English 226 Final Whittington

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs, And towards our distant rest began to trudge.

Dulce et decorum est wilfred owen

Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots, But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of gas-shells dropping softly behind.

Dulce et decorum est wilfred owen

Victorian Era What changed c.1830s?

Early 19th C. atmosphere of revolution & repression replaced by spirit of gradual social & political reform • 1832: Reform Act-suffrage • 1833: Abolition of slavery in GB

celebrating life to death; every life comes to an end

Ecchoing Green

Haunting & Female Sexuality"Eveline's Visitant"

Hector takes increasingly drastic steps to protect his wife from her male visitor: • Accompanies her (210) • Enclosed garden (211) • Journey to Switzerland (213)

When was the Industrial Revolution in Britain?

1760-1840

When was romanticism?

1785-1830

Which year did most romantic poets die or stop producing?

1830

victorian literature

1837-1901

I was angry with my friend; I told my wrath, my wrath did end. I was angry with my foe: I told it not, my wrath did grow. and it grew both day and night till it bore and apple bright

A Poison Tree, experience, blake

popular verse form, usually telling a story, with regular rhythm and rhyme, and frequent repetition

ballad

contains alternating lines of four and three stresses that rhyme ABAB or ABCB

ballad stanza

Mary Elizabeth Braddon, "Eveline's Visitant"

Neither in my days of gloom nor in my days of happiness had I been troubled by the recollection of André's blasphemous oath. The words which with his last breath he had whispered in my ear were vain and meaningless to me. He had vented his rage in those idle threats, as he might have vented it in idle execrations. (209)

Mary Elizabeth Braddon, "Eveline's Visitant"

"Go where we would, the ghost of André de Brissac followed us. To my eyes that fatal shadow never revealed itself. That would have been too poor a vengeance. It was my wife's innocent heart which André made the instrument of his revenge." (213)

Christiana Rosetti, Goblin Market

"Good folk, I have no coin; To take were to purloin: I have no copper in my purse, I have no silver either, And all my gold is on the furze That shakes in windy weather Above the rusty heather." "You have much gold upon your head," They answer'd all together: "Buy from us with a golden curl." She clipp'd a precious golden lock, She dropp'd a tear more rare than pearl, Then suck'd their fruit globes fair or red..." (116-128)

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, "The Adventure of the Speckled Band"

"I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a logical basis, with which he unravelled the problems which were submitted to him." (969)

Amelia Edwards, "Was it an Illusion? A Parson's Story

"I listened in blank amazement. The tarn vanished! I could not believe it. Wolstenholme assured me, however, that it was by no means a solitary phenomenon. Rivers had been known to disappear before now, in mining districts; and sometimes, instead of merely cracking, the ground would cave in, burying not merely houses, but whole hamlets in one common ruin." (296)

...................... beside the springs of dove a maid whom there were none to praise and very few to love a violet by a mossy stone half hidden from the eye, fair as a star when only once is shining in the sky she lived unknown and few could know when lucy ceased to be.

"She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways" (Wordsworth)

Christiana Rosetti, Goblin Market

"She fell at last; Pleasure past and anguish past, Is it death or is it life? Life out of death." (521-524)

Mary Elizabeth Braddon, "Eveline's Visitant"

"There was scarcely one fair head in all that glittering throng which, to a man versed in social histories and mysteries, might not have seemed bedabbled with blood." (205) "I will be with you when you least look to see me... I will come to you when your life seems brightest. I will come between you and all that you hold fairest and dearest. My ghostly hand shall drop a poison in your cup of joy... It is my will to haunt you when I am dead." --André to Hector (206-7)

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, "The Adventure of the Speckled Band"

"Violence of temper approaching to mania had been hereditary in the men of the family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been intensified by his long residence in the tropics." (971)

Christiana Rosetti, Goblin Market

"We must not look at goblin men, We must not buy their fruits." (84-5)

Mary Elizabeth Braddon, "Eveline's Visitant"

"When first the stranger came to me in the forest, his presence bewildered and distressed me, and I shrank from him as from something strange and terrible. He came again and again; by and by I found myself thinking of him, and watching for his coming. His image haunted me perpetually; I strove in vain to shut his face out of my mind... O, Hector, kill me if you will, for I deserve no mercy at your hands! -I grew in those days to count the hours that must elapse before his coming, to take no pleasure save in the sight of that pale face with the red brand upon it. He plucked all old familiar joys out of my heart, and left in it but one weird unholy pleasure—the delight of his presence." (214)

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, "The Adventure of the Speckled Band"

"Working as he did rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation which did not tends towards the unusual, and even the fantastic." (969)

Romantic and Victorian eras overlapped

- Victoria appointed Wordsworth Poet Laureate (1843) - Tennyson's In Memoriam and Wordsworth's Prelude both published 1850

Mary Elizabeth Braddon, "Eveline's Visitant"

- married & supported her publisher - Early career: short fiction in periodicals starting 1859 - "Eveline" first published in a periodical, Belgravia - Later career: published over 80 novels (!)

the abusive stepfather is a representation of colonial anxieties

-GB had legal, political, & economic control over India, but no blood ties -Colonialism is a form of dominion by a non-genetic guardian -concerns about the justness of this arrangement simmered just below the surface

reason & superstition: gothic fiction

-Gothic stand mid 18th C, height of "Age of Reason" -repressed irrationality-supernatural in literature -late 19th C further decline in religion -writers/readers sought other forms of the spiritual in the world -exotic locales, melodramatic plots

The Strand Magazine

-debuted in 1891 -1st issue sole 300,000 copies -circulation averaged 500,000 (1891-1930) -wide readership bc popular content (fiction, general interest stories, puzzles) & growing literacy

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, "The Adventure of the Speckled Band"

-Holmes appears to us as the height of disinterested rationality -he's like a scientist studying phenomenons -Watson is the narrator -pattern to present a mystery and explain it rationally; to defeat fear with reason, and replace superstition with science -Ms Stoner comes to them

Christiana Rosetti, Goblin Market

-Lizzie's attack by the goblins is an assault -being force-fed sinful suit -she enjoys resistance to the assault - to sex -mix of sexual aggression & spiritual pressure -turn towards God -consider how a passionate, physically close sisterly relationship might mimic a sensual relationship to God -can love be exp on a bodily level & spiritual one

Robert Browning, "My Last Duchess"

-The call to the unseen, unheard listener in the poem is also a call to the reader, to contemplate the object the Duke owns. -The speaker's description of the portrait quickly veers into sexual jealousy. At this stage, we have no way of knowing, either way, whether there is any truth to the Duke's suspicions. -The Duke's sexual jealousy is indiscriminate: painters, sunsets, mules, all seem to bring a blush to the Duchess's cheeks (in his view).

Female Writers & the British Literary Tradition

-What role do speech and silence play in EBB's poetry? -Who has the right to speak, and who must remain silent? -What relationship do questions of speech and silence have to gender relations more broadly—both in personal and social terms?

the dangers of the orient in "The Adventure of the Speckled Band"

-anything east of greece -filled with references to GB's overseas colonies -Dr. Roylott keeps exotic pets (baboon, cheetah, swamp adder) -smokes Indian cigars -Helen stoner describes the estate as a "plantation" (972) -consorts with gypsies (opposite of settled, English aristocracy, nomadic, wandering, "other"

Arthur Conan Doyale

-character Sherlock Holmes first appeared in A Study in Scarlet (1887) -series of stories called The Strand

detective fiction

-emerged in 19th C through Poe & Wilkie Collins -genre about ascertaining truth -mysterious crime -clues offering partial understanding -process of investigation -climactic scene of resolution (just in time) -readers invited to participate in game of deduction & misled by red herrings in the story

Victorian ghost stories embrace realism:

-familiar locales -recognizable social environments, issues -attention to psychological realism

dramatic monologue; victorian poets interested in unusual or aberrant subjects

-murderers, "fallen" women, suicidal artists -with some poems, we eavesdrop onto more morbid aspects of human psychology

sensation novel

-new genre in 1860s that translated the dark themes of penny dreadfuls for a middle-class audience -Braddon; famous for 2 novels featuring bigamist female protagonists

dramatic monologue; victorians very interested in the lives of exceptional people

-times of great cultural, scientific, and political achievement encouraged the study of leaders, heroes -Victorians fascinated by ceremonies around death and commemoration

picture we can paint of Victorian literature

-vast/diverse literary field -literary moment still animated by Romantic forms & enthusiasms, but applying them to new situations -vast & diverse readership

ghost stories reveal anxieties of their society

-what terrified people? -what inner tendencies did they fear might take hold? -what were they repressing, collectively, & individually?

"Ulysses" -dramatic monologue

A lyric poem told by a single speaker at a moment of dramatic intensity (In this case, Ulysses is about to return to the sea.)

Dramatic Monologue

A lyric poem told by a single speaker at a moment of dramatic intensity, an unrhymed iambic pentameter. It reveals the speaker's character and temperament to the reader. Writer often generates their tension through slow revelation of hidden or suppressed aspects of the speaker

............. I had to human fears, she seemed a thing that could not feel the touch of earthly years. No motion has she now, no force, she neither hears nor sees, rolled round in earth's diurnal course, with rocks and stones and trees.

A slumber did my spirit seal, wordsworth

Allegory

A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one. A story in which two, or more, levels have meaning exist: a literal (surface) meaning as well as a figurative (under the surface) one

Mary Elizabeth Braddon, "Eveline's Visitant"

Almost telepathically, the haunting is trans- ferred to Eveline. "I see him every day... Sometimes in the park, sometimes in the wood. You know the little cascade, Hector, where there is some neglected rock-work that forms a kind of cavern... Of late I have seen the stranger there every morning." --Eveline to Hector (210)

Matthew Arnold, "Dover Beach"

Ah, love, let us be true To one another! for the world, which seems To lie before us like a land of dreams So various, so beautiful, so new, Hath really neither job, nor love, nor light, Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain; And we are here as on a darkling plain Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight, Where ignorant armies clash by night. (29-37)

Let the boy try along this bayonet-blade How cold steel is, and keen with hunger of blood; Blue with all malice, like a madman's flash; And thinly drawn with famishing for flesh. Lend him to stroke these blind, blunt bullet-leads, Which long to nuzzle in the hearts of lads, Or give him cartridges of fine zinc teeth Sharp with the sharpness of grief and death. For his teeth seem for laughing round an apple. There lurk no claws behind his fingers supple; And God will grow no talons at his heels, Nor antlers through the thickness of his curls.

Arms and the boy wilfred owen

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, "A Year's Spinning"

Bury me 'twixt my mother's grave, (Who cursed me on her death-bed lone) And my dead baby's, (God it save!) Who, not to bless me, would not moan. And now my spinning is all done. A stone upon my heart and head, But no name written on the stone! Sweet neighbors, whisper low instead, "This sinner was a loving one— And now her spinning is all done."

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Born March 6th 1806 -Extremely popular poet in her time -Part of a large, plantation-owning family -Father forbade all 12 of his children from marrying

he was interested in why people do bad things; poses the question "what causes people to dare take action that effects history?"

Coleridge

which poet is interested in why people do bad things and asks the question "what causes people to dare take action that effects history?"

Coleridge

Tennyson, "Ulysses"

Come, my friends, 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world. Push off, and sitting well in order smite The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths Of all the western stars, until I die. It may be that the gulfs will wash us down: It may be that we shall touch the Happy Isles, And see the great Achilles, whom we knew. Though much is taken, much abides; and though We are not now that strength which in old days Moved heaven and earth; that which we are, we are; One equal temper of heroic hearts, Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

Christiana Rosetti, Goblin Market

Days, weeks, months, years Afterwards, when both were wives With children of their own; Their mother-hearts beset with fears, Their lives bound up in tender lives; Laura would call the little ones And tell them of her early prime, Those pleasant days long gone Of not-returning time: Would talk about the haunted glen, The wicked, quaint fruit-merchant men, Their fruits like honey to the throat But poison in the blood; (Men sell not such in any town... (543-556)

Christiana Rosetti, Goblin Market

Do you not remember Jeanie, How she met them in the moonlight, Took their gifts both choice and many, Ate their fruits and wore their flowers Pluck'd from bowers Where summer ripens at all hours? But ever in the noonlight She pined and pined away; Sought them by night and day, Found them no more, but dwindled and grew grey; Then fell with the first snow... (147-157)

Christiana Rosetti, Goblin Market

Do you not remember Jeanie, How she met them in the moonlight, Took their gifts both choice and many, Ate their fruits and wore their flowers Pluck'd from bowers Where summer ripens at all hours? But ever in the noonlight She pined and pined away; Sought them by night and day, Found them no more, but dwindled and grew grey; Then fell with the first snow... (147-157) She thought of Jeanie in her grave, Who should have been a bride; But who for joys brides hope to have Fell sick and died... (312-315)

"Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! - An ecstasy of fumbling, / Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time; / But someone still was yelling out and stumbling, / And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime"

Dulce et Decorum Est Wilfred Owen

An old, mad, blind, despised, and dying King; Princes, the dregs of their dull race, who flow Through public scorn,—mud from a muddy spring; Rulers who neither see nor feel nor know, But leechlike to their fainting country cling Till they drop, blind in blood, without a blow. A people starved and stabbed in th' untilled field; An army, whom liberticide and prey Makes as a two-edged sword to all who wield; Golden and sanguine laws which tempt and slay; Religion Christless, Godless—a book sealed; A senate, Time's worst statute, unrepealed— Are graves from which a glorious Phantom may Burst, to illumine our tempestuous day.

England in 1819, Shelley

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, "A Year's Spinning"

Final stanza: in death, the speaker hopes to communicate her suffering to the man who was responsible for it. The spinning wheel becomes a symbol of that suffering; she hopes it will provide the communication she could never achieve by speech during her life. her critique is explicit: in a world in which men escape from illicit relations unscathed, women must bear the consequences. Our collective refusal to talk about these things contributes to the powerlessness of women in such situations.

Romanticism

French Revolution (1789) • Blake: Emphasis on individual vision • Wordsworth: "Preface" emphasis on "common man"; poetic interest in forgotten or neglected individuals • Overall: democratic poetic impulse towards freedom and individual expression Rapid industrialization and urbanization • Blake: "Chimney Sweep," "Holy Thursday" • Overall: Romantic turn to nature reflects turn away from industrial cities

suspension of Habeus Corpus, Treasonable Practices Act, Combinations Act, cracking down on dissent and suspended civil liberties, and massive network of spies and agent provocateurs are all effects on what?

French Revolution in Britain

Victorian Era

relationship to romanticism, sources of Victorian confidence, sources of victorian anxieties, rise of secularism Growth of reading publics Evolution and natural selection

You love us when we're heroes, home on leave, Or wounded in a mentionable place. You worship decorations; you believe That chivalry redeems the war's disgrace. You make us shells. You listen with delight, By tales of dirt and danger fondly thrilled. You crown our distant ardours while we fight, And mourn our laurelled memories when we're killed. You can't believe that British troops "retire" When hell's last horror breaks them, and they run, Trampling the terrible corpses—blind with blood. O German mother dreaming by the fire, While you are knitting socks to send your son His face is trodden deeper in the mud.

Glory of women Siegfriend Sasson

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, "A Year's Spinning"

He listened at the porch that day, To hear the wheel go on, and on; And then it stopped, ran back away, While through the door he brought the sun: But now my spinning is all done. He sat beside me, with an oath That love ne'er ended, once begun; I smiled—believing for us both, What was the truth for only one: And now my spinning is all done

"Till into the high dome of Paul's they like Thames waters flow" seated in companies they sit with radiance all their own the hum of multitudes was there but multitudes of lambs, thousands of little boys and girls raising their hands they raise to heaven the voice of song

Holy Thursday, innocence, blake

Robert Browning, "My Last Duchess"

Poem operates on two levels: • Present: Duke converses with an emissary from a Count whose daughter the Duke wants to marry • Past: Duke describes the story behind the painting of his former Duchess, her behavior, and her death

Assonance

repetition of a vowel sound

Tennyson, "Ulysses"

I am a part of all that I have met; Yet all experience is an arch wherethrough Gleams that untravelled world, whose margin fades For ever and ever when I move. How dull it is to pause, to make an end, To rust unburnished, not to shine in use! As though to breathe were life. (18-24)

Tennyson, "Ulysses"

I cannot rest from travel. I will drink Life to the lees: [...] [...] I am become a name; For always roaming with a hungry heart Much have I seen and known; cities of men And manners, climates, councils, governments, Myself not least, but honoured of them all; And drunk delight of battle with my peers, Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy. I am a part of all that I have met.

Robert Browning, "My Last Duchess"

I gave commands; Then all smiles stopped together. There she stands As if alive. Will't please you rise? (45-7) Notice Neptune, though, Taming a seahorse, thought a rarity, Which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me! (54-6) • Emerging portrait of tyrannous husband • Psychology of sexual jealousy • Economics of marriage • Deceptive use of language to enchant

Gothic Fiction

Refers to fiction that aims to both please and terrify the reader through a set of spine-tingling conventions such as mysterious locations/events, heroine in dire straits, and extreme states (madness, violence, suffering)

Feeling . . . clamoured wildly. "Oh, comply!" it said. ". . . soothe him; save him; love him; tell him you love him and will be his. Who in the world cares for you? or who will be injured by what you do?" Still indomitable was the reply: "I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself. I will keep the law given by God; sanctioned by man. I will hold to the principles received by me when I was sane, and not mad—as I am now. Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation. . . . They have a worth—so I have always believed; and if I cannot believe it now, it is because I am insane—quite insane: with my veins running fire, and my heart beating faster than I can count its throbs."

In this quotation, near the end of Chapter 27, Jane asserts her strong sense of moral integrity over and against her intense immediate feelings. Rochester has been trying to convince her to stay with him despite the fact that he is still legally married to Bertha Mason. His argument almost persuades Jane: Rochester is the first person who has ever truly loved her. Yet she knows that staying with him would mean compromising herself, because she would be Rochester's mistress rather than his wife. Not only would she lose her self-respect, she would probably lose Rochester's, too, in the end. Thus Jane asserts her worth and her ability to love herself regardless of how others treat her. The passage also sheds light upon Jane's understanding of religion. She sees God as the giver of the laws by which she must live. When she can no longer trust herself to exercise good judgment, she looks to these principles as an objective point of reference. Jane's allusions to her "madness" and "insanity" bring out an interesting parallel between Jane and Bertha Mason. It is possible to see Bertha as a double for Jane, who embodies what Jane feels within—especially since the externalization of interior sentiment is a trait common to the Gothic novel. The description of Jane's blood running like "fire" constitutes one of many points in the book in which Jane is associated with flames.

birth of industrialism, migration from countryside to bigger cities, and injecting lots of money into the economy are all effects of what?

Industrial Revolution in Britain

Victorian Era Era defined by...

Relative peace and stability • Continued industrial & economic expansion • Growth of Empire • Development of new technologies

child like poem "the chikd wept while he piped"; shows that joy can lead to a kind of saddness

Intro to Innocence

Piping down the valleys wild on a cloud i saw a child a he laughing said to me pipe a song about a lamb so i piped with mighty cheer. Drop thy pipe thy happy pipe so i sung the same again

Introduction, Songs of Innocence, William Blake

Tennyson, "Ulysses"

It little profits that an idle king, By this still hearth, among these barren crags, Matched with an agèd wife, I mete and dole Unequal laws unto a savage race, That hoard and sleep, and feed, and know not me.

He had not imagined that a woman would dare to speak so to a man. For me, I felt at home in this sort of discourse. I could never rest in communication with strong, discreet, and refined minds, whether male or female, till I had passed the outworks of conventional reserve, and crossed the threshold of confidence, and won a place by their heart's very hearth-stone.

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte, Gender Roles Jane is reflecting on a conversation she had with St. John about his future plans and potential relationship with Rosamond Oliver. Jane's observations reveal that St. John is surprised by her directness when Jane points out that St. John Rivers trembles and is flushed whenever Miss Oliver enters. Through Jane's reflections the reader learns how St. John Rivers is astonished by her direct approach because it is not expected of a woman in their society. Jane continues to go against female gender role expectations by speaking freely and confidently, often impressing her male counterparts with her courage.

I laughed at him as he said this. "I am not an angel," I asserted; "and I will not be one till I die; I will be myself, Mr. Rochester; you must neither expect nor exact anything celestial of me, for you will not get it any more than I shall get it of you, which I do not at all anticipate."

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte, Gender Roles Jane is responding to Mr. Rochester's many demands regarding their wedding and married life. Jane makes it clear to Mr. Rochester that she plans to be true to herself and hold onto her autonomy despite his attempts to plan world travels and buy expensive gifts for her. Through this dialogue, Jane contrasts the typical female gender roles of Victorian England society by speaking up and holding on to her individuality, even in the face of marriage.

"To women who please me only by their faces, I am the very devil when I find out they have neither souls nor hearts—when they open to me a perspective of flatness, triviality, and, perhaps, imbecility, coarseness, and ill-temper; but to the clear eye and eloquent tongue, to the soul made of fire, and the character that bends but does not break...I am every tender and true...I never met your likeness, Jane; you please me, and you master me—you seem to submit, and I like the sense of pliancy you impart...I am influenced—conquered; and the influence is sweeter than I can express; and the conquest I undergo has a witchery beyond any triumph I can win."

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte, Gender Roles Mr. Rochester is responding to Jane's declaration of autonomy by insisting that he actually prefers a woman who is independent and strong in character and voice. He continues to describe all the unique character traits that he admires in Jane. In his preferring a woman like Jane, the character of Mr. Rochester is a contrast to male gender role expectations. While men of his social class are expected to desire a women who will allow themselves to be kept or remain insignificant, Mr. Rochester loves Jane for exactly the opposite reason: She is fierce and independent-minded.

That night I never thought to sleep...I was transported in thought to the scenes of childhood; I dreamed that I lay in the red-room at Gateshead; that the night was dark, and my mind impressed with strange fears. The light that long ago had struck me into syncope, recalled in this vision, seemed glidingly to mount the wall...I lifted my head to look; the roof resolved to clouds...the gleam was such as the moon imparts to vapors she is about to sever. I watched her come...as though some word of doom were to be written on her disk...then, not a moon, but a white human form, shone in the azure, inclining a glorious brow earthward.

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte, Gothic Elements Here, Jane describes a supernatural dream that came to her in the night before she leaves Thornfield and Mr. Rochester. In this dream, Jane describes ominous, mysterious weather, supernatural connections from her childhood, and a visit from her mother's spirit warning Jane not to give in to temptation. Jane recognizes these gothic and supernatural elements as warnings to her of dark times ahead, further encouraging her to leave Thornfield.

At this moment a light gleamed on the wall...while I gazed, it glided up to the ceiling and quivered over my head. I can now conjecture readily that this streak of light was, in all likelihood, a gleam from a lantern...but then, prepared as my mind was for horror, shaken as my nerves were by agitation, I thought the swift-darting beam was a herald of some coming vision from another world. My heart beat thick—my head grew hot; a sound filled my ears, which I deemed the rushing wings; something seemed near me; I was oppressed, suffocated; endurance, broke down; I rushed to the door and shook the lock in desperate effort.

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte, Gothic Elements Jane recalls the night she spent in the red-room at Gateshead as punishment after John Reed struck her. She recalls for the reader a gothic and frightening experience while being locked in this room. While looking back on the memory, she admits that the light she saw was more likely a gleam from a lantern, but in that moment long ago, she believed the light was a supernatural vision of her dead Uncle Reed. Jane explains how this vision terrified her and became a pivotal moment in the abuse she suffered at Gateshead at the hands of Mrs. Reed.

I, too, had received the mysterious summons; those were the very words by which I had replied to it. I listened to Mr. Rochester's narrative, but made no disclosure in return. ...If I told anything, my tale would be such as must necessarily make a profound impression on the mind of my hearer; and that mind, yet from its sufferings too prone to gloom, needed not the deeper shade of the supernatural.

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte, Gothic Elements Toward the end of the novel, Mr. Rochester tells Jane about a strange, supernatural experience he had during the previous night. Here, Jane reminds the reader that she also had a "mysterious summons" on that same night and in the same way. Jane recognizes this connection but decides not to share it with Mr. Rochester because he was already "too prone to gloom." The idea that Mr. Rochester and Jane are so connected that they actually sensed one another at the same time despite being so far apart is not only mysterious, but gothic in nature and romantic.

To this crib I always took my doll. Human beings must love something, and, in the dearth of worthier objects of affection, I contrived to find a pleasure in loving and cherishing a faded graven image, shabby as a miniature scare-crow...I could not sleep unless it was folded in my night-gown; and when it lay there safe and warm, I was comparatively happy, believing it happy likewise.

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte, Home Jane describes a childhood memory, revealing how she never had a sense of love or home as a child. She cherished a doll the way a child would care for a sibling or parent because she had no close, loving relationships in her life. Jane explains, "human beings must love something," and for lack of anything resembling family affection, Jane remembers how she relied on a doll for a sense of comfort at night. The doll, symbolizing home and the love that only home can provide, helped Jane through some of her darkest days.

During these eight years my life was uniform, but not unhappy, because it was not inactive...Miss Temple, through all changes, had thus far continued superintendent of the seminary; to her instruction I owed the best art of my acquirements; her friendship and society had been my continual solace; she had stood me in the stead of mother, governess, and latterly, companion...From the day she left I was no longer the same; with her was gone every settled feeling, every association that had made Lowood in some degree a home to me.

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte, Home Jane is reflecting on her eight years at Lowood and how moments of her experience at this school resembled a home. She specifically describes how Miss Temple's influence had the greatest effect, even comparing her to a mother. However, Jane also reveals that when Miss Temple left, so did any feeling of home she may have felt at Lowood. In this description, the reader can see that Jane still longs for a sense of home and family, but also recognizes that she will not find it at Lowood.

It seemed I had found a brother; one I could be proud of—one I could love; and two sisters, whose qualities were such, that when I knew them but as mere strangers, they had inspired me with genuine affection and admiration...This was wealth indeed!—wealth to the heart!—a mine of pure genial affections. This was a blessing, bright, vivid, and exhilarating!—not like the ponderous gift of gold—rich and welcome enough in its way but sobering from its weight.

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte, Home Jane relays the joy of finding a real home and family. In this quote, Jane enthusiastically tells the reader how she feels about the news that St. John, Diana, and Mary Rivers are her true blood relatives. Even though she also found out that she inherited a large amount of money, she is far more joyful about discovering a brother and sisters. When Jane describes this news as "wealth indeed," she restates her strong desire to have a family and a sense of home.

"He sees nothing attractive in me; not even youth—only a few useful mental points...Oh, you need not be jealous!...But if you wish me to love you, could you but see how much I do love you, you would be proud and content. All my heart is yours, sir; it belongs to you; and with you it would remain, were fate to exile the rest of me from your presence forever."

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte, Love Jane is speaking to Mr. Rochester as they discuss their relationship in the day following their long-awaited reunion. Jane starts by characterizing her relationship with St. John Rivers, identifying how St. John lacked a true love for Jane. Then, she clearly declares her love for Mr. Rochester. The contrast between Jane's relationships with St. John and Mr. Rochester highlights the theme of love present in this novel, especially as Jane chooses love in the end.

And if I had loved him less I should have thought his accent and look of exultation savage; but...I thought only of the bliss given me to drink in so abundant a flow. Again and again he said, "Are you happy, Jane?" And again and again I answered, "Yes." After which he murmured, "It will atone—it will atone. Have I not found her friendless, and cold, and comfortless? Will I not guard, and cherish, and solace her?...It will expiate at God's tribunal. I know my Maker sanctions what I do. For the world's judgment—I wash my hands thereof. For man's opinion—I defy it."

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte, Love Jane recalls her immediate blissful reaction to Mr. Rochester's declaration of love and proposal of marriage in Chapter 23. Mr. Rochester's exclamations reveal his devotion to and passion for Jane. Together, Jane and Mr. Rochester represent the theme of genuine love despite significant differences and the social judgment they will face.

There was no harassing restraint, no repressing of glee and vivacity, with him; for with him I was at perfect ease, because I knew I suited him; all I said or did seemed either to console or revive him. Delightful consciousness! It brought to life and light my whole nature; in his presence I thoroughly lived, and he lived in mine. Blind as he was, smiles played over his face, joy dawned on his forehead; his lineaments softened and warmed.

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte, Love Just after Jane and Mr. Rochester reunite after their long separation, Jane describes how she immediately feels at ease with him and how seamlessly they interact despite having been apart for so long. In this revelation that they can truly be themselves with one another, the couple exemplifies the novel's theme of true love. Jane has always longed for this type of love and acceptance, and finally, in this moment, she has it all.

I have not yet said anything condemnatory of Mr. Rochester's project of marrying for interest and connections. It surprised me when I first discovered that such was his intention; I had thought him a man unlikely to be influenced by motives so commonplace in his choice of a wife; but the longer I considered the position, education, . . . of the parties, the less I felt justified in judging and blaming either him or Miss Ingram, for acting in conformity to ideas and principles instilled into them, doubtless, from their childhood. All their class held these principles; I supposed, then, they had reasons for holding them such as I could not fathom.

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte, Social Class In Chapter 18, Jane considers the potential marriage between Mr. Rochester and Miss Ingram. Jane's thoughts reveal that she has difficulty coming to terms with this possible union. Not only has she fallen in love with Mr. Rochester, but also she believes he is not the type of person who would conform to social class expectations. Jane's thoughts also highlight how deeply rooted the strict Victorian England social class rules were, especially in "their class." She continues to contrast these social expectations with her strong belief in a love-filled marriage that transcends them.

"I have a Master to serve whose kingdom is not of this world; my mission is to mortify in these girls the lusts of the flesh; to teach them to clothe themselves with shame-facedness and sobriety—not with braided hair and costly apparel..." Mr. Brocklehurst was here interrupted: three other visitors, ladies, now entered the room. They ought to have come a little sooner, to have heard his lecture on dress, for they were splendidly attired in velvet, silk, and furs.

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte, Social Class In Chapter 7, Mr. Brocklehurst lectures Miss Temple and the students of Lowood on wearing their hair and clothes plainly. Jane identifies the contrast of what Mr. Brocklehurst teaches or demands of the girls at Lowood with how he and his family live. Mr. Brocklehurst's opinions show how his view varies between social classes. He can live extravagantly, but poor orphaned children must live strict, simple, and plain lives. Jane's reflection highlights this common contradiction between social classes.

I learned, for the first time, from Miss Abbot's communications to Bessie, that my father had been a poor clergyman; that my mother had married him against the wishes of her friends, who considered the match beneath her; that my grandfather Reed was so irritated at her disobedience, he cut her off without a shilling; that after my mother and father had been married a year, the latter caught the typhus fever...that my mother took the infection from him, and both died within a month of each other.

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte, Social Class Jane recalls the story she heard of her parents' marriage and death. Through this tragic story, Jane highlights the strict social class structure that stood in Victorian England during this time. Jane's parents clearly went against society's expectations by marrying from different social classes and as a result, they were disowned by family and friends. The combination of facts that Jane hears about her parents' scandalous marriage and untimely deaths hints that society may put the blame of their deaths on their poor choice to marry.

Ode on a Grecian Urn was written by which author?

Keats

Ode to a Nightingale was written by which author?

Keats

Amelia Edwards, "Was it an Illusion? A Parson's Story"

Mr. Frazer can also see more tangible ills: "The squire was a more confirmed absentee than even the vicar. He lived chiefly in Paris, spending abroad the wealth of his Pit End coal- fields. He happened to be at home just now, the landlord said, after five years' absence; but he would be off again next week, and another five years might probably elapse before they would again see him at Blackwater Chase." (289)

Christiana Rosetti, Goblin Market

Lashing their tails They trod and hustled her, Elbow'd and jostled her, Claw'd with their nails, Barking, mewing, hissing, mocking, Tore her gown and soil'd her stocking, Twitch'd her hair out by the roots, Stamp'd upon her tender feet, Held her hands and squeez'd their fruits Against her mouth to make her eat. (398-407)

A shudder in the loins engenders there The broken wall, the burning roof and tower And Agamemnon dead.

Leda and the Swan William butler yeats

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.

Leda and the Swan William butler yeats

How can those terrified vague fingers push The feathered glory from her loosening thighs? And how can body, laid in that white rush, But feel the strange heart beating where it lies?

Leda and the swan William butler yeats

Tennyson, "Ulysses"

Life piled on life Were all too little, and of one to me Little remains: but every hour is saved From that eternal silence, something more, A bringer of new things;

Victorian Era Rapid changes prompted a variety of responses:

Many Britons excited about the pace of progress - Others thought the pace of change was reshaping society too rapidly

Amelia Edwards, "Was it an Illusion? A Parson's Story"

Mr. Frazer can also see more tangible ills: "There was, it seemed, no resident parson at Pit End; the incumbent, being a pluralist with three small livings... Pit End, as the smallest and furthest off, came in for but one service each Sunday." (288-9)

Amelia Edwards, "Was it an Illusion? A Parson's Story"

Mr. Frazer can also see more tangible ills: Wolstenholme's collection of treasures represents a hoarding of the wealth generated through mining. (295)

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, "A Year's Spinning"

Modified ballad; instead of ABCB, it rhymes ABABB -5th line of every stanza forms a refrain which temporarily stops the reader's progress through the poem, we repeat the rhyme instead of moving forward into a new rhyming pair, the line begins to take on an ominous tone -speaker is always listening, she never speaks herself -Many of the harshest sounds are not represented: the exact words of the mother's curse; the "harder" word the speaker has "known"; the silence of the baby. -Many events are not stated directly: the seduction; the pregnancy itself; the speaker's abandonment; the birth of the child; the fact of the child's death.

Updating Gothic Fiction

More familiar locale, though still mysterious: • Extreme isolation • Weather contributes to mood: foggy, grey, raw • Post-industrial landscape: abandoned toll- houses, cottages, mines More prosaic protagonist: • Inspector of schools (e.g., bureaucrat) • Embodies the reformist urge of Victorian Britain: to ensure all children are properly educated

Christiana Rosetti, Goblin Market

Morning and evening Maids heard the goblins cry: "Come buy our orchard fruits, Come buy, come buy: Apples and quinces, Lemons and oranges, Plump unpeck'd cherries, Melons and raspberries, Bloom-down-cheek'd peaches, Swart-headed mulberries, Wild free-born cranberries, Crab-apples, dewberries, Pine-apples, blackberries, Apricots, strawberries;— (1-14)

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, "A Year's Spinning"

My mother cursed me that I heard A young man's wooing as I spun: Thanks, cruel mother, for that word— For I have, since, a harder known! And now my spinning is all done. I thought—O God!—my first-born's cry Both voices to mine ear would drown: I listened in mine agony— It was the silence made me groan! And now my spinning is all done.

Writers, Speakers, and Readers in Dramatic Monologues

Part 1: A writer creates a poem that features a speaker (Ulysses, Duke, etc.) Part 2: A reader reads the words of that speaker. -Because the speaker is often unreliable, we have to interpret their words and behavior in order to grasp the poem's meaning. The reader faces a complex world in which a writer creates a (often unreliable) speaker, who addresses an unspeaking listener.

written by Wordsworth as an explanation of how poetry should be and an explanation of who poets are and what they did and why

Preface

about revolutions not love; free in its subject matter, rhythm, and structure; originality rather than emulation; inspired by nature; letting emotions out that usually result from an experience; language of the common man; based on that idea that the natural world is a place of hidden secrets

Romanticism

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner was written by which author?

Samuel Coleridge

"At length did cross an Albatross, Thorough the fog it came; As if it had been a Christian soul, We hailed it in God's name. It ate the food it ne'er had eat, And round and round it flew. The ice did split with a thunder-fit; The helmsman steer'd us through! And a good south wind sprung up behind; The Albatross did follow, And every day, for food or play, Came to the Mariner's hollo! In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud, It perch'd for vespers nine; Whiles all the night, through fog- smoke white, Glimmered the white Moon-shine." "God save thee, ancient Mariner! From the fiends, that plague thee thus!— Why look'st thou so?"—"With my cross-bow I shot the Albatross."

Samuel Coleridge, Rime of the Ancient Mariner

A slumber did my spirit seal; I had no human fears: She seemed a thing that could not feel The touch of earthly years. "There was a ship," quoth he. "Hold off! Unhand me, grey-beard loon!" Eftsoons his hand dropt he.

Samuel Coleridge, Rime of the Ancient Mariner

And I had done an hellish thing, And it would work 'em woe: For all averred, I had killed the bird That made the breeze to blow. Ah wretch! said they, the bird to slay, That made the breeze to blow! Nor dim nor red, like God's own head, The glorious Sun uprist: Then all averred, I had killed the bird That brought the fog and mist. 'Twas right, said they, such birds to slay, That bring the fog and mist.

Samuel Coleridge, Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Her lips were red, her looks were free, Her locks were yellow as gold: Her skin was as white as leprosy, The Night-Mair Life-in-Death was she, Who thicks man's blood with cold. The naked hulk alongside came, And the twain were casting dice; "The game is done! I've won! I've won!" Quoth she, and whistles thrice.

Samuel Coleridge, Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Under the keel nine fathom deep, From the land of mist and snow, The spirit slid: and it was he That made the ship to go. The sails at noon left off their tune, And the ship stood still also. (377-382 "Is it he?" quoth one, "Is this the man? By him who died on cross, With his cruel bow he laid full low The harmless Albatross. The spirit who bideth by himself In the land of mist and snow, He loved the bird that loved the man Who shot him with his bow." The other was a softer voice, As soft as honey-dew: Quoth he, "The man hath penance done, And penance more will do."

Samuel Coleridge, Rime of the Ancient Mariner

With throats unslack'd, with black lips baked, We could nor laugh nor wail; Through utter drought all dumb we stood! I bit my arm, I sucked the blood, And cried, A sail! a sail! (157-165) O Happy living things! No tongue Their beauty might declare A spring of love gushed from my heart And I blessed them unaware: Sure my kind saint took pity on me, And I blessed them unaware.

Samuel Coleridge, Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Christiana Rosetti, Goblin Market

She cried, "Laura," up the garden, "Did you miss me? Come and kiss me. Never mind my bruises, Hug me, kiss me, suck my juices Squeez'd from goblin fruits for you, Goblin pulp and goblin dew. Eat me, drink me, love me; Laura, make much of me; For your sake I have braved the glen And had to do with goblin merchant men." (464-474)

Robert Browning, "My Last Duchess"

She had A heart—how shall I say?—too soon made glad, Too easily impressed; she liked whate'er She looked on, and her looks went everywhere. Sir, 'twas all one! My favour at her breast, The dropping of the daylight in the West, The bough of cherries some officious fool Broke in the orchard for her, the white mule She rode with round the terrace—all and each Would draw from her alike the approving speech, Or blush, at least... (21-31)

Robert Browning, "My Last Duchess"

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 had you skill In speech—(which I have not)—to make your will Quite clear to such an one, and say, "Just this Or that in you disgusts me; and here you miss, Or there exceed the mark"—and if she let Herself be lessoned so, nor plainly set Her wits to yours, forsooth, and made excuse, —E'en then would be some stooping; and I choose Never to stoop. (31-43)

England in 1819 was written by which author?

Shelley

Ode to The West Wind was written by which author?

Shelley

Robert Browning, "My Last Duchess"

Sir, 'twas not Her husband's presence only, called that spot Of joy into the Duchess' cheek: perhaps Frà Pandolf chanced to say "Her mantle laps Over my lady's wrist too much," or "Paint Must never hope to reproduce the faint Half-flush that dies along her throat"... (13-19)

raises questions about the world. 2 contrary states of the human soul differences between the perspective of child and adult. critique of social political religious hypocrisy.

Songs of experience

.........wherefore plough, for the lords who lay ye low wherefore weave with toil and care the rich robes your tyrants wear wherefore food and clothe and save wherefore bees of england force have ye leisure comfort calm the see ye sow another reaps shrink to your cellars, holes and cells, with plough and space and hoe and horn

Songs to the men of england, shelley

Matthew Arnold, "Dover Beach"

Sophocles long ago Heard it on the Aegean, and it brought Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow Of human misery; we Find also in the sound ... The Sea of Faith Was once, too, at the full, and round earth's shore Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled But now I only hear Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar, Retreating, to the breath Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear And naked shingles of the world. (21-28)

Christiana Rosetti, Goblin Market

Sweeter than honey from the rock, Stronger than man-rejoicing wine, Clearer than water flow'd that juice; She never tasted such before, How should it cloy with length of use? She suck'd and suck'd and suck'd the more Fruits which that unknown orchard bore; She suck'd until her lips were sore; Then flung the emptied rinds away But gather'd up one kernel stone, And knew not was it night or day As she turn'd home alone. (129-140)

Let us go then, you and I, When the evening is spread out against the sky Like a patient etherized upon a table; Let us go through certain half deserted streets the muttering retreats of restless nights in one night cheap hotels and sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells streets that follow like a tedious argument of insidious interest

T.S. Eliot, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

Robert Browning, "My Last Duchess"

That's my last Duchess painted on the wall, Looking as if she were alive. I call That piece a wonder, now: Frà Pandolf's hands Worked busily a day, and there she stands. Will't please you sit and look at her? (1-5)

Gave thee life and gave thee feed by the stream and our the mead, gave thee clothing of delight, softest clothing wooly bright, gave thee such a tender voice, making all the vales rejoice, little lamb who made thee, does thou know who made thee.

The Lamb, Songs of Innocence, William Blake

And so he was quiet, & that very night, as tom was sleepingg he had such a sight that thousands of sweepers, dick, joe, ned and jack were all of them locked up in coffins of black and by came and angel who had a bright key then down a green plain leaping laughing they run and wash in a river and shine in the sun. then naked and white all their bags left behind they rise upon clouds and sport in the wind.

The chimney sweeper, innocence, william blake

When my mother died I was very young, And my father sold me while yet my tongue Could scarcely cry " 'weep! 'weep! 'weep! 'weep!" So your chimneys I sweep & in soot I sleep. There little tom dare who cried when his head that curl'd like a lambs back was shaved hush tom never mind it for when your heads bare you know that the soon cannot spoil your white hair

The chimney sweeper, innocence, william blake

The Sun does arise and make happy the skies the merry bells ring, to welcome the spring, the birds of the brush, sing louder around, to the bells cheerful sound, while our sports shall be seen on the echoing green, old John with the white hair, does laugh away care, sitting under the oak among the old folk does laugh away care, such such were the joys in our youth-time were seen

The echoing green, Songs of Innocence, William Blake

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree, And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made: Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee; And live alone in the bee-loud glade. And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow, Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings; There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow, And evening full of the linnet's wings. I will arise and go now, for always night and day I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore; While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey, I hear it in the deep heart's core.

The lake isle of innisfree William Butler Yeats

Matthew Arnold, "Dover Beach"

The sea is calm to-night. The tide is full, the moon lies fair Upon the straits; on the French coast the light Gleams and is gone; the cliffs fo England stand; Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay, Come to the window, sweet is the night-air! (1-6) Only, from the long line of spray Where the sea meets the moon-blanched land, Listen! you hear the grating roar Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling, At their return, up the high strand, Begin, and cease, and then again begin, With tremulous cadence slow, and bring The eternal note of sadness in (7-14)

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 out of Spiritus Mundi Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert A shape with lion body and the head of a man, A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun, Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds. 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 towards Bethlehem to be born?

The second coming William Butler Yeats

Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.

The second coming William Butler Yeats

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, "A Year's Spinning"

The young woman now appears to have died—quite likely from V her own hand. These stanzas are written as commands: "Bury me" and "Sweet neighbours, whisper low". In death, the speaker seems to have gained the agency she did not have in life. Note, however, that she asks that "no name [be] written on the stone" of her grave; her name and identity are thereby erased.

The Bishop tells us: 'When the boys come back 'They will not be the same; for they'll have fought 'In a just cause: they lead the last attack 'On Anti-Christ; their comrades' blood has bought 'New right to breed an honourable race, 'They have challenged Death and dared him face to face.' 'We're none of us the same!' the boys reply. 'For George lost both his legs; and Bill's stone blind; 'Poor Jim's shot through the lungs and like to die; 'And Bert's gone syphilitic: you'll not find 'A chap who's served that hasn't found some change. ' And the Bishop said: 'The ways of God are strange!'

They Siegfried Sassoon

Tennyson, "Ulysses"

This is my son, mine own Telemachus, To whom I leave the sceptre and the isle— Well-loved of me, discerning to fulfill This labour, by slow prudence to make mild A rugged people, and thro' soft degrees Subdue them to the useful and the good. Most blameless is he, centred in the sphere Of common duties, decent not to fail In offices of tenderness, and pay Meet adoration to my household gods, When I am gone. He works his work, I mine.

I could not help it; the restlessness was in my nature; it agitated me to pain sometimes. Then my sole relief was to walk along the corridor of the third story, backwards and forwards, safe in the silence and solitude of the spot, and allow my mind's eye to dwell on whatever bright visions rose before it—and, certainly, they were many and glowing; to let my heart be heaved by the exultant movement . . . and, best of all, to open my inward ear to a tale that was never ended—a tale my imagination created, and narrated continuously; quickened with all of incident, life, fire, feeling, that I desired and had not in my actual existence. It is in vain to say human beings ought to be satisfied with tranquility: they must have action; and they will make it if they cannot find it. Millions are condemned to a stiller doom than mine, and millions are in silent revolt against their lot. Nobody knows how many rebellions besides political rebellions ferment in the masses of life which people earth. Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex.

This passage appears in Chapter 12, in the midst of Jane's description of her first few weeks at Thornfield. The diction highlights Jane's feelings of imprisonment (she paces the corridors like a creature caged), and her longings for freedom and equality. Jane's words are also relevant to Brontë's own experience as a writer, and to the general condition of Victorian women. The images of restlessness and pacing, of feeling "stagnation" and "too rigid a restraint," are examples of the book's central theme of imprisonment. In addition to instances of physical imprisonment, Jane must also escape the fetters of misguided religion (represented by Brocklehurst), of passion without principle (represented at first by Rochester), and of principle without passion (represented by St. John Rivers)—not to mention those of society. Brocklehurst, Rochester, and St. John may also threaten Jane with the fetters of patriarchy, which is the specific force Jane resists in this passage. Jane extends her feeling of entrapment to her fellow women, and these sentences constitute Brontë's feminist manifesto. As she describes the "doom" to which "millions are in silent revolt against their lot" "are condemned," Brontë criticizes what she believed to be stifling Victorian conceptions of proper gender roles. The passage explicitly states that the Victorian wife suffers from being metaphorically "locked up." Bertha Mason, who is eventually rendered nearly inhuman when her neglected, suppressed feelings turn to madness and fury, may be viewed as a symbol of the imprisoned female's condition. The passage suggests that Brontë's writing may have been her means of coping with such rage. Jane describes her retreat into her own mind, to find freedom in her imagination. While Brontë's greatest triumphs were the result of such self-retreat, her heroine's achievement is the balance she strikes between her need for autonomy and her desire to be an active member of society.

Christiana Rosetti, Goblin Market

Though the goblins cuff'd and caught her, Coax'd and fought her, Bullied and besought her, Scratch'd her, pinch'd her black as ink, Kick'd and knock'd her, Maul'd and mock'd her, Lizzie utter'd not a word; Would not open lip from lip Lest they should cram a mouthful in: But laugh'd in heart to feel the drip Of juice that syrupp'd all her face, And lodg'd in dimples of her chin, And streak'd her neck which quaked like curd. (424-436)

"Shall I?" I said briefly; and I looked at his features, beautiful in their harmony, but strangely formidable in their still severity; at his brow, commanding, but not open; at his eyes, bright and deep and searching, but never soft; at his tall imposing figure; and fancied myself in idea his wife. Oh! it would never do! As his curate, his comrade, all would be right: I would cross oceans with him in that capacity; toil under Eastern suns, in Asian deserts with him in that office; admire and emulate his courage and devotion and vigour: accommodate quietly to his masterhood; smile undisturbed at his ineradicable ambition. . . . I should suffer often, no doubt, attached to him only in this capacity: my body would be under a rather stringent yoke, but my heart and mind would be free. I should still have my unblighted self to turn to: my natural unenslaved feelings with which to communicate in moments of loneliness. There would be recesses in my mind which would be only mine, to which he never came; and sentiments growing there, fresh and sheltered, which his austerity could never blight, nor his measured warrior-march trample down: but as his wife—at his side always, and always restrained, and always checked—forced to keep the fire of my nature continually low, to compel it to burn inwardly and never utter a cry, though the imprisoned flame consumed vital after vital—this would be unendurable.

This passage occurs in Chapter 34. St. John Rivers has just asked Jane to join him as his wife on his missionary trip to India. Jane dramatizes the interior conflict involved in making her decision. In many ways, the proposal tempts her. It is an opportunity to perform good works and to be more than a governess, schoolteacher, or housewife—the roles traditionally open to women. Jane's teaching jobs at Lowood, Thornfield, and Morton have all made her feel trapped, and she would not mind enduring hardships for a cause in which she truly believes. Yet, St. John's principles—"ambition," "austerity," and arrogance—are not those that Jane upholds. Misguided religion threatens to oppress Jane throughout the book, and St. John merely embodies one form of it. He also embodies masculine dominance, another force that threatens Jane like a "stringent yoke" over the course of the novel. Thus she describes St. John's "warrior-march" and notes his assertion of his "masterhood." Jane must escape such control in order to remain true to herself, for she realizes that her conventional manner of dealing with oppression—by retreating into herself, into the recesses of her imagination, into conversation with herself—cannot constitute a way of life. In her rejection of Rochester, Jane privileged principle over feeling; she is now aware of the negative effects such emotional repression can have. Feeling, too, must play a role in one's life: a balance must be struck.

I am glad you are no relation of mine. I will never call you aunt again as long as I live. I will never come to visit you when I am grown up; and if any one asks me how I liked you, and how you treated me, I will say the very thought of you makes me sick, and that you treated me with miserable cruelty. . . . You think I have no feelings, and that I can do without one bit of love or kindness; but I cannot live so: and you have no pity. I shall remember how you thrust me back . . . into the red-room. . . . And that punishment you made me suffer because your wicked boy struck me—knocked me down for nothing. I will tell anybody who asks me questions this exact tale. 'Ere I had finished this reply, my soul began to expand, to exult, with the strangest sense of freedom, of triumph, I ever felt. It seemed as if an invisible bond had burst, and that I had struggled out into unhoped-for liberty. . . .

This quotation, part of Jane's outburst to her aunt just prior to her departure from Gateshead for Lowood School, appears in Chapter 4. In the passage, Jane solidifies her own orphanhood, severing her ties to the little semblance of family that remained to her ("I will never call you aunt again as long as I live," she tells Mrs. Reed). Jane asserts her fiery spirit in her tirade, and she displays a keen sense of justice and a recognition of her need for love. Along with familial liberation, the passage marks Jane's emotional liberation. Jane's imprisonment in the red-room has its psychological counterpart in her emotional suppression, and it is not until she speaks these words to Mrs. Reed that she feels her "soul begin to expand." Lastly, the passage highlights the importance of storytelling as revenge and also as a means of empowerment. Jane declares that she will "tell anybody who asks me questions this exact tale"—via authorship, Jane asserts her authority over and against her tyrannical aunt.

I have now been married ten years. I know what it is to live entirely for and with what I love best on earth. I hold myself supremely blest—blest beyond what language can express; because I am my husband's life as fully as he is mine. No woman was ever nearer to her mate than I am: ever more absolutely bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh. I know no weariness of my Edward's society: he knows none of mine, any more than we each do of the pulsation of the heart that beats in our separate bosoms; consequently, we are ever together. To be together is for us to be at once as free as in solitude, as gay as in company. We talk, I believe, all day long: to talk to each other is but a more animated and an audible thinking. All my confidence is bestowed on him, all his confidence is devoted to me; we are precisely suited in character—perfect concord is the result.

This, one of the final passages of Jane Eyre, summarizes the novel's "happy ending." Its implications have generated much debate over the way Brontë chose to conclude her book. Some critics view Jane as having sacrificed her autonomy—no longer her own person, she and Rochester have merged, sharing one heart, each possessing the "bone" and "flesh" of the other. One might also argue that Jane relinquishes her powers of thought and expression—two characteristics that have defined her for most of the novel. Suddenly, the otherwise imaginative Jane equates her "thinking" to her conversations with Rochester—she even finds the conversations "more animated." Similarly, although ten years have elapsed since the wedding, the otherwise eloquent Jane suddenly claims that she is unable to find any "language" to "express" her experiences during this period. Other critics interpret this passage in a more positive manner. It can be read as Jane's affirmation of the equality between her and Rochester, as testimony that she has not "given up" anything. The passage is followed in the novel by a report on St. John Rivers. Jane writes: "his is the spirit of the warrior Greatheart . . . his is the ambition of the high master-spirit. . . ." (Greatheart serves as guide to the pilgrims in Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress.) Emphasizing St. John's desires for "mastery" and his "warrior" characteristics, Jane describes a controlling patriarch. While Rochester may have been such a figure at the beginning of the novel, his character has changed by its conclusion. He has lost his house, his hand, and his eyesight to a fire, and the revelation of his youthful debaucheries has shown him to be Jane's moral inferior. Rochester can no longer presume to be Jane's "master" in any sense. Moreover, Jane has come to Rochester this second time in economic independence and by free choice; at Moor House she found a network of love and support, and she does not depend solely on Rochester for emotional nurturance. Optimistic critics point to Jane's description of St. John as her reminder that the marriage she rejected would have offered her a much more stifling life. By entering into marriage, Jane does enter into a sort of "bond"; yet in many ways this "bond" is the "escape" that she has sought all along. Perhaps Brontë meant Jane's closing words to celebrate her attainment of freedom; it is also possible that Brontë meant us to bemoan the tragic paradox of Jane's situation.

no back talk about government and was established during the French revolution in Britain

Treasonable Practices Act

Clairvoyance in Amelia Edwards', "Was it an Illusion? A Parson's Story"

Unlike Hector, narrator can see too much: • sees the schoolmaster limping along the road • sees (twice) what will turn out to be the murdered boy • sees shadows flitting around the school

Amelia Edwards, "Was it an Illusion? A Parson's Story"

What had become of him? And what lad was that going up the path by which I had just come—that tall lad, half- running, half-walking, with a fishing-rod over his shoulder? I could have taken my oath that I had neither met nor passed him. Where then had he come from? And where was the man to whom I had spoken not three second ago, and who, at his limping pace, could not have made more than a couple of yards in the time? [...] Was I dreaming? (288)

Christiana Rosetti, Goblin Market

White and golden Lizzie stood, Like a lily in a flood,— Like a rock of blue-vein'd stone Lash'd by tides obstreperously,— Like a beacon left alone In a hoary roaring sea, Sending up a golden fire,— Like a fruit-crown'd orange-tree White with blossoms honey-sweet Sore beset by wasp and bee,— Like a royal virgin town Topp'd with gilded dome and spire Close beleaguer'd by a fleet Mad to tug her standard down. (408-421)

Genre Fiction

Wide range of literary traditions which follow particular patterns and meet certain reader expectations (i.e. detective, science, fantasy, romance, and horror)

detective fiction

Widespread readership was due to popular content (fiction, general interest stories, and puzzles) and growing literacy. Framework of this genre consist of mysterious crime(s), clues offering partial understanding, procession of investigation materials, climactic scene of resolution

Robert Browning, "My Last Duchess"

Will 't please you sit and look at her? I said 'Frà Pandolf' by design, for never read Strangers like you that pictured countenance, The depth and passion of its earnest glance, But to myself they turned (since none puts by The curtain I have drawn for you, but I) And seemed as they would ask me, if they durst, How such a glance came there; so, not the first Are you to turn and ask thus. (lines 5-13)

Songs of innocence and of Experience was written by which author?

William Blake

The Chimney Sweeper was written by which author?

William Blake

The Lamb was written by which author?

William Blake

The Tyger was written by which author?

William Blake

this author was often neglected in early studies of the romantic era; not influential enough; recognized after death; interested in personal liberty; inspired by the natural world; skeptical of organized religion but very religious

William Blake

Which two authors published their 1st works in the 1780's?

William Blake and Robbin Burns

"Preface" to lyrical ballads was written by which author?

William Wordsworth

Tintern Abbey was written by which author?

William Wordsworth

Preface to Lyrical Ballads

William Wordsworth- majority of poems are experiments to determine how well the language of middle and lower class has adopted to the purposes of poetic pleasure. the nature of poetry. denies the traditional assumption that poetic genres constitute a hierarchy. disagrees that language is levanted over everyday speech

which poet focuses on what our brains do when we are exposed to certain stimuli; what our emotions do; and how do we react do poetry?

Wordsworth

Lines above Tintern

Wordsworth most famous piece aside from lyrical ballads speaking to dorothy as they walk along river. hasn't changed but lost visionary gleam has been abundantly comensated with philosophical mind

And I have felt A presence that disturbs me with the joy Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime Of something far more deeply interfused, Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns, And the round ocean and the living air, And the blue sky, and in the mind of man; A motion and a spirit, that impels All thinking things, all objects of all thought, And rolls through all things. (94-103)

Wordsworth, Lines written a few miles above Tintern abbey

Five years have past; five summers, with the length Of five long winters! and again I hear These waters, rolling from their mountain-springs With a soft inland murmur.—Once again Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs, That on a wild secluded scene impress Thoughts of more deep seclusion; and connect The landscape with the quiet of the sky. (1-8)

Wordsworth, Lines written a few miles above Tintern abbey

That time is past, And all its aching joys are no more, And all its dizzy raptures. (84-86) For I have learned To look on nature, not as in the hour Of thoughtless youth, but hearing oftentimes The still, sad music of humanity. (89-92)

Wordsworth, Lines written a few miles above Tintern abbey

Though absent long, These forms of beauty have not been to me, As is a landscape to a blind man's eye: But oft, in lonely rooms, and mid the din Of towns and cities, I have owed to them, In hours of weariness, sensations sweet, Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart, And passing even into my purer mind With tranquil restoration:—feelings too Of unremembered pleasure [...] (24-33)

Wordsworth, Lines written a few miles above Tintern abbey

To them I may have owed another gift, Of aspect more sublime; that blessed mood, In which the burthen of the mystery, In which the heavy and the weary weight Of all this unintelligible world Is lighten'd:—that serene and blessed mood, In which the affections gently lead us on, Until, the breath of this corporeal frame, And even the motion of our human blood Almost suspended, we are laid asleep In body, and become a living soul: While with an eye made quiet by the power Of harmony, and the deep power of joy, We see into the life of things. (38-51)

Wordsworth, Lines written a few miles above Tintern abbey

when like a roe I bounded o'er the mountains, by the sides Of the deep rivers, and the lonely streams, Wherever nature led; more like a man Flying from something that he dreads, than one Who sought the thing he loved. (68-73)

Wordsworth, Lines written a few miles above Tintern abbey

ROMANTICISM: POETIC CONCERNS

Workings of human mind and memory • Wordsworth, "Tintern Abbey," "Preface" • Coleridge, "Rime" • Keats, "Nightingale," "Grecian Urn" odes Altered states of mind/the supernatural • Wordsworth, "Tintern Abbey" • Coleridge, "Rime" • Keats, odes Unconventional spiritual beliefs: nonconformism, pantheism • Blake's religious vision • Coleridge/Wordsworth's pantheism Public role for the poet • Blake: "Hear the voice of the bard!" etc. • Wordsworth: Poet is "a man, speaking to men" • Keats: Poet as immortal voice

Christiana Rosetti, Goblin Market

Would tell them how her sister stood In deadly peril to do her good, And win the fiery antidote: Then joining hands to little hands Would bid them cling together, "For there is no friend like a sister In calm or stormy weather; To cheer one on the tedious way, To fetch one if one goes astray, To lift one if one totters down, To strengthen whilst one stands." (557-567)

Allusion

a reference, often indirect or unidentified, to a person, thing, or event; a reference in one literary work to another literary work, whether its content or its form

a story in which two or more levels of meaning exist; a literal, surface meaning and another "under the surface" meaning; open to multiple interpretations and sometimes related to a parable

allegory

Petrarchan Sonnet

a sonnet consisting of an octave with the rhyme pattern abbaabba, followed by a sestet with the rhyme pattern cdecde or cdcdcd

Samuel Coleridge

addicted to opium suernaturalism real people real reactions

Summary few miles above intern abbey then theme

been away from nature so long, it gives him peace and tranquility abbey-links god and nature simple language that the memory of pure communion with nature in childhood works upon the mind even in adulthood, when access to that pure communion has been lost, and that the maturity of mind present in adulthood offers compensation for the loss of that communion—specifically, the ability to "look on nature" and hear "human music"; that is, to see nature with an eye toward its relationship to human life. In his youth, the poet says, he was thoughtless in his unity with the woods and the river; now, five years since his last viewing of the scene, he is no longer thoughtless, but acutely aware of everything the scene has to offer him.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

captures this spirit of detection and discovery through Holmes Demonstrates a way of approaching the world that presupposes that truth is hidden and must be sought out, as if below the surface of things.

Penny Dreadful

cheap popular serial literature produced during the nineteenth century in the UK

What poem is tom dacre in

chimney sweeper

urbanization

continued to draw Britain away from its agricultural roots, yielded disenchantment and alienation - not knowing your community

Roylott in "The Adventure of the Speckled Band"

domineering masculine figure attempting to control Helen Stoner: • Prevents her from marrying • Bed fastened to the floor • Kills her for inheritance reason intrudes on Gothic world of old England; science offers solution to psychic disturbances of the Gothic

a verbal description of, or meditation upon, a non-verbal work of art, real or imagined, usually a painting of sculpture

ekphrasis

Everyone suddenly burst out singing; And I was filled with such delight As prisoned birds must find in freedom, Winging wildly across the white Orchards and dark-green fields; on - on - and out of sight.

everyone sang siegfriend saison

new understanding during Victorian Era

geology : Earth's age pushed back billions of years astronomy : new understanding of the vastness of the universe evolution : Darwin and others placed humans on a continuum of evolution encompassing all living beings together these discoveries made human life seem smaller and less significant; these discoveries also challenged many long-held biblical ideas

Preface to Lyrical Ballads Summary and Themes

his theory of poetry He argues that literary tricks and devices such as personification make it difficult for writers and readers to speak simply and directly about their feelings. He hopes to combat this with his work. Wordsworth outlines three principles guiding the composition of such lyrical ballads. First, the poetry must concern itself primarily with nature and life in the country. Wordsworth's second reason for writing lyrical ballads is that they emphasize the status of poetry as a form of art. He intends to enlighten his readers as to the true depths of human emotion and experience. Wordsworth argues that good poetry doesn't have to be overly complicated or ornamental in order to capture the reader's imagination. Clean, simple lines are best, in his opinion.

a poem written from the point of view of a speaker and which explores emotional, psychological, or philosophical ideas

lyric

William Blake

metal relief etching with watercolor. loved christianity but not like the church

a lyric poem in an elevated style on a serious subject; often celebrating a special event or extolling the qualities of some person, deity, or abstract entity

ode

"Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter therefore ye soft pipes play on not to the sensual ear, but more endeared pipe the spirit ditties of no tone, fair youth beneath the trees thou canst not leave Bold lover

ode to the grecian urn, john keats

Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed Your leaves, nor ever bid the Spring adieu; And, happy melodist, unwearied, For ever piping songs for ever new; More happy love! more happy, happy love! For ever warm and still to be enjoy'd, For ever panting, and for ever young; All breathing human passion far above, That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloy'd, A burning forehead, and a parching tongue.

ode to the grecian urn, john keats

O Attic shape! Fair attitude! with brede Of marble men and maidens overwrought, With forest branches and the trodden weed; Thou, silent form, dost tease us out of thought As doth eternity: Cold Pastoral! When old age shall this generation waste, Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say'st, "Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."

ode to the grecian urn, john keats

Thou still unravish'd bride of quietness, Thou foster-child of silence and slow time, Sylvan historian, who canst thus express A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme: What leaf-fring'd legend haunts about thy shape Of deities or mortals, or of both, In Tempe or the dales of Arcady? What men or gods are these? What maidens loth? What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape? What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?

ode to the grecian urn, john keats

Who are these coming to the sacrifice? To what green altar, O mysterious priest, Lead'st thou that heifer lowing at the skies, And all her silken flanks with garlands drest? What little town by river or sea shore, Or mountain-built with peaceful citadel, Is emptied of this folk, this pious morn? And, little town, thy streets for evermore Will silent be; and not a soul to tell Why thou art desolate, can e'er return.

ode to the grecian urn, john keats

the belief that nature is infused with divinity or that nature is identical with the divine; diffusion of God everywhere and that everything has a godlike energy

pantheism

a way of acting particular to the wealthy; good manners designed to minimize the discomfort of others; acting well to avoid offense

propriety

gothic fiction

refers to fiction that aims to both please and terrify the reader through a set of spine-tingling conventions: • Mysterious locations/ events • Heroine in dire straits • Extremes states: madness, violence, suffering • Female sexuality often controlled/imperiled (shown in "Adventure of the Speckled Band)

Percy Shelly

regarded as finest lyric poets. radical in poetry, political and social views

William Wordsworth

romantic poet whose poems contrasted the beauty of nature with urban corruption. denounced materialism

offering revelations about the world; state if naivety and ignorance but being happy with ignorance

songs of innocence

a lyric poem consisting of fourteen lines, usually in iambic pentameter, with a varying rhyme scheme

sonnet

refers to any experience that is awe-inspiring and terrifying in equal measure; corresponds to that which exceeds or lies beyond our human capacity for understanding; stems from our experiences of something vaster or more powerful than ourselves

sublime

Rime of the Ancient Mariner

symbol vs allegory ballad be nice to animals

Gothic

term used to describe the work with sinister or grotesque tone that seeks to evoke a sense of terror on the part of the reader or audience; originated as a genre in the eighteenth century; aims both to please and terrify the reader through spine-tingling conventions; supernatural themes and conventions

dramatic monologue

to reveal the speaker's character and temperament; often generate their tension through the slow revelation of hidden or suppressed aspects of the speaker

Ghost Stories

traditionally been used to regulate behavior in children (ex: El Cucuoy)

victorian anxieties

victorian era marked by great material progress, but some thought this came at the cost of human happiness (urbanization)

Amelia Edwards, "Was it an Illusion? A Parson's Story"

• Began career as a musician • Began writing fiction in 1853; first novel 1864 • Visits Egypt in 1873 • Becomes preeminent Egyptologist of 19th C • A Thousand Miles up the Nile (1876)

Late Victorian Skepticism

• Darwin (c.1859): human beings are not divinely created, but rather descended from, and are related to, other forms of animal life • Marx (mid-1800s): Capitalism is not a system for the benefit of all individuals, but one designed to take the labor of most for the profit of a few • Nietzsche (late 1800s): God is dead; moral conventions therefore demand re-appraisal • Freud (c.1900): our unconscious urges and impulses drive much of our behavior

Amelia Edwards, "Was it an Illusion?"

• First published 1881 in Arrowsmith's Christmas Annual • "Annuals" were another mode of circulating literature: ornate miscellanies, often given as gifts between women

Victorian Era print technologies

• New printing presses • Better and cheaper paper • New laws expanding education which led to: Vast new readerships for poets and novelists.

Amelia Edwards, "Was it an Illusion? A Parson's Story: Social Message

• Old systems of order (church, industry, teachers) have failed • New system of order (robust, socially engaged bureaucracy) will replace it • Genre's conventions leave their marks on the story: a clairvoyant bureaucrat! A grisly murder!

Sherlock Holmes in "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" brings science to the heart of Anglo-Saxon England

• Roylott family is "one of the oldest Anglo-Saxon families in England" (970) • The home at Stoke Moran is derelict and creepy: "lichen-blotched stone," wings like "the claws of a crab," unkempt lawn (977) • Bed is clamped to the floor (980)

Tennyson, "Ulysses" who was ulysses

• a.k.a. Odysseus; hero of the Odyssey • Greek general in the battle of Troy • Known as "wily Odysseus" for his cunning; planned the Trojan Horse plot • Spends 10 years fighting Troy (the Iliad), and 10 years journeying home to Ithaca (the Odyssey)