Blog Post 5: Poverty in “A Christmas Carol”

In the time of Charles Dickens there was a large gap between those who could afford to live and those who could not. The poor of Victorian England had a hard life, especially after the passing of the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834. This demolished the old ways of poor relief that was run through the churches and created a system that sent the poor to workhouses where many of the poor died of starvation, disease or simply being overworked. A particular depiction of poverty that sticks out in Dickens’ writings is “A Christmas Carol.” In this short story an old miser is visited by three ghosts on Christmas eve and warned to change his behavior or this Christmas will be his last.

One particular instance of poverty creeping into the cushy life of Ebenezer Scrooge is whenever he is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past. The ghost takes him back to his childhood and how he was a poorer soul at one point:

“This is the even-handed dealing of the world!” he said. “There is nothing on which it is so hard as poverty; and there is nothing it professes to condemn with such severity as the pursuit of wealth!” “You fear the world too much,” she answered, gently. “All your other hopes have merged into the hope of being beyond the chance of its sordid reproach. I have seen your nobler aspirations fall off one by one, until the master-passion, Gain, engrosses you. Have I not?” “What then?” he retorted. “Even if I have grown so much wiser, what then? I am not changed towards you.” (Dickens 40)

Here the ghost is telling Scrooge that his life has turned out the way it has simply because he feared the life of the poor. The poor had a very harsh life in his time and many of them died young. The lavish, but isolated, life that Scrooge has is because he’s afraid that he’s going to lose everything that he’s earned. Dickens has making a commentary about the workhouses and the state of the poor. He made his main character so terrified of falling into that kind of life that he pushed away all of his loved ones and lives an isolated life with his riches. A life of poverty was so terrifying to him as a child that he shut himself off from the world and decided then and there that the only person he needed to worry about was himself. This may also be a commentary on the upper-class of the time as well and their unwillingness to help the poor of the country.

Blog Post 4: Tennyson vs. Malroy

The two poems “The Lady of Shallot” by Tennyson and “Fair Maid of Astolat” by Malroy are two poem of women who die presumably from a lack, or denial of love. “The Lady of Shallot” focuses around a mysterious maybe even mystical maiden who leaves her tower after seeing the face of fair Lancelot and then dies from an unknown curse. “Fair Maid of Astolat” is about the lady Elaine who falls in love with Lancelot while he is participating in a tournament and tells her father that if they do not wed she will die, and she indeed does when Lancelot refuses to marry her.

Though both the Lady of Shallot and Elaine are from two different stories the two ladies are very familiar. They both live in towers away from the town and both end up falling in love with Lancelot and dying because of unrequited love (or a curse), either way both maidens have shown that falling in love with Lancelot does not do anyone any good. Something interesting that both women also share is their initial descriptions include the fact that they live in towers. To the Lady of Shallot the tower is a place that she is kept away from the world and her only contact is with the world is through a mirror, but Elaine is free to leave if she pleases.

However, when reading “Fair Maid of Astolat” after reading “Lady of Shallot” something that has changed my perspective of the two ladies is who different they really are. Elaine actually meet Lancelot and her stories has more religious overtones than The Lady of Shallot’s. Elaine has a pretty strong voice in her poem and advocates for her heart as well as her life while the Lady of Shallot only has about two lines throughout her entire story. The Lady of Shallot’s death also has a different kind of meaning after reading “Fair Maid of Astolat”. Elaine dies fighting for her right to love and to love who she wants while The Lady of Shallot’s death can have multiple meanings. She could’ve died from the curse, or unrequited love, but after reading about Elaine’s death it just seems like a waist of life. She left her tower to die for a reason we don’t know. Elaine’s purpose is straight forward and righteous but The Lady just kind of fades away out of existence from a place that barely knew she was there.

Blog Post 3: Close Reading Images

The two images that I had decided to delve into for my close readings are Covent Garden Flower Women by John Thomson, which is part of his Street Life in London series published from 1876-7, and The Stalls, Covent Garden Opera by Gustave Dore which is part of his London Illustrations series. The two images are very different but they have one similar theme: women and Covent Garden.

The women in Covent Garden Flower Women are standing outside of the huge opera hall waiting for the theater goes to come out. They would then “set up shop” as it were on the side walk and sell their wares, hoping that the ladies would hang off of their gentlemen’s arms and ask for a flower bundle or two. A scene very similar to this is the beginning of “My Fair Lady”, a favorite musical of mine. In this picture however, there is no sign of Eliza Doolittle speaking horrible English and starting her rags to riches story. Instead there are three women wrapping their flowers getting ready for the next rush of customers. Their clothes are a little shabby and their skin a little grimy but this is a picture that reflects simplicity and honesty. The coloring of the picture does make the depicted seem a little gloomy with its washed-out browns and greys, which helps bring a hint of melancholy to the picture. These women are few, poorer than most and stand outside most of their days selling flowers to the rich.

Meanwhile the inside of Covent Garden is bustling with the sound of society and culture. The Stalls, Covent Garden Opera depicts what happens on the other side of the big doors of the opera house. Inside there are many, many wealthy men and women who are waiting to be entertained by the show they’re attending. In this illustration there are many women sitting and standing about in their lavish clothing. Even in a simple drawing as this you can still see all the intricacies in their dresses, hats, gloves, shoes and even in their hair and jewelry. These women wear complexity while the women outside wear honesty and simplicity. These two pictures show the two sides of Covent Gardens, as well as the two sides of women in society at the time that these two images were created. This was the start of the middle class and poorer women were allowed to work as long as it was respectable (and sometimes even if it wasn’t). Women were objects of complexity and could dazzle in high society and yet most of them still worked off the street corners selling their wares as best they could.

Images:

https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/london-illustrations-by-gustave-dor

https://digital.library.lse.ac.uk/objects/lse:yic445cir

Blog Post 2: Close Reading of Oliver Twist

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens is a story that has always been close to my heart. My first encounter with the tale was through a VHS tape of the musical movie “Oliver!” created in 1968. The musical didn’t take away the brutality that poor Oliver faced, Nancy being beaten to death and Sikes being hung, but it did leave out some important plot points such as him being shot in his robbery with Sikes and being taken care of by Miss. Rose and Mrs. Maylie, Dodger and Fagin’s ending, and the whole plot point of the mystery man “Monks”. I first read the novel the whole way through my sophomore year of college. I had read other Dickens novels but this one by far is the one with the most wit.

The passage that I chose to address was the introduction of Oliver to The Artful Dodger:

“Mr. Dawkin’s appearance did not say a vast deal in favour of the comforts which his patron’s interest obtained for those whom he took under his protection; but, as he had a rather flightly and dissolute mode of conversing, and furthermore avowed that among his intimate friends he was better known by the sobriquet of ‘The Artful Dodger,’ Oliver concluded that, being of a dissipated and careless turn, the moral precepts of his benefactor had hitherto been thrown away upon him. Under this impression, he secretly resolved to cultivate the good opinion of the old gentleman as quickly as possible; and, if he found the Dodger incorrigible, as he more than half suspected he should, to decline the honour of his farther acquaintance.” (Dickens 62)

This passage, the introduction of Dodger shows that the he is a shifty character through and through. Oliver refers to him as “flightly, dissipated, careless turn, and incorrigible”. These are all words that do not have the best moral standing. A flightly person is usually someone who does not pay attention very much or who does not keep to what they say. This makes Oliver already a little distrustful of Dodger. Furthermore, Dodger’s impression does not extend to only himself. Dodger also represents his patron, an older gentleman that Oliver will soon meet named Fagin. Oliver’s foreshadowing of Fagin through Dodger turns out to be right on target. Fagin is an old swindler who trains young boys of London or who come to him to be criminals and thieves. He pretends to be a nice old man who cares about these boys but really, he only cares for the wealth he makes from them. The act of pretending does not only start from him but also spreads to Dodger.

From the very first encounter with Dodger, Oliver does not trust him or more or less think that he does not have the highest moral standing. This may be due to Dodger’s appearance being outside of the norm for a boy his age. When the two meet Dodger is drinking a beer, which is peculiar for someone of his age to do. He is described as “a strange boy” only a few lines earlier and described as wearing a coat that is far too big for him. The image of a boy drinking beer in a coat too big for him gives the appearance of pretending. Our first image of Dodger indicates that he is someone who pretends. This would be normal for a boy his age, playing pretend and using the imagination, if it wasn’t for how serious he took it. Dodger doesn’t only dress like a young man he also talks like one. Not many boys his age would know the word “sobriquet” let alone use it in a casual conversation with someone they just met. So, his pretense spreads to his speech and actions as well. And what is pretending but a way of covering up the truth, for children it is reality and for Dodger it was his criminal demeanor. Oliver is right to be wary of Dodger and his employer. Dodger ends up being shipped off to Australia for his extensive pick pocketing and stealing record. And Fagin ends up losing his life to his life of crime. In the end pretense or pretending got them nothing but misfortune and suffering and Oliver’s first impression of the Dodger and Fagin through Dodger, was correct.

Work Cited:

Dickens, Charles. Oliver Twist. Penguin Classics, 2002.

Blog Post 1: Thematic Analysis of Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin is a book that has always been special to me. It’s one of the books that I grew up reading and helping me fall in love with literature. It’s one that I’ve read so many times that I could probably recite it. However, in this specific reading of the text I started to focus on themes that really stood out to me. One theme that has repeatedly caught my eye is the theme of innocence in this novel. Throughout Elizabeth Bennet’s telling of the social debacle that ends in her and her sisters’ marriage innocence has come up in comparison of two of her sisters: Jane and Lydia.

Jane Bennet, who falls in love with a Mr. Bingley, is the eldest of the Bennet girls. Her innocence is seen as one related more to piety and purity than of youth. She is the most beautiful out of all of her sisters as well has having a good heart and a gentle nature. Her description is often of that of an angel. Because she is so good hearted and gentle she is seen as innocent or pure. Also, because she is older her innocence is something that is free given because she is mature enough to understand it. Her innocence is not something that is physically part of her but more of part of her personality.

Lydia Bennet, who runs away with the dastardly Mr. Wickham, is the youngest of the Bennet girls. Her innocence is directly related to her youth. Lydia is a reckless girl who doesn’t care for the rules of society or self-preservation. She’s a wild child who runs away with a man and her innocence is shown by the idea that she simply too young to understand the magnitude of what she’s done. Her innocence is something that is physically hers and something that she cannot see the value in like her elder sister, Jane, can.

Though innocence was highly valued in Victorian society through the two sisters’ depictions it seems that Jane’s form of innocence had a higher value. Though the innocence of youth is something that considered desirable it can be argued that it’s more likely to be linked to naivety than something of more value. It’s because of Lydia’s inexperience and recklessness that she ends up in the position she’s put in by the end of the novel, married to a man who is stuck with her and she’s constantly in debt. However, Jane’s form of innocence is much more desirable in society’s eyes. Hers is a quiet innocence more so connected to the idea of purity. She is young yes, much not as young as Lydia whose innocence can be taken advantage of.