Impact of Industrialization on Victorian Literature: 'Wuthering Heights' & 'Frankenstein', Appunti di Inglese

Scarica Impact of Industrialization on Victorian Literature: 'Wuthering Heights' & 'Frankenstein' e più Appunti in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! THE GOTHIC NOVEL The Victorian Age The Victorian Age is considered to be the age of the novel. In the past, we studied Romanticism, an era in which there was a notable spreading of literacy. Now reading has become a major form of entertainment among the middle class. During this period people wanted to hear stories that portrayed the life of the rising middle class, which was generally considered more interesting than the one of common people, and the new industrial values; a great example is Robinson Crusoe, which is thought to be the first novel. But even though novels were a great form of entertainment, a new way of publishing stories became popular: installments; these were stories published in weekly episodes, appearing in magazines. This type of composition had to be written with a lot of suspense elements and, most importantly, they had to be very descriptive, and their narrating rhythm had to be slow and intriguing, so that people kept on buying copies. The epistolary genre also became popular. The authors of this period often criticize and satirize over the Victorian society, denouncing the consequences of industrialization and the injustices that lower social classes had to face; among these authors we remember: Charles Dickens and Oscar Wilde, but also two female authors, Mary Shelley and Emily Brontë, who also exposed the condition of the Victorian woman in their works. Gothic Novels The word Gothic comes from architecture and is dated back to the period known as the middle age and the end of Enlightenment. Gothic novelists of the 18th century were fascinated by the old Gothic period for its mysteries and overall atmosphere, so they started writing basing their stories on it. They wrote “dark novels”, in order to provoke fear, and the people who read them usually sought some kind of strong emotion. Gothic novels were usually set in Italy because it was the home of the Catholic Church and its corruption, which meant portraying the other face of religion. The usual plot of the Gothic novel consists of a villain who persecutes a damsel in distress. The rhythm of course had to be quite slow in order to create mystery and expectation. Mary Shelley Mary Shelley was born in 1797, the daughter of a philosopher with anarchist and radical views and Mary Wollstonecraft, an early feminist writer; her household and upbringing were therefore very stimulating favored an important intellectual development. At 16 she fell in love with Percy Shelley, with whom she fled to Switzerland, where they later married (after the death of Shelly’s wife). It’s precisely in Switzerland, where she was inspired by the local ghost stories, that Mary had the idea for her 1st novel, which would be published anonymously in 1818 under the title of Frankenstein. After her husband’s death she kept writing novels and died in 1851. Frankenstein One thing we immediately notice about this novel is that it is written by a woman. We should also mention that Mary Shelley was the daughter of a feminist writer, who died giving birth to her and this trauma always tormented her during the course of her life, because she felt as if it was her fault. This novel is considered to be her masterpiece. Frankenstein tells the story of a scientist, called Victor Frankenstein, hence the title, who lives in Switzerland. He studies a lot in order to pursue a dream: he wants to discover the secret of life (the book is also called “The Modern Prometheus” from the Greek myth of the god who gave fire to humankind, therefore making humanity progress; he’s a symbol of rebellion). But usually it is God that creates life, therefore Dr. Frankenstein, by creating life, is challenging him. He also commits a terrible sin by assembling his “creature” from pieces of corpses. In order to bring the creature to life, he uses electricity, which was recently discovered in the mid XIX century; during a storm, he uses the lightning to infuse life into the corpse. But his creation soon becomes his own antagonist, because it kills every member of Frankenstein’s family as a revenge for the fact that no one loves him, not even the man who created him. Frankenstein is a revenge tragedy → the monster takes revenge on his creator for ruining his life. It is also a story of prejudice and discrimination → the creature is seen as dangerous and evil even when he tries to do something good; people presume that his intentions are bad because he looks scary and abnormal. Physical appearance had a very important role around the XIX century and influenced the way one was seen and treated in society: being ugly meant being evil. CHAPTER 5 (pag. 200 libro) In this excerpt, narrated in 1st person by the protagonist, dr. Frankenstein, we witness the “birth” of his creature. This event, however, isn’t nearly as successful as he’d hoped it would be: the creature isn’t the ideal form of a man, but quite the opposite, a “wretched monster” and something very abnormal. Even if he meant to create him using the most beautiful body parts he could find, all of them combined make a horrific result. He resembles a dead man walking or a creature from Dante’s inferno (line 43) In his narration the doctor uses a lot of suggestive terms to describe how horrible his creation is, and directly tells the readers how he feels. The usage of words such as dreary, and expressions like half-extinguished light, wretch by the dim and yellow light of the moon, and the fact that the story is set at night help create a scary and creepy atmosphere and a sense of sublime darkness, typical of gothic novels. Long lists of details slow down the narration and prepare for the turning point. there is almost a cinematographic technique in the description, in which dr. Frankenstein offers us many details about the monster, helping to create a sort of “close up”. He also wants to transfer his sense of disappointment, frustration and disbelief and therefore uses a lot of emphasis in lines such as: “his limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful! great god!” CHAPTER IX – Nelly confesses her love for Heathcliff (pag. 46-47 pdf) (premise) One day Heathcliff and Catherine are playing together in the moors; they come around Thrushcross and decide to spy its inhabitants; it’s just a kids’ game, but the family that lives there has a big guardian dog, which bites Catherine. She’s rescued by the Linton family, who are the inhabitants of Thrushcross, who take her in because they recognise her as the daughter of their landlord. She stays there for a month (?!); Heathcliff, on the other hand, is treated just like a servant and must go back home. Catherine’s father died, the new head of the family is her brother Hindley, who treats Heathcliff like a slave because he’s always been jealous of him; he’s taking revenge. At Thrushcross Catherine is treated like a princess. The son of the family (Edgar) falls in love with her and later we find out that he asked her hand in marriage. In the meantime, Heathcliff is at Wuthering heights feeling desperate because of his beloved’s long absence, he feels abandoned and jealous. Catherine was the only one treating him nicely. Finally, she comes back and has many thing to tell to Nelly; she sees her as a sort of mother figure, since she’s now an orphan; furthermore, Mrs dean has common sense and balances Catherine’s impulsiveness and stubbornness (or at least tries to do so). There is a scene taking place in the kitchen of wuthering heights, where Catherine is confessing to Mrs. Dean that she accepted the marriage proposal of the Linton’s son; Heathcliff is near the room and overhears the whole conversation, getting his heart broken and deciding to get away from the house at the end. But he didn’t hear the conclusion of Nelly’s speech, which would’ve changed the whole meaning for him. Catherine at first seems a bit whimsical and spoiled, she’s acting exclusively for her own interests. She accepted the marriage proposal only out of societal interest and asks Nelly for her opinion; even though her decision is made she still seems insecure, and she actually started the conversation saying she was unhappy, which is a contradiction given the subject (getting married should make her happy). Nelly then asks if she really loves Mr Linton, but Catherine only answers that “who can help it” (so it’s not a real or personal feeling). Nelly insists but all of the reasons Catherine manages to give to “excuse” her love for Mr Linton are superficial and not sincere, a rational explanation (like money and niceness) isn’t good enough. She then gives up and tries to explain her real situation: she’s feeling very sad because she’s had strange dreams, which seem to carry a deep meaning. We can say there’s an evolution of her character throughout the scene, at first she’s lying, now she’s very honest and vulnerable. Nelly initially doesn’t want to know the dream because she’s superstitious and thinks it might be a bad omen, she doesn’t want the child in the room (Hindley’s child) to be affected; but then Cathy finds a way of starting her story and Nelly can’t stop her: the dream she tells is important because it exposes the Catherine’s psyche: she dreamt of feeling miserable in heaven and wanting to get back to earth; the angels got so angry at her whining that they threw her down directly to back Wuthering heights, where she woke up very happy. This quite clearly means that her true wish is to live at wuthering heights, and that she should follow her heart; heaven represents the beautiful, perfect and happy life with that Mr Edgar, conforming to society’s expectations, but she truly longs to be with Heathcliff. After this she goes on making a long confession of her love, saying some quite morbid things like he’s more myself than I am, whatever our souls are made of mine and his are the same etc. in Cathy and Heathcliff’s love there is an identification with one another; they share miseries and life experiences, which results in a sort of toxic love; their love story is itself foreshadowing of an impending tragedy. But Heathcliff goes away before hearing this part because he’s mad at her for saying that she can’t be with him because it would degrade her (he didn’t hear that it’d be because she loves him too much). He then stays away for many years, and when he reappears, he’s totally changed. He got rich and is now looking for revenge. In the meantime, Catherine has married Mr. Edgar. Another thing that Heathcliff didn’t get to know is that Cathy’s initial plan was to marry Linton in order to inherit his money and share it with Heathcliff in order to free him from his service at Wuthering Heights. In this part there’s a deep psychological insight in Cathy’s character. We also see intervention of the subconscious (the dream), and mystical + spiritual attraction instead physical love between the two protagonists. CHAPTER X – Heathcliff comes back (pag 239 libro) This part is narrated by Nelly the governess, who recalls the day that Heathcliff unexpectedly came back to Wuthering Heights after years of being away. Nelly says that over the years Catherine almost seems to have grown fond of her husband, even when she didn’t want the marriage in the first place; she defines her as gunpowder laying harmless as sand, because no fire came near to explode it – we understand that she knows Cathy’s true nature and the fact that this apparent peace in her marriage won’t last long. We also understand that Cathy developed some form of depression (lines 17-22) Nelly then says that, just as she was starting to believe their marriage could actually work put and that they might’ve really found happiness, this relatively serene atmosphere ended. This happens when Heathcliff comes back and his return triggers a series of consequences that will lead to an inevitable tragedy: Cathy’s death. At first nelly doesn’t even recognise Heathcliff, partly because it’s evening when she sees him again, and partly because he’s changed a lot. When she finally realises that it’s him, she can’t believe it, she’s bewildered. He immediately asks to see Catherine, but asks nelly to bring her to him because he wants to talk to her alone and see her reaction. Nelly then goes inside the house and doesn’t pronounce Heathcliff’s name, she only says that a person from Gimmerton wishes to see you (to Catherine); she accepts to see him, saying that she’ll come in a minute. In the meanwhile, nelly goes back downstairs and on the way bumps into Edgar, and confesses that the man at the door is Heathcliff; Mr Edgar / Linton is as surprised as her, and still calls him gypsy boy, revealing his low consideration of him even after all this time. Catherine finally meets Heathcliff and is shocked; we see her running upstairs, breathless with excitement, calling for her husband to announce the good news (good for her), but Edgar clearly responds in a somewhat upset way, since he never liked Heathcliff. Nevertheless, Cathy decides to let him in and welcome him in their dining room (Mr Edgar even suggested that the kitchen would be a more suitable place for someone like him), with all the ceremonies that are common for important guests. CHAPTER XVI – Cathy’s death (pag 97 pdf) In this chapter we witness Catherine’s death and Heathcliff’s reaction to it. After Heathcliff comes back to Wuthering heights, he begins his revenge plans; taking advantage of Hindley’s financial problems (+ he’s an alcohol addict), he becomes the landowner of the manor; he also attempts to destroy the lives of basically every Linton family member by engaging in some immoral activities. (non ci interessa ma ve lo dico così per avere un po’ di context: Hindley si perde nell’alcolismo, sua moglie è morta e suo figlio viene educato male da Heathcliff; la sorella di Mr. Edgar che è una gattamorta ha una cotta per Heathcliff e lui che è balordo decide di sposarsela anche se non gli piace, perché vuole solo farla star male); after he’s taken revenge, there is a huge fight between Heathcliff and Mr. Edgar, who forbids Catharine to see her beloved ever again. This punishment sends Catherine into a state of madness and profound sorrow; she dies soon after, while giving birth to a child. After her death nelly goes to Heathcliff to tell him what happened; at first, he seems distant and not very interested in Cathy’s death, he acts “like a man” and hides his true emotions – his fatal flaw is his pride. But nelly notices that his manners are betraying him, he’s starting to show his sorrow: he’s trembling. Nelly sort of implies that it was Heathcliff’s fault if Catherine died, because after the fight he had with her husband she couldn’t recognize anyone anymore; even if she hopes and thinks that nelly is in heaven, because she died with a peaceful expression on her face, Heathcliff finally bursts out and shows his pain, by asking Catherine to come back as a ghost and haunt him, because he feels like he can’t live without here: 'May she wake in torment!' he cried, with frightful vehemence, stamping his foot, and groaning in a sudden paroxysm of ungovernable passion. 'Why, she's a liar to the end! Where is she? Not THERE - not in heaven - not perished - where? Oh! you said you cared nothing for my sufferings! And I pray one prayer - I repeat it till my tongue stiffens - Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest as long as I am living; you said I killed you - haunt me, then! The murdered DO haunt their murderers, I believe. I know that ghosts HAVE wandered on earth. Be with me always - take any form - drive me mad! only DO not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! it is unutterable! I CANNOT live without my life! I CANNOT live without my soul!' Then he orders nelly to go away, but while going she can still see him falling into despair and even hurting his head against a tree. Later he’ll stay at Wuthering heights until his death, during this whole time he will be haunted by Catherine’s ghost, just like he asked. The ghost is the one that we saw at the beginning of the story, therefore we’ve unveiled the secret of the house: it is haunted.