AP English - Victorian Era
"The Critic as Artist" is similar to Keat's "---" in that....
"Ode to a Grecian Urn" Action is surpassed by immortality of painted image. Anybody could've done the act-- but it's who immortalizes the act that's more important
Robert Browning's works (1)
"Porphyria's Lover"
Oscar Wilde (works that we read)
"Preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray" "Critic as Artist"
ID: "Art for art's sake"
"Preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray" - Oscar Wilde. There's no "underlying" theme/ beneath the surface; no didactic purpose
ID: "SAY over again, and yet once over again, That thou dost love me. Though the word repeated Should seem a "cuckoo-song," as thou dost treat it, Remember never to the hill or plain, Valley and wood, without her cuckoo-strain, 5 Comes the fresh spring in all her green completed. Beloved, I, amid the darkness greeted By a doubtful spirit-voice, in that doubt's pain Cry: "Speak once more—thou lovest!" Who can fear Too many stars, though each in heaven shall roll,— 10 Too many flowers, though each shall crown the year? Say thou dost love me, love me, love me,—toll The silver iterance!—only minding, dear, To love me also in silence, with thy soul."
"Sonnet 21" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
ID: "When our two souls stand up erect and strong, Face to face, silent, drawing nigh and nigher, Until the lengthening wings break into fire At either curvèd point,—what bitter wrong Can the earth do to us, that we should not long Be here contented? Think. In mounting higher, The angels would press on us and aspire To drop some golden orb of perfect song Into our deep, dear silence. Let us stay Rather on earth, Belovèd,—where the unfit Contrarious moods of men recoil away And isolate pure spirits, and permit A place to stand and love in for a day, With darkness and the death-hour rounding it."
"Sonnet 22" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
ID: "The first time that the sun rose on thine oath To love me, I looked forward to the moon To slacken all those bonds which seemed too soon And quickly tied to make a lasting troth. Quick-loving hearts, I thought, may quickly loathe; And, looking on myself, I seemed not one For such man's love!—more like an out-of-tune Worn viol, a good singer would be wroth To spoil his song with, and which, snatched in haste, Is laid down at the first ill-sounding note. I did not wrong myself so, but I placed A wrong on thee. For perfect strains may float 'Neath master-hands, from instruments defaced,— And great souls, at one stroke, may do and doat."
"Sonnet 32" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
ID: *** "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of Being and ideal Grace. I love thee to the level of everyday's Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light. I love thee freely, as men strive for Right; I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise. I love thee with a passion put to use In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith. I love thee with a love I seemed to lose With my lost saints, --- I love thee with the breath, Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death."
"Sonnet 43" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Alfred, Lord Tennyson's works (2)
"The Lady of Shalott" "The Lotos-Eaters"
What imagery is used to describe the Sea of Faith in "Dover Beach"?'
"folds of a bright girdle furled" = compressed clothing
A recurring image in The Origin of Species - Charles Darwin
"great Tree of Life"
The language describing the island in "The Lotus-Eaters"
"hollow lotos land;" "a land where all things always *seemed* the same" Nothing's quite real; empty and unsubstantial
"Porphyria's Lover": The bear shoulder represents...
"intrusion of modern world"
Chief complaint in "The Lotos Eaters"
"man's lot to toil;" to work is not right!
According to Arnolds the best poetry is...
"what we want... [has] a power of forming, sustaining, and delighting us."
Describe "Dover Beach" as a Greater Romantic lyric- characterize the 3 stages as they occur specifically in Arnold's poem. Is the resolution convincing? Why or why not?
1) Literal Description of the beach 2) Metaphorical symbolism of Faith - like a tide withdrawing and drawing to the shore 3) Application to speaker's own love life Resolution: Sea returns to tranquility after every storm. Relating this to the speaker's love, so long as it is true the outside world cannot influence/or taint them. I find it convincing in that....
How does "Porphyria's Lover" draw the reader in?
1-2) Romantic Images 1) Storm outside - Nature 2) Cottage by lake - Seclusion; domestic warmth 3) Porphyria enters, bears her shoulder, subtly sexual
The Victorian Age spans
1830-1848
Image in Sonnet 22 "When our two souls stand up erect and strong"
2 souls; the tension building as the fantastic image of "winged souls" stand in *silence* when they face... This is anticipation/desire. Finally, when their wings erupt in flames this symbolizes passion of their love.
Images in "The Buried Life"
A pointless squabble that provokes the "nameless sadness." Letting the HEART speak; same heart in all humans Pursuits of society as "frivolous a baby man" Unspeakable desire in emotionless "crowded streets" Waking up and LIVING; feeling alive
What does the lady see in her mirror ("The Lady of Shalott")? What does this mean?
A wedding and a funeral; life; She can represent life, but she can't be a part of it. Artists, in a sense, are always taking a bird's-eye view, reproducing life from a distance.
The end of Victorian England say a focus on__________
Aestheticism - hedonism
What is the poetic device obviously used in "Pied Beauty"?
Alliteration: "Glory be to God for dappled things - For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow; For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim; Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches' wings; Landscape plotted and pieced - fold, fallow, and plough; And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim. All things counter, original, spare, strange; Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?) With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim; He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change: Praise him."
The conclusion of Sonnet 21 "SAY over again, and yet once over again,"
As much as she yearns to hear him tell her he loves her... it isn't worth much if he doesn't actually mean it
Is the U.K. the island of Lotus?
As the island of Lotus: England at the time underwent constant changes. Tennyson romanticizes nature in order to emphasize the virtues of a land that remains in stasis. He appeals to nature's beauty to prevent industrialization which will take it away. Also, he suggests that only in a land of idleness can man be at ease and have the ability to dream. An escape from the work to rest. An argument against industry.
"The Critic as an Artist": "Beauty is the symbol of symbols. Beauty reveals everything, because it expresses nothing."
Beauty has no purpose... but... Beauty offers the opportunity to the Critic to "put into it whatever one wishes." Beauty, according to Wilde, "has as many meanings as man has moods," and Criticism of artwork offers the opportunity to bring to fuller light "a form which the artist may have left void, or not understood, or understood incompletely"
In "God's Grandeur," what does Hopkins mean when he writes, "Generations have trod, have trod, have trod"?
Before that speaker asks: why men are no longer God-fearing... Man has lived on earth for a long time, with heavy heart and mundanel. Man has disregarded the beauty of God's creation and failed to see His grandeur in it. And worst: he has polluted it with his own sinful nature; he has brought darkness upon himself in the very midst of God's light.
The Origin of Species (author)
By Charles Darwin
"Past & Present" calls Victorians to _______
Calling on the people to act now; to be proactive...
Conclusion in Sonnet 22 "When our two souls stand up erect and strong"
Challenging tone: "what bitter wrong can the earth do to us?" Let us seperate ourselves (our love) from the chaos of men & nature... in silence and we'll be fine.
Significance of The Origin of Species (in Victorian Era)
Changed public Victorian opinion for the better & worst... Evolution was an unprecedented theory. Its organized (i.e. gender studies) structure drew in the masses.
Mill's "On Liberty" creates futuristic __________ where although men have ______ they must be _________. The role of government must be one of ______________.
Creates futuristic *utopia* where although men have *the freedom to be free to act upon their opinions* they must be *contained and not meant to incite mischief. Every individual must be open-minded to others' opinions.* The role of government must be one of *guidance not forced control .. letting the individuals act *
"The Critic as Artist": Ernest: A critic is an echo of the art Gilbert: No! Criticism is art.
Criticism is creative and independent of the art. IT is not just a reflection, but an in-depth look within the work.
The Early Victorian Era saw a decline of... (author who tried to bring it back)...
Decline of art in a society of natural science & politics.. Victorian Era = progress... moving forward; There was anxiety in losing/clouding original British classic. Matthew Arnold ("Study of Poetry")'s POETICS
Contradiction in "Porphyria's Lover" (vs.)
Desire/sensation vs. morality
Solution in Sonnet 32 "The first time that the sun rose on thine oath"
Despite her being an "out-of-tune worn viol," with his "master-hands" he'll be able to play beautiful music. In other words: he's able to teach her to love herself; to love what he loves about her
Song in "The Lotus-Eaters"
Each stanza gives points against leaving the island; 1) music 2) no work 3) Paradise 4) time has passed; been away too long 5) sleep 6) time; change; confusion; they've moved on 7) Resting: They compare the life of abandon, which they will enjoy in Lotos land, to the carefree existence of the Gods, who could not care less about the famines, plagues, earthquakes, and other natural disasters that plague human beings on earth.
Lancelot ("The Lady of Shalott")
Epitome of Knight; Byronic hero; Traitor; Symbol of Love- romantic and sexual
What two countries are visible from Dover Beach?
France and England
Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poems (we read in class)
From "Sonnets from the Portuguese" - • Sonnet 21 "SAY over again, and yet once over again," • Sonnet 22 "When our two souls stand up erect and strong" • Sonnet 32 "The first time that the sun rose on thine oath" • Sonnet 43 "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways..."
"Pied Beauty" author
Gerard Manley Hopkins
The Victorian Age saw the height of the...; "...." because of the vast __________ (_____)
Height of the British Empire; "the sun never set on the British empire" because of imperialism (i.e. colonization in India)
To whom is "Dover Beach" addressed?
His love
What is "God's Grandeur" compared to?
Hopkins compares it to electricity
Theme in "The Lotus-Eaters"
Idleness; human and moral stagnation
Argument of "The Critic as Artist"
It is more difficult to talk than to act; Action has to exist so long as it acknowledges that the writer is important
"The Lady of Shalott" is from an ____________ romance; Has similarities to _____________;
Italian romance; Mort d'Arthur
"On Liberty" (author)
John Stuart Mill
Main theme of "The Lady of Shalott": ___ vs. ____
Life vs. Art
Author of "The Buried Life"
M. Arnold
"Dover Beach" author
Matthew Arnold
The Study of Poetry (author)
Matthew Arnold
Problem in Sonnet 43 "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways..."?
No problem... the Author author is pouring out her heart. Juxtaposed with the beautiful and intense love are some "old griefs" and loss of "childhood's faith..."
Monarchy of The Victorian Age
Parliament changes due to social disruptions; Victoria became queen at age 18. Her age created anxiety throughout Parliament... To Ms. K she's the greatest monarch
"The Lady of Shalott": Part I & IV = ___ Part II & III = _____
Part I & IV = Outside world looking to Shalott Part II & III = Shalott looking to Camelot
By eating the lotus ("The Lotos Eaters") created a stigma b/w ____ vs _____ and ______ vs ______
Pleasure vs. Work; Reality vs. Dreams
Alfred, Lord Tennyson was _____ _______ after Wordsworth (from 1850-92; longest)
Poet Laureate
Arguments in "The Study of Poetry"
Poetry is "capable of higher uses" It's necessary for science
What is the theme/subject of "Pied Beauty"?
Praise/Glory to God's grandeur as shown through the beauty of His creation
Alfred, Lord Tennyson was not born a lord but ....
Queen Victoria granted him lord in 1884 based on his being a poet (first)
Gender in the Victorian Age
Separate spheres that were almost impenetrable. A woman's role was either wife, mother, or in special cases governess/teacher. It was rare for her to surpass one sphere to enter into the "male" sphere. A woman was seen as the 'angel of the house' / woman of the house... Her role is to offer redemption/innocence to the man after he's returned from the outside world. A moral Beacon.
the Curse in "The Lady of Shalott
She can't look out her window (trapped in a 'tower').. only through a mirror/glass that she sees; sews her tapestry/web
Allusions in "The Lotus-Eaters"
The Odyssey; The Garden of Eden: a "life of toil" is Adam's punishment for partaking of the fruit... but here the fruit provides a release from the life of labor.
ID: "How have all those exquisite adaptations of one part of the organization to another part, and to the conditions of life, and of one organic being to another being, been perfected?"
The Origin of Species - Charles Darwin
ID: "If species had been independently created, no explanation would have been possible of this kind of classification; but it is explained through inheritance and the complex action of ---- ----...."
The Origin of Species - Charles Darwin - Clearly that there are relations b/w species
"The Lady of Shalott": Camelot is seen as the _________; Victorian England's ______ gave people hope
The epitome of Britain; rise/growth
Singing in "The Lady of Shalott"
The lady herself attracts the outside world... But also Lancelot's singing causes the Lady to look out
Problem in Sonnet 32 "The first time that the sun rose on thine oath"
The speaker is experiencing the world in new lenses... love. She realizes she is like an "out-of-tune worn viol" and her love who is "a good singer" is bound to figure this out. She concludes that she is inadequate for him. She is at fault- not him.
Is the U.K. the hard reality that the sailors are escaping from?
The work becomes a critique of British work habits and imperial duty. The lotus eaters do no work and bear no responsibility. Their chief complaint is that it is unpleasant "to war with evil." They are abandoning the potential of having a meaningful life with heroic accomplishment by taking their lotos fruit while poverty strikes the country. It becomes a criticism of Victorian man turning a blind eye instead of taking action. And also, the Victorians struggling for escape and rest from the oppression of harsh industrial work. An argument against industry.
"Past & Present" (author)
Thomas Carlyle
"Porphyria's Lover": Love affairs weren't very surprising because...
Victorian England were numbed about sexuality; it was something that happened but "not to you" (covert)- paradox
Alfred, Lord Tennyson is the most important....
Victorian poet; very influential
Lotus symbolism in "The Lotos Eaters"
a drug; an escape from work/ from doing
"Preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray" is almost as _____ as the novel.... it _____ everything...
as famous as the novel; it contradicts everything
According to Wilde, when critics disagree about the work the .....
author has done his job
"The Lady of Shalott" is a ______ poem
ballade
According to Wilde, "art is useless" because...
because its aim is simply to create a mood. It is not meant to instruct, or to influence action in any way.
"Porphyria's Lover": forbidden love -
breaks out of conventions not married- can't be together; "vainer ties"
"The Lotos Eaters" (summary)
by Alfred, Lord Tennyson a narrative and song derived from The Odyssey; retelling
Author of "The Critic as Artist"
by Oscar Wilde; a dialogue between Ernest and Gilbert
The relevance of "The Buried Life" in Victorian England?
commentary on the duality of man... concealed true identities. Putting on a front/facade
Conceit in Sonnet 21 "SAY over again, and yet once over again,"
cuckoo's calling; calls the importance? boringly repetitive? no significance? But w/o it the announcement of the arrival of spring wouldn't be present
In Arnold's "The Study of Poetry," what's "the historic estimate and the personal estimate"?
dangers of having a romanticized history and personal bias (look at the context of the history)
Arnold's "The Study of Poetry," believes that although poetry must be universal it must also be...
grounded
The Victorian Age saw ____& ______; in terms of ... / ... or moving from ... to .... ;
growth and change; in terms of population/size... moving from rural to city (industrialization) ;
So long as people are still shocked... There is still _______
hope (moral complacency has not taken over)
The Victorian people are now seen as prudish, but were actually...
involved in affairs, scandals, opium dens... had a lust for gossip
According to Wilde, if you do look beneath the surface you do it at your own peril because...
it will reveal what also lies beneath you- mirrors the spectator
"Past & Present" presents the state of England as one having too much...
liberty; taking more than they deserve... The people tend to let things just be.
"Porphyria's Lover": Love affairs weren't very surprising... BUT...
murder opened some eyes. Browning's purpose was to push morals to the edge- to SHOCK! He doesn't want moral complacency.
Tone of Sonnet 21 "SAY over again, and yet once over again,"
pleading... there is no hesitation in imploring her lover to say he loves her; Yearning
"The Critic as Artist": The highest Criticism is...
record of one's own soul... relative. "mirrors spectator" (from Preface)
"The Lady of Shalott" features 3 main styles:
romantic, chivalric, Arthurian
According to Wilde, "To reveal art and conceal the artist is art's aim"
should aim to reveal beauty independent of artist; no bias
The Advancement of _________ during the Victorian Age caused the questioning of ________
technology & sciences (Darwin); faith
"Porphyria's Lover": Porphyria as a character is not
the Victorian angel of the house
"The Critic as Artist": "...the primary aim of the critic is to see the object as in itself it really is not"
the critic looks at all the things itself; reading below the surface/interpreting results in romanticizing (Drawing out); he can put in art whatever he/everyone wants to see... it is in the eye of the beholder.
Carlyle called "the Condition of England" in question because of the growth that created more.... => ________. Creating _________ unions... Caused the rise of _______ _______: _____ ______ _______ created.
the growth created more work => poor wages... creating a Labor Unions Rise of Civil Rights: Child labor laws (charters/acts) created
According to Wilde, "there is no moral or immoral book..." just...
well and badly written books
The Origin of Species: Arguments
• Population Control: everyone has to die • Everyone must adapt (man/animal) to current situation • Inherited characteristics are as necessary as death
