THE VICTORIAN AGE and the AESTHETIC MOVEMENT, Appunti di Inglese

Scarica THE VICTORIAN AGE and the AESTHETIC MOVEMENT e più Appunti in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! THE VICTORIAN COMPROMISE Victorian Age = complex and contradictory era: > 2 parts of the period = 2 ways of considering the period: 1. age of progress (Industrial Rev) + rising health + stability and great social reforms + colonialism = hope and faith in progress > writer of the first part of the period share this optimism (Dickens) > value = morality (taken on the extreme > u have to show yourself as honest, perfect, well-mannered to other people but actually ur life could also be in a bad way > surface, appearance = importance (strict morality, honest, perfect) under it there is the essence with problems, prostitution, drugs, not important, you have to hide this idea) (es. The Importance of Being Ernest, The Picture of Dorian Gray Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde > Hyde has to remain hidden inside us, he’s the bad part of us) Victorians = great moralizers > problems > code of values of the world trey wanted (not the one they had): - duties - hard work > results in the material progress - respectability - charity + pretend to be honest > want to show off using movements or activities (attend the church, charitable activities, philanthropy to show that u r interesting in poor people) + sex, homosexuality ecc = forbidden > even nudity in statues or paintings has to be covered + chastity (prudery = to have sex) + unmarried mothers = marginalized as “fallen women” > refined by the upper and middle classes (pol and eco power) Dickens always ends his novels w happy ending > progress can change the evil in society > situation = improved 2. poverty + injustice + social unrest > THE VICTORIAN WORKHOUSE SYSTEM > set up under the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 > last 2 decades of Victorian Age (1901) > artists realized that progress hasn’t improved society, still many problems and bad situations and conditions (no longer optimism) > there is a discrepancy between, deep conflict: - goals / believes of society > materialistic - goals / believes of art > spiritual aims Artist feels themselves alienated from society > different aims = reaction to the Victorian Compromise (surface is perfect, essence has poverty, prostitution, drugs, gambling) > people wanted to appear perfect, w a strong morality, but the underground was completely different > represented by the Aesthetic Movement Poor people were the majority and lived in small houses overcrowded but it was possible to go to this workhouse system, based on buildings of big houses in industrial cities where poor people could go and find help > families were divided > orphans where sold to work in factories and mines > no running water or hygiene = failure “Poverty = consequence of laziness” > u don’t do anything to improve ur situation You have money = you hard worked > if u don’t do anything, why should the government help you? > they themselves had to improve their situation > work Literature works = 3 parts > very long and published in extolment > people didn’t have to buy books (that are expensive) + se io ti narrow un peisodio ora, devo tenerti in sospeto e riprendere un po’ di quello ceh era stato ditto prima, gli exoslment venivano raccolti e divenivano romanzi Red houses > red brick = really cheap, built for workers > the houses turned black because of the smoke (one of the aspect of industrialization) All the machines meant progress for the countries and the owners of industries > BUT it also meant alienation for workers > money for the owners + lack of humanity / alienation for the people who worked in the plants Society: - reading public > made up also to women > it’s getting large > thanks to estonement and library more people could afford reading books (not expensive to buy a periodical or to borrow a book from the library) > woman = just mums or brides > w reading public + Florence Nightingale + Queen Victoria > someone also became writers (w a male pseudonym) - children > w women and poor men were exploited > were the labor force > but at the end they win > poor people got poorer and rich people got richer > I genitori hanno bisogno di soldi e li madnano a laovrare / prostituirsi / li vendono A christmas carol The poor caharacters mange to change Scrooge ì, who at the end bacames good > I buoni hanno botta di culo e I cattivi diventano buoni Hard Times = novel in which Dickens describes the situation > coal = most important source of energy for machines in that time > Dickens sets this novel in a town called Coketown > mines of coal where the workers work > referred to the difficult life in this city due to industrialization > it’s not seen as revolution, a progress, but it’s rather seen as involution for men and the workers involved in this process Image of Coke town: - Chaotic - Dirty > buildings are blackish - P = beautiful and young as it was painted = art is beautiful, perfect and eternal, it survives men = the alter-ego of Dorian, the double face (wish of getting it uglier and older) Dorian Gray = beautiful young gentleman of the middle class who represents the good and evil elements that distinguish the Victorian compromise > “Dorian” = it goes back to Doric style in Greek Style > reference of beauty, perfection, eternity > he remains beautiful for the whole novel > “Gray” = mixture of white and black > there is a connection to a double life (Victorian compromise) > hidden life, bad situations of the soc hidden under a beautiful surface Lord Henry Wotton = embodies the philosophy of New Hedonism (pleasure, Carpe Diem, enjoy the moment) > life = one aim = pleasure > he is a Dandy > witty conversation, epigrams, paradoxes, philosophy of pleasure + aristocratic > name similar of Old Harry = an old English nickname for the Devil > he teaches Dorian in the garden of Basil’s studio = Eden Garden > Dorian = Eve > beautiful voice and convince Dorian to keep his beauty Basil Hallward = remember the name Bosie, Oscar’s lover > he is killed = found out the truth about the painting > Dorian is afraid he could tell the truth to someone > the artist is killed = the spiritual aim is killed by the materialistic aim of the society > the soc doesn’t want that the artist openly talks about the bad things in the society Sybil Vane = a poor girl, an actress and Dorian falls in love with her for her way of acting (relationship) > she tried to tell Dorian the truth, but she speaks in vain > “Vane” = “in vain”, she’s too weak to save Dorian > “Sybil” = tells the truth > “Sybil Vane” reminds us of the Greek Myth of Cassandra > actress = the double face > she acts in a way that do not correspond to her real way of being > she calls Dorian Prince Charming > one night she decides to act in her real way, he’s disappointed (refuses to listen to reality), she leaves him and commits suicide Victoria Wotton = she goes to the church every Sunday to show off that she’s interesting in charity associations, just to pretend Victor = Dorian’s servant > loyal to Dorian to the end Gladys = female version of Lord Henry Actors = Mask of Society > Pretence ≠ Truth (the Victorian compromise) The structure Chapter 11 = emphasise the life of senses, which is the key philosophy of Wilde’s work Chapter 13 = Basil is killed The dandy Baudelaire = he created in ugly aspects, which became the main point of their poems The English Dandy belongs to high class, individualist, he admires beautiful things > philosophy of new hedonism = pleasure (now all the senses must be used) Philosophy of the carpe diem= enjoy your life with all your senses > it’s useless to explain this to common people because they understand nothing Dandy = the artist (= Dorian and Lord Henry) The Preface (/prèfis/) = it became so important because it became the Manifesto of the aesthetic movement (it contains the main concepts) Wilde pointed out the principles that must been followed to all the components of the movement Society = materialistic aim | art = spiritual aim + no teaching/lesson giving through art > art = the superior value > the artist (= aesthete) is the creator of beautiful things + should not/mustn’t reveal his personality The aesthetes are the elected (superior to common person) = people who can appreciate beautiful things and art, and for this reason also life > key word=beautiful (the only meaning of things is beauty) You should judge the book just considering the style, the language in which it’s written, not the story > his book was: - well written because he gave importance to the words - branded as immoral > idea of homosexuality (Basil-Dorian, maybe also Dorian-Lord H) Artist = instrument of art > thought and language Vice and virtue = parts of the human being > the artist finds inspiration in human life to his works > also in the life of Dorian Art must be admired as art itself > you could find something bad or nothing Spectator = human being You can accept or criticises the book, it doesn’t matter > when the opinion are in contrast it shows that the book has attract/is in the centre of the attention of the public Art, any piece of Art is useless = no meaning, no moral lesson If you admire something it means that it’s beautiful > for aesthetes or it’s beautiful or it’s useless, not both at the same time Conclusion = all art is quite useless > it has no other aims that art itself chapter 2: Lord H explains to/teaches Dorian how to be a Dandy, enjoying the pleasure of life, living completely the philosophy of carpe diem > enjoy life as much as u can > Beauty last for a very short time > Basil at the beginning doesn’t want that Lord H meets Dorian > he knows the affects that the Lord could have to Dorian Setting: Basil’s Garden (Dorian is there to paint) > Eden Garden > Snake > Lord H (devil) = he convinces Dorian to change his life and live it just looking for pleasure Dorian expresses the wish to change his life forever (wish: be young and beautiful forever) > as a pact with the Devil > most important values “Wonderfully beautiful face” = emphasizes Beauty Beautiful = it’s a form of genius, but of artists/aesthetes Wilde gave great attention to the use of words > language = one of the most important instruments to create books Beauty can’t last forever > you can’t have your beauty forever > emphasis on wonder and beauty (as an art concept) “Shallow people” = superficial people (common people) “Live really, perfectly, fully” > enjoy your life in all the possible situation (experiences, emotions etc.) = Dandy U will live repenting what u haven’t done / u have done but that u can’t longer enjoy Time is jealous of you and wars against Dorian’s - rose = queen of flowers = precious - lilies = purity “Live!” > really, perfectly, fully > Hedonism > aim = look for pleasure > we can Live just for a small period of time chapter 11: Beginning = same concepts of ch 2 3person narrator = in the mind of the character > it’s writing what is going on in Dorian’s mind They are in the garden = garden of Eden The wish come true = the more pleasure he feels in life the more he wants to feel + curiosity about life > the wish of living never ends, it grows “Beautiful house” = important, beautiful art + musicians > wonders of their art > just for the ones he wants to invite > Henry was there + decides where people had to sit > language rich in adj to emphasize beauty and referred to senses: Hearing = music Sight = importance of decoration Smell = flower Touch = embroidered cloths > all senses are involved > theme = eternal fight between good and evil > J wants to study it > he is a honest, respectable scientist (appearance of perfection) > makes an experiment in order to make a potion to separate the 2 parts of the human being > if he manage it, we can have pure good creature and pure evil creature > if we destroy evil creature, the world will be better > want to break the balance in a person Theme = eternal battle good – bad Message = the bad part always becomes stronger and that’s not good Freud’s theory: - Id = Hyde = unconscious part - Ego = Jekyll = conscious part > he can decide what to do = suicide in order to kill Hyde - Super-Ego = society + morality = maintain the balance between our conscious part (Jekyll) and the unconscious one (Hyde) Our subconscious, inner side comes out when we dream > Dream = expression of our irrational side, our desires that we keep repressed > no rules, brakes, inhibitions > my desires come out in this irrational part > I don’t feel the burden of the society, boundaries etc. > Mr Hyde comes out only in night > inner side = free to do what he wants Hyde comes out and becomes stronger than the good part > no social constraints = he is free End = Jekyll kills himself = the only way to kill the bad part of human being (Hyde) that became stronger > when he dies, his body transformed in Hyde > Utterson thinks that Hyde killed Jekyll and then kills himself, but then finds a letter in which Jekyll tells everything Narrator = same event w different pov - Jekyll is the main - Utterson - Lenyon > he was a friend of Jekyll > he tells us that > the one who saw the transformation > went crazy seeing it > he will die cuz depression, shocked (they were friends) > transformation = against nature The double: Good – evil J – H House – lab Old city (rent a room for H) – modern city (J) Chapter 10 1 stage: physical suffering (grinding the bones) 2 stage: the pain goes away > new creature, lives a new life > “sweet” > younger, lighter, happier > now this creature who was inside of him is free at last and can do evil action: - younger = new thing for him - lighter = is not oppressed by rules - happier = can express the evil part, the most hidden one = he is free Mr Hyde = amoral human being = he was just born and doesn’t know good – evil (committees crimes) His lab is hidden on the back of the house > nobody would see him > house = looks like he is a rich and good man > elegant and beautiful = Victorian compromise Criticism towards science = neg attitude > underline the greed to make a new discovery can make smth bad > want to replace the creator deciding about life and death > excessive eagerness of scientists to play at being God The doctor regrets his action: - Viktor Frankenstein - Alan Campbell - Dr Jekyll > he managed separate good and evil > committees suicide Later on = mirror in the lab > he wants to see himself during transformation + be sure he comes out as Jekyll Evolution of Darwin in Hyde: - beginning = he looks like our ancestors - he grows committing crime - 1901 muore la regina vittoria e finisce la Victorian Age > new techniques, ideas, thoughts become