Hello Everyone,
I have posted your grades to date on MyLearningSpace. There you will see your in-class test, presentation, participation and essay grades.
Thanks for a nice final tutorial. I do hope the exam prep goes well for you all.
Cheers,
Ada
Monday, March 28, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Virginia Woolf and “The Hours”
In our presentation Maria and I, Louise, are going to explore how modernism is portrayed in literature and film, through the writer Virginia Woolf’s work.
The plot of the 2002 movie “The Hours” is based on the 1998 novel “The Hours” by Michael Cunningham. The movie stars: Nicole Kidman as Virginia Woolf, Julianne Moore as Laura Brown, and Meryl Streep as Clarissa Vaughn. Taking a page from Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs. Dalloway”, “The Hours” looks at one day in each of the three women’s lives: the day that Virginia Woolf starts writing “Mrs. Dalloway” and later kills herself; the day that Laura bakes a cake for her husband’s birthday and considers overdosing on sleeping pills and tranquilizers; the day that Clarissa picks up her flowers for the party, only to have the party cancelled to mourn Richard’s suicide. Each of these woman’s lives are connected by the book “Mrs. Dalloway” and their struggle to find meaning in their lives.
“Someone has to die in order that the rest of us should value life more. It's contrast”. This is the quote that Nicole Kidman as Virginia Woolf says in the movie “The Hours.” The reactions to death, the struggle to find purpose in one’s life, and the struggle to understand the ending of another’s life seems to be the main theme that “Mrs. Dalloway”, the book “The Hours”, and the movie “The Hours” are dealing with. It is the inevitable event of death, and the questioning of life that connects all people together.
The questioning of life and death became an escape for Woolf, as she was considered insane to even consider what the ending of her life would be like. Her character Mrs. Dalloway struggles with the stifling atmosphere of her life: she lives in a nice house, has a rich husband, but at what price? Mrs. Dalloway’s parties are her only way to show her creativity, but she plays a sacrificial role in catering to the indulgences of others; she considers her thoughts naïve and not worth any notice. Woolf’s own restlessness about her life can be seen in the regrets and resignations of Clarissa Dalloway.
For another opinion on the way that Michael Cunningham’s “The Hours” uses a similar writing style and conventions to Virginia Woolf’s, please check out this website: http://lisa.revues.org/2912 .
We couldn’t find any good clips to attach from youtube.com of the movie “The Hours”, but please do watch it on your own time! It is an awesome movie; very artistic, with beautiful music, and poignant speeches. And very powerful in the fact that; when you watch it you keep waiting for something to happen, without realizing that it is happening, life is happening for these women.
We hope you continue to read Virginia Woolf’s work, and look into “The Hours”.
Sources Used
Pillière, Linda “Michael Cunningham’s The Hours : echoes of Virginia Woolf”, Revue LISA/LISA e-journal [Online] , Vol. II - n°5 | 2004 , Online since 02 November 2009, connection on 27 March 2011. URL : http://lisa.revues.org/2912
The Hours. Dir. Stephen Daldry. Perf. Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, Nicole Kidman, and Ed Harris. Paramount, 2002. Film
Woolf, Virginia. Mrs. Dalloway. 1925. Orlando, Florida: Harcourt, Inc, 2005. Print
Woolf, Virginia. The Broadview Anthology of British Literature Concise Edition Vol. B. Ed. Don LePan. Peterborough: Broadview Press, 2008.
Images are from google search of ‘Virginia Woolf’
Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf is highly regarded as one of the pioneers of the modernist novel. She rejects materialistic forms of writing for a more in-depth look into characters psyche and is more interested in the way people think and react than the superficial front people put on when they are out in the world. She broke new ground with her modernist writing technique called ‘stream of consciousness’ that she displays in her works, such as Mrs. Dalloway and The Mark on the Wall. She believed that realist fiction does not capture what is important so she reduced the idea of plot and created a style of writing focused on interior dialogue. She was innovative with her ideas of time and narration; she did not adhere to concepts of conventional time and she made the narrator hard to locate and define.
Virginia’s life was very complicated and difficult for her. She and her husband, Leonard, were a part of the famous Bloomsbury group, a group of writers and artists that represent the avant-garde style of the early 20th century. They were considered radicals who lived a bohemian life style. Despite her success, Virginia had many mental breakdowns and suffered with depression and bi-polar disorder. She eventually committed suicide by drowning herself in a lake. The theme of suicide comes up in many of her works, as well as, themes of class hierarchy, consequences of war and gender relations. Gender roles are a theme brought up in A Room of One’s Own where she criticizes society’s constraint on women. She believes that women need a place where they can get away from society and their family in order to thrive.
Mrs. Dalloway
One of the main focuses of The Hours, Mrs. Dalloway is a novel published in 1925 by Virginia Woolf. To be very brief, the book is about a woman who busies herself with trivial activities - such as planning a party - and appears to be a very pulled-together, happy, organized woman; on the inside, however, she is confused, lonely, and constantly feels like something is missing in her life. She has to deal with an unhappy marriage, a disappointing life, and is greatly affected by the suicide of one of the sub-characters.
The Hours
Like Woolf’s novel, the film takes place over the course of one day and one night. The film consists of three sub-plots involving the lives of three different women living in three different time periods; all three women are somehow affected by the novel Mrs. Dalloway. All three women are at war with themselves, and all three have to deal with suicide in one way or another.
1) Virginia Woolf, 1923 (Nicole Kidman)
- Woolf is in the middle of writing the actual novel, commiserating with her main character. She suffers from mental illness, depression, and has considered suicide. She often seems disjointed from everything going on around her and appears miserable and preoccupied with death throughout the film. Eventually, Woolf leaves a note for her husband and decides to commit suicide by drowning herself in the river.
2) Laura Brown, 1951 (Julianne Moore)
- Brown is unhappy in her marriage and her life; she is mother to a son (Richie) and is several months pregnant. Laura suffers from depression and thoughts of suicide. She takes comfort in Woolf’s novel, sympathizing with the character of Clarissa Dalloway. Eventually, we learn that Laura stays with her family until her daughter is born, abandons them soon after and moves to Canada.
3) Clarissa Vaughan, 2001 (Meryl Streep)
- Vaughan acts as a sort of parallel to the 1925 novel and actually represents Dalloway. She tries to deal with unhappiness by appearing strong on the outside, pretending to be content, not unlike Clarissa Dalloway in the novel. She has to deal with the suicide of her long-time friend Richard (later revealed to be the son of Laura Brown). Clarissa is forced to accept the death of Richard; she copes with the pain, and moves on.
References
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/dalloway/
For information regarding The Hours:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0274558/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hours_(film)
Also, the entire film is on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieay8KaRgwY (part 1)
Virginia Woolf is highly regarded as one of the pioneers of the modernist novel. She rejects materialistic forms of writing for a more in-depth look into characters psyche and is more interested in the way people think and react than the superficial front people put on when they are out in the world. She broke new ground with her modernist writing technique called ‘stream of consciousness’ that she displays in her works, such as Mrs. Dalloway and The Mark on the Wall. She believed that realist fiction does not capture what is important so she reduced the idea of plot and created a style of writing focused on interior dialogue. She was innovative with her ideas of time and narration; she did not adhere to concepts of conventional time and she made the narrator hard to locate and define.
Virginia’s life was very complicated and difficult for her. She and her husband, Leonard, were a part of the famous Bloomsbury group, a group of writers and artists that represent the avant-garde style of the early 20th century. They were considered radicals who lived a bohemian life style. Despite her success, Virginia had many mental breakdowns and suffered with depression and bi-polar disorder. She eventually committed suicide by drowning herself in a lake. The theme of suicide comes up in many of her works, as well as, themes of class hierarchy, consequences of war and gender relations. Gender roles are a theme brought up in A Room of One’s Own where she criticizes society’s constraint on women. She believes that women need a place where they can get away from society and their family in order to thrive.
Mrs. Dalloway
One of the main focuses of The Hours, Mrs. Dalloway is a novel published in 1925 by Virginia Woolf. To be very brief, the book is about a woman who busies herself with trivial activities - such as planning a party - and appears to be a very pulled-together, happy, organized woman; on the inside, however, she is confused, lonely, and constantly feels like something is missing in her life. She has to deal with an unhappy marriage, a disappointing life, and is greatly affected by the suicide of one of the sub-characters.
The Hours
Like Woolf’s novel, the film takes place over the course of one day and one night. The film consists of three sub-plots involving the lives of three different women living in three different time periods; all three women are somehow affected by the novel Mrs. Dalloway. All three women are at war with themselves, and all three have to deal with suicide in one way or another.
1) Virginia Woolf, 1923 (Nicole Kidman)
- Woolf is in the middle of writing the actual novel, commiserating with her main character. She suffers from mental illness, depression, and has considered suicide. She often seems disjointed from everything going on around her and appears miserable and preoccupied with death throughout the film. Eventually, Woolf leaves a note for her husband and decides to commit suicide by drowning herself in the river.
2) Laura Brown, 1951 (Julianne Moore)
- Brown is unhappy in her marriage and her life; she is mother to a son (Richie) and is several months pregnant. Laura suffers from depression and thoughts of suicide. She takes comfort in Woolf’s novel, sympathizing with the character of Clarissa Dalloway. Eventually, we learn that Laura stays with her family until her daughter is born, abandons them soon after and moves to Canada.
3) Clarissa Vaughan, 2001 (Meryl Streep)
- Vaughan acts as a sort of parallel to the 1925 novel and actually represents Dalloway. She tries to deal with unhappiness by appearing strong on the outside, pretending to be content, not unlike Clarissa Dalloway in the novel. She has to deal with the suicide of her long-time friend Richard (later revealed to be the son of Laura Brown). Clarissa is forced to accept the death of Richard; she copes with the pain, and moves on.
References
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/dalloway/
For information regarding The Hours:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0274558/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hours_(film)
Also, the entire film is on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieay8KaRgwY (part 1)
Monday, March 21, 2011
Reading Questions on Joyce's "Araby"
Hello Everyone,
For your reference, here are the reading questions that I prepared on "Araby."
Cheers,
Ada
1)Who narrates this story? In what ways does “Araby” establish the voice of its narrator?
2)In what ways does this text make reference to issues surrounding colonialism in Ireland? Does this text explicitly engage issues of colonialism?
3)What mood or feeling best describes this story? In addressing this question, you might consider the main narrative events of “Araby” and the key motivating forces of its narrator.
4)What happens at the end of “Araby”? Look, in particular, at the text’s last sentence. Why does the narrator conclude his story in this way?
For your reference, here are the reading questions that I prepared on "Araby."
Cheers,
Ada
1)Who narrates this story? In what ways does “Araby” establish the voice of its narrator?
2)In what ways does this text make reference to issues surrounding colonialism in Ireland? Does this text explicitly engage issues of colonialism?
3)What mood or feeling best describes this story? In addressing this question, you might consider the main narrative events of “Araby” and the key motivating forces of its narrator.
4)What happens at the end of “Araby”? Look, in particular, at the text’s last sentence. Why does the narrator conclude his story in this way?
Irish Postcolonialism and James Joyce's Araby--Bradley and Annalisa
We are presenting this week on Irish Postcolonialism. Brenda Murray defines Post-colonialism as "Post-colonialism – essentially a critique of colonialism, is characterised by a
process of disengagement from the colonial epoch and has taken many forms" in her essay Ireland – a test case of Post-colonialism / Post colonialism.
Here's a timeline that outlines some key events in Ireland's history including its struggle for independence.
Araby, published in Joyce's collection, Dubliners (1914) was originally written in 1905, during the height of Irish nationalism. Sinn Féin, a left-wing Irish Nationalist group was founded in 1905, and most of the members partook in the Easter Rising of 1916.
Here is a summary of Araby, along with character descriptions, and plot themes:
The website states: "Joyce presents a bleak city struggling against oppressive forces."
In Joyce's description of the city, hints of eager nationalism are elicited, in passages such as:
“We walked through the flaring streets, jostled by drunken men and bargaining women, amid the curses of labourers, the shrill litanies of shop boys who stood on guard by the barrels of pigs’ cheeks, the nasal chanting of street singers who sang a come-all-you about O’Donovan Rossa or a ballad about the troubles in our native land” (Joyce, 1225).
O' Donovan Rossa is a reference to Jeremiah Donovan, and Irish Nationalist, who was sentenced to a lifetime of penal servitude but was granted amnesty and departed for America (Broadview).
Although short, the protagonist's arrival to a vacant Araby is even further disillusioned by his encounter with an English attendant.
"I remarked their English accents and listened vaguely to their conversation...Observing me, the young lady came over and asked me did I wish to buy anything. The tone of her voice was not encouraging: she seemed to have spoken to me out of a sense of duty" (Joyce, 1227).
This brief but acerbic encounter marks the struggle between the Irish and the English, and serves as a microcosm for the hostility between Irish nationalists and the British government.
References:
Joyce, James. The Broadview Anthology of British Literature Concise Edition Vol. B. Ed. Don LePan. Peterborough: Broadview Press, 2008.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Irish Independence -- Joel, Jessica and Dorian
James Joyce and Araby
To start you off because James Joyce wrote in a stream of consciousness writing i will give you the term at the back of the book:
Stream of Consciousness: narrative techniques that attempts to convey in prose fiction a sense of the progression of the full range of thoughts and sensations occurring within a characters mind. Twentieth-century pioneers in the use of the stream of consciousness writing include Dorothy Richardson, Virgina Woolf and James Joyce.
- James Joyce is a well known Irish Novelist who redefined realism
- James Joyce grew up in a middle class family only later to fall to poverty due to having an alcoholic father
- His mother played a large role in his life by showing him the pleasures of art and Catholicism
- Later while at school James became very cynical of the church and believed Religion among other things to be a distraction for the budding artist
- He is best known for Ulysses a modern day retelling of The Odyssey
-Each chapter is an ironic rewriting of a chapter from Homer's Odyssey
-It is said that his book Ulysses can sum up the entire Modernist movement in writing
Wikipedia is a great place to get an over view of his life if you're interested in looking in more detail at his life and his works
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_joyce
Araby
- Araby is a Charity bazaar held in Dublin in 1894
- It is another of his works that deals with the Stream of Consciousness writing style that James Joyce Develops and perfects
-The story discusses themes of coming of age and the loss of innocence
-In Joyce's life it said that he became cynical of the church one of the first things in this story that happens is a priest dies
- not only does this priest die but in his room not only are there good and religious books there are also books about criminals among other things
- The story is told by a narrator of which we know nothing really about not even a name
- We know the narrator is a boy who is still attending school so he must be fairly young
- There is a lot of imagery in the story, and is told through the boy's observations
- In the short story there is reference to a number of literary works
James Joyce and Araby
To start you off because James Joyce wrote in a stream of consciousness writing i will give you the term at the back of the book:
Stream of Consciousness: narrative techniques that attempts to convey in prose fiction a sense of the progression of the full range of thoughts and sensations occurring within a characters mind. Twentieth-century pioneers in the use of the stream of consciousness writing include Dorothy Richardson, Virgina Woolf and James Joyce.
- James Joyce is a well known Irish Novelist who redefined realism
- James Joyce grew up in a middle class family only later to fall to poverty due to having an alcoholic father
- His mother played a large role in his life by showing him the pleasures of art and Catholicism
- Later while at school James became very cynical of the church and believed Religion among other things to be a distraction for the budding artist
- He is best known for Ulysses a modern day retelling of The Odyssey
-Each chapter is an ironic rewriting of a chapter from Homer's Odyssey
-It is said that his book Ulysses can sum up the entire Modernist movement in writing
Wikipedia is a great place to get an over view of his life if you're interested in looking in more detail at his life and his works
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_joyce
Araby
- Araby is a Charity bazaar held in Dublin in 1894
- It is another of his works that deals with the Stream of Consciousness writing style that James Joyce Develops and perfects
-The story discusses themes of coming of age and the loss of innocence
-In Joyce's life it said that he became cynical of the church one of the first things in this story that happens is a priest dies
- not only does this priest die but in his room not only are there good and religious books there are also books about criminals among other things
- The story is told by a narrator of which we know nothing really about not even a name
- We know the narrator is a boy who is still attending school so he must be fairly young
- There is a lot of imagery in the story, and is told through the boy's observations
- In the short story there is reference to a number of literary works
Thursday, March 17, 2011
West Indian Plantation Slavery
West Indian plantation slavery has four important components that provide a basic overview of its importance both historically and in relation to literature.
European Colonization
· The area that is known today as the Caribbean was first discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492
· After his discovery, the Indians of the Caribbean land were now enslaved to the Spanish crown – all traces of the former life on this land were erased by the Spanish rule
Emergence of the Slave Trade
· New plantations were created, requiring an army of human hands to work them
· By the 17th century the majority of the original inhabitants of the West Indies had been wiped out by a combination of European diseases and physical exploitation – black slaves were brought in bondage from Africa
·
Slave Treatment
Duties:
· The cultivation of crops and tending of the animals
· Serving their “owners” in any way possible
· Sixteen to eighteen hours of work per day, and during the season of sugarcane harvest most slaves got only four hours of sleep
· Severe punishment for disobeying orders
· Etc.
Slave Compensation
It wasn’t until the mid 1800’s that the Emancipation Act of 1838 freed the slaves of the West Indies, however the unequal system still continued. The owners of these slaves were paid compensation by the British government, applying to the British colonies in the Caribbean, Bermuda, Belize, Guyana, Mauritius, and Cape Colony (South Africa).
West Indian Slavery and Literature
Slavery is a recurring theme in the literature of the Caribbean. Many writers feel the need to attempt a vocalization of all that was denied under the brutal system. Writers such as Derek Walcott in Omeros, and George Lamming in In the Castle of my Skin talk about the difficulty of moving forward from the feelings of injustice inspired by the slave system and the lack of improvement of life after slavery.
Video
This video sums up the main points about West Indian plantation slavery, outlining its emergence, purpose, and conditions:
Video – “The Caribbean: Colonial Past”
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/640195/West-Indies/54384/Plantation-slavery
Other useful resources:
European Colonization (Christopher Columbus)
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/columbus.htm
(Columbus's journal appears in Olson, Julius, The Northmen, Columbus and Cabot, 985-1503 (1926); Dyson, John, Columbus: for Gold, God, and Glory (1991); Morrison, Samuel Eliot, Admiral of the Ocean Sea (1942); )
Slave Compensation Claims – The Emancipation Act
http://compensations.plantations.bb/
Slavery and the Caribbean – Literature
http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofEnglish/imperial/carib/slavery.htm
West Indian Plantation Slavery and Jane Eyre
As mentioned, once Columbus took over the Caribbean new culture and traditions were established to replace the original customs and way of life. This can be immediately related back to Jane Eyre and how she was almost forced to go to Lowood. Jane is taken over by the reforms and rules placed upon her by Lowood. Her choices are limited and her life is regulated harshly. Like slaves relocated from Africa, she was taken from a place she knew and relocated to a cold, unrecognizable place. On page 103 Jane is interviewed by a women who seems kind enough and says “She hoped I would be a good little child” “and dismissed me”. Although this women is kind enough to Jane. The girls, especially Helen are subject to other unfairness in the classroom picked on for simple and unrealistic things. They have less then standard food, live in below par housing and have unsatisfactory food. When Mr. Brocklehurst comes to the school he can be compared to a plantation owner. The girls must live in these horrible conditions and Mr. Brocklehurst continues to subject the girls to tyrannical rules: cutting the girls hair, limiting their clean clothes and proper food. He also separates Jane from the rest of group and subjects her to humiliation in order to make her loose self esteem.
As mentioned - in the 17thC majority of the inhabitants had been wiped out from disease and physical exploitation. At Lowood, Jane explains how semi starvation and neglected colds (caused by poor conditions) had killed many of the girls. Their deaths are hidden, like they aren’t human - which is the same treatment slaves received.
Lowood was not the only place in which Jane was subject to slave like treatment. In Thornfield Jane was still considered an outcast, as she was not a servant but not a person of higher status. She is lucky, in the fact that some governesses had worse treatment during this time. As part of the Slave treatment they would have to “Serve their owners”, and this could be applied to governess’s at the time, who would be disgraced and out of jobs. When she leaves Thornfield she lives in poverty and starvation as many freed slaves had to do after the emancipation act, unsure of what they could do with their lives or where they could go.When telling her cousin St. John about their relationship Jane speaks about the relationship as if he is trying to control and own her. He tries to make her feel guilty about moving to India without being married.
Also, see page 607 on “Race, Empire, and the West Indies”
European Colonization
· The area that is known today as the Caribbean was first discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492
· After his discovery, the Indians of the Caribbean land were now enslaved to the Spanish crown – all traces of the former life on this land were erased by the Spanish rule
Emergence of the Slave Trade
· New plantations were created, requiring an army of human hands to work them
· By the 17th century the majority of the original inhabitants of the West Indies had been wiped out by a combination of European diseases and physical exploitation – black slaves were brought in bondage from Africa
·
Slave Treatment
Duties:
· The cultivation of crops and tending of the animals
· Serving their “owners” in any way possible
· Sixteen to eighteen hours of work per day, and during the season of sugarcane harvest most slaves got only four hours of sleep
· Severe punishment for disobeying orders
· Etc.
Slave Compensation
It wasn’t until the mid 1800’s that the Emancipation Act of 1838 freed the slaves of the West Indies, however the unequal system still continued. The owners of these slaves were paid compensation by the British government, applying to the British colonies in the Caribbean, Bermuda, Belize, Guyana, Mauritius, and Cape Colony (South Africa).
West Indian Slavery and Literature
Slavery is a recurring theme in the literature of the Caribbean. Many writers feel the need to attempt a vocalization of all that was denied under the brutal system. Writers such as Derek Walcott in Omeros, and George Lamming in In the Castle of my Skin talk about the difficulty of moving forward from the feelings of injustice inspired by the slave system and the lack of improvement of life after slavery.
Video
This video sums up the main points about West Indian plantation slavery, outlining its emergence, purpose, and conditions:
Video – “The Caribbean: Colonial Past”
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/640195/West-Indies/54384/Plantation-slavery
Other useful resources:
European Colonization (Christopher Columbus)
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/columbus.htm
(Columbus's journal appears in Olson, Julius, The Northmen, Columbus and Cabot, 985-1503 (1926); Dyson, John, Columbus: for Gold, God, and Glory (1991); Morrison, Samuel Eliot, Admiral of the Ocean Sea (1942); )
Slave Compensation Claims – The Emancipation Act
http://compensations.plantations.bb/
Slavery and the Caribbean – Literature
http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofEnglish/imperial/carib/slavery.htm
West Indian Plantation Slavery and Jane Eyre
As mentioned, once Columbus took over the Caribbean new culture and traditions were established to replace the original customs and way of life. This can be immediately related back to Jane Eyre and how she was almost forced to go to Lowood. Jane is taken over by the reforms and rules placed upon her by Lowood. Her choices are limited and her life is regulated harshly. Like slaves relocated from Africa, she was taken from a place she knew and relocated to a cold, unrecognizable place. On page 103 Jane is interviewed by a women who seems kind enough and says “She hoped I would be a good little child” “and dismissed me”. Although this women is kind enough to Jane. The girls, especially Helen are subject to other unfairness in the classroom picked on for simple and unrealistic things. They have less then standard food, live in below par housing and have unsatisfactory food. When Mr. Brocklehurst comes to the school he can be compared to a plantation owner. The girls must live in these horrible conditions and Mr. Brocklehurst continues to subject the girls to tyrannical rules: cutting the girls hair, limiting their clean clothes and proper food. He also separates Jane from the rest of group and subjects her to humiliation in order to make her loose self esteem.
As mentioned - in the 17thC majority of the inhabitants had been wiped out from disease and physical exploitation. At Lowood, Jane explains how semi starvation and neglected colds (caused by poor conditions) had killed many of the girls. Their deaths are hidden, like they aren’t human - which is the same treatment slaves received.
Lowood was not the only place in which Jane was subject to slave like treatment. In Thornfield Jane was still considered an outcast, as she was not a servant but not a person of higher status. She is lucky, in the fact that some governesses had worse treatment during this time. As part of the Slave treatment they would have to “Serve their owners”, and this could be applied to governess’s at the time, who would be disgraced and out of jobs. When she leaves Thornfield she lives in poverty and starvation as many freed slaves had to do after the emancipation act, unsure of what they could do with their lives or where they could go.When telling her cousin St. John about their relationship Jane speaks about the relationship as if he is trying to control and own her. He tries to make her feel guilty about moving to India without being married.
Also, see page 607 on “Race, Empire, and the West Indies”
Sunday, March 13, 2011
West Indian Plantation Slavery - Cody and Julia
Hello everyone!
We are presenting this week on West Indian plantation slavery. You can click on the links along the way to go back to the source of the information, and learn more about each topic. To begin, we will provide some background information on the broader topic of colonization, which also applies to the readings for this week. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy defines colonialism as “a practice of domination, which involves the subjugation of one people to another.” It further explains that colonialism can not be pin-pointed to a particular place or time. However, it was the sixteenth century when technological changes in Europe intensified colonial exploits (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/colonialism/. ).
In the 17th century Europeans began to establish settlements in the Americas. The land was divided into smaller units and was under private ownership, these lands became known as the plantation system. Beginning in Virginia, the system spread to the New England colonies. European immigrants who had gone to America to own their own land were reluctant to work for others. In order to accommodate this, convicts were sent over from Britain to provide labour, but this was short lived as convicts were in short supply. Planters then began to purchase slaves, first coming from the West Indies but quickly coming directly from Africa by the 18th century, these slave markets were established in Philadelphia, Richmond, Charleston and New Orleans. Slaves were in the fields from sunrise to sunset, and during harvest time would work an eighteen hour day. They grew the following crops in the plantations: tobacco, rice, sugar cane, cotton.
The death rate amongst slaves was high. In order to replace their losses, plantation owners ‘encouraged’ the slaves to have children. Child-bearing started around the age of thirteen, and women were expected to have four or five children by the age of twenty.
HYPERLINK "http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USASplantation.htm"
HYPERLINK "http://blog.mailasail.com/beezneez/230"
From the 17th century to the 19th century, approximately twelve million Africans were brought to the Americas. Africans were sold to traders by other Africans, and eventually forced into slavery by men with guns. Slaves were then placed aboard ships to be taken across the Atlantic on a voyage that was eventually coined “the middle passage.”
HYPERLINK "http://scholar.library.miami.edu/slaves/slave_trade/slave_trade.html"
HYPERLINK "http://blog.mailasail.com/beezneez/230"
HYPERLINK "http://www.east-buc.k12.ia.us/00_01/ca/sla1.htm"
Slaves were controlled through various methods:
Divide and Rule – members of the same tribe were separated on different plantations to prevent communication.
Religion – slaves were not allowed to practice their own religions, they were however turned towards Christianity and many were converted.
Class system – Field slaves were the lowest group, factory slaves (who worked in the sugar boiling process) were higher, artisan slaves (blacksmiths, carpenters, masons, etc.) were even higher, and the highest was a house slave, servants to their masters and even held contempt over other slaves.
Colour – mixtures occurred through the birth of children, and slaves with white fathers or white relatives were placed in higher positions than pure African.
HYPERLINK "http://www.guyana.org/features/guyanastory/chapter26.html"
HYPERLINK "http://blog.mailasail.com/beezneez/230"
This is a definition of “White Man’s Burden” to read before tackling the readings: “the supposed responsibility of the white race to provide care for their non-white subjects” (Wordnetweb.princeton.edu).
1) The White Man’s Burden, Rudyard Kipling (p. 966)
The Broadview Anthology of British Literature states that Rudyard Kipling was a strong proponent of imperialism, and “believed it was Britain’s duty to govern and civilize colonized lands” (962). This background helps us understand the imperialist mentality behind this poem. It takes on a grandiose tone with the strong iambic tetrameter and rhyme scheme, that supports much of the colonialist discourse found in the poem with regards to human superiority, British capitalism, and slavery.
2) Occasional Discourse on the Negro Question, Thomas Carlyle (p. 982)
Here we see the blatant dehumanization of slaves in the West Indies, often reducing them to that of horses, with the sole purposes of breeding and hard labour. We also see that a culture’s internal diversity is ignored, as Carlyle refers to the Black people as “Quashee.”
3) The Negro Question, John Stuart Mill (p. 984)
This text can be seen as a critical response to the previous texts. Mill points out the types of discourse we should be aware of in colonialist texts, re-evaluates the way we view the ‘work’ that slaves do, and criticizes teleological views of colonized cultures.
4) Minute on Indian Education, Thomas Babington Macaulay (p. 978)
Here we see further rhetoric on cultural superiority by the British belief that the English language was superior to all others and should become the lingua franca in Indian native cultures, as their native language lacks the complexity to communicate “literary nor scientific information” (978)
5) Decolonizing the Mind, Ngugi wa Thiong’O (p. 1477)
This text can be seen as a response to Macaulay. Written by an African man (which adds a new dimension as opposed to the White European authors of the other texts), this book advocates the importance of native African language. He explains that language plays a role in communication and cultural transmission, and because of the coerced use of English, many Africans face identity crises because they are trying to understand themselves through the eyes of another (the English language).
For further reading, we have posted a link to a book called “West Indian Culture” by Michael Garfield Smith. Especially on pages 5-6, the author addresses the effects of slavery and post-colonialism on the West Indies, as well as the “cultural identity” crisis that Thiong’O addresses in Decolonizing the Mind.
Works Cited:
Black, Joseph, et al. “Race, Empire, and a Wider World.” The Broadview Anthology of British Literature. Concise Edition, Volume B. Joseph Black et al. Peterborough: Broadview Press 2007. Print.
Blog.mailasail.com. 22 April 2009. Beez Neez. Web.
Carlyle, Thomas. “Occasional Discourse on the Negro Question.” The Broadview Anthology of British Literature. Concise Edition, Volume B. Joseph Black et al. Peterborough: Broadview Press, 2007. 1849. Print.
Kipling, Rudyard. “The White Man’s Burden.” The Broadview Anthology of British Literature. Concise Edition, Volume B. Joseph Black et al. Peterborough: Broadview Press 2007. 1899. Print.
Macaulay, Thomas Babington. “Minute on Indian Education.” The Broadview Anthology of British Literature. Concise Edition, Volume B. Joseph Black et al. Peterborough: Broadview Press, 2007. 1835. Print.
Plato.standord.edu. 9 May, 2006. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Web.
Scholar.library.miami.edu. n.d. Slave Resistance: A Caribbean Study. Web.
Simkin, John. Spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk. n.d. Spartacus Educational. Web.
Stuart Mill, John. “The Negro Question.” The Broadview Anthology of British Literature. Concise Edition, Volume B. Joseph Black et al. Peterborough: Broadview Press 2007. 1850. Print.
Smith, Michael Garfield. The Plural Society in the British West Indies. London, England: U of California P 1974. 11 Mar. 2011. http://books.google.com/books? hl=en&lr=&id=pdNi0h3l4D0C&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=West+Indian+Plantation+Slavery&ots=fn_H6S8WLj&sig=QoaRFOhvx8E6S7LHWs8022Ykkno#v=onepage&q=West%20Indian%20Plantation%20Slavery&f=false. Web.
Thiong’o, Ngugi Wa. “Decolonising the Mind.” The Broadview Anthology of British Literature. Concise Edition, Volume B. Joseph Black et al. Peterborough: Broadview Press 2007. 1986. Print.
Wordnetweb.princeton.edu. 2011. Princeton University:WordNet: A Lexical Database for English. Web.
www.east-buc. n.d. The Slave Trade. Web.
www.guyana.org. n.d. Slavery on the Plantation. Web.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Pre-Raphaelite Paintings: your impressions
Thank you, all, for generating ideas in class today regarding the visual artworks of the Pre-Raphaelite movement. Using the content from the notes you jotted down, I have generated the following Wordle (click the link below). I think this collection of words and phrases summarizes some of the key motifs and preoccupations of the Pre-Raphaelite movement in an original, succint and effective way.
Unfortunately, the Wordle does not not fully reflect all of the content that you provided on your sheets. Hence some of the lengthier quasi-narratives and monologues that I received are not given their due by this Wordle.
Regardless, I enjoyed reading everyone's comments :)
Cheers,
Ada
title="Wordle: Pre-Raphaelite Paintings: First Impressions">
alt="Wordle: Pre-Raphaelite Paintings: First Impressions"
style="padding:4px;border:1px solid #ddd">
Unfortunately, the Wordle does not not fully reflect all of the content that you provided on your sheets. Hence some of the lengthier quasi-narratives and monologues that I received are not given their due by this Wordle.
Regardless, I enjoyed reading everyone's comments :)
Cheers,
Ada
title="Wordle: Pre-Raphaelite Paintings: First Impressions">
alt="Wordle: Pre-Raphaelite Paintings: First Impressions"
style="padding:4px;border:1px solid #ddd">
Sunday, March 6, 2011
The Germ & the Band Perry
Hey, here’s some added information on the Pre-Raphaelite style of art, and some resources if anyone’s curious to know more!
Please keep in mind that the Pre-Raphaelites were not artists that existed before Raphael, but who were inspired by the style of art that was popular before his lifetime. They themselves lived after him, during the Victorian era. They were a gathering of male artists who wanted to revolutionize art by rejecting the popular neoclassical style of the time. They felt, according William Rossetti’s introduction to The Germ, that “this condition of the art seemed offensive, contemptible, and even scandalous” (Gutenberg) because of the absence of original, creative ideas that was a feature of neoclassical-inspired pieces. They chose to instead employ stylistic elements common in medieval artwork, specifically Gothic aesthetics, as it encouraged simplicity and originality. Finding solidarity in each other’s ideas, they founded the Brotherhood in September of 1848, and in the following year began to construct works that were based on this specific intention.
The Brotherhood also published a magazine-like periodical centered on prominent Pre-Raphaelite poems and essays of the time, as well as critical reflections of the artists themselves about these works, entitled “The Germ: Thoughts towards Nature in Poetry, Literature and Art”.
You can actually read a publication of some of the issues that was compiled by William Michael Rossetti and edited by his brother, Dante (both being members of the original Brotherhood), online on Project Gutenburg, if you’re curious - it’s very in-depth, with an extensive inclusion of poems from the same period and with the same themes as those we are studying. It even has an introduction from Rossetti discussing their intentions and the history of the Brotherhood’s formation in detail. It’s a very valuable source, and even more so as it’s straight from the horse’s mouth:
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17649/17649-h/17649-h.htm
However, The Germ encompasses only text. If you want to see some of the Pre-Raphaelite paintings, rather than the poetry, here’s a site created by the Delaware Art Museum, with a handy overview outlining more of their main characteristics at http://www.preraph.org and a gallery featuring ten pieces of PRB art located in their own collection: http://www.preraph.org/gallery/ It can give you a very good idea of what the ideas actually looked like when translated onto canvas.
In a more contemporary vein, we also found this music video that was made by The Band Perry for their song ‘If I Die Young’. It actually works as a modern revisioning of The Lady of Shalott, and you can see that it reflects and makes use of a lot of the same tropes as the original poem (and many of the characteristics inspired by Pre-Raphaelite art) - the heavy natural imagery, the emphasis on the female form and female beauty, the role of the river, the interplay of themes of death, sight and innocence, and the act of drawing from literary sources from information.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NJqUN9TClM
Enjoy!
Jillian, Jarrett & Thuraya
References:
The Broadview Anthology of British Literature Concise Edition Vol. B. Ed. Don LePan. Peterborough: Broadview Press, 2008. 519-21.
"The Germ". Project Gutenberg.January 2006. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17649/17649-h/17649-h.htm. Web.
Please keep in mind that the Pre-Raphaelites were not artists that existed before Raphael, but who were inspired by the style of art that was popular before his lifetime. They themselves lived after him, during the Victorian era. They were a gathering of male artists who wanted to revolutionize art by rejecting the popular neoclassical style of the time. They felt, according William Rossetti’s introduction to The Germ, that “this condition of the art seemed offensive, contemptible, and even scandalous” (Gutenberg) because of the absence of original, creative ideas that was a feature of neoclassical-inspired pieces. They chose to instead employ stylistic elements common in medieval artwork, specifically Gothic aesthetics, as it encouraged simplicity and originality. Finding solidarity in each other’s ideas, they founded the Brotherhood in September of 1848, and in the following year began to construct works that were based on this specific intention.
The Brotherhood also published a magazine-like periodical centered on prominent Pre-Raphaelite poems and essays of the time, as well as critical reflections of the artists themselves about these works, entitled “The Germ: Thoughts towards Nature in Poetry, Literature and Art”.
You can actually read a publication of some of the issues that was compiled by William Michael Rossetti and edited by his brother, Dante (both being members of the original Brotherhood), online on Project Gutenburg, if you’re curious - it’s very in-depth, with an extensive inclusion of poems from the same period and with the same themes as those we are studying. It even has an introduction from Rossetti discussing their intentions and the history of the Brotherhood’s formation in detail. It’s a very valuable source, and even more so as it’s straight from the horse’s mouth:
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17649/17649-h/17649-h.htm
However, The Germ encompasses only text. If you want to see some of the Pre-Raphaelite paintings, rather than the poetry, here’s a site created by the Delaware Art Museum, with a handy overview outlining more of their main characteristics at http://www.preraph.org and a gallery featuring ten pieces of PRB art located in their own collection: http://www.preraph.org/gallery/ It can give you a very good idea of what the ideas actually looked like when translated onto canvas.
In a more contemporary vein, we also found this music video that was made by The Band Perry for their song ‘If I Die Young’. It actually works as a modern revisioning of The Lady of Shalott, and you can see that it reflects and makes use of a lot of the same tropes as the original poem (and many of the characteristics inspired by Pre-Raphaelite art) - the heavy natural imagery, the emphasis on the female form and female beauty, the role of the river, the interplay of themes of death, sight and innocence, and the act of drawing from literary sources from information.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NJqUN9TClM
Enjoy!
Jillian, Jarrett & Thuraya
References:
The Broadview Anthology of British Literature Concise Edition Vol. B. Ed. Don LePan. Peterborough: Broadview Press, 2008. 519-21.
"The Germ". Project Gutenberg.January 2006. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17649/17649-h/17649-h.htm. Web.
Friday, March 4, 2011
The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
Hey, so Maddy and I did some research on the Pre-Raphaelites and this is what we came up with! Hope this helps clear anything up that might not have been clear in the presentation!
The Pre-Raphaelites began with the initial group of seven (James Collinson, William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, Frederic George Stephens, and Thomas Woolner) who formed the group in 1848 that strove to revive what they believed was a “simpler, fresher, more natural art that existed before Raphael (1483-1520)” (Broadview Anthology). One of the most focal mediums for the group was painting, as it was the best way to present their “pre-Raphaelite” vision of simplicity and freshness. Eventually, more poets became involved in the P.R.B., and they started going off of one another, most commonly painting portraits of the poems that others wrote. Most notable of this is the poem The Lady of Shalott by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, which was emulated by numerous different painters including John William Waterhouse, William Holman Hunt, and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. The art of the P.R.B., particularly its representation of women, was aptly analyzed and documented by Jan Marsh in her illustrated book, Pre-Raphaelite Women: Images of Femininity (1987). As she points out, consistent features of these women – including the Lady of Shalott – are loose hair, large eyes, an elongated neck, and a sorrowful expression (Marsh). She also posits that the group “established new structures of feeling and of representation whereby women were both elevated and constrained, worshipped and restricted to specific roles” (Marsh). The Lady of Shalott’s motif of confinement seemed to be the focal point for the painters in spite of protests from Tennyson himself that the poem was a metaphor for one who lives in a world of shadows and is transformed through love into the world of what is real (Marsh).
To give you guys some context, we thought we’d link you to a couple websites that show the art of Raphael as well as the Pre-Raphaelites so you can decide for yourselves if they achieved their goal of being more simple, fresh, and natural!
Links:
P.R.B.
http://persephone.cps.unizar.es/~spd/Pre-Raphaelites/Pre-Raphaelites.html
Raphael
http://www.art.com/gallery/id--a110/raphael-posters_p6.htm
References:
Tennyson, Alfred, Lord. The Broadview Anthology of British Literature Concise Edition Vol. B. Ed. Don LePan. Peterborough: Broadview Press, 2008.
Marsh, Jan. Pre-Raphaelite Women: Images of Femininity. New York: Harmony Books, 1987.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Essay Prep
Hello Everyone,
As promised, below you will find materials outlining some guidance on preparing for your EN 246 essay and using MLA documentation methods.
In the first handout, I list some basic examples of bibliographic entries in MLA form, and also provide you with the links I mentioned to three very helpful Writing Centre websites.
MLADocumentationHandout
I've also posted my PowerPoint slides on structuring your essay and key tips on using MLA, so do consult this too if need be.
EN246_EssayPrep
Finally, you may also wish to consult the Writing Centre Handout on “How to Write an Effective Conclusion.”
Feel free to talk with me after our next tutorial or during my office hours (Monday, 12-1pm, DAWB 5-129) if you have any questions as you work on this assignment.
Best with your writing!
Ada
As promised, below you will find materials outlining some guidance on preparing for your EN 246 essay and using MLA documentation methods.
In the first handout, I list some basic examples of bibliographic entries in MLA form, and also provide you with the links I mentioned to three very helpful Writing Centre websites.
MLADocumentationHandout
I've also posted my PowerPoint slides on structuring your essay and key tips on using MLA, so do consult this too if need be.
EN246_EssayPrep
Finally, you may also wish to consult the Writing Centre Handout on “How to Write an Effective Conclusion.”
Feel free to talk with me after our next tutorial or during my office hours (Monday, 12-1pm, DAWB 5-129) if you have any questions as you work on this assignment.
Best with your writing!
Ada
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Evangelism
Hey Everyone!
If you've already read the post below mine, then you're good to read this one! If not, read that first then mine! :)
Jane Eyre is a novel that is loaded with Evangelism, from Brocklehurst to St. John. One aspect of this is the obvious religious Evangelism, which emitted by both Brocklehurst and St. John, preaching to those the word of God. However what I want to focus on is Charlotte Bronte's less obvious form of Evangelism. In the beginning of the novel, Jane struggles with whether or not she believes in God, and hell and heaven, or if she even likes what the bible tells her. But as the story progresses we as readers see her offer her thanks up to God numerous times. One has to wonder what had changed. If Brocklehurst curriculum had influenced her, or if she herself decided she is a believer. On page 447 in the text Jane narrates, "I was sure St. John Rivers -- pure-lived, conscientious, zealous as he was -- had not yet found that peace of God which passeth all understanding: he no more found it, I thought, than had I; with my concealed and racking regrets for my broken idol and lost elysium -- regrets to which I have latterly avoided referring; but which possessed me and tyrannized over me ruthlessly." This exert indicates that at this point Jane still is not sure of her feelings toward God, that she doesn't fully understand him yet. This is interesting to note because Christians do not necessarily understand what God does, or why he does it, but they respect his power, something it seems Jane does not understand.
In addition to the above which were my own thoughts of Evangelism in the novel I found this website which focus on this topic as well. If you'd like to research this more, click below! :)
Also, this youtube clip from the movie Jane Eyre, shows the scene when Jane first meets Brocklehurst and his extreme evangelistic perspective.
Thanks everyone!
Paige
Evangelicalism in Application to Jane Eyre
Evangelicalism Part 2: Application to Jane Eyre
In continuation to this presentation I will be discussing evangelicalism’s application to Jane Eyre. One of the more prominent examples of Evangelicalism can be found in chapter 4 of the novel. This is the scene in which the reader is first introduced with Mr. Brocklehurst, and within the first few moments of conversation with Jane he asks; “no sight so sad as that of a naughty child, especially a naughty little girl. Do you know where the wicked go after death?” (39), in which Jane replies; “they go to hell […] a pit full of fire” (39). Mr. Brocklehurst then continues on in his questioning of Jane by asking “what she must do in order to avoid going to hell”, in which she responds that “ she must keep in good health and not die” (39). He is appalled by Jane’s answer and continues interrogating her with questions of if she prays every day and whether or not she reads the Bible (40). This can then be viewed as an example of evangelicalism as Jane clearly does not follow the practices of Mr. Brocklehurst who can be viewed as a more main stream religious character, and as Sarah mentioned before ‘Evangelicalism is a sect of Christianity that follows the gospels and their teachings and puts more emphasis on an individual’s personal relationship with God, and not on their Church attendance. For Evangelicals, the Gospels were the most important part of learning religion’. Jane enjoys the books of Revelations, Daniel, Genesis, Samuel, Exodus, Kings, Chronicles, Job, and Jonah (40). However because she doesn’t enjoy the book of Psalms, as Mr. Brocklehurst does she is said to “have a wicked heart, and she must pray to God to change it and give her a new and clean one to take away her heart of stone and give her a heart of flesh” (40). Mr. Brocklehurst can then be viewed as a more Anglican religious follower in which he is more concerned with church attendance and giving more focus to what he is told to enjoy, opposed to what he finds more enjoyable about his own religion. Jane, with a more evangelical approach to religion builds a more personal relationship with her God and her religion as she pays more attention to the Gospels in which she most enjoys in the Bible regardless of the Gospels she is told to like or dislike.
A second example of Evangelicalism within “Jane Eyre” is Lowood School itself. As Evangelicalism is concerned with being humble, and as Sarah mentioned earlier, “it stresses the importance of conversion, of missionary work, and of humanitarian activism” Lowood School itself is a charitable institution, this can be found in chapter 5 in which Jane is acquainted with Helen Burns and they discuss how Lowood School operates. Helen tells Jane why the girls are called ‘charity children’ (60); “all the girls here have lost either one of both parents, and this is called an Institution for educating orphans […] we pay or our friends pay, fifteen pounds a year for each […] because fifteen pounds is not enough for board and teaching, and the deficiency is supplied by subscription […] from benevolent-minded ladies and gentlemen in this neighbourhood and London” (60). Therefore this can then also be seen as an example of evangelicalism as it demonstrates the humility within the community as well as humanitarian acts of kindness.
Bronte, Charolette . Jane Eyre. London: Penguin Classics, 2006. Print.
In continuation to this presentation I will be discussing evangelicalism’s application to Jane Eyre. One of the more prominent examples of Evangelicalism can be found in chapter 4 of the novel. This is the scene in which the reader is first introduced with Mr. Brocklehurst, and within the first few moments of conversation with Jane he asks; “no sight so sad as that of a naughty child, especially a naughty little girl. Do you know where the wicked go after death?” (39), in which Jane replies; “they go to hell […] a pit full of fire” (39). Mr. Brocklehurst then continues on in his questioning of Jane by asking “what she must do in order to avoid going to hell”, in which she responds that “ she must keep in good health and not die” (39). He is appalled by Jane’s answer and continues interrogating her with questions of if she prays every day and whether or not she reads the Bible (40). This can then be viewed as an example of evangelicalism as Jane clearly does not follow the practices of Mr. Brocklehurst who can be viewed as a more main stream religious character, and as Sarah mentioned before ‘Evangelicalism is a sect of Christianity that follows the gospels and their teachings and puts more emphasis on an individual’s personal relationship with God, and not on their Church attendance. For Evangelicals, the Gospels were the most important part of learning religion’. Jane enjoys the books of Revelations, Daniel, Genesis, Samuel, Exodus, Kings, Chronicles, Job, and Jonah (40). However because she doesn’t enjoy the book of Psalms, as Mr. Brocklehurst does she is said to “have a wicked heart, and she must pray to God to change it and give her a new and clean one to take away her heart of stone and give her a heart of flesh” (40). Mr. Brocklehurst can then be viewed as a more Anglican religious follower in which he is more concerned with church attendance and giving more focus to what he is told to enjoy, opposed to what he finds more enjoyable about his own religion. Jane, with a more evangelical approach to religion builds a more personal relationship with her God and her religion as she pays more attention to the Gospels in which she most enjoys in the Bible regardless of the Gospels she is told to like or dislike.
A second example of Evangelicalism within “Jane Eyre” is Lowood School itself. As Evangelicalism is concerned with being humble, and as Sarah mentioned earlier, “it stresses the importance of conversion, of missionary work, and of humanitarian activism” Lowood School itself is a charitable institution, this can be found in chapter 5 in which Jane is acquainted with Helen Burns and they discuss how Lowood School operates. Helen tells Jane why the girls are called ‘charity children’ (60); “all the girls here have lost either one of both parents, and this is called an Institution for educating orphans […] we pay or our friends pay, fifteen pounds a year for each […] because fifteen pounds is not enough for board and teaching, and the deficiency is supplied by subscription […] from benevolent-minded ladies and gentlemen in this neighbourhood and London” (60). Therefore this can then also be seen as an example of evangelicalism as it demonstrates the humility within the community as well as humanitarian acts of kindness.
Bronte, Charolette . Jane Eyre. London: Penguin Classics, 2006. Print.
Evangelicalism: Background
Hey Guys! For my part of the presentation on Evangelicalism I will be giving you guys a definition and background based on our textbook and some sources online.
Here is a quick definition taken from www.dictionary.reference.com:
“Belonging to or designating the Christian churches that emphasize the teachings and authority of the Scriptures, especially of the new testament, in opposition to the institutional authority of the church itself, and that stress as paramount the tenet that salvation is achieved by personal conversion to faith in the atonement of Christ.”
In the Victorian period there was a lot of intellectual discovery going on, and many of these discoveries challenged the perceptions that the Church put forward. Darwinism is one of the, if not the most, prominent examples of intellect that challenged the Church. Darwin’s theories started a conflict with the Church based on the knowledge it supported. His works On the Origin of Species (1859) and The Decent of Man (1871) did not just challenge religious beliefs, but they “rejected the Christian idea that human beings had been created in God’s image” (Black, 512). Darwin’s theories did not put people above other beings, but rather as an advanced stage of evolution. This was an idea that radically challenged the Church, and began religious unrest in the Victorian period.
Evangelicalism was a religious reaction that moved away from the rigid structure of the Church and moved towards the adherence to evangelical doctrines. Evangelicalism is a sect of Christianity that follows the gospels and their teachings and puts more emphasis on an individual’s personal relationship with God, and not on their Church attendance. For Evangelicals, the Gospels were the most important part of learning religion.
In the early 1870’s Evangelicalism was growing in popularity and beginning to change the Establishments of the Church of England, which was Anglican, as well as the religious practices. Evangelicalism was “stressing the importance of an individuals personal relationship with God” as well as the importance “of conversion, of missionary work, and of humanitarian activism” (513). Evangelicalism attracted many working and middle class, as it was not based on a hierarchical organization. With the rise of Evangelicalism there was a clear division of the people into two groups: Anglican Evangelicals that were referred to as Low Church, and Anglo-Evangelicals that were referred to as High Church.
Although Evangelicalism challanged the norms of religious ideologies and practices, it did not however diminish the magnitude of the role of religion during this time. The Victorian period was a period of doubt, but still remained “an age… marked by intense religious feeling” (515). Overall people still strongly identified themselves through their religious identity.
It’s safe to say that no period in history has been without its complexities and conflicting ideas, and that societies are constantly changing.
· Here are some links that may be helpful with further knowledge!
Definition:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/evangelical
Background (I know Wikipedia is frowned upon, but it is seriously helpful, at least when you are just looking for a base knowledge):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evangelicalism
As well as:
http://www.victorianweb.org/religion/evangel1.html
Sources
Black, Joesph, Leonard Conolly, Kate Flint, Isobel Grundy, Don Lepan, Roy Luizza, Jerme J. McGann, Anne Lake Prescott, Barry V. Qualls, Claire Waters, eds. "Faith and Doubt." The Broadview Anthology of British Literature: Concise Edition. Volume B. Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press, 2008. 512-515. Print.
Here is a quick definition taken from www.dictionary.reference.com:
“Belonging to or designating the Christian churches that emphasize the teachings and authority of the Scriptures, especially of the new testament, in opposition to the institutional authority of the church itself, and that stress as paramount the tenet that salvation is achieved by personal conversion to faith in the atonement of Christ.”
In the Victorian period there was a lot of intellectual discovery going on, and many of these discoveries challenged the perceptions that the Church put forward. Darwinism is one of the, if not the most, prominent examples of intellect that challenged the Church. Darwin’s theories started a conflict with the Church based on the knowledge it supported. His works On the Origin of Species (1859) and The Decent of Man (1871) did not just challenge religious beliefs, but they “rejected the Christian idea that human beings had been created in God’s image” (Black, 512). Darwin’s theories did not put people above other beings, but rather as an advanced stage of evolution. This was an idea that radically challenged the Church, and began religious unrest in the Victorian period.
Evangelicalism was a religious reaction that moved away from the rigid structure of the Church and moved towards the adherence to evangelical doctrines. Evangelicalism is a sect of Christianity that follows the gospels and their teachings and puts more emphasis on an individual’s personal relationship with God, and not on their Church attendance. For Evangelicals, the Gospels were the most important part of learning religion.
In the early 1870’s Evangelicalism was growing in popularity and beginning to change the Establishments of the Church of England, which was Anglican, as well as the religious practices. Evangelicalism was “stressing the importance of an individuals personal relationship with God” as well as the importance “of conversion, of missionary work, and of humanitarian activism” (513). Evangelicalism attracted many working and middle class, as it was not based on a hierarchical organization. With the rise of Evangelicalism there was a clear division of the people into two groups: Anglican Evangelicals that were referred to as Low Church, and Anglo-Evangelicals that were referred to as High Church.
Although Evangelicalism challanged the norms of religious ideologies and practices, it did not however diminish the magnitude of the role of religion during this time. The Victorian period was a period of doubt, but still remained “an age… marked by intense religious feeling” (515). Overall people still strongly identified themselves through their religious identity.
It’s safe to say that no period in history has been without its complexities and conflicting ideas, and that societies are constantly changing.
· Here are some links that may be helpful with further knowledge!
Definition:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/evangelical
Background (I know Wikipedia is frowned upon, but it is seriously helpful, at least when you are just looking for a base knowledge):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evangelicalism
As well as:
http://www.victorianweb.org/religion/evangel1.html
Sources
Black, Joesph, Leonard Conolly, Kate Flint, Isobel Grundy, Don Lepan, Roy Luizza, Jerme J. McGann, Anne Lake Prescott, Barry V. Qualls, Claire Waters, eds. "Faith and Doubt." The Broadview Anthology of British Literature: Concise Edition. Volume B. Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press, 2008. 512-515. Print.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Jane Eyre'vrywhere!
Here is a cool post that I found (posted literally an hour ago!) from a blog that I follow and coincidently it's about Jane Eyre and its adaptation/popularity within pop. culture. From films to graphic novels... check it out! http://iheartclassics.tumblr.com/post/3327180803/jane-eyrevrywhere
Monday, February 14, 2011
Governess Movies
Thanks everyone for some great discussion today regarding Jane Eyre and the socio-historical contexts of Bronte's novel. Our consideration of governesses and the place of women in Victorian Britain got me thinking about representations of governesses in cinema. Hollywood has certainly interpreted the governess narrative and, in particular, Jane Eyre's character in a number of ways.
Minnie Driver is a seductive re-envisioning of Jane Eyre in Sandra Goldbacher's 1998 film, The Governess. Set in Scotland in the 1840s, this film is sensually seductive, too, with its rich fabrics, rustling fabrics, and evocative sets. This film also explores the dynamics of gender and looking - Driver's governess is an early photographer and she quite literally wields the gaze by the film's conclusion.
Meanwhile, Deborah Kerr played her share of governess roles on the silver screen. She portrays Anna Leonowens in Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I (1956), teaching English to the children of the King of Siam (aka Thailand) in a colonial paradise of palaces and proper British accents. Kerr's hoop dresses in this film are FABULOUS and certainly a far cry from Jane's black silk. Kerr's dresses move, shine, flounce, fold . . . I think I'm in love. The costume designers on this film must have had a ball.
In 1961, Kerr starred as the hysterical (is she crazy or not?) governess in The Innocents, a psychological horror film with some pretty creepy little kids. This film interrogates the Victorian governess as a psychological subject, and uses the machinery of the Gothic (spirits, dark mansion, long hallways) to cast doubt on the sanity of its protagonist.
And I cannot wait to see what the latest Hollywood version makes of Bronte's text: March 11, 2011 marks the theatre debut of Cary Fukunaga's Jane Eyre.
Minnie Driver is a seductive re-envisioning of Jane Eyre in Sandra Goldbacher's 1998 film, The Governess. Set in Scotland in the 1840s, this film is sensually seductive, too, with its rich fabrics, rustling fabrics, and evocative sets. This film also explores the dynamics of gender and looking - Driver's governess is an early photographer and she quite literally wields the gaze by the film's conclusion.
Meanwhile, Deborah Kerr played her share of governess roles on the silver screen. She portrays Anna Leonowens in Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I (1956), teaching English to the children of the King of Siam (aka Thailand) in a colonial paradise of palaces and proper British accents. Kerr's hoop dresses in this film are FABULOUS and certainly a far cry from Jane's black silk. Kerr's dresses move, shine, flounce, fold . . . I think I'm in love. The costume designers on this film must have had a ball.
In 1961, Kerr starred as the hysterical (is she crazy or not?) governess in The Innocents, a psychological horror film with some pretty creepy little kids. This film interrogates the Victorian governess as a psychological subject, and uses the machinery of the Gothic (spirits, dark mansion, long hallways) to cast doubt on the sanity of its protagonist.
And I cannot wait to see what the latest Hollywood version makes of Bronte's text: March 11, 2011 marks the theatre debut of Cary Fukunaga's Jane Eyre.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Womens Place in Victorian Society
Hey guys!
I'm partnered with Stephanie, who is two posts down. We broke it down so I am relating everything to Jane Eyre. I found as i was reading Jane Eyre I noticed the treatment of women throughout the whole novel.
When Jane Eyre was first introduced to the Lowood Institution she noticed a scripture that was engraved above the door. This scripture told the young girls that were a part of this institution to, “ ‘Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven’-- St. Matt. V.16,” (Bronte 109). The fact that this scripture was one of the first things that stood out to Jane upon reaching Lowood is important to notice, because it is essentially telling these girls that they are living their lives for the men that surround them; that they must work to please these men. This notion of men’s superiority over women and women’s need to serve men is continued on throughout Jane’s time at Lowood. It is seen again as Mr. Brocklehurst visits the Institution and insists that all the children’s hair must be cut off. He tells Miss Temple, “ ‘Madam,’ he pursued, “I have a Master to serve whose kingdom is not of this world: my mission is to mortify these girls the lusts of the flesh; to teach them to clothe themselves with shame-facedness and sobriety, not with braided hair and costly apparel; and each of the young persons before us had a string of hair twisted in plaits which vanity itself might have woven: these, I repeat, must be cut off,’” (127). Mr. Brocklehurst admits to the fact that he is trying to teach these young girls to be shameful of themselves, that they have no right to be pleased with themselves but must only yearn to please others.
Not only does Jane have to dress and do her hair to please men when she is at the Lowood Institution, but when she is in the presence of Mr. Rochester at Thornfield hall she also has to worry about her fashion. When Jane is first invited to join Mr. Rochester for tea she inquires Mrs. Fairfax if she should change her frock. Mrs. Fairfax replies by saying that whenever Mr. Rochester is around she dresses “for the evening,” so Jane replaces her black stuff dress with a black silk one, which was one of her best ones (189). This makes it clear that women in Victorian society were expected to dress to impress the men around them at all times, that they must always take time to look presentable.
As Jane grows up and moves from Lowood to Thornfield-Hall she begins to question the stereotypical qualities that have been forced upon her since she was a child. As readers, we rarely become aware of Jane’s feelings and what she is thinking, but finally she explains to us how she feels about these stereotypes that she has had to live up to. She explains that “Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; the need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex,” (178). Jane understands that within Victorian society it is customary for women to get married or work as a governess, but she finds this hard to live with. She is frustrated by the fact that there are such different standards for her because she is a female, and wants the ability to live with the same amount of freedom that men do.
Hope this is helpful to everyone!
Sources
Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Peterborough, Ontario, Canada: Broadview Press, 2004. Print.
I'm partnered with Stephanie, who is two posts down. We broke it down so I am relating everything to Jane Eyre. I found as i was reading Jane Eyre I noticed the treatment of women throughout the whole novel.
When Jane Eyre was first introduced to the Lowood Institution she noticed a scripture that was engraved above the door. This scripture told the young girls that were a part of this institution to, “ ‘Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven’-- St. Matt. V.16,” (Bronte 109). The fact that this scripture was one of the first things that stood out to Jane upon reaching Lowood is important to notice, because it is essentially telling these girls that they are living their lives for the men that surround them; that they must work to please these men. This notion of men’s superiority over women and women’s need to serve men is continued on throughout Jane’s time at Lowood. It is seen again as Mr. Brocklehurst visits the Institution and insists that all the children’s hair must be cut off. He tells Miss Temple, “ ‘Madam,’ he pursued, “I have a Master to serve whose kingdom is not of this world: my mission is to mortify these girls the lusts of the flesh; to teach them to clothe themselves with shame-facedness and sobriety, not with braided hair and costly apparel; and each of the young persons before us had a string of hair twisted in plaits which vanity itself might have woven: these, I repeat, must be cut off,’” (127). Mr. Brocklehurst admits to the fact that he is trying to teach these young girls to be shameful of themselves, that they have no right to be pleased with themselves but must only yearn to please others.
Not only does Jane have to dress and do her hair to please men when she is at the Lowood Institution, but when she is in the presence of Mr. Rochester at Thornfield hall she also has to worry about her fashion. When Jane is first invited to join Mr. Rochester for tea she inquires Mrs. Fairfax if she should change her frock. Mrs. Fairfax replies by saying that whenever Mr. Rochester is around she dresses “for the evening,” so Jane replaces her black stuff dress with a black silk one, which was one of her best ones (189). This makes it clear that women in Victorian society were expected to dress to impress the men around them at all times, that they must always take time to look presentable.
As Jane grows up and moves from Lowood to Thornfield-Hall she begins to question the stereotypical qualities that have been forced upon her since she was a child. As readers, we rarely become aware of Jane’s feelings and what she is thinking, but finally she explains to us how she feels about these stereotypes that she has had to live up to. She explains that “Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; the need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex,” (178). Jane understands that within Victorian society it is customary for women to get married or work as a governess, but she finds this hard to live with. She is frustrated by the fact that there are such different standards for her because she is a female, and wants the ability to live with the same amount of freedom that men do.
Hope this is helpful to everyone!
Sources
Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Peterborough, Ontario, Canada: Broadview Press, 2004. Print.
Women's Place in Victorian Society
Women's Place in Victorian Society
In tomorrow's tutorial we will be talking about women's place in Victorian society. Much of the discussion will reference the reading material we have been assigned for this week's lecture including "Jane Eyre" and "The Broadview Anthology B."
Women in the Victorian period (roughly 1837-1900) had extremely limited rights and while drastic changes didn't take place until the 20th century, steps were being taken to ameliorate the position of women. An important and significant struggle for women was in regards to marriage law. During this time when a woman married, she was required to give up her identity and have it replaced by that of her husband's identity. Legally this meant that husband and wife were one person, i.e. the husband, and this left the wife terribly vulnerable. There was no legal help for women at this time either, if any woman should want to defend herself against her husband. A quote from Harriet Taylor Mill's essay entitled, "The Enfranchisement of Women" concisely asks, "whether it is right and expedient that one half of the human race should pass through life in a state of forced subordination to the other half."
In class we will be referring to parts of Sarah Stickney Ellis' book, "The Daughters of England: Their Position in Society, Character and Responsibilities." You can refer to certain passages in the class copy of "Jane Eyre" on page 600 or the "Broadview Anthology B" page 604. The link below can help in further understanding women's place in Victorian society, as it is Ellis' entire novel written in 1842. Chapter III is particularly interesting due to the fact that Ellis ran a young girls school named Rawdon House in Hertfordshire. This chapter is entitled "Cleverness-Leanring-Knowledge" and it is in this particular chapter that Ellis writes about what young ladies are expected to know as well as what they are not required to know (knowledge beyond "ordinary duty"). In the opening pages of the third chapter Ellis explains that, "to know how to do everything which can properly come within a women's sphere of duty, ought to be the ambition of every female mind." This quote suggests the amount of responsibility, even strength women had to assume and yet Ellis explains earlier on in her text that, "as women [...] the first thing of importance is to be content to be inferior to men-inferior in mental power, in the same proportion that [women] are inferior in bodily strength." The two quotes seem to offer opposing ideas of the ideal woman, both submissive and helpless while at the same time resourceful and determined. We can discuss this further as we talk about the texts tomorrow. Brittany will be discussing the role of women in reference to "Jane Eyre" in class tomorrow as well.
Until then we have a couple of links to suggest:
This site offers much information concerning the Victorian era, it offers background knowledge and it may help to contextualize some of the readings:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/trail/victorian_britain/women_home/ideals_womanhood_01.shtml
Sarah Stickney Ellis, "The Daughters of England: Their Position in Society, Character and Responsibilities" (1842):
http://books.google.ca/books?id=Q-0TAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=sarah+stickney+ellis+daughters+of+england&source=bl&ots=CIGqfoO7iO&sig=OwuHOdABRwdbXHdJW2SYZau-WvY&hI=en&ei=XeIXTbuHCoG3twe26qWZDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false
Sources:
Black, Joesph, Leonard Conolly, Kate Flint, Isobel Grundy, Don Lepan, Roy Luizza, Jerme J. McGann, Anne Lake Prescott, Barry V. Qualls, Claire Waters, eds. "The Politics of Gender." The Broadview Anthology of British Literature: Concise Edition. Volume B. Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press, 2008. 506-508. Print.
Ellis, Sarah Stickney. "The Daughters of England: Their Position in Society, Character and Responsibilities. " The Broadview Anthology of British Literature: Concise Edition. Volume B.
Peterborough, ON: Boradview Press, 2008. 604-606. Print
Ellis, Sarah Stickney. "The Dauhters of England: Their Position in Society, Character an Responsibilties." Google Books. Google. February 12, 2011.
http://books.google.ca (...)
(same site as above)
(Brief background information on Sarah Stickney Ellis was found on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Stickney_Ellis)
In tomorrow's tutorial we will be talking about women's place in Victorian society. Much of the discussion will reference the reading material we have been assigned for this week's lecture including "Jane Eyre" and "The Broadview Anthology B."
Women in the Victorian period (roughly 1837-1900) had extremely limited rights and while drastic changes didn't take place until the 20th century, steps were being taken to ameliorate the position of women. An important and significant struggle for women was in regards to marriage law. During this time when a woman married, she was required to give up her identity and have it replaced by that of her husband's identity. Legally this meant that husband and wife were one person, i.e. the husband, and this left the wife terribly vulnerable. There was no legal help for women at this time either, if any woman should want to defend herself against her husband. A quote from Harriet Taylor Mill's essay entitled, "The Enfranchisement of Women" concisely asks, "whether it is right and expedient that one half of the human race should pass through life in a state of forced subordination to the other half."
In class we will be referring to parts of Sarah Stickney Ellis' book, "The Daughters of England: Their Position in Society, Character and Responsibilities." You can refer to certain passages in the class copy of "Jane Eyre" on page 600 or the "Broadview Anthology B" page 604. The link below can help in further understanding women's place in Victorian society, as it is Ellis' entire novel written in 1842. Chapter III is particularly interesting due to the fact that Ellis ran a young girls school named Rawdon House in Hertfordshire. This chapter is entitled "Cleverness-Leanring-Knowledge" and it is in this particular chapter that Ellis writes about what young ladies are expected to know as well as what they are not required to know (knowledge beyond "ordinary duty"). In the opening pages of the third chapter Ellis explains that, "to know how to do everything which can properly come within a women's sphere of duty, ought to be the ambition of every female mind." This quote suggests the amount of responsibility, even strength women had to assume and yet Ellis explains earlier on in her text that, "as women [...] the first thing of importance is to be content to be inferior to men-inferior in mental power, in the same proportion that [women] are inferior in bodily strength." The two quotes seem to offer opposing ideas of the ideal woman, both submissive and helpless while at the same time resourceful and determined. We can discuss this further as we talk about the texts tomorrow. Brittany will be discussing the role of women in reference to "Jane Eyre" in class tomorrow as well.
Until then we have a couple of links to suggest:
This site offers much information concerning the Victorian era, it offers background knowledge and it may help to contextualize some of the readings:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/trail/victorian_britain/women_home/ideals_womanhood_01.shtml
Sarah Stickney Ellis, "The Daughters of England: Their Position in Society, Character and Responsibilities" (1842):
http://books.google.ca/books?id=Q-0TAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=sarah+stickney+ellis+daughters+of+england&source=bl&ots=CIGqfoO7iO&sig=OwuHOdABRwdbXHdJW2SYZau-WvY&hI=en&ei=XeIXTbuHCoG3twe26qWZDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false
Sources:
Black, Joesph, Leonard Conolly, Kate Flint, Isobel Grundy, Don Lepan, Roy Luizza, Jerme J. McGann, Anne Lake Prescott, Barry V. Qualls, Claire Waters, eds. "The Politics of Gender." The Broadview Anthology of British Literature: Concise Edition. Volume B. Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press, 2008. 506-508. Print.
Ellis, Sarah Stickney. "The Daughters of England: Their Position in Society, Character and Responsibilities. " The Broadview Anthology of British Literature: Concise Edition. Volume B.
Peterborough, ON: Boradview Press, 2008. 604-606. Print
Ellis, Sarah Stickney. "The Dauhters of England: Their Position in Society, Character an Responsibilties." Google Books. Google. February 12, 2011.
http://books.google.ca (...)
(same site as above)
(Brief background information on Sarah Stickney Ellis was found on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Stickney_Ellis)
Women's Place in Victorian Society
Hey guys,
For my half of the presentation on “Women's Place in Victorian Society”, I am just going to be giving a brief summary of what life was like for women during the Victorian Period. I will be discussing politics relating to the rights of women, fashion, work, and I will provide some statistics and facts about these things. Jory has prepared references from Jane Eyre to share with you guys, to help you see how practices of the Victorian Period can be seen in a work of literature.
I found a short video on YouTube that may help you guys better understand what life was like for women during the Victorian Period. Basically, the main role of the woman was to get married and take care of her family. Women had very little independence during this time, and even less sense of purpose.
Here is the link to that video:
The Victorian Guide to Women
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eO5AuYNWQGA
I also found this website which may help you understand what life was like for women during the Victorian Period compared to what life is like for women in today's society. I found it interesting to read about why women during the Victorian Period got married. There is also a short paragraph which outlines the “laws that helped women” during the time period.
Here is the link for the website mentioned above:
http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~ulrich/femhist/marriage.shtml#Why%20Victorian%20women%20Married
Also, if you guys want to read more detailed information on the role of women in the Victorian Period, I would direct you to the BBC article written by Lynn Abrams entitled “Ideals of Womanhood in Victorian Britain.” There are 9 'pages' of information on this website that are all very informative.
The link for that website is:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/trail/victorian_britain/women_home/ideals_womanhood_01.shtml
Lastly, I found an interactive website. It's a game located on the Musée McCord Museum's website. This is a museum located in Montréal with lots of pieces from the Victorian Period. In the game, you can choose to play the role of a man, or woman throughout the game. I recommend playing the role of the woman so that you can get a better understanding of what women were 'required' to do during the Victorian Period. You are given situations and asked to pick the best answer. For example, would you know what dress to wear if you were hosting a dinner party? The game is called “Mind Your Manners” and you can pick what location you want your questions to be based on (home, ballroom, park or train station).
Try it!
http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/en/keys/games/17
Thanks!
Stephanie
For my half of the presentation on “Women's Place in Victorian Society”, I am just going to be giving a brief summary of what life was like for women during the Victorian Period. I will be discussing politics relating to the rights of women, fashion, work, and I will provide some statistics and facts about these things. Jory has prepared references from Jane Eyre to share with you guys, to help you see how practices of the Victorian Period can be seen in a work of literature.
I found a short video on YouTube that may help you guys better understand what life was like for women during the Victorian Period. Basically, the main role of the woman was to get married and take care of her family. Women had very little independence during this time, and even less sense of purpose.
Here is the link to that video:
The Victorian Guide to Women
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eO5AuYNWQGA
I also found this website which may help you understand what life was like for women during the Victorian Period compared to what life is like for women in today's society. I found it interesting to read about why women during the Victorian Period got married. There is also a short paragraph which outlines the “laws that helped women” during the time period.
Here is the link for the website mentioned above:
http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~ulrich/femhist/marriage.shtml#Why%20Victorian%20women%20Married
Also, if you guys want to read more detailed information on the role of women in the Victorian Period, I would direct you to the BBC article written by Lynn Abrams entitled “Ideals of Womanhood in Victorian Britain.” There are 9 'pages' of information on this website that are all very informative.
The link for that website is:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/trail/victorian_britain/women_home/ideals_womanhood_01.shtml
Lastly, I found an interactive website. It's a game located on the Musée McCord Museum's website. This is a museum located in Montréal with lots of pieces from the Victorian Period. In the game, you can choose to play the role of a man, or woman throughout the game. I recommend playing the role of the woman so that you can get a better understanding of what women were 'required' to do during the Victorian Period. You are given situations and asked to pick the best answer. For example, would you know what dress to wear if you were hosting a dinner party? The game is called “Mind Your Manners” and you can pick what location you want your questions to be based on (home, ballroom, park or train station).
Try it!
http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/en/keys/games/17
Thanks!
Stephanie
Jane Eyre and Governesses
Brought to you by: Carly Basch and Jessica Flanagan
Our topic for tomorrow's Tutorial discussion sheds light on the world of governesses and its relation to Jane Eyre and Charlotte Bronte. Governesses (not to be confused with Nannies) take on the role of educating children in a wealthy household. Their responsibilities reside only through educating the children, not taking care of them unlike a nanny would.
From last tutorial, we left off by viewing Child Abuse and Jane's experiences of child oppression during her years at the Reed's and Lowood School. This week we hope to bring some information about the role of the governess, its significance to Jane Eyre as well as Charlotte Bronte's involvement as a governess and how her personal influences help shape, inspire, sympathize and even romanticize the role of a governess through Jane's experiences. From about Chapters 11-26, we are able to take a look into Jane's role as a governess and will explore some of the events that occur that show examples that would show realism but as well as romanticism. Our edited Broadview Anthology version of Jane Eyre explores personal letters Charlotte had with her employees when she was a governess as well as article clips during the time that relate to the topic of 'being a good governess'. We found this piece of information to have a strong backbone and influence into the writings of Jane Eyre and we wish to explore them further and present information on them. Coming from periodicals at the time, these articles will bring in some of the social and political aspects that are drawn to societies' outlook of governesses at the time and how that is incorporated with the novel.
Jane Eyre is seen as a piece that strongly empathizes the female protagonist through out the book and there is no doubt that some of the events that do occur, romanticize women in a way that Jane Eyre is a strong, outspoken individual and is able to find love, despite her social class and position. For fun, we have included a blog site that shows a list of other great novels that include Governesses: http://booklistsforbookworms.blogspot.com/2010/07/fall-in-love-with-governess.html . The post is called "Fall in Love with the Governesses". As well with novels, governesses are well recognized in films. A more contemporary character is Maria Von Trapp in The Sound of Music, but here is the trailer from the film The Governess starring actress, Minnie Driver. Take a look and see if you can make some comparisons/contrasts to what we are reading in Jane Eyre: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5o_nn5rCANg .
We look forward to expanding our knowledge with you, also at the end of the presentation we will be sharing a list of real-life governesses, which famous people they worked for and some of their significant impacts!
*External Sources used were:
"Fall in Love with the Governesses". Booklists for Bookworms on Blogspot.com. July 2010. http://booklistsforbookworms.blogspot.com/2010/07/fall-in-love-with-governess.html. Web.
The Governess. Dir. Sandra Goldbacher. Star. Minnie Driver and Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Sony Pictures Classics, 1998. Film.
(website: Youtube.com was used to show the trailer)
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Child Labour in 19th Century England
For our presentation we have chosen to do it on Child Labour in England during the 19th century. Within this post we are going to present our interpretation on the poem "The Steam Loom Weaver" and also share with you a video that summarizes child labour during the Industrial Revolution in England.
This is our interpretation of the poem “The Steam Loom Weaver” (c. 1830) (author Unknown)
This poem seems to be a lot more upbeat and happier when regarding the working world of England in the 19th century. The speakers talks about the loom being out of order like it is just another general problem and does not seem to worried about the consequences of not working when things are broken. Like we heard from Elizabeth Bentley when she was talking about her working life, if you did not do your job fast enough or did not do it to the level that your boss wanted it then you were given the strap and that really hurt. The speaker does not seem to concerned and a lot happier then what would be expected from workers of mills in England in the 19ht century.
In the video mentioned below, they mention that when a machine breaks that it is not time off but time that will be added to your shift. Unlike in the poem where it seems like it is a time to relax and to take a break, in reality when a machine broke down you would have wanted to fix it as fast as possible and then get back to work going as fast as you could to make up for the time lost.
This clip summarizes the beginnings of child labour during the Industrial Revolution in England.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xgu61a_victorian-child-labour_lifestyle
This is brought to you by Jonathan and Chris! Thank you!
"Victorian Child labour." Flog It!. 2001. Daily Motion. Web. Transcript. 3 Feb.
2011.
"The Steam Loom Weaver." 2007. The Broadview Anthology of British Literature:
Concise Edition. Vol. B. Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press, 2008. 572.
Print.
Child Abuse in Jane Eyre
Laura McReynolds
For my side of the presentation, I’ve been studying the instances of child abuse in Jane Eyre and how this instances are important in the development of Jane’s character and the progression of the novel. What is particularly interesting about the display of child abuse in Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is the combination of physical and emotional abuse, and how it is very apparent that this abuse is rooted in social status. Jane, the orphan of a poor couple, is abused at home and school, while her wealthy cousins enjoy luxury. Helen and the other girls at Lowood share similar stories – all students having lost a parent, if not both, and all are abused, particularly through their lack of nutrition at Lowood. It is interesting to see the stark difference between the lower class abuse and the high class’ lack thereof.
Jane’s triumphs in this novel are made all the more extraordinary when considering the feats she faced as a child and how she made a life for herself independently. The instances of child abuse are important to the novel’s progression because they make a social and economic commentary on the time, but also provide Jane with depth of emotion and a ferocity that she would not have attained otherwise. It is the unpleasantness we experience when we imagine ourselves in Jane’s shoes that makes the novel so captivating.
The 1983 BBC adaption of Jane Eyre does a great job capturing the abuses Jane experienced as well as providing insight into her thoughts, which develop her character throughout the novel as well.
Some instances of the abuse can be watched in the following clips:
Jane Eyre 1983 Episode 1 (Part 1/3)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThlLlkv2GTE
John hits Jane: 2:22-2:34
Jane is locked in the room that Mr. Reed died in: 4:40-6:00
Jane Eyre 1983 Episode 2 (Part 2/3)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU5FRgRXm1A&feature=related
Mr. Brocklehurst demoralizes Jane: 4:16-6:40
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Child Labour Presentation
By: Victoria Burleigh
My half of the presentation was to provide general information about labour in Britain in the 19th century. For my blog entry, I chose to inform you all of the current child labour around the world. The objective of this is to show you that the laws pertaining to inhumane labour has not improved excessively, or rather the actions taken to ensure the regulations are followed are not substantial.
Currently child labour is considered a violation of human rights and is illegal, according to wealthier countries; however some undeveloped countries around the world do allow, or tolerate child labour. Most commonly we consider child labour to be in countries far away from our Western world. Unexpectedly, I found an article concerning child labour in China, supposedly a very wealthy country.
In 2005 Megan Grau wrote an article concerning child slave labour in China. The International Labour Organization (ILO), which is an organization responsible for supervising international labour standards, estimated that 250 million children between the ages of five and fourteen work in developing countries. Among these numbers 61 percent are in Asia. Despite the current regulations against child labour, it is a current issue in China.
These children are forced to work in sweatshops, with extreme exploitation, meaning they are used for merely selfish, profitable ends. These conditions include the lack of accessible living, extreme discipline and inhumane working conditions. The wages they are forced to live on do not pay for their forlorn living expenses, therefore these children and their families are forced to reside in a never-ending nightmare of a cycle.
Grau explains that child labour is rapidly increasing, specifically around Hong Kong. The reasons for this is the massive amount of drop outs and expansions of foreign investment in the export driven enterprises; however there is evidence that school children are being exploited. The workforce in China for young children involves export industries such as garments, textiles, fireworks and toys. Yet, it seems that child labour does not happen anywhere near us, but you would be surprised.
In 2009, campaigners in the UK accused H & M and Zara retail businesses of using cotton suppliers in Bangladesh. Also, many of their raw materials originated from Uzbekistan, where children at the age of 10 are forced to work in the fields.
Even closer to home, in 2008 Commissioner David Neil found a meatpacking company in Postville, Iowa that had recently been investigated by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This company had actually employed 57 minors, some as young as 14, in violation of the state law prohibiting anyone under 18 from working in a meatpacking plant.
The main objection of this blog entry is to show you guys that child labour is still happening around the world, even as close as the country right next to us. Although it seems like it is not affecting us as we are not directly involved, it does have a very serious global effect.
I’ve also included a link for youtube. It is basically a slide show of pictures that will show you the extent of child labour. Hope you guys like it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJVPJDOYyCc&feature=related
Work Cited
Grau, Megan. “Child Slave Labor in China.” Ihscslnews.org. N.p. May 2005. Web. February
2011.
About the ILO. Ilo.org. N.P. 2011. Web. February 2011.
Child Labour. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. N.p. January 28, 2011. Web. February 2011.
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