L'Età Vittoriana e la letteratura inglese, Sintesi del corso di Inglese

Scarica L'Età Vittoriana e la letteratura inglese e più Sintesi del corso in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! VICTORIAN AGE The Victorian age took its name from Queen Victoria who came to the throne at the end of the first industrial revolution. During this period Britain transformed from an agricultural country to an industrial one. And then it become the most powerful nation in the world. The economic progress was due to material exploitation of its growing number of colonies. Poverty was considered a danger and for this reason a series of reforms were taken. Many people moved from the countryside to the industrial towns to work in the factories. Workers were in bad conditions, they lived in overcrowded slums, there were bad igienic conditions that led to the spread of deadly diseases. The government was forced to reduce overcrowding and it built modern hospitals. In this period lots of reforms were taken. The most important one was the first reform bill of 1832 which gave representation to the middle classes.
 Then there were a series of reforms bills that extended the vote to the working classes. Then the right to vote was extended to all men over 21. VICTORIA COMPROMISE Victoria compromise is the attitude of people (institution) to accept things as they are. In fact, during this period there are positive and negative aspects, on one hand there was a technological and economic progress, on other hand there were bad conditions of living, disease and pollution. THE GREAT EXHIBITION Thanks to the economic progress in 1851 there was the great exhibition held in the Crystal Palace in London. It was an exhibition of all the discoveries of the period. POOR LAW In 1834 the poor law was introduced, it reflected the Victorian view that poverty was a moral problem. Anyone who wanted to receive money or other help had to be sent to workhouses, hard and violent places. Children worked in factories or mines. Charles Dickens was an opponent of the poor law, he wrote about the terrible conditions in the workhouses, for example in Oliver Twist. THE LATE VICTORIAN PERIOD The most important Acts of this period were Elementary Education Act in 1870 and Trade Union Act in 1871. In 1897 it was introduced the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies, it superseded Women’s Social and Political Union, also called Suffragettes. THE NOVEL IN THE VICTORIAN AGE In The Victorian period the novel was the most important literary genre. Victorian novelist often published their work in installments, il literary magazines and periodicals. This form of publication created a certain type of expectation in readers. The idea of linearity become a very important feature. One of the most important genre was the Bildungsroman( the nov of formation) which traced the life of the protagonist from infancy to early adulthood. The main concern of these novels was the relationship of the individual to society. The novelist felt a social and moral responsibility to represent society in a realistic way, they denounced injustices. The narrator is omniscient, it analyse the psychology of the characters. The characters’ interior world becomes more important. CHARLES DICKENS Dickens lived during Victorian age, one of the most important novelist. He was born in 1812 in the south of England. His family moved to London, where his father was imprisoned for debt. Dickens was forced to work in a factory and this experience influenced his literary production. When the financial position of his father improved dickens went back to school. He became a parliamentary reporter and journalist. After the succeed of the pickwick papers he embarked on a full time career as a novelist. He suffered a stroke and he died in 1870.
 LITERARY PRODUCTION
 he published the Pickwick papers, humorous stories, then he published 16 novels such as Oliver Twist, David copperfield, hard times. He published many short stories, the most famous of which is a Chris carol. Most of his works are autobiographical where he wrote about his experience at the factory. OLIVER TWIST
 It’s the story of an orphan born in a workhouse, it talks about child exploitation. Dickens wants to make aware people of Victorian institutions , he talks about injustice and violence, he describes the bad condition of living in London. He uses characters to criticize. He criticizes Victorian society and organizations run by church and government because with the poor law they stipulated that the poor could only receive assistance if they moved into workhouses. Children were separated from families and forced to work. Workhouses operated on the principle that poverty was a consequence of laziness.
 COKETOWN
 this passage is taken from hard times. Dickens describes an industrial town “coketown” that means town of coal. It’s polluted, the bricks are red and black. We can find repetitions that underline the monotony. There are metaphors such as serpents of smoke , similar such as like the painted face of a savage and like the head of an elephant. OLIVER WANTS SOME MORE This passage is taken from Oliver Twist, the setting is a dining room in a workhouse. It’s a large room, where there are some children, Oliver, the master and his 2 assistants. The children are eating, they suffer from hunger, so they ask for more food and Oliver is the chosen one to ask, so at the dinner time, after eating, he asked for some more, but this action was seen like a crime, as consequence Oliver was put on sale for 5 pounds to anybody who wanted him for a trade, business, or other…
 WORKHOUSES
 Poor law was introduced in 1834, parishes were grouped into unions and each one had to build a workhouse. Poor people could only get help if they moved in workhouses, here they worked in exchange for accommodation. But The conditions were difficult there. There were strict rules and everyone had to work hard and do unpleasant jobs such as breaking stones, also the children. OSCAR WILDE He was born in 1854 in Dublin, he was Irish. After graduating in trinity college he went to Oxford where he followed the aesthetics of Walter pater and Ruskin. Then he moved to London here he became a spokesman for the school of art for art’s sake ( art for pleasure not criticism). He was popular and eccentric. He went to America for a lecture tour, he spent several months in Paris where he met Zola, Hugo and Balzac. After he married constance Lloyd and had two children. He was arrested and imprisoned for homosexual offences. After his release he moved to France where he lived in poverty and died in 1900.
 LITERARY PRODUCTION
 He wrote the famous novel the picture of Dorian gray. He wrote comedies such as a woman of no importance and the importance of being earnest. During his 2 years in prison he wrote the ballad of reading goal where he talks about this experience. THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY The preface to the picture of Dorian gray is considered a manifesto of the aesthetic movement and it expresses Wilde’s ideas on art in general. Some principles are:
 - the artist is a creator of beautiful things
 - The artist can express everything
 - Vice and virtue are materials for art
 THE STORY
 Basil Hallward is an artist, he decides to make a portrait of Dorian gray, a young and handsome man. Dorian makes a diabolical pact, influenced by the words of lord Henry Wotton, he says that he would give his soul to remain young and handsome. So the painting become more ugly as the time goes on while Dorian remains young. The main themes are the values of beauty and appearance. I WOULD GIVE MY SOUL FOR THAT! This passage is taken from chapter 2 of The Picture of Dorian Gray. Hallward finished his painting, he signed it, then Lord Henry came and looked at the portrait and he realized that it was a wonderful one. He congratulated to him, then he talks to Dorian and invite him to look at himself. Lord Henry says that is due to him, but Dorian didn’t answer and this means that Dorian didn’t understand the meaning of the words of Lord Henry, Dorian at the beginning looked at the painting without much interest, but then he recognized himself and his cheeks appeared with pleasure. He took awareness of his beauty, in fact Dorian thoughts about that compliment by Hallward depended to their friendship. Then Lord Henry arrived and spoke about young age and his brevity. Now after the words of Lord Henry, Dorian understand that he will become old and ugly. Dorian felt shocked, thinking about his old appearance, so Hallward asked him if he liked the picture, Lord Henry answered that it was a beautiful picture and he would have it, so Basil answered that it wasn’t his property but Dorian’s. Dorian was sad because he was thinking how old he will be and for that he will give everything, even his soul. GEORGE ORWELL LIFE George Orwell was a political committed writer, he was born on 1903 in Bengal (India). When he was a child he returned to England and he went to Eton school. He served in Britain's army in India. After resigning from the force he become a writer, Orwell returned to Europe and he had a series of jobs while his work continued to be rejected by publishers. •In 1936 Orwell went to Spain to fight for the Republicans against Francisco Franco and the Fascists in the Spanish Civil War, in fact he was against every form of totalitarism. Moreover, on his return to England, he published both fiction and journalism. From 1943 to 1945 He was literary editor of Tribune and a few years later, in 1950, Orwell died in London. LITERARY PRODUCTION On 1933 Orwell published Down and Out in Paris and London, which describes the conditions of poverty Orwell lived in at that time. Orwell's experience in Spain inspired Homage to Catalonia (1937). Though he continued to hold socialist views, during the war years, Orwell became disillusioned with Soviet communism under Stalin. It inspired his satirical fable Animal Farm (1945), which was followed in 1948 by the prophetic dystopian vision of Nineteen Eighty-Four. The story of 1984 1984 describes a totalitarian world in which life is controlled by the big brother who watches and ears everything. The book is divided into 3 parts. The main character is Winston smith, whose name reminds the figure of Winston Churchill who was the first minister during the Second World War and “smith “ is the most common English surname. So using this name Orwell wanted to represent in the same character an important man and an ordinary one. He lives in the capital of airstrip one in the superstate of Oceania, a totalitarian state ruled by an organization known as The Party and the leader is the big brother who appears in the posters and telescreens. FEATURES and THEMES The novel’s title is an inversion of the year in which it was written 1948, he set his story in a totalitarian state in the future but Orwell describes the political scenario of his own time. The society Orwell describes is dominated by mass-media propaganda. The media in Oceania has a double function: they influence people opinion with contradiction, there is the brainwash of population with slogans of “newspeak” like: war is peace, love is hate, which distort the reality. Another function is keeping the people under constant surveillance by telescreen. Everywhere there are images of this leader along with signs saying “big brother is watching you”. NEWSPEAK AND DOUBLETHINK Language plays an important role in Nineteen Eighty Four. Orwell’s invention of “newspeak” wanted to show us how the use of language can distort truth. In 1984 we have 2 words: newspeak and doublethink which is the way to have 2 contradictory opinions at the same time. The main work of this doublethink is to accept it as true. About 1984, we studied the extract “Big brother is watching you” This passage is taken from the chapter 1 of 1984, George Orwell describes the condition of things in London and Oceania ruled by a dictator called Big Brother. In this chapter, he sets the tone of the novel and introduces us to the main characters and themes. Winston, is the protagonist and he lives at Victory Mansions and hates big brother. He finds a diary in which he decides to write against the dictator.. Everyone is controlled all the time by telescreens. The thought police of Oceania are always looking for people who are against Big Brother and the party. He finds a secret corner in his apartment where he can sit and write. George Orwell also describes other things about London like the official language Newspeak and the four ministries through which the government carried out its affairs. WAR POETS War poets are a group of young poets who wrote about war. The experienced in the trenches, where life was a sort of hell, with bombings and the use of poison gas. RUPERT BROOKE He wrote 5 war sonnets about the 1914 war, in these sonnets he expressed the idea that war purifying the soul. He didn’t live the idea of war because he dead young. He want to show the security of the war and the death was seen like a prize, reward. These poems are so important because are a sort of inspiration for young people, one of the most important of his sonnets is “The Soldier”, and the war inspired patriotism. The soldier analysis The poet is speaking and he refers to English young men and to a foreign field. He’s not afraid of the death because he see it like a reward. His grave will be in a foreign country and his body who will become an English dust will rich that country, he see England like a mother country. The poet will be proud to die for his mother country and underlines his feelings for his country and to fight for his country. This is a Petrarch Sonnet, we have two stanzas: the first is composed by 8 lines (octave) and the second one is composed by 6 lines (sistine). The rhyme scheme is ABAB-CDC-EFG- EFG. The images that refers to the death are: dust, eternal mind. Die for his country gives the idea of immortality and all this is underlined by the images. WILFRED OWEN Owen was born at the end of the 19th century and he was a teacher of english but when he visited a hospital, he decided to return to England to enlist. In 1917 he was injured and sent to a war hospital for a shell shock, in 1918 he was killed by a German machine gun attack. In his poems he described the consequences of gas attacks like men who gone mad or who were clinically alive. The subject of his poems is the war, the pity of the war, as a sort of warning for the next generation, so for him it’s important that poets have to say the truth. Dulce et decorum est Owen Analysis Vv. 1-8= the poet describes the soldiers who are very tired and they run to shelter in the camps to protect themselves from the attack, during the war the soldiers were exhausted and they became blind or lame. Vv 10-14= he describes a situation of the gas attack and soldiers gone mad in fact they were yelling out and then he sees a friend who was drowning Vv.15-16= onomatopea, in his dreams he sees this image of his friend who is dying and it’s a sort of nightmare Vv 17-28= the poet refers to the reader that if he could see what was the reality of the war this man who is dying he would not tell to the children that the war is glorious. V.22= onomatopea In the first stanza the soldier were returning to the trenches. They are exhausted and demoralized and they walk through the sludge. They are bent double, coughing off like old men. In the second stanza there is a description of a gas attack. Men try to put on their gas masks in the green light and poet’s friend was injured. In the third stanza the sight of the dying friend returns to the poet’s dreams. In the last stanza the poet describes the horrible death of the friend and conveys the message of the poem. T.S. ELIOT LIFE On 1888 he was born in St.Louis, Missouri. In 1910 he studied in Paris at the Sorbonne, then on 1915 he married the British ballet dancer Vivienne Haight-Wood. In 1917 Eliot established himself as an important avant-garde poet. On 1925 he became a director for the publishers Faber&Faber then he acquired British citizenship and converted to Anglicanism. In 1948 Eliot received the Nobel Prize for literature and in 1965 he died in London. WORKS In 1922 he published The Waste Land, about this work it is said to be “the single most influential poetic work of the 20th century. Then he published Ash-Wednesday (1930), Four Quartets (1935-1942), Murder in the Cathedral (1935). T.S. ELIOT’S WORLD AND THE 19th-CENTURY WORLD THE WASTE LAND: CONTENT The Waste Land is an autobiography written in a moment of crisis in the poet’s life. It consists of five sections and it reflects the fragmented experience of the 20th-century sensibility of the great modern cities of the West. It is an anthology of indeterminate states of the mind, hallucinations, impressions, personalities blended and superimposed beyond the boundaries of time and place. The speaking voice is related to various personalities: Tiresias, the Theban prophet; a knight from the Grail legend; the Fisher King. 
 THE WASTE LAND: THEMES The Waste Land’s themes are • The breakdown of a historical, social and cultural order destroyed by World War I. • Contrast between past fertility and present sterility. • The mythical past linked to a new concept of history→repetition of the same events.
 Thus the present and past exist simultaneously in the Waste Land. THE WASTE LAND: STYLE There is a mixture of different poetic styles; then we can find an association of ideas→past and present are simultaneous. Subjective experiences made universal; it is used of juxtaposition. There are quotations from different languages and literary works. About the technique of implication is required the active participation of the reader. We can find the usage of the objective correlative. There are many repetition of words, images and phrases to increase musicality of this work. THE OBJECTVE CORRELATIVE: T.S. ELIOT AND MONTALE
 For Eliot, the ‘objective correlative’ is a pattern of objects, events, actions, or a situation that can serve effectively to awaken in the reader an emotional response without being a direct statement of that subjective emotion.