Ulysses and The Hours: A Comparative Analysis of Joyce and Woolf's Novels, Appunti di Inglese

Scarica Ulysses and The Hours: A Comparative Analysis of Joyce and Woolf's Novels e più Appunti in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! ULYSSES Ulysses is a long and complex novel, set in and near Dublin and focuses on the actions of one character on one single day: 16 June 1904. Divided in 18 episodes ( = hours) and it narrates the actions of three characters: the young Stephen Dedalus (“Telemachiad”) — Leopold Bloom (“The Odyssey”) — Molly Bloom (“Nostos”) This book represents one of the best examples of Modernist experimentation in prose writing because of the “Stream of consciousness” technique. Through this narrative technique, Joyce tries to reflect the workings of the mind of its protagonist: Leopold Bloom — a middle-aged Jewish advertising salesman. Wandering through the city of Dublin, ironically reflecting the ones of Ulysses, Joyce offers different visions of daily life, personal attitudes, political and cultural discussions and reflection on the human condition = THEMES Multiple and varied styles — inventive language and structure — invented words Disturbing and shocking novel = Joyce gets rid of any king of control over the character’s thoughts, which result on the page with any logical or rational organisation. There is no punctuation. The inspiration of this book come from the Ulysses of the Odyssey, it ironically underlines the squalid reality of modernity, which lacks the heroism of the ancient world. (Similar to T. Eliot in “The waste land”) • Ulysses = hero — Leopold Bloom = anti hero • Penelope (Ulysses wife) is very faithful — Molly Bloom = very unfaithful. • She had suffered a lot because she lost a child and she’s sterile. She doesn’t feel completely like a woman. She’s compared to an iceberg because she’s unfaithful. • She always waits her husband to leave, and she comes back home before her husband • The appearance is perfect. • Telemachus is the son of Penelope and Ulysses, he’s very loved. • The Blooms don’t have any children but Leopold meets Steven Dedalus who we can say becomes their surrogate son. • The setting in the Odyssey is the sea while in Joyce’s book Dublin • While Ulysses travels for years, Joyce’s Ulysses has a temporal setting of 18 hours because they do nothing. Leopold does some actions such as going to a funeral, enters in a brothel where he meets Steven who has no family. They go home, it is the 18th hour and there is this final monologue of Molly Bloom. She suffers, even if she demonstrates that she is a strong woman she suffers and starts having this monologue through the stream of consciousness: “Yes I said yes I will yes” • Yes is her most used word because she is a positive woman • She lives the sensations and adventures of the past trough the 5 senses • She compares herself to the flower of the mountain that alludes • Algeciras is her “dream of Persia” During Modernism, we have 2 important poets: Yeats and Elliot. Both of them are not English writers and both shared identical ideas. William Yeats Yeats was born in Dublin, and he wanted it to come out from ignorance. Working at the beginning of the 20th century, in the literary movement called Modernism, shared the same sense of spiritual crisis, of fragmentation and anxiety that characterized Modernist writers. This is particularly evident in his poem The second Coming. He had a particular idea about history: he said that after 2 thousand years we change the center. Yeats believed there is a center which alternates from positive to negative under the image of Jesus Christ and the Antichrist. Yeats describes this image as a gyre . This means that each dominant historical phase always contains its antithesis. The writer was a visionary man and he demonstrated what would have happened in advance. He was a follower of Blake’s in fact, he believed in the complementary opposite. Yeats had visions about the future like dreams and because of this he made previsions. The second coming Was written after the 1 world war, in 1919, and this poem could be about the 2 world war. so it can represents the coming back of the anti-Christ, it seems to predict the rise of Hitler and the Nazi Party. The Second Coming is deeply pessimistic about the new phase the world is entering and the poem portrays a world on the edge of catastrophe. The poem is divided in 2 parts and it’s a sort of stream of consciousness because there aren’t many comas. He talks about his dreams and previsions. He uses his personal unconventional symbols: -Falcon means someone who is Christian, while the falconer is Jesus Christ. Christians cannot hear Jesus and if so, they could get lost. Due to the gyre, he will step away, the falcon will get lost and everything will collapse, things will fall apart. - The desert is the symbol of something sterile -The sun it burns, its pitiless, you cannot run away from it in the desert. It’s a negative symbol because it burns you then leads to death. -Desert birds or vultures eat corpses or nearly dead animals -Rocking cradle represents the birth of the antichrist In the text he talks about the “ceremony of innocence” which is the death of civilians. Also, when he says “the blood-dimmed” he means the death of a lot of people, the wave of blood overwhelms increments. The big brother is a persecution, talks all the time The big brother doesn’t want people to reproduce so they give to the proles some porn • He was born in India (British empire) and he belonged to a rich family. • He worked for the Indian imperial police where he experienced the injustice and oppressive role of the Imperial administration. • From his early ages he had a conscious of justice. • He abandoned all his privileges to live among the poor people and to do normal jobs. “Down and out in Paris and London” • He participated to the Spanish civil war, where he has been wounded and then wrote about it: “Homage to Catalonia” — He gave all he had to help others. • Everything he wrote was based on his interest in the social and political conditions that he had observed during his lifetime. • He was one of the strongest anti-totalitarian voices of literature. • He died in 1950 of tuberculosis. In 1945 he published his allegorical novel: Animal Farm — anti-soviet satire In 1948 he wrote 1984: his ‘dystopian vision’ (extremely negative) of a future world ruled over by an oppressive totalitarian regime which controlled every single detail of a person’s life, even his thoughts. Main topics: • Corruption of the system • Massification of the prowls (kept in ignorance and poverty, to avoid revolutions) • Dictatorship: physical and psychological torture for who didn’t obey • “The Big Brother” is at the head of the party. It is a threatening concept all-knowing and all-seeing. It is an image present everywhere in the state, which constantly looks at all citizens from posters and TV screens. “Big brother is watching you” • There is a Tele screen that knows everything and sees everything — critics call this an incredible prediction of the cellphones. Settings: • Oceania and the capital city is what was once London • Eastasia • Eurasia The government told the population that they are always in war with Eastasia and Eurasia, in this way the country was united and they kept it poor. Winston Smith is the main character and he works in the “Ministry of Truth”: Orwell was a journalist for the BBC in his real life (“The voice”) — the news he gave were never true and he hated this — his office was “Room 101”: in 1984, this room is the worst place in all the book, whoever went in this room was manipulated physiologically — the party uses a trauma of the childhood: when he was little, he came back home and found his mother and sister dead on the floor, the sister had a piece of chocolate in his hand, he gets it and runs away. He feels bad for this so he comes back, but he doesn’t find the bodies but just rats that where eating his mother’s and sister’s bodies. Smith finds a partner in his rebellion called Julia, with whom he has an affair. They are discovered by the police and are subjected to merciless tortures and brainwashing until they are “cured”. “Theory of Predestination”: every life and event has already been decided by God. Smith has been brainwashed — the book ends with the sentence “I love big brother” — broken man but a perfect citizen — Regret of having failed to love the big brother for so much of his life. The “new speak” is the new language imposed by the big brother: • Prowls are the manipulated mass of people • Unpersons are the people who are eliminated by the party • Mr Goldstein is the leader of the brotherhood • Doublethink is the belief in 2 contrasting ideas • To rectify means to change the news • Though-trine means to go against the party • Porno-sec is the porno publishing for the prowls: in this way they controlled the births • Golden country is the dream of Persia (it is a way to escape reality, dreaming of an exotic place, such as Persia) • Brotherhood is the opposition to the big brother “War is peace — Freedom is slavery — Ignorance is strength” The numbers that are used to confuse people, and it is needed so that the people think that Eastasia and Eurasia are at war and so this help to people ignorant so that they can give them the “good” The big brother is a persecution, talks all the time The moral that Orwell wanted to transmit to the reader with this work: “Don’t be ignorant” - being born in India, he saw with his eyes what being ignorant meant. VIRGINIA WOLF • Elizabeth Dalloway: Clarissa’s daughter — this represent the daughter that Virginia Woolf wasn’t able to have. • Elizabeth had a personal tutor, which Clarissa disliked intensely because she thought that Elizabeth preferred the tutor to her. • Along the story of Clarissa, there is the one of Septimius Smith, a veteran which suffers from the “Shell- shock syndrome” (physiological breakdown) - He believes he can communicate with his dead companions, writes down his delirious thoughts and started talking about suicide. • His wife, Rezia, very concerned about her husband’s mental health, calls Dr.Holmes — which finds nothing wrong with him. • Rezia is sterile, she cries and suffers (of loneliness) because she can’t have children (theme of sterility — Virginia Woolf suffered so much for this reason) ; Septimius didn’t care about her wife unhappiness, he just think about the war. • Dr. Holmes, starts coming every day to their house, he feels bad for Rezia rather than Septimius. He says that Septimius should worry about his wife. • Septimius feels deserted (alone), he feels persecuted by the whole world (he thinks about suiciding for the sake of the world), he starts thinking more and more of suicide (in which way can he suicide?) • He continuously talked about communication ( = happiness ; = health), he wasn’t able to communicate with other and explain his mental problems. • Rezia decides to bring her husband to see Sir William Bradshaw, a well-known psychiatrist, working on Harley street (where top medical specialists had their consulting rooms) — in that period psychiatrists belonged to the most upper classes of society, they were very rich and had huge villas in the countryside. • The grey motor car of the psychiatrist is the same car that caused problems to Septimius because of the sound it makes. - in 1928 she publishes “Orlando” and dedicates it to Vita (he is sometimes a man and sometimes a woman, for her it was only important to be human). - in 1928 she starts being very active feminist and starts publishing the first things. She had this idea of a place where a woman could study and work just like a man - every time she wrote a book she went to the grave of her mother and showed her it. She was sterile, so to her every book was a child - in 1929 she publishes a book called “The Moths”, using the stream of consciousness, but using one character at the time - her last novel was “Between the Acts”, published posthumously - when she wasn’t more able to write, she thought that her life was useless. Before committing suicide, she wrote one last letter to her husband to apologize for what she did. After writing it, she filled her pockets with stones and walked slowly in the water (she was a very good swimmer and killed herself in the river Ouse, next to her house), because she lived peacefully her death. Her death was a liberating action. She chose water because for her water was a symbol of life. She killed herself in the hope of regenerating in something. Water it is a recurrent element and symbol in all her works - she was a very dear friend of Elliot and they helped each other in literature “ THE HOURS ”: - it is the best work of Virginia Wolf - it is a mix of reality and fantasy - the events all take place during a single day in June, about five years after the end of the First World War - the narration is not organized into chapters, but into sections of different lengths. Each section is composed of a long, uninterrupted flow of thoughts, reflections and sensations - it is present the stream of consciousness – there is an external omniscient narrator - setting : London - there are frequent shifts in the point of view - There are 2 main characters: Mrs. Dalloway and Septimus Warren Smith. Virginia Wolf mixes two characters that didn’t know each other, but they had very parallel stories - it is a real analysis of herself – the character of Mrs. Dalloway represented the worst part of Virginia Woolf Mrs. Clarissa Dalloway: - she is a character of one Virginia’s works, a beautiful and elegant woman of half age - she is a woman who belongs in the Victorian society. - we meet her at the beginning of the book, when she is going to buy flowers for a party. She is a very superficial person because in her life she didn’t do anything, just one thing: she organized beautiful parties (in that society women didn’t do anything). Inside she is a tormented women because she didn’t do nothing with her life, and when she realized this it’s too late to do something. The time passes and the desolation increases. She is very sensitive and unhappy - she is married to an important minister – Clarissa represented the part of Virginia the belonged to the up class - she is specialized also in having perfect outfits for every occasion - in the character Virginia shows her part that got her angry because she was not considered as herself, but as someone’s daughter and someone’s wife Septimus Warren Smith: - he is a second character - he is a young boy - he is a veteran, and he is the typical example of the soldier that comes back from the war and has huge mental problems. He has a hell-shock syndrome, caused by the explosions of the bombs: a bomb destructed the body of his best friends and this scene constantly persecuted him - he resembles the mental problem of Virginia and the noises she heard. Nobody saw the mental diseases that Septimus had, and this caused him more problems, just like Virginia Woolf - he was married with a young women called Rezia which loved him so much – she resembles the figure of the husband of Virginia - the other citizens of London thought that Septimus was crazy, and this was a scandal. There are two medical doctors which had an important role in this story: they said that Septimus was perfect and had no problems, - one day, Septimus starts to talk about suicide to her wife. She is scared and understands that a doctor does not help. So, she calls a psychiatrist. He said that he will cure these people, but they will never get out of these villas, because they used the electroshock. Septimius knew that he will not be cured by this doctor. So, in the moment the psychiatric came to his house to bring him away, he suicides by jumping from the window - he is the character that gave to Virginia Woolf the strength to suicide. He represents Virginia’s trauma. SECTION 1: CLARISSA DALLOWAY - Clarissa Dalloway is in St. James Park and met an old friend that reminded her of a summer that she spent 30 years ago, where she declined a wedding proposal from Peter Walsh. Peter got very angry. He started treating her like a stupid Victorian woman and told her she had to marry a minister. Clarissa was very attracted by the beauty of nature but had basic knowledge, while he was more cultured, but they had a deep feeling that connected him to her. At the end, she was happy not marrying him because she wanted independence in a marriage, and he couldn’t give it to her, while Richard did - she always thinks about the death because half of her life is already passed and most of her friends are already dead. She sees death as the only thing that can save her life - she feels young, but at the same time old and unattractive. She felt still young because she stayed attached to that age, although she looks old on the outside - she wanted to analyze all of herself just like Virginia Wolf did - (She is in the streets and notices taxicabs and thought that anything can happen in life and it is very dangerous to love this life) SECTION 2: SEPTIMUS WARREN SMITH - he is married to a quite young woman named Lucrezia lawns and called Rezia. She will always protect Septimus and this reflects Virginia’s husband - the story starts with Mrs. Dalloway buying flowers, and Septimus is with his wife there, when something happens that captures everyone’s attention: Septimus witnessed the war - the narrator is explaining that Mrs. Dalloway is inside, Sempitmus is outside and a car passed. This is the event: a car passing slowly, and everyone hears the noise of the engine in front of the shop. This car had drawn blinds. The traffic starts to accumulate. Septimus reacts negatively because the noise of the engine reminds him of the war. He is mentally in war in that moment, and he starts to ask himself if he was the one who was blocking the traffic. He always felt guilty because in war his best friend died while he survived. - Lucrezia tries to encourage her husband. Septimius starts manifesting his feelings. At this point we are in Lucrezia’s character. She was afraid because he said he wanted to kill herself, and she was afraid also that someone could have heard him. She was afraid that someone brought him away, but now she knows she needs help. So, she calls for help CHAPTER 3: Doctor Holmes Regia gives Septimius the news that a friend is expecting a baby and she cries because time passes and she still didn’t have a baby. For all her life she felt guilty. Septimius felt nothing, didn’t react and didn’t care. He felt he couldn’t help himself and other people. Dr Holmes’s visit goes well because he said that there was nothing wrong with Septimius.