Victorian Lit Midterm
"Among other public building in the town of Mudfog, it boasts of one which is common to most towns great or small, to wit, a workhouse; an in this workhouse there was born on a day and date which I need not trouble myself to repeat, inasmuch as it can be of no possible consequence to the reader, in this stage of the business at all events, the item of mortality whose name is prefixed to the head of this chapter. For a long time after, he was ushered into this world of sorrow and trouble, by the parish surgeon, it remained a matter of considerable double whether the child would survive to bear any name at all; in which case it is somewhat more than probably that these memoirs would never have appeared, or, if they had, being comprised within a couple of pages, they would have possessed the inestimable merit of being the most concise and faithful specimen of biography extant in the literature of any age or country."
Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist, Chapter I Dickens is interested in child mortality rates Historical reality of soaring infant mortality rates The death of children is very sentimental This fascination with young child deaths derives from 18th century sentimentality Sentimentality should never be taken for sensibility
"For a week after the commission of the impious and profane offence of asking for more, Oliver remained a close prisoner in the dark and solitary room to which he had been consigned by the wisdom and mercy of the board. It appears, at first sight, not unreasonable to suppose, that, if he had entertained becoming feeling of respect for the prediction of the gentleman in the white waistcoat, he would have established that sage individual's prophetic character, once and forever, by trying one end of his pocket and handkerchief to a hook in the wall, and attaching himself to the other. To the performance of this feat, however, there was one obstacle, namely, that pocket handkerchiefs being decided articles of luxury, had been, for all future times and ages, removed from the noses of paupers by the express order of the board in council assembled, solemnly given and pronounced under their hands and seals."
Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist, Chapter III
"Who can describe the pleasure and delight, the peace of mind and soft tranquility, which the sickly boy felt in the balmy air, and among the green hills and rich woods of an inland village! Who can tell how scenes of peace and quietude sink into the minds of pain-worn dwellers in close and noisy places, and carry their own freshness deep into their jaded heras? Men who have lived in crowded pent-up streets, through whole lives of toil, and never wished for change; men to whom custom has indeed been second nature, and who have come almost to love each brick and stone that formed the narrow boundaries of their daily walks—even they with the hand of death upon them, have been known to yearn at least for one short glimpse of Nature's face, and carried far from the scenes of their old pains and pleasures, have seemed to pass at once into a new state of being, and crawling forth from day to day to some green sunny spot, have had such memories wakened up within them by the mere sight of sky, and hill, and plain, and glistening water, that foretaste of Heaven itself has soothed their quick decline, and they have sunk into their tombs as peacefully as the sun, whose setting they watched from their lonely chamber window but a few hours before, faded from their dim and feeble sight!"
Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist, Chapter IX How is Dickens now describing the countryside? What is the humans relationship to the countryside? Death seems even worse when it's in the sun Pathetic Fallacy When the weather reflects the mood Even the landscape can't reflect any loss of innocence The sunniness augments the sense of sadness The human subject is completely divorced from the landscape It's a deeply not religious and not providential view of the world There is an utter indifference of nature to human suffering
"'Hullo! My covey, what's the row?' The boy who addressed this inquiry to the young wayfarer was about his own age, but one of the queerest-looking boys that Oliver had even seen. He was a snub-nosed, flat-browed, common-faced boy enough, and as dirty a juvenile as one would wish to see; but he had got about him all the airs and manners of a man. He was short of his age, with rather boy-legs, and little sharp ugly eyes. His hat was stuck on the top of his head so slightly that it threatened to fall of every moment, and would have done so very often if the wearer had not had a knack of every now and then giving his head a sudden twitch, which reached nearly to his heels. He had turned the cuffs back halfway up his arm to get his hands out of the sleeves, apparently with the ultimate view of thrusting them into the pockets of his corduroy trousers, for there he kept them. He was altogether as roystering and swaggering a young gentleman as ever stood three feet six, or something less, in his bluchers. 'Hullo, my covey, what's the row?' said this strange young gentleman to Oliver."
Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist, Chapter VIII Fantasizing the idea of narrating time disrupting narrating time It emphasized Oliver's thoughts "Hello my covey, what's the row?" There is a pause in how we understand the world in the break between these two phrases This phrase marks a new environment This phrase is the first time anyone has asked Oliver if he's okay Why is this phrase presented in a language that we have to translate? Kindness is difficult to recognize Rejection of high society The first time someone asks him if he's ok is from a criminal in a criminal language Seduction from the criminal underworld It's not all good or all bad The French novel criticizes the British novel for being unable to understand nuance There is a kindness in the criminal world that accounts for more of a nuanced interpretation There is a fantasy in the way narrating time can interfere with the actual narration of time
"'Because, my pretty cross-examiner,' replied the doctor, 'because, viewed with their eyes,there are so many guly points about it; he can only prove the parts that look bad, and none of those that look well. Confound the fellows, they will have the why and the wherefore, and take nothing for granted. On his own showing, you see, he has been the companion of thieves for some time past; he has been carried to a police-office on a charge of picking a gentleman's house to a place which he cannot remotest idea. He is brought down to Chertsey by men who seem to have taken a violent fancy to him, whether he will or no, and put through a window to rob a house, and then, just at that very moment, would set him all to rights, there rushes into the way that blundering dog of a half-bred butler and shoots him, as if on purpose to prevent his doing any good for himself. Don't you see all this?"
Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist, Chapter VIII The law misses something The law will only believe the bad evidence because there is no evidence for the good A jury is going to believe the facts and not heresay of what the witness says The way the novel is representing the operation of law makes it seem like the law can't get at the truth The legal system has already failed We saw the pickpocket scene in the courtroom Justice is a matter of chance Innocence seems to written on Oliver's face He looks innocent and therefore he must be Oliver would be such a great criminal because he doesn't look the part
"'Stop thief! Stop thief!' There is a passion for hunting something deeply implanted in the human breast. One wretched, breathless child, panting with exhaustion, terror in his looks, agony in his eye, large drops of perspiration streaming down his face, strains every nerve to gain upon him every instant, they hail his decreasing strength with still ouder shouts, and whoop and scream with joy 'Stop thief!' — Ay, stop him for God's sake, were it only in mercy!"
Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist, Chapter X Clearly mirroring the length and exhaustion that exists within this chase between Oliver and the town The mob mentality against Oliver The narrator is a participant; we get the sense that Oliver is surrounded In the middle of an urban mob, it's impossible to differentiate between individuals Free indirect discourse of a voice of someone in the mob It puts you right in the middle of the action We also experience a rush of action Gives the reader a sense of urgency
"There was another roar. At this moment the word was passed among the crowd that the door was forced at last, and that he who had first called for the ladder had mounted into the room. The stream abruptly turned as this intelligence ran from mouth to mouth, and the people at the windows, seeing those upon the bridges pouring back, quitted their stations, and running into the street, joined the concourse that now thronged pell-mell to the spot they had left, each man crushing and striving with his neighbor, and all panting with impatience to get near the door and look upon the criminal as the officers brought him out. The cries and shrieks of those who were pressed almost to suffocation, or trampled down and trodden under foot in the confusion, were dreadful; the narrow ways were completely blocked up; and at this time, between the rush of some to regain the space in front of the house and the unavailing struggles of other to extricate themselves from the mass, the immediate attention was distracted from the murderer, although the universal eagerness for his capture was, if possible, increased."
Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist, Chapter XII The mob mentality against Oliver The narrator is a participant; we get the sense that oliver is surrounded In the middle of an urban mob, it's impossible to differentiate between individuals Free indirect discourse of a voice of someone in the mob
"He looked up into the gallery again. Some of the people were eating, and some fanning themselves with handkerchiefs, for the crowded place was very hot. There was one young man sketching his face in a little notebook. He wondered whether it was like, and looked on when the artist broke his pencil-point and made another with his knife, as any idle spectator might have done. In the same way, when he turned his eyes towards the judge, his mind began to busy itself with the fashion of his dress, and what it cost, and how he put it on. There was an old fat gentleman on the bench, too, who had gone out some half an hour before, and now came back. He wondered within himself whether this man had been to get his dinner, what he had had, and where he had had it, and pursued this train of careless thought until some new object caught his eye and roused another..."
Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist, Chapter XIV Description of Fagin's last day He knows he's going to be sentenced to death and he continues to distract himself Maybe he doesn't understand why he's going to be punished The reasons for his guilt are irrelevant to his experience One of the rare humanizing moment for Fagin You don't think of him as being helpless and yet in this moment he's different The powerful is made powerless We're trained to find this very exciting and intriguing It's childlike This of distraction We're all so distracted In moments of extreme trauma, paying attention to minor things is actually a very human thing
"Within the altar of the old village church there stands a white marble tablet, which bears at yet but one word, 'Agnes!' There is no coffin in that tomb; and may it be many, many years before another name is placed above it. But if the spirits of the Dead ever come back to earth to visit spots hallowed by the love—the love beyond the grave—of those whom they knew in life, I do believe that the shade of that poor girl often hovers about that solemn nook—ay, though it is a church, and she was weak and erring."
Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist, Chapter XV Agnes as a ghost Did she have unfinished business on earth? Was her death somehow unjust? Dickens seems to be somehow forgiving him here So many people seem to have forgiven her The speaker doesn't seem to have forgiven Agnes The reader has somehow not provided with forgiveness either Symmetry that begins with her death and ends with her memorialization It's sort of delayed until the end Be forgiving of the unmarried mother
"'Jane, do you mean to go one way in the world, and to let me go another?' 'I do' 'Jane' (bending towards and embracing me), 'do you mean it now?' 'I do.' 'And now?' softly kissing my forehead and cheek. 'I do,' extricating myself from restraint rapidly and completely. 'Oh, Jane, this is bitter! This—this is wicked. It would not be wicked to love me.'"
Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, Chapter XXVII Performative speech We use language to describe the world, but we also use language to do things in the world Utterance of the words is actually performing that which you are saying If you say something in the right context, it is performative speech We are cognizant of the context of this passage It reminds us that the wedding didn't happen
"Countrymen, butchers, drovers, hawkers, boys, thieves, idlers, and vagabonds of every low grade, were mingled together in a dense mass: the whistling of drovers, the barking of dogs, the bellowing and plunging of beasts, the bleating of sheep, and grunting and squeaking of pigs; the cries of hawkers, the shouts, oaths, and quarrelling on all sides, the ringing of bells and roar of voices that issued from every public-house; the crowding, pushing, driving, beating, whooping, and yelling; the hideous and discordant din that resounded from every corner of the market; and the unwashed, unshaven, squalid, and dirty figures constantly running to and fro, and bursting in and out of the throng, rendered it a stunning and bewildering scene which quite confounded the senses."
Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist, Chapter XXI Gerunds demonstrate the bustling of the activity that exists in the market Opposite of the sublime Subjects begin the sentences and yet disappear as we get further into the paragraph almost mirroring the chaos the builds as we get further into the market The narrative eye can't move in the way film can that demonstrates a setting or sense of action They have the ability to create a montage to illustrate an idea Books don't have this same ability so authors have to use different techniques to portray a sense of action or place
"There was no possibility of taking a walk that day. We had been wandering, indeed, in the leafless shrubbery an hour in the morning; but since dinner (Mrs Reed, when there was no company, dined early) the cold winter wind had brought with it clouds so sombre, and a rain so penetrating, that further outdoor exercise was now out of the question. I was glad of it; I never liked long walks, especially on chilly afternoons: dreadful to me was the coming home in the raw twilight, with nipped fingers and toes, and a heart saddened by the chidings of Bessie, the nurse, and humbled by the consciousness of my physical inferiority to Eliza, John, and Georgiana Reed."
Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, Chapter I The opening gesture of this novel is that of obstacle This is the sentence in which we are introduced to Mrs. Reed Why does Mrs. Reed appear first in parentheses? She is so unimportant that she can't even be introduced properly It's kind of a punishment for putting Jane in the red room The language of allegory, but also the language of everyday life
"Sarah came back with her; they both went to bed; they were whispering together for half an hour before they fell asleep. I caught scraps of their conversation, from which I was able only too distinctly to infer the main subject discussed. 'Something passed her, all dressed in white, and vanished' — 'A great black dog behind him' — 'Three loud raps on the chamber door' — 'A light in the churchyard just over his grave' — etc., etc."
Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, Chapter III What happened to her is already being fictionalized? Jane is a spectral figure to herself Foreshadowing manipulates one's emotions Manipulates desire as a reader The author has put a lot of thought into the novel A world with foreshadowing is a world with predestination There are some things that are just supposed to happen--very Christian ideal There's something haunting about it Ghost stories are a primitive entertainment The ghost who comes back is often representing something really bad that happens There are social injustices that produce the ghost
"'But I feel this, Helen: I must dislike those who, whatever do to please them, persist in disliking me; I must resist those who punish me unjustly. It is as natural as that I should love those who show me affection, or submit to punishment when I feel it is deserved.' 'Heathens and savage tribes hold that doctrine; but Christians and civilised nations disown it.' 'How? I don't understand.' 'It is not violence that best overcomes hate—nor vengeance that most certainly heals injury.' 'What then?' 'Read the New Testament, and observe what Christ says, and how He acts; make His word your rule, and His conduct your example.' 'What does He say?' 'Love your enemies; bless them that curse you; do good to then that hate you and despitefully use you.' 'Then I should love Mrs Reed, which I cannot do: I should bless her son John, which is impossible.'"
Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, Chapter IV Are there conditions in which we cannot forgive? Jane rejects Helen Burns' Christianity We aren't really invited to be Helen Burns We want to identify with Jane
"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 are for such moments as this, when Body and soul rise in mutiny against their rigour; stringent are they; inviolate they shall be. If at my individual convenience I might break them, what would be their worth? They have a worth—so 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...."
Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, Chapter XXVII The universality of morals At the same time she is asserting herself, she is suggesting that morality of herself is subjective of collective experience Morality is that which we choose to abide by Does it have anything to do with her sense of religion? She uses scripture to create a kind of feminism
"But Bessie, as soon as she had dressed her young ladies, used to take herself off to the lively regions of the kitchen and housekeeper's room, generally bearing the candle along with her. I then sat with my doll on my knee, till the fire got low, glancing round occasionally to make sure that nothing worse than myself haunted the shadowy room; and when the embers sank to a dull red, I undressed hastily, tugging at at knots and strings a I best might, and sought shelter from cold and darkness in my crib. To this crib I always took my dool; human beings must love something, and, in the death of worthier objects of affection, I contrived to find a pleasure in loving and cherishing a faded graven image, shabby as a miniature scarecrow. It puzzles me now to remember with what absurd sincerity I doted on this little toy, half fancying it alive and capable of sensation. I could not sleep unless it was folded in my nightgown; and when it lay there safe and warm, I was comparatively happy, believing it to be happy likewise."
Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, Chapter IV The doll helps convey a sense of Jane's loneliness A sense of emotional deprivation It creates a fantasy world We're always moving back and forth between the Jane who is experiencing these things and the adult Jane who is writing about all of this Baby dolls are objects for children to practice parenting on There's something very domestic about what she's doing The doll elevates her as a protagonist we care about She's capable of love in an environment in which love doesn't really exist Dolls straddle the line between the animate and the inanimate This is kind of like a ghost There is a sense in which there is a supernatural domesticity
"Who blames me? Many, no doubt; and I shall be called discontented. 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, which, while it swelled it in trouble, expanded it with life; and, best of all, to my imagination created, and narrated continuously; quickened with all of incident, life, fire, feeling, that I desired and had not in my actual existence."
Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, Chapter XII Do we like to blame? We never want to blame other people By invoking the language of blame, what is she protesting? Who is speaking here? Is it Jane who is writing the biography? She is connecting her feelings of frustration to the feelings in this house If she is not to be blamed, who is to be blamed? The social order There is this statement about revolution There is an indication that this is applicable to human beings There is a universality in terms of its existence Is this break a suggestion of Jane later in life? She seems to speak for all women across time
"'You are not a servant at the Hall, of course. You are—' He stopped, ran his eye over my dress, which, as usual, was quite simple—a black merino cloak, a black beaver bonnet; neither of them half fine enough for a lady's maid. He seemed puzzled to decide what I was—I helped him. 'I am the governess.' 'Ah the governess!' he repeated; 'deuce take me if I had not forgotten! The governess!' and again my raiment underwent scrutiny. In two minutes, he rose from the stile; his face expressed pain when he tried to move. 'I cannot commission you to fetch help,' he said; 'but you may help me a little yourself, if you will be so kind'"
Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, Chapter XII When Jane and Rochester meet Jane's writing and correspondence is an important part of her authority She encounters Rochester Her meeting is occasioned by an accident (both by a chance meeting but also because he is hurt) What does it suggest to us by signing her identity with an em-dash? She is the governess, but this is not static Her identity is boundless She has potential that is not bound by social identities
"'I am laying down good intentions, which I believe durable as flint. Certainly my associates and pursuits shall be other than they have been' 'And better?' 'And better—so much better as pure ore is than foul dross. You seem to doubt me; I don't doubt myself: I know what my aim is, what my motives are; and at this moment I pass a law, unalterable as that of the Medes and Persians, that both are right.' 'They cannot be, sir, if they require a new statute to legalise them.' 'They are, Miss Eyre, though they absolutely require a new statute: unheard-of combinations of circumstances demand unheard-of rules.'"
Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, Chapter XIV The Book of Ester The king passes a law in order for him to divorce his wife You can't pass a law to redefine your own rules You can't change the rules to redefine goodness There is a self-protective piece that comes into play There are a lot of different genres
"'I tell you I must go!' I retorted, roused to something like passion. 'Do you think I can stay to become nothing to you? Do you think I am an automaton?—a machine without feelings? And can bear to have my morsel of bread snatched from my lips, and my drop of living water dashed from my cup? Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong!—I have as much soul as you—and full as much heart! And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you. I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities, nor even of mortal flesh;—it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if both had passed through the grave, and we stood at God's feet, equal—as we are!"
Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, Chapter XXIII "Living water" The communion There is a religious overtone for what she's saying It presents Rochester as a kind of God This passage (292) is a confession of her love for him She is exercising agency She elicits the proposal from him
"That night I never thought to sleep; but a slumber fell on me as soon as I lay down in bed. I was transported in thought to the scenes of childhood: I dreamt 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, and tremblingly to pause in the centre of the obscured ceiling. I lifted up my head to look: the roof resolved to clouds, high and dim; the gleam was such as the moon imparts to vapours she is about to sever. I watched her come—watched with the strangest anticipation; as though some word of doom yet burst from cloud: a hand first penetrated the sable folds and shone in the azure, inclining a glorious brow earthward. It gazed and gazed on me. It spoke to my spirit: immeasurably distant was the tone, yet so near, it whispered in my heart—"
Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, Chapter XXVII Jane has a vision We depart from the language of realism A lot of the novel operate in these two realms of language Symbolic Semiotic Semiotic - everything is fluid and emotional It is often preverbal
"'Very well,' he answered quietly: 'and indeed my head is otherwise occupied than with him: I have my tale to finish. Since you won't ask the governess's name, I must tell it of my own accord. Stay! I have it here—it is always more satisfactory to see important points written down, fairly committed to black and white.' And the pocketbook was again deliberately produced, opened, sought through; from one of its compartments was extracted a shabby slip of paper, hastily torn off: I recognised in its texture and its stains of ultra-marine, and lake, and vermilion, the ravished margin of the portrait-cover. He got up, held it close to my eyes: and I read, traced in Indian ink, in my own handwriting, the words 'Jane Eyre'—the work doubtless of some moment of abstraction."
Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, Chapter XXXIII Jane is identified as an artist Her inheritance comes after someone recognizes her name on a portrait What is the effect of this? It attests to a kind of authenticity to her signature It connects her presence as a writer Writing is a place in which the material and the spiritual meet The writing is a material representation of the spirit behind it There is a kind of garnering of power
"'Mary, I have been married to Mr. Rochester this morning.' The housekeeper and her husband were both of that decent, phlegmatic order of people, to whom one may at any time safely communicate a remarkable piece of news without incurring the danger of having one's ears pierced by some shrill ejaculation, and subsequently stunned by a torrent of wordy wonderment. Mary did look up, and she did stare at me; the ladle with which some three minutes hand suspended in air, and for the same space of time John's knives also had rest from the polishing process; but mary, bending again over the roast, said only—'Have you, miss? Well, for sure!'"
Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, Chapter XXXVIII This isn't just about two people loving each other Is she asserting her own independence? Are Mr. Rochester and Jane as perfect a match as we romanticize them? He is atoned He tried to help save Bertha There is a monopolization of flow of knowledge where he becomes all powerful Their relationship had become just one person It raises an issue of care Caring for a child that is such a given Care of an aging parent is much more difficult There is a kind of recoil She is caring for a severely disabled man
"And she," said Mrs. Smith, "besides nursing me most admirably, has really proved an invaluable acquaintance.—As soon as I could use my hands, she taught me to knit, which has been a great amusement; and she put me in the way of making these little thread-cases, pincushions and card-racks, which you always find me so busy about, and which supply me with the means of doing a little good to one or two very poor families in this neighbourhood. She has a large acquaintance, of course professionally, among those who can afford to buy, and she disposes of my merchandize. She always takes the right time for applying. Everybody's heart is open, you know, when they have recently escaped from severe pain, or are recovering the blessing of health, and nurse Rooke thoroughly understands when to speak. She is a shrewd, intelligent, sensible woman. Hers is a line for seeing human nature; and she has a fund of good sense and observation which, as a companion, make her infinitely superior to thousands of those who having only received 'the best education in the world,' know nothing worth attending to. Call it gossip if you will; but when nurse Rooke has half an hour's leisure to bestow on me, she is sure to have something to relate that is entertaining and profitable, something that makes one know one's species better. "
Jane Austen, Persuasion Chapter V Nurse Rooke is spinning out stories but it has the same kind of entertainment as novels She is selling these knit cases in order to submit charity She is impoverished but is very busy doing works so that she can commit to this charity She needs a man to act on her behalf in order to free the property in the west indies Does this change how we evaluate in the novel
"And I am sure, Sir," said Mrs. Musgrove, "it was a lucky day for us, when you were put captain into that ship. We shall never forget what you did." Her feelings made her speak low; and Captain Wentworth, hearing only in part, and probably not having Dick Musgrove at all near his thoughts, looked rather in suspense, and as if waiting for more. "My brother," whispered one of the girls; "mamma is thinking of poor Richard." "Poor dear fellow!" continued Mrs. Musgrove; "he was grown so steady, and such an excellent correspondent, while he was under your care! Ah! it would have been a happy thing, if he had never left you. I assure you, Captain Wentworth, we are very sorry he ever left you."
Jane Austen, Persuasion Chapter VIII Dick Musgrove What is he doing by making sure that Richard comes to his family? If it weren't for Wentworth's intervention they wouldn't have the luxury of feeling close to his son He executes (Wentworth) his duties with methodical care Maybe there is an old world duty Is Wentworth tailoring his stories to his audience? He talks primarily about the domestic life of the ship
"A still-born son, Nov. 5, 1789."
Jane Austen, Persuasion, Chapter I The absent mother is inscribed through the death of the child. Each of his daughters are not to become heir to the throne. This moment is one of panic for the women in this family. Great Britain has sort of a new beginning in the 19th Century
"In another moment, however, she found herself in the state of being released from him; someone was taking him from her, though he had bent down her head so much, that his little sturdy hands were unfastened from around her neck, and he was resolutely borne away, before she knew that Captain Wentworth had done it."
Jane Austen, Persuasion, Chapter IX Why is Austen using passive voice in this case? This emphasizes how aware she is of Wentworth's presence There is a physical relationship between Anne and Wentworth; he gives relief to her body by removing this child from her body The tense changes towards the end of this paragraph; the use of past tense feels like a replay or a reimagining of the past He cares about her enough that he doesn't want to see her in pain; this is the first time that we realize his intentions/feelings towards her He offers her a kind of independence by taking away children from her both literally and figuratively
"The Mr. Musgroves had their own game to guard, and to destroy; their own horses, dogs, and newspapers to engage them; and the females were fully occupied in all the other common subjects of housekeeping, neighbors, dress, dancing, and music. She acknowledged it to be very fitting, that every little social commonwealth should dictate its own matters of discourse; and hoped, ere long, to become a not unworthy member of the one she was now transplanted into.—With the prospect of spending at least two months at Uppercross, it was highly incumbent on her to clothe her imagination, her memory, and all her ideas in as much of Uppercross as possible."
Jane Austen, Persuasion, Chapter VI What does it mean that every social commonwealth should dictate matters of discourse? - There is a social order that is dictated by the upper levels of society; they are allowed more agency than lower-class people. Class, unlike in contemporary America, is not always defined by wealth Title is most important Pseudo-gentry People who do not own land but are as intellectually capable as the aristocracy
"The following morning Anne was out with her friend, and for the first hour, in an incessant and fearful sort of watch for him in vain; but at last, in returning down Pulteney-street, she distinguished him on the right hand pavement at such a distance as to have him in view the greater part of the street. There were many other men about him, many groups walking the same way, but there was no mistaking him. She looked instinctively at Lady Russell; but not from any mad idea of her recognising him so soon as she did herself. No, it was not to be supposed that Lady Russell would perceive him till they were nearly opposite. She looked at her however, from time to time, anxiously; and when the moment approached which must point him out, though not daring to look again (for her own countenance she knew was unfit to be seen), she was yet perfectly conscious of Lady Russell's eyes being turned exactly in the direction for him, of her being in short intently observing him. She could thoroughly comprehend the sort of fascination he must possess over Lady Russell's mind, the difficulty it must be for her to withdraw her eyes, the astonishment she must be feeling that eight or nine years should have passed over him, and in foreign climes and in active service too, without robbing him of one personal grace! At last, Lady Russell drew back her head.—"Now, how would she speak of him? You will wonder," said she, "what has been fixing my eye so long; but I was looking after some window-curtains, which Lady Alicia and Mrs. Frankland were telling me of last night. They described the drawing-room window-curtains of one of the houses on this side of the way, and this part of the street, as being the handsomest and best hung of any in Bath, but could not recollect the exact number, and I have been trying to find out which it could be; but I confess I can see no curtains hereabouts that answer their description." Anne sighed and blushed and smiled, in pity and disdain, either at her friend or herself.—The part which provoked her most, was that in all this waste of foresight and caution, she should have lost the right moment for seeing whether he saw them."
Jane Austen, Persuasion, Chapter VII Anne is embarrassed that Lady Russell doesn't acknowledge Wentworth. Do we ever know if there is a misunderstanding here? We're supposed to get the truth as this is a realist novel. We have a heterodiegetic narrator that still can't tell us the reality of this scene because there are two competing theories. With pluralism, there are two competing ideas that could potentially both be true. There is a subtle undermining of a stable system of values. Is the novel kind of suggesting that the modern world undermines a stable set of values? To answer yes would be to suggest that Austen is a conservative.
"They were actually on the same sofa, for Mrs. Musgrove had most readily made room for him;—they were divided only by Mrs. Musgrove. It was no insignificant barrier indeed. Mrs. Musgrove was of a comfortable substantial size, infinitely more fitted by nature to express good cheer and good humour, than tenderness and sentiment; and while the agitations of Anne's slender form, and pensive face, may be considered as very completely screened, Captain Wentworth should be allowed some credit for the self-command with which he attended to her large fat sighings over the destiny of a son, whom alive nobody had cared for. Personal size and mental sorrow have certainly no necessary proportions. A large bulky figure has as good a right to be in deep affliction, as the most graceful set of limbs in the world. But, fair or not fair, there are unbecoming conjunctions, which reason will patronize in vain,—which taste cannot tolerate,—which ridicule will seize."
Jane Austen, Persuasion, Chapter VIII What is she saying about Mrs. Musgrove? Can signs be fat? She is addressing the commonplace that fat people are jolly. Just because Mrs. Musgrove is fat doesn't mean she can't feel sadness too. This passage, however, doesn't allow us to take her sadness seriously. She lets us persist in Mrs. Musgrove's lack of sorrow. What is the coercive power of cultural bias? You can't necessarily undo the framework in cultural norms. There are ways in which certain contexts that can't be undone.
"Captain Wentworth, without saying a word, turned to her, and quietly obliged her to be assisted into the carriage. Yes,—he had done it. She was in the carriage, and felt that he had placed her there, that his will and his hands had done it, that she owed it to his perception of her fatigue, and his resolution to give her rest."
Jane Austen, Persuasion, Chapter X Even though there is a very big moment for her, this isn't as much of a big deal for him; it's more of a gentlemanly duty Wentworth becomes a vehicle to place her in the community of the Crofts which is the alternate reality that people can potentially exist in We are invited to sympathize so strongly with Anne which causes us to undermine what is happening in the world His physical touch has an emotional response and a physical effect on her; this brings back memories of when he used to be a part of her life this motion is so charged and in a way erotic; is this a rationally defensible form of attachment? or is it just a desire? there is inevitable chemistry between them; he does alleviate pain, but it also, realistically, is not a big deal There are sexual attractions between characters that are hard to represent but still remains
"There was so much attachment to Captain Wentworth in all this, and such a bewitching charm in a degree of hospitality so uncommon, so unlike the usual style of give-and-take invitations, and dinners of formality and display, that Anne felt her spirits not likely to be benefited by an increasing acquaintance among his brother-officers. "These would have been all my friends," was her thought; and she had to struggle against a great tendency to lowness."
Jane Austen, Persuasion, Chapter XI This is similar to a scene in Pride and Prejudice, but the estate is substituted by friendship. She is jealous that he has this circle of friends. There is a new emphasis or value on friendship in the novel. How is friendship different from a blood connection? Friendships are presented to us in the novel as being authentic whereas family is far less genuine. Should feelings matter at all?
"Captain Harville smiled, as much as to say, "Do you claim that for your sex?" and she answered the question, smiling also, "Yes. We certainly do not forget you, so soon as you forget us. It is, perhaps, our fate rather than our merit. We cannot help ourselves. We live at home, quiet, confined, and our feelings prey upon us. You are forced on exertion. You have always a profession, pursuits, business of some sort or other, to take you back into the world immediately, and continual occupation and change soon weaken impressions."
Jane Austen, Persuasion, Chapter XI Why is there this conversation about gender? Whether their lives have any effect on whether their more constant or more fickle Do we ask these questions as a way of undermining the resolution? Not being critical of the social order Is Anne being inconsistent? "it's so awful that women have to feel things for longer" but she's always saying "women feel things for longer so they're superior" She's rewarded for not getting over her love It's bad that women can't get over their romantic feelings Is this a way of reading the ending as a small consolation? It would be better if women had pursuits; she is protesting the social conditions that produce constancy, but then she rewards constancy It's a happy ending, but it's an ending of insecurity
"Her recent good offices by Anne had been enough in themselves; and their marriage, instead of depriving her of one friend, secured her two. She was their earliest visitor in their settled life; and Captain Wentworth, by putting her in the way of recovering her husband's property in the West Indies; by writing for her, acting for her, and seeing her through all the petty difficulties of the case, with the activity and exertion of a fearless man and a determined friend, fully requited the services which she had rendered, or ever meant to render, to his wife."
Jane Austen, Persuasion, Chapter XII Does this change how you view the happy ending? Mrs. Smith has the property that Wentworth needs to intervene It was in the West Indies, but the property could have been anywhere, but it's important that she specifies the West Indies Is this a commentary on colonialism? We can see the operation of a certain economic reality
"When they came to the steps, leading upwards from the beach, a gentleman at the same moment preparing to come down, politely drew back, and stopped to give them way. They ascended and passed him; and as they passed, Anne's face caught his eye, and he looked at her with a degree of earnest admiration, which she could not be insensible of. She was looking remarkably well; her very regular, very pretty features, having the bloom and freshness of youth restored by the fine wind which had been blowing on her complexion, and by the animation of eye which it had also produced. It was evident that the gentleman, (completely a gentleman in manner) admired her exceedingly. Captain Wentworth looked round at her instantly in a way which shewed his noticing of it. He gave her a momentary glance,—a glance of brightness, which seemed to say, "That man is struck with you,—and even I, at this moment, see something like Anne Elliot again."
Jane Austen, Persuasion, Chapter XII This associates her with a flower Youth and sexuality and beauty Sexual readiness She's now marriable in a way she hadn't been before Her marriage plot had been aborted or was dead on arrival Her reaction to the sea air is attractive to Wentworth because he is a sailor This is a period in which England is turning inward which is why so many turning points happen on the coastline
"Is there no one to help me?" were the first words which burst from Captain Wentworth, in a tone of despair, and as if all his own strength were gone. "Go to him, go to him," cried Anne, "for heaven's sake go to him. I can support her myself. Leave me, and go to him. Rub her hands, rub her temples; here are salts,—take them, take them." Captain Benwick obeyed, and Charles at the same moment, disengaging himself from his wife, they were both with him; and Louisa was raised up and supported more firmly between them, and everything was done that Anne had prompted, but in vain; while Captain Wentworth, staggering against the wall for his support, exclaimed in the bitterest agony"
Jane Austen, Persuasion, Chapter XII What happens so that Anne emerges as the character we want? How does the interrogative statement position Wentworth? He doesn't say "help her," he says "help me" There's a turning point in which we see Anne as more capable than Wentworth at caretaking and, like Wentworth has saved Anne from a few situations in which we didn't want to be in, Anne saves Wentworth from a situation that he is ill-equipped for
"Anne, attending with all the strength and zeal, and thought, which instinct supplied, to Henrietta, still tried, at intervals, to suggest comfort to the others, tried to quiet Mary, to animate Charles, to assuage the feelings of Captain Wentworth. Both seemed to look to her for directions."
Jane Austen, Persuasion, Chapter XII Why are we now in the infinitive? Anne doesn't necessarily have to succeed to in order to remain a heroine; she makes an effort to get things done in a way that other do not The infinitive verbs aren't actions completed Doing your best is valued over succeeding All the potential and power of action is held by Anne