The novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is one of my favorites. It is full of unexpected turns and coincidences, impossible to put down once started. It’s a romance between two strong characters with diametrically opposed pasts who come together under unusual circumstances. It's also a mystery that reveals itself under the writer’s able use of her craft. Immensely popular when the book first came out, it has transcended time and period, and continues to be popular today. And--it’s written by a woman--not an easy undertaking at a time when female writers had trouble finding a publisher. Recognition for women in the arts was difficult, and ridicule was an ever-present possibility.
Charlotte Bronte came from a renowned literary family. She was educated at home in Yorkshire except for a brief period in a boarding school. Her sisters, Anne and Emily, were writers; we will be reading Emily’s poems later in the unit. Although Charlotte was the most admired, and had a wide popular following, she also received the most criticism for what Matthew Arnold called the “hunger, rebellion and rage” of her mind.
Bronte used the male pseudonyms of ‘Currer’ ‘Ellis’ and ‘Acton Bell’ in much of her earlier work to gain acceptance in what was then thought to be a man’s world. Female writers such as the French novelist, Aurore Dupin (1804-1876) took the pseudonym ‘Georges Sand’ in order to gain access to publishers, as women often had difficulty obtaining legitimacy for their literary accomplishments. To acquire an editor and publisher when respectable women were expected to stay in their homes and maintain a family and place in society was a considerable undertaking. Even after her identity was known, Bronte continued to use her pseudonyms in her publications.
Making Disturbing Issues Palatable
This excerpt addresses abusive methods long practiced by educational institutions of Bronte’s time, a subject strongly felt by the Bronte sisters who’d themselves spent a short period within the confines of the boarding school environment. Lowood is a critical portrait of that experience.
Read this portion of Jane Eyre in terms of Bronte’s philosophical assumptions, once again noting the details from the text that reveal the author’s ideas about human nature, human relationships, and societal mores. Apply the knowledge you have gained about the Victorian’s belief in social reform. Consider the kind of perseverance which would brave social restrictions to follow her heart as a writer and reformer.
Look for the inferences Bronte presents regarding societal ills. Note her descriptions of class, character’s attitudes of rebellion or submission, inferences regarding spirituality and obedience, the abuse of power, and what Bronte might be telling us about her own assumptions through use of understatement, or portraits of obviously undesirable characters.
Note: In this excerpt you will see an inference regarding the dichotomy of hungers present in this period’s literature. Two forms of hunger existed in Victorian literature: pitiable hunger and threatening hunger (Dickens is master of this portrayal). You will see in Bronte’s excerpt a reference to a meal representing the connection between eating and spiritual satisfaction.
The negative representation of eating in much nineteenth-century children's literature was matched by real restrictions on eating in many girls' lives. Most often, girls were urged to eat a bland, unstimulating diet. Indulgence in food, no matter how little, symbolized moral looseness and a general lack of discipline. Whether or not Victorian writers genuinely shared this view, they successfully captured this attitude in many of their writings. In Jane Eyre, when Mr. Brocklehurst discovers that Miss Temple had offered meals of bread and cheese to her students, he reprimands her liberality saying,
"You are aware that my plan in bringing up these girls is, not to accustom them to habits of luxury and indulgence, but to render them hardy, patient, self-denying. . . Oh, madam, when you put bread and cheese, instead of burnt porridge, into these children's mouths, you may indeed feed their vile bodies, but you little think how you starve their immortal souls!"
Videos on Charlotte Bronte (find these on YouTube):
Bbc Period Drama Trailer 4 min 12 sec - Feb 23, 2010YouTube
Jane Eyre By Sleaford Little Theatre Trailer 2 min 00 sec - Feb 24, 2010YouTube
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
3rd Assignment (1/2 Week): The Novelist as Social Critic
This next excerpt is from Russian writer, Anton Chekhov (1860-1904). Continuing with our current theme--the novelist as social critic--this week introduces a Russian author coming onto the literary scene just after Dickens, yet having many of the same concerns for his own country: a condemnation of social inequities, a desire to see educational revision, an attack at longstanding gender roles, and scrutiny of living conditions created by the Industrial Revolution across Europe--all factors rapidly revising an old order of doing things.
By Chekhov's time, Czar Alexander II had freed the serfs--peasants bound to the land since medieval times (that way of life seen in Canterbury Tales). As Russia moved from an agricultural to an industrial economy, opportunities arose for the desperately poor, while those of the gentry class, who could not adapt to the changing economy, became victims of the vast social upheaval soon to upset all social classes and standing.
Anton Chekhov was the grandson of a serf who had purchased his freedom. After the failure of his father's grocery business, Chekhov's family moved to Moscow where Checkov enrolled in medical school. He began writing as a means to earn extra funds to support his family during his medical training. He continued to write after beginning his medical practice in the village of Melikhovo, south of Moscow. He was very active in community affairs of his small village all his life. His humanity continues as his legacy to us through his stories and plays.
All though Chekhov's life he wrote sketches and stories that documented the human condition, ascribing to his characters the strong revelations that sometimes come with sudden moments of social upheaval. Chekhov's stories and plays sometimes end with a high-born family on a platform of a train station, bewildered, surrounded by bags and trunks, outcasts from their social strata, turned out of their castles and villas. Two stories well-worth reading for further enjoyment are "Lady With a Dog" and The Cherry Orchard.
In this week's story, Mashenka Pavletski is working as governess for a wealthy family. She returns home one day to find the mistress of the house going through her belongings. Mashenka is horrified to learn that she--along with all other members of the staff--is suspected of having stolen a brooch. In his title, Chekhov hints his bias, along with his observations of the wide disparity of class systems, soon to have repercussions throughout his country.
By Chekhov's time, Czar Alexander II had freed the serfs--peasants bound to the land since medieval times (that way of life seen in Canterbury Tales). As Russia moved from an agricultural to an industrial economy, opportunities arose for the desperately poor, while those of the gentry class, who could not adapt to the changing economy, became victims of the vast social upheaval soon to upset all social classes and standing.
Anton Chekhov was the grandson of a serf who had purchased his freedom. After the failure of his father's grocery business, Chekhov's family moved to Moscow where Checkov enrolled in medical school. He began writing as a means to earn extra funds to support his family during his medical training. He continued to write after beginning his medical practice in the village of Melikhovo, south of Moscow. He was very active in community affairs of his small village all his life. His humanity continues as his legacy to us through his stories and plays.
All though Chekhov's life he wrote sketches and stories that documented the human condition, ascribing to his characters the strong revelations that sometimes come with sudden moments of social upheaval. Chekhov's stories and plays sometimes end with a high-born family on a platform of a train station, bewildered, surrounded by bags and trunks, outcasts from their social strata, turned out of their castles and villas. Two stories well-worth reading for further enjoyment are "Lady With a Dog" and The Cherry Orchard.
In this week's story, Mashenka Pavletski is working as governess for a wealthy family. She returns home one day to find the mistress of the house going through her belongings. Mashenka is horrified to learn that she--along with all other members of the staff--is suspected of having stolen a brooch. In his title, Chekhov hints his bias, along with his observations of the wide disparity of class systems, soon to have repercussions throughout his country.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Week 2. 2nd Assignment: Charles Dickens and the modern novel (p. 989)
2nd Assignment: Charles Dickens and the modern novel (p. 989)
As a genre, the modern novel has its roots in the narrative tales of much earlier times. As we read Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, with its imaginative “framed stories” as told by pilgrims on their pilgrimage to Canterbury, we see the beginnings of the modern novel, reaching full flower in the 19th century, with its lengthy narrative held together by a sequence of complicated subplots, its complex and varied settings, its many intertwined characters, both major and minor, acting within the frame of one theme or idea.
The novel of Dickens's time was still undergoing definition. Novels in Victorian England were often published in serial form in monthly magazine installments. Chapters were composed to meet monthly deadlines. Dickens's work often bears the mark of this origin. Episodes would often end at suspenseful moments to insure readers would return for more. Dickens's popularity was enormous. With his first major effort, Pickwick Papers, followed by Oliver Twist and Great Expectations, he held England and America spellbound. A Christmas Carol is still popular today.
In the case of the authors we will meet this term, the development of the Industrial Revolution, with all its social and economic chaos, offered a rich trove of themes through which a writer’s narrative technique might be revealed. The period you discussed in your recent essays brought with it many complex issues to be resolved: issues of a new working class, slum conditions, orphanages, epidemic diseases, education for the young, and many other facets of that period. Dickens’s stories of hard times and injured innocents challenged those forces that smothered compassion and nursed vice in that new society.
Frequently Dickens gave his characters names that foreshadow the plot, providing the reader with a slight hint. He also enjoyed making silly, yet meaningful, comparisons, such as party guests to furniture, orphans to shares and stocks, etc. Always, his work was a form of social commentary, as he wrote satirically about the government, education, politics and other important issues of his time.
Dickens was a reformer and a myth maker, yet his stories are more than about social injustice. The most distinctive characteristic of his work is its fairytale-like quality. Notice his settings--factories chocked with smoke, slums a place where crime and the redemption of his characters can be revealed. The same fondness Chaucer had for the foibles of his characters is seen in Dickens’s work as well, revealed in the variety and peculiarity of the human character, his leering villains, honest clerks, wide-eyed innocents and knotty eccentrics. You will see this in the story we will begin reading this week, Hard Times.
Turn to page 999. As you read, notice the setting and characterization presented in the first paragraphs. Who is the “speaker?” Where is this taking place? How does Dickens describe each character (notice their names!)? What phrases and descriptions are seen in the text that give you a sense of this? How does Dickens describe places and people? Do you notice any literary equivalent in old fairy tales? What do you notice about Dickens's attitude towards the people and ideas he is representing, and what words does he use to convey that? What do you think about Mr. Gradgrind’s theory of education?
What message do you think Dickens is attempting to deliver in his plot and through these characters? What theme and philosophy is he conveying through this satire—what values does Dickens believe a system of education should teach? In Dickens's writing, begin to notice what is caricature and sentiment, exaggeration, irony, even raw bitterness, and what is realism. Comment on what you find. Finally, how do you respond to this portion of a story as a reader? What resonates with you and your life and outlook?
Take your time with the first page! It takes time to get into any new author of another period! Read a few passages aloud together, talk about it, then begin reading to yourself, answering the above questions. At any time, continue reading and discussing aloud. Please go on line to continue reading chapters from this story. By Friday, send us your response to the questions above. Refer to the text in quotes or italics with the page number when necessary, but this is not a formal paper, but a response. You are welcome to read the entire book on line for extra credit (speak to me first—this will be offered for several future assignments as well).
As a genre, the modern novel has its roots in the narrative tales of much earlier times. As we read Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, with its imaginative “framed stories” as told by pilgrims on their pilgrimage to Canterbury, we see the beginnings of the modern novel, reaching full flower in the 19th century, with its lengthy narrative held together by a sequence of complicated subplots, its complex and varied settings, its many intertwined characters, both major and minor, acting within the frame of one theme or idea.
The novel of Dickens's time was still undergoing definition. Novels in Victorian England were often published in serial form in monthly magazine installments. Chapters were composed to meet monthly deadlines. Dickens's work often bears the mark of this origin. Episodes would often end at suspenseful moments to insure readers would return for more. Dickens's popularity was enormous. With his first major effort, Pickwick Papers, followed by Oliver Twist and Great Expectations, he held England and America spellbound. A Christmas Carol is still popular today.
In the case of the authors we will meet this term, the development of the Industrial Revolution, with all its social and economic chaos, offered a rich trove of themes through which a writer’s narrative technique might be revealed. The period you discussed in your recent essays brought with it many complex issues to be resolved: issues of a new working class, slum conditions, orphanages, epidemic diseases, education for the young, and many other facets of that period. Dickens’s stories of hard times and injured innocents challenged those forces that smothered compassion and nursed vice in that new society.
Frequently Dickens gave his characters names that foreshadow the plot, providing the reader with a slight hint. He also enjoyed making silly, yet meaningful, comparisons, such as party guests to furniture, orphans to shares and stocks, etc. Always, his work was a form of social commentary, as he wrote satirically about the government, education, politics and other important issues of his time.
Dickens was a reformer and a myth maker, yet his stories are more than about social injustice. The most distinctive characteristic of his work is its fairytale-like quality. Notice his settings--factories chocked with smoke, slums a place where crime and the redemption of his characters can be revealed. The same fondness Chaucer had for the foibles of his characters is seen in Dickens’s work as well, revealed in the variety and peculiarity of the human character, his leering villains, honest clerks, wide-eyed innocents and knotty eccentrics. You will see this in the story we will begin reading this week, Hard Times.
Turn to page 999. As you read, notice the setting and characterization presented in the first paragraphs. Who is the “speaker?” Where is this taking place? How does Dickens describe each character (notice their names!)? What phrases and descriptions are seen in the text that give you a sense of this? How does Dickens describe places and people? Do you notice any literary equivalent in old fairy tales? What do you notice about Dickens's attitude towards the people and ideas he is representing, and what words does he use to convey that? What do you think about Mr. Gradgrind’s theory of education?
What message do you think Dickens is attempting to deliver in his plot and through these characters? What theme and philosophy is he conveying through this satire—what values does Dickens believe a system of education should teach? In Dickens's writing, begin to notice what is caricature and sentiment, exaggeration, irony, even raw bitterness, and what is realism. Comment on what you find. Finally, how do you respond to this portion of a story as a reader? What resonates with you and your life and outlook?
Take your time with the first page! It takes time to get into any new author of another period! Read a few passages aloud together, talk about it, then begin reading to yourself, answering the above questions. At any time, continue reading and discussing aloud. Please go on line to continue reading chapters from this story. By Friday, send us your response to the questions above. Refer to the text in quotes or italics with the page number when necessary, but this is not a formal paper, but a response. You are welcome to read the entire book on line for extra credit (speak to me first—this will be offered for several future assignments as well).
Friday, February 12, 2010
First Assignment: The Victorians
Dear Students,
We thought we'd start you out with your first assignment due this Friday, Feb 12. We will be working from your textbook throughout this term; if there are any additional notes, say an outside poem, we will attach them here. You will be working downstairs in the lab for most of this term. All assignments will be essays. All necessary citing will be done in Amicitia format, with a bibliography on the last page. If we can work out something on Skype so that you can correspond personally from your home, we will do so. Please look for your assignments and our comments here (or gmail), and feel free to ask either of us any and every question you have! I think this will be a great term, and look forward to seeing you once again, insha'llah, with my husband, Mr. Medinger,* in the next cycle.
First 3-page assignment, due Feb 12th: To better understand the large body of people called "the Victorians" you need to know some of their societal background. Starting on page 942 of your text, you will find a timeline that documents the changes taking place during this period, 1833-1901. These changes included the Crimean War, our American Civil War, the growth of cities, technological changes, rapid industrialization,worldwide empire building and scientific changes. These overturned the old socio-political ideas dating back to the Medieval period of Chaucer's time and transformed the Western portion of our world into the modern democracy we have today.
On page 943 you will see pictures of the "Great Exhibition" at Crystal Palace, London. Prince Albert instigated this exhibition to document all the advances that were taking place. Two worlds were uneasily adapting to the new, leaving the old behind, changing notions of God,women , caring for the sick and poor, and numerous advances we now take for granted. As you look on this timeline, you will see several notations about the Victorian authors who introduced new forms of literature, the dramatic monologue and the novel. During the next six weeks we're going to investigate the relationship between their society, the one on that timeline documenting all these vast changes, and how its traditions affected these writers, as well as how they reflected and shaped their society. To prepare for this, I'd like you to investigate just one of the events that took place on this timeline--or your choice of a situation or event that took place that is not mentioned here. In your paper, please investigate how that particular social or industrial or other situation reflected the values of this time, and compare the way things had been with the way they were becoming. I only want you to investigate one thing, (not everything!) and only in the context of how that affected society. This could be Darwin's publishing Origin of the Species, Freud's new ideas of psychology, or a particular situation, say, the poor on the streets of London, or mining down in Wales, or the event of electricity, or any of the many developments during this period.
When you have completed this assignment, I'd like you to read yours aloud to the class, so everyone has a bit more background, If you finish early, I'm sure the school would appreciate your "libraianship" in reorganizing the room upstairs into a library where we can find textbooks and books. Thanks for that offer! Your new assignment will be posted here Thursday, and send yours to us when you are finished. Thanks, and we look forward to reading your papers!
-Ms. Cowper and Mr. Medinger
We thought we'd start you out with your first assignment due this Friday, Feb 12. We will be working from your textbook throughout this term; if there are any additional notes, say an outside poem, we will attach them here. You will be working downstairs in the lab for most of this term. All assignments will be essays. All necessary citing will be done in Amicitia format, with a bibliography on the last page. If we can work out something on Skype so that you can correspond personally from your home, we will do so. Please look for your assignments and our comments here (or gmail), and feel free to ask either of us any and every question you have! I think this will be a great term, and look forward to seeing you once again, insha'llah, with my husband, Mr. Medinger,* in the next cycle.
First 3-page assignment, due Feb 12th: To better understand the large body of people called "the Victorians" you need to know some of their societal background. Starting on page 942 of your text, you will find a timeline that documents the changes taking place during this period, 1833-1901. These changes included the Crimean War, our American Civil War, the growth of cities, technological changes, rapid industrialization,
On page 943 you will see pictures of the "Great Exhibition" at Crystal Palace, London. Prince Albert instigated this exhibition to document all the advances that were taking place. Two worlds were uneasily adapting to the new, leaving the old behind, changing notions of God,
When you have completed this assignment, I'd like you to read yours aloud to the class, so everyone has a bit more background, If you finish early, I'm sure the school would appreciate your "libraianship" in reorganizing the room upstairs into a library where we can find textbooks and books. Thanks for that offer! Your new assignment will be posted here Thursday, and send yours to us when you are finished. Thanks, and we look forward to reading your papers!
-Ms. Cowper and Mr. Medinger
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