no effect whatsoever"', If it did, it would prove a serious danger to the upper classes, and probably lead to acts of violence in Grosvenor Square!?, What is your income? Jnck: Between seven and eight thousand a year. Lavy BRacknruts (makes @ note it her book) In Jand, or in investments? Jack: Jn investments, chiefly. Lapy Bracks: That is satisfactory, What between the duties expected of one during one’s lifetime, and the duties! exacted from one after one’s death, land has ceased to be either a profit or a pleasure. It gives one position, and prevents one from keeping it up. That's all that can be said) about land. Jack: 1 have a country house with some land, of course, attached to it, about fifteen hundred acres, } believe; but | don't depend on that for my real income. In fact, as far as 1 can make out, the poachers" are the only people who make anything out of it Lapy BRAcxWviui: A country house! How many bedrooms? Well, that point can be cleared up afterwards. You have a town house, | hope? A gir! with a simple, unspoiled nature, like Gwendolen, could hardly be expected to reside in the country, Jack: Well, Lown a house in Belgrave Square, but it is let by the year to Lady Bloxham, Of course, I can get it back whenever 1 like, at six months! notice. Lapy Bracknsnt: Lady Bloxham? I don’t know her. Jack: Oh, she goes about very little, She is a lady considerably advanced in years. Laby Brackneiu: Ah, nowadays that is no guarantee of respectability of character, What number in Belgrave Square? Jack: 149, Lapy Beacuoveis: (shaking her head) The unfashionable side, | thought there was something. However, that could easily be altered. Jack: Do you mean the fashion, or the side? Lapy Bracknsit: Both, if necessary, 1 presume, What are your politics? Jack: Wei, | am afraid I realy have none. | am a Liberal Unionist". Lapy BRACKNE&L: (sternly!) Ob, they count as Or come in the ever parents living? Jack: I have lost both my parents. Lapy Bracxntit: To lose one parent, Mr Worthing, may be regarded asa misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness, Who was your father? He was evidently alth, Was he born in what the Radical papers call the purple of commerce'®, or did he rise from the ranks of the aristocracy? Jack: | am afraid | really don't know. The fact is, Lady Bracknell, } said had lost my parents. It would be nearer the truth to say that my parents seem to have lost me ... | don't actually know who I am by birth. I was well, Iwas found, jories!”. They dine with us. ng, at any rate, Now to misior maiters, Are your a man of some 48 58 70) w The Importance of Being Farnest ~ Oscar Wilde 421 Lapy BRACKNELL: Found! Jack: The late Mr ‘Thomas Cardew, an old gentleman of a very charitable and kindly disposition, found me, and gave me the name of Worthing, because he 99 happened fo have a fizst-class ticket for Worthing in his pocket at the time. Worthing is a place in Sussex. It isa seaside resort. Lapy BRACKNELL: Where did the charitable gentleman who had a first-class ticket for this seaside resort find 95 you? Jack: (gravely) In a handbag. Laby BRACKNELL: A handbag? Jacx: (very seriously) Yes, Lady Bracknell. It was in a handbag - a somewhat large, black leather handbag, 100 with handles to it~ an ordinary handbag, in fact. Lapy Bracknnia: In what locality did this Mr James, or ‘Thomas, Cardew come across this ordinary handbag? Jack: In the cloakroom" at Victoria Station. It was given to him in mistake for his own, 105 Laoy Bracxnuit: The cloaksoom at Victoria Station? Jace: Yes. The Brighton line. Lapy Bracknnit: The line is immaterial, Mr Worthing, I confess I feel somewhat bewildered”! by what you have just told me. To be born, or at any rate, bred’? no. in a handbag, whether it had handles or not, seems to me to display a contempt’? for the osdinary decencies of family life that reminds one of the worst excesses of the French Revolution. And I presume you know what that unfortunate movement” Jed to? As for the particular locatity in which the handbag was found, a doakroom at a railway station might serve to conceal a social indiscretion®S ~ has probably, indeed, been used for that purpose before now ~ but it could hardly be regarded as an assured basis for a recognized position in good society, Jack: May Task you then what you would advise me to do? I need hardly say I would do anything in the world to ensure Gwendolen’s happiness. Lapy BRAckNetu: I would strongly advise you, Mr Worthing, to try and acquire some relations as soon as possible, and to make a definite effort to produce at any rate one parent, of either sex, before the season is quite over. Jack: Well, I don’t see how I could possibly manage to do that. I can produce the handbag at any moment. Tt is in any dressing-room at home. | really think that should satisfy you, Lady Bracknell Lapy Bracioveii: Me, sit! What has it to do with me? You can hardly Imagine tbat 1 and Lord Bracknell would dream of allowing our only daughter —a girl brought up with the utmost” care - to marry into a cloakroom, and form an alliance with a parcel? Good moming, Mr Worthing! [Laby Braciovaun sweeps ont in rnajestic indignation.) is 320 130 | | A scene fromthe fm “The importance ; of Being Eamest (1952), | with Michael fedgrove and | Joan Greenwood, | 19.c1oakroom: a place ‘where people leave ‘eats, bags, ete 20,immate unimportant 2. bewildered: confused 22, bred: brought up [Link] a contempt show lack of respect [Link] unfortunate movemeat: the French Revolution [Link] serve indiscretion: might hhe useful to hide something you dit not want other ponple to know about [Link]: greatest possible ° UD 122. THE VICTORIAN AGE ~ Drama COMPREHENSION —— 1 What news does Gwendolen give her mother? How does her mother react? Who, according to Lady Bracknell, will choose her daughter's future husband? 2 What do Lady Bracknell and the Duchess of Bolton work together on? 3. Why is Lady Bracknelt pleased to hear that Jack smokes? 4 What should a man who wishes to get married know, according to Lady Bracknell? What is her opinion of English education? ANALYSIS: What social class do Lady Bracknell and Jack belong to? Find class indicators in the text to support your anower. 2 Focus on the character of Lady Bracknell. a. How would you define her relationship with her daughter Gwendolen? b. Which of the following does she consider important? Education # Property Personality Family background Conformity to fashion * Moral standards "Money » Respectability €. What is Jack’s reaction to Lady Bracknell? He is critical of her blatant snobbery. “He is intimidated by her. He is amused by her eccentricity, d, Lady Bracknell clearly has many negative traits, However, she is a much foved character. Try to explain her popularity with audiences of all ages and social classes. Consider the following points: ~ Are we supposed to take her seriously? ~ Does her mistreatment of Jack upset us? ~ Do we identify with Jack? ~ Do her views anger us of make us lauigh? ~ Isher purpose in the play to represent or ridicule snobbery? 6 Lady Bracknell says that land ‘gives one position, and prevents one from keeping it up’ (line 50), What does she mean by this statement? 7 Why is she a litle disappointed with Jack's town house? B Why does she consider Jack to have been ‘careless’? (Line 79) 9 Why was Jack given the surname Worthing? 10 Where was Jack found? How does Lady Bracknell react to his disclosure? What advice does Lady Bracknell give Jack? 3 Focus on the comic element in the text. a, Is the humour" primarily: ‘verbal? 4 behavioural? situational? ‘Much of what Lady Bracknell says contradicts commonly accepted opinions. Find statements in the text that reverse the usual way of thinking. . Wordplay in the form of puns* is one of the features of the play. tn lines 47-48 there is a play on the double meaning of ‘duty’ which means both ‘obligation’ and tax’. Explain the play on words in the following statement which Lady Bracknell makes: “To lose one parent, Mr Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.’ (Lines 78-79) d, Many of Lady Bracknell’s statements are humorous because they are absurd or nonsensical. Which ones do you find particularly appealing? 4 Focus on the character of Jack a, Jack’s account of how he was found in a handbag is an example of humour based on absurdity, The humour is intensified by Jack's apparently serious approach to the episode, which is conveyed by his attention to detail, Find examples in the text b. In this text Jack plays the role of a straightman or stooge, i.e, a serious character who highlights the comic elements of other characters and gives them the opportunity to make jokes at his or her expense. Find examples in the text of Jack's serious attempts to answer Lady Bracknell’s preposterous questions, The importance of Being Barnest « Oscar Wilde — 123, @F% STAGING THE PLAY Creating a Timing, stress and pitch are important in ail forms of drama, and in comedy they are character absolutely essential. Before rehearsals begin, the director and actors will sit down with the script and work out issues such as stress, pace, pausing, volume and pitch, The actors will take notes which they will use during their performance. What you are about to read is an annotated version of part of the script of the scene from The finportance of Reing Barnest you have just read, The following symbols have been used: ___ Underlined words should be stressed! o emphasised because they ate important for conveying meaning, > Marrow pointing to the right meicates gathering speedy, suggesting that the actorshould increase the pace <= _Ananrow pointing bichwands suggests that the actor should slow down, 1] ‘two vertical lines indicate a pause A rising arrow suggests excitement, emotion, <> ‘A falling arrow suggests calm Jack: Well, yes, Lmust adinit | smoke. > Lapy Brackntits (slowly) Lam glad to hear it, ($-)A man should always have an sccupation of some kind, There are far too many idle men in London as it is, How old are you? Jack: Twenty-nine. Lapy BRACKNSLI: A very good age to be married at, | have always been of the opinion that a man who desires to get married ([]) should know (ID either everything or nothing. Which do you know? Jack: (after some hesitation) 1 know nothing, Lady Bracknell. a0) Lapy Brackwtuts (\)) 1 am pleased fo hear it. f do not approve of anything that jampers with natural ignorance. ()}) Ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone. (>) The whole theory of modern education is radically unsound. (<) Fortunately in England, at any rate, education produces no effect whatsoever. If it did, it would prove a serious danger to the upper classes, and probably lead to acts of violence in Grosvenor Square. What is your income? 28, Work in pairs. Choose 15~-20 lines of the scene you have read and make notes about the timing, stress and pitch. When you have finished, try to perform the tines following the indlications. Lady Bracknell comes across as being extremely snobbish. For example, she thinks that the side of Belgrave Square | where Jack has @ house is not fashionalsle enough. | A snob is someone who thinks that he is better than other people and does not want anything to do with them. | Which of the following sorts of snobbery do you think are most prevalent? Choose one and explain why you chose it. | 1 People who feel superior because they are rich, i | 2 People who feel superior because of their family background. i 3 People who feel superior because they have a higher levet of education. | snneneennd he Context ju» Ae Historical and Social Background | The Victorian Age 1837-1901 ‘The early part of the nineteenth century had seen Britain consolidate it position as a world power following the defeat of Napoleon. At home th Industrial Revolution was well under way and a new urbanised society was bein created, The rest of the nineteenth century was to see Britain reach heights c ‘wealth, power and prestige that were unmatched at any other time in its histor ‘This golden age is often referred to as the ‘Victorian era’ because it conresponde with the reign of one of the country’s best-loved queens, Victoria LEADING THE WORLD Victosia became a symbol of all that was good and glorious in nineteentt century Britain. She managed to create such a rapport with her people the Queen Victoria | the members of the Royal Family became treasured representatives of the count ‘The role of partiamnent | The real business of running the countey, however, was left to parliament, One ¢ the great achievements of the century was the gradual construction of a syster > Visual Link Fa of parliamentary democracy that was backed up by a permanent civil servic which took care of the day-to-day running of the state. This system was muc admired abroad because it provided stability and social cohesion at a time « rapid economic expansion. GOVERNMENT. I 7 ae se ‘The process of industrialisation quickened as more factories were buil particularly in the north of England. Heavy engineering, machine toc Industrialisation | production and the highly mechanised cotton and wool industries powered th > Dickens, Text 3 economic boom and attracted ever greater numbers to towns and cities. Laissez-faire | All Victorian governments adopted a laissez-faire attitude to economic matter which meant that the state tied as far as possible not to interfere with free trad between individuals, businesses of states. By 1870 Britain’s foreign trad amounted to four times that of France, Gennany, Italy and the United States pe together, and the pound was the internationally recognised unit of currency, The Economy A. booming economy needed new markets and an endless supply of ra materials, 50 there was no slowing down in the process of coloni Coloniat expansion | expansion. The major European powers set about carving up Asia and Africa j an attempt ta acquire as many new territories as possible. In the 1880s Ne Guinea, Sudan and Burma became British possessions, while in the 189¢ Uganda and Kenya were adcied. In the older English-speaking colonies of Australia, New Zealand and Canada, limited form of self-government was allowed as they became home to 2 incteasing number of immigrants from Britain, Meanwhile, India had becon the jewel in the British imperial crown, and when Queen Victoria was declare Empress of India in 1876 the event was greeted by her subjects as a sign that the country was indced the greatest power in the world, FOREIGN Pouicy While the sense of national pride at their country's exalted position ¢ the world stage may have been gratifying to the British people, wh mattered most to them was the quality of their lives at home, REFORM AND EVERYDAY LIFE Historical and Social Background — 125 ‘The process of social development and political reform which had began earlier | New reforms in the century continued throughout the Victorian period + By 1870 the working day was limited to ten hours a day and sixty hours a week. | Text ¥1 + Education up to the age of thirteen became compulsory, but not free, in 1870. | visual Link rs + The Second Reform Bill of 1867 doubled the number of people who could vote and the Secret Ballot was introduced in 1872. Women still could not vote. + The setting up of Health Commissions in 1867 and a Local Government Board in 1871 helped to improve municipal and health services + In 1840 a cheap postal system was introduced. + Popular newspapers began to appear in the 1870s, All these developments combined to improve living and working conditions for | jmprovement in living a population that had doubled between 1815 (thirteen million) and 1871 | and working conditions {twenty-six million), At the end of the Victorian era, British people could boast of being better housed, better clothed, better informed and more healthy than any | > other population in Europe. sual Link F2 The Great Exhibition, which opened in London in the newly- z constructed Crystal Palace on the first of May 1851, was a highpoint in Voices oF Dissent the history of Vietorian Britain. The industrial and artistic achievements of the | The Great Exhibition nation were put on display for the world to admire. While millions did admire, others pointed out that, despite a seemingly endless success story, Britain was far from being a paradise on earth. Much criti focused on the squalor and deprivation that was stil to be found in the cities, While the midatfe and upper classes gloried in the prosperity of the times, the | Criticism fast-growing industrial working class began to question the premise that such | > text 4 prosperity necessarily involved demeaning and exploitative working conditions and undemocratic political representation. In 1838 a People’s Charter was drawn up which called for, among other political | Chartism reforins, the vote for all men, Although the movement, called ‘Chartism’, was dissolved and only partially achieved its aims, it marked the beginning of organised working class politics in Britain. ‘The Trades Union Congress was set up in 1869 to defend workers' rights, and | The Tracies Union acted as support to the thousands of workers who went on stiike after 1870 when | Congress the economic boom turned into recession. With the creation of the Independent Labour Party in 1893, the working class set out to break the traditional mould of British polities ay it demanded electoral reform and social justice > isa Link 13, [few afte Gopal Palace bak by och ; . seuszeigsld] Povon bmesrtasy vest erme ee compere wn a coe tie Sore eee Meany Se nt i ‘ i ue 1 Besides the social tensions that existed in Victorian society, there were als disagreements about what the core values of society should be, Not everyor accepted that increased material wealth was the only worthwhile value. Write like Matthew Arnold (> p, F103) represented the views of those who felt the over-eiphasis on materialism was turning nineteenth-century Britain into a fe caving society, where cultural and artistic pursuits were looked on as distractior from the main objective of making money. While Britain's profile had never been higher abroad, trouble lay in sto: nearer home. Famine | In 1845, Ireland was hit by a devastating famine that resulted in over a millio deaths while hundreds of thousands more were forced to emigrate, The abje state of destitution that the country found itself in Jed many to believe thi political independence from Britain could only improve matters. This view wi supported by the Prime Minister, Gladstone, but his two attempts to introduce limited form of independence (Home Rule) were defeated in parliament, IRELAND, Problems in beland and on the indus Cloups oN THE HORIZON front could not dim the splenclot of the Victorian age, Britain had established a model for stable constitution government in an industrialised state which was the envy of the rest of the world. However, as the nineteenth century drew to a close, it was becoming apparent th, the prosperity and harmony that characterised Victoria’s reign would not la forever. A period of splendid isolation was to give way to one of open rivalry an turmoil, TASK a — a Complete the following sentences. d., People were generally etter educated and better a. The British system of government was admired informed because abroad because .. e. Many working-class people were unhappy about b, Alaissez-faire economic policy meant that .. «. The two events which rade many British people proud of their country were. 1937 Queen Victoria 1838 The People’s Charter \ 1840 Postal service introduced | 1845, Famine in Iretand | 1851 ‘The Great Exhibition | 1869 ‘Trades Union Cangress set up | 1870 Working day limited to ten hours Compulsory education up to thirteen years of age / 1876 Queen Victoria crowned Empress of India | 1880-1900 New colonies in Asia andi Attica | 1893 Independent Labour Party founded. | Gladlstone’s Second Home Rule Bill defeated Historical and Social Background — 1 North American History 1823-1900 Having put the struggle for independence behind it, the new nation could N now concentrate on developing its political infrastructures and the economy, While the economy did thrive in the nineteenth century, it proved much more difficult to bring about national politcal unity Rivalry between the north and south emerged as a burning issue which eventually led to a war that threatened to split the United States in two. Whether in the north of south, there was no tet ap in the dynamic growth of American society, Immigrants continued to flow in from Europe in search of a new life. Up until the last. decade of the century, when new arrivals started to come from southem Europe, immigrants came matnly ftom Britain, hreland and northern Europe. A large influx of Chinese alarmed the authorities <0 mnuch that in 1862 a law was passed banning all immigration from China, Despite the fact that cities began to grow thanks to industrial development, and that New York, with half a million inhabitants in 1850, was becoming the country’s main metropolis, by 1900 only forty percent of the population lived in towns Pr The dramatic success story that was the American economy continued. The North-vast underwent an industrial revolution based on iron and steel production, while the South exported cotton to the world. People rushed west to California, Oregon and Alaska in search of gold, while Texas heeame home to huge cattle ranches, To aid trade, the transport network was developed with the building of roads and tailroads, An ingenious feature of the transport revolution was the use of steamboats. These picturesque craft shuttled up and down the big rivers carrying people and goods trom south to north and hack again, Technological innovations Hike the mass production of motorcars, pioneered by Henry Ford, and inventions like that of the telephone in 1876 by Alexander Bell, gave further impetus to an economy that was becoming a key player on the world market, 4 dynamic society and a buoyant economy could not, however, hide the Srowing rift between the north and south of the country. The two areas were different in various ways, Firstly, the climates were very different and ORTH AND SouTH ‘OPLE AND SOCIETY Inunigration Tue Economy Industrial Revolution Transport and technological innovation INTERNAL DIVISION North and South Consequently people's lifestyles differed, Secondly, the north ae was more industrialised and, thanks to greater access to Public schools, had a higher level of education, Thirdly, and most importantly, slavery was practised in the south but had been abolished in the north. Phe torte of Witarnsbang (1862) | turing the American Civ Wr DRIAN AGE - The Slavery | The issue of slavery was to provide the spark that ignited the Civil War > ‘ext P21 Northerners were becoming increasingly intolerant of a system they regarded as being out-of-date, while southemers argued that cheap black labour was essential > Visual dink FE to maintain profitable cotton production, With no compromise in sight, on December 20th 1860, South Carolina seceded from the Union, Other states followed until open war was > rents declared in April 1861. A fierce and bloody conflict dragged on for four years until the South surrendered. The hero of the howr was the leacler of the northern states, Abraham Lincoln, who was assassinated just as the war ended. CIVIL WAR, PIECES OF TE Pf : ST Ca eee The decisive battle which paved the way for a northern victory in the American Civil War was fought aver three days in july 1863 at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, On the 19th of Noveniber of the same year, before the end of the war, Abraham Lincoln dedicated the battlefield as a memorial to the thousands of dead and wounded from both sides. The speech he delivered on that day is.a landmark in the history of American patriotic oratory. Here ate some of the most famous passages from it Four score and seven! years ago our fathers brought forth? on this continent, a new pation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equi Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, (...) so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure®. We are met on a great battlefield of that war, We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. (...) But, ina larger sense, we cannot dedicate (...) this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggted* here, have consecrated it (...). The world will little note, nor long remember what we say hese, but it can never forget what they did here, (...} It is rather for us to (...) take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last ai full measure of devotion ~ that we here highly resolve that | “Apranam these dead shall not have died in vain ~ that this nation, under | Linco. God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shal! not perish* from the earth GLOSSARY, 2, brought forth: foundest 4, stouggled: foaght 1. Four score and seven: eighty-soven 3. enue: samvive 5. perish: disappear OTASIC Underline in the text: ~a reference to the past of the nation; ~ a reference to present events; a reference to hope for the futwe. ‘crc nrtr Scena RE RECS ALARA PE SCRA NTE AE NE Historical and Social Background — 129 Lincoln’s successors as presidents of the newly tinited. United RECONSTRUCTION States, Andrew Johnson and Ulysses $. | ‘The Fourteenth and Grant, tried to eliminate the root causes | Fifteenth ameniiments that had led to civil war, The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the constitution outlawed discrimination of any kind and gave the vote to all races. These Amendments and similar anti discriminatory measures were largely ignored in the south. Slavery was | Segregation replaced by a form of segregation which made it clear that blacks were second class citizens, During elections, for example, voters were asked to read a piece from the American Constitution. If they were not able to, they were prevented from voting. Most blacks could not read and therefore did not vote. Blacks were also subjected to direct physical violence as openly racist, organisations, like the Ku Klux Klan, gained populaeity. As the nineteenth century drew to a close, the United States had survived a debilitating Civil War and found the strength to rebuild a united and generally prosperous country, It was ready to face the new century, safe in the knowledge that it was one of the world’s growing powers, and would be called on to play an increasingly central role on the international stage. THE NEW CENTURY (Arsene —____ The following words and names are associated with either the Nosth or South of the United States, Put them in the correct line, industry, Ku Klux Klan, secession, anti-slavery campaigns, cotton, Abraham Lincoln North oe | South eet eee | eee a | ; eee ore 1860 South Carolina s | 1861-1865 The presidency of Abraham tincoln | 1861 Civil War starts | 1865 Civil War ends i Abraham Lincoln assassinated | 1865-1869 The presidency of Andrew Johnson | 1865 The Fourteenth Amendment outlaws ail forms of discrimination | 1867 Alaska bought from Russia | i | | | 1869-1877 The presidency of Ulysses S. Grant 1870 ‘The Fifteenth Amendment gives the vote to blacks as well as whites 1876 Alexander Bell invents the telephone 1882 Immi | I ration from China stopped 130. TINE VICTORIAN AGE - The Context The Literary Background Victorian Literature ‘The Victorian period was an age of stark contrasts and paradoxes. While Britain was at the height of its wealth, power and influence, large sections, of its population Jived and worked in appalling conditions. Absoad, the British Empire continued to claim new territories while, at home, age-old rural communities were disappearing. Scientific and technological advances paved the way for a better future as traditional religious beliefs began to crumble under the weight of new scientific discovery, Britain enjoyed a surge of national pride and confidence but many people viewed the future with deepening pessimism. The growing pains, confidence and loss of consensus in Victorian society are all reflected in its literature INTRODUCTION As the Renaissance is identified with drama and Romanticism with poetry, the Victorian age is identified with the novel. There are sever ral reasons for Reasons for growth | the triumph of fiction, but perhaps the most significant is the rapid growth in the middle classes who, since the eighteenth contury, had been avid consumers of this form of literature, Other factors, stich as an improved education system, which led to greater literacy, and a fall in book prices, due to improved printing techniques and cheaper transport costs, also contributed to the success of the novel, Circulating libraries became very popular and allowed people to borrow books for a relatively modest sum. Women, who had been freed from traditional chores stich as candle and bread making, had more time to dedicate to reading and became avid consumers of fiction. Indeed the period is characterised by the emergence of women not just as readers but also as influential writers. Serialisation | The Victorian age also abounded in journals, periodicals and pamphiets. Many early Vietorian novels first appeared in serialised form in periodicals. Publication in serial form influenced the writing process: writers had to keep the readers! interest high in order to encourage them to continue buying their work, To bridge the gap between one instalment and the next, writers had to create highly memorable characters, and episodes usually ended with some form of suspense ~ the ‘cliff-hanger’ technique which js still used in today’s soap operas. Writers, received immediate feedback from their readers and could fashion their work to satisfy the public’s taste. When, for example, public interest in the hero of Charles Dickens's serialised novel Martin Chuzzlewit began to fade, the author simply shipped him off to Ameri Realism | ‘The closeness between the novelist and his readers was a distinguishing featuse, particularly of the early Victorian period, Writing had become an important commercial activity and novels were written primarily to please the public and sell. ‘The middle class réadership wanted realistic novels, where the contemporary world they knew was faithfully described and not idealised as the Romantics had done. Victorian realism observed and documented everyday life, drew its characters from all social classes and explored areas of life usually ignored by the arts ‘THe Victorian Novet Charles Dickens | ‘The writer who is most representative of the Victorian period is Charles Dickens (1812-1870) | (> pp. 12-17). His early works Sketches by Boz and The Pickwick Papers (1836-1837) The Literar established him as a comic novelist in the eighteenth century tradition of Henry Fielding ( pp. D70-76). However, from the publication of Oliver Twist (1837-1838), which highlighted the plight of poor city children, his work assumed a more serious tone. He quickly became the social conscience of his age, denouncing social inequalities, abuses in education and the Jaw, and the heartless materialism and hypocrisies of Victorian society. The reading public responded favourably to the way Dickens treated these themes. His memorable characters, comic gifts and often sentimental and sensational plots appealed to a wide spectrum of readers. While he exposed the evils of society, he never lost his sense of optimism, and indeed many of his novels end happily in the traditional devices of marriage or wealth. He responded closely to his readers’ demands and included scenes of dramatic death-bed confessions, angelic children and saintly wives to please them. Charles Dickens is considered the greatest Victorian novel because his work best reflects the complexity, excitement and disharmonies of the age. He has been criticised for his poorly constructed plots, his inability to portray convincing women, his sensationalism and his sentimentality, Despite these failings, Dickens is still considered one of the great masters of English literature, His ability to create a character in a phrase, his ear for speech and his eye for detail have rarely been equalled. He is still one of the most read authors in English literature, and adaptations of his work for popular media such as television and cinema continue to capture the public imagination Although they were contemporaries of Dickens, the Bronté sisters belong to an earlier literary tradition. Their works, which contain Gothic elements and explore the extremes of passion and violence, are distinctly Romantic in temperament. Jane Eyre, which at first was published under a male pseudonym, shocked many Victorian readers. Women characters had traditionally been portrayed as victims in the tradition of Samuel Richardson's Pamela, or totally dependent on men and snarriage as in the novels of Jane Austen. In Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronté created a new type of heraine, a forceful, independent woman who is not afraid to show emotions and speak her mind. As Jane herself says in Chapter XIf ‘Women are supposed to be very calm generally but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer’. ‘The passion which at times is repressed in Charlotte Bronté’s novel, breaks free, oiten destructively, in her sister’s Emily’s masterpiece, Wuthering Heights, This work displays a level of emotional force and a sophisticated narzative structure Gnvolving two major and five minor narrators) not previously seen in the English novel. itis a work of unique imaginative power which describes the wild, instinctive passions of its two main characters against the backdrop of the rugged Yorkshire moorland. Its emotional intensity stunned the Victorian public, George Eliot, the pen name of Mary Ann Evans, was another outstanding Woman novelist of the Victorian period. Most of her novels are set in the Warwickshire countryside of her childhood, against which she paints a complete Picture of provincial society, In Silas Marner, a parable which underlines the importance of love and family, Eliot hits out at Victorian materialism. The same Background — 131 Aas illustration by A, Rackham for an eady twentieth-century editian of A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens. The Bronte sisters Jane Eyre D Texts FP andl BS Wuthering Heights > Texts FS and Fo George Bliot (1819-1880) J Tous FO and FO > Visual Link 16 32. TRE VICTORIAN NAGE Later Victorians > Visual Link FB Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) > tests F15 and FI6 Aestheticisn > Visual Link 12 theme recurs in her novel Middlemarch (1871-1872), in which she describes life ina provincial town in 1832. Readers in the 1870s could see how much progress had been made in medicine, transport and commerce, while at the same time witnessing how little progress had been made in social concern for the poor Bliot foreshadows later Victorian writers in her rejection of the prevailing moral and religious code of the society in which she lived. Her exploration of the psychological and moral complexity of her characters is also an early example of the pychological analysis which was to dominate much of twentieth-century fiction, ‘The term ‘later Victorians’ is used to refer to writers in the last two decades of Victoria’s reign. Although English society was still governed by conventional Victorian codes, new scientific and philosophical theories led people to question the basic assumptions of the age. Essays by Thomias Carlyle, John Stuart Mill and John Ruskin posed questions about the consequences of industzial capitalism and Charles Darwin's On the Origin of the Species shook Victorian belief in the existence of God and the special destiny of humanity, A spirit of rebellion developed against Victorian materialism, optimism and self-confidence. Unlike Dickens and other early Victorian writers who criticised society, but believed in the possibility of finding solutions, an air of gloomy pessimism pervaded the work of Jater Victorian writers. Perhaps the write ‘who best represents the period Is ‘Thomas Hardy, ‘Thomas Hardy's novels are set in the countryside of Wessex, the fictional name he gave to the southwestern part of England where he was born. His thorough knowledge and affection for this past of the country is clearly seen in his detailed descriptions of the rural landscapes and the natural environment which not only provide a background and a setting but become an active force in his stories. His, stories are so closely linked to this rural setting that they are referred to as ‘regional novels’. Hardy's characters are outsiders in their own society who fall victin to forces of economic and social change over which they have no control. His two major novels, Tess of the d’Urbervilles (1891) and Jude the Obscure (1895), are deeply pessimistic, ‘Tass, an intelligent and loving girl, is driven to her death by a sigid, inflexible, social system, jude, a working man who is passionate for education, is oppressed and defeated by Victorian narrow-mindedness and a malign destiny. Hardy's indictment of Victorian morals caused a tervible scandal. His books were burned, banned and denounced and he became so disillusioned and discouraged by the public response that he stopped writing, ‘The crises of faith and morality which characterised the latter half of the Victorian period gave rise in the 1880s and 1890s to an artistic movement known as Aestheticism ~ a term which comes from the Greek word meaning ‘to perceive! or ‘to feel’. Aesthetes believed that sensation should be the source of art, and that the sole of the artist was to make the public share his feelings. They totally rejected the Victorian notion that art should have a moral, social or political puspose, believing that the astist should care about form and technique and The Literary Yackgrond — 133 express himself freely: he should not become the slave of fixed moral and ethical conventions, This approach to art gave rise to a type of literature which cultivated sensations and described them with great frankness, The motto ‘art for art's sake’ was adopted and followers were encouraged to live their life as a work of art, which meant experiencing all possible kinds of sensations, Aestheticism first developed in France in the second half of the nineteenth century. The founder and leading theorist of the English Aesthetic Movement was Walter Pater, whose work Studies in the History of the Renaissance (1873) proved | highly influential, Perhaps the most outstanding figure in the movement was Oscar Wilde. A successful poet, novelist and playwright, he applied aesthetic principles to all his work. His novel The Picture of Dorian Gray was considered daringly modern and highly immoral. It highlights the tension between the respectable surface of high life and the life of secret vice, Although sin appears to be punished in the end, the book seems to promote an elegantly perverse approach to life, ‘The popularity of the novel in the Victorian period led to an enormous output of prose fiction. Any brief panorama of the period The Peacock si decoration ; | will inevitably be incomplete and can only. 2 Aubrey Beardsley forthe English | 7 e literary we: ehicton or SISE oar hope to give some idea of the literary wealth of the period. Apart from the novelists that have been discussed, other writers made important contribations and deserve to be mentioned. They include: William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863). His masterpiece, Vanity Fair, pabe lished in monthly parts in 1847 and 1848, is set at the time of the Napoleonic Wars, It is a vast satirical panorama of a soulless, materialist society which ‘Thackeray intended to be applied also to his own times Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865), whose novel Mary Barton (1848) portrays the Greadful reality of life in the new industrial towns of Victorian England. Anthony Trollope (1815-1882), who wrote over forty navels and was the first English writer to use the same characters over a sequence of novels. Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894), who wrote historical novels such as Kidnapped (1886) and who is still remembered today for his Gothic tale The Strange Case of Dr Je cyll and Mr Hyde (1886), William Wilkie Collins (1824-1889), who. generally considered to be the {ather of the detective novel and whose work The Moonstone (1868) displays his Seal talent for characterisation and his ability to construct a complex and suspenseful plot Walter Pater (1839-1894) Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) ® fexts P13 and Pid Other writers P oxts 811 ond 12 TASK — ~ — Prepare a report on the general features of the ~ the closeness between the Victorian novelist and his Victorian novel which covers the following paints: public; ~teasons for the rise of the novel; ~ most representative early Victorian novelists; ~ Serialisation and its consequences for the authors; ~ later Victorian novelists and Aestheticism, Te VICTORIAN AGE ~The Cont fctsaalaniae! Oscar Wilde's contempt for Victorian hypocisy is apparent in is literary work and the raannerin which be five hi ils extravagant way of aressing, his larger than if personality and his outspoken criticism al flew inthe face 0 Victorian moratity. When he was accused of ‘acts of gvoss indecency with other male persons’, he took his persona crusade a step further and fought bis case in court. The sully verdict which sentenced hint to to years! hand labow was viewed by many as a triumph for Victorian respectability. This article appeared in the English newspaper The News of the World. It is a commentary on the judicial sentenice that destroyed Oscar Wilde's life and literary career, London, 26 May 1895 ‘The Wilde case is Over, and at last the curtain has fallen oy the most horribk Scandal whieh has ¢ isturbed social life London for y years, The cries of ‘Sha ne!” ‘vith whi c the sentence pronounced by Mr Justice Wills was reeeiy x indicate that & cetain section of the public in cout ra sted pe persiet with dstevou, and tha ecting will very peso be shared by a section of the Public outside, But itis well [ poaiber that the jury are in a position to fom the bos ang onest opinion. They have heard all the evidence and seen, the witnesses in the box, while outsiders have only pewsPaPer reports (..) to guide them, Yet even those who have tead the reports and have taken the osble’ 2 understand what fies between the ines, cannot help but fe 1 that Wilde and his associate have got aff tightly?, Socien Vi well rid of? these ghouls? and their hideous® practi. os Wilde practically confessed his guilt atthe i 20 ‘nd the unclean ereatnres with whom he chose to haut | Specifically owned? that the charges! SERIE De were tre, Itis at a 2 a oe Lo — terrible cost that society has Purged itsel? of these ae loathsome! importers of exotie v ir [iis fry as Wide inthe amonymous 1232 the pce, and th ching feta a SO file (1997), during the trial ~ 7 ofreshing to feel that for once, at Joa re eae Bs justice has been done. ee, at least, GLOSSARY 1. have taken the troxebles bave male the 4, ghouls: people who delight in evolling 8, to herd to he pert of a gronp of etfost practiees, ike feeding on human flesh animals c owned: admitted 2. have yot off lightly: have secelved a8. hideous: hontbie 8 drat Tight sentence 6. guilt: responsibilty [Link]: accusations 3. is Well id of: is pleased to be sree fom 7, oatset: beginning A-loathsome: hateful TASIC Answer the questions. a, What is the position of the author of the article: is he outraged or pleased with the sentence? b, Was there unanimous condemnation of Wilde’s ‘crime’ or were there dissenting voices? c, What dloes the article suggest about the cherished notion of ‘respectability’ in Victorian times? Se SEE EINER TPN APR TES SOREN aN PUR TR The Literary Background — 135 LINK TO RUSSIAN LITERATURE: Tolstoy The nineteenth century was the golden era for novel writing in Boitain, AL Bie saine tinte, a genesation of great novelists and short story writers, including Nicolai Gogol (1809-1852), Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881) and Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910), was emerging in Russia, in his eple, War and Peace (1869), Tolstoy traces the fortunes of ‘ree noble families during the Napoleonic campaign in Russia. You are going (0 read the last three parageaphs from the novel. The lives of the characters have heen inexorably influenced by the momentous historical events they have lived throught and now the nantator draws a general conclusion about the relationship between matt atid historical events. To clarify his point, he makes an analogy swith the Copesnican revolution in astronomy. As in the question of astronomy then, so in the question of history now, the whole difference of opinion rests on! the recognition or non-recognition of some absolute unit serving as the measure of visible phenomena. In astronomy the stand: ‘measure was the Immovability of the Earth; in history it Is the independence of the individual - freewill. ‘As with astronomy the difficulty in the way of recognizing that the Farth moves consisted In having to rid oneself of the immediate sensation that the Earth was stationary accompanied by a similar sense of the planets’ motion, so in history the obstacie in the way of recognizing the subjection of the individual to the laws of space and time and causality lies in the difficulty of renouncing one’s personal impresston of being independent of those laws. But as in astzonomy the new view said: “Truc, we are not conscious of the movement of the Barth but if we were to allow” that it is stationary we should? arrive at an absurdity, whereas", if we admit’ the motion (which we do not feel) we arrive at laws, likewise in history the new theory says: “True, we are not conscious of our dependence, but if we were to allow we are free we arrive at an absurdity, whereas, by admitting our dependence on the external world, on time and on causality we arrive at Jaws,” In the first case it was necessary to surmount: the sensation of an unreal immobility in space and to secognize a motion we did not feel, In the present case it is similarly necessary to renounce a freedom that does not exist and to recognize a dependence of which we ase not personally conscious GLOSSARY 4, rests on: depends upon 3. should: woke 5. admit: accept 2, attow: accept 4, whereas: on the other hand 6. surmount: overcome TASK Tolstoy believes that our lives are directly influenced by the time, place and historical context in which we live. Which of the characters you have read about in this module do you think are rnost influenced by the context in Which they live? Think in particular about Tess, Jane Eyre, Dorian Gray, Hester in The Scarlet Letter, David Copperfield and Huckleberry Finn. pcr a iS EN MY TE NMA EI VICTORIAN POETRY Alfied Tennyson (1809-1892) > vext #23 Robert Browning (1812-1889) D Text F24 Matthew Amald (1822-1888) > ox £26 Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood: Like the novelists, Victorian poets could not escape the pressure of the forces of change which were sweeping across English life and thought, Although their poetry maintained the ricb sensuousness and imagination of the Romantic school, it tended to be more popular and didactic and addressed the great social and intellectual problems of the day. Two great poetic figures emerged: Alfred Tennyson and Robert Browning, Alfred Tennyson, the most characteristic poet of the age, started his literary career by imitating the Romantics, particularly Keats, His early collection, Poems (1833), included extraordinarily melodic lyrics which demonstrate ‘Tennyson's ability to | convey rich pictorial effects. It also contained one of Tenayson’s early | masterpieces, Morte «’Arthur, a series of pooms covering the whole tale of Arthur and Guinevere that shows his great poetic skill in bringing together sound, sense, mood and atmosphere. The year 1850 marked the height of Tennyson's creative powers when he published his key work In Memoriam A.11.11,, an elegy on the death of his close friend, Arthur Henry Hallam, which he had worked on for seventeen years. When Wordsworth died, Tennyson became the Poet Laureate and critics put pressure on him to write more popular and more didactic poetry. The idea that poets should be prophets of the new age was prevalent throughout the Victorian period, and Tennyson felt obliged to write poems about controversial jssues such as the role of women and industrial progress even though this kind of poetry was unsuited to his great lyrica} talent. Tennyson never really excelled in didactic verse. Although greatly loved in his day for his optimistic public poems, today he is best remembered for the melancholy beauty of his private lyrical verse Robert Browning was seen as Tennyson's rival throughout their careers. Like Tennyson's, his early poetry was influenced by Romanticism: his admiration for Shelley was so great that for a time he became a vegetarian and adopted athelst principles, When later he found his own distinctive poetic voice, he produced poems of amazing variety, brilliance and innovation, His greatest works were written in the form of dramatic monologues; poemis consisting of a speech by a single character who reveals his thoughts, character and situation. The character | who speaks is distinct from the poet and may be a real historical figure, such a5 Alfonso Ul, Duke of Ferrara in ‘My Last Duchess’ (1842), or simply a figure invented by the poet, The dramatic monologue allowed Browning to develop his interest in the workings of the human mind, His psychological insight into man’s motives and passions exercised such a profound influence on modern “| writers, such as Ezra Pound and TS. Eliot, that he is widely regarded asa forerunner of modem psychological literature. 4 Among the minor poets of the nineteenth century, a special place is occupied by Matthew Amold. More widely recognised for his prose work, Amold composed most of his poetry in the carly years of his Hterary career, Although the quantity of poetic material he produced is limited, the quality is unquestioned. The dominant note of melancholy which haunts much of his work and the sense of disillusionment felt by a man ‘wandering between two worlds/one dead, the other powerless to be bom’ are perfectly captured in his poem ‘Dover Beach’ (1867), which many critics consider the quintessential example of Victorian poetry. ‘The Anti-Victorian reaction found a voice in the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, mid-century school of painters and poets dedicated to recovering the purity of medieval art, which they believed Raphael and the Renaissance had destroyed. It art, Pre-Raphaelism is characterised by bright colours, detailed observation of flora and subjects drawn from religion or literature (Dante, Shakespeare and | Tennyson), In poetry, where it is most clearly represented by the work of Dante —[Witian: ors, Queen Guenevere 1858). Gabriel Rossetti and his “sister Christina Rossetti, there is a tendency to ‘choose medieval subjects -and forms such as the ballad. A dreamy melan- - choly atmosphere charac- terises many of these works. Pre-Raphaelism ‘was essentially a desire to escape from the industri al ugliness of contempo- “rary Victorian society ‘nto the unspoiled beauty “of the past. Victorian despair is also one of the major themes of the century's most original poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins, His small body of work, written in the 1870s and 1880s but not published until 1918, focuses on his relationship with God, his agonised questioning of faith and his ecstatic response to nature. In a series of ~ ‘dark’ sonnets written between 1885 and 1886, Hopkins wi at a world which is a spizitual wilderness. His innovations in shytlim and his ‘grammatical inventiveness influenced poets for generations to come. The Literary Beckground — 13; Gerard! Manley Hopkins (1844-1889) 's about his despair @. yielded to public pressure to write didactic poetry, b. was inspired by Shelley, ©. wrote an elegy on the death of a close friend, 4. is credited with creating the dramatic monologue form. ©. drew inspiration from the Acthurian legends. f. was perhaps better known for his prose works, . belonged to the Pre-Raphaelite schoo! of art and literature. . drew inspiration from Pre-Renaissance art. did not have his work published until after his death. celebrated nature and criticised the spiritually arid Victorian society. AN AGE The Context : English drama was stagnant throughout much of the Victorian period ana no new plays of any literary quality were produced, Several factors Reasons for crisis | contributed to this crisis in theatre: + the tise of the novel. Most of the literary talents of the age channelled their energies into fiction; + the theatre had become a business and theatrical managers, who had replaced Jiterary patrons, were reluctant to experiment with new plays which could incur financial losses; 1 + the Victorian period was an age of great actors who could turn even poor | quality material into gripping performances. However, they also demanded large salaries which increased the cost of staging plays; | * the Theatre Licensing Act of 1737 imposed severe restrictions on the range of subjects that could be dealt with in plays. Many of the subjects that were censored, such as religion and moral themes, were the isstes of most interest to the public of the day; * drama was not considered an art form by the rich, influential middle classes, miany of whom still considered acting to be immoral. : VICTORIAN DRAMA Popular entertainment | Victorian theatre-goers, who were principally working or lower middle-class, wished to be amused. The types of performances that were popular were: * music-hall: comic sketches with musical interludes; + pantomime: musical plays based on children’s stories with strong elements of satire; : + farce: comedies based on unlikely situations with much slapstick fall-about humour; « melodramas: exaggeratedly romantic or sensational plays about broken-hearted heroines and unscrupulous villains, where in the end good always tttumphs over evil New Theatres | The Theatre Act of 1843 loosened some of the laws restricting drama, and new theatres were opened throughout the country, The new Victorian theatres were more intimate and luxurious, with gas-lit stages and highly priced, comfortable velvet seating designed to attract @ more lucrative middle-class audience, The stage was designed to give the illusion of reality through the use of painted scenery, clever lighting effects and stage props. The new theatres were more = suited fo the naturalist plays which became popular at the turn of the century, Revival | It was only in the final two decades of the century that English drama showed signs of revival. The first plays of any notable quality came from the Continent, ‘The French, Russian and Scandinavian theatres were witnessing a particularly. fertile period, and adaptations of European plays made theiy way onto the English stage, Oscar Wilde | lowever, it was the Irish-born Oscar Wilde who succeeded in breathing new life into English drama. His beautifully written comedies, ful] of ironic and satirical comments on Victorian life, were an immediate success. Plays such as Lady Windermere’s Fan (1892), An Ideal Husband (1895) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1898) won over audiences with their sparkling dialogue and humorous caricatures of social types while concealing beneath the polished surfaces attacks on the hypocrisy and artificiality of Victorian society. > vest 13 TASK Explain why drama remained a minor literary form for much of the Victorian period. ] The Literary Background — 139. “in Opera House inthe | pareteenth centry ‘The great intellectual vitality of the Victorian age is clearly seen in its proliferation of non-fiction prose writings. Writing about economics, science, philosophy, politics and religion, the prose writers of the period tried to make sense of an age of shaken certitudes and disorienting change. Their influential works, which often appeared in widely read journals and periodicals, shaped public opinion and led to the introduction of many landmark reforms, Although his most influential wosk appeared in the eighteenth century, Jeremy Bentham’s theory of Utilitarianism had a major influence on the early part of the Victorian age. According to his theory, the main business of the government ‘was to guarantee material happiness for the greatest number of people. All laws and institutions should be tested in the light of reason and common sense to determine their usefulness. Utilitarian disregard for human and cultural values was attacked by several intellectuals. John Stuart Mil found the Benthamite philosophy imadequate and argued that legislation should also take an active part in helping men to develop their natural talent and personalities, He supported several important reforms in education, trade unionism, the extension of the right to vote and the emancipation of womer ‘Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881), a Scot from & Calvinist background, attacked the spiritual bankruptcy of Victorian industrial society. He spoke out strongly against the materialistic spirit and utilitarian concepts of bis contemporaries, Thomas Macaulay (1800-1859), on the other hand, wrote favourably about the new age, expressing bis faith in the march of progress. NON-FICTIONAL PROSE | Rentheann’s Utilitarianism John Stuart Mill (2806-1873) Casiyle and Macautay The Context I John Ruskin. | John Ruskin | John Ruskin, a respected art (1810-1900) | critic, was also interested in political, economic, social and political issues, He iden- tified art with morality and claimed that the contempo- vary industrial society was incapable of creating great art. He greatly admired Gothic art, while he criticised Renaissance art, which he believed was the product of a corrupt society. He wrote extensively in support of the idea that art contributes to the spiritual well-being of man, He advocated a greater responsibility of the state towards the weaker elements of society: the working class- ¢s, the aged and the destitute. Matthew Amold | ‘The poet Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) | wrote extensively about the lack of moral value in Victorian society. He was also an important literary critic and his work in this field fufluenced trends in early twentieth-century literature. Religious writing | More pamphlets, essays and articles were written about religion during the Victorian period than any other subject. Religious debate raged throughout the century, and one of the principal writers on this topic was John Henry Newman (1801-1890), a leading figure in the Church of England who converted to Roman Catholicism and became a cardinal. His greatest work is perhaps his autobiography Pro Vita Sua (1864), Scientific writing | The Victorian age was a period of great s published in this field of study. Species (1859) by Charles Da ntific progress and many works were rtainly the most influential was On the Origin of in (1809-1882). In this ground-breaking work Darwin expounds his theory of evolution and the survival of the fittest. The book created an enormous scandal and shook the very foundation of Victorian religious beliefs, TASK - eee ~ ‘On the basis of what you have read, which Victorian ¢. The government must introduce laws which non-fiction prose writers would have macle the guarantee the happiness of the greatest number of following statements? people, That should be the sole concein of the a. The materialism of the society in which we live people we elect to represent us. disgusts me, Utilitarianism has reduced man intoa__d. Man is not simply the sum of his material profit-making machine, possessions, To find true happiness he must develop b. The age in which we live is incapable of creating all his natural talents. great art because itis cortupt through and through, The Literary North American Literature ‘he mid-nineteenth century was a period of astonishing literary creativity in American literature, In the short space of six yeas, four monumental literary works were pablished: Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter (1850), Herman Melville's Moby Dick (1851), Henry David Thoreau’s Walden (1854) and ‘Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass (1855). This period witnessed the highest literary expression of the Puritan tradition and the emergence of a new cultural and philosophical movement, Transcendentalism. Although the American frontier was being pushed westward, Massachusetts and Virginia, the Puritan strongholds in the east, remained the centre of cultural activity. ‘ ‘The Puritan heritage is clearly evident in the work of Nathaniel Hawthorne, who wrote about the conflict between good and evil set in the dark, Puritan, New England past. In his masterpiece The Scarlet Letter (1850) he uses a mixture of fantasy and realism, symbols and allegories to explose one of his constant themes: the relationship between the individual and society. Herman Melville dedicated his greatest work, Moky Dick (1851), to Hawthorne, in secognition of his friendship and the contribution he had made in revising the first draft of the novel, When it first appeared, Moby Dick was described as a ‘wild and mad novel’, but it was quickly recognised as an important development in the novel genre. The metaphysical and symbolic style, the juxtaposition of tones and the innovative narrative technique make it a rich and complex work which ‘encompasses many themes, including the batfle between man and nature, the conflict between good and evil and man’s quest to live in a largely hostile world, The emergence of the ‘Trascendentalist movement in New Engiand in the middle years of the century marked a significant break from the Puritan tradition. Influenced by English Romanticism and German and Eastern philosophies, the Transcendentalists exalted feeling and intuition over reason. They rebelled against the materialism of contemporary society and rejected the established Church, Uniike the Puritans, they believed that man was fundamentally good and should be allowed to develop free from rules and restrictions. The most influential figures in the ‘Transcendentalist school were the poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson and the novelist Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, who was the spokesman for the movement, wrote several influential essays including Self-Reliance and The Over-Soul (1841-1844). He visited England and met Coleridge, Wordsworth and Carlyle, His work was widely read in the United States and Britain and he was among the first writers (© urge his fellow countrymen to abandon European models and create a distinelly American literature with its own themes and style. Henry David Thoreau applied the Transcendentalist philosophy to his life and to his writing. In 1845 he effectively left civilisation and went to live in a smal] hut on the edge of Walden Pond, a small lake in the Massachusetts countryside. Thoreau spent two years there, working the land, walking, observing nature, reflecting on lifeand keeping a detailed journal which he later developed int Walden (1854), his most celebrated work, East coast dominance of the American literary scene was broken by Mark Twain, the pen-name of Samuel Longhorne Clemens. Twain, who grew up in Missouri along the banks of the Mississippi, wrote about cowboys, stagecoach drivers and low-life criminals ~ people living in the West. In ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Rack grouse INTRODUCTION Prose Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) b vexts E17 and Fs, Herman Melville (1819-1891) > Text 19 ‘Trascendentalisra Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) Hemy David Thoreate (1817-1862) Mark Twain > yexts P20 and Fa Steamboots on the Mississippi river (1860). Poetry Walt Whitman (1819-1892) Tents P30 and Ft Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) > ests F28 and £29 (1876), he paints a realistic picture of the life of two young boys growing up in the Mississippi river area. The themes of childhood and nature recur in Twain's masterpiece The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1888). In both these works Mark Twain shows his deep distrust of ‘respectable’ society and his sympathy for social outcasts and the common man. He uses humour to criticise the practice of slavery and the hypocrisy and prejudices of his times. In his characterisations he displays a penetrating insight into human psychology. Mark Twain's use of language is also strikingly original. The stories of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn are told fiom the point of view of the young protagonists and contain slang, regional dialect and illogical sentence constructions that make the dialogue come to life. As a writer Twain did not emulate European models; he created a distinctly American literary style. Many critics agree with Emest Hemingway's claim that ‘all modern American fiction comes from Buckleberry Finn’. ‘Pranscendentalism was represented in poetry by the work of Walt Whitman, The first of nine editions of his collection of poems Leaves of Grass appeared in 1855 to little public recognition, although it did win the admiration of Whitman's mentor Ralph Waldo Emerson. In his poems Whitman celebrates America, its natural beauty, its people and its spirit of democracy, He also explores himself, his feelings, perceptions and intuitions, Many contemporary readers were shocked by his celebration of the body and the theme of love between man and man which Jed to rumours about his homosexuality. Whitman was a highly experimental poct who believed that poetry should not be bound by rules and restrictions, He tended to avoid the use of metaphors or similes and his poetry is often strongly declarative and non: figurative. ‘The poetry of Whitman’s contemporary, Emily Dickinson, was even more strikingly original. Born in New England, Dickinson spent most of her life in quiet isolation detached from the events of her time, Her poems are extremely personal and intimate. Recurring themes include nature and death and, although she had rejected orthodox religion, much of her work contains a strong sense of spitituality. Many of her poems, however, are ironic anid witty suggesting that their creator was a woman of great humour, Dickinson's style was completely unconventional and showed a total disregard for standard poetic forms. Her technique is so innovative that her work was considered unacceptable for publication, Apart from a few poems, most of her work was published posthumously. The Literary Background TASK ane anaes anna prepare a brief report on nineteenth-century American _* transcendentalistm: Emerson and Thoreau literature. Mention the following + breaking away from European models: Mark Twain «+ the east coast Puritan tradition: Hawthorne and + nineteenth-century poetry: Whitman and Melville Dickinson, EMILY Dl A comespondent of Dickinson, Mr Higginson, deseribes his first meeting with the poet. Read this excerpt. At last, (...) on August 16, 1870, I found myself face to face with my hitherto! unseen correspondent. It was at her father's house (...}. After a little delay, I heard an extremely faint? (,..) footstep like that of a child, in the hall, and in glided, almost noiselessly, a plain, shy little person, the face without a single good feature, but with eyes, as she herself said, ‘like the sherry the guest leaves in the glass’. (...). She came toward me with two day-lilies, which she put in a childlike way into my hand, saying softly, under her breath’, ‘These — are my introduction, (...). Forgive me if | am ue as frightened; | never see strangers, and hardly know . what I say’, But soon she began to talk, and ‘ oo thenceforward® continued almost constantly; pausing oe sometimes to beg® that I would talk instead, but xeadily recommencing when I evaded’. (..) Led on® by me, she told much about her early life, in which her father was always the chief figure (..), a man (...) who had from childiiood inspired her with such awe”, that she never leamed to tell time by the clock till she was fifteen, simply because he had tried to explain it to her when she was a little child, and she had been afraid to tell him that she did not understand (...). She went on talking constantly and saying, in the midst of narrative, things quaint'? and aphoristic!’: (...) ‘Truth is such a rare thing, it is delightful to tell it’ ‘I find ecstasy in living; the mere sense of living is joy enough.” (.,.) Interspersed with" these confidences came phases so (...} extravagant (...), ‘If Lread a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can ever warm ne, I know that is poetry.’ (...) She was much too enigmatic a being for me to solve in an hour's interview, (...) could only sit still and watch, as one does in the woods. GLOSSARY 4, under her breath: ina very low 8. Led on: encouraged 1, hitherto: up 40 ths moment volce 9. aves adieation and respect 2. faints tight 5. thenceforwat fom then on [Link] attractive in an uma way 3 alded: came with a noises and 6. beg ak Haphosiste: tue and wise Smooth movement 7. evaded voided doing as she asked 12. Anterspersed with: in between TASK What type of person emerges from this description? Answer using your own words and examples from the text erent aac TE EU RPA RAT SSRN IE EET OMT AT ROE THE VICTORIAN AGE ~ The Context CROSS-CURRICULAR LINK [to Literature and Society One of the featuzes of Dickens's novels is his thinly-veiled condemnation of the evils and hypoctisies of Victorian society. As the nineteenth century progressed, European writers, in a Jess humorous and more realistic way than Dickens, described in vivid terms the poverty, deprivation and moral demise that characterised their societies. ropean literature Choose one of the following works: ” setting Charles Dickens (1812-1870) 7 Olver Twist (1837-1838) ‘A workhouse and the siums of London Hard Times (1854) Industrial northern England Emile Zola (1840-1902) : LAssomoir (1877) ‘The slums of Paris Germinol (1885) Amining community . Giovanni Verga (1840-1922) . | Malavoglia (1881) ~ A fishing community Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) Ghosts (1882) - An upper-middle class family Your project should include the following: 1a brief summary of the plots; 2 adetailed description of the social setting inclucing living and working conditions; 3 an analysis of how the characters are infiuenced by and react to their environment. tne Zola, Giowanai Verga. Henrik tosen,

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