La vita in Inghilterra durante l'era Vittoriana, Appunti di Inglese

Scarica La vita in Inghilterra durante l'era Vittoriana e più Appunti in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! 1830-1900 - 19th-century Europe was characterized by a fast process of political, economic and social change, caused by the industrialization and the influence of French Revolution. - in this period people started to demand for social reforms - Europe was dominated by the “Metternich System”: a policy of restoration of rulers and states on the basis of the principle of legitimacy, the control and repression of revolutionary movements and a policy of balance between the states—> this system didn’t work inside the single states, because of the ideas of nationalism, liberalism and socialism, which challenged the principles of authority. - BRITAIN, after the Congress of Vienna, started a policy of isolationism. Victoria came to the throne of Great Britain in 1837 when she was only 18. Victoria died in 1901 and was succeeded by Edward Prince of Wales. - In the Victorian Age, the middle classes developed an increasing interest in the Empire and a growing enthusiasm and pride in Britain’s power. - The English people felt themselves to be a chosen race, whose mission was to carry civilization and Christian religion all over the world. - 1837: Victoria becomes Queen of England - 1839: the People’s Charter for parliamentary reform is presented to Parliament and rejected - 1842: the Mines Act forbids the employment of children under 10 and women - 1847: a Factory Act is passed limiting the hours of work of children in textile factories to 10. - 1867: 2nd Reform Act gives the vote to workers in towns and cities - 1871: Trade Union Act legalizes worker’s unions - 1876: Queen Victoria is proclaimed Empress of India - 1884: 3rd Reform Act gives the vote to agricultural laborers - 1893: the Independent Labour Party is founded - 1889-1902: the Boer War is fought in South Africa- British vs Dutch farmers. - the Victorian Age is also called “the age of Machinery”, because technological improvements accelerated the process of industrialization. —> people started to migrate from the countryside to the industrial areas in search of jobs. - In the first decades of the century, industrialization made very negative consequences for the poorer classes: men, women and children worked in factories for many hours. Young children were exploited. Harsh working conditions in factories, high food prices and economic depression, caused discontent among the laborers and they began to organize themselves into working-class movements —> their discontent was voiced in 1838 by the Chartists: a group of radicals and workers who presented to Parliament a document called “the People’s charter”, because they wanted a radical reform of Parliament. - When queen Victoria came to the throne, there were 3 classes: 1. The ARISTOCRACY 2. The MIDDLE CLASS (manufacturers, bankers, merchants)—> by the end of the century they held the power previously held by the aristocracy —> this was the dominant culture 3. WORKING CLASS (factory workers)—> the working class lived in bad conditions , not only at work but also at home - women were still expected to be dedicated to the care of the family and had a little control over their finances: their property became the property of her husband - There was the triumph of the “laissez-faire economics”= capitalists could operate without the intervention of the state - In the larger cities crime figures and prostitution was widespread - there was a system of corruption and exploitation, which did little to solve the problem of inequality. This situation to choose to ignore the contradictions in society, became known as “VICTORIAN COMPROMISE”. The literary period following the Romantic period is referred to as “victorian age” and it coincides with the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901). -The dominant culture of the Victorian Age was that of the middle classes, who saw themselves as the creators of progress. - there was a spread of education, in particular thanks to dame schools (where working-class children were taught in overcrowded classes) and charity schools (ensured basic education for children of low income families). The upper and middle classes sent their male children to expensive private boarding schools and to college. By the end of the century women’s position had changed too: there were schools and colleges for women and they acquired the right to enter various professions. - The spread of education increased literacy (alfabetizzazione) and so the demand for books. Wealthy families had their own libraries - Increased literacy favored the spread of newspapers, magazines and reviews —> on newspapers were published parts of novels, fiction, in the form of short stories or serialized novels- this contributed to the popularity of books and boost sales —> the periodicals (newspapers and magazines) were vehicles for entertaining but also to educate. - They were published in instalments (a rate), so that there was suspense—> curiosity - The Victorian Age can be divided into 2 contradictory periods: 1. HIGH VICTORIAN from 1837 to 1880 characterized by faith in progress and an optimistic outlook on life. There is also climate of confidence, Britain believed in itself as a prosperous and powerful nation and society emphasized the importance of Christianity and monogamous family life. 2. LATE VICTORIAN from 1880 to 1901 Covers the last decades of the century, there’s a critical attitude and pessimism. The ideas such as belief in God and in science were questioned and man is often presented as a divided self and an individual representation of the complexity of the human experience. The AESTHETIC MOVEMENT rejected Victorian morality and promoted ART FOR ITS OWN SAKE and insisted on the influence of art on life and not life on art. - there is also the scientific progress—> Charles Darwin—> the theory of Darwinism “The Origin of the species” During Romanticism—> poetry “the age of poetry” During 16th century: drama THEMES: - Education - Industrialisation - hard critique on
 • education school systems in which children are perceived as recipients to be filled with facts, imagination has no space (the educational system is inspired to utilitarianism) 
 • utilitarianism = a philosophical trend, that started with Bentham, which was popular at the time"the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people" -> material happiness (utilitarianism is linked with materialism), everything that is useful is good. allowed for nothing in life other than that which was useful and workful. 
 • industrialisation -> instead of bringing improvements and freedom brought pollution, materialism, monotony and spiritual and economic poverty It is also stressed the monotony, the uniformity, the lack of individuality and creativity that industrialization caused. SUMMARY Hard Times is the story of THOMAS GRADGRIND and his family. The setting is the imaginary Coketown (an industrial town inspired by Preston, in the north of England. ) Gradgrind is a wealthy, retired merchant who puts his faith in facts, statistics and rationality. He treats his oldest children: LOUISA and TOM, according to these utilitarian values and opens a school in the town to be run in the same way. He makes Louisa marry his friend: Josiah Bounderby, who is older than her but a successful businessman and banker. JAMES HARTHOUSE arrives in Coketown to begin a political career, but takes interest in Louisa and decides to seduce her. He asks her to run away with him. She seems to agree, but instead she returns to her father to tell him how she feels and how he has destroyed her life. Gradgrind feels guilty and begins to reform. He gives up his philosophy of fact and begins to help the poor. The role of power in education is a theme that is treated throughout the novel. the difference between Romanticism and Utilitarianism. While Utilitarianism focuses on hard facts and calculations, Romanticism is more spiritual, tends towards the artistic and the poetic and makes aesthetic valuations that Utilitarianism finds irrelevant Page 232 and 237 “THE ONE THING NEEDFUL” - The novel begins with a short introduction. Inside a classroom, "the speaker" repeats the exclamation "Now, what I want is, Facts." He presents the argument that the formation of a child's mind must be rooted in the study of fact. The schoolroom is as hard and plain as the teacher's teaching style. All of the children are focused on him. Besides "the speaker" there is also "the schoolmaster and the third grown person" who stand before the pupils. -From the very beginning, Dickens establishes himself within a contemporary debate on the nature of learning, knowledge and education. The description of the classroom is definitely satire, a critique of utilitarianism, and similar philosophies that suggested the absolute reliance upon calculations and facts in opposition to emotion, artistic inspiration and leisure. - the description of Gradgrind shows a link between physical aspect and personality
 MURDERING OF THE INNOCENTS shows directly how the educational system suffocates the imagination ("Fancy") of children and replaces it with Facts, "Taste"
 THE KEY-NOTE It is described the city of Coketown. It is mostly made of red brick and it is heavily industrialized. Smoke hangs in the air, the water is polluted with "ill-smelling dye" and pistons and steam-engines cause the windows of the buildings to rattle all day long. The streets are monotonous and the people are hardly different from one another, each did the same job in the same factory, and the work that they do is little different from one day to the next. It is a town in which all of the buildings are so much alike that one cannot distinguish the jail from the infirmary without reading the names of the two inscribed above the doors. - Dickens uses a sensitive language: words that appear to the senses - The idea of industrialization that is stressed here, is not something related to progress, but something that uncivilizes —> this critic to industrialization is made through metaphors and similes - He makes uses of repetitions—> to underline the monotony, the uniformity, the lack of individuality and creativity and the tedious life in Coketown - All the buildings looked the same, they weren’t attractive nor beautiful, but they were built in such a way to make them useful—> it is stressed the idea that buildings should not have been beautiful, but must be functional and useful—> there’s a materialistic point of view - there’s no interest in aesthetic - In the last part it is stressed this idea of monotony. BIOGRAPHY Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin in 1854. His father was a surgeon and his mother published patriotic poetry. He attended the Portora Royal boarding school, excelling in his studies, earning a scholarship to a College in Dublin and then in Oxford, where he, as a growing supporter of the Aesthetic Movement, cultivated his image of aesthete. His whole self (clothes, gestures,..) reflected his belief in the pursuit of beauty. His greatest influences were John Ruskin and Walter Pater, essayist and critic, considered the father of the English Aestheticism. After his degree, he moved to London. - he had the occasion to meet writers and impressionist artists such as Zola, Hugo and Degas. - A meeting with a 70year old who seduced him, introduced him to the physical side of the homosexuality. - He had an intense affair with a young aristocrat, Lord Alfred Douglas and this relationship lead to his imprisonment for gross indecency. In prison, his physical and mental state deteriorated rapidly. - He had an intense affair with a young aristocrat, Lord Alfred Douglas and this relationship lead to his imprisonment for gross indecency. In prison, his physical and mental state deteriorated rapidly. - He had a creative energy and he started writing fairy tales for children, short stories and essays on Aestheticism. - In 1890 he published his best-known work: “the picture of Dorian Gray” - DRAMA He then wrote plays in the style of the Comedy of Manners. He also started work on his decadent play “Salomé” and his last and greatest play “The importance of Being Earnest”. In his dramas he criticizes and makes fun of aristocracy, using humor. great characterisation and dialogues- identification (people didn't identified themselves in the characters but identified someone the knew in those characters) -> plays were very popular - Wilde is the author of paradoxes ("truths seen round the corner") ↳ THE ONLY WAY TO GET RID (vincere) OF TEMPTATION IS TO YELD TO IT (cedervi)=if you yield the temptation there is no more temptation, but you have done what you weren’t supposed to do AESTHETICISM: artistic and literal movement of the XIX century which empasised aesthetic values more than anything else -> the aim of everything is to be beautiful. Wilde is the best representative of this movement the fundamental principle of this movement is ART FOR ART’S SAKE. The words of Walter Pater concerning how to live life successfully as an aesthete are reinterpreted by Wilde’s character Lord Henry in THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY - Wilde was a fallen dandy, couldn't find a balance between body and soul, he doesn’t understand that excesses must be avoided and he wasn’t able to find a compromise—> a dandy was someone that wanted to make his life a work of art- dandysme developed in France with Baudelaire, that uses his weak to shock society- dandies are aristocrats, who wanted to become a model of elegance. Also Dorian Gray (like Andrea Sperelli in Il Piacere, D'Annunzio), was an aesthete and a fallen dandy -> "all excesses, as all renunciations, bring his own punishment", they couldn't find a balance between excesses and renunciations, they were too extreme to escape; Nature, in her wonderful irony, driving out the anchorite to feed with the wild animals of the desert and 45. giving to the hermit the beasts of the field as his companions. Yes: there was to be, as Lord Henry had prophesied, a new Hedonism that was to recreate life and to save it from that harsh uncomely puritanism that is having, in our own 50. day, its curious revival. It was to have its service of the intellect, certainly, yet it was never to accept any theory or system that would involve the sacrifice of any mode of passionate experience. Its aim, indeed, was to be experience itself, and not the fruits of experience, sweet or bitter as 55. they might be. Of the asceticism that deadens the senses, as of the vulgar profligacy that dulls them, it was to know nothing. But it was to teach man to concentrate himself 58. upon the moments of a life that is itself but a moment. MESSAGE: to avoid excesses and renunciation- he wrote “all excess as well as renunciation, brings is own punishment”. The aim is to make a balance between body and soul, an harmonious unity between body and soul—> to ignore one of the two is to sacrifice an element which is part of the human being. Asceticism= renunciation- a life style based on abstinence of sensual pleasure profligacy= excesses - PURITANISM= it was a religious reform movement in the late 16th century that sought to purify the church of England. 
 Anchorite= someone who lives in seclusion for religious reasons= HERMIT - men had fear of what was sensual (what concerns with senses), because it is what makes the human being be nearer animals- nature, with her irony brought who wants to suffocate what is sensual and decides to be an hermit, to have as companies of life these animals from which he tried to get away. Page 44 Jack is the owner of a beautiful house in the country and another house in London. He likes to lead very different lives in the two places so, when he is in London, he uses an assumed name: Ernest. He knows that as a baby he was found by Mr Cardew in a hand-bag at Victoria Station, but he doesn’t know anything of his parents. His best friend in London is Algernon. Jack is in love with Algernon’s cousin, Gwendolen. Jack proposes to Gwendolen, she accepts but then refuses him when she understands his real name is Jack. His suit is also refused by Gwendolen’s mother, Lady Bracknell, because Jack hast lost both of his parents. Jack decides to get christened to change his name Miss Prism’s presence comes to light and says that General Ernest John Montcrieff had a son whom he named Ernest after himself. He had another son whom he names Algernon. Ernest’s nurse, Miss Prism, accidentally lost the baby boy one day when she was taking him for a walk, leaving him in a hand-bag at Victorian Station. Jack realises that he is Algernon’s older brother and is really called Ernest. He and Gwendolen can marry. - It is shown an upper social group. - The title plays on a double meaning: the world EARNEST, an adjective which means serious, but also the word is a name, Ernest. - The play is full of misunderstandings which ridicules the conventions of Victorian melodrama. The play is also a parody of love, indeed the two women are both in love with a name: Ernest. The characters typically speak in paradoxes. - The importance of being earnest can be read as a social satire on the value placed on appearances. - it is a well-made play= the play follows the pattern of the comedy: 1. Has as its main objective to amuse and entertain the audience 2. Makes use of verbal humour (= when the audience is amused by what the characters say, including paradox, hyperbolic responses)—> the comments are not what we would expect 3. Makes use of behavioral humour (=when the audience is amused by the way the characters behave including melodramatic gestures and irrational behaviors) 4. Makes use of situational humour (= when the audience is amused by incredible, improbable situations on stage, such as the timing of entrances and exits, meetings and non-meetings)—> we know that the real name of Jack is Jack (the situation for the audience is funny, but for Jack is embarrassing). 5. Has simple flat characters, who do not change or develop in the course of the play. The playwright may choose to give them names which match their character type or role. 6. Has dramatic irony(= when the audience knows more than the characters on stage and so identifies a difference between appearance and reality). QUESTIONS 1. What was the relationship between novelists and the reading public in the first half of Victorian Age? The public was entertained by the novelists but there were also moral teachings social and philosophical debates, so there was the spread of the education among the public. Both novelists and the reading public had the same view of the world, shared the same values and outlooks on life. That is going to change in the last period of Victorian Age, with Aestheticism - Oscar Wilde and Stevenson—> they criticize the victorian society and victorian morality ( the target of criticism is victorian hypocrisy- formal morality, which covered behaviors which were not consistent with the moral rules of the time)—> relate to the theme of the double- to be keen on respectability but to behave and to be in a different way. and the aesthetic movement considers art as the most important thing whereas in the society art was no longer considered important. 2. What are the main themes of hard times? Dickens's bitter satire is Hard Times. The main themes are the critique on school systems, in which children are perceived as recipients to be filled with facts, where imagination has no space, critique on utilitarianism, which was a philosophical trend, that allowed for nothing in life other than that which was useful and workful. Basically there was no interest in aesthetics, buildings were built in such a way to make them useful. It is also criticized the industrialisation, because instead of bringing improvements and freedom, it brought pollution, materialism, monotony and economic poverty. Moreover, it is stressed the monotony, the uniformity, the lack of individuality and creativity that industrialisation caused. 3. What did Wilde considered an artist’s role to be? The role of the artist is to create beautiful things - he taught that art was useless so it didn’t have a practical aim (—> preface pag 259 “the artist is the creator of beautiful things”). Wilde supports the esthetic movement- slogan “art for art’s sake”—> sensation is the main source of art. - Other examples of art for art’s sake in the European culture: • d’Annunzio with his novel “Il Piacere”—> can be associated with the Picture of Dorian Gray- the senses are important and he uses the synesthesia- an expression which appeals to more than one sense, to describe a combination of different senses 4. The importance of being Earnest is a typical well-made play, what are his characteristics? (page 54) Well-made play= the play follows the pattern of the comedy: 1. there is an introduction—> the characters find themselves surrounded by problems - not a positive situation 2. a development—> things go from bad to worse 3. A moment of crisis—> the problems begin to be solved—> when Lady Bracknell arrived in the country house unexpectedly 4. conclusion—> happy ending with one or more marriages - the Importance of being Earnest is also an example of “comedy of manners”: there is the aristocracy 5. What are the main romantic themes and ideas?