Riassunto dell'età vittoriana, Dispense di Inglese

Scarica Riassunto dell'età vittoriana e più Dispense in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! VICTORIAN AGE (when victoria obtained the throne) 1832-1901 - 1832 first important social reform (Great social reforms) - long age, full of contradictions Dickens was the flag bearer - we understand he loved contrasts and he preferred reporting the same concepts many times with different words - in the 1870s there was the pick of expansions that the English empire has ever seen. It covered ¼ of the land surface of the world. Also 38% of all manufactured goods were coming from the English empire. The Suez Canal (England bought the action of the Canal and imposed a tribute to pay to pass through it) was fondamental, because the merchants could arrive in India without circumnavigating Africa. In total 70% of goods passing through the Suez Canal were possessed by the English empire. London was the greatest port: there were storehouses (magazzini) and docks (moli) for each type of goods which arrived at the port. - The problem about the English empire was that 10% people owned 92% of the national wealth. There was a big disparison between rich merchants and wealthy people and poor homeless people and this increased crime. During this age the investigations genre became popular because it reassured the rich that crime was under control (it reassured people about the possibility of order) ( Sherlock Holmes). Poor people (couldn’t live long because they) couldn’t improve their condition and social class. Since the money they gained was sufficient for the day, moreover if you had a family you had to choose between you and your kids, who weren’t going to have a better life than you. 40% of the population lived below the poverty level - In the colonies there weren’t real industries, they just sold the material at low prices, so in England they could make items from these materials, which were cheap. These items literally destroyed the internal market and artisans, which couldn’t handle the competition - At the beginning the political power was in the hands of aristocrats. There was an unprecedented wealth, but also an unprecedented poorness. These rich people could exploit poor people since the salary was so low that they had to accept everything. At a certain point families had to live in the streets selling everything they had. Working nor working you died anyway at the edge of the street - “Evolution is better than revolution”, some intellectuals understood that in front of misery it was better to give them something in order to accomplish their basic needs and requests rather than waiting to be killed by revolution. So philanthropy wasn’t that caring towards poor people. Also these type of reforms were done to accomplish people - The majority was made of puritans, which only cared about covering the body and sins, they completely ignored real problems and economics. - (The secret of England’s greatness: Victoria giving a black man the Bible, the secret of England.) The first years of Victoria’s reign were a period of social reforms and political developments, material progress and also imperial expansion. In foreign policy, this was a period of great expansion in trade, as the abundance of manufactured goods needed new markets. The most important and lucrative zone of influence for Britain was India. By the middle of the 19th century, Britain had become a nation of town dwellers due to its extraordinary industrial development. The majority of Victorian city poor lived in unhealthy slum districts overrun by disease and crime. Here the mortality rate was high and the terrible working conditions in polluted environments had a disastrous effect, especially on children’s health. The homeless, unemployed, orphaned children were given a place to live in these institutions in return for their labour. The reforms are developed in 3 scopes/areas: HOUSING ACTS(reducing poverty/the number of beggars) In 1834 there was the introduction of workhouses with a big reform. In these houses people who lived on the streets were welcomed and they were taught a job for an initial period, trying to establish themselves in the outside world. The initial idea was right but first of all the number of people was too high and furthermore after the initial period few people left because they really treated them very well. Then the state decides to make the working houses uglier until they almost become prisons: they separate families, reduce food and introduce stricter rules. REFORM ACTS 1832: Male householders (1832 The Great Reform Act: the right to vote was extended to all men of the middle class) They did a census and this specific category of people could vote. The percentage went up to 20% of newsday voters. London was divided into electoral districts (boroughs). A lot of people moved from the countryside to the centre. In each borough was elected one person, but in some abandoned borough’s of the countryside there were less people, so the possibility of being elected thanks to the competition of few farmers was high. For this reason these boroughs are called “rotten”, and they’re been abolished. 1867 The right to vote was extended to the lower middle class and working class (only males). The percentage went up to 40%. Only in 1884 there had been given the right to vote to agricultural workers (only males). In total 60% of people could vote (still not female). But at this point women worked the same hours and had the same jobs males had, so the feminist movement of Suffragette got popular. In 1918 (not Victorian Age anymore) men were given the right to vote at 21, while for females it was at 30. In the 1928 there was the Equal Franchise Act (right to vote) FACTORY ACTS 1823 Children under 8 years old couldn’t work. The problem is that there weren’t enough policies and inspectors to guarantee this law. At this moment it became necessary for the register office in order to apply this law. Children between 8 to 13 couldn’t work more than 8 hours a day and no night duty. From 13 to 18 not more than 12 hours a day. In 1844 children between 8 and 13 couldn’t work more than 6.5 hours a day. Women instead had a maximum of 12 hours a day (included break). Also about health regulations: once a year they spray lime on the surfaces. In 1847 there had been the 10 Hours Act: all the adults had to work circus man who also takes care of horses. Gradgrind instantly asks her the definition of a horse but Sissy can’t give it. So firstly he makes fun of her in front of her classmates and then he asks the same question to his favourite pupil, Bitzer, who is squared and without emotions like his teacher. He gives him the right answer using difficult and specific words and without using verbs. Moreover at the end Dickens criticises Gradgrind's ideas, since the teacher really believes the young girl has finally learnt what a horse is, while his unique achievement is obtained to stress out his pupils and to destroy their capacity of feeling. So in conclusion Gradgrind’s philosophy's main idea is to perfectly analyse facts and to avoid the possibility of seeing the real image of the world. In this way every pupil is deprived of his emotions and creativity. COKETOWN At the beginning of the passage mrs Bounderby and Gradgrind are walking, but the narration is immediately interrupted by the description of Coketown, described as a typical industrialised town during the Victorian reign, in which everyone is imprisoned in a life of melancholy, monotony and pain. Here all the buildings, covered with soot coming from the coal burning factories, are the same. Consequently everything in this town is black or grey and symbolises at the same time productivity and workers’ depression. So this town is the pure example of the “triumph of fact”, where every inhabitant is equally like the others and everyone does the same things everyday. For these reasons there is no place for beauty, nature and humanity, but here only madness is welcome. Obviously Dickens wanted to criticise Victorian society, where Profit, considered as God, created a new world in which there was no place for humanity. This happened because, in Victorian society, everyone was only interested to survive and not necessarily to be human. Moreover the narrator also interprets the middle class point of view, and starts to condemn all workers' vices, such as alcohol, drugs, and lack of faith. Here Dickens is ironically reporting how the middle class acted in his age: they always found the problem in “worker class vices” without understanding the reasons behind their behaviour. At the end of the passage the narration continues with the two “gentlemen” walking through Coketown and criticising every corrupted worker. SCHEDA Dickens uses an ironic boxing metaphor to describe the inspector. In fact he believes that only he has the right ideas and so he has to fight all England to destroy all nonsense. Like Mr Gradgrind also the inspector uses a violent method to affirm his ideas. Then the lesson continues with the inspector who asks the children if they should carpet a room with representations of horses or with representations of flowers. Some children answer “yes”, others say “no”. The inspector explains to the children that they shouldn’t do this because in real life this doesn’t happen and so they represent only the things that really happen. Sissy is one of them who said “yes” because she loves flowers and she doesn’t want to destroy her imagination. Instead the inspector, like Mr Gradgrind, wants that the children don’t fancy, he wants that they only rely on facts. At the end the inspector allows Mr M’Choakumchild to start his lesson. Like Gradgrind he is described as a man who is full of facts and information but without emotions and feelings, as the school of that period. This passage has the same meaning of “the definition of a horse”, since it promotes Victorian teaching style, which aims to destroy creativity and feelings and to create humans without humanity. OLIVER TWIST PLOT "Oliver Twist" follows the life of a young orphan who escapes a harsh workhouse only to fall into the hands of Fagin, a leader of a gang of child thieves in London. Despite being involved in criminal activities, Oliver's inherent goodness leads to his rescue by the kind-hearted Mr. Brownlow. The story gradually reveals Oliver's true heritage and exposes the machinations of his half-brother who had paid thieves to ruin Oliver and have his father's property all to himself. The novel concludes with Oliver finding a loving home. THEMES The main themes of Oliver Twist are the cruelty of institutions and individuals towards poor children, and the terrible effects of poverty on an individual's life. OLIVER WANTS SOME MORE In the stone hall where the boys were fed, a large pot was used by the master, donned in an apron and assisted by a couple of women, to ladle out (dish out) gruel at mealtimes. Each boy received one bowl of gruel, and on special occasions, an additional small portion of bread. The boys, always hungry, would polish their bowls clean with their spoons and stare at the pot, desperately wishing for more. After suffering extreme hunger for three months, one boy hinted that he might resort to cannibalism if he didn't get more food. This led to a desperate council among the boys, who decided to draw lots to choose someone to ask for more food. The lot fell to Oliver Twist. That evening, after the usual meagre meal, Oliver, driven by hunger and misery, approached the master and timidly asked for more gruel. The master, shocked and horrified, called for Mr. Bumble, the beadle. The news of Oliver's request caused a stir among the parish authorities. Mr. Limbkins and the others were appalled, and one gentleman predicted that Oliver would be hanged. Following an animated discussion, Oliver was confined, and a notice was posted offering five pounds to anyone willing to take Oliver as an apprentice, effectively seeking to rid the parish of the troublesome boy. JACK LONDON London was born and died in California, he grew up in an poor and unusual household, his family couldn't afford books. In his youth he did illegal jobs, he was a smuggler. He was accepted at the University of California even though he didn’t have a high education. Although being the highest-paid writer in the US he did not stop struggling for money, he earned a lot, but he also spent a lot. He rejected the fascism ideology, indeed he wrote a critique towards it. In one of his quotations he underlines the importance of living and not of just existing. The theme of wasted time is represented by two metaphors. The first one suggests that it is better to be ashes than dust because where now there’re ashes, before there was something burning so it was something alive, dust is just something meaningless. The second one suggests that it is better to be a meteor that shines instead of a sleepy and permanent planet. London says that it is better to use the time you have rather than trying to prolong them. (Seneca) THE APOSTATE The apostate is someone who has given up their religion, in this case religion stands for work ethic. It is told the story of a simple worker. Someone that has to wake up very early to get to work, when the sun has not risen yet, this worker cannot see light. It is present a climax which indicates that all days are the same. The only time his life was not ‘monotonous’ was when he changed jobs or he was sick, here the writer uses irony. London describes the life of the protagonist as a child-worker, everyone in his family had to work because they had to pay for the studies of Will, his brother. It is present a detailed description of his working routine that inevitably led to alienation. When he was younger he had dreams and he was happy, but then he stopped owing to the fact that his work was just an exercise of repetition that destroyed any sort of imagination. This was justified by the fact that, with that job, he could afford the essential meanings to survive. When he changed job at 9 the pay he received was better but that job was piece-work so, in order to earn more, he had to develop his skills. With time he reached almost the levels of machines, he got rid of waste movements, everything he did was accurate so as to produce more. However, this led to physical and psychological problems, he couldn’t rest and grew nervous. ‘The Apostate’ ends with the protagonist that understands the damage caused by his job and decides to stop working. He starts a new life, he watches the sunrise, he goes to the countryside to rest and to watch nature and he hears the train and gets on a carriage, he has no interest in where the train is going, he just cares about going away. (Belluca) ENGELS Engels shows us London in its grandeur (greatness), in fact it has become the commercial capital of the world. The first impression of London is the greatness and wonderland. Indeed a man is lost in the marvel of England's greatness because it is so vast, so impressive. But then he realises the sacrifices and the cost of all this beauty, in fact Engels states that after roaming the streets of the capital with difficulty, after visiting the slums of the metropolis, he realises that these londoners have been forced to sacrifice the best qualities of their human nature to realise the countless things which crowd their city. Then he describes the climate of exploitation. Indeed the people regard each other only as useful objects; the capitalists seize everything for themselves. There is egoism and indifference on one hand and misery on the other. Even if due to their egoism some people died for example of starvation they always find a way to hide their faults. Finally he describes the city, in particular he describes where poor people live. Indeed every great city has one or more slums where the working- class is crowded together. The streets are generally unpaved, rough, dirty, filled with refuse, without severs. The houses are filthy and their appearance is such that no human being could possibly wish to live in them.