"The Moonstone": storia, caratteristiche, personaggi, frammenti del libro con spiegazioni, Appunti di Letteratura Inglese

Scarica "The Moonstone": storia, caratteristiche, personaggi, frammenti del libro con spiegazioni e più Appunti in PDF di Letteratura Inglese solo su Docsity! Wilkie Collins WILLIAM COLLINS AND HE’S FAMILY He wanted to be known as Wilkie, not as William. He was younger than Charles Dickens and they became good friends in the 50s; they collaborated and travelled a lot together. Wilkie is a liminal figure: the term ‘’liminal’’ indicates the state of being in between two different states. The family was liminal because it was in between aristocratic and middle class, between the gentry and the middle class. They had connection with aristocracy, in particular the father of Wilkie. For the aristocracy it was easy to lose power, it was no longer secure; this happens to the father’s family, the grandfather of Wilkie, indeed he lost a lot of money and then felt. Social mobility is important especially on the part of the father because he has a snappish attitude, he tends to feel that he was more gentlemen than another man. We also have the awareness that the money is important. The father was an artist, he believed in art and managed to be a professional painter. Because of this passion, the family moved to Italy and France. The mother, initially was an actress, which was a high problematic reputation. Then she was adopted by a family and converted to evangelic religion; at this point she was so persuaded and convinced to give up the profession of actress and get married to the father of Wilkie. Because of the family situation we have:  Financial struggle  Impression of gentility: this is why they travelled; they give a lot of importance to the culture. EDUCATION Even in the education Wilkie received as a child we can see some liminality because it was the traditional kind of education. Higher families’ children were provided with formal education, namely public school and then university, instead the middle classes children had a specific kind of education, that was more professionalised. Wilkie didn’t received a formal education because his family travelled a lot so it was impossible to him to attend the school. On one hand, he didn’t go to the university and then he attended a college but never completes the formal education. On the other hand, he was extremely cultured thanks to his parents because he has access to many books. In addition to this, Collins became very fluent speaking France and Italian, which was something so important for his life. Beyond that, he studied Italian and France culture and history. PERSONALS VALUES Even in personals values we can see some liminality aspects. On one hand, he believed in respectability and thought it was an important value. But on the other hand, he was a strongly unconventional man who made a lot of unconventional choices. In his opinion respectability was important, indeed he wanted to be recognized as a respectful gentleman, but at the same time he didn’t really care about social convention. This unconventionality, for Wilkie, was apply also to woman question: he didn’t agree on the fact that women were considered inferiors, he thought they can be confident, reliant and can have independence of mind. He believed that marriage was a wrong kind of institution, he never believed in the act of marriage, indeed he never got married. HIS WRITING There also is some liminality in the types of writing Collins was interested in because there is an overlap between different genres and some unconventional type of writing. He’s strongly associated with sensation fiction, which was a type of fiction what had the aim to shock and trigger fear in reader. The sensation fiction also provides a nervous reaction. Wilkie takes inspiration from the Newgate stories about the perspective and mind of the criminal and the motivation of the crime. Some of Collins plots are related to the low, indeed in his novels he explores the injustice of the legal system of the woman. In Collins’ writing there is also the importance of drama and theatre. Indeed, he was also an actor and for this reason he enjoyed writing for the theatre and acting on the stage. In this context he also met Charles Dickens. The Moonstone CHARACTERS  Franklin Blake  He is Rachel’s cousin on the maternal side and belongs to the upper class, so he is an aristocrat.  He collected the story of the diamond and the investigation, because he wanted to build a narrative in memory of what happened, so he asked people to contribute to the narrative, while he is the editor and builds the novel.   Rachel Verinder She is the girl who inherits the diamond as a gift for her 18th birthday. Her mother is Lady Verinder and her father died before the narrative begins. She and her mother live in Yorkshire in a large estate with Gabriel’s family.  Gabriel Betteredge He is the servant of the estate.  Ezra Jennings He is a medical doctor and the assistant of doctor Candy, who is the village doctor and the Verinder family’s doctor. Doctor Candy falls ill after the birthday’s dinner and Ezra takes his place.  Ezra isn’t English.  Miss Clack She is related to Rachel on the father's side. She is very religious and obsessed with evangelical religion, indeed she spread her religion in her house by dropping religious tracts (printing materials with religious contents). She is an unmarried woman and she lives on her own, so she is not interested in getting married. She is a comical character and is in love with Godfrey Ablewhite.  Rosanna Spearman She is part of the servants in the Lady’s estate. She was a thief and now she is reformed, because she repented and was trusted by the Lady, who welcomed Rosanna in her servants' system.  She is in love with Franklin and that was love at first sight. She wants to help him but she gets misunderstood by him, so he doesn't care about her. There is an incident where Rosanna wrote a letter to Franklin but he read it too late; so everything she has done for him is wasted. She has a physical disability such as Limping Lucy. She is attracted by the Shivering Sands, a place in the periphery where there is a beach with quick sand (sabbie mobili). This place became important, because there was found the evidence to solve the mystery. The crucial piece of evidence is a nightgown with a paint stain on it and thit evidence was hidden by Rosanna in this place.  Limping Lucy She is a marginal character, but a strong-willed woman. She is a fisherman's daughter and has limp (zoppicante), so she has problems with her back. She gave Rosanna’s letter to Franklin.   Sergeant Cuff He is the main detective from London and has to solve the case.  Godfrey Ablewhite He is Rachel’s cousin on the maternal side. He’s a very tall, blonde, beautiful and a fine man. He is a philanthropist and a good public speaker but is going to be the villain. The name of Ablewhite has a symbolic meaning:  - Godfrey: it reminds us of God and he is a very religious man.  With these prologue Collins criticized the empire, attacked the East India Company and attacked the wrong behavior of some British people in India. Wilkie was brave for doing this criticism, even if he couldn't openly attack the British Government; so, in The Moonstone we don't see a questioning of the empire system, but only criticisms on wrong behaviors.  FIRST PERIOD The narrative begins in 1848. Betteredge occupies the entire first period of the story with his narrative in 23 chapters. He provides the events that lead up to the birthday, in order to understand how Rachel received the diamond by John. Betteredge gave some details about John’s will (testamento), in order to reveal to us that the colonel would only give the diamond to Rachel if he died a natural death, while if he was killed the diamond would be cut in six, because he would lose his curse. So John only wants to give the diamond to Rachel if it's cursed. Betteredge also introduces the birthday night, the disappearance of the diamond and the beginning of investigation. There is the introduction of the first detective Superintendent Seegrave, who is hopeless and he doesn’t even understand the main clue of the stain. He only believes that a servant stole the diamond. So the local policeman Seegrave is dismissed and they employ Sergeant Cuff from London to conduct the investigation. He begins to suspect Rachel. But then also Cuff is dismissed and everybody gives up on the investigation, so Balke goes away from England and Rachel and the Lady go to London.   The first period also talks about Rachel and Blake’s growth of intimacy, and we discover all that by Penelope, Rachel’s maid. At the beginning Rachel rejected Ablewhite and accepted the proposal by Blake, but after the steal of the diamond Rachel gets angry with Blake and we can’t understand why.  SECOND PERIOD In the narration of Mr. Bruff is presented the second will, namely Lady Verinder’s will, because she dies of a mysterious illness. Thanks to this will, we understand some things that Miss Clack wrote in her narrative, so we understand why Rachel doesn't want to marry Ablewhite and why Ablewhite isn't very upset when Rachel leaves him.  NARRATIVE STRUCTURE The structure of the novel is complex and uneven (irregolare), because some characters contribute for more chapters, while others only for one chapter.  The narrative is heterogeneous, because we have different types of narratives: narratives told, extract from a journal, a letter, extract from laboratory journals.  Prologue The narrative structure begins with a prologue from a family paper, a written narrative by someone who is a relative of the Verinder family on the mother’s side. It talks about an incident in the colonial past and in the family past.   First period  In the first period there is the narrative of Betteredge, the head of the servants in Yorkshire.  Second period   The second period is set first in London and then back to Yorkshire, moreover, in this period there are 8 narrators:  Narrative 1: Miss Clack (Chapters 1-8)   Narrative 2: Mr. Bruff (Chapters 1-3)   Narrative 3: Mr. Blake (Chapters 1-10)    Narrative 4: Dr. Ezra Jennings (Chapter 1)  Narrative 5: Mr. Blake (Chapter 1)  Narrative 6: Sergeant Cuff (Chapters 1-5)  Narrative 7: Dr. Candy (Chapter 1), he is not really a narrator, there only is his letter.  Narrative 8: Mr. Betteredge (Chapter 1)  Epilogue  In the epilogue there are 3 voices: un unnamed man employed by Cuff; The Captain and Mr. Murthwaite, who has the task of closing the epilogue. 1. MISS CLACK STRUCTURE OF NARRATION Miss Clack moved to London and we learn that Ablewhite was attacked, indeed the focus is on him. He was attacked by someone and for some mysterious reasons. There is a peculiar aspect: Rachel will be rich after her mother dies because she will be the owner of the two houses. As an aside, we can see the legal justice to women. This event was 2 years before an important act for women in 1870. 2. MR BUFF STRUCTURE OF NARRATION Mr Buff allows us to see that lady Verinder wants to leave all to Rachel, but the two houses can’t be sold so that nobody will be able to make money from selling them. At this point, we start seeing the behaviour of Ablewhite beginning suspicious, and we understand the reason why. At the beginning, Ablewhite was so in love with Rachel, but after seeing the will of Rachel’s mother he starts to act weird: he became aware of the fact he couldn’t sell or mortgage the houses so he couldn’t get a large financial availability. 3. MR BLAKE STRUCTURE OF NARRATION Mr Blake comes back to Indian because he wanted to see Rachel in order to get back together. But she doesn’t want nothing with him and for this reason he decides to go back to Yorkshire. Then he gets the letter sent to him by Rosanna and thank to the instructions in the letter he was able to recover the main piece of evidence: a nightgown. When he looks at the name on the nightgown, he notices that is his name; he realizes the missing evidence belong to himself and doesn’t know how it is possible because he doesn’t remember anything. Later, when he goes to see Rachel, she says that she saw him stealing the diamond during the night of the birthday. She was in love with him, for this reason she doesn’t say anything about that, but at the same time she was angry because she considered him as an hypocrite. Finally we understand while Rachel was behaving like that. 4. DR EZRA JENNINGS STRUCTURE OF NARRATION Dr. Ezra was mentioned by Betteredge but now he developed. Jeggings wanted to help Mr. Blake, so he starts to work on the case of the diamond. Jeggings comes out with the idea that Blake took some opium and stoles the diamond, but then he lost memory because he was under the action of opium. But in any case, there is some mystery because he didn’t actually take opium; he was drugged by Dr. Candy. He stoles the diamond because he wants to protect Rachel. At this point, most of the mysteries were solved. Collins aveva una malattia alla gotta e non era comune prendere l’audano, era prescritto ai pazienti per alleviare il dolore. La parte negativa di questa droga era che stimolava la dipendenza. In più, alterava e intossicava fortemente la mente e la conoscenza. Jennings is an outsiders because his name is Jewish (there were stereotypes against Jewish) and also because he’s an addicted to opium, so we don’t know if we could trust him: he’s a doctor but also an addicted (liminality). The outsiders need to be excluded and to disappears from the story. 5. MR BLAKE STRUCTURE OF NARRATION We came to know what happened to the diamond, namely who took it. But what is missing? Blake doesn’t remember where he put the diamond, but is known that it’s certainly in London and it should had been by Lucker. It is also known that the Indians were aware that the diamond would return to them. In this narration we learn that Ablewhite has been murdered, but we don’t know who commit the crime. Ablewhite has been murdered because he took the diamond by Lucker, and probably the murders were the Indians. 6. MR CUFF STRUCTURE OF NARRATION Mr. Blake asks to Cuff to write a report in order to explain why Ablewhite was killed, why he took the diamond and what happened at the murder. Mr. Cuff explains all of this things and explains also the motive: Ablewhite is disclosed as a man who had been leading a double life and the second one was the life of dissipation (degradation): he has very expensive houseful and he needed money. So, the motive is revealed only now. 7. DR CANDY STRUCTURE OF NARRATION Ezra has died. At this point, Rosanna and Ezra disappear from the text. 8. BETTEREDGE STRUCTURE OF NARRATION Is a short chapter in which he tells us that Rachel and Blake got married and now expect a baby.  The epilogue In the epilogue we have the ‘’happy ending’’ but however, something is missing. What happened to the Moonstone and how it got back to India? We have 3 short chapters: - Mr Cuff ‘man: a man employed by Mr Cuff. He asks this man to follow the Indians before they escape to India. He follows them but then he loses them, so he has to report his failure to Mr Cuff. - The captain: he’s the captain of the ship which was going to India. The Indians were on the ship but before reaching the coast they escape with a lifeboat. - Mr Murthwaite: he’s a guest on Rachel’s dinner party, an expert about Indian culture because he’s an explorer and traveller. He understands that the three Indians weren’t jugglers and not pure Indians, instead they were hide cased Brahams. Mr Murthwaite explains us that the Moonstone has been restored on the forehead of the god temple; it has gone back, where it should had been. Mr Murthwaite closes everything, namely, the case and every mystery has been solved. EXTRACT Servant perspective - Chapter 8 It is an example of the comic attitude of Betteredge narrative. What guides them is idleness because they don’t have to work or didn’t had anything serious to do. We have idleness and he’s making fun of intellectual pursuit. We have a reference on experiments on alive animals. In the last sentence there is the perspective of the servants, they can use their time saying that they are doing something worth it, but at the same time the house is a mess so they have to clean up. This is what the gentlefolks are doing. Demystification Is there but not totally. He asks how in 1868 can there still be this type of social class, but at the same time the tone is amused and light, so the criticism goes up to a certain point. If there is a comic part, we are not sure if we can take it seriously or not. Then we have a comparison between aristocracy and civil children. On the one hand we have the silly occupation of children, on the other hand the silly occupation of aristocracy scientists. View of photography has been realistic, in painting we can use filters but painting reveals the truth. GABRIEL BETTEREDGE GABRIEL BETTEREDGE STRUCTURE OF NARRATION In the first period, the character who gets to behave in a suspicious way, is Rosanna. The text tends to build suspicions upon Rosanna because she behaves in a strange way, indeed she has some secrets to hide. The text manages to build the suspicious of Rosanna while the narrator tries to cover up her, he doesn’t want the Rosanna’s past to enter to the investigations, indeed he tries to hide some incidents about Rosanna in order to avoid people being suspicious of her. Chapter 4 - problematic attitude of Betteredge toward women We analyse the moment before the important conversation that take place near the sand. Betteredge describes Nancy as angry with Rosanna because she wasn’t there for dinner, so, Betteredge says that Nancy must relax because he would take care of Rosanna. This extract makes us notice that Betteredge has a sort of paternalistic attitude because he’s the head of the servants, has a mayor power and authority; for this reasons he has a sort of father’s role, especially with Nancy. So, we understand that the way he’s using his power is wrong. Chapter 8 - His view on Rachel Betteredge has a stereotype view on women and also on the relations between man and woman. We can notice the repetition of the verb ‘’fathom’’, which means to understand or to comprehend with the mind, but also means a measure, namely the water’s depth. So, in addition to this idea of comprehending, we also have the idea of deepness.  Rachel: - She’s described like a person difficult to fathom, so unfathomable - She has something deep inside to hide  The diamond: - Is described like something difficult to fathom, so unfathomable - It distracts people when they’re watching it because it seems to drown, so is an idea of depth With these ideas we have a challenge in representation; they are both unfathomable and elude a total representation. This is something important for detective fiction because they try to complete all representations in order to solve the mystery, so, to have all clear and then to represent. But this text goes against the detective fiction because these cases seem to prevent us of reaching the representation. There is something deep that can’t be fully made transparent and open to us. We have some moments in which the texts itself resist against the total representation. Similarities between Rachel and the diamond: It’s undeniable that novel established some connections between Rachel and the diamond. It’s her birthday present and also her jewel. The diamond is connected to Rachel because the diamond represents the symbol of Rachel’s virginity, the jewel is the jewel of virginity; so, the connection is that Franklin steals Rachel’s virginity. Because of that, Rachel changes; she can’t speak any more about the diamond, she doesn’t want anything to do with the diamond after it has been stolen. Rachel will experience the loss of her self-reliance. We have a widespread interpretation among critics: for a long time, the moonstone has been interpretated as a violence in the relation with Rachel. Nowadays, instead, there are some affinity: the marriage will mean for Rachel submit at Franklin, so, loose her independency and her self-sufficiency. This condition isn’t different from the colonial subject, of which the diamond is the symbol, so, therefore of those who are wrongly appropriated to the colonizing power. Consequently, we always talk about a power imbalance. In Rachel we have a character who resists against the possibility of a total interpretation. We have other moments like that: Rosanna and Ezra Jagging were eliminated from the text. It seems like to have a detective fiction, these two characters can’t be there, so they were eliminated. Betteredge notices her differences. She is stubborn, which isn’t a good think, and confident. She doesn’t care for what other people thing, for common opinions, for established principals; she has her own values and her own principals and this is what really matters to her. Mr Buff, the lawyer, says that this stubbornness and independence of mind is something remarkable, an important value of her character, and not something to criticize. But Betteredge has a conventional view of women, so Rachel doesn’t comply with this idea of femininity. We have some open minded characters, but Betteredge is not one of them. He accepts Rachel only because she has a higher place of authority. She has independence of mind but she is also a bit secretive, indeed she has secrets and doesn’t tends to share her opinion and her secrets. These aspects would contribute to the view that the detective Cuff would have on her and also prepares the reader that there is something mysterious about Rachel. What comes out of here is the fact that she’s free to love and hate without the concealing of somebody. She’s free and self-reliant. She can afford to be self-sufficient and free, a think that Penelope couldn’t be because of her social position. We have the idea of integrity, so she has her own values and beliefs, she doesn’t want to compromise, which can be also a flaw. THE BUSINESS OF DETECTION IN THE MOONSTONE 1. Collins takes inspiration for The Moonstone from some real life cases. The two main historical events are:  Trial of ‘’Rugeley poisoner’’: it is a trial, which was very sensational in London in 1956. It was the case of a doctor who has poisoned a lot of his patients and also killed his illegitimate children. The trial was so famous that it was attended by many people, such as Dickens and Collins. Collins was struck by the succession of the witnesses, who were called in order to give their testimony and evidence. This succession of witnesses provides multiple narratives that build the story of the case, and Collins wanted to replicate this in the Moonstone, where we also have also a lot of witnesses/narrators who talk about what they have seen.  The case of the ‘’road murder’’: it is a case of a young woman (she was 16) who killed her young brother (he was 4). His dead body was found in the night. Initially people were convinced that the child had been killed by a servant who was working in the house. The sister hides and replaced her own nightgown because her nightgown has some blood on it, so, she replaced it with a new one. The same happened to Rosanna; indeed, she was suspected because she was a servant and also because she replaced her own nightgown. 2. The focus is on the search for truth. The Moonstone is a detective story with a focus on the search of truth, because everyone wants to find the truth, namely what happened to The Moonstone and everyone believes that the truth will be found out. We can see this aspect of “truth” in some point of the story:  The surname “Verinder” The noun “truth” emerges in the surname Verinder, because this surname etymologically goes back to the idea of finding truth, indeed in Latin Verinder was verum+ inde = find truth. The importance of “truth” is understandable thanks to the way the word “truth” is inscribed in the central surname of the book and this means that the truth is so important that it becomes one of the central themes of the story.  The word ‘truth’ used in the 2nd period Truth dominates the second period in the story, because in the first period we only have Betteredge’s narrative entitled “the loss of the diamond”, while the second period is entitled “the discovery of the truth”. Indeed the second period describes the possibility of finding the truth and also the real discovery of the truth. 3. The quest for truth involves rational but also irrational methods of investigation. The desire for truth involves not only rational investigation but also irrational one; and they are both crucial in order to gain the truth. So we can understand that neither rationality alone nor irrationality alone are enough to find the truth; and for this reason in the novel there is a competition between rationality and irrationality, even if at the end they both work together in order to solve the mystery. In the novel there are different types of investigation:  Rational investigation by Mr Cuff  The Indians Brahmins investigation: is irrational because they mesmerize the english boy in order to find the diamond, so they try to force the future.  The physician Ezra Jennings investigation: is irrational because he defies rationality and focus on unconscious mental process. These are automatic mental processes that occur in the mind without the conscious self being aware of them and without being able to control these mental processes. THREE TYPES OF INVESTIGATION RATIONALITY INVESTIGATION OF MR CUFF (1) Mr cuff is a very intelligent character and also good observant, so he has good observing skills. Even though Rosanna and Rachel remain a mystery to him. Mr Cuff established a model of detective which is considered one of the main model for later detectives. The typical aspects of later detective, as well as Mr Cuff, are:  The interview: this is one aspect of his intelligence, namely the fact he interviews people, listen to them and waits for them to disclose inadvertently important clues.  The contrast: there is a contrast set up between the local police agents (the ordinary, more business and less intelligent person) and the detective (he’s an exceptional and intelligent man because he’s able to see what eludes other people, so he can grasp some aspects that escape the attention of ordinary people). We have an example of this observing power of the detective figure: the local policeman has noticed that the paint has been smeared, but he pays no attention to it, rather he calls out the servant for ruining the paint job; so instead of noticing how important it is, he completely ignores it. But as soon as Mr Cuff arrives, he immediately notices this and wants to know more about it. In fact, he says there is nothing that we can call trifling, a marginal aspect or a small and insignificant thing in a case. At this moment, Mr Cuff established a model: the detective must pay attention especially on trifles because they often hold secrets and thus the answers. So, Mr Cuff is one of the first detectives that shows the importance of trifles, rather than elements that anyone can notice and therefore are fairly obvious things. Trifles can be the ashes or the minimal traces that no one would ever notice and that have no importance. For example, a trifles in the Moonstone could be Rosanna's footprints going to the quicksand but not returning, so it is clear that she disappeared into the quicksand. This importance of trifles is right also for doctors, who have to diagnose the diseases of their patients, and for the art, because there’s a to figure out whether a painting is a fake or not, and then pay attention to how they were painted. This ability to notice trifles is something that isn’t innate, it must be trained, practiced and improved; for this reason Mr Cuff possess a certain expertise that distinguishes him from ordinary people.  Betteredge opinion of Mr cuff: Betteredge doesn’t like Mr Cuff’s methods and way he has to lead the investigation. He doesn’t like the way he tries to deceive Rosanna and how he tries to lead her in order to be betrayed, in particular by using her infatuation by Mr Blake. We can see a contrast between Betteredge and Mr Cuff: Betteredge is acting sympathetic, especially with Rosanna, Penelope and the other servants, instead Mr Cuff tends to be emotionally detached from people. This because, what is important for the detective is only the solution of the case and the mystery; and we can see this in Mr Cuff when he interviews people. This detachment in some detectives turns into being sociopathic and having some autistic behaviours. Another aspect Betteredge doesn’t like about Mr Cuff is his eccentricity. He’s described as an eccentric character because he has a passion for roses and he has conversation with the gardeners about roses. This is an aspect that Betteredge doesn’t understand, because he doesn't know why such a wealthy and intelligent man like him cares so much about  The investigation curried by the Indians is dismissed by Betteredge as superstitious, as something foolish. But he constantly quotes Robinson Crusoe.  Anxiety of reverse colonization: when Penelope describes the mesmerising moment she’s clearly expressing some anxiety of reverse colonization.  The mesmeric trans is presented as hocus pocus, so something that as to do with magic and that is not rely on scientific methods. However, as we read in the novel, it uses a trans light estate to understand what happened during the night of Rachel’s birthday to provide the solve of the mystery. So, the same mental estate presented as something foolish and unnatural (the Indian method), later is used to actually solve the case. Dr John Elliotson was the main authority of mesmerising. He was a medical doctor whose dignity was compromised, but nevertheless he remained a doctor. The characteristic of the Brahmins In order to support the idea of revenge plot, Indian were totally devoted to find the Moonstone and replace it to where it belongs. They’re so determined and prepared to give up their status and everything else just to get revenge. They have a self-control unlike the British characters. They’re behaviour is driven because they have a clear goal and they also have a strong motivation. The text makes quite clear that we have some admiration for the fact they are so determined and self-controlled. We have a contrast between the firmness of Indians and the lack of self-control or self - forgetting of British. The Indians are admired even if they killed Ablewhite; they don’t get punished and are justified because their ‘’mission’’ is something higher that ordinary life. This revenge goes against Cristian morality and for this reason they should be punished. In this admiration, however, we find a kind of nostalgia, because in the revenge tragedies there is the idea of divine punishment; this means that although we admire the Brahmins, we are nostalgic because God will still find a way to punish them and to provide a closer to the crime. Epilogue The conclusion doesn’t finish with the english story, it goes back to the Indians subplot. The text ends also with the closer of the revenge plot, because finally the crime has been punished and the Moonstone has been returned to its place. After revenge we have the restoration of order of things, namely a sense of closure. At the same time, this epilogue confirms the possibility of the idea that murders will out, so justice will finds its way. THE MYSTERIEIS OF THE HUMAN MIND We find the aspect of the human mind in the second period, especially in the third, fourth and fifth narrative (the Ezra and Blake narratives). The Moonstone is important because demonstrate the strong interest Victorian people have in the study of the human mind, namely the study in the human brain. They’re convinced that when people are hit on the head they lose memory, which is a place on the brain. This science of the mind was materialistic; they studied the physiological and pathological processes, and to do so, they focused on pathologies and diseases. Victorians were fascinated by the study of the mind and it wasn’t just scientists doing this because the study of the mind was called ‘’the philosophy of the mind, so people were not just doctors, but also all cultured people as intellectuals, writers or reviews: they liked discussing these processes. EZRA JENNINGS AND HIS CREDIBILITY (3) Ezra is a disturbing figure because he goes beyond certain binarisms: - He has some feminine aspects even though he’s a male - He’s a racial background because he’s English and foreign - His name is Jewish, which causes problematic racial identity - He’s a doctor but at the same time ad addict Ezra is an important narrator and has a fundamental role especially in the second period. He’s narrative is trustworthy despite he’s an addict. We find Ezra quoting mental physiology texts: he quotes the text ‘’Human Physiology’’ of John Elliotson and ‘’The Principles of General and Comparative Physiology’’ and ‘’The Principles of Mental Physiology’’ of Benjamin Carpenter.  John Elliotson John was a medical professor in a London university and was so interested in mesmerism. He also conducted mesmerism séances, which were like entertainment shows, indeed there were people going to see him mesmerising young women. These were so popular that his reputation came to be compromised; these experiments were just something for fun and entertainment, not something medical. In addition to this, has never been demonstrated the existence of the magnetic fluid, for this reason mesmerism was considered a pseudo-science. In the Moonstone John is not so much mentioned because of his works on mesmerising. Ezra also quoted the case of an Irish porter. He was working in a warehouse and one night he was drunk. While he was drunk he mislead a parcel, so it was considered lost, and when he was sober he didn’t remember where he put the parcel. The next time he was drunk again, he went to the warehouse and was able to rediscover the parcel. This incident is important in the context of the mental science. We have two section of memory in our brain: one goes together with drunkenness, so when we don’t have a conscious control, the other one goes with the conscious part of us. It’s important in order to explain that only when we are drunk or intoxicated we can remember things that we’ve done during drunkenness or intoxication. Ezra tries to rebuild the scene of Blake stealing the Moonstone using this experiment: Blake knows what he did but it’s only available in the unconscious part of his brain.  Benjamin Carpenter Carpenter was a fully respectable person and did some very important works. Ezra quotes him because of the works he devoted to memory, in particular for his belief that the brain is extremely pretentious; when you have a sensory impression, it is registered on the brain and it remain there, even if it’s not available to consciousness. This work goes together with the John’s episode of the Irish porter. This idea goes together with an increasing anxiety over memory. Carpenter is quoted also for his works on mental physiology, focused on alter mental estate. In these estates the self in charge is not the conscious self but the unconscious self. Carpenter considered this unconscious self as an inferior self, a self that is there and we can’t do anything about it, we just have to accept its existence and train our minds. Carpenter uses the metaphor of the horse and rider: for him the conscious self is like a rider, while the other self is the horse. The horse should be directed by the rider, he must be in charge of it. What happens in these alter mental estate is that the horse take control over the rider and he doesn’t have the power to control the horse. This situation is not an extremely problem if is something temporary, like the sleepwalking, dreams or intoxication, but if it remains permanently it can turn into a serious pathology. So, for Carpenter, it’s important to train the brain in order to let the rider take the control over the horse, so, to control and limit the mind as much as possible. The main difference between these two psychologist is that Carpenter was a respectable man and the representative of mainstream psychology and mental science. Elliotson, instead, had become a more marginal scientific figure because he was associated with the quackery of mesmerism, namely something that had become less serious. However, they are both important because they shared a common belief, that is an unconscious mental processes. They were convinced that it was important to study the unconscious activity of the mind. Ezra also quoted other text by a romantic writer which talks about the addiction the of opium: the texts is ‘’The confession of an english Opium-Eater’’ by Thomas De Quincey, published in 1821. This book talks about opium and it became one again popular thanks to a new edition in the 19 Century. Ezra it quoted because opium has mostly sedative actions, but Jennings underlines how before the sedative action the opium acts as a stimulant. However, this text didn’t contributed to the Ezra’s credibility. THE MIND IN THE VICTORIAN AGE In the Victorian Age, these unconscious estates are easily perceived as a mystery of the mind. In every human mind there’s something we can control, but also a very important part that is not controllable; this is why in Victorian culture it becomes something very mysterious and even anxious. In mental and literature discourse, mental estates become a source of interest in a sinister way. There was the idea that in the mind, in addition to the conscious self, there’s a different self who is living together with the conscious one. This “other” self is the unconscious self and it starts to be imagined as a sort of “double” self-who’s inhabiting the human mind. This unconscious self is much more mysterious, has something less familiar and is such an alien; this because we feel we don’t have the same control over this self as we have on the rational self. The agency What normally belongs to the unconscious self is the agency; agency has to do with the entity that is responsible for the action and express the idea of being able, being in power of some actions and behaviours. When agency belongs to the unconscious self it is problematic because the horse become the agent. For many Victorians, this is considered as a source of anxiety because they are obsessed with control. It was disturbing because unconscious mental estates are everywhere. However, some authors start to consider some possible interesting aspects for creativity of these unconscious actions. They believe that when the unconscious self takes over the other self, it is able to access to a source of creativity. Also Dickens use the agency of the unconscious self as a possible source of creativity. We have negotiation between pathological and creative aspect. In Victorian culture discourses emerges a tendency to imagine the unconscious self as: - A sort of fiend: a demonic creature or something evil - A sort of fairy: a more benevolent kind of figure or entity that works in cooperation with the conscious self, that provides the mechanical activity that can be speared to the conscious self. The memory Memory is conceived as one of the most interesting mental processes to provide examples. This is an important phenomenon aspect of mental science and also in the Moonstone, where we have a lot of emphasis on the memory. The memory, before the 19 century, was considered quite a rational kind of faculty with some exceptions. John Lock notices that it is impossible to control association of idea and also to control the memory. Lock notices that memory is not controllable but doesn’t seem to acknowledge the possibility that some memories are latened. After the 19 century, what is new in the description of the memory is the new attention devoted to latened memories, so memories that are not always available to consciousness. These memories could be some simple things, like remember the name or the date, but could also be painful memories. When these painful memories come back to the conscious self it’s a problem because they are unmanageable and can’t be controlled by the conscious self. The gothic In Victorian literature they sometimes used gothic undertexts, so, there’s a gothic aspect. The mystery of the mind becomes a source for gothic feature. Unconscious mental processes are perceived as something supernatural and trickery. Otherwise, Victorian start to think that there aren’t supernatural things because it was only an hallucination of the person. So, in order to find supernatural things, it must be seen the physiological phenomenon. New gothic is the phrase used to describe the gothic of Victorian literature, which as a more domestic gothic. It’s important in the contest of the mystery of the mind perceived as supernatural. We have it in the Moonstone in the character of Rosanna and the quicksand. Mesmerism Betteredge dismiss the mental estate of mesmerism as trickery and hocus pocus. This conception of mesmerism (used as an instance of the unconscious mental estate) is a mental estate that relies on scientific discussions. This is used also when Jennings decides to invite Blake to be intoxicated again, he describes scientifically what might happened to Blake during the birthday night. In other extracts, the narrator takes a position but he doesn’t like it. Also in this extract, there’s a siding taken by Betteredge; at the beginning he’s more detached and doesn’t takes a position since he uses opposite terms, whereas at the end of the extract he takes a position and we can see that when he uses the word “foundation”. So, he’s position is that he considers Blake’s english side as the foundational one, namely the base where Blake’s personality should be mostly grounded. This foundation is obscured by the presence of he’s other personalities and this is clear at the end of the extract. In the nearly section of the extract, Betteredge seems to be amused by Blake’s cleverness. In the last part of the extract, Betteredge gets more critical and attacks Blake, but anyway there are some comic aspects. In addition, in the extract there’s a sort of personification of the english foundation, which is imaged as a person speaking and complaining. Betteredge is like the english foundation because both complain about the other personalities. The word “transmogrified”, used in this extract, means a distortion in a comic way and not in a serious one because this word leads to the idea of something grotesque and comical. The word “sorely”, used in this extract, provides the idea of physical pain fatigue. In this extract the many sidedness of Blake is presented as something potentially dangerous, comical and amusing. In other points of the novel, there are more serious interpretation of this sidedness of Blake. Extract 2 Quicksand is a place that is associated with Rosanna. The critics say that the quicksand is an image of the unconscious mind because it is a place at the periphery which represent a strange and sinister place near the Verinder estate. The quicksand represents the irrational and unconscious self, while the Verinder estate represents the rational and conscious self. In the first part of this extract is presented the way Blake is absolved by Jennings. This extract is a conversation about the experiment in which Ezra tries to reconstruct the same conditions that were there a year earlier, because according to him, this will provide the same mental association of ideas for conscious and unconscious mental estate. Ezra asks to Blake if on the birthday night he was anxious about the diamond and he says that ha was feeling anxious for Rachel because the diamond is cursed. In the second part of this extract, Ezra explains what happened to Blake’s mind while he was intoxicated by opium. The language and the way Ezra described the situation looks like as if Blake wasn’t doing anything because opium was a presence directing his actions, as if the opium was the agent and Blake had no choice because he couldn’t do anything except for what he did. Ezra predicts the figure of psychoanalysts for how he describes the situation: he describes in details and step by step what happens, perhaps to provide Blake whit a clearly picture of what happened. Blake intoxicated situation is the perfect example of the agency of the unconscious self taking over, so Blake’s self in control was the unconscious self. This would be a disturbing thing for Blake’s reputation because it would mean that he let himself be controlled by the unconscious self. The fact Jennings connects the influence of opium with Blake’s deepest anxiety about Rachel, allows to save Blake’s reputation and the sinister fact that he’s mind was ruled by the unconscious self. In the third part of the extract is described the fact that, on the birthday night, Blake wasn’t himself but at the same time he was most himself. The idea that during an altered mental estate a person would be most himself, is an innovation for Victorian physiology by Ezra because the unconscious self would not be directed by feelings or emotions; he was expressing his deepest anxiety and feeling of love and protection over Rachel. Extract 3 The first part of this extract talks about when Betteredge fetches Rosanna and finds her in the quicksand and it also shows how Rosanna explains the place. Rosanna shifts from saying something about quicksand to talking about her past, so it is as if thinking about one thing leads her to thinking about the other one. This extract shows the moment in which the quicksand appears as a metaphor for a problematic past. Here Rosanna also speaks about the fact that she is drawn to that place, so she drifts towards the quicksand; when she drifts she’s ruled by the unconscious mental state. In addition, Rosanna mentions the problem of her past since she feels out of place, because she was a thief. Betteredge and Lady Verinder do their best to allow Rosanna to feel comfortable, but it is impossible for her to forget the past. In the second part of this extract, the language is dense. Rosanna is experiencing a sublime psychological experience, because it is a mix of horror and delight, since she is attracted to the place as if the place is horrible but also fascinating.  People are fascinated by the diamond, while Rosanna is fascinated by the quicksand. In this extract we have the impression that Rosanna is in a daydreaming mental state, so she is drifting toward unconscious mental activity and toward the quicksand with her mind. In this extract there is a liminal state between conscious and unconscious, because we can't understand whether she is awake, hallucinated or daydreaming. This shows a morbid (morboso) aspect in Rosanna, since she describes something horrible (people drowning in the quicksand) but at the same time she feels this situation as attractive; this leads back to a psychological state typical of traumatic states and psychotic disorders, so the horse forces her to repeat and relive something horrendous. When she tells Betteredge to throw the stone, she imagines what it's like to drown in the quicksand; an unconscious memory that comes back and forces her to be drawn to a horrible place. “The broad brown face of it heaved slowly, and then dimpled and quivered all over.” There is a personification of the quicksand, because it is as the place has a face and dimples.  - heaved = to be lifted, to make a large movement up, movement of a person  - dimpled = to produce a dimple, creare una fossetta = l’increspatura  - quivered = shake  This is relevant, because it is an example of the demystification of the boundaries; so the boundary between conscious and unconscious, human and non-human, horror and delight become unstable. These unstable categories and the demystification of the boundaries separating different things is the reason why Rosanna and the quicksand are problematic. There are also moments where reality is offered as something complex and something that cannot be reduced in clear categories. Extract 4 In this extract is presented Blake’s need to banish Rosanna, so Rosanna is banished by Blake the character and Blake the editor. In the first part of this extract Blake is about to find the nightgown in the quicksand. Until now Blake avoided this place but now he must go there.   In his description, he doesn't even use Rosanna’s name, but he calls her the “dead woman” even if she is assisting his search; doing this, Blake is banishing Rosanna because of her problematic mental state.  In Blake’s description of the quicksand we don't have the aspect of fascination, but only the aspect of horror, since he describes the place as something awful and that needs to be forgotten; this is an evident contrast to the perspective of Rosanna on the quicksand. Blake wants to forget everything about this place as quickly as possible, and we understand that because Blake describes only the negative connotation of the quicksand as if it was only an experience of horror and fear. This provides an effect on readers, namely the reader feels close to what Blake is experiencing. Blake is haunted by Rosanna and the same happens to the reader.  In this extract there is an example of new gothic, because the language is the typical gothic language, namely a language that wants to provide a reaction in the reader and to scare the reader. We can see the gothic also because of the presence of Rosanna’s ghost; the ghost comes from the mind and a state of mind, so from something horrible that happened in the past. Blake needs to close his eyes, because he is imagining Rosanna coming back to the surface of the quicksand and he is thinking about Rosanna as the person suffering in the sand; so he closes his eyes because he can’t stand the imagination of Rosanna in that state.  In this part, we can see the danger on Blake’s own agencies, since he can’t be haunted by Rosanna, because that would mean that the unconscious will rule him. In the second part of this extract we see how Blake needs to banish Rosanna from his narrative. Blake is trying to leave Rosanna behind, as if her disappearance is functional to the narrative. There is a connection between the story being able to reach the light from darkness and the disappearance of Rosanna.  Blake describes Rosanna’s death as a strange and terrible influence on his position, so he needs to move on; and in order to move on he needs to leave her behind and to forget that her suicide is connected to him.   He needs to move on, because he is starting to see the light and go out of darkness. Rosanna also affects Blake’s unconscious, because she makes his unconscious rule him. So he gets tormented by her ghost when he thinks of Rosanna, but he must be able to control this thing and the only way to do it is to expel what is disturbing. The word “retrospect” is important, because it gives the idea of willed memory, a completely manageable instance of memory and of contemplating the past and leaves behind the return of memory.