Victorian Period

Heidi Soltis

Ms. Wilson

Brit Lit B

14 May 2013

Victorian Period

The Victorian Period was known as a more stable time during Queen Victoria’s reign. It was also known as a period of progress (Holt 718), in which people of England began to use questioning, scientific and universal understandings to form more realistic solutions to a more stable life. The literature of this time also turned from nature expressed through romanticism towards using nature and vivid imagery in a more realistic perspective. This vivid imagery connected visual art with the literature of this time to fully exemplify the life of this time (Norton & Company 2) . In Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poem “De Profundis” she uses the use of nature imagery, similes, and purposeful repetition to portray the guilt she feels responsible for her brother’s death.

Browning’s use of nature imagery expresses the enduring guilt she feels for her brother’s death. She uses nature to express the endless mourning cycle she feels following her brother’s death which remains unchanged even as the seasons change. “Breath freezes on my lips to moan:/ As one alone, once not alone,/ I sit and knock at Nature’s door,/ Heart-bare, heart-hungry, very poor,/ Whose desolated days go on” (ll. 31-35). This imagery shows it is the winter time and uses personification to express to immense grief she is feeling. She uses different metaphors and imagery to show the seasons changing as her mourning continues., “This Nature, though the snows be down,/ Thinks kindly of the bird of June:/ The little red hip on the tree/ Is ripe for such. What is for me,/ Whose days so winterly go on?” (ll. 36-40). This stanza shows how the author’s emotion contradicts the expected feelings of warmth and life in June; instead she compares her days moving on still as though they are in the winter, a time of death and stagnancy.

                Browning also uses similes to demonstrate the guilt she feels following her brother’s death truly affects her. “The face, which, duly as the sun,/ Rose up for me with life begun,/To mark all bright hours of the day/ With hourly love, is dimmed away” (ll. 1-4). This shows how her brother’s face used to be comparable to the sun, radiant and bright and she no longer gets to witness this jubilant face. “The tongue which, like a stream, could run/ Smooth music from the roughest stone,/ And every morning with ‘Good day’/ Make each day good, is hushed away” (ll. 6-9). This shows that her brother used to sin, talk and be merry, filled with joy and now that he is gone, all the author can do it mourn. “The heart which, like a staff, was one/ for mine to lean and rest upon,/ The strongest on the longest day/ With steadfast love, is caught away” (ll, 11-13). The author is mourning the loss of her brother for she used to be able to tell him anything for he was strong and full of compassion and trust.

Browning uses purposeful repetition to emphasize the dragging of the days proceeding her brother’s death for she is filled with guilt. Throughout the poem Browning specifically repeats the words “my days go on, go on” at the end of every stanza which shows the endless mourning cycle the author experiences after her brother’s death and how the days seem as though they are never ending. However, towards the end of the poem (around stanza XX) Browning shifts from the repetition of nature to the repetition of religious imagery, “Take from my head the thorn-wreath brown!/ No mortal grief deserves that crown./ O supreme Love, chief misery,/  The sharp regalia are for Thee/ Whose days eternally go on! (ll. 96-100). She still repeats how her days “go on”, but they are no longer an endless, hopeless cycle, for she has now come to the realization that her suffering cannot even compare with the suffering that Jesus Christ had to endure. She realizes she has lost one person, while Jesus has lost his own life, and had to endure beating and thorn crowns in order to free us all from sins.  “And having in thy life-depth thrown/ Being and suffering (which are one),/ As a child drops his pebble small/ Down some deep well, and hears it fall/ Smiling- so I. “THY DAYS GO ON.” (ll. 121-125). Her suffering is as miniscule as a small pebble falling in a well compared to the thorns and suffering Jesus Christ had to face for us.  She uses phrases such as I trust Thee while my days go on” (105), “I praise Thee while my days go on (ll. 110-111), “I love Thee while my days go on” (112), “I thank Thee while my days go on” (115). Although the days do still go on, the added “Thee” before the “days go on” repetition shows that she has broken the vicious grief cycle she feels following her father’s death and instead she looks to God and Jesus, a greater being to help her cope with the death. She no longer feels as though her life is hopeless and as hard to endure for she realizes Jesus Christ has it so much worse.

Through Browning’s vivid imagery expressed especially through nature, similes, and repetition, she truly portrays the guilt she feels proceeding her brother’s death. The vivid imagery she uses throughout the poem allows the reader to paint a picture in their mind so they can fully envision the dragging of the days and guilt the author feels. She is stuck in this continuous grieving cycle which seems almost impossible to get out off because even as the seasons change, her grief still continues to exist endlessly. Not until she comes to realization that Jesus suffered from an unfathomable pain, she sees that her cycle can be broken and does not deserve to make her days so endless. If Jesus could suffer from the scorns, whips and thorns of his time, then she should have no reason to express such an immense grief for such a miniscule loss. Jesus not only helps her cope with her grieving cycle, but He also serves as an inspiration for her. Although the days will always continue to go on, her immense grief will stop for she realizes someone has it much worse, and if Jesus Christ can endure these horrible sufferings, she can definitely withstand the loss of one person.

 

 

 

 

http://www.wwnorton.com/college/english/nael/victorian/

http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/ebbrowning/bl-ebbrown-de.htm

textbook

Romantic Period Essay

Heidi Soltis

Ms. Wilson

Brit Lit B

9 May 2013

Romantic Period Essay

            The Romantic Period was a new way of life following the French Revolution that lasted between the years 1798-1832. (Odell 708). Romanticism was a way for people to “enter a dream world” that is full of magic and imagination, used to escape from the “ugly industrial world” they were living in. (Odell 708). William Blake, an English poet, painter, and printmaker, wrote “The Chimney Sweeper Poems: Songs of Innocence & Experience”, in which he uses childish imagination, idealism, and individualism to emphasize the impact innocence has on perception.

            Imagination is a type of thinking that diverged from previous rational and logical thinking, giving people a creative route to escape the struggles of their lives. (Wilson 8). In “Songs of Innocence” two young chimney sweepers are happily conversing with one another and use imagination to escape the horrible jobs they must face as a chimney sweeper, “. . .thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, & Jack/ Were all of them locked up in coffins of black./ And by came an angel, who had a bright key,/ And he opened the coffins, & set them all free” (ll. 11-14). This shows the children fantasize about being set free to take their minds off the hardships they must face daily. In “Songs of Experience”, however, Blake uses a different, more bitter tone and chooses to not even include imagination, for the chimney sweeper in this piece “was happy” until he was put in “clothes of death” and taught “to sing the notes of woe” (Blake ll. 5-8). This shows a loss of innocence in the chimney sweeper for he no longer can imagine a way out of these hardships.

            Idealism, the concept that we can make the world a better place (Wilson 4), is also used in Blake’s two poems to portray the outlook the different sweepers have on life. For example in “Songs of Innocence” the sweeper is much more optimistic and believes he will be rewarded in heaven for his hard work and suffering he must face on earth, “So, if all do their duty, they need not fear harm” (Blake 24). The sweeper in this piece uses his mind over matter in order to see the world through a more positive outlook. However, in “Songs of Experience” the chimney sweeper’s outlook on life is not so positive for he dwells on his belief that God will “. . .make up a heaven of our misery” (Blake ll. 11-12). He allows his negative mindset to get in the way of escaping the cruel, industrial world, for he has allowed himself to lose his innocence or “naïve trust toward all humankind” (Odell 718).

            Individualism impacts the perceptions of the two chimney sweepers from Blake’s two poems. The sweeper in “Songs of Innocence” has lost his mother when he was very young, and his father sold him before he “could scarcely cry ‘weep!’ ‘weep!’ ‘weep!’’ (Blake ll. 1-3). So he was completely alone in the world at a young age. In order to cope with this loniliness he allowed himself to escape into the world of imagination and blindly trust humankind for he wants to be able to trust in something. This helps him stay positive and survive through these horrible times he must face alone. The sweeper from “Songs of Experience” is also alone, but more psychological than physical. He has parents, but he has lost his trust in them because of their hypocritical ways. For example “they are both gone up to church to pray” (Blake 4). This is both hypocritical and ironic because his parents are at church praying for him for he is alone sweeping chimneys, when in reality they are the ones who sold him into oppression in the first place. This causes the chimney sweeper to have a lack of trust for his own parents, making him feel even more alone in the world.

            The young chimney sweepers from “Songs of Innocence” and “Songs of Experience” allow their innocence, or lack of experience, to affect their perceptions of the world and themselves. The tools of imagination, idealism, and individualism are all ways to help escape the sufferings of the world and have something to inspire them, when the people in it may not be. For example the chimney sweeper from “Songs of Innocence” has a more positive outlook on life for he allows himself to see past the current hard times and look forward to the future and the rewards he will be  given in heaven for he is still innocent and unconditionally trusting the world. The chimney sweeper from “Songs of Innocence”, however, has already experienced the “cruelty and hypocrisy” of the world, specifically through his "neglecting" parents, which makes him unable to imagine a way out.

"A Modest Proposal" by Jonathon Swift

Heidi Soltis

Ms. Wilson

Brit Lit B

8 May 2013

A Modest Proposal 

            Ireland was a time of “widespread misery and poverty” (Baker 1), during the 18^th century and was continuing down this path of declination. Ireland is “helplessly bonded” (Baker 2) to England with its need for land and trade, which, in reality, only digs itself deeper into hole of economic debt. Jonathon Swift, an ordained priest and satirist (Elements of Literature 579), realizes that what people of Ireland were currently doing was not working and they had to make a social reform in order to better the state of their country.  In Swift’s, A Modest Proposal, he uses Juvenalian satire throughout, specifically through hyperbole and irony, to firmly grasp the people of Ireland’s attention and persuade them to take action in improving the economy.

            Swift uses irony to alert the people of Ireland of their current economic depression. He uses irony even before he actually begins his piece with his title. “A Modest Proposal” would be defined as an idea that appears to be “free from ostentation or showy extravagance”, limited, or moderate (dictionary.com 1). This is ironic, however, because Swift’s proposal, “For Preventing The Children of Poor People in Ireland From Being Aburden to Their Parents or Country, and For Making Them Beneficial to The Public” (Swift 1) in reality is actually very extravagant, absurd, and a big deal. Swift’s “modest proposal” is full of irony as well for he says “it will prevent those voluntary abortions, and that horrid practice of women murdering their bastard children . . .(Swift 2). This is ironic because his absurd proposal is exactly that, voluntarily murdering children by eating them.

Swift uses irony to satirically attack the way Ireland is handling their economic struggles. He says he “has no children by which I can propose to get a single penny; the youngest being nine years old, and my wife past child-bearing” (Swift 10).  This is ironic because he does not have a child that he can potentially sell and have eaten so he cannot begin to fathom what it would be like to experience it for himself which causes him to lose some empathy along with ethos from the readers. However, Swift uses his ‘economic planner’ perspective to establish an ethical appeal, through the use of logistical appeals and numbers. He emphasizes the terrible economic state Ireland is currently in, “The number of souls in this kingdom being usually reckoned one million and a half, of these I calculate there may be about two hundred thousand couples whose wives are breeders; from which number I subtract thirty thousand couples who are able to maintain their own children, although I apprehend there cannot be so many, under the present distresses of the kingdom but this being granted, there will remain an hundred and seventy thousand breeders. I again subtract fifty thousand for those women who miscarry, or whose children die by accident or disease within the year. There only remains one hundred and twenty thousand children for poor parents annually born” (Swift 3). Through Swift’s use of logical appeal, he not only provides credibility for himself, he also exhibits irony through his calculations by using understatements like “there only remains” when 120,000 is a big number and calls Ireland’s current condition under “present distresses” which is a huge understatement for the deplorable economy they currently face. It is also ironic that Swift writes from this perspective for he is an ordained priest in reality, and throughout the piece criticizes his own religion, Roman Catholicism, “. . .because the number of popish infants is at least three to one in this kingdom: and therefore it will have one other collateral advantage, by lessening the number of papists among us” (Swift 4). He is saying that it is good to lessen the number of priests, when in reality it would be bad for Ireland who is for the majority Catholic, allowing England to take over yet another aspect of Irish culture, replacing the major religion with the immigrant Protestant religion. Along with irony through religion he says “one thousand families in this city, would be constant customers for infants flesh, besides others who might have it at merry meetings, particularly at weddings and christenings . . .(Swift 8). Very ironic for the purpose of these events are to celebrate people and birth, but he is implying this is when people would buy infants to eat.

Swift bitterly criticizes England throughout the piece to emphasize the lack of effort Ireland has in trying to fix the economy. This is ironic, because he longs to be in England himself, “I fortunately fell upon this proposal, which, as it is wholly new, so it hath something solid and real, of no expense and little trouble, full in our own power, and whereby we can incur no danger in disobliging England . . .(Swift 9). This implies that Ireland is afraid to disappoint England in any way for they are completely dependent on them. Another piece of irony in Swift’s proposal is his bitter attitude towards the “normal” ways of solving economic problems such as “taxing . . .absentees”, “using neither cloaths, nor household furniture”, “utterly rejecting the materials and instruments that promote foreign luxury”, “curing the expensiveness of pride, vanity, idleness, and gaming in our women. . .” (Swift 8), yet he is perfectly okay with promoting the absurd idea of eating children.

Swift uses hyperboles to fully grab the attention of the people of Ireland for the current way they are handling their economic misery clearly isn’t working. He uses a very absurd idea of eating children, which is completely unethical and morally wrong, in hopes to finally make a social reform in Ireland’s economy. He uses exaggerated imagery such as, “a young healthy child, well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled. . .”(Swift 3) to gain attention. He also criticizes England through harsh satire, “I grant this food will be somewhat dear, and therefore very proper for landlords, who, as they have already devoured most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children” (Swift 4). This makes England seem as though they are the enemy, for they are the reason we must sell our children like meat in order to get money. The idea of eating children not only proposes an absurd idea, it also establishes an emotional appeal from the reader, “I rather recommend buying the children alive, and dressing them hot from the knife, as we do roasting pigs” (Swift 5). Swift compares innocent children to animals who are sold for their meat to make profit for their owners. This establishes empathy from the reader for the innocent children cannot defend themselves against this way of life and never get the chance to know their true purpose in life for they are sold like a piece of meat.

Readers develop an empathy towards the children throughout the piece due to the emotional appeals and hyperboles used to express the absurd idea of eating children. The innocent children of the piece directly parallel Ireland during the 18^th century. The children are sold at such a young age, they are still completely innocent and helpless, which is how Ireland is acting, completely dependent on England for economic stability. Also the children, although they do not realize it, are dependent on their neglecting parents who use them for their own personal gains, “It would increase the care and tenderness of mothers toward their children. . . provided in some sort by the public, to their annual profit instead of expense” (Swift 7). This implies both that childhood innocence is lost, for they are being raised solely to be sold and mothers only care about children so they can make the most profit from them. This is identical to how England treats Ireland, limiting their land and religion for their own personal control and gains. Jonathon Swift uses this Juvenalian satire along with hyperboles and irony to open the eyes of Ireland and take action to get them out of this helpless economic state.