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.
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