Sunday, 11 October 2009
Sunday, 4 October 2009
Elizabeth Gaskell - Mary Barton
I initially began reading this for my personal statement, without the concept of love in mind. Gaskell sets out in this novel to document the social deprivation of industrial Manchester, a she herself explains in the preface of her novel, 'The more i reflected on this unhappy state of things...the more anxious I became to give some utterance to this agony'. Gaskell is more than a novelist - she is a social commentator as she often reminds us with reflections such as, 'but what I wish to impress is what the working man feels'. This occasional interaction with the reader distances us form the novel's narrative. This can be seen as a devise of Gaskell's in making sure the reader is aware that this is not simply a story - this is a picture of society.
In spite of all of this, 'Mary Barton' is rich in sources for the study of love. Within her social commentary we see many forms of love; paternal, maternal, grand paternal, romantic, unrequited, forbidden and platonic. Furthermore, we see the emergence of the nuclear family which is important in studying how family love and relationships have evolved.
Gaskell fuses her social commentary with her presentation of love in her demonstration of lost love. Gaskell's most emotive devise in communicating the hardship of the Mancunian working class is creating vivid characters in relationships that die, leaving a legacy of heartache. The novel opens with the meeting of two married couples with their children, and almost picturesque scene, away form the city, and gradually we see many of them die.
I will continue to explore more of these forms of love at a later date, focusing predominately on Mary herself, as the protagonist of the novel.
I initially began reading this for my personal statement, without the concept of love in mind. Gaskell sets out in this novel to document the social deprivation of industrial Manchester, a she herself explains in the preface of her novel, 'The more i reflected on this unhappy state of things...the more anxious I became to give some utterance to this agony'. Gaskell is more than a novelist - she is a social commentator as she often reminds us with reflections such as, 'but what I wish to impress is what the working man feels'. This occasional interaction with the reader distances us form the novel's narrative. This can be seen as a devise of Gaskell's in making sure the reader is aware that this is not simply a story - this is a picture of society.
In spite of all of this, 'Mary Barton' is rich in sources for the study of love. Within her social commentary we see many forms of love; paternal, maternal, grand paternal, romantic, unrequited, forbidden and platonic. Furthermore, we see the emergence of the nuclear family which is important in studying how family love and relationships have evolved.
Gaskell fuses her social commentary with her presentation of love in her demonstration of lost love. Gaskell's most emotive devise in communicating the hardship of the Mancunian working class is creating vivid characters in relationships that die, leaving a legacy of heartache. The novel opens with the meeting of two married couples with their children, and almost picturesque scene, away form the city, and gradually we see many of them die.
I will continue to explore more of these forms of love at a later date, focusing predominately on Mary herself, as the protagonist of the novel.
Thursday, 10 September 2009
W B Yeats - Ephemera
'YOUR eyes that once were never weary of mine
Are bowed in sorrow under pendulous lids,
Because our love is waning.'
And then She:
'Although our love is waning, let us stand
By the lone border of the lake once more,
Together in that hour of gentleness
When the poor tired child, passion, falls asleep.
How far away the stars seem, and how far
Is our first kiss, and ah, how old my heart!'
Pensive they paced along the faded leaves,
While slowly he whose hand held hers replied:
'Passion has often worn our wandering hearts.'
The woods were round them, and the yellow leaves
Fell like faint meteors in the gloom, and once
A rabbit old and lame limped down the path;
Autumn was over him: and now they stood
On the lone border of the lake once more:
Turning, he saw that she had thrust dead leaves
Gathered in silence, dewy as her eyes,
In bosom and hair.
'Ah, do not mourn,' he said,
'That we are tired, for other loves await us;
Hate on and love through unrepining hours.
Before us lies eternity; our souls
Are love, and a continual farewell.'
This is an interesting poem to look at with the concept of love in mind. My own interpretation was the idea of preserving a love by letting it go, rather than holding on to it and turing it sour. Perhaps a type of young love or passion. It assumes the idea of love having a transitory nature - rather than it being eternal it is ephemeral.
Many would dispute the validity of this idea of love - surely a true love is eternal and can stand everything. Yet Yeats perhaps justifies this by avoiding the idea of a love 'dying' and that letting love go is in fact the best thing to do. The words, 'When the poor tired child, Passion, falls asleep' exemplify this idea. Firstly the idea of a child connotes an innocence; we can't help but fall in love and we are powerless to stop falling out of love. We are therefore, powerless and innocent to our emotions. However. more so Yeats carefully selects the words 'falls asleep'. The love may be 'waning' as described before but it does not die, and it is because we 'put love to bed' that it is preserved. It is through this careful imagery of love as a sleeping child that Yeats creates a purity in the love he describes.
Yeats presents this idea of 'falling out of love' as one that is entirely natural, and he achieves this (unsurprisingly!) through dense description of nature. Yeats describes 'Autumn was over him', with autumn, the season of change creating the idea of this change being a natural one. Furthermore, a change such as a seasonal one cannot be fought, 'was over him', and Yeats uses this idea to demonstrate how we cannot and should not fight the nature of our own hearts.
'YOUR eyes that once were never weary of mine
Are bowed in sorrow under pendulous lids,
Because our love is waning.'
And then She:
'Although our love is waning, let us stand
By the lone border of the lake once more,
Together in that hour of gentleness
When the poor tired child, passion, falls asleep.
How far away the stars seem, and how far
Is our first kiss, and ah, how old my heart!'
Pensive they paced along the faded leaves,
While slowly he whose hand held hers replied:
'Passion has often worn our wandering hearts.'
The woods were round them, and the yellow leaves
Fell like faint meteors in the gloom, and once
A rabbit old and lame limped down the path;
Autumn was over him: and now they stood
On the lone border of the lake once more:
Turning, he saw that she had thrust dead leaves
Gathered in silence, dewy as her eyes,
In bosom and hair.
'Ah, do not mourn,' he said,
'That we are tired, for other loves await us;
Hate on and love through unrepining hours.
Before us lies eternity; our souls
Are love, and a continual farewell.'
This is an interesting poem to look at with the concept of love in mind. My own interpretation was the idea of preserving a love by letting it go, rather than holding on to it and turing it sour. Perhaps a type of young love or passion. It assumes the idea of love having a transitory nature - rather than it being eternal it is ephemeral.
Many would dispute the validity of this idea of love - surely a true love is eternal and can stand everything. Yet Yeats perhaps justifies this by avoiding the idea of a love 'dying' and that letting love go is in fact the best thing to do. The words, 'When the poor tired child, Passion, falls asleep' exemplify this idea. Firstly the idea of a child connotes an innocence; we can't help but fall in love and we are powerless to stop falling out of love. We are therefore, powerless and innocent to our emotions. However. more so Yeats carefully selects the words 'falls asleep'. The love may be 'waning' as described before but it does not die, and it is because we 'put love to bed' that it is preserved. It is through this careful imagery of love as a sleeping child that Yeats creates a purity in the love he describes.
Yeats presents this idea of 'falling out of love' as one that is entirely natural, and he achieves this (unsurprisingly!) through dense description of nature. Yeats describes 'Autumn was over him', with autumn, the season of change creating the idea of this change being a natural one. Furthermore, a change such as a seasonal one cannot be fought, 'was over him', and Yeats uses this idea to demonstrate how we cannot and should not fight the nature of our own hearts.
Monday, 7 September 2009
Restoration Literature
The Restoration and Augustan period
The character of literature (especially drama) is greatly characterised by the political (and social) change of 1660. In 1660 English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II. 'Restoration' refers to both the act and the period that followed the commonwealth of 1649 - 1660.
Theatres reopened after having been closed during the protectorship of Oliver Cromwell. Theatres were closed for 18 years by the puritan regime. Inevitably when drama returned it was with change, a change that represented the constraints of expression. This period is known as the renaissance of English drama. Restoration comedies are known for their sexual explicitness (this was encouraged by Charles II).
The Restoration period saw the emergence of the first female playwright, Aphra Behn. Behn's work was all in light of her royalist views and can be seen as a protest of the powerlessness of women.
Prose in the restoration period is dominated by christian religious writing but the restoration also saw the beginnings of two genres that later would dominate - fiction and journalism.
works include-
Thomas Sprat - History of the Royal Society
John Locke - Philosophical works. Introduces the concept of Empiricism. He emphasized the plastic nature of Society (he saw monarchy overthrown, democracy evolve, democracy corrupt and monarchy restored)
John Bunyan - 'The Pilgrim's process' - an allegory of personal salvation and guide to Christianity.
The character of literature (especially drama) is greatly characterised by the political (and social) change of 1660. In 1660 English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II. 'Restoration' refers to both the act and the period that followed the commonwealth of 1649 - 1660.
Theatres reopened after having been closed during the protectorship of Oliver Cromwell. Theatres were closed for 18 years by the puritan regime. Inevitably when drama returned it was with change, a change that represented the constraints of expression. This period is known as the renaissance of English drama. Restoration comedies are known for their sexual explicitness (this was encouraged by Charles II).
The Restoration period saw the emergence of the first female playwright, Aphra Behn. Behn's work was all in light of her royalist views and can be seen as a protest of the powerlessness of women.
Prose in the restoration period is dominated by christian religious writing but the restoration also saw the beginnings of two genres that later would dominate - fiction and journalism.
works include-
Thomas Sprat - History of the Royal Society
John Locke - Philosophical works. Introduces the concept of Empiricism. He emphasized the plastic nature of Society (he saw monarchy overthrown, democracy evolve, democracy corrupt and monarchy restored)
John Bunyan - 'The Pilgrim's process' - an allegory of personal salvation and guide to Christianity.
Tuesday, 1 September 2009
OK, I know I am useless at anything that requires trying new things and am a self confessed technophobe but I will change....
this summer I have read:
*The picture of Dorian Gray - this is my brother's favourite book and is also one of mine too, for it is excellent. I love Oscar Wilde's plays with A woman of no importance topping the list. This could fall into the theme of love in the sense of vanity, being in love with the self, and also idealism, being in love with a certain concept, with this being youth and beauty. But then again maybe this is straying away a little. Regardless, it was fantastic.
*Wuthering Heights - obviously, I'll post what I thought etc when I am less tired
* Brideshead revisited - I actually read this last summer but when Becky said she was going to read it I gave it another go. I guess its a novel that is fundamentally about religion, and love of God is irrelevant in the exam as I read on Mrs Sim's notes, but actually its quite a good one to read following on from Breakfast at Tiffany's. Breakfast at Tiffany's explores the power of platonic love and this is also key to Waugh's novel as this is central to his novel.
*Lady Chatterley's Lover - Tash will be pleased - a bit of D.H Lawrence. This book was banned due to its explicit content. This is probably the one to read when looking at sexual love. Lawrence wrote to liberate the generations who found sex as merely an embarrassment and a mechanical art. Lawrence said about his work, 'To me it is beautiful and tender and frail as the naked self is'.
*Much ado about nothing - this has always been one of my favourite Shakespeare plays, even though it is considered his least ambitious. Oh well! The language of Beatrice and Benedict is so carefully constructed to make the other look a fool.
*A Room with a view - actually a fantastically funny look at the English manner. One of Forster's favourite themes was the 'undeveloped heart' of the English. Lucy is torn between Victorian society and what her heart tells her. I actually read this book because i remembered watching the film at about the age of seven and finding Cecil completely hilarious.
Right, I'm tired and hate staring at the computer screen. I will write again. I promise. xxxxxx
this summer I have read:
*The picture of Dorian Gray - this is my brother's favourite book and is also one of mine too, for it is excellent. I love Oscar Wilde's plays with A woman of no importance topping the list. This could fall into the theme of love in the sense of vanity, being in love with the self, and also idealism, being in love with a certain concept, with this being youth and beauty. But then again maybe this is straying away a little. Regardless, it was fantastic.
*Wuthering Heights - obviously, I'll post what I thought etc when I am less tired
* Brideshead revisited - I actually read this last summer but when Becky said she was going to read it I gave it another go. I guess its a novel that is fundamentally about religion, and love of God is irrelevant in the exam as I read on Mrs Sim's notes, but actually its quite a good one to read following on from Breakfast at Tiffany's. Breakfast at Tiffany's explores the power of platonic love and this is also key to Waugh's novel as this is central to his novel.
*Lady Chatterley's Lover - Tash will be pleased - a bit of D.H Lawrence. This book was banned due to its explicit content. This is probably the one to read when looking at sexual love. Lawrence wrote to liberate the generations who found sex as merely an embarrassment and a mechanical art. Lawrence said about his work, 'To me it is beautiful and tender and frail as the naked self is'.
*Much ado about nothing - this has always been one of my favourite Shakespeare plays, even though it is considered his least ambitious. Oh well! The language of Beatrice and Benedict is so carefully constructed to make the other look a fool.
*A Room with a view - actually a fantastically funny look at the English manner. One of Forster's favourite themes was the 'undeveloped heart' of the English. Lucy is torn between Victorian society and what her heart tells her. I actually read this book because i remembered watching the film at about the age of seven and finding Cecil completely hilarious.
Right, I'm tired and hate staring at the computer screen. I will write again. I promise. xxxxxx
Wednesday, 15 July 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)