18th Century Britain: Transformations in Politics, Society, Unions, Parties, and Novels - , Appunti di Letteratura Inglese

Scarica 18th Century Britain: Transformations in Politics, Society, Unions, Parties, and Novels - e più Appunti in PDF di Letteratura Inglese solo su Docsity! Letteratura inglese 2   Lezione 1 - Introduction POLITICS 1660 – Restoration The first half of the 600 was important because England was a place of turmoil (socially and politically. During the restoration, with Charles ii stuart, the puritans killed Charles I and abolished the monarchy, which was restored with Charles ii As soon as the rest occurred problems started bc Charles had no legitimate children that could inherit the throne and it passed to his catholic brother james ii who also didn’t have legitimate children It was a problem bc after the revolution Britain wanted to be at peace and didn’t was to have other issues with politics and religion which were overlapping one over the other They didn’t want a catholic bc 1. He wouldn’t represent them since they were Anglicans or protestants and 2. (main prob) they feared that the king would not be faithful to the kingdom bc the pope was a prominent and powerful head of state so he would be faithful to the pope before his own country in an eventual war They tried to solve it by trying to call in a different king (glorious revolution) with William of orange and mary (protestan daughter of james) were called to the throne and it created a non violent revolution in the government (also called bloodless bc no blood was shed) bc james fled to France with his army to find help and tried to gather help from the king of France Apparently everything was fine bc they had protestant monarchs on the throne, but howerìver they wanted to be sure ab political stability and they passed two laws: -        Toleration act (1689): it concerns religion and granted limited freedom to dissenters (protestants but not Anglicans) but not catholics and Jews and unitarians (variety of dissenters that didn’t think that jesus was divine – inspired by god but not his son, human). This law was passed to grand some kind of religion freedom and truce -        Bill of rights (1689): limited the power of the crown in favour of the parliament bc james ii (who was full of flaws) not only was a catholic but also an absolutist king and believed that the king was invested by god and could do everything without consulting with the parliament before taking decisions. Only the parliament and not the king could make taxes, declare or go to war. It was meant to make the state more stable. After everything they did, William and mary didn’t have heirs so they passed the act of settlement (1701) and the throne passed to mary’s sister, also a protestant, queen mary and this act also insisted that the monarch swore allegiance to the church of England (so the Anglican church).       1707 – ACT OF UNION England and Scotland were already united bc they had the same king but they remained separate states with different legislation and with this act they became a united kingdom (great britain) even if a lot of scots didn’t want to shed blood to be united with England (they even considered colonization) but there was a lot of bribing but it worked only to make the law pass but most people in scotland were not happy with the decision bc they felt like they were under represented POLITICAL ‘PARTIES’ (o factions bc not everyone could vote so not everyone was represented – no property not right to vote, so no left party bc nobody represented the poor) WHIGS: new moneyed interest (trade and finance), people not necessarily belonging to the aristocracy but very very rich (merchants for ex) TORIES: landed interest – aristocracy, people with titles and huge amounts of land (land was considered what gave you moral right of citizenship bc if you didn't have land you could just pack and move elsewhere) Before there was no need for the different parties bc the economic power resided in the aristocracy bc there was not so much international trade, but now with the beginning of the empire and international relations they wanted political power bc they owned land   LITERATURE Censorship  – after the political turmoil there was a loosening of the censorship that concerned printing In 1695 the printing acts were not renewed and it made things difficult for people who wanted to print things. Printing was very expensive bc everything was done by hand and a small number of books were published bc of that and distribution (bc of transportation) The amount of books and printing materials was growing by this time so they decided to not pre approve books and allow everyone to publish and then, in case there was something wrong, prosecute them This doesn’t mean that everyone could publish everything because censorship was still on but this was a very important change. Publishing grew bc readers grew: at the beginning of 600 only 25% of adult males could read, but at the end 60/70% could approximately. This data is given by historians with religious registers bc of certificates. Marriage certificates were very important because they needed to be signed so we can estimate who could write even if it didn’t mean they could write or read or could afford books. In fact most families only had a couple of books like a bible, a family diary and some other religious books. Most poor people couldn’t have books bc they were too expensive Since the reading public was expanding we also experienced a change in how things were done. First it was patronage (if ur an author and you want to publish you get in contact with a patron – soon as watts published this people started to find faults in it, in particular the criticism against this can be divided into two main elements: genre (novel subverted romance, but romance continues to be published so it didn’t stop the production so more genres not only coexisted, but also mixed) and society (middle class is a difficult thing to define – since every century is considered the time of the rise of the middle class). Critics took issue with this emphasis Watts gave to the middle class because it was not specific enough.   MICHAEL MCKEON, THE ORIGINS OF THE ENGLISH NOVEL (1987) Mceon started from watts theory but felt the need to specify some things and overcame some flaws with a dialectic theory of genre. ‘In the late 17th century there were a lot of social political and intellectual changes ‘ and in order to describe these changes he used two labels: social issues (questions of virtue) and epistemological issues (knowledge – questions of truth). He defined these categories specifying that one did not substitute the other but they overlapped and coexisted. He described this coexistence of different ideas and values ‘categorical instability’ and this was the reason of the rise of the novel since it could cope better with these changes   QUESTIONS OF VIRTUE Social mobility started when people started to move from one class to another. -        Aristocratic ideology: the traditional way to see society, with different ranks and the fact that being a nobleman meant more than just a title but also values (honor and title meant social importance, the plan of god, each one has their place and you can't change it bc it’s the plan of god – a justification for the existence of the aristocracy). The artist ideology is the belief in the ranks and the fact that they could not change -        Progressive ideology: social mobility and new possibilities and opportunities (people questioned the use of the old ideology especially the link between rank and value) bc you don’t deserve the title if you didn’t do anything to deserve it but also you can get a title if you deserve it. U are not defined by your ancestors but by what you individually did. The Middle was invested in this ideology. But this meant that if ur successful in life you are valuable, but if not you aren’t -        Conservative ideology: opposite to the progressive. They questioned the progressive bc they said that the idea of rank is an idea and maybe also the value one bc it seems too idealistic and optimistic. They stressed on the fact that you could make your condition better only if you're successful but they said that it could happen also by bribing and cheating and not honesty and people who don’t have values could be successful and people who are couldn for many reasons. The supporters of the cons ide not only questioned the veracity of this idea but they also said that its dangerous bc it promised people that if you are good and honest you would be successful but it's not always true bc reality does not confirm that and it could induce people on hoping too much and get disappointed. Johnatan swift was a big supporter of the conservative ideology. All these ideas on how society works circulated at the time and all ideologies worked through telling stories. The Ideology that ‘wins’ is the one who can tell a better story bc if I can convince you that this is how society works, you will agree with my ideology. Like in robinson he is good and has some difficulties and then gets a reward. Ur valuable and virtuous = you deserve a reward.  This is the pattern of lots of novels that share the same ideology. Gulliver for example is conservative bc it starts in a way that is similar to robinson but gulliver doesn’t learn anything doesn’t improve himself and comes back completely mad (he doesn’t rise he falls).   QUESTIONS OF TRUTH In this period a lot of different literary genres coexisted but also many opinions on what truth was. -        Romance idealism: the centre and the focus was on received authorities. Authorities are important and we should value what they preached (the classics). A very popular idea was that the ancient reached a kind of peak that was not possible to overcome. -        Naïve empiricism: (goes in parallel with the progressive ideology) challenged the idea of romantic idealism and insisted on the necessity of conveying the reality in books. It tried to advise ways to convey the truth in narrative. This ideology preferred realistic novels and not romances, even if it was about fiction. They wanted to convince the reader that what he was reading was actually the truth -        Extreme skepticism: it seems the idea of naïve emp as too optimistic bc if you write the truth it can be so positive   The specific factor that influenced these ideals (reading ab the truth) was the philosophical movement of empiricism that emphasized the idea that the only way to get to our senses is through realistic novels and not fiction. There was a strong emphasis on proof, evidence, factual, accounts and the collection of dates. This new attachment to reality influenced literature. Empiricism involved everything in fact not only novels but also other genres that could work as factuals for novels. (file 2 – mckeon and empiricism)   NEW SCIENCE Empiricism was at the basis of modern science especially bc of the new emphasis on objective info and the empiricist theories that were linked with the use of data and use of resources. Travel accounts were very popular because Britain was still building its empire. Before this period travel accounts had a bad reputation bc it was viewed as false information bc it mixed facts and fantasy since they had to be sensational and needed to make you dream of that kind of trip. There was a change in how and why trav acc were written also bc discovery was seen as scientific account and before it was only a voyage and adventure that only had to surprise. Not only to learn, but also to exploit better places Britain wanted to occupy and that-s why they had to be simple and reliable. The royal society (1600) created notes to write travel accounts like taking notes everyday and blabla (they wrote it in their journal called philosophical transaction, which was very expensive and was only for people that could have access to this kind of publication. The ideal traveller is not someone who knows a lot of things but someone that can describe faithfully what he sees and be realistic and use a simple style doing so. Since travel books became very popular many novels that weren’t true travel accounts used these elements like robinson and gulliver. The same mechanism can be seen in the other literary genres that influenced the novel.   PROTESTANTISM It in a sense aligned itself with these ideals bc of reality. Spiritual autobiography is very important because religion encouraged spiritual diaries with emotions and thoughts and It was encouraged because it helped check the soul and the purity of it and also they didn’t have confession like catholics. The spiritual autobiography is different from these diaries because diaries are private, but these were meant to be published and it is the story usually of a great sinner that becomes a saint. It has spiritual analysis and the impact of different events In your life, but it didn’t have dates because it's written as a memoir and it's usually written by someone who's a great sinner or someone who's not really religious and it showed the passage from atheism to conversion. This was meant to be  published so it was meant to be true, but with events re interpreted from a spiritual pov. People loved to read this kind of novel because they used to write diaries. It was used also in early novels because people used to recount their lives under a different, more spiritual eye. There were a lot of novels about apparitions that could change people-s view of life and those novels were supported by the rules of the royal society because they were very detailed like travel accounts were.   PRINT Most of the novels (especially Victorian) were published weekly and many of them were illustrated and it completely changed the reading because the readers were influenced in imagining characters and other things. Printing was made by hand. It took ages to print a single page so the number of copies was small and if you wanted to go back and print more copies you needed to redo everything again. So news started to appear in print but they were not what we have today. In the 16th century they started to appear as ballads, with only one big sheet of paper but they weren’t so new, could be from a month before. In the 17th century papers started to increase claims ro historicity bc they wanted to distinguish real from fake in fact in mid 17th news started to separate from ballads, but slowly. They were written as ballads so they could be read and sung and it was easy because they used the same tune for everything. Because of the importance of empiricism they started to separate and also because they were very important (many revolutions and social and political changes) and impacted the life of the population. It had a double effect bc on one hand printing was very expensive and time consuming so they believed it was very valuable and therefore true, on the other hand it called skepticism bc many believed that they were biased bc of the specific political party the paper agreed with. A lot of other genres were printed, like prose narratives (novelles, secret histories and memoirs) and sometimes were true and sometimes not so the fact that most were perceived as valuable and they started to write ab real people with different names but with some details that could spot who it was and it created a lot of scandals. All these works started to become popular because they had a strong connection with reality and romance started to decline because most authors started writing these kinds of books because they were popular.     Lezione 3 – Early Fictions Lennard Davis - Factual Fictions (1983)  Lezione 12 - The Italian in the 90s the gothic novel became more popular but most critics considered it as written and aimed at a low level public, even if the public loved it. The novel usually has some connection with reality and the revolutions fueled the gothic bc people saw what they were reading irl. ANNE RADCLIFFE  She legitimized gothic literature and made it respectable because she didn't aim to shock anyone and she aimed to raise the form of the novel with some descriptions of romantic landscapes that contributed to make her novels even more popular among the middle class since they were more inclined to read respectable books. walter scott said that her prose was poetic that we can call painterly prose especially bc she was influenced by 17th century painters like claude lorrain and salvator rosa (dark colors and backgrounds) THE ITALIAN The novel was set in Italy and apart from the narrative frame in which we see some british culture, all the characters are italian and the title is referring to the villain and this already gives an idea of the context. She was also exploiting stereotypes of the time. The novel is not set in the middle ages, the setting is almost contemporary (second half of the 18th century). It starts with some english tourists in a church that meet a man who says he's an assassin and sends them a manuscript with the whole story (the actual novel). The reference to the english tourists in this narrative frame is important because during the period there was a lot of tourism especially in Spain and Italy and that made gothic novels in these places even more interesting. The marchesa is the second villain of the story. Paolo is the typical lower class character (comic relief - funny and loyal to his master). Most novels have a happy ending (this one too). In the introduction Radcliffe puts all the details ab the year and place of the story. We have upper class characters who are very educated and interested in the arts and could afford to travel. In the intro there is an introduction of a mysterious and scary character that has something to hide because he escapes from strangers. With the stereotype of an assassin being protected in a church it portrays Italy as a violent country where laws work backwards. From this very first frame we can see that the gothic has some defining elements such as history and geography.  HISTORY  This novel shows the opposition between modernity and the idea of the past. gothic means something that is not civilized so it was usually used as a negative term (barbarous, dark and ancient) like old chatolic countries. This opposition will remain unchanged in other gothic novels, but the manifestation of these elements will change. however it's still central bc the story is contemporary but italy is described as still in the past bc of the whig view of history, judging the past bc what was valuable and celebrated in the past depends on its resemblance to modern values (history as a mean to progress but also conflict). the novels by radcliffe dramatize this opposition in the form of oppressive institutions or society (the villain is similar to the elizabethan villain while the heroes and heroines represent the modern world for example the heroes of this story don't care ab hierarchy while the villains do and have different values and emotions). These modern characters are less focused on ranks but more on family and individualism (middle class modern values) even if it's set in the past, but the authors used to represent modern age in the past to present the progress and conflict. The gothic cusp is the representation of the old generation facing the past and the younger looking at the future (and this creates conflict). Young men used to take long tours around Europe and the final destination was usually Italy because of its art and it represented the best way of finishing the polite education of a gentleman (they came with their tutors and not alone). english tourists appreciated the antiquity of italy but they also recognized how ancient italy was still socially (it went backwards since they were so big before but now they’re not) and this was badly seen by english tourists bc they brought with them the protestant values bc they used to see catholicism as a form of the past. so authors used italy and spain to show the modern vs middle age mentality. the villain in the gothic novel and especially in radcliffe was a depiction of the gothic past while the heroes are the representation of the middle class of the 18th century (also protestants) and its how to show how the past can threaten the present (like when the villain chases the heroine) and also the reflection that even if you're modern and the society is enlightened something from the past could come back and ruin everything.  GEOGRAPHY In all the novels of the 18th century mobility was very important (physical and social sense). The novels featured as protagonists an object that would pass through different characters and spy everything. so the idea was that in order to learn you have to move. this connects to the idea of landscapes that have an aesthetic function but also a structural function bc there are some key elements of the plot bc some elements of the setting could be crucial for the characters, for example elena has a character development that is very close to her reaction to the setting of the passage elena moves in four main places that define her character:  villa altieri: her home where she lives with her aunt and the housekeeper (place of calm and peace and kindness but also a place of stasis, until she becomes eligible for marriage, so the romance heroine)  san stefano (the convent). with nuns that do not help her except for olivia (she is there against her will, but this dark and dangerous environment is full of women who help bad men in their oppressive agenda, especially against women since they are all unwanted women) but there is also the description of the turret (like a sanctuary) that is strongly connected to the landscape (she can see the horizon) and will inspire her to take action against her kidnapping bc she forgets for a second that she is a prisoner and she feels free (the reaction at the landscape is what makes her an appropriate heroine bc she reacts in the right way to it bc she refuses to be mentally oppressed - since she is already physically oppressed);  house by the sea: completely male dominated place (schedoni) and it's a turning point bc elena finds out she's his daughter (she's not) and considers her another one of his possessions to use to get even more power (she cannot have a subjective self individual from family bc she's a girl and has to depend from family)  santa della pietà: she discovers her true identity (she meets again olivia who reveals to be her mother and shes not schedonis daughter) and this convent is a kind and peaceful environment bc everyone is like a family to each other bc the head nun refuses to surrender at the bad men and offers housing to women in danger.  the importance of travels and how landscape could bring out your true character Lezione 19 - North and South  Elizabeth Gaskell was an important author of the 18th century. There were various ways to publish a novel, for example in installments (that could be done as pamphlets or in magazines/newspapers) and it was important because it made novels more available to everyone since they were cheaper but had also an impact on how the novels were written. this novel was published in 20 weekly episodes (sept.1854 - jan.1855) edited by charles dickens in ‘household words’. for readers this implied that they had to wait to read the next installment and this changed the impact on the readers but also on the creativity of the author for example for her it was the figure of dickens that was difficult to ignore since they were both published authors in this magazine. he published hard times in the same journal from april to august 1854 and it had some similar aspects from north and south so gaskell had to be careful not to publish some chapters that were too similar to dickens’ bc she could’ve been accused of plagiarism especially bc he was more popular so she felt the pressure of the comparison (both novels ab the industrial revolution). publication in installments was difficult for authors bc when you publish a book in its entirety you have time to revise it while installments had to be published before a certain deadline (dickens was good at it while gaskell had some problems with it bc she had to change some lengths and details of the story bc of the format of the publication). Also authors couldn’t know if buyers got the journals bc of the novel or bc of the news and after six weeks the sales dropped and Dickens complained of her prolixity and forced her to cut 2 episodes. She also had to change the name of the novel (original ‘Margaret Hale’ to fit the tradition of the protagonist as the title) but Dickens chose the final title. so she was unsatisfied with her work but after the installments publication she was able to public a volume in 1855 at the same time in london and new york and she managed to insert all the things she wanted to fit in the original story, making changes and adding a couple of chapters at the beginning and the end.  THE INDUSTRIAL NOVEL (industrial novel or social novel or social problem novel or condition of england novel)  The last name was taken from an essay from Thomas Carlyle (chartism - a movement for political rights, especially universal suffrage) . The issue of social tensions triggered the industrial revolution causing changes and so many people from rural communities found themselves in industrial cities and the sense of community of small towns evaporated once they all moved. wages were low, workers had no rights or trade unions (sindacati) and you could be persecuted if you associated with other workers to manifest. This revolution also changed the landscapes and they wanted to manage it but didnt know how. there were two main approaches: traditional paternalistic attitude (huge disparities between classes, but also the managers could offer the kids school and doctors in exchange of favours - the manager should take care of his workers like a father, so he was good but also controlling) and laissez-faire (you shouldn't do anything and the economy self regulates, so it doesn't need state to change or intervene; it had side effects especially in the fight for rights - men were replaced easily especially if they were active politically). Usually in the Victorian period the laissez faire was more popular. People in the city started to educate themselves and formed clubs and groups to learn and discuss what they were learning and also share ideas and express these ideas. The industrial novel coped with this issue because it aimed to intervene in these problems. ‘the hungry 40s’ bad economics and there was a big food shortage, mostly for the poor population and it cost a lot of workers their jobs because factories closed. if only rich), even if a lot of people said that too much study could be bad for them and ruin reproductive capacities. educated women could end romance. It was thought that women were adapting, but others considered it a problem and danger because if they became too strong they could neglect their roles as mothers and wives. This kind of debate wasnt anymore a problem only concerning rich people because it was discussed in every paper that was available to everyone. ‘Representation of the people act’ (1918): women over 30 who met some specific qualifications could vote (for men it was at 21 or 19 if they were in the army). ‘equal franchise act’ (1928): women over 21 could vote (same right as men)  job market: not all women were in favor and not all men were opposed to the movement. elisa lynn linton was one of the first professional women journalists and she was also a novellist that started as a feminist but became a strong opposed of the new woman movement (she wrote an autobiography as a man) and she actually coined the term ‘wild women’ and she said that politics and social contexts werent for women - if women got power they would crush men. a very nasty kind of irony was used in illustration (young pretty woman married vs ugly old woman not married and bitter - ugly suffragettes - man feeding children). Lezione 27 - Grant Allen The women's movement was treated in novels not only by women but also by men - for example Grant Allen, a very popular author, born in Canada but educated in oxford. he was both a novelist and a scientist (mostly biologist) and used to write essays about discovering and explaining nature. his most important novels are:  the british barbarians (1895): science fiction, about a time traveller that goes in the past and narrates the changes in the future. mostly a dialogue.  an african millionaire (1897): collection of crime detective stories which protagonist is the ‘villain’ but he actually is good bc he steals from the rich and redistribute the wealth  hilda wade (1900): nurse detective that solves cases Grant Allen contributed to the women's movement with a novel from 1895 called ‘the woman who did’ that talks about a young girl from Cambridge that falls in love but doesn't want marriage because she's a modern woman so she convinces his man to go live together without getting married. In the end he dies but she has no right to his fortune and their daughter is illegitimate and has no rights so she goes back to her hometown and supports her daughter alone as a single mother. Unfortunately, her daughter grows up to become a conventional girl, and also blames her because she is illegitimate and she can't marry in a good family. She understands the problem so she kills herself so her daughter is just an orphan and could marry anyone. This shows how society was not ready for single mothers. This book was also misjudged by women in the movement because it seemed against the true ideals of the movement (women coulndt support themselves alone and should go back to the kitchen) and some parodies of the novel were made.  THE TYPE-WRITER GIRL (1897) published under the pseudonym of olive pratt rayner (female name) bc he didnt wanna use his name again and if he published as a woman his book would have been received better. He writes in a first person narrator, a young intelligent and clever girl. This creates some interesting collisions because the girl is very emancipated, but he makes her say that gender roles are decided by nature (not clever and emancipated), against what women from the movement would say. This deals with another key point of the movement: the world of work. In the second half of the century the field of finance was expanding so there were new jobs for girls (middle class bc working class had always worked) but some jobs that were usually typical for women started being professionalized (like nursing and teaching) but also new jobs like typist and in stores. towards the end of the century more office work was needed (female clerks started to appear) bc new corporate businesses opened the world scale exchange: in 1851 there were 2000 female clerks, at the end of the century 166000. however this was not always seen as a great opportunity (bc working all day could be bad for their health but also being with men all day could diminish their sensitivity). The typist was an icon of anxiety because he was a young girl in an office full of men all day but also fascination (the charm of modernity). typists had low wages, were ignored and couldn't aspire to get a better career. The typist was very popular in fiction (even if it was illustrated as always well dressed even if they couldn't afford it in real life and sexualized - because working with men). The novel is full of references to history and other kinds of culture and the girl speaks as a young girl that knows what she wants and how she wants it. She describes urban life as unknowable since you can't possibly know everyone and everything, so she starts to create stories in her head about the people she sees. Samuel Butler was a man who hypothesized that the odyssey was written by a woman and the girl in the novel sees comfort in this even if she doesn't believe in it. The narration is not straightforward because a woman couldn't write in a simple way and tended to jump from one object to another. The novel was modern but also filled with stereotypes, for example the dream of the woman of adventure in the form of being the princess waiting to be saved by the knight in shining armour. Juliet is described in very positive ways (modern girl who could support herself) while Mikaela is the conventional girl. Romeo and Juliet are both clever and smart so they fit, but Romeo and Mikaela don't understand each other. Juliet gives up marriage because she can live without it being a modern girl but Mikaela couldn't. The ending is not a happy ending, meaning that she doesn't get the man she loves, but she's free to live the adventures that she always wanted to live.  Gulliver’s Travels It was published in 1726 and written between 1721 and 1725. It's very different from Robinson because it criticizes that kind of ideology using the same tools. it was very popular bc it could be classified as a travel account, which was very popular because of the empiristic ideology of the time (i witnessed it, it's all true), although swift uses the same strategy to expose the flaws of empiricism.  (file on kiro) He uses the strategy that is a friend of Gulliver's writing, using the original manuscript as evidence (so he can leave out some details and edit it heavily, differently than the original), undermining the naive empiricism behaviour. He tries to locate the character to make the reader believe he's a real person. The name gulliver reminds of gullible, someone who gets fooled easily. There were some elements in the book that he wished to see changed after the publishing of his book . (Confused dates meant that there was no precise data and that sympson didn't have the manuscript anymore. He uses satire by exaggeration to make the reader see how naive it is.  It's divided into 4 parts. 1. the voyage to lilliput (political satire): gulliver is a ship surgeon, so very successful and can go on a journey (started on the 4th of may 1699). he was the only survivor of a  shipwreck that led him to lilliput (they had an emperor, satire of george the first).  The people of Lilliput were small physically but also mentally (caricatures of english people) and were divided into two factions: low heels and high heels (whigs and tories). The prince in Lilliput (George the i) wears one low shoe and a high shoe. Gulliver is first seens as an enemy, but always tries to be accepted, even if he's not very clever and he's considered a fire starter (bc he's naive). There are some conspiracies made against him, so he flees and embarks on a english ship to return to sea.  2. the voyage to Brobdingnag: located near Alaska, it's the land of the giants. The other people on the ship flee after seeing a monster, while Gulliver is the only one left and gets captured by the daughter of a farmer who exhibits Gulliver at a market to make some money (the queen buys him as a pet). here gulliver finds himself in a high society. There is some interesting work of prospective: for example the king is very wise and curious, as opposed to gulliver who is very foolish and naive and tries to brag about the fact that he's sitting with the king, but the king thinks little of it. Gulliver tries to get something in return from the king to climb the social ladder so he offers him some gunpowder, which the king finds awful, even the thought of using it. a bird steals gulliver's travelling bag and drops it into the sea, he gets rescued by an english ship.  3. voyage to Laputa: gulliver gets back to london, and since earth is in complete chaos with everything out of order, the kingdom in ruins and people absorbed in math and science, he immediately leaves, finding himself on the flying island of Laputa. The population of Laputa is made of normal sized people but stronger than  normal and obsessed with math and music. This was a satire of the new science that was seen by swift as useful but couldn't solve all the problems. The grand academy of Lagado was a caricature of the royal society and was full of projectors, elaborating wild and impracticable schemes. Gulliver gets offered a tour of the island and for them to explain their projects (like building houses from roots to basement or building a machine that writes books by arranging words by chance since talking is not efficient).  4. voyage to the island of the houyhnhnms and the yahoos: this is the only travel in which he really changes because he wants to become a horse and he's disgusted by the yahoos. He ends up becoming a servant of one of the horses. In this ‘perfect society’ every horse is perfect and has its own peace. gulliver tho is neither a horse nor a yahoo (intelligent) so he returns to england completely mad. he starts to interpret everything as if he's a horse cb he doesn't feel human and talk with horses, who don't talk back (goes to live in a stable bc he's disgusted by the smell of humans). This shows the pessimism and cleverness of swift.  Questions of virtue in gulliver:  The whole work is a satire of progressive ideology bc gulliver, like robinson, wants adventure, but he never learns anything from his voyages, there is no change or evolution, only in the final voyage, but it's not a positive change.   the desire to be accepted: he wants stupid titles, too keen on rewards and the royals dont appreciate his offers The last part is the easiest to understand since the horses represent an utopia of the perfect society with no issue of social mobility, no money, did not depend on merit and only wanted what was useful and what they needed. The barrier between ‘ranks’ is in fact of kind, not degree (we are never gonna be able to create this kind of society because we are humans not horses).  Questions of truth:  in the early 19th century not everyone could read or buy books (middle class markets, working class) and this issue gradually disappears at the end of the century Book prices were high because there was no need to reach the lower class and thanks to the circulating libraries people could borrow books. the books were only the ones *selected* by the libraries the magazine format had some advantages like additional income for advertisers, less vulnerable (people still called them papers), they were cheaper and it had influence on the readers  VICTORIAN REALISM  spiritualism was a popular thing back then. realism =/= real since the first term was used first for art and later (in 19th) to literature. During the 18th the term verisimilitude was used to indicate what we mean with realism today. Realism means how to approach reality in fiction and every age has its own way to do it, with different ways to intend it and going out of their way to create something realistic.  according to Lodge, realism meant the representation of experience (very important for victorians since it would bring some moral lesson to the readers) according to Williams the victorian age was an age of confidence and self confidence According to Levine, the birth of realism was based on the desire to overcome doubt and the need to have something that could solidly represent reality in a book. the descriptions used to always show the subjectivity of the author and not the objectivity of reality. fiction was a well established form, readers knew that what they were reading was not real.  according to Lukas realism wasn't the representation of pre established reality, but a method of discovery  Victorian photography and realistic fictions were mutually influenced by scientific and philosophical ideas.  VISION: how the subject approaches to reality (camera oscura shows the reality as it is, with only the right tools such as empiricism to achieve objective vision) early 19th century: research on optics emphasized the role played by subjectivity of the observer (so the concept of reality shifts on your individual reality). there were major changes regarding the understanding of sight and attention of the viewer/reader  Photography invented in the Victorian period improved the quality and circulation of images (became portable) and was a big step for documentation since before it wasn't possible to know who the photograph was of.   photography was very popular also in novels because it spread the idea of capturing the pic of someone without being seen. there were different ideas of realism in photography:  composition photography: collection of more pics mixed together  spirit photography: it could capture ghosts and spirits, go beyond the seen the combo of technique and medieval tools was able to shape the perception of reality for the viewer, in fact the perception of real and reality varies from culture and age  realism =/= copying reality since it was not a reportage but a way to discover reality through pics and novels (authenticated by the subjectivity of the author) and it used to build a common ground for the readers (a community). realistic novels were seen as an instrument to enlarge our sympathy. They wanted to write short but intense stories aimed at morally influencing people. (a bit of a romantic view, corresponding with Wordsworth's one). some characteristics of the realistic novels were the presence of anti heroes and heroines, not in a very positive way, who makes bad decisions and it's not that clever and doesn't understand the society he/she lives in (deflation of passion, individuals within large social organizations) The novel became self-conscious in terms of style but also in the prologues that debase the text as ordinary, celebrating things that are ordinary became a value. different arts are combined to represent reality and the opposite of realism wasn't idealism but falsism. Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte wrote Jane Eyre as an autobiography (no more early novel’s idea of truth), published under a pseudonym (currer bell).  The novel could be divided into 5 parts: Gateshead, Lowood School, Thornfield Hall, Moor House and Ferndean. Jane was a solitary child, spontaneous, outspoken, but doesnt feel like a member of the family. Mrs Reed doesn’t really like her and barely tolerates her.  The school is an unhealthy place (bc of a typhus pandemic and the dishonesty of the headmaster), where Jane is bodily punished, but she manages to make a friend, who has a positive influence on her. Jane stays there for six years, plus two years as a teacher after her studies, but wants to find a different job as a governess (in between figure in the victorian age with middle class background, impoverished family and still considered a gentle profession. the governess very often occupied a very weird place in the house in which they worked, full of extreme loneliness, more than a servant but less than a master). Edward Rochester is a typical byronic hero, always grumpy and in a bad mood. he shows an interest in jane bc she's a bit weird (something may happen but things don't proceed smoothly in the direction of romance). he proposes to jane and the night before someone rips her veil and the marriage does not take place. During the ceremony Mr Mason says that Rochester is already married. rochester offers jane to elope and move to southern france, but she refuses bc she would be living a sin The mansion is seen as a gothic place, in which strange things happen (ex. strange laugh - caused by bertha, official wife of rochester, trapped in the attic). There are secrets and Jane has to leave when she gets the news that her aunt is dying. she leaves thornfield during the night The family of st john’s rivers takes her in and finds her a job as a teacher (discovering her uncle, also uncle of st johns, died and left her a fortune ence she's a rich girl - she shares her fortune with st johns). She receives a marriage proposal from St John's himself (out of duty, not romantic) who wants to go on a mission in India to convert the Indians since he's very religious. Jane thinks ab it and respects his good intentions but on the verge of accepting she hears the voice of rochester (sign of prudence) and discovers that thornfield was set on fire by Bertha because she was mad. Rochester tried to save her but lost a hand and eyesight, now he lives in ferndean. Now that there are no obstacles for their marriage, they get married, have children and he regains his eyesight.  the gothic elements of the novel are:  the mansion, thornfield  mr rochester, typical byronic hero (attractive bc he seems dangerous)  a mad woman (bertha) described as really scary or as the ‘vampire’  but never in details there is an interesting use of the supernatural (apparent supernatural - ann radcliffe) used to attract and thrill the public and reinforce the image of jane as a strong woman:   jane dreams a lot (prophetic)  she thinks she saw her uncles ghost  lightnings striking the chestnut when rochester proposes  the call of rochester from miles away This novel is a critique to society (file on kiro) bc literature should tackle social issues and its focusing on the idea of gender (chap 12 - many things reminding of fire to symbolize janes will to live and the fire of her heart). Charlotte Bronte also was a strong supporter of the medical discourse of the time, considering unfair the fact that ‘women didn't need action, but men did and it was seen as an unreal thing. Elizabeth Rigby (lady east lake) wrote some reviews on the tories conservative periodical (typically bad reviews since Byron's gothic got criticized too). she talks ab reading and vanity fair and jane eyre saying ab the latter that there is no heroism or realism and compares it to pamela (very negative impression) and the worst thing is that jane is the personification of an untamed spirit, too spontaneous and ungrateful (quote 4 on kiro) (quote 5) jane eyre is an anti christian book bc she is religious by christianity is the principle of society (hierarchy according to god) and if you rebelled against society you rebelled against god (same ideas of the rìfrench revolution). chartism: movement for political rights, promoted petitions for universal suffrage and also secret ballot.  theme of independence: advocacy for independence (criticism of victorian marriage as an institution and a system of sexual and economical exchange (bronte proposes an alternative based on love). ‘mistress’: female superior (not often used), wife or kept woman ‘i am my own mistress’ was used after acquiring financial independence (sudden inheritance not revolutionary) the law allowed the exploitation of women, so some laws were made to amend the situation: