La Riforma e i Problemi Sociali dell'Età Vittoriana, Appunti di Inglese

Scarica La Riforma e i Problemi Sociali dell'Età Vittoriana e più Appunti in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! HISTORY REFORM AND SOCIAL PROBLEM THE VICTORIAN AGE IS A PERIOD IN WHICH GREAT BRITAIN HAD REIGNED BY VICTORIA AND SHE HAD TO DEAL WITH POLITICAL AND SOCIAL ISSUES OF THIS PERIOD. IN PARTICULAR THE EXTENSION OF THE VOTE WAS LIMITED TO THE MIDDLE CLASSES WITH THE REFORM BILL OF 1832, EXCLUDING THE WORKING CLASS. ONLY AFTER TWO OTHER BILLS, THE EXTENSION OF THE VOTE INVOLVED ALL THE MALE WORKERS. ->THE TRADE UNION ACT OF 1875 WAS ANOTHER REFORM PUBLISHED FOR THE WORKING CLASS, IN FACT THE REFORM LEGALIZED THE ACTIVITIES OF THE UNIONS OF WORKERS. >ALSO THE MINES ACT OF 1862, WAS ANOTHER REFORM THAT CONSISTED OF NOT MAKING WOMEN AND CHILDREN WORK IN THE MINES. >ANOTHER REFORM WAS THE EMANCIPATION OF RELIGIOUS SECTS OF 1871 WHICH ALLOWED THE CATHOLICS TO HOLD GOVERNMENT JOBS AND GO TO THE PRINCIPAL UNIVERSITY OF THE NATION. DURING THE REIGN OF VICTORIA WAS ABANDONED THE POLICY OF PROTECTIONISM AND THEN THE 1846 WAS ADOPTED THE FREE TRADE FOR PROSPERITY OF THE NATION AND FOR EXCLUDE A PROBABLY REVOLUTION. IN 1851 QUEEN VICTORIA OPENED THE GREAT INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION OF LONDON TO PROMOTE POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC POWER. THE POOR PART OF THE POPULATION HAD TO DEAL WITH A LOT OF ISSUES, THESE PEOPLE LIVED IN WORKHOUSES IN PRECARIOUS CONDITIONS; AND IN THE LARGE CITIES, WHERE THERE ARE THE URBAN SLUMS THAT REPRESENT, WITH THEIR DEGRADATION, THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION. BRITISH EMPIRE THE RELATION WITH IRELAND WORSENED DURING THE VICTORIAN AGE, IN PARTICULAR DUE TO THE POTATO BLIGHT OF 1845 THAT FORCED IRISH TO EMIGRATE TO THE USA OR ENGLAND TO AVOID STARVATION. FOR THIS THE IRISH BEGAN A MOVEMENT OF INDEPENDENCE, THANKS TO THE INFLUENCE OF CHARLES PARNELL WHO CONVINCED THE PRIME MINISTER TO PRESENT THE IRISH HOME RULE BILL IN THE PARLIAMENT BUT IT WAS REJECTED. DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA, THE BRITISH EMPIRE GREATLY EXPANDED TO CONSOLIDATE OVERSEAS MARKETS AND THE SURPLUS OF POPULATION AT HOME. IN PARTICULAR THEY OCCUPIED INDIA OF WHICH IN 1876 VICTORIA BECAME EMPRESS. THEN IN AFRICA THE BRITISH OCCUPIED MANY TERRITORIES AND OBTAINED THE MAJORITY OF THE SUEZ CANAL AND AT THE LAST WITH THE WINNING OF THE BOER WAR THE BRITISH OBTAINED THE CONTROL OF ORANGE AND TRANSVAAL, RICH IN GOLD AND DIAMOND. AT THE END OF THE 19TH CENTURY, GERMANY EMERGED A RIVAL TO GREAT BRITAIN’S NAVAL SUPREMACY, WHILE THE UNITED STATES EMERGED A RIVAL TO INDUSTRIAL SUPREMACY. 1 EMPIRE AND COMMONWEALTH THE ENGLISH CONSIDER HAVING AN EMPIRE A NECESSARY DUTY OF “WHITE MAN”. IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURY THERE WERE SIGNS OF DECLINE: THE COST OF DEFENDING BRITAIN’S POSSESSIONS BECAME A STRAIN. THEN THE POLITICAL AND COMMERCIAL EXPANSION OF FRANCE AND RUSSIA BECOMES MORE AGGRESSIVE. SOME COLONIES, AT THE EARLY 19TH OBTAINED LIMITED INDEPENDENCE AND AFTER WORLD WAR TWO (1949) THESE STATES FOUNDED THE MODERN COMMONWEALTH OF NATION, WHICH WAS INSTITUTED UNDER THE NAME OF THE SUPREMACY OF QUEEN VICTORIA. POETRY DURING THE VICTORIAN AGE SOME POETS WANTED TO TALK ABOUT THE SOCIAL PROBLEMS THAT INVOLVED GREAT BRITAIN, SO THE ETHICAL QUESTIONS THAT MANY PEOPLE DO TO THEMSELVES, AND THE HUMAN AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS. THESE TEMATIC, IN FACT, BECAME THE OBJECT OF FOCUS OF THE VICTORIAN POETS LIKE TENNYSON AND BROWNING. >BROWNING IN PARTICULAR WAS ADDICTED TO USING THE DRAMATIC MONOLOGUE TO TALK ABOUT THE HUMAN AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS. >TENNYSON, WHO WAS THE MOST REPRESENTATIVE POET OF THE AGE, PRESENTED HIS VERSE WITH A MUSICAL GRACE WITH SADNESS AND A DESIRE FOR A LAST WORLD SET IN A DREAMY PAST. HIS POETRY INFLUENCED THE FAMOUS GIOVANNI PASCOLI IN ITALY. >THE PRE-RAPHAELITE BROTHERHOOD WAS FOUNDED BY A GROUP OF ARTISTS IN 1848 AND WANTED TO RETURN TO THE PURITY OF MEDIEVAL ITALIAN ART AND TO THE SIMPLICITY TEMPERED WITH MYSTICISM OF THE MIDDLE AGE. >THE AESTHETIC MOVEMENT INVOLVED EUROPE IN THE 19TH CENTURY AND THE MAJOR REPRESENTATIVE OF THIS MOVEMENT WAS WALTER PATER. THEN AUTHORS LIKE OSCAR WILDE BECAME THE BEST. >TECHNICAL FEATURES: ● FIRST-PERSON SPEAKER ● SET IN A PRECISE HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL CONTEXT ● COLLOQUIAL LANGUAGE ● IRREGULAR SYNTAX PROSE EARLY VICTORIAN NOVEL THE EARLY VICTORIAN NOVELISTS WANTED TO RESPECT THE EXPECTATIONS OF THEIR READERS, SO THE EDUCATION PART AND THE ENTERTAINMENT PART. >CHARLES DICKENS IS THE MOST REPRESENTATIVE NOVELIST THAT RESPECTS THIS IDEOLOGY. IN HIS NOVELS DICKENS PRESENTS THE SOCIAL INJUSTICE, THE POVERTY AND THE PAIN OF THE LOWER CLASS AND THE POLITICAL CORRUPTION. ALL THEMES THAT HAD A LOT OF RESONANCE IN THAT PERIOD. >MEANWHILE DICKENS TALKS ABOUT THE ISSUES OF THE LAW CLASS, ANOTHER NOVELIST, THACKERAY, TALKS PRESENTING THE POINT OF VIEW OF THE UPPER CLASS (VANITY FAIR). >THE ROMANTIC THEME CAME WITH TWO AUTHORS: EMILY AND CHARLOTTE BRONTE. IN PARTICULAR EMILY IS THE MOST FAMOUS NOVELIST THAT PRESENTS THE ARCHETYPAL NOVEL OF ROMANTIC LOVE, FOR EXAMPLE IN HER NOVEL: WUTHERING HEIGHTS. LATE VICTORIAN NOVEL THE LATE VICTORIAN NOVEL FOCUSED THE ATTENTION ON THE MOVEMENT OF REALISM AND FOR THIS BORN A NEW STYLE OF EXPRESSION THAT CULMINATES IN SOME GENRES LIKE: >THE GENRE OF CRIME AND HORROR, OF WHICH THE BEST WRITER WAS STEVENSON (THE STRANGE CASE OF DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE, A MORAL ALLEGORY, THRILLER AND HORROR STORY IN WHICH IS PRESENT THE THEME OF THE EXPLORATION OF THE DARK SIDE OF THE SOULS). HE WAS INFLUENCED BY THE GOTHIC NOVEL OF EDGAR ALLAN POE. 2 ● SOCIAL SECURITY : IT WAS THE MOST URGENT PROBLEM FOR PEOPLE WHO FAILED TO HAVE ENOUGH TO LIVE ON BECAUSE THEY WERE UNEMPLOYED, ILL(malato generico), TOO OLD OR PREGNANT. THE POST-WAR YEARS 1946 → THE NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE WAS ESTABLISHED BY LAW AS UNIVERSAL AND FREE. 1946 → THE NEW TOWNS ACT AND THE TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING ACT → CLEARANCE OF SLUMS, BUILDING OF LARGE HOUSING ESTATES (PUBLIC HOUSING), CREATION OF GREEN AREAS. 1946 NATIONAL INSURANCE ACT → A SYSTEM OF SOCIAL SECURITY UNEMPLOYMENT AND SICKNESS BENEFITS, RETIREMENT PENSIONS, CHILD ALLOWANCES. NATIONALISATION → EXTENDED TO HOSPITALS, GAS, ELECTRICITY, STEEL, COAL MINES, RAILWAYS AND THE BANK OF ENGLAND. A CULTURAL REVOLUTION ● THE 1960S WERE CHARACTERISED BY A TRANSFORMATION IN BRITISH IDEAS AND MODES OF BEHAVIOUR. ● OPENNESS TO ATTITUDES FROM THE CONTINENT AND THE UNITED STATES. ● ARGUMENTS OF A CIVILISED AND TOLERANT SOCIETY PUT FORWARD BY POLITICIANS. A CULTURAL REVOLUTION 1967 WAS AN ANNUS MIRABILIS AS REGARDS SEXUAL MORES: ● ABORTION ACT → ABORTION ON THE NHS. ● NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE (FAMILY PLANNING) ACT → CONTRACEPTION ON THE NHS. ● SEXUAL OFFENCES ACT → HOMOSEXUALITY NO LONGER A CRIME. ● 1969 DIVORCE REFORM ACT ● 1970 MATRIMONIAL PROPERTY ACT → A WIFE’S WORK REGARDED AS AN EQUAL CONTRIBUTION TO THE FAMILY. MARGARET THATCHER 4TH MAY 1979: MARGARET THATCHER (THE LEADER OF THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY) BECAME PRIME MINISTER. ● “THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS SOCIETY” (ONE OF HER MOTTOS) → PHILOSOPHY OF INDIVIDUALISM ● PRIVATISATIONS ● DISMANTLING OF THE WELFARE STATE (STATE UNDERFUNDING) -> HER NICKNAME WAS THE IRON LADY THE LAST YEARS OF THE THATCHER GOVERNMENT WHEN THATCHER TRIED TO INTRODUCE A “POLL TAX”, REGARDLESS OF INCOME, FOR EVERY MEMBER OF THE HOUSEHOLD, THERE WERE RIOTS IN THE CAPITAL IN 1990 AND THE PRIME MINISTER HAD TO RESIGN. THE RETURN OF THE RIGHT FOLLOWING THE CRISIS THAT STARTED IN 2008, THE EUROPEAN UNION HAD TO INTRODUCE AUSTERITY MEASURES, WHICH RESULTED IN THE CUTTING OF SOCIAL SPENDING AND EMPLOYEES IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR MADE REDUNDANT. THIS BROUGHT A REVIVAL OF EUROSCEPTICISM. IN 2010 CONSERVATIVE DAVID CAMERON WAS ELECTED PRIME MINISTER. HE PROMISED AN “IN-OR- OUT”( ti Leave or to stay) REFERENDUM. THE YEAR 2016 WAS MARKED BY THE BREXIT REFERENDUM, WHICH RESULTED IN A VOTE TO LEAVE THE EU BY ALMOST 52%. 5 AUTORS CHARLOTTE BRONTE 1816-55 ● ONE OF THE THREE BRONTE SISTERS ● IN 1842 SHE STUDIED IN BRUSSELS ● SHE WAS A TEACHER AND A GOVERNESS ● IN 1854 SHE MARRIED AND SHE DIED AT THE AGE OF 39 ● SHE CAN BE CONSIDERED A PROTO-FEMINIST (SHE ANTICIPATED THE FUTURE FEMINIST MOVEMENTS OF THE 20TH CENTURY) WHO IS JANE EYRE? ● AN ORPHAN BROUGHT UP BY HER COLD AND HOSTILE AUNT, MRS REED. ● SHE IS SENT TO LOWOOD SCHOOL WHERE SHE BECOMES A TEACHER. ● SHE ACCEPTS A JOB AS A GOVERNESS AT THORNFIELD HALL. ● SHE FALLS IN LOVE WITH ITS OWNER, MR ROCHESTER. ● SHE REFUSES MR ROCHESTER’S PROPOSAL WHEN SHE FINDS OUT HE IS MARRIED. ● SHE LEAVES THORNFIELD AND GOES TO LIVE WITH HER COUSIN AT MOOR HOUSE. ● SHE MEETS ST JOHN RIVERS, A RELIGIOUS MAN WHO PROPOSES TO HER BUT SHE REFUSES. ● SHE RETURNS TO MR ROCHESTER BUT HE LIVES AT FERNDEAN AND HAS BECOME BLIND AFTER A FIRE. ● SHE FINALLY MARRIES HIM. SETTING AND CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT EACH SETTING REPRESENTS A NEW PHASE IN JANE’S DEVELOPMENT. SHE EXPERIENCES THE CONFLICTS BETWEEN SPIRIT AND FLESH, DUTY AND DESIRE, DENIAL AND FULFILMENT. SHE STRUGGLES TO GET A FREE SPIRIT, FIGHTING FOR RECOGNITION AND SELF- RESPECT IN THE FACE OF REJECTION BY A CLASS-RIDDEN AND MONEY-ORIENTED SOCIETY. A ROMANTIC HERO THE CHARACTER OF MR ROCHESTER IS BASED ON THE FIGURE OF THE BYRONIC HERO.A LOST NOBLEMAN OF PASSION. ATTRACTED TO JANE’S SOUL AND PERSONALITY RATHER THAN TO PHYSICAL APPEARANCE. THEMES 6 ● CHILDHOOD AND EDUCATION (BILDUNGSROMAN). ● THE NEED FOR WARMTH AND AFFECTION. ● MARRIAGE AS A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EQUALS, NOT AS A SOCIAL COMPROMISE. ● THE SOCIAL POSITION OF A GOVERNESS IN VICTORIAN SOCIETY. ● CRITIQUE OF THE STRICT VICTORIAN SOCIAL CLASS SYSTEM AND GENDER RELATIONSHIPS. ● SYMBOLIC USE OF GOTHIC TO REVEAL THE PRESENCE OF A MALEVOLENT FORCE. STYLE ● USE OF THE HEROINE AS NARRATOR → GIVES UNITY TO THE NOVEL. ● EVERYTHING IS SEEN FROM JANE’S POINT OF VIEW. ● JANE OFTEN ADDRESSES THE READER EXPLAINING HOW SHE FEELS AND MAKES DECISIONS. ● EMOTIONAL USE OF LANGUAGE → CONCERN WITH THE NATURE OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS. THERE ARE ALSO REPEATED MOTIFS, SYMBOLS, AND IMAGES: THE WORKINGS OF THE SUPERNATURAL, IMPORTANT DREAMS, PATTERNS OF LIGHT AND DARK, OPPOSITIONS OF WARMTH AND COLD. ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON LIFE ● BORN INTO A MIDDLE-CLASS FAMILY IN EDINBURGH IN 1850. ● SINCE HIS CHILDHOOD, HE SUFFERED FROM TUBERCULOSIS AND SPENT MUCH OF HIS TIME IN BED. ● HE TRAVELLED A LOT IN AN ATTEMPT TO IMPROVE HIS HEALTH. ● HIS TRIPS PROVIDED HIM WITH INSPIRATION FOR HIS WRITINGS. ● HE SETTLED IN SAMOA AND DIED THERE IN 1894. WORKS TREASURE ISLAND (1883) BROUGHT HIM SUCCESS. THE STRANGE CASE OF DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE (1886) MADE HIS REPUTATION. HE WROTE MANY OTHER NOTABLE BOOKS INCLUDING KIDNAPPED (1886) AND MASTER OF BALLANTRAE (1889). HE ALSO PUBLISHED COLLECTIONS OF SHORT STORIES AND OTHER TALES. DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE: PLOT ● MR UTTERSON, A RESPECTABLE LONDON LAWYER, IS A FRIEND OF THE BRILLIANT SCIENTIST HENRY JEKYLL. ● THE SCIENTIST HAS CREATED A POTION ABLE TO RELEASE HIS EVIL SIDE, MR HYDE. ● THESE TWO BEINGS ARE IN PERPETUAL STRUGGLE. ● HYDE ACHIEVES DOMINATION OVER THE JEKYLL ASPECT. ● IN THE END JEKYLL’S SUICIDE IS THE FINAL AND ONLY CHOICE. THE SETTING ● VICTORIAN LONDON IN THE 1870S. THE TOWN HAD A DOUBLE NATURE → THE RESPECTABLE WEST END VS THE APPALLING EAST END SLUMS. ● JEKYLL’S HOUSE HAS TWO FAÇADES: THE FRONT USED BY THE DOCTOR IS ATTRACTIVE, PART OF A SQUARE OF HANDSOME HOUSES, WHILE THE REAR SIDE, USED BY MR HYDE, IS PART OF A SINISTER BLOCK OF BUILDINGS. (TYPICALLY VICTORIAN AND RESPECTABLE → RATHER SINISTER) ● MOST OF THE SCENES TAKES PLACE AT NIGHT OR IN THE FOG. INFLUENCES AND INTERPRETATIONS ● DARWIN’S STUDIES ABOUT MAN’S KINSHIP TO THE ANIMAL WORLD → HYDE IS DEFORMED AND ABNORMAL, THE SYMBOL OF REPRESSED PSYCHOLOGICAL DRIVES. 7 RELIGION LIKE OSCAR WILDE, DORIAN WAS ATTRACTED TO RELIGIOUS RITUALS: “DORIAN NEVER FELL INTO THE ERROR OF ARRESTING HIS INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT BY ANY FORMAL ACCEPTANCE OF CREED OR SYSTEM”. INTERESTED IN RELIGION, OSCAR WILDE HAD HIS OWN PERSONAL INTERPRETATION OF THE BIBLE AND OF RELIGION. OSCAR WILDE HAD AN IRISH PROTESTANT RELIGIOUS CULTURE AND HIS FATHER SWORE THAT HE WOULD DISINHERIT HIM IF HE BECAME A CATHOLIC, WHICH HE DID RIGHT BEFORE DYING, AT A MOMENT WHEN HE WAS UNABLE TO SPEAK. WILDE/STEVENSON --BOTH INFLUENCED BY THE VICTORIAN GOTHIC TRADITION: ● THE SUPERNATURAL ● THE DOPPELGANGER (THE DOUBLE) --BOTH DORIAN GRAY AND DR JEKYLL KILL THEIR DOUBLES AND THEMSELVES DIFFERENCE: --THE “PICTURE” IS NOT THE RESULT OF SOME MAD SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENT BUT CAN ONLY BE EXPLAINED BY MAGIC --THE “PICTURE” IS NARRATED BY AN OMNISCIENT NARRATOR. CHARLES DICKENS LIFE ►BORN IN PORTSMOUTH IN 1812, HE MOVED TO LONDON AT THE AGE OF TEN AND HE HAD TO LEAVE SCHOOL EARLY AND WORK IN A FACTORY BECAUSE OF THE ARREST OF HIS FATHER. ►WORKING AS A JOURNALIST GAVE HIM KNOWLEDGE OF CONTEMPORARY ISSUES. HIS FIRST NOVEL WAS THE PICKWICK PAPERS THAT MADE HIM FAMOUS. ►THEN THE NOVEL OLIVER TWIST (THE SUFFERING OF AN ORPHAN BROUGHT UP IN A WORKHOUSE WHO RUNS AWAY FROM LONDON AND JOINS A GANG OF THIEVES MADE UP OF CHILDREN) AND HARD TIMES (SUFFERING OF THE FACTORY SYSTEM AND THE HARM DONE BY UTILITARIANISM) ARE HIS MASTERPIECES. THEMES, SETTING, CHARACTERS AND STYLE ►THE PRINCIPAL THEMES AFFRONTED IN HIS NOVEL ARE SOCIAL INJUSTICE, THE POVERTY OF THE LOW CLASSES AND THE CONFLICTS. ►DICKENS SET HIS NOVELS IN LONDON OR IN THE COUNTRYSIDE OR PROVINCIAL TOWNS, IN THE PARTICULAR CASE OF HARD TIMES HE SET THE NOVEL IN INDUSTRIAL SETTLEMENTS. ►HIS MAIN CHARACTERS CAME FROM LOWER AND MIDDLE CLASSES, BUT SOME OF THE CHARACTERS CAME FROM UPPER CLASSES BUT THEY ARE STEREOTYPED. THE DIVISION OF THE CHARACTERS WAS VERY SIMPLE BECAUSE THEY SETTLE INTO A TYPE OF CHARACTER THAT COULD BE GOOD OR BAD. ►DICKENS IS VERY GOOD AT MIXING SOCIAL CRITICISM WITH COMIC, CREATING A 10 HUMOROUS STYLE, STRONG POINT OF HIS NOVELS, ON THE OTHER HAND IT MAKES THE NOVEL MELODRAMATIC AND TOO DIDACTIC. OLIVER TWIST DESCRIPTION (1837-1838) THIS NOVEL COMBINES THE SENTIMENTAL AND MELODRAMATIC STORY OF AN ORPHANED CHILD WITH SOCIAL SATIRE AND REALISM. DICKENS WANTS TO USE COMIC ELEMENTS TO HIGHLIGHT SERIOUS ISSUES SUCH AS THE POOR CONDITIONS IN WHICH CHILDREN LIVE IN WORKHOUSES AND IN PARTICULAR THE GANGS OF THIEVES THAT GREW UP AS A PRODUCT OF THIS SUFFERING AND THIS BAD EDUCATION. (AS THERE WERE A LOT OF GANGS OF THIEVES THAT STARTED TO GREW UP, THIS EVENT ITS A SIGNAL THAT THE SUFFERING AND THE BAD EDUCATION THAT TRANSMIT THE WORKHOUSES HAD A LOT OF INFLUENCE ON THE CHILDREN AND FOR THIS I SAID THAT THIS GANGS WERE A PRODUCT OF THE WORKHOUSES). PLOT OLIVER IS AN ORPHAN AND A FOUNDLING. AT THE AGE OF NINE HE WAS BROUGHT UP IN A WORKHOUSE WHERE HE LIVES IN VERY BAD CONDITIONS AND THIS SUFFERING CONVINCES HIM TO RUNS AWAY FROM THE WORKHOUSES AND JOIN A GANG OF THIEVES MADE UP BY SOME CHILDREN AND FOR A PERIOD OLIVER TAKES PART IN THE CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES OF THIS GANG. AT A CERTAIN POINT IN THE STORY OLIVER MET MR BROWNLOW, A GENTLEMAN WHO TRIED TO HELP HIM, BUT HE RUNS AWAY. AFTER SOME EVENTS A CHARACTER NAMED MONKS WAS INVOLVED IN ONE OF THESE INCIDENTS AND THE GANG IS CAUGHT BY THE POLICE, WHILE OLIVER THANKS TO THE RELATION WITH MR BROWNLOW HE FINALLY FOUND A FAMILY. “OLIVER IS TAKEN TO THE WORKHOUSES” OLIVER IS A DELICATE CHILD THAT WAS BROUGHT UP IN A HOUSE OF ORPHANS UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF MRS MANN, A CRUEL WOMAN THAT TREATS CHILDREN BADLY. IN THIS PART HAPPENS A DIALOGUE BETWEEN MRS MANN AND THE PARISH OFFICER MR BUMBLE ABOUT OLIVER. DICKENS HERE PRESENTS US A CHARACTERIZATION OF THE CHARACTER OF MRS MANN WITH HER SHREWDNESS AND MR BUMBLE WITH HIS ARROGANCE, DULLNESS AND SUPERFICIALITY. THEN HAPPENS A DIALOGUE BETWEEN MRS MANN AND OLIVER IN WHICH HE HAS TO RESPOND TO SOME QUESTIONS PAYING ATTENTION TO WHAT HE SAYS TO AVOID PUNISHMENT. SUBSEQUENTLY OLIVER HAS TO LEAVE THE ORPHANAGE AND GO TO THE WORKHOUSE, LED BY MR BUMBLE. THE CAUSE OF SADNESS FOR OLIVER IS THAT HE WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO SEE HIS FRIENDS FROM THE ORPHANAGE AGAIN. “OLIVER ASKS FOR MORE” OLIVER IS NOW LIVING IN THE WORKHOUSES IN PRECARIOUS CONDITIONS OF LIFE. IN FACT THE 11 CHILDREN ARE STARVING AND DURING THE MEAL TIME OLIVER HAS TO GO TO THE MASTER TO ASK FOR MORE FOOD. WITH THIS SCENERY, DICKENS WANTS TO PRESENT US THE ISSUES OF THE STARVING CHILDREN THAT ABOUNDED IN GREAT BRITAIN. THE SOLUTION WAS THE FOUNDATION OF FREE SCHOOLS FOR THE POOREST CHILDREN, NAMED RAGGED SCHOOLS, BUT THAT DID NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM. DICKENS WANTED TO PRESENT THIS PROBLEM IN HIS NOVEL. HARD TIMES DESCRIPTION (1854) THE NOVEL IS SET IN COKETOWN, AN INDUSTRIAL CITY IN THE NORTH OF ENGLAND. THE NOVEL IT'S STRUCTURED BY TWO ISSUES AT THE TIME: THE INHUMANITY OF THE FACTORY SYSTEM AND THE UTILITARIAN PHILOSOPHY, A MATERIALIST CONCEPT THAT DOES NOT INCLUDE THE USE OF IMAGINATION, THE FEELING AND THE EMOTION. WITH THIS NOVEL, DICKENS WANTS TO PROMOTE THE IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION BECAUSE IT IS IMPORTANT FOR THE PEOPLE AND HE KNOWS IT ON HIS SKIN. PLOT THOMAS GRANDGRIND HAS FOUNDED A SCHOOL WHERE HE PROMOTES HIS WAY OF EDUCATING A CHILD, IN FACT TO STUDENTS, LIKE HIS OWN CHILDREN TOM AND LOUSIA, THEY ARE TAUGHT NOTHING BUT FACTS, REGARDLESS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF IMAGINATION OR FEELING. MR GRANDGRIND ADOPTED A CHILD SISSY JUPE WHOSE FATHER WORKED IN A CIRCUS BECAUSE OF HIS DEATH. MR G. WANTS HIS DAUGHTER TO MARRY JOSIAH BOUNDERBY, A RICH FACTORY OWNER AND SHE, FOR HELP HIS BROTHER ON HIS CAREER, ACCEPTS. AFTER THAT TOM FINDS WORK IN THE BOUNDERBY’S BANK AND STEALS SOME MONEY FROM IT. WHEN HE IS DISCOVERED HE HIDES AMONG THE CIRCUS FOLK THAT BECAME HIS FRIENDS. MR GRANDGRIND FINALLY UNDERSTOOD THE ISSUES OF HIS METHOD OF EDUCATION AND REALIZED THE IMPORTANCE OF GOOD TEACHING. “COKETOWN” COKETOWN IS A TYPICAL VICTORIAN INDUSTRIAL TOWN WHERE THE AIR POLLUTED BY SMOKE AND ASH AND THE WATER FLOW WAS POLLUTED TOO BY THE RELEASE OF THE INDUSTRIES. IT'S A TOWN WHERE THE IDEOLOGY OF UTILITARIANISM IS IN FORCE, IN FACT THE PEOPLE ARE INVOLVED IN THIS MONOTONOUS REPETITION OF LIFE, LIKE THE LIFELESS ATMOSPHERE OF THE TOWN. DICKENS WANTS TO GO AGAINST THIS UTILITARIANISM BECAUSE IT IS THE CAUSE OF THE BAD EDUCATION THAT IS PRESENT, THE PRECARIOUS LIVING CONDITIONS IN WORKHOUSES AND THE PROBLEMS OF CITIES AND PEOPLE CAUSED BY THE FACTORY SYSTEM. IN FACT WE CAN SEE LIKE THE UTILITARIAN PHILOSOPHY PORTED MR GRADGRIND TO TRANSMIT TO HIS STUDENTS, AND HIS OWN CHILDREN, AN EDUCATION BASED ON THE FACTS AND NOT ON WHAT IS REALLY IMPORTANT IN AN EDUCATION SYSTEM. DOSSIER AMERICA THE GOLD RUSH THE GOLD RUSH WAS AN EVENT THAT BEGAN IN 1848 THAT WAS ABOUT THE ARRIVAL IN CALIFORNIA OF ALL THE PEOPLE OF OTHER COUNTRIES FOR THE DISCOVERY OF THE GOLD IN CALIFORNIA. THE CIVIL WAR THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA BEGAN IN 1861 AND IT WAS CAUSED BY THE CONFLICT BETWEEN NORTH AMERICA AND SOUTH AMERICA, BUT IN PARTICULAR BY THE ELECTION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN AS PRESIDENT, ENEMY OF SLAVERY. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH WAS THE ECONOMIC SYSTEM, IN FACT THE NORTH WAS FOUNDED ON INDUSTRY AND FACTORIES, WHILE THE SOUTH WAS FOUNDED ON AGRICULTURE. THE OTHER DIFFERENCE WAS THE QUESTION OF SLAVERY, IN THE NOURTH THE SLAVERY WAS ILLEGAL WHILE IN THE SOUTH THE SLAVERY WAS LEGALLY PRACTICED. THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE (1776) HAS THE CONCEPT OF THE AMERICAN DREAM, SO THE FACT THAT ALL MEN ARE EQUAL IN FRONT OF THE LAW AND OF LIBERTY. THE PHRASE GO WEST, YOUNG MAN! IT WAS A SPUR TO ALL AMERICANS AND IMMIGRANTS WHO WANTED TO DISCOVER SUCCESS AND 12 • EINSTEIN’S THEORY OF GRAVITATION ACCORDING TO WHICH THE OBSERVED GRAVITATIONAL ATTRACTION BETWEEN MASSES • THE IDEA OF TIME WAS QUESTIONED ALSO BY THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHER WILLIAM JAMES (1842- 1919) AND THE FRENCH PHILOSOPHER HENRI BERGSON THEY FORCED NOVELISTS INTO A POSITION OF MORAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL UNCERTAINTY. THE NOVELIST BECAME A MEDIATOR BETWEEN THE SOLID AND UNQUESTIONED VALUES OF THE PAST AND THE CONFUSED PRESENT. THE STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS - THE AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGIST WILLIAM JAMES COINED THE TERM “STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS” IN THE PRINCIPLES OF PSYCHOLOGY (1890) → THE CONTINUOUS FLOW OF THOUGHTS AND SENSATIONS THAT CHARACTERIZE THE HUMAN MIND THE MODERN NOVEL - REJECTED OMNISCIENT NARRATOR, - EXPERIMENTED WITH NEW METHODS TO PORTRAY THE INDIVIDUAL CONSCIOUSNESS, - GAVE MORE AND MORE IMPORTANCE TO SUBJECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS, - UNDERSTOOD IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO REPRODUCE THE COMPLEXITY OF THE HUMAN MIND USING TRADITIONAL TECHNIQUES. ABSENCE OF A WELL-STRUCTURED PLOT WITH A CHRONOLOGICAL SEQUENCE OF EVENTS. INTERIOR MONOLOGUE AND STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS AUTHORS, LIKE JAMES JOYCE AND VIRGINIA WOOLF, ADOPTED THE INTERIOR MONOLOGUE →. THE PRESENCE OF TWO LEVELS OF NARRATION: ONE EXTERNAL TO THE CHARACTER’S MIND, THE OTHER INTERNAL. • INTERIOR MONOLOGUE → THE VERBAL EXPRESSION OF A PSYCHIC PHENOMENON • STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS → THE PSYCHIC PHENOMENON ITSELF. THE EMERGENCE OF MASS SOCIETY MASS SOCIETY DESCRIBES A SOCIETY CHARACTERIZED BY INCREASING STANDARDISATION OF BEHAVIOUR, CONSUMPTION AND TASTES. IN 1895 FRENCH PSYCHOLOGIST GUSTAVE LE BON WROTE THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CROWDS, IN WHICH HE SHOWS HOW THE SECOND INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION HAD LED TO THE EMERGENCE OF NEW THINKING WHERE THE CRITICAL CAPACITY IS EASILY MANIPULATED BY STRONG INDIVIDUALS AND DRAMATICALLY REDUCED. “AN INDIVIDUAL IMMERSED FOR SOME LENGTH OF TIME IN A CROWD SOON FINDS HIMSELF...IN A SPECIAL STATE, WHICH MUCH RESEMBLES THE STATE OF FASCINATION IN WHICH THE HYPNOTIZED INDIVIDUAL FINDS HIMSELF IN THE HANDS OF THE HYPNOTIZER” MASS COMMUNICATION THE RADIO FIRST, AND TV LATER (INVENTED IN 1927), MADE INFORMATION ABOUT EVENTS MORE AVAILABLE TO ORDINARY PEOPLE. MASS PROPAGANDA MASSIVE PROPAGANDA DURING WWI USED ALL MEANS OF COMMUNICATION. PROPAGANDA HAD TO DEMONIZE THE OPPONENT AND BUILD A STRONG PATRIOTIC SPIRIT. THE TERM PROPAGANDA COMES FROM THE LATIN CONGREGATIO DE PROPAGANDA FIDE (FOUNDED IN 1622 TO SPREAD THE FAITH) AND IT REFERS TO THE ACTION OF THE CHURCH TO DISSEMINATE CATHOLIC DOCTRINE. TODAY, THIS WORD IS USED TO DESCRIBE THE MASSIVE DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION TO INFLUENCE ( → MANIPULATE) PUBLIC OPINION AND ACTION. SIGMUND FREUD AND PSYCHOANALYSIS 15 BORN IN 1856 TO A JEWISH FAMILY IN WHAT IS NOW THE CZECH REPUBLIC. HE MOVED TO VIENNA AT THE AGE OF FOUR, GREW UP, WAS EDUCATED, AND SPENT MOST OF HIS LIFE THERE. AFTER AN IMPRESSIVE CAREER IN SCHOOL, HE MATRICULATED IN 1873 AND THEN ATTENDED THE UNIVERSITY OF VIENNA TO STUDY MEDICINE. DURING HIS MEDICAL RESEARCH, HE CAME TO BE INTERESTED IN THE COMPLEX OPERATIONS OF THE MIND. THE INTERPRETATION OF DREAMS (1900) THE ARGUMENT OF THIS ESSAY CAN BE SUMMARISED AS FOLLOWS: ● DREAMS ARE THE FULFILMENT OF A WISH. ● DREAMS ARE THE DISGUISED FULFILMENT OF A WISH. ● DREAMS ARE THE DISGUISED FULFILMENT OF A REPRESSED WISH. ● DREAMS ARE THE DISGUISED FULFILMENT OF A REPRESSED, INFANTILE WISH. ● THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE HUMAN PSYCHE IS AFFECTED BY THE SUBCONSCIOUS. MAN’S ACTION COULD BE MOTIVATED BY IRRATIONAL FORCES THE SUPEREGO CAN PROFOUNDLY DISTORT MAN’S BEHAVIOUR . THE EFFECTS OF FREUD’S THEORIES WERE DEEP: ● THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PARENTS AND CHILDREN WAS ALTERED. ● THE FREUDIAN CONCEPT OF INFANTILE SEXUALITY FOCUSED ATTENTION ON THE IMPORTANCE OF EARLY DEVELOPMENTS AND CHILDHOOD. ● THE CONVENTIONAL MODELS OF RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE SEXES WERE READJUSTED. ● HIS METHOD OF INVESTIGATION OF THE HUMAN MIND THROUGH THE ANALYSIS OF DREAMS AND THE CONCEPT OF ‘FREE ASSOCIATION’ INFLUENCED THE MODERN WRITERS. JAMES JOYCE JAMES JOYCE WAS AN IRISH NOVELIST AND POET, CONSIDERED TO BE ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL WRITES IN EARLY 20TH CENTURY. HE WAS A MODERNIST AVANT- GARDE AND SO HE REJECTED OLDER TYPES OF NOVELS, FULL OF CONSERVATIVE VALUES AND EXTREME REALISM, AND HE FELT THE STRONG NEED TO REFLECT ON THE COMPLEXITY OF THE HUMAN MIND WORKING AND THE APPARENT IRRATIONALITY OF MODERN URBAN LIFE. HIS AIM WAS TO REPRESENT THE HUMAN CONDITION AS A UNIVERSAL AND OBJECTIVE REALITY, SO HIS CONCERNS WERE NOT LIMITED TO THE PRESENT TIME OR TO THE PROBLEMS OF THE CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY. HE, BEING AN ARTIST, HAD A DETACHED AND OBJECTIVE VISION OF LIFE, WITHOUT CONSIDERING THE GREAT POLITICAL, RELIGIOUS, OR MORAL CAUSES OF THE TIME; HE REFUSED TO TAKE PART IN MOVEMENTS SUPPORTING THE IRISH INDEPENDENCE OR THE IRISH CULTURAL RENAISSANCE, AND HE DECIDED TO LIVE ABROAD IN ORDER TO ACQUIRE A COSMOPOLITAN OUTLOOK. JOYCE INTRODUCED THE NOVELTY OF THE TECHNIQUE OF THE «STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS» IN THE ENGLISH NOVEL. 16 IN THE LINGUISTIC FIELD HE WAS A GREAT EXPERIMENTER (HE MIXED DIFFERENT GENRES : THEATRE, NOVEL,DIALOGUE). STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS THE STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS IS A LITERARY TECHNIQUE WHICH CONSISTS IN REPRODUCING THE FREE FLOW OF THOUGHTS, FEELINGS AND SENSATIONS OF THE CHARACTERS WITHOUT ANY COMMENT BY THE AUTHOR. THIS IS A TECHNIQUE SIMILAR TO THAT OF THE INTERIOR MONOLOGUE, WHICH CAN BE DIRECT OR INDIRECT. IN JOYCE'S WORKS THE USE OF INTERIOR MONOLOGUE, BOTH DIRECT AND INDIRECT, IS VERY FREQUENT . THROUGH THIS TECHNIQUE, THE WRITER ALMOST DISAPPEARS AND THE READERS FIND THEMSELVES DIRECTLY INSIDE A CHARACTER’S MIND. EPIPHANY ( MOMENTO DI AUTO CONSAPEVOLEZZA DELLA PROPRIA VITA,PER UN QUALCOSA CHE NON È PER FORZA COLLEGATA ) IN JOYCE’S CONCEPTION IT INDICATES THAT MOMENTS WHEN A SIMPLE OBJECT OR FACT, AN ORDINARY SITUATION FLASH OUT WITH MEANING AND MAKE A PERSON REALIZE HIS/ HER USUALLY MISERABLE CONDITION. DUBLINERS JOYCE’S FIRST GREAT PORTRAIT OF DUBLIN LIFE CAME WITH DUBLINERS, A COLLECTION OF 15 SHORT STORIES. IT DEPICTS THE STAGNATION AND PARALYSIS OF THE IRISH MIDDLE CLASS LIFE IN AND AROUND DUBLIN, PRESENTED IN FOUR STAGES: CHILDHOOD, ADOLESCENCE(EVELINE ), MATURITY AND PUBLIC LIFE(THE DEAD). ALL DUBLINERS ARE SPIRITUALLY WEAK PEOPLE, THEY ARE SLAVES OF THEIR FAMILIAR, MORAL, CULTURAL, RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL LIFE. THE HEARTH OF THE WHOLE COLLECTION IS THE REVELATION OF THE PARALYSIS TO ITS VICTIMS, AND THE FAILURE TO FIND A WAY OUT OF IT. THE PECULIAR TECHNIQUE USED IS THE EPIPHANY, COINED BY JOYCE HIMSELF: IT IS A SUDDEN(IMPROVVISA) REVELATION OF A STRONG REALITY CAUSED BY A TRIVIAL GESTURE, AN EXTERNAL OBJECT OR A BANAL SITUATION. THE EPIPHANY REPRESENTS THE KEY OF THE STORY ITSELF. EACH STORY IS TOLD FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF A CHARACTER AND SO THE INTERIOR MONOLOGUE IS WIDELY USED: IT IS THE PRESENTATION OF THE PROTAGONIST’S THOUGHTS WITHOUT ANY INTERFERING AGENCY. THANKS TO IT, READERS ACQUIRE DIRECT KNOWLEDGE OF WHO WAS SPEAKING. LINGUISTIC REGISTER IS VARIED: IT SUITS THE AGE, THE SOCIAL CLASS AND THE ROLE OF THE CHARACTERS. 17