Download pdf - Victorian society

B. De Luca, D. J. Ellis, P. Pace, S. Ranzoli

Books and BookmarksCOMPLEMENTARY AND LINK MODULES

Victorian Age

LOESCHER EDITORE

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De Luca, Ellis, Pace, Ranzoli - Books and Bookmarks, cod. 2634 Loescher Editore

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Tableof Contents

INTRODUCTION 1

Fiction in the 19th Century 2

Narrative Voices and the Reading Public in 19th-Century Fiction 3

STUDY BOX: Developments in Narrative Technique

in 19th-Century Fiction 6

Psychological Realism in Mainstream Fiction: George Eliot 7

GEORGE ELIOT from Adam Bede 8Text one, 8 Text two, 9 Text three, 10Text four, 11STUDY BOX: Aspects of Realism in Mainstream Fiction 13

Mystery and Horror Storiesand the Sensation Novel 15

EDGAR ALLAN POE from The Oval Portrait 15

WILKIE COLLINS from The Woman in White 19STUDY BOX: Features of Gothic, Mystery and Horror Fiction

and of the Sensation Novel 22

Psychological Fiction: Henry James 26

HENRY JAMES from The Turn of the Screw 26STUDY BOX: The Birth of the Psychological Novel 28

Assignment Towards the Essay 31

STEPFour

STEPThree

STEPTwo

STEPOne

MODULE

1

A Classic Novelist: Charles Dickens 33

Classic Fiction in EnglishLiterature 34

BOOKMARK: The Road to Classic Fiction 35

A Classic Plot 36

Reading from the Novel 41

CHARLES DICKENS from Great Expectations 41Text one, 41 Text two, 48

Dickens and the ClassicNovel 50

BOOKMARK: Dickens Style 50STUDY BOX: Classic Fiction in Context 51

Assignment Towards the Essay 53

Beyond Literature FILM

The Woman in White 55Great Expectations (1946) 57Great Expectations (1998) 59

MUSICThe Woman in White 60Great Expectations (1946) 61

STEPFour

STEPThree

STEPTwo

STEPOne

MODULE

2

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IV

TAB LE O F C O NTE NTS

Personal FileQUICK REFERENCE

Principal Features of Fiction 63

MODULE 1 64REVIEW 64EXTENSION 66

MODULE 2 68REVIEW 68EXTENSION 69

from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens 69

MODULE 1 70

GET READY FOR TESTING 70INTERNAL CERTIFICATION 70

Step One, 70 Step Two, 70Step Three, 71 Step Four, 72

NES (Nuovo Esame di Stato) 73

MODULE 2 74

GET READY FOR TESTING 74INTERNAL CERTIFICATION 74

Step One, 74 Step Two, 74Step Three, 75 Step Four, 75

NES (Nuovo Esame di Stato) 75

KEYS 76Review 76Extension 77Get Ready for Testing 78

AppendixW. M. THACKERAY from Barry Lyndon 80BOOKMARK: Aspects of the Victorian Age 81BOOKMARK: Social Issues in Victorian Britain 83

CROSS-CURRICULAR CARD

Realism and Naturalism, Aestheticism

and Decadentism in European Literatures 86

Audiocassettes and music cassette of Books and Bookmarks

Videocassette of Books and Bookmarks

Symbols

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Victorian Age

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TO THE TEACHER

The material in this booklet (two Modules) is from volumes 1B and 2A of the main Course,Books and Bookmarks. It can be used by those who have adopted the Compact version ofBooks and Bookmarks or any other Course book.

It provides an in-depth study on the development of fiction in the 19th century and itsconnections to the social and cultural background with a wide selection of authors including twoAmerican ones and with a particular focus on Dickens as one of the main exponents of 19th-century classic fiction.

It can act as an expansion of M1 of Books and Bookmarks (Compact Edition). It can also beused independently and, to facilitate this, an Appendix contains all the literary texts you may needto refer to over and above those analysed in detail.

The booklet is not accompanied by a Teachers Guide: for keys to the activities, teachers candownload appropriate sections of the Books and Bookmarks Teachers Guide from the Loescherwebsite www.loescher.it/booksandbookmarks, or refer to the printed Guide of the main volume ofBooks and Bookmarks.

The booklet does, however, contain self-study materials for review, extension and testpreparation purposes.

TO THE STUDENT

The learning itinerary of the booklet develops over two Modules of four Steps each. The firsttwo steps of Module 1 focus on 19th-century narrative voices and the main aspects of the realistictradition, Step three contains an entire short story and focuses on mystery, horror and sensation,while Step four deals with the development of psychological fiction. The second Module analysesthe features of the classic novel through extensive readings from Dickens Great Expectations andends with an analysis of the peculiarities of Dickens style.

You may refer to the last section of the booklet called Personal File for materials and activitieswhich can facilitate your learning process.

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M O D U L E

1

L E V E L intermediate

T Y P E O F M O D U L E genre-based, textual and contextual

P R E R E Q U I S I T E S knowledge of the basic aspects of narrative technique (story and plot, first-person andthird-person narrators, characterisation)

knowledge of the traditional structure of the short story

knowledge of the basic features of Realism and of mainstream Victorian fiction

O B J E C T I V E S analyse both American and British works of fiction of the 19th century

identify the main aspects of 19th-century narrative voices

make inferences about the relationship between fiction writers and reading public

recognise aspects of innovation of different authors in relation to the socio-culturalcontext and tradition

locate their works in their cultural and literary context

M AT E R I A L S FICTION The Oval Portrait (1842) by Edgar Allan Poe

from Barry Lyndon (1843) by W. M. Thackeray

from Barry Lyndon (1843) by W. M. Thackeray (APPENDIX)

from Adam Bede (1859) by George Eliot

from The Woman in White (1860) by Wilkie Collins

from The Turn of the Screw (1898) by Henry James

T I M E approx. 25 hours

L I N K S BEYOND LITERATURE: Film, The Woman in White Music, The Woman in White

BOOKMARK: Aspects of the Victorian Age (APPENDIX)

BOOKMARK: Social Issues in Victorian Britain (APPENDIX)

CROSS-CURRICULAR CARD: Realism and Naturalism, Aestheticism and Decadentism in European Literatures (APPENDIX)

LEAD IN Novels and Short Stories

Novels and short stories, which are the focus of this Module, are still one ofthe most popular forms of reading entertainment nowadays. Before you startstudying the period when it reached its highest level of popularity in Britain,check how much you already know about the origin and features of thegenre at the beginning of the 19th century.

Fiction in the 19th Century

Fiction was the most popular genre in the 19th century, first in Britain andlater in the US. It enlarged its scope as regards subject matter, themes andform, catering for a variety of tastes and became the main form ofentertainment of the middle classes. It reached the status of a classic form against which all subsequent developments would be assessed. This Module will examine the main development of fiction through somesignificant novels and short stories of the period.

2



M1 FICTION IN THE 19TH CENTURY

3

1 See how many of the following questions you can answer. Then check yourreplies again after you have finished the Module which contains all the informationrequired.

1 At the beginning of the 19th century was fiction considered a major genre or assecond-rate literature?

2 Name three classic English novels. 3 Which of the following types of novels developed in the 19th century?

detective fiction Gothic fiction science fiction realistic fiction psychological fiction crime fiction

4 Did the short story develop alongside the novel or at a later time?5 Did horror and crime fiction develop in the first or second part of the 19th century?6 Was 19th-century American fiction influenced by British fiction or did it develop

independently?

Narrative Voices and the ReadingPublic in 19th-Century FictionO B J E C T I V E S

In Step One you will:

analyse some quotations from works of fiction of the 19th century

identify aspects of 19th-century narrative voices

infer features of the socio-cultural context and expectations of the reading public

The 18th-century novel, though still in its infancy, had already laid thefoundations of the genre in terms of plot, characterisation, dialogue andnarrator. It combined humour, realism and serious moral concern. While thefirst narrative form was the first-person narrator of Robinson Crusoe (1719) byDaniel Defoe (1661-1731) derived from diary-writing, the most common formsoon became that of the omniscient narrator, introduced by Henry Fielding(1707-54) in his Tom Jones (1749) who created a very articulated fictional world.In both cases the reader had a very passive role because s/he was eitherguided by the first-person point of view or by the omniscient narrator who, as acreator of his/her own fictional world, interpreted everything either with directcomments or through a particular tone. The novelists of the 19th century enlarged the scope of these narrativetechniques with significant innovations which paved the way for theexperimental techniques of the beginning of the 20th century.

STEP One



In this Step you are going to read some short quotations taken fromVictorian fiction, focusing on the narrator, his/her relationship with thereading public and the type of social context that is evoked.

1 Read through the 4 extracts below and note down in the margin if a third or a first-personnarrator is used in each case.

T1 W. M. Thackeray, Barry Lyndon, 1843

The progress of a love-story is tedious to all those who are not concerned,

and I leave such themes to the hack novel-writers1, and the young boarding-

school misses for whom they write. It is not my intention to follow, step by step,

the incidents of my courtship, or to narrate all the difficulties I had to contend

with2, and my triumphant manner of surmounting them. Suffice it to say, I did

overcome these difficulties.

T2 George Eliot, Adam Bede, 1859

Chapter 17

In which the Story Pauses a LittleThis Rector of Broxton is little better than a pagan! I hear one of my readers

exclaim. How much more edifying it would have been if you had made him

give Arthur some truly spiritual advice. You might have put into his mouth the

most beautiful things quite as good as reading a sermon.

Certainly I could, if I held it the highest vocation of the novelist to represent

things as they never have been and never will be. Then, of course, I might

refashion life and character entirely after my own liking; I might select the most

unexceptionable type of clergyman, and put my own admirable opinions into

his mouth on all occasions. But it happens, on the contrary, that my strongest

10 effort is to avoid any such arbitrary picture, and to give a faithful account of

men and things as they have mirrored themselves in my mind. The mirror is

doubtless defective; the outlines will sometimes be disturbed, the reflection faint

or confused; but I feel as much bound to tell you as precisely as I can what that

reflection is, as if I were in the witness-box narrating my experience on oath3.

T3 Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White, 1860

Thus the story here presented will be told by more than one pen, as the story

of an offence against the laws is told in Court by more than one witness with

the same object, in both cases, to present the truth always in its most direct and

most intelligible aspect; and to trace the course of one complete series of events,

by making the persons who have been most closely connected with them, at

each successive stage, relate their own experience, word for word.

V I CTO R IAN AG E

4

1. hack novel-writers, novelists who write only for money.2. to contend with, face (affrontare).

3. on oath, under solemn promise (sotto giuramento).

they refers to...

them refers to...

you refers to...

I refers to...

both cases refers to...

them refers to...




5

(...)

Till you came here she was in the position of hundreds of other women,

who marry men without being greatly attracted by them or greatly repelled

by them, and who learn to love them (when they dont learn to hate!)

10 after marriage, instead of before. I hope more earnestly than words can

say and you should have the self-sacrificing courage to hope too

that the new thoughts and feel ings which have disturbed the old

calmness and the old content have not taken root too deeply to be ever

removed.

T4 Henry James The Turn of the Screw, 1898

The story had held us, round the fire, sufficiently breathless, but except

the obvious remark that it was gruesome4, as on Christmas Eve in an old

house a strange tale should essentially be, I remember no comment uttered5

till somebody happened to note it as the only case he had met in which such

a visitation had fallen on a child. The case, I may mention, was that of an

apparition in just such an old house as had gathered us for the occasion

an appearance of a dreadful kind, to a little boy sleeping in the room with

his mother and waking her up in the terror of it; waking her not to dissipate

his dread and soothe6 him to sleep again, but to encounter also herself,

10 before she had succeeded in doing so, the same sight that had shocked him. It

was this observation that drew from Douglas not immediately, but later in

the evening a reply that had the interesting consequence to which I call

attention. Someone else told a story not particularly effective, which I saw he was

not following. This I took for a sign that he had himself something to produce

and that we should only have to wait.

2 Read text one, then read another text from the same novel in the Appendix, p. 80.a Circle the phrases where the narrator states his intentions, box the phrases that evoke social

context and underline the words and phrases that refer to the narrators personality.

b What opinion are you led to form about the narrator from his description of himself?

c How does the narrators personality affect the readers reaction to the events he relates?

d What information can you derive as regards novels and reading public?

3 Consider text two. a Underline all the sentences that convey the narrators voice and intentions.

b In what sense is the narrating I different from that of the first extract?

c Do you think the narrative voice throughout the novel will be a first-person or third-person one?What makes you think so?

4. gruesome, inspiring horror (raccapricciante).5. uttered, expressed (espresso).

6. soothe, calm (tranquillizzare).

she refers to Laura, the protagonist of the novel.

they refers to...

What does the old calmnessand the old content refer to?

it refers to...

a visitation from...

it refers to...

This refers to...



4 Read text three.a Underline all the sentences that refer to narration and narrator and circle the phrases that evoke

social context.

b In what way is the narrative technique similar and in what way is it different from that of theprevious extract?

c What aspect of the social context comes out very vividly?

5 Analyse the fourth text.a How many narrators can you infer for this story? Why?

b Do you think the story will be told by a first-person or third-person narrator? Why?

c What aspects of the social context as regards the popularity of fiction and one of the ways ofenjoying it come out of the extract? Give examples.

d Underline all the words which evoke a particular atmosphere. How would you describe it?

STUDY BOX Developments in Narrative Technique in 19th-Century Fiction

CHECK 1 Refer to the extracts you have read and the activities you have done and saywhich text/s convey the following features of narrative technique and social context.

text/s

a) realistic details b) omniscient narrative voice c) first-person narration d) multiple narrators e) womens position in society f) fiction as a form of social entertainment g) split between good and bad literature h) taste for mystery and horror i) taste for love stories and romantic love

2 In which text/s does the narrator address the reader? Which texts refer to ashared knowledge between novelists and readers?

AND LEARN The narrative voices of the extracts you have read differ widely, ranging fromThe Narrator the first-person narrator of Barry Lyndon, to the omniscient narrator of Adam

in Victorian Fiction Bede and the multiple narrators of The Woman in White. The extracts providegood examples of the developments narrative technique underwent in the 19th

century, all prompted by the novelists desire to achieve realism, that is to maketheir fictional worlds as real as possible. This need to make narratives as credible

as possible brought about major changes in narrative voices.

The First-Person Thackerays choice of a villain as first-person narrator enlarges the scope of Unreliable Narrator the first-person point of view leaving the reader more space for interpretation.

V I CTO R IAN AG E

6




7

As the narrator is a liar and a rogue, his voice is not trustworthy. The reader has

a more active role in interpreting and assessing what s/he is being told and

passes judgements on the character of the narrator in the same way as s/he

judges fellow beings. In this way the narrator/character becomes more real and,

as many characters in 19th-century fiction, lives outside the novel itself as a real

human being. This unreliable first-person narrator, who keeps the reader alertin order not to be deceived by his lies, sometimes takes on an omniscientperspective, when he steps in the story in the same way as the third-personomniscient narrator, with comments on novel writing or moral generalisations.

The Omniscient Narrator The omniscient perspective is typical of the narrative voice of 19th-century

fiction, whether first- or third-person. Omniscient narrators know everythingof the fictional world they have created, not only the events of the story to the

least detail but can also follow different characters in different places and enter

their minds to read their innermost thoughts. In addition, omniscient narrators

often pass judgements on the worlds and characters they have created as well as

interpreting everything for the benefit of the reader, leaving little or no room for

his or her own interpretations. The reader is under the constant direction of the

omniscient narrators point of view, whose values s/he is meant to share.

Multiple Narrators Wilkie Collins choice of multiple, first-person narrators is a further deviceto achieve realism reporting events from as many perspectives as possible. This

device, however, here used to add to realism, was highly innovative and wouldpave the way for the choice of non-omniscient voices typical of 20th-century

fiction, to convey not a common view of reality, but the relativity of personal

experience.

Psychological Realism inMainstream Fiction: George EliotO B J E C T I V E S

In Step Two you will:

analyse Adam Bede, a novel by George Eliot

identify its most characteristic features

recognise aspects of continuity and innovation in relation to tradition

locate the novel in its cultural and literary context

P E R S O N A L F I L E : G e t R e a d y f o r T e s t i n g , p . 7 0

STEP Two



GEORGE ELIOT (1819-80) BIOG RAPHY, p . 14

Adam Bede (1859)The novel we are going to analyse is Adam Bede by George Eliot, one of the greatestnovelists of the 19th century. The work exemplifies the complexity fiction had reached, notonly as regards narrative technique but also in its articulate fictional world which bringsto life a complex social setting, the depth of its characterisation and the richness of itsthemes.

Te x t o n e

Though the title clearly indicates that the protagonist is Adam Bede, the novel includesvarious other characters who can be considered as co-protagonists. We will start ouranalysis with an extract from Chapter 9, which portrays one of these characters, Hetty, butalso introduces Adam.

1 Read the text.a Focus on Hetty. Which of the following adjectives would you use to describe her? Give reasons for

your choices.

shy beautiful aware of her beauty coquettish attractive

b Focus on Adam. 1 Underline all the adjectives used to describe him.2 For each adjective you have underlined describing his personality find at least one quotation

from the text to exemplify it.

c Underline the phrases and sentences that describe the social setting. In what way does Adamstand out?

Hetty was quite used to the thought that people liked to look at her. She was

not blind to the fact that young Luke Britton of Broxton came to Hayslope

Church on a Sunday afternoon on purpose that he might see her; and that he

would have made much more decided advances if her uncle Poyser, thinking but

lightly of a young man whose fathers land was so foul1 as old Luke Brittons,

had not forbidden her aunt to encourage him by any civilities2. She was aware,

too, that Mr. Craig, the gardener at the Chase, was over head and ears in love

with her3, and had lately made unmistakable avowals4 in luscious5 strawberries

and hyperbolical peas. She knew still better, that Adam Bede tall, upright,

10 clever, brave Adam Bede who carried such authority with all the people

round about, and whom her uncle was always delighted to see of an evening,

saying that Adam knew a fine sight more6 o the nature o things than those as

V I CTO R IAN AG E

8

1. foul, messy (trascurato).2. civilities, polite acts (cortesie).3. over head and ears in love with her, deeply in love (innamorato cotto).

4. avowals, declarations (dichiarazioni).5. luscious, delicious (deliziose).6. a fine sight more, a lot more (molto di pi).

her refers to...

Luke Brittons...

What does this reaction suggest?




9

thought themselves his better she knew that this Adam, who was often

rather stern7 to other people, and not much given to run after the lasses8, could

be made to turn pale or red any day by a word or a look from her. Hettys sphere

of comparison was not large, but she couldnt help perceiving that Adam was

something like a man; always knew what to say about things, could tell her

uncle how to prop the hovel9, and had mended the churn10 in no time; knew,

with only looking at it, the value of the chestnut tree that was blown down, and

20 why the damp came in the walls, and what they must do to stop the rats; and

wrote a beautiful hand that you could read off, and could do figures in his

head a degree of accomplishment totally unknown among the richest

farmers of that countryside.

2 Focus on characterisation. How are characters built (through showing or telling) and from whose point of view?

3 How do you think the relationship between Adam and Hetty will develop? Write aparagraph describing your predictions.

Te x t t w o

Below is a second extract, taken from the same chapter, which adds to Hettyscharacterisation.

1 Read the text and find out what happens to Hetty and how she is affected by it.

But for the last few weeks a new influence had come over Hetty vague,

atmospheric, shaping itself into no self-confessed hopes or prospects, but

producing a pleasant narcotic effect, making her tread the ground and go about

her work in a sort of dream, unconscious of weight or effort, and showing her

all things through a soft, liquid veil, as if she were living not in this solid world

of brick and stone, but in a beautified world, such as the sun lights up for us in

the waters. Hetty had become aware that Mr. Arthur Donnithorne would take a

good deal of trouble for the chance of seeing her; that he always placed himself

at church so as to have the fullest view of her both sitting and standing; that he

10 was constantly finding reasons for calling at the Hall Farm, and always would

contrive1 to say something for the sake of making her speak to him and look at

him. The poor child no more conceived at present the idea that the young squire

could ever be her lover, than a bakers pretty daughter in the crowd, whom a

young emperor distinguishes by an imperial but admiring smile, conceives that

she shall be made empress.

it refers to...

7. stern, severe (severo).8. lasses, girls (ragazze).9. to prop the hovel, prevent the hut from falling (puntellare il capanno).

10. churn, large milk-can to make butter (zangola).

1. contrive, manage (riusciva).

itself refers to...

her refers to...

Mr Arthur Donnithorneis the squire of the village.

The poor child refers to...



2 Consider characterisation and language.a Find quotations that reveal that:

life takes on a dreamlike quality for Hetty Hetty feels detached from everyday reality she is unaware of her hopes and dreams.

b What psychological features does characterisation most stress?

c How would you describe the language used?

concrete figurative detailed evocative

3 Underline the sentence that conveys the extent of the gap between the social classes of the time and the phrase that conveys the narrators comment on Hettys feelings. What predictions can you make about the likely development of the story?

Here is an outline of the plot so far.

s u m m a r y

The novel is set in the English Midlands at the beginning of the 19th century. The protagonist is Adam

Bede, the village carpenter, a hard-working young man of stern morals who falls in love with the vain and

frivolous Hetty Sorrel, the niece of the farmer Martin Poyser. While accepting Adams courtship, Hetty falls

in love and is seduced by the local squire, Arthur. After the squire has deserted her, though promising to

help her if she is in trouble, she finds herself pregnant, but conceals the truth even to herself and becomes

engaged to Adam. Another main character in the novel is Dinah, a Methodist preacher, the niece of Martin

Poysers wife, who is in love with Adam.

Te x t t h r e e

The text below is taken from Chapter 35.

1 Read and find out what Hetty decides to do when she cannot escape reality any longer.

No, she has not courage to jump into that cold watery bed, and if she had,

they might find her they might find out why she had drowned herself. There

is but one thing left to her: she must go away, go where they cant find her.

After the first on-coming of her great dread, some weeks after her betrothal1 to

Adam, she had waited and waited, in the blind vague hope that something would

happen to set her free from her terror; but she could wait no longer. All the force of

her nature had been concentrated on the one effort of concealment, and she had

V I CTO R IAN AG E

10

squire, a title given in the Middle Ages to a young gentlemantraining for knighthood. In the 19th century this term came to referto the chief landowner in a village.

1. betrothal, engagement of marriage (fidanzamento).

she refers to...

What might they find out?

great dread of what?

John Collier, Hetty Sorrel, Blackburn Museum & Art Galleries, Blackburn, Lancashire.

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m &

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11

shrunk2 with irresistible dread from every course that could tend towards a betrayal

of her miserable secret. Whenever the thought of writing to Arthur had occurred to

10 her, she had rejected it: he could do nothing for her that could shelter her from

discovery and scorn3 among the relatives and neighbours who once more made all

her world, now her airy4 dream had vanished. Her imagination no longer saw

happiness with Arthur, for he could do nothing that would satisfy or soothe5 her

pride. No, something else would happen something must happen to set her

free from this dread. In young, childish, ignorant souls there is constantly this blind

trust in some unshapen6 chance: it is as hard to a boy or girl to believe that a great

wretchedness7 will actually befall them8, as to believe that they will die.

2 Focus on language, narrative technique and characterisation.a Circle the verbs in the present tense. In what way does the change of tenses affect narration and

the readers response?

b Underline all the sentences and phrases that convey Hettys state of mind. What features of Hettyspersonality are stressed?

c Find quotations that convey Hettys lack of contact with reality.d Why does she not write to Arthur? In what way is her decision consistent with her behaviour so far?e On what aspect of Hettys character does the narrator provide a moral generalisation? Quote from

the text to support your answer.

3 How do you expect the story to go on?

s u m m a r y

Hetty at last decides to leave her village and ask for Arthurs help, but on the way she delivers her baby

and kills it. She is arrested and condemned to death for child murder.

Te x t f o u r

The text below, taken from Chapter 47, describes Hettys arrival at the scene of theexecution accompanied by Dinah.

1 Read the text and find out what happens when the women reach the gallows.

The Last MomentIt was a sight that some people remembered better even than their own

sorrows the sight in that grey clear morning, when the fatal cart with the two

young women in it was descried1 by the waiting watching multitude, cleaving its

way2 towards the hideous3 symbol of a deliberately-inflicted sudden death.

All Stoniton had heard of Dinah Morris, the young Methodist woman who

had brought the obstinate criminal to confess, and there was as much eagerness

to see her as to see the wretched4 Hetty.

2. shrunk, avoided (evitato).3. scorn, contempt (disprezzo).4. airy, imaginary (inconsistente).5. soothe, calm (placare).6. unshapen, improbable (improbabile).7. wretchedness, misery (disgrazia).

8. befall them, happen to them (capitare).

1. descried, seen (visto).2. cleaving its way, cutting its way through (facendosi strada).3. hideous, repulsive (odioso).4. wretched, despicable (sciagurata).

her miserable secret refers to...

What was her airy dream?

the fatal cart refers to...

the hideous symbol is...

her refers to...



But Dinah was hardly conscious of the multitude. When Hetty had caught

sight of the vast crowd in the distance, she had clutched5 Dinah convulsively.

10 Close your eyes, Hetty. Dinah said, and let us pray without ceasing to God.

And in a low voice, as the cart went slowly along through the midst6 of the

gazing crowds, she poured forth her soul with the wrestling7 intensity of a last

pleading8, for the trembling creature that clung9 to her and clutched her as the

only visible sign of love and pity.

Dinah did not know that the crowd was silent, gazing at her with a sort of

awe10 she did not even know how near they were to the fatal spot, when the

cart stopped, and she shrank11 appalled12 at a loud shout hideous to her ear, like

a vast yell of demons. Hettys shriek13 mingled with the sound, and they clasped

each other in mutual horror.

20 But it was not a shout of execration not a yell of exultant cruelty.

It was the shout of sudden excitement at the appearance of a horseman

cleaving the crowd at full gallop. The horse is hot and distressed, but answers the

desperate spurring14: the rider looks as if his eyes were glazed by madness, and

he saw nothing but what was unseen by others. See, he has something in his

hand he is holding it up as if it were a signal.

The Sheriff knows him: it is Arthur Donnithorne, carrying in his hand a

hard-won release from death.

2 Focus on character.a Make notes on Dinah. What aspects of her personality are underlined?

b How does her personality compare with Hettys?

3 Consider language.a Underline the phrases and sentences that convey the attitude of the crowd to the events and

characters. What feelings are emphasised?

b Focus on the use of tenses which switch from past to present. What effect does this devicecreate?

4 Consider narrative technique, language and the readers reactions. Which mostcontribute/s to creating suspense?

This is how the story ends.

s u m m a r y

Hettys sentence is commuted to transportation and Dinah eventually marries Adam.

V I CTO R IAN AG E

12

the trembling creature is...

it refers to...

he refers to...

5. clutched, grasped (afferrato).6. midst, middle (mezzo).7. wrestling, struggling (battagliera).8. pleading, intercession (supplica).9. clung, held fast (si aggrappava).

10. awe, reverential fear (timore reverenziale).11. shrank, drew back (indietreggi). 12. appalled, terrified (sgomenta).13. shriek, scream (urlo).14. spurring, urging (spronare).

AG

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13

STUDY BOX Aspects of Realism in Mainstream Fiction

CHECK Below are listed the main features of George Eliots fiction. Say to what extentthey are exemplified in the texts you have read.

a) creation of a very articulated fictional world b) mainly rural and provincial social settings c) skilful characterisation through showing and telling d) focus on psychological aspects of characterisation e) use of contrasting characters to highlight the contrast between

positive and negative moral values f) obtrusive omniscient narrator g) stern moral code h) use of suspense

AND LEARN Realism in fiction means the portrayal of life as it really is without idealising Realistic Fiction it or beautifying it. This idea of adhering to the truthfulness of the events

narrated implies a common set of values and a shared view of the world

between writers and reading public who are ready to accept fiction as a mirror

of reality and a true interpretation of their world. The realistic novel came into

existence in a period when the general assumptions of the time were those of a

common set of values according to which to judge reality. Realist novelists

were concerned with everyday events of their own period and environment.

They saw themselves both as entertainers and reformers, and were optimistic

about improving the society they belonged to and wrote for. Notwithstanding

this common ground, however, Victorian novelists vary widely in style and

themes ( PERSONAL FILE: QUICK REFERENCE, p. 63).

George Eliots George Eliot is considered by many critics one of the greatest Victorian Psychological Realism novelists and all her novels testify to the artistic level realistic fiction had reached by

mid-19th century. Adam Bede is a good example of the typical features of George

Eliots realism and of the aspects of continuity and innovation in the development

of the genre. Like Jane Austen (1775-1817) in the previous century, she drew her

source of inspiration, particularly in her early period, from the provincial

environment of her youth. But while Jane Austen limited her field to the landed

gentry, Eliot enlarged the social setting bringing to life the rural civilisation of the

period including all social classes. She perfected the art of characterisation

creating a gallery of life-like characters both through telling and showing and

improved the technique of showing characters not only through their words and

behaviour but also through other peoples reactions to them and through a skilful

handling of point of view. She enlarged the scope of realism focusing on the

inner life of her characters with detailed and sympathetic psychological

descriptions. She created skilful and deep psychological portraits which would pave

the way for the development of psychological fiction ( Step Four). Like Jane

Austen she also conformed to a strict moral code through which characters are

judged and she often contrapposed contrasting characters to make her moral point

more poignant. In Adam Bede, for example, Hetty, is shown in a critical light as

A. G

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ixon

, 199

6

John Singer Sargent, Lady Agnew of Lochnaw, c. 1892-93.

A portrait of a lady from the later Victorian period.



egocentric, unfeeling and immoral and is in stark contrast with upright Dinah. Her

seducer, Arthur Donnithorne, is Adam Bedes counterpart and is made to suffer the

consequences of his actions. Eliots novels also reveal concessions to the popular

taste of her time in elements of suspense and melodrama ( Step Three).

Victorian and Modern George Eliot is particularly notable for her delineation of female characters. Aspects of George Eliots She was the first novelist to explore in depth the question of womans role in

Female Characterssociety and in her novels she attacks the narrow-mindedness and hypocrisy that

surrounded sexual morality at the time and in this sense she is indebted to

Charlotte Bront who in her Jane Eyre (1847), a novel which combines

Romantic, Gothic and Realistic features, traces a realistic portrait of a womanwho relies only on herself and her moral and intellectual qualities to gain self-

respect and independence. Like Charlotte, however, who like herself wrote under

a male pseudonym, George Eliot was by no means a feminist in the modernsense. She upheld the traditional duties of family based on fidelity and honesty

and believed that the social function of women was primarily that of marrying,

bearing children and establishing loving relationships with others.

UPDATE Which form/s of entertainment nowadays has/have the same popularity as fiction had in the 19thcentury? Which make/s more concessions to popular taste? What are the features that nowadays mostappeal to popular taste?

V I CTO R IAN AG E

14

BIOGRAPHY

GEORGE ELIOT (1819-80)

Wal

ters

-Noo

rdho

ff, 1

991 Life and Works Mary

Ann (Marian) Evans was

born in 1819. She attended

school until her mothers

death in 1836, when she

became her fathers

housekeeper. She received a strict religious education, but

she read widely and studied Italian and German. When

her father died, she moved to London and became

assistant editor of the Westminster Review (1851-53):

her hard work and contributions made it the leading

intellectual journal of the day. She met many radicals and

free-thinkers and re-examined her views of Christianity.

She began a relationship with George Henry Lewes, a

writer and journalist who was separated from his wife.

Since he could not obtain a divorce, they decided to live

together, a decision which sacrificed her social reputation

and led to her being outcast from her family. It was only

after Lewess death, when she married a man twenty years

younger than herself that her brother resumed

relationships with her. She died in the same year in 1880.

It was Lewes who discovered and helped to develop the

novelists writing talent. Under the pen name George Eliot,

Evans began to write fiction. Her first work, Scenes of

Clerical Life (1857) appeared as separate tales in 1857. The

following year Adam Bede was published, a more ambitious

novel which met with both critical and public favour. Her

reputation was strengthened by The Mill on the Floss (1860)

and Silas Marner (1861). All these works dealt with the

provincial middle-class world which she knew from her

childhood and youth. In Romola (1863) she tried her hand




15

Mystery and Horror Stories and the Sensation Novel O B J E C T I V E S

In Step Three you will:

analyse a short story by an American writer, Edgar Allan Poe and an extract from anovel by a British novelist, Wilkie Collins

identify the main features of their fiction

recognise aspects of innovation in relation to the socio-cultural context and tradition

EDGAR ALLAN POE (1809-49) BIOG RAPHY, p . 24

The Oval Portrait (1842)The first text of this Step is a complete short story by an American writer, Edgar Allan Poe.The short story developed in the US in the 19th century in the form of contributions tomagazines. Though Poe was not the inventor of the genre, which had already flourished

at a historical novel set in the Italian Renaissance but

returned to the familiar region of the English province in

Felix Holt (1866) and in Middlemarch (1871-72). The latter

novel consolidated her reputation as the greatest living

novelist and put an end to her social ostracism. Her last

great novel, Daniel Deronda (1874-76) was not so popular

but, in some respects, was her most original work.

Contents and Themes George Eliots works have twomain components. First, they were all inspired, to a greater

or lesser degree, by her own life and beliefs. Secondly, they

all reveal a serious intention to present an objective and

faithful picture of reality. She is notable for a deep insight

into human psychology, a faith in humanity which

replaced her lost faith in Christianity, and a strong sense of

moral duty based on the natural law of the affections

rather than on religious doctrine, legal bonds or social

customs. Eliot also wanted to promote a new view of the

lower classes and her novels often show how humble

people are capable of great strength of character.

Style Her greatest fictional achievement lies perhaps inher ability to recreate in her novels the farming and

business life of the English provinces which she describes

and brings to life with skilful and detailed descriptions

both of the setting and the individuals. Her omniscient

narrator goes deep into the motivations of the single

characters and the relationship of the individual to society

but the tone is always tempered with humour and human

sympathy.

Fortune After her death, her reputation declined untilthe middle of the 20th century when her merits were fully

acknowledged. She now ranks among the great Victorian

novelists. Certain critics would say she was the greatest

and Middlemarch the greatest of all Victorian novels.

Some of her works have been turned into successful films.


STEP Three



with Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-64), in his review of Hawthornes Twice-Told Tales heprovided an analysis of the genre which set out the rules for the short story which wouldbe very influential on its development in Europe. The Oval Portrait first appeared in a magazine in April, 1842 with a lengthy introduction inwhich the narrator described himself ill with fever, exhausted from lack of sleep, woundedand under the influence of opium.

1 Read the first paragraph up to line 21.a Make notes about:

setting (time and place) characters event

b What expectations about possible development have been created?

c In what way may Poes introduction influence the readers expectations?

2 Read the whole story.a How far have your expectations been met?

b What strikes you about the structure of this story?

The chteau into which my valet1 had ventured to make forcible entrance,

rather than permit me, in my desperately wounded condition, to pass a night in

the open air, was one of those piles of commingled2 gloom3 and grandeur which

have so long frowned4 among the Apennines, not less in fact than in the fancy of

Mrs. Radcliffe5. To all appearance it had been temporarily and very lately

abandoned. We established ourselves in one of the smallest and least

sumptuously furnished apartments. It lay in a remote turret of the building.

Its decorations were rich, yet tattered6 and antique. Its walls were hung with

tapestry and bedecked7 with manifold and multiform armorial trophies,

10 together with an unusually great number of very spirited modern paintings in

frames of rich golden arabesque8. In these paintings, which depended9 from the

walls not only in their main surfaces, but in very many nooks10 which the

bizarre architecture of the chteau rendered necessary in these paintings my

incipient delirium, perhaps, had caused me to take deep interest; so that I bade11

Pedro to close the heavy shutters12 of the room since it was already night, to

light the tongues of a tall candelabrum which stood by the head of my bed, and

to throw open far and wide the fringed curtains of black velvet which enveloped

the bed itself. I wished all this done that I might resign myself, if not to sleep, at

least alternately to the contemplation of these pictures, and the perusal13 of a

V I CTO R IAN AG E

16

1. valet, (domestico).2. commingled, blended (mescolati).3. gloom, (tetraggine).4. frowned, showed disapproval by facial expression (guardano torvi).5. Mrs. Radcliffe, reference to Ann Radcliffe (1764-1823) famousGothic novelist whose Mysteries of Udolpho is partly set in theApennines.6. tattered, ragged (logore).

7. bedecked, decorated (ornate).8. golden arabesque, decorated with Moorish embellishments(Arabian art that flourished in Medieval Spain).9. depended, hang (erano appesi).10. nooks, corners (nicchie).11. bade, ordered (ordinai).12. shutters, wooden covers for windows (imposte).13. perusal, careful reading (lettura).

it refers to...

ourselves refers to...

Pedro is...




17

20 small volume which had been found upon the pillow, and which purported14 to

criticise and describe them.

Long, long I read and devoutly, devoutly I gazed. Rapidly and gloriously

the hours flew by and the deep midnight came. The position of the candelabrum

displeased me, and outreaching my hand with difficulty, rather than disturb my

slumbering15 valet, I placed it so as to throw its rays more fully upon the book.

But the action produced an effect altogether unanticipated. The rays of the

numerous candles (for there were many) now fell within a niche16 of the room

which had hitherto17 been thrown into deep shade by one of the bedposts18. I

thus saw in vivid light a picture all unnoticed before. It was the portrait of a

30 young girl just ripening into womanhood. I glanced at the painting hurriedly,

and then closed my eyes. Why I did this was not at first apparent even to my

own perception. But while my lids remained thus shut, I ran over in my mind

my reason for so shutting them. It was an impulsive movement to gain time for

thought to make sure that my vision had not deceived me to calm and

subdue my fancy for a more sober and more certain gaze. In a very few moments

I again looked fixedly at the picture.

That I now saw aright19 I could not and would not doubt; for the first flashing

of the candles upon that canvas had seemed to dissipate the dreamy stupor which

was stealing over my senses, and to startle20 me at once into waking life.

40 The portrait, I have already said, was that of a young girl. It was a mere head

and shoulders, done in what is technically called a vignette21 manner; much in

the style of the favourite heads of Sully22. The arms, the bosom, and even the

ends of the radiant hair melted imperceptibly into the vague yet deep shadow

which formed the background of the whole. The frame was oval, richly gilded

and filigreed in Moresque23. As a thing of art, nothing could be more admirable

than the painting itself. But it could have been neither the execution of the

work, nor the immortal beauty of the countenance, which had so suddenly and

so vehemently moved me. Least of all, could it have been that my fancy, shaken

from its half slumber, had mistaken the head for that of a living person. I saw at

50 once that the peculiarities of the design, of the vignetting and of the frame, must

have instantly dispelled such idea must have prevented even its momentary

entertainment. Thinking earnestly upon these points, I remained, for an hour

perhaps half sitting, half reclining, with my vision riveted24 upon the portrait. At

length, satisfied with the true secret of its effect, I fell back within the bed. I had

found the spell25 of the picture in an absolute life likeliness of expression, which, at

first startling, finally confounded, subdued, and appalled me. With deep and

reverent awe26 I replaced the candelabrum in its former position. The cause of my

14. purported, claimed to (si proponeva).15. slumbering, sleeping (che dormiva).16. niche, nook (nicchia).17. hitherto, up to now (finora).18. bedposts, uprights in a four-poster bed (colonne di letto abaldacchino).19. aright, well (bene).20. startle, bring back with a shock (riportarmi di colpo).21. vignette, Poe refers either to a painting style in which the figure

shades off gradually into the background or a portrait that implies astory for example, early death, happy marriage, or other situations.22. Sully, Thomas Sully (1783-1872) was a leading portrait artist ofPhiladelphia who (probably) was personally acquainted with Poe.23. filigreed in Moresque, intricate embellishment in the Moorishstyle.24. riveted, fastened firmly (incollati).25. spell, irresistible attraction (malia).26. awe, reverential fear (timore reverenziale).

them refers to...

Which action?

What might be the reason for such reaction?

A. Dixon, Princess Helena, miniature on ivory,Royal Collection, c. 1866.

Phaid

on, 1

999



deep agitation being thus shut from view, I sought eagerly the volume which

discussed the paintings and their histories. Turning to the number which

60 designated the oval portrait, I there read the vague and quaint words which follow:

She was a maiden of rarest beauty, and not more lovely than full of glee27.

And evil was the hour when she saw, and loved, and wedded28 the painter. He,

passionate, studious, austere, and having already a bride in his Art: she a maiden

of rarest beauty, and not more lovely than full of glee; all light and smiles, and

frolicsome29 as the young fawn30; loving and cherishing31 all things; hating only

the Art which was her rival; dreading only the palette and brushes and other

untoward32 instruments which deprived her of the countenance of her lover. It

was thus a terrible thing for this lady to hear the painter speak of his desire to

portray even his young bride. But she was humble and obedient, and sat

70 meekly33 for many weeks in the dark high turret-chamber where the light

dripped upon the pale canvas only from overhead. But he, the painter, took

glory in his work, which went on from hour to hour, and from day to day. And

he was a passionate, and wild, and moody man, who became lost in reveries; so

that he would not see that the light which fell so ghastly34 in that lone35 turret

withered36 the health and the spirits of his bride, who pined37 visibly to all but

him. Yet she smiled on and still on, uncomplainingly, because she saw that the

painter (who had high renown) took a fervid and burning pleasure in his task

and wrought38 day and night to depict her who so loved him, yet who grew daily

more dispirited and weak. And in sooth39 some who beheld40 the portrait spoke

80 of its resemblance in low words, as of a mighty marvel, and a proof not less of

the power of the painter than of his deep love for her, whom he depicted so

surprisingly well. But at length, as the labour drew nearer to its conclusion, there

were admitted none into the turret; for the painter had grown wild, with the

ardour of his work, and turned his eyes from the canvas rarely, even to regard

the countenance of his wife. And he would not see that the tints41, which he

spread upon the canvas were drawn from the cheeks of her who sat beside him.

And when many weeks had passed, and but a little remained to do, save one

brush upon the mouth and one tint upon the eye, the spirit of the lady again

flickered up42 as the flame within the socket of the lamp. And then the brush

90 was given, and then the tint was placed; and, for one moment, the painter stood

entranced43 before the work which he had wrought; but in the next, while he yet

gazed, he grew tremulous and very pallid, and aghast44, and crying with a loud

voice, This is indeed Life itself! turned suddenly to regard his beloved: She

was dead!

V I CTO R IAN AG E

18

27. glee, joy (gioa).28. wedded, married (spos).29. frolicsome, gay (gioiosa).30. fawn, young dear (cerbiatta).31. cherishing, enjoying (godeva).32. untoward, unfavourable (avversi).33. meekly, patiently (pazientemente).34. ghastly, terrifying to the senses (sinistra).35. lone, solitary (solitaria).

36. withered, caused to fade (appassiva).37. pined, lost health (languiva).38. wrought, worked (lavorava).39. in sooth, in truth (in verit).40. beheld, saw (vide).41. tints, colours (colori).42. flickered up, revived (si ravviv).43. entranced, enraptured (estasiato).44. aghast, horrified (inorridito).

She refers to...

her lover refers to...

the labour refers to...

the lady refers to...




19

3 The Oval Portrait is a short story in the Gothic tradition. Let us analyse how far the storyconforms to tradition and how far it departs from it.

a Focus on the description of the setting and events.

1 Which of the following aspects most contribute to giving it a Gothic flavour?

exotic elements reference to literary tradition remoteness decaythe finding of the book the protagonists physical and psychological condition solitude

2 Does mystery and horror originate more from dreadful events or from moods and states ofmind? Support your answer with quotations.

b Consider characters.

1 Make notes about their physical appearance and their personality. Which of the two charactersshows odd traits?

2 How would you describe their relationship to each other? Support your choice with appropriatequotations.

submissive loving selfish passionate destructivepossessive vampiresque protective

3 Would you describe the characters as stock characters? Why/why not?

c How far does the language used contribute to the creation of the atmosphere and tocharacterisation?

4 Consider the structure of the story. In what way does it conform to what is considered thetraditional story pattern and in what way does it depart from it?

WILKIE COLLINS (1824-89) BIOG RAPHY, p . 25

The Woman in White (1860)The second text you are going to read in this Step is an extract from a novel by WilkieCollins, The Woman in White which is considered the prototype of the sensation novel.The very first lines of the preamble to the novel prepare the reader to expect events thatstretch beyond everyday experience: This is the story of what a Womans patience canendure, and what a Mans resolution can achieve.

1 Read the Bookmark Aspects of the Victorian Age (APPENDIX, p. 81) and find out in thesummary of the novel given below as many references as you can to the social context.

s u m m a r y

The novel is narrated by different narrators and also includes diary entries, documents and personal

accounts. The larger part of the story, however, is told by Walter Hartright, a drawing teacher who is

employed by Mr Fairlie to teach his nieces Laura and Marian. On his way from the station to reach the

place of his employment, in the middle of the night, he has a strange meeting with a woman all dressed

in white, whom he later learns is called Ann Catherick and has escaped from a mental asylum. He falls

in love with Laura who bears a striking resemblance to the woman in white. (Actually she turns out to

be an illegitimate daughter of Lauras father and therefore her sister). Laura, however, had been

promised in marriage by her father to Sir Percival Glyde and, though in love with Hartright, she is



bound to keep her promise. Brokenhearted

Hartright leaves England, but soon after

the marriage Laura gets to know the real

nature of her husband who has only

married her in order to get her wealth. He

also turns out to be responsible for the

confinement in the asylum of Anne

Catherick to prevent her from revealing a

secret about Sir Percival which would ruin

him. Unable to get Laura to sign the

document which would allow him to get

his wifes money, Sir Percival and his

friend Fosco take advantage of Anne

Cathericks death to bury her as Lady

Glyde and get Laura confined in the

asylum as Anne Catherick. The trick,

however, is discovered by Marian who rescues her half-sister from the asylum but is not able to get her

recognised as Lady Glyde. They live in poverty and Marian looks after Laura whose experience has left

her unbalanced. Meanwhile Hartright returns and learns of Lauras death.

The extract below is taken from Hartrights narrative relating events after his return from abroad.

2 Read the text and find out what Hartright discovers while visiting Lauras tomb.

Time had flowed on, and silence had fallen like thick night over its course.

The first sound that came after the heavenly peace rustled1 faintly like a

passing breath of air over the grass at the burial-ground. I heard it nearing me

slowly, until it came changed to my ear came like footsteps moving

onward then stopped.

I looked up.

The sunset was near at hand. The clouds had parted the slanting2 light fell

mellow3 over the hills. The last of the day was cold and clear and still in the

quiet valley of the dead.

10 Beyond me, in the burial-ground, standing together in the cold clearness of

the lower light, I saw two women. They were looking towards the tomb, looking

towards me.

Two.

They came a little on, and stopped again. Their veils were down, and hid

their faces from me. When they stopped one of them raised her veil. In the still

evening I saw the face of Marian Halcombe.

Changed, changed as if years had passed over it! The eyes large and wild, and

looking at me with a strange terror in them. The face worn and wasted4

piteously. Pain and fear and grief written on her as with a brand.

V I CTO R IAN AG E

20

1. rustled, produced quick creaking sounds (frusci).2. slanting, oblique (obliqua).

3. mellow, soft (morbida).4. wasted, ruined (sciupata).

it refers to...

I refers to...

it refers to...

MMMMA still from the film The Woman in White.

Hartrights first meeting with the woman in white.




21

20 I took one step towards her from the grave. She never moved she never

spoke. The veiled woman with her cried out faintly. I stopped. The springs of

my life fell low, and the shuddering of an unutterable5 dread crept over me from

head to foot.

The woman with the veiled face moved away from her companion, and

came towards me slowly. Left by herself, standing by herself, Marian Halcombe

spoke. It was the voice that I remembered the voice not changed, like the

frightened eyes and the wasted face.

My dream! my dream! I heard her say those words softly in the awful

silence. She sank on her knees, and raised her clasped hands to heaven. Father!

30 strengthen him. Father! help him in his hour of need.

The woman came on, slowly and silently came on. I looked at her at her,

and at none other, from that moment.

The voice that was praying for me faltered6 and sank low then rose on a

sudden, and called affrightedly7, called despairingly to me to come away.

But the veiled woman had possession of me, body and soul. She stopped on

one side of the grave. We stood face to face with the tombstone between us. She

was close to the inscription on the side of the pedestal. Her gown touched the

black letters.

The voice came nearer, and rose and rose more passionately still. Hide your

40 face! dont look at her! Oh, for Gods sake, spare him

The woman lifted her veil.

Sacred to the Memory of Laura, Lady Glyde

Laura, Lady Glyde, was standing by the inscription, and was looking at me

over the grave.

(The Second Epoch of the Story Closes Here)

3 Focus on narrative technique and language.a From whose point of view are events related?

b Underline all the phrases referring to the setting.

c To what senses does the description particularly appeal? Provide examples.

d Find examples of foregrounding of words and sentences, repetitionand metaphorical language and say in what way they contribute to creating a disquieting atmosphere.

4 On the basis of your analysis what features of the narrative most contribute in your opinion to creating a sense of suspense and mystery?

5. unutterable, indescribable (inesprimibile).6. faltered, hesitated (esit).

7. affrightedly, in a frightened way (spaventata).

him refers to...

Which woman?

us refers to...

R. T

odd-

Whi

te /

Pen

guin



V I CTO R IAN AG E

22

T H E F I L M : T h e W o m a n i n W h i t e , p . 5 5

T H E M U S I C : T h e W o m a n i n W h i t e , p . 6 0

This is how the story ends.

s u m m a r y

Hartright takes the two women under his care and sets out to discover Sir Percivals secret. He finds that he

was an illegitimate child and had no right to the title. In a last attempt to save his position by stealing the

parish register, Sir Percival is burnt to death and Fosco is forced to supply the information which will restore

Lauras identity. He will then be killed by a member of an Italian secret society which he has betrayed.

STUDY BOX Features of Gothic, Mystery and Horror Fiction and of the Sensation Novel

CHECK 1 Refer to Poes story.a Say which of the following features of the Gothic tradition are present providing

quotations from the text.

1 complicated plots 2 supernatural events, presence of ghosts3 setting in dark and mysterious places (e.g. Medieval Gothic castles or

monasteries with secret passages) usually in autumn or winter, preferably night-time with bad weather

4 virtuous heroes and heroines persecuted by a villain5 eerie and gloomy atmosphere with suggestions of terror and sorrow6 use of emotional language

b In what way does The Oval Portrait differ from the Gothic tradition?

2 On the basis of the summary of the plot and the extract you have read fromThe Woman in White, say which of the following features of the sensation novelyou can recognise, providing examples.

1 complicated plots based on horror, mystery, suspense and secrecy

2 presence of a central secret

3 wide use of deception and disguise

4 deranged heroes and heroines

5 persecution and/or seduction of a young woman; intrigue, jealousyand adultery

6 illegal incarceration, fraud, forgery blackmail and bigamy, murder or attempted murder

AND LEARN Poes short story, The Oval Portrait, and the extract from The Woman in E. A. Poe, Gothic White both exemplify another main current of 19th century fiction and of

and Mystery Tales Victorian fiction which developed from the already existing Gothic tradition

and gave rise to a number of subgenres.




23

The Oval Portrait is a good example of Edgar Allan Poes Gothic

and mystery tales both as regards theme and form. Poe chose

traditional Gothic settings but focused on the psychological aspect of

mystery and horror. In his stories, in fact, horror and mystery derive

from the mind and the soul and are projections of subjective

sensibilities. He is a master in recreating disquieting atmospheres and

describing deranged or unsettled states of mind. He was obsessed by

death and one of his main themes concerns the uncertain boundary

between life and death and the relationship between the living and

the dead, clearly portrayed in the rapport between the painter and his

wife in The Oval Portrait. Another major difference as regards

tradition is his use of the short story, instead of a novel with

complicated plots which was the usual medium of Gothic fiction, to

achieve a more poignant and sustained suspense.

Poes stories fall into two main categories: those of horror, set in

unsettling atmospheres and those of ratiocination where he applied

the rules of logic to the absurd in life and which set the basis for the modern

detective story of which he is considered the inventor.

Gothic and mystery also flourished in Britain, in particular in the second

part of the Victorian Age and great novelists of the realistic tradition, such as Charles

Dickens, contributed to its development. One of the most significant developments

The Birth of of the trend, however, was the sensation novel. A hybrid, more than a genre, the the Sensation Novel sensation novel combined realism and melodrama, journalism and the

fantastic, domestic and exotic, like stage melodrama, together with a deep vein

of Gothic. It developed in the decade between The Great Exhibition of 1851

(the first general international exhibition held at the Crystal Palace Exposition)

and the International Exhibition of 1862 which is often considered the decade

of sensation in all fields. The exhibitions were a celebration of the rational

trend. There was, however, another kind of reaction which was less enthusiastic

about the fast pace of progress. Many felt unsettling feelings of uncertainty as

rapid social change destabilised the sense of a fixed social order based on

shared values.

Wilkie Collins Wilkie Collins The

Woman in White is the

prototype of a type of

fiction which voices the

social feelings of

uneasiness of the period.

At the core of the story

there is a secret whichwill be unfolded at the

very end. The Gothicsetting of the story is nolonger a remote place but

a domestic environment.H. Courtnay Selous, The Opening Ceremony of the Great Exhibition, 1 May 1851, oil on canvas, London, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1851-52.

Selo

us /

Vic

toria

and

Alb

ert M

useu

m, L

ondo

n

Phai

don,

199

9

L. Daguerre, The Ruins of Holyrood Chapel, Edinburgh, Effect of Moonlight, oil on canvas, Liverpool,

Walker Art Gallery, c. 1824 (a detail).

A typical Gothic setting.



The family often becomes the source of threat instead of security and

respectable families also have some sort of dark secret to conceal. The centralcharacter is usually a deranged woman and many of the other characters arestock characters of the Gothic tradition, such as the villain and the persecutedmaid, but the gallery of characters also includes social types of the period and

mirrors aspects of Victorian society, such as the fallen woman or the aristocratic

villain. The use of multiple narrators is a further undermining of the securitygiven by the omniscient perspective, challenging the reader with different

versions of the same event. The unsettling feelings however were usually

overcome at the end of the novel with the ultimate triumph of harmony andthe respect of social rules.

UPDATE In what way do you think the sensation novel is still influential on todays popular forms of entertainment?

V I CTO R IAN AG E

24

BIOGRAPHIES

E. A. POE (1809-49)

Dut

ton

& C

o., 1

956

Life and Works E. A. Poewas born in Boston into a

family of itinerant actors. After

his mother died in 1811, he

was adopted by a Richmond

merchant in Virginia and with

the new family moved to

England where he attended school for five years. Back in the

United States he broke relations with his family, leading a very

precarious life. He took to gambling and drinking, attended

university very irregularly and then enlisted in the US Army.

After having been expelled from West Point, he started living by

the pen, taking up editorial jobs with several magazines. He was

soon very busy writing reviews, essays, poems and short stories.

In 1836 he married his thirteen-year-old cousin Virginia

Clemm who died of tuberculosis ten years later. Her death

worsened his precarious mental balance and deepened his

obsession with death. The rest of his life is a story of poverty,

illness, addiction to alcohol, and of unhappy love affairs. In

1849 he was found delirious in a ditch in Baltimore. He died

shortly afterwards. He published three volumes of poems:

Tamerlane (1927), Al Aaraaf (1829) and Poems (1831). His

short novel The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym appeared in

1838. The majority of his other writings poems, tales and

critical reviews were published in magazines and his first

collection of short stories, Tales of Grotesque and Arabesque,

were collected for the first time in 1840, followed by Prose Tales

of E. A. Poe in 1843. His volume of poetry The Raven and Other

Poems was published in 1845.

Contents and Themes Poe is considered the father of themodern short story because he was the first to give a critical

analysis of the genre. According to this analysis a short story

should revolve around a single theme with a tightly-knit plot

in order to reach a unity of effect and impression. His own

short stories fall into two categories: horror and detection. In

his horror tales (e.g., The Fall of the House of Usher) he

explores the inner irrational world of human personality and

shows his mastery in tracing the psychological disintegration

of a sensitive mind, while in his detection tales he shows his

mastery in the description of the workings of a logical mind.

Style He was a master of the short form, both in poetryand fiction, but his originality of language is more evident

in fiction. Poes aim was to create effects that appeal to the

emotions and in his Gothic tales every word and every

image was chosen to produce a mood of terror in the reader.

Freudian literary analysis has often interpreted Poes work

as the exploration of the subconscious of a disturbed mind.




25


Fortune He was not very popular in his lifetime whenhe was at best considered an appealing magazine article

writer and a successful journalist. He was more

appreciated abroad where his works had a deep influence

on European literature. His mystery, terror and horror

tales gave a strong impulse to the development of the

short story and of the Gothic tradition. His story The

Murders of the Rue Morgue, published in 1841, has come

to be considered the first model of detective fiction and

set the main canons of the genre in the figure of the Great

Detective and his friend and the use of ratiocination to

solve mystery. The French Symbolists considered him a

genius and were deeply influenced by his use of language

( CROSS-CURRICULAR CARD: Realism and Naturalism,

Aestheticism and Decadentism in European Literatures,

APPENDIX, p. 86).

WILKIE COLLINS (1824-89)

Nat

iona

l Por

trai

t Gal

lery

, 198

8 Life and Works The sonof a painter, Wilkie Collins

was born in London in 1824

and was educated at private

schools. When still a child he

went on a tour of Italy with

his family. Though he

qualified as a barrister, he never practised law, and his first

job was as a tea merchant. However, he soon turned to

writing, starting with a biography of his father. A close

friend of Charles Dickens, he contributed various articles

and short stories for his periodicals Household Words and

All The Year Round. He also wrote travel books and plays,

but he found his true vein in fiction where, after the

publication of a first historical novel, he became a master

in mystery, crime and suspense. The Woman in White

(1860) and The Moonstone (1868) have become classics of

the genre. Other famous titles include No Name (1862)

and Armadale (1866). He never married, but lived for

many years with Caroline Graves, and had three

illegitimate children by another woman, Martha Rudd. He

lived all his life in London, but travelled widely in France

and Italy, occasionally with Dickens, and in the United

States. In his final years he was afflicted by gout and

became addicted to opium but continued writing

copiously till his death in 1889.

Contents and Themes All his novels deal withmystery, suspense and crime and he became a master of

all the main elements of the sensation genre. He is also

considered the originator of English detective fiction

because in The Moonstone he created the first detective

after Poes Dupin. This set the basis for the development

of detective fiction, another genre which voiced the

repressed fear originating from the social context and

would reach its peak with Arthur Conan Doyle and his

Sherlock Holmes. His fiction, however, also deals with

serious themes. He attacked hypocrisy, social abuses and

injustice in the legal system. His works show attention to

the position of the woman, particularly in his attack on

mercenary and arranged marriages and in his

extraordinarily sympathetic portrayal of independent

women.

Style He was skilful in the construction of plots andsuccessfully experimented in narrative technique as for

example in The Woman in White where his use of multiple

narrators creates an impression of verisimilitude

conveying different points of view from different social

and gender perspectives. He was also good at

characterisation and created vivid and sympathetic

portraits both of female and male characters.

Fortune He was very popular with the reading public ofhis time, and contemporary critics also appreciated his

narrative gifts, but his popularity was somewhat marred by

his way of life which offended Victorian morals. Nowadays

he is generally considered a minor Victorian novelist,

though critics who specialise in the revision of the

traditional dichotomy between high and low popular

culture tend to revaluate him both for his narrative gifts

and his portrayal of Victorian society. His stories of mystery

and suspense have retained their popularity and his two

masterpieces have been turned into successful films.



Psychological Fiction: Henry James O B J E C T I V E S

In Step Four you will:

analyse an extract from a short story by Henry James

identify its main features

recognise elements of innovation in the psychological treatment of mystery

locate the story in the cultural and literary context

HENRY JAMES (1843-1916) BIOG RAPHY, p . 29

The Turn of the Screw (1898)In this Step you are going to read another extract from The Turn of the Screw, a short story by Henry James.The Turn of the Screw is a ghost story, and as such it is deeply rooted in the development of fiction in the second half of the Victorian Age which saw the flourishing of the genre. The story, however, is rather complex, both as regards form and theme, and has always intrigued critics and artists because it lends itself to various interpretations. It was made into a film as The Innocents (1950) and turned into an opera with the same title by Benjamin Britten in 1954.

1 Go back to extract 4 in Step One ( p. 5), taken from the Prologue of the same story. Read it again and write a paragraph about the possible content of the story.

2 Read the summary and check your predictions.

s u m m a r y

The story is told by one of the guests and is based on a first-person narration in the form of a diary by a

young governess who is employed by an eccentric and fascinating gentleman to look after his orphaned

nephew and niece, Miles and Flora, in a country house named Bly. Attracted by the personality of the

man, the governess accepts his condition that she should take the whole responsibility for the household,

helped only by a kind housekeeper and promises never to bother her employer with any queries. At first

she finds the children angelic and is pleased with the surroundings, but very soon she feels the presence

of two evil ghosts, Peter Quint, a former valet at Bly and Miss Jessel, the previous governess, who had

had a guilty relationship in life. She soon becomes convinced that the children are under their evil

influence and are being corrupted. As she is determined to save them, she engages in a psychological

battle to exorcise the evil influence of the ghosts and rescue the children.

V I CTO R IAN AG E

26

STEP Four

Oxf

ord

Uni

vers

ity P

ress

, 199

2




27

The text below is the very end of the story. The governess has just succeeded in gettingMiles to tell her the truth about the reason why he had been expelled from school. Even ifthe ghost of Quint is looking at them from the window, Miles tells the governess that hewas expelled because he told things to some of his friends.

3 Read and find out what happens to Miles in the final confrontation with the governess.

I cant name the exquisite pathos of the contradiction given to such a speech

by such a speaker; I only know that the next instant I heard myself throw off

with homely1 force: Stuff and nonsense! But the next after that I must have

sounded stern2 enough. What were these things?

My sternness was all for his judge, his executioner; yet it made him avert3

himself again, and that movement made me, with a single bound4 and an

irrepressible cry, spring straight upon him. For there again, against the glass, as if

to blight5 his confession and stay his answer, was the hideous6 author of our woe7

the white face of damnation. I felt a sick swim at the drop of my victory

10 and all the return of my battle, so that the wildness of my veritable leap only

served as a great betrayal. I saw him, from the midst of my act, meet it with a