Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own is a quintessential piece of feminist literature. She takes a stand for women's rights and the need for women to be accepted as equals in the twentieth century. Woolf speaks out against inequality through her illustrations of female writers. Woolf chooses to showcase Jane Austen, George Eliot, and the Brontes and their ability to contend with male writers. She is quick to say that female writers are not in the same class as male writers, but that is not because women are inferior to men, rather that women are not properly educated.
"A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction; and that, as you will see, leaves the great problems of the true nature of woman and the true of fiction unresolved" (1229).
Woolf believes that the life women are expected to live is in direct opposition to the life of a writer. Women need independence and to have the luxury to have time for themselves. She cites this as part of the reason why women lack the skills to write great literature. Women are always being interrupted without time to themselves. Woolf identifies Austen's writing technique of writing in the "general sitting room subject to all kinds of casual interruptions" then covering her manuscripts with blotting paper (1245). Austen never had anytime to collectively plan and execute her novels. She could only write when she had the chance, and even then she could never be sure when her next interruption would enter the room. Then she would have to hide her manuscript when someone entered the room because it was shameful for a woman to write. Woolf believes that Austen could have been a better writer if she did not have to "hide her manuscript" and was taught to feel ashamed for doing what she enjoyed (1246). Women have been shunned from education and financial independence which has resulted in fewer female writers, and female writers, themselves lack the ability to be truly great. Woolf believes that women can be great and equal to men, but in order to achieve that the world must accept women as equals. Society must provide women with a room of their own.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Yeats: Leda and the Swan
Another poem of Yeats that addresses the divine or mythology is Leda and the Swan. The sonnet is a retelling of the Greek myth about the rape of Leda by Zeus who descended upon her in the form of a swan.
"A sudden blow: the great wings beating still
Above the staggering girl, her thighs caressed
By the dark webs, her nape caught in his bill,
He holds her helpless breast upon his breast" (line 1-4).
Yeats uses evocative imagery within the sonnet. He showcases the strength of Zeus with words like, beating and caught. Zeus is clearly overpowering Leda. This is not an act of love, but of lust. He is "indifferent to her emotions (line 15). He is only after his desire. While Leda's weakness is portrayed by, staggering, helpless, and terrified. She lacks any control in this situation. Leda is at Zeus's mercy. However, Yeats suggests that after the rape that perhaps Leda comes away with the power. After all Leda's children are the people who bring about a change in the world. Helen brings about the Trojan War, and Clymestra's husband, Agamemnon, begins the actual war. Once the Trojan War ends, the ancient world is changed. Greece is the superpower of the ancient world, but soon Rome will rise and Greece will fall. The fall of Greece also means the downfall of the Greek gods. Therefore, Zeus loses his position and power. Zeus brings about his own downfall.
"A sudden blow: the great wings beating still
Above the staggering girl, her thighs caressed
By the dark webs, her nape caught in his bill,
He holds her helpless breast upon his breast" (line 1-4).
Yeats uses evocative imagery within the sonnet. He showcases the strength of Zeus with words like, beating and caught. Zeus is clearly overpowering Leda. This is not an act of love, but of lust. He is "indifferent to her emotions (line 15). He is only after his desire. While Leda's weakness is portrayed by, staggering, helpless, and terrified. She lacks any control in this situation. Leda is at Zeus's mercy. However, Yeats suggests that after the rape that perhaps Leda comes away with the power. After all Leda's children are the people who bring about a change in the world. Helen brings about the Trojan War, and Clymestra's husband, Agamemnon, begins the actual war. Once the Trojan War ends, the ancient world is changed. Greece is the superpower of the ancient world, but soon Rome will rise and Greece will fall. The fall of Greece also means the downfall of the Greek gods. Therefore, Zeus loses his position and power. Zeus brings about his own downfall.
Yeats: The Second Coming
William Butler Yeats in his poetry depicts the role of fate and the divine in history. One such poem that illustrates the oncoming storm that is preparing to alter history is The Second Coming. Yeats in The Second Coming abstractly with the divine. The divine does not take a defined shape, but is just referred to as the force that is bringing about change in the world.
"Surely some revelation is at hand:
Surely the Second Coming is at hand
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in the sands of the desert" (line 9 -13).
Yeats uses the idea of The Second Coming to indicate that a change is bound to occur in the world. However, it is not the Second Coming of Christ, but of something else. Christ does not appear, but "a shape with lion body and the head of a man" (line 14). It is a beast, a creature unknown in the modern world. The beast represents the approaching change in the world. The idea of the world before is gone. The world was living in innocence before this time and now "innocence is drowned" (line 6). The world cannot return to the way it was before.
"The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches toward Bethlehem to be born? (line 18-22).
The world has had "twenty centuries" to live in innocence and enjoy a similar life, but now the hour has come for change. The metamorphosis is looming off in the distance. The beast is approaching the world, and preparing "to be born" (line 22). Eventually, the world will be forced to shift because there are events in motion that will bring about this change. The transformation is being led by fate, and fate is now approaching Bethlehem preparing to unleash a fury upon the world.
"Surely some revelation is at hand:
Surely the Second Coming is at hand
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in the sands of the desert" (line 9 -13).
Yeats uses the idea of The Second Coming to indicate that a change is bound to occur in the world. However, it is not the Second Coming of Christ, but of something else. Christ does not appear, but "a shape with lion body and the head of a man" (line 14). It is a beast, a creature unknown in the modern world. The beast represents the approaching change in the world. The idea of the world before is gone. The world was living in innocence before this time and now "innocence is drowned" (line 6). The world cannot return to the way it was before.
"The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches toward Bethlehem to be born? (line 18-22).
The world has had "twenty centuries" to live in innocence and enjoy a similar life, but now the hour has come for change. The metamorphosis is looming off in the distance. The beast is approaching the world, and preparing "to be born" (line 22). Eventually, the world will be forced to shift because there are events in motion that will bring about this change. The transformation is being led by fate, and fate is now approaching Bethlehem preparing to unleash a fury upon the world.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Hardy: On The Western Circuit
While reading On The Western Circuit, I could not help but be reminded of Cyrano de Bergerac. Young Ann falls for Raye, but being unable to read or write employs the woman who she is living with, Edith, to write the letters for her. Consequently Edith and Raye fall in love through their correspondence, but since Edith is already married, and Raye must marry Ann because of her delicate condition (9).
When Raye realizes Edith has written the letters it is too late, the both must return to their old lives, even though they acknowledge their feelings for each other. Edith acts as the Cyrano of the story, it is her words, her letters that Raye falls in love with not Ann's. Ann is the Christan, nice to look at, but seriously lacking in the ability to carry on an intelligent conversation. Of course, Raye is Roxane, the object of everyone's affections.
However, On The Western Circuit does not conclude with the Edith and Raye in a death embrace, but with Raye having to face the consequences for his actions. He is the one who seduced Ann because "she was the prettiest girl out of several pretty ones revolving" (1). She was probably just one of several girls who he seduced. The only reason he even continued to correspond with Ann was because of Edith's letters. Aside from his growing love for Edith, he is nothing but a cad who puts his own happiness before his own. Before Edith's letters, he only considered Ann "a summer fancy" (4).However, now that he has married Ann, he must live a life knowing that he married beneath him and will never love his wife. He is trapped in a loveless marriage that will soon corrode no matter how hard he tries to be civil to Ann. He is imprisoned.
Edith is one to pity in this piece. She was at least content with her life before she began writing the letters. She formed a bond Raye and herself. Now her heart belongs to Raye, and she will always remember his kiss and believe the she "ruined him" (9). Edith's life has been turned upside down, and she can do nothing about it. She will now live life mechanically and continually try to forget this experience.
When Raye realizes Edith has written the letters it is too late, the both must return to their old lives, even though they acknowledge their feelings for each other. Edith acts as the Cyrano of the story, it is her words, her letters that Raye falls in love with not Ann's. Ann is the Christan, nice to look at, but seriously lacking in the ability to carry on an intelligent conversation. Of course, Raye is Roxane, the object of everyone's affections.
However, On The Western Circuit does not conclude with the Edith and Raye in a death embrace, but with Raye having to face the consequences for his actions. He is the one who seduced Ann because "she was the prettiest girl out of several pretty ones revolving" (1). She was probably just one of several girls who he seduced. The only reason he even continued to correspond with Ann was because of Edith's letters. Aside from his growing love for Edith, he is nothing but a cad who puts his own happiness before his own. Before Edith's letters, he only considered Ann "a summer fancy" (4).However, now that he has married Ann, he must live a life knowing that he married beneath him and will never love his wife. He is trapped in a loveless marriage that will soon corrode no matter how hard he tries to be civil to Ann. He is imprisoned.
Edith is one to pity in this piece. She was at least content with her life before she began writing the letters. She formed a bond Raye and herself. Now her heart belongs to Raye, and she will always remember his kiss and believe the she "ruined him" (9). Edith's life has been turned upside down, and she can do nothing about it. She will now live life mechanically and continually try to forget this experience.
Hardy: On The Departure Platform
Thomas Hardy had a tendency for the melancholy in more than just his philosophical issues. He also writes semi-sad love stories like On The Departure Platform.
The poem addresses two lovers who are being separated for the time being.
"we kisssed at the barrier, and passing through
She left me, and moment by moment got
Smaller and smaller, until to my view
She was but a spot;" (line 1-4).
He is leaving her lover to go somewhere unknown, and he stands and watches her disappear off into the distance. He wants to hold onto her for as long as he can. Therefore, he watches her until he can only make out "a wee white spot of muslin fluff" (line 5).She is the love of his life, and until now they have probably never been separated. He is not quite sure when he will see her again, but she was "more than [his] life to [him] and he is prepared to live and find his way back to her as long as she lives (line 15). She is his life, and without her, his life can be forfeit. They have even made plans to be reunited again. He is already dreaming of the "season she will appear again" (line 18). Even though he just left her, he is already living for the moment when he will see her again. This is a special moment in their lives, and while he is preparing to see her again, he knows the emotions he feels in this moment will never occur again. At this moment, he has realized the enormity of his love for her, and he knows that he may never feel this way again.
The poem addresses two lovers who are being separated for the time being.
"we kisssed at the barrier, and passing through
She left me, and moment by moment got
Smaller and smaller, until to my view
She was but a spot;" (line 1-4).
He is leaving her lover to go somewhere unknown, and he stands and watches her disappear off into the distance. He wants to hold onto her for as long as he can. Therefore, he watches her until he can only make out "a wee white spot of muslin fluff" (line 5).She is the love of his life, and until now they have probably never been separated. He is not quite sure when he will see her again, but she was "more than [his] life to [him] and he is prepared to live and find his way back to her as long as she lives (line 15). She is his life, and without her, his life can be forfeit. They have even made plans to be reunited again. He is already dreaming of the "season she will appear again" (line 18). Even though he just left her, he is already living for the moment when he will see her again. This is a special moment in their lives, and while he is preparing to see her again, he knows the emotions he feels in this moment will never occur again. At this moment, he has realized the enormity of his love for her, and he knows that he may never feel this way again.
Thomas Hardy: Hap
Thomas Hardy's philosophy involved a vengeful God, but he also bordered on atheism. Some of his poetry reflects his bleak view of the universe. In Hap, Hardy focuses on the idea that a "hostile fate" guides the universe (1072).
"If buy some vengeful god would call to me
From up the sky, and laugh: 'Thou suffering thing,
Know that thy sorrow is my ecstasy,
That thy love's loss is my hate profiting!'" (line 1- 4)
The speaker suggests that a "vengeful god" causes all of his pain and suffering (line 1). The god acts this way for his own enjoyment. The god would rather see it's creations suffer instead of caring for and bringing joy into it's creations' lives. The speaker accepts this idea saying, "then would I bear it, clench myself, and die, steeled by the sense of ire unmerited" (line 5-6). He is comfortable with the idea of an all powerful being causing his suffering. Then at least, he knows he cannot control the misery because his sorrows are just a sport for a God. However, the speaker changes his tone, "but not so" (line 9). He does not believe that a god exists to cause his pain. A god does not intervene or care about the misery of humanity. If there is a god at all, it does not care for the petty actions of human beings. This leaves the actions of humanity squarely upon the shoulders of humanity. They are responsible for their own happiness or sorrow. Therefore, a happy life is only possible through chance. A chance that a life is blessed with more blessings than sorrows, and that the person living that life is optimistic and able to see the good and not the pain.
"If buy some vengeful god would call to me
From up the sky, and laugh: 'Thou suffering thing,
Know that thy sorrow is my ecstasy,
That thy love's loss is my hate profiting!'" (line 1- 4)
The speaker suggests that a "vengeful god" causes all of his pain and suffering (line 1). The god acts this way for his own enjoyment. The god would rather see it's creations suffer instead of caring for and bringing joy into it's creations' lives. The speaker accepts this idea saying, "then would I bear it, clench myself, and die, steeled by the sense of ire unmerited" (line 5-6). He is comfortable with the idea of an all powerful being causing his suffering. Then at least, he knows he cannot control the misery because his sorrows are just a sport for a God. However, the speaker changes his tone, "but not so" (line 9). He does not believe that a god exists to cause his pain. A god does not intervene or care about the misery of humanity. If there is a god at all, it does not care for the petty actions of human beings. This leaves the actions of humanity squarely upon the shoulders of humanity. They are responsible for their own happiness or sorrow. Therefore, a happy life is only possible through chance. A chance that a life is blessed with more blessings than sorrows, and that the person living that life is optimistic and able to see the good and not the pain.
Hopkins: Spring and Fall
Gerard Manley Hopkins' poetry mainly addressed the glory of God in nature. His poetry mirrors the Romantics in that aspect. Hopkins uses the religious aspect of his poetry to call attention to the mortality of humanity through the decay of nature.
In Spring and Fall, a young girl, Margaret, laments the coming fall except she is too young to express her feelings. Therefore, the speaker questions to Margaret act as her voice for her feelings.
"Margaret, are you grieving
Over Goldengrove unleaving?
Leaves, like the things of man, you
With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?
Ah! as the heart grows older
It will come to such sights colder" (line 1-6).
Margaret identifies with the youthfulness of Spring because like Spring she too is in the dawn of life. She is living in harmony with the world. Margaret is happy and sympathetic with her surroundings. Therefore, when she is faced with the idea that Spring will one day turn to Fall and everything will decay, she does not know how to address the idea of death. The decay of Spring helps her to realize the eventual onset of her and humanity's demise. Margaret is beginning to realize that everything will eventually decay and die. She will fall from her youthful Eden just like Adam and Eve fell from Grace and were thrown out of Eden. Humanity like nature is at the will of God which means the fall is inevitable. Thus, Margaret's laments for Spring actually turn into Margaret mourning for herself (line 15). She is no longer a care-free child. Now Margaret possesses the grief and sorrow of the world, and that will stay with her for the rest of her life.
In Spring and Fall, a young girl, Margaret, laments the coming fall except she is too young to express her feelings. Therefore, the speaker questions to Margaret act as her voice for her feelings.
"Margaret, are you grieving
Over Goldengrove unleaving?
Leaves, like the things of man, you
With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?
Ah! as the heart grows older
It will come to such sights colder" (line 1-6).
Margaret identifies with the youthfulness of Spring because like Spring she too is in the dawn of life. She is living in harmony with the world. Margaret is happy and sympathetic with her surroundings. Therefore, when she is faced with the idea that Spring will one day turn to Fall and everything will decay, she does not know how to address the idea of death. The decay of Spring helps her to realize the eventual onset of her and humanity's demise. Margaret is beginning to realize that everything will eventually decay and die. She will fall from her youthful Eden just like Adam and Eve fell from Grace and were thrown out of Eden. Humanity like nature is at the will of God which means the fall is inevitable. Thus, Margaret's laments for Spring actually turn into Margaret mourning for herself (line 15). She is no longer a care-free child. Now Margaret possesses the grief and sorrow of the world, and that will stay with her for the rest of her life.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Oscar Wilde: The Importance of Being Earnest
Oscar Wilde would have been considered an eccentric figure in today's society none the less Victorian society. Therefore, it makes sense that he would criticize the whole ideal of Victorian life. He does just that in The Importance of Being Earnest. Wilde wants the audience to take away from the play that, "We should treat all the trivial things of life seriously, and all the serious things of life with sincere and studied triviality" (847).
The play revolves around double identities, morality, hypocrisy, and marriage. Jack Worthing an orphan who has no family to speak of, creates another persona Ernest Worthing. He is Ernest in town and Jack in the country. He essentially has compartmentalized his life Ernest for his own pleasure and Jack for the pleasure of others (851). The whole concept is ridiculous. Jack is not being honest with any of his acquaintances; he is always hiding an area of his life from someone. The same applies to Algernon who has invented an "invaluable permanent invalid call Bunbury (852). Therefore, the play's two heroes are each living a lie of sorts. Much like how Victorian society kept certain aspects of their lives hidden from others. Wilde is showcasing the absurdity of keeping secrets from family, friends, or society. People should not feel pressured to hide away their secrets. They should not feel ashamed. While Wilde uses something as hilarious as the name Ernest, he is trying to get fellow Victorians to become more comfortable with who they are.
He shows that the seriousness that Lady Bracknell places upon Jack Worthing because of his lack of connections is absurd. Jack and Gwendolen love each other, and Jack owns an estate so he can provide for Gwendolen. However, the fact that he is an orphan is what hinders the approval of the marriage. Once again, Wilde demonstrates how the idea of an arranged marriage is the best way for people to get married is nonsense, and that love should factor into a marriage. If Jack is prepared to marry Gwendolen and Gwendolen wants to marry him, then nothing should stop their marriage. The entire matter is trivial and should be seen as trivial. A marriage should be between two people, and not between a village of voices, each of whom believe they know better than the two people in the relationship.
The play revolves around double identities, morality, hypocrisy, and marriage. Jack Worthing an orphan who has no family to speak of, creates another persona Ernest Worthing. He is Ernest in town and Jack in the country. He essentially has compartmentalized his life Ernest for his own pleasure and Jack for the pleasure of others (851). The whole concept is ridiculous. Jack is not being honest with any of his acquaintances; he is always hiding an area of his life from someone. The same applies to Algernon who has invented an "invaluable permanent invalid call Bunbury (852). Therefore, the play's two heroes are each living a lie of sorts. Much like how Victorian society kept certain aspects of their lives hidden from others. Wilde is showcasing the absurdity of keeping secrets from family, friends, or society. People should not feel pressured to hide away their secrets. They should not feel ashamed. While Wilde uses something as hilarious as the name Ernest, he is trying to get fellow Victorians to become more comfortable with who they are.
He shows that the seriousness that Lady Bracknell places upon Jack Worthing because of his lack of connections is absurd. Jack and Gwendolen love each other, and Jack owns an estate so he can provide for Gwendolen. However, the fact that he is an orphan is what hinders the approval of the marriage. Once again, Wilde demonstrates how the idea of an arranged marriage is the best way for people to get married is nonsense, and that love should factor into a marriage. If Jack is prepared to marry Gwendolen and Gwendolen wants to marry him, then nothing should stop their marriage. The entire matter is trivial and should be seen as trivial. A marriage should be between two people, and not between a village of voices, each of whom believe they know better than the two people in the relationship.
Robert Browning: My Last Duchess
Elizabeth Barrett Browning's husband, Robert Browning, also was a poet. However, he did not enjoy the same popularity during his lifetime as Mrs. Browning. Robert Browning's poetry gained more notoriety after his death. Browning's poetry raised questions about society and what was proper through violent and grotesque images. His work, My Last Duchess employs such tactics to shock the audience awareness.
The perspective is from the recently widowed Duke of Ferrera who is meeting an emissary to arrange another marriage. He stops at the portrait of his previous wife and begins to tell the tale of her demise.
"Would draw from her alike the approving speech,
Or blush, at least. She thanked men,-- good! but thanked
Somehow-- I 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 if you had skill
In speech --(which I have not)-- to make you will
Quite clear to such an one" (line 30- 37).
While speaking of his late wife, the Duke reveals his own jealous nature. He envies other men around his wife. He is suspicious of her actions and does not trust her. He believes that she holds his gift of his name and the same level as the gifts other men give her, but he does not ask his wife her opinion of the gifts. Instead, he chooses to live in his paranoia that the Duchess is unfaithful and a flirt. All of his accusations are in his mind. He lacks proof of her infidelity and because the poem is told from his perspective the audience also does not know if the wife was immoral. However, the Duke in his paranoia still murders his wife. He "gave commands; then all her smiles stop together" (line 45-46). The Duke wants to believe his wife was committing a sexual sin, therefore he kills her. The Duke reacts much like the other Victorians except he takes the punishment of a sexual woman a step further to murder. An open and sexual woman is something to be feared. Victorian women were meant to be looked upon as innocent virgins, not flirts who openly seek attention from men. Therefore, the Duchess had to die for inviting sin to her life.
However, I do not think Browning believes the Duchess has to die. His image of her death is simply to cause a reaction from the reader. Browning is trying to incite an emotion from the audience. It is up to the audience to decide who is wrong in the poem, the Duke or the Duchess? Who possesses the moral high ground in the poem. The Duke murders his wife, but he believes he was in the right. The Duchess may flirt, but there is not concrete evidence of anything more. He is asking Victorians if sex is truly the bigger sin, or should Victorians reevaluate their ideas of sex and sin.
The perspective is from the recently widowed Duke of Ferrera who is meeting an emissary to arrange another marriage. He stops at the portrait of his previous wife and begins to tell the tale of her demise.
"Would draw from her alike the approving speech,
Or blush, at least. She thanked men,-- good! but thanked
Somehow-- I 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 if you had skill
In speech --(which I have not)-- to make you will
Quite clear to such an one" (line 30- 37).
While speaking of his late wife, the Duke reveals his own jealous nature. He envies other men around his wife. He is suspicious of her actions and does not trust her. He believes that she holds his gift of his name and the same level as the gifts other men give her, but he does not ask his wife her opinion of the gifts. Instead, he chooses to live in his paranoia that the Duchess is unfaithful and a flirt. All of his accusations are in his mind. He lacks proof of her infidelity and because the poem is told from his perspective the audience also does not know if the wife was immoral. However, the Duke in his paranoia still murders his wife. He "gave commands; then all her smiles stop together" (line 45-46). The Duke wants to believe his wife was committing a sexual sin, therefore he kills her. The Duke reacts much like the other Victorians except he takes the punishment of a sexual woman a step further to murder. An open and sexual woman is something to be feared. Victorian women were meant to be looked upon as innocent virgins, not flirts who openly seek attention from men. Therefore, the Duchess had to die for inviting sin to her life.
However, I do not think Browning believes the Duchess has to die. His image of her death is simply to cause a reaction from the reader. Browning is trying to incite an emotion from the audience. It is up to the audience to decide who is wrong in the poem, the Duke or the Duchess? Who possesses the moral high ground in the poem. The Duke murders his wife, but he believes he was in the right. The Duchess may flirt, but there is not concrete evidence of anything more. He is asking Victorians if sex is truly the bigger sin, or should Victorians reevaluate their ideas of sex and sin.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Elizabeth Barrett Browning: Aurora Leigh
In my opinion, Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Aurora Leigh can be considered an early feminist work. Browning, herself was an independent and intelligent woman at her time who enjoyed much success while she lived, and still married and had a child. Her poem Aurora Leigh too showcases a strong woman who too works to achieve her dreams.
Aurora does not hesitate to go after what she wants. She discovers a passion for poetry and becomes a poet. She falls in love, but she refuses to be a maid in a marriage.
"God's hand did interpose 'twixt it and me,
I know so much of love as used to shine
In that face and another. Just so much;
No more indeed at all. I have not seen
So much love since, I pray you pardon me,
As answers even to make a marriage with
In this cold land of England. What you love
Is not a woman, Romney, but a cause:
You want a helpmate, not a mistress, sir,
A wife to help your ends, -- in her no end.
Your cause is noble, your ends excellent,
But I, being most unworthy of these and that,
Do otherwise concieve of love. Farewell." (line 392-406)
Aurora Leigh refuses to marry any man who will not put her before his work. She wants to experience a marriage of equals, but also of two people who possess an all consuming love for each other. She does not want to come in second to a cause or another woman. Therefore, she swears off marriage to a man who she believes loves another better than he loves her. Even though she admits she has feelings for Romney, she will not marry him. He loves his "social theory" better than he will ever love her (line 410). Therefore, Romney cannot give her the relationship she desires, and she rejects his proposal. Aurora is her own woman. She is not afraid to live alone or reject a proposal that most women would accept. She does not live according to the standards of the time. Aurora values her independence over the proper concept of how a woman is supposed to behave.
She further presses the idea of women no female Christ.
"You give us doating mothers, and perfect wives,
Sublime Madonnas and enduring saints!
We get no Christs from you, -- and verily
We shall not get a poet, in my mind." (line 222-225).
Women are only worthy of being the mother of Christ, or being the mother of great men. Women in this society are not allowed to be great in their own right. The comparison of Christ to a poet represents that both are identified as male professions. Christ was a man not a woman, therefore a woman cannot be considered a female Christ, only a Madonna. The same goes for a poet. It is proper for a man to be a poet, but a woman should not consider a profession at all. Women are meant to stand behind the men, but Aurora Leigh and Browning are prepared to change that stereotype.
Aurora does not hesitate to go after what she wants. She discovers a passion for poetry and becomes a poet. She falls in love, but she refuses to be a maid in a marriage.
"God's hand did interpose 'twixt it and me,
I know so much of love as used to shine
In that face and another. Just so much;
No more indeed at all. I have not seen
So much love since, I pray you pardon me,
As answers even to make a marriage with
In this cold land of England. What you love
Is not a woman, Romney, but a cause:
You want a helpmate, not a mistress, sir,
A wife to help your ends, -- in her no end.
Your cause is noble, your ends excellent,
But I, being most unworthy of these and that,
Do otherwise concieve of love. Farewell." (line 392-406)
Aurora Leigh refuses to marry any man who will not put her before his work. She wants to experience a marriage of equals, but also of two people who possess an all consuming love for each other. She does not want to come in second to a cause or another woman. Therefore, she swears off marriage to a man who she believes loves another better than he loves her. Even though she admits she has feelings for Romney, she will not marry him. He loves his "social theory" better than he will ever love her (line 410). Therefore, Romney cannot give her the relationship she desires, and she rejects his proposal. Aurora is her own woman. She is not afraid to live alone or reject a proposal that most women would accept. She does not live according to the standards of the time. Aurora values her independence over the proper concept of how a woman is supposed to behave.
She further presses the idea of women no female Christ.
"You give us doating mothers, and perfect wives,
Sublime Madonnas and enduring saints!
We get no Christs from you, -- and verily
We shall not get a poet, in my mind." (line 222-225).
Women are only worthy of being the mother of Christ, or being the mother of great men. Women in this society are not allowed to be great in their own right. The comparison of Christ to a poet represents that both are identified as male professions. Christ was a man not a woman, therefore a woman cannot be considered a female Christ, only a Madonna. The same goes for a poet. It is proper for a man to be a poet, but a woman should not consider a profession at all. Women are meant to stand behind the men, but Aurora Leigh and Browning are prepared to change that stereotype.
The Lady of Shalott
The Lady of Shalott like Tennyson's earlier Mariana contains an imprisoned woman who is forced to live in isolation. However, The lady of Shalott does not live in dejection. She is for the most part content to live inside her "four gray walls" and weave at her loom (line 15). The lady can live a happy existence as long as she does not look upon Camelot and she complies with her restriction to look at the world through shadows. Only when she sees funerals or weddings, which represent the ideal of love for other people, does she lament "I am half sick of shadows" (line 71). After all, The lady of Shalott's isolation prevents her from falling in love or experiencing love, but she can watch the shadows live a life she can never experience. Her destiny is to work at her loom and if she turns her curse will befall her (line 40). However, once the lady hears Lancelot and sees him in the mirror, she leaves her loom and looks down to Camelot (line 109-113). She sails down to Camelot trying to reach Lancelot and not worrying about the curse. While she sails towards Camelot, she begins to die. She sang until "till her blood was frozen" (line 147). The lady dies before she reaches Camelot.
The Lady of Shalott addresses an age old question: how far would one go for love? The lady lived a life without love or the company of others. She does so contently for the most part, but she does feel that a part of her life is missing which is evident when she grows tired of the shadows. The lady desires a life beyond isolation, yet she does not dare discover what her curse entails until she hears Lancelot's "tirra lirra" (line 106). She falls in love with Lancelot, and her love or her chance at love with Lancelot is what gives her the courage to face her curse. She leaves everything she has ever known, and risks her life in order to experience love.
Tennyson wants people to see that life is short, and they should be living it how they see fit. Life is too short for them to live life without experiencing a full and happy life. Love is what people should be living for and looking for. The lady gives up her work and her old life for her love. The lady's life may have been content at her loom and looking at shadows, but she was not truly living. She was living a half-life, a life that prevented her from experiencing emotions. She was living as a drone, and once she falls in love with Lancelot, she would rather experience the wrath of her curse than live with the shadows.
The Lady of Shalott addresses an age old question: how far would one go for love? The lady lived a life without love or the company of others. She does so contently for the most part, but she does feel that a part of her life is missing which is evident when she grows tired of the shadows. The lady desires a life beyond isolation, yet she does not dare discover what her curse entails until she hears Lancelot's "tirra lirra" (line 106). She falls in love with Lancelot, and her love or her chance at love with Lancelot is what gives her the courage to face her curse. She leaves everything she has ever known, and risks her life in order to experience love.
Tennyson wants people to see that life is short, and they should be living it how they see fit. Life is too short for them to live life without experiencing a full and happy life. Love is what people should be living for and looking for. The lady gives up her work and her old life for her love. The lady's life may have been content at her loom and looking at shadows, but she was not truly living. She was living a half-life, a life that prevented her from experiencing emotions. She was living as a drone, and once she falls in love with Lancelot, she would rather experience the wrath of her curse than live with the shadows.
Tennyson: Mariana
Lord Alfred Tennyson like John Keats has a tendency to focus on tragedy or despair. Some of this comes from the depression he entered into after the death of his friend, Arthur Henry Hallam, but Tennyson's poetry had a dreary flair even before Hallam's death. In Mariana, Tennyson portrays a lonely woman who is lamenting her loss of her lover.
Her tears fell with the dews at even;
Her tears fell ere the dews were dried;
She could not look on the sweet heaven.
Either at morn or eventide.
After the flitting of the bats,
When thickest dark did trance the sky,
She drew her casement-curtain by,
And glanced athwart the glooming flats.
She only said, "'The night is dreary,
He cometh not,'" she said;
She said, "'I am aweary, aweary,
I would that I were dead!'" (line 13-24)
She lives in despair and alone. She cannot experience emotion other than her grief and longing for her husband to return. To her it does not matter if it is morning or evening, she constantly experiences her dejection. In the night, she cannot sleep or when she wakes she only comments that "the night is dreary, he cometh not" (line 21-22). No hope or happiness exists in her world. She only exists alone on the grange waiting for her lover to return. Living a live of shadows which slows drives her insane from her grief. She laments the shadow of the popular hits her bed because it reminds her of her estranged husband (line 55-56). Her lover does not return to her to keep her company while she sleeps or even while she wakes. She is living an isolated life separated from any form of happiness. She is cursed to live day to day without change or hope of her lover returning to her. She is destined to live in her dejection. However, the women has no intentions of leaving or overcoming her despair. In the final stanza, she declares "'I am very dreary, He will not come'" she said; She wept, 'I am aweary, aweary, Oh God, that I were dead!'" (line 81-84). Her tone has changed from the night or her life being dreary to herself being dreary. She has accepted her desolation, and her unhappy destiny to live alone and cursed on her farm. Whatever little hope she may have possessed has now disappeared. Her husband is actually gone. She pleads with God for her death because her life now is worse than death.
Her tears fell with the dews at even;
Her tears fell ere the dews were dried;
She could not look on the sweet heaven.
Either at morn or eventide.
After the flitting of the bats,
When thickest dark did trance the sky,
She drew her casement-curtain by,
And glanced athwart the glooming flats.
She only said, "'The night is dreary,
He cometh not,'" she said;
She said, "'I am aweary, aweary,
I would that I were dead!'" (line 13-24)
She lives in despair and alone. She cannot experience emotion other than her grief and longing for her husband to return. To her it does not matter if it is morning or evening, she constantly experiences her dejection. In the night, she cannot sleep or when she wakes she only comments that "the night is dreary, he cometh not" (line 21-22). No hope or happiness exists in her world. She only exists alone on the grange waiting for her lover to return. Living a live of shadows which slows drives her insane from her grief. She laments the shadow of the popular hits her bed because it reminds her of her estranged husband (line 55-56). Her lover does not return to her to keep her company while she sleeps or even while she wakes. She is living an isolated life separated from any form of happiness. She is cursed to live day to day without change or hope of her lover returning to her. She is destined to live in her dejection. However, the women has no intentions of leaving or overcoming her despair. In the final stanza, she declares "'I am very dreary, He will not come'" she said; She wept, 'I am aweary, aweary, Oh God, that I were dead!'" (line 81-84). Her tone has changed from the night or her life being dreary to herself being dreary. She has accepted her desolation, and her unhappy destiny to live alone and cursed on her farm. Whatever little hope she may have possessed has now disappeared. Her husband is actually gone. She pleads with God for her death because her life now is worse than death.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
A visit to Newgate
Charles Dickens A Visit to Newgate, I found to be an interesting text. Dickens, once had his entire family thrown into debtors prison because of his father's inability to manage funds. Only Dickens was spared from debtors prison because he was old enough to work off the debt. Therefore, his visit to Newgate must have been a very personal experience for him.
I noticed while reading that Dickens treated the prisoners he encountered as people not prisoners. He looks upon them with compassion. They are not bad people or criminals to Dickens. The prisoners are people who have had bad things happen to them. The women Dickens sees he comments on their looks and how they seem to have lost all hope of redemption, and yet the girl "still listens doggedly to her mother's entreaties, whatever they were" (Sketches by Boz). The girl maybe be in prison, living a life without a promise of anything better coming along, but she still listens to her mother and asks about people she cares about. After all to her prison is not a whole lot different from the life she was living before. The people in prison have been born into a life so similar that no one can "excite a passing thought" (Sketches by Boz). Life to them is nothing but one of despair, and no one can awaken their "contempt for feeling" (Sketches by Boz). Instead they sit and watch the days pass, but they possess no feeling. These prisoners are only shells of the former shells. Some will go to their deaths and others may eventually leave Newgate, but to them existence inside or outside of Newgate is the same.
For them death is better, death will release them from their miserable life. This reminded me of Nancy in Oliver Twist. Until Oliver arrived, Nancy much like the girl in Newgate was living without feeling. She cared for Bill and Fagin, but she didn't possess real emotion. Oliver gave that back to her when he awoken her female sensibility. After, Nancy begins to see the world differently however, she cannot live in it, and still has to die. Once she dies, Nancy is finally able to achieve peace because she is no longer being treated like she does not matter. She was redeemed by helping Oliver even though she had to die to be redeemed. Nancy still finds a better existence than the one she was in.
I noticed while reading that Dickens treated the prisoners he encountered as people not prisoners. He looks upon them with compassion. They are not bad people or criminals to Dickens. The prisoners are people who have had bad things happen to them. The women Dickens sees he comments on their looks and how they seem to have lost all hope of redemption, and yet the girl "still listens doggedly to her mother's entreaties, whatever they were" (Sketches by Boz). The girl maybe be in prison, living a life without a promise of anything better coming along, but she still listens to her mother and asks about people she cares about. After all to her prison is not a whole lot different from the life she was living before. The people in prison have been born into a life so similar that no one can "excite a passing thought" (Sketches by Boz). Life to them is nothing but one of despair, and no one can awaken their "contempt for feeling" (Sketches by Boz). Instead they sit and watch the days pass, but they possess no feeling. These prisoners are only shells of the former shells. Some will go to their deaths and others may eventually leave Newgate, but to them existence inside or outside of Newgate is the same.
For them death is better, death will release them from their miserable life. This reminded me of Nancy in Oliver Twist. Until Oliver arrived, Nancy much like the girl in Newgate was living without feeling. She cared for Bill and Fagin, but she didn't possess real emotion. Oliver gave that back to her when he awoken her female sensibility. After, Nancy begins to see the world differently however, she cannot live in it, and still has to die. Once she dies, Nancy is finally able to achieve peace because she is no longer being treated like she does not matter. She was redeemed by helping Oliver even though she had to die to be redeemed. Nancy still finds a better existence than the one she was in.
Carlyle: Past and Present
Thomas Carlyle, a satirical writer, used his writings to try and awaken an industrial Britain to its short comings. In Past and Present, Carlyle demonstrates Britain's failures through the story of Midas. The king who wished for the power to have everything he touched to turn to gold, but quickly found that his new power prevented him from eating. Carlyle recognizes that through industrialism England "is full of wealth, of multifarious produce, supply for human want in every kind: yet England is dying of inanition (477). Carlyle sees the damage that greed is doing to the country.
"'Touch is not, ye workers, ye master-workers, ye master-idlers; none of you can touch it, no man of you shall be the better for it; this is enchanted fruit!' On poor workers such fiat falls first, in its rudest shape; but on the rich master-workers it too falls; neither can the rich master-idlers, nor the richest or highest man escape, but all are like to be brough low with it, and made "poor" enough, in the money sense or a far fataler one" (477).
Carlyle is trying to warn England against the path it has started down. England is becoming a slave to money and those who do not have money are becoming slaves to men or death. The poor are becoming poorer and being placed in workhouses. There they have become imprisoned because they cannot work in the workhouses instead they sit to themselves living upon little benevolence. They are basically waiting to die. (478). No one cares about them. They are living just to die, and the people who could spare money to assist them are too busy making more money. The upper class only cares about themselves, and look upon the poor with disdain. England has created for itself a society where people would rather turn away from the problems of others instead of assisting others. England has forgotten that once everyone were equals. Carlyle is trying to make them realize their mistakes before it is too late.
"'Touch is not, ye workers, ye master-workers, ye master-idlers; none of you can touch it, no man of you shall be the better for it; this is enchanted fruit!' On poor workers such fiat falls first, in its rudest shape; but on the rich master-workers it too falls; neither can the rich master-idlers, nor the richest or highest man escape, but all are like to be brough low with it, and made "poor" enough, in the money sense or a far fataler one" (477).
Carlyle is trying to warn England against the path it has started down. England is becoming a slave to money and those who do not have money are becoming slaves to men or death. The poor are becoming poorer and being placed in workhouses. There they have become imprisoned because they cannot work in the workhouses instead they sit to themselves living upon little benevolence. They are basically waiting to die. (478). No one cares about them. They are living just to die, and the people who could spare money to assist them are too busy making more money. The upper class only cares about themselves, and look upon the poor with disdain. England has created for itself a society where people would rather turn away from the problems of others instead of assisting others. England has forgotten that once everyone were equals. Carlyle is trying to make them realize their mistakes before it is too late.
Keats: Bright Star
John Keats poetry possesses two traits, the idea of death and the splendor of beauty. His poem Bright Star discusses both aspects of death and beauty. The speaker begins by looking up at the stars stating,
"Bright Star, would I were steadfast as thou art-
Not in lone splendor hung aloft the night,
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like nature's patient sleepless Eremite" (line 1- 4).
The speaker is wishing that he could be like the star, ever watchful and ever present. For the star is immortal, the star will always be there, but the speaker is destined to die. The speaker is lamenting his mortality in this world because his eminent death with separate him from his love. While the star can forever look upon "my fair love's ripening breast, to feel for ever its soft swell and fall, " the speaker must face death and separation (line 10-11). He cannot look forever upon his love. Yet she is not a star or immortal either, she too will die one day. The speaker recognizes his beloved like him will too face death. Therefore, he cherishes his moments with her.
"still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever- or else swoon to death-" (line 13-14)
The speaker treasures the moments he shares with his beloved, and while he is with her, he is living a full life. Together they life as if they are immortal. Together they cannot be harmed, but once they are separated they would rather "swoon to death" (line 14). The speaker knows that without his love his desire for immortality also dies because he only wants to live to be with her. Without her, he loses his desire to live.
"Bright Star, would I were steadfast as thou art-
Not in lone splendor hung aloft the night,
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like nature's patient sleepless Eremite" (line 1- 4).
The speaker is wishing that he could be like the star, ever watchful and ever present. For the star is immortal, the star will always be there, but the speaker is destined to die. The speaker is lamenting his mortality in this world because his eminent death with separate him from his love. While the star can forever look upon "my fair love's ripening breast, to feel for ever its soft swell and fall, " the speaker must face death and separation (line 10-11). He cannot look forever upon his love. Yet she is not a star or immortal either, she too will die one day. The speaker recognizes his beloved like him will too face death. Therefore, he cherishes his moments with her.
"still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever- or else swoon to death-" (line 13-14)
The speaker treasures the moments he shares with his beloved, and while he is with her, he is living a full life. Together they life as if they are immortal. Together they cannot be harmed, but once they are separated they would rather "swoon to death" (line 14). The speaker knows that without his love his desire for immortality also dies because he only wants to live to be with her. Without her, he loses his desire to live.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Byron = Don Juan
To say that Lord Byron had a troubled existence maybe an understatement. None the less his life and lifestyle gave him plenty of material to write about. In fact, Byron's own life can easily be seen within Don Juan.
The poem opens with Don Juan living in Seville with his parents Don Jose and Donna Inez. An unhappy marriage, Don Jose and Donna Inez "wished not each other divorced, but dead" (line 203). Their marriage mirrored Byron's parents own marriage. His father spent his mothers fortune then fled leaving her with Byron and a resentment that Mrs. Gordon used against Byron.
After Don Jose's death, Don Juan inherits the family estate because "Juan was the sole heir" (line 289). Again Don Juan mirrors Byron's life. Lord Byron only inherited his title because he was the only male heir available for his recently deceased uncle. Without his childless uncle, Lord Byron would have probably ended up penniless or having to work for a living thanks to his wasteful father.
Byron even takes some liberties with the origins of Don Juan by changing Juan from the seducer to the seduced which according Byron had happened to him. At sixteen, Don Juan is pursued by the married Donna Julia (line 435-440). Byron claims that his older nurse pursued him and brought about his sexual awakening much like Julia awakened Juan. Byron continues to use his life as the model for Don Juan.
It appears that Byron sees himself as a Don Juan of sorts. Byron instills himself into Juan, and molds Don Juan into Byron. Perhaps his ideal version of himself. Since the idea of seduced not seducer is not the reputation of Byron's. Perhaps he was trying to turn around his public image, blaming his seducer habits on his own weakness to be seduced. Whatever the reason maybe, it is clear that Byron has projected himself onto Don Juan.
The poem opens with Don Juan living in Seville with his parents Don Jose and Donna Inez. An unhappy marriage, Don Jose and Donna Inez "wished not each other divorced, but dead" (line 203). Their marriage mirrored Byron's parents own marriage. His father spent his mothers fortune then fled leaving her with Byron and a resentment that Mrs. Gordon used against Byron.
After Don Jose's death, Don Juan inherits the family estate because "Juan was the sole heir" (line 289). Again Don Juan mirrors Byron's life. Lord Byron only inherited his title because he was the only male heir available for his recently deceased uncle. Without his childless uncle, Lord Byron would have probably ended up penniless or having to work for a living thanks to his wasteful father.
Byron even takes some liberties with the origins of Don Juan by changing Juan from the seducer to the seduced which according Byron had happened to him. At sixteen, Don Juan is pursued by the married Donna Julia (line 435-440). Byron claims that his older nurse pursued him and brought about his sexual awakening much like Julia awakened Juan. Byron continues to use his life as the model for Don Juan.
It appears that Byron sees himself as a Don Juan of sorts. Byron instills himself into Juan, and molds Don Juan into Byron. Perhaps his ideal version of himself. Since the idea of seduced not seducer is not the reputation of Byron's. Perhaps he was trying to turn around his public image, blaming his seducer habits on his own weakness to be seduced. Whatever the reason maybe, it is clear that Byron has projected himself onto Don Juan.
Coleridge: Work Without Hope
Samuel Coleridge lived in the imagination, and like Wordsworth reveled in nature. Coleridge personified nature and brought to it his own philosophy and his feelings about the wickedness of the city. In Work Without Hope, Coleridge through nature showcases his disdain for living life without a purpose.
The first stanza focuses on nature and how all of nature has work to do: "The bees are stirring- birds are on the wing" (line 2). They are awakening after Winter and preparing for the work of Spring. They are going to their purpose of making honey, building nests, or singing (line 6). While the speaker has nothing to do, he is the "sole unbusy thing" (line 5). He lacks purpose. Even though he knows where to find "where amaranths blow," he is not satisfied (line 7). For he "blooms not," he lacks the renewal and hope that exists in nature. He can live without the hope and still work, but because he lives a purposeless existence his hope "cannot live" (line 14). Hope must have a purpose or something to look forward to in order to survive. If there is nothing to hope for, no spring, then there is not hope. Nothing will ever change so why should one hope.
I took this as a message to the modern world. Coleridge was trying to awaken his peers to their mundane existence. They are living in the city. They are living without purpose, performing their daily duties, but not enjoying themselves. The world lacks purpose, and they have lost their hope without even realizing it. They are living a half life. In the end, the birds, bees, and snails are happier than humanity because they have the hope of spring and humanity hopes for nothing.
The first stanza focuses on nature and how all of nature has work to do: "The bees are stirring- birds are on the wing" (line 2). They are awakening after Winter and preparing for the work of Spring. They are going to their purpose of making honey, building nests, or singing (line 6). While the speaker has nothing to do, he is the "sole unbusy thing" (line 5). He lacks purpose. Even though he knows where to find "where amaranths blow," he is not satisfied (line 7). For he "blooms not," he lacks the renewal and hope that exists in nature. He can live without the hope and still work, but because he lives a purposeless existence his hope "cannot live" (line 14). Hope must have a purpose or something to look forward to in order to survive. If there is nothing to hope for, no spring, then there is not hope. Nothing will ever change so why should one hope.
I took this as a message to the modern world. Coleridge was trying to awaken his peers to their mundane existence. They are living in the city. They are living without purpose, performing their daily duties, but not enjoying themselves. The world lacks purpose, and they have lost their hope without even realizing it. They are living a half life. In the end, the birds, bees, and snails are happier than humanity because they have the hope of spring and humanity hopes for nothing.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Wordsworth: We Are Seven
William Wordsworth was one of the great romantic poets of the time. He was also close friends with Samuel Coleridge. The two friends traveled together and influenced each others writings. In fact, Coleridge wrote the first stanza of We Are Seven.
In Wordsworth We Are Seven, the speaker encounters a young girl who Wordsworth says was based upon a girl he met in "the area of Goodrich castle" in 1973 (200). The speaker infatuated with her "rustic, woodland air" begins a conversation (line 9). Wordsworth makes an effort to emphasize the natural state of the heroine. She lives in and embodies nature. The young girl is different from other children her age. She lives like the romantic and apart from modern humanity. The child makes up her own world. This can be seen further when the speaker asks about the young girls siblings.
"Then did the little Maid reply,
"Seven boys and girls are we;
Two of us in the church-yard lie,
Beneath the church-yard tree."
"You run about, my little maid,
Your limbs they are alive;
If two are in the church-yard laid,
Then ye are only five." (line 29-36)
The young girl refuses to say that there are only 5 children total in the family. She insists that there are seven. She grew up with her deceased brother and sister, to her they still live in her memory. Therefore, she refuses to say there are only five because to her saying that five instead of seven is the same as forgetting her deceased siblings. She states that the two are in Heaven, but they still have lived. Her defiance of the speakers insistence of five instead of seven is her way of acknowledging their memory. Whether they are alive or dead is not important to the young girl. She cares about their souls and her memories of her siblings. The idea of being alive to be considered important or a person does not occur to her. The child lives in nature, not in the world. Therefore, she disregards the conventions of the world that the speaker is trying to impress upon her.
In Wordsworth We Are Seven, the speaker encounters a young girl who Wordsworth says was based upon a girl he met in "the area of Goodrich castle" in 1973 (200). The speaker infatuated with her "rustic, woodland air" begins a conversation (line 9). Wordsworth makes an effort to emphasize the natural state of the heroine. She lives in and embodies nature. The young girl is different from other children her age. She lives like the romantic and apart from modern humanity. The child makes up her own world. This can be seen further when the speaker asks about the young girls siblings.
"Then did the little Maid reply,
"Seven boys and girls are we;
Two of us in the church-yard lie,
Beneath the church-yard tree."
"You run about, my little maid,
Your limbs they are alive;
If two are in the church-yard laid,
Then ye are only five." (line 29-36)
The young girl refuses to say that there are only 5 children total in the family. She insists that there are seven. She grew up with her deceased brother and sister, to her they still live in her memory. Therefore, she refuses to say there are only five because to her saying that five instead of seven is the same as forgetting her deceased siblings. She states that the two are in Heaven, but they still have lived. Her defiance of the speakers insistence of five instead of seven is her way of acknowledging their memory. Whether they are alive or dead is not important to the young girl. She cares about their souls and her memories of her siblings. The idea of being alive to be considered important or a person does not occur to her. The child lives in nature, not in the world. Therefore, she disregards the conventions of the world that the speaker is trying to impress upon her.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Blake: Lamb and Tyger
What I enjoy about William Blake's poetry is that they possess opposites. The Songs of Innocence and Experience and to an extent The Marriage of Heaven and Hell showcase the yin-yang aspect of life.
In The Lamb, an older speaker addresses a "little lamb" (line 1). The lamb possesses all the innocence and youth, and the speaker guides the lamb. The speaker tells the lamb who made him (line 13-16). The creator is Jesus Christ. The speaker tells the lamb that his creator is called by "thy name," and Jesus is commonly known as a lamb (line 13). Thus creating a link between the lamb and Jesus. Both are "meek" and "mild" (line 15). Their meek and mildness represents their power in innocence. Innocence expresses its power through humility. The meek lamb is humble because it knows little of the world. He must be taught about the world while Jesus comes to teach the world. However both retain an innocence. This innocence is their power in life. It allows for them to accomplish their tasks without having to power in the traditional sense.
To counter The Lamb, Blake writes The Tyger. The Tyger is a traditional representation of power. The Tyger has all the experience and lacks the innocence. Therefore, the poem is more complex than The Lamb. Nothing is plainly spoken, the reader has to comprehend the metaphors to grasp the meaning of the poem. The metaphors lead to a better understanding of God and the power of God.
"When the stars threw down their spears
And water'd heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?" (line 17-20)
The metaphor establishes that God created the world, but asks if God is pleased with the work he has done. Is God happy with the experienced or does he prefer the innocent? After all, God sent Jesus so his creations would turn away from their wrong doing and follow him. However, not all the creations follow Jesus which leads to the last question "did he who made the Lamb make thee?" (line 20). This question addresses the experienced and if they are living the way God would want for them to live. Are they living in a way that pleases God? The last question acts as a self-reflection for the audience to examine themselves and fix the areas of life that displease God. The experienced should look for a way to retain or regain the innocence of the lamb, even though it is impossible for them to lose their experience.
In The Lamb, an older speaker addresses a "little lamb" (line 1). The lamb possesses all the innocence and youth, and the speaker guides the lamb. The speaker tells the lamb who made him (line 13-16). The creator is Jesus Christ. The speaker tells the lamb that his creator is called by "thy name," and Jesus is commonly known as a lamb (line 13). Thus creating a link between the lamb and Jesus. Both are "meek" and "mild" (line 15). Their meek and mildness represents their power in innocence. Innocence expresses its power through humility. The meek lamb is humble because it knows little of the world. He must be taught about the world while Jesus comes to teach the world. However both retain an innocence. This innocence is their power in life. It allows for them to accomplish their tasks without having to power in the traditional sense.
To counter The Lamb, Blake writes The Tyger. The Tyger is a traditional representation of power. The Tyger has all the experience and lacks the innocence. Therefore, the poem is more complex than The Lamb. Nothing is plainly spoken, the reader has to comprehend the metaphors to grasp the meaning of the poem. The metaphors lead to a better understanding of God and the power of God.
"When the stars threw down their spears
And water'd heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?" (line 17-20)
The metaphor establishes that God created the world, but asks if God is pleased with the work he has done. Is God happy with the experienced or does he prefer the innocent? After all, God sent Jesus so his creations would turn away from their wrong doing and follow him. However, not all the creations follow Jesus which leads to the last question "did he who made the Lamb make thee?" (line 20). This question addresses the experienced and if they are living the way God would want for them to live. Are they living in a way that pleases God? The last question acts as a self-reflection for the audience to examine themselves and fix the areas of life that displease God. The experienced should look for a way to retain or regain the innocence of the lamb, even though it is impossible for them to lose their experience.
Burke: The Importance of a Person
The French Revolution marks a period when everything was beginning to change in Europe. This revolution, however, does not mirror the American Revolution. The French uproot one of the long-standing monarchies and replace it with a republic (until the Terror begins and later Napoleon crowns himself Emperor). Still, the French Revolution showcases the power of the people to overthrow the only form of government they have ever known and establish a new system. They rise up against the corrupt principles and in turn create a government for the people.
English contemporaries such as Edmund Burke, however, looked down upon the French Revolution. Burke chose to focus on the people of the revolution and not the principles. His focus being on the King and Queen.
"A band of cruel ruffians and assassins, reeking with his blood, rushed into the chamber of the queen, and pierced with a hundred strokes of bayonets and poniards the bed, from whence the persecuted woman had but just time to fly almost naked, and, through ways unknown to the murderers, had escaped to seek refuge at the feet of a king and husband, not secure of his own life for a moment" (51).
Burke feels compassion for the French monarchy and tries to get others to feel the same through his human portrayal of the royals. He humanizes the monarchy through his identification of the King and Queen as husband and wife, as man and woman. They have no control over their fate. They are the same as any other human being. The monarchy has made mistakes, but then so have their murderers. No one person can be blamed for the problems in France. The death of the King does not resolve the problems France is experiencing. It just deprives a family of their father, of their husband. Instead of teaching "liberty, equality, fraternity" the French are forsaking their idea of brotherhood by killing their own. A true revolution would not deem necessary the murder of those who have already lost. The French have lost sight of the importance of people in favor for trying to achieve their ideal society. A society that cannot exist because they are building their new government on innocent blood instead of diplomacy.
English contemporaries such as Edmund Burke, however, looked down upon the French Revolution. Burke chose to focus on the people of the revolution and not the principles. His focus being on the King and Queen.
"A band of cruel ruffians and assassins, reeking with his blood, rushed into the chamber of the queen, and pierced with a hundred strokes of bayonets and poniards the bed, from whence the persecuted woman had but just time to fly almost naked, and, through ways unknown to the murderers, had escaped to seek refuge at the feet of a king and husband, not secure of his own life for a moment" (51).
Burke feels compassion for the French monarchy and tries to get others to feel the same through his human portrayal of the royals. He humanizes the monarchy through his identification of the King and Queen as husband and wife, as man and woman. They have no control over their fate. They are the same as any other human being. The monarchy has made mistakes, but then so have their murderers. No one person can be blamed for the problems in France. The death of the King does not resolve the problems France is experiencing. It just deprives a family of their father, of their husband. Instead of teaching "liberty, equality, fraternity" the French are forsaking their idea of brotherhood by killing their own. A true revolution would not deem necessary the murder of those who have already lost. The French have lost sight of the importance of people in favor for trying to achieve their ideal society. A society that cannot exist because they are building their new government on innocent blood instead of diplomacy.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Hi. I'm Lauren Souther.
I'm a Senior at Mercer. I'm from Blairsville, Ga, a small town in the mountains. Therefore, I have literally nothing to do this summer so I thought taking some online courses would be one way to spend my time. I have one younger brother who is also in college. I want to go to law school so aside from online classes, and work, I will be using the summer to study for the LSAT (which kinda terrifies me).
I'm taking this class for part of an English minor, and to catch up on credit hours.
I am looking forward to reading the literature presented for the class especially the Romantics. Since I just finished an Austen class who was very anti-romantic, it will be nice to read against her style.
I am slightly apprehensive of the online aspect of the class because I have never taken an online class before. However from reading the syllabus, I think the online aspect will not be an issue once I begin blogging, etc.
I'm a Senior at Mercer. I'm from Blairsville, Ga, a small town in the mountains. Therefore, I have literally nothing to do this summer so I thought taking some online courses would be one way to spend my time. I have one younger brother who is also in college. I want to go to law school so aside from online classes, and work, I will be using the summer to study for the LSAT (which kinda terrifies me).
I'm taking this class for part of an English minor, and to catch up on credit hours.
I am looking forward to reading the literature presented for the class especially the Romantics. Since I just finished an Austen class who was very anti-romantic, it will be nice to read against her style.
I am slightly apprehensive of the online aspect of the class because I have never taken an online class before. However from reading the syllabus, I think the online aspect will not be an issue once I begin blogging, etc.
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