A. The Castle of Otranto, by Horace Walpole, is generally viewed as the first Gothic
novel. Its first edition, published in 1764, claimed to be a translation of a work
printed in Naples in 1529 and newly discovered in the library of ‘an ancient Catholic
family in the north of England’. It tells the story of Manfred, the prince of Otranto,
who is keen to secure the castle for his descendants in the face of a mysterious
curse. The novel begins with the death of Manfred’s son, Conrad, who is crushed to
death by an enormous helmet on the morning of his wedding to the beautiful
princess Isabella. Faced with the extinction of his line, Manfred vows to divorce his
wife and marry the terrified Isabella himself. The Castle of Otranto blends elements
of realist fiction with the supernatural and fantastical, laying down many of the plot
devices and character-types that would become typical of the Gothic: secret
passages, clanging trapdoors, hidden identities and vulnerable heroines fleeing
from men with evil intent. The novel was a success all over Europe, and the poet
Thomas Gray commented in a letter to Walpole that it made ‘some of us cry a little,
and all in general afraid to go to bed o’nights.’
B. The Mysteries of Udolpho, by Ann Radcliffe, appeared in four volumes on 8 May
1794 from G. G. and J. Robinson of London. Her fourth and most popular novel, The
Mysteries of Udolpho tells of Emily St. Aubert, who suffers misadventures that
include the death of her mother and father, supernatural terrors in a gloomy castle,
and machinations of an Italian brigand. Often cited as the archetypal Gothic novel,
The Mysteries of Udolpho appears prominently in Jane Austen's 1817 novel
Northanger Abbey, where an impressionable young woman reader comes to see
friends and acquaintances as Gothic villains and victims, with amusing results.[1]
Plot
The Mysteries of Udolpho is a quintessential Gothic romance, replete with incidents
of physical and psychological terror: remote crumbling castles, seemingly
supernatural events, a brooding, scheming villain and a persecuted heroine.
Modern editors note that only about a third of the novel is set in the eponymous
Gothic castle,[2] while tone and style vary markedly between sections of the work,
to which Radcliffe added extended descriptions of exotic landscapes in the
Pyrenees and Apennines, and of Venice, none of which she had visited.[2] For
details she relied on travel books, which led her to make several anachronisms. The
novel, set in 1584 in Southern France and Northern Italy, explores the plight of Emily
St. Aubert, a young French woman orphaned by the death of her father. She is
imprisoned in Castle Udolpho by Signor Montoni, an Italian brigand who has
married her aunt and guardian Madame Cheron. He and others frustrate Emily's
romance with the dashing Valancourt. Emily also investigates a relationship
between her father and the Marchioness de Villeroi, and its connection to Castle
Udolpho.
Emily St. Aubert is the only child of a landed rural family whose fortunes are in
decline. Emily and her father share a notably close bond in a shared appreciation
for nature. They grow still closer after her mother's death from illness. She
accompanies him on a journey from their native Gascony, through the Pyrenees to
the Mediterranean coast of Roussillon, over many mountainous landscapes. During
the journey, they encounter Valancourt, a handsome man who also feels an almost
mystical kinship with the natural world. Emily and Valancourt fall in love.
Emily's father succumbs to a long illness. Emily, now orphaned, is forced by his
wishes to live with her aunt, Madame Cheron, who shares none of Emily's interests
and shows little affection for her. Her aunt marries Montoni, a dubious nobleman
from Italy. He wants his friend Count Morano to become Emily's husband and tries
to force him upon her. After discovering that Morano is nearly ruined, Montoni
brings Emily and her aunt to his remote castle of Udolpho.
Emily fears she has lost Valancourt forever. Morano searches for Emily and tries to
carry her off secretly from Udolpho, but Emily's heart still belongs to Valancourt,
and she refuses. Morano's attempted escape is discovered by Montoni, who
wounds the Count and chases him away. In subsequent months, Montoni threatens
his wife with violence, trying to force her to sign over her properties in Toulouse
that will otherwise go to Emily on his wife's death. Without resigning her estate,
Madame Cheron dies of a severe illness caused by her husband's harshness.
Many frightening but coincidental events happen in the castle, but Emily manages
to flee with the help of a secret admirer, Du Pont, also a prisoner there, and of the
servants Annette and Ludovico. Returning to her aunt's estate, Emily learns that
Valancourt has gone to Paris and lost his wealth. Nonetheless, she takes control of
the property and is reunited with Valancourt in the end.
C. Frankenstein - Plot summary
Frankenstein tells the story of gifted scientist Victor Frankenstein who succeeds in giving life to
a being of his own creation. However, this is not the perfect specimen he imagines that it will be,
but rather a hideous creature who is rejected by Victor and mankind in general. The Monster
seeks its revenge through murder and terror.
Social and historical context
Mary Shelley (1791-1851)
The novel was first published in 1818. It was written originally by Mary Shelley as a short story
when the poet Lord Byron suggested that each member of a group of friends write a ghostly tale
to keep themselves entertained. Mary's story was the undoubted winner.
D. "The Sick Rose" was written by the British poet William Blake. First published in
Songs of Innocence and Experience in 1794, it is one Blake's best-known poems,
while also remaining one of his most enigmatic. In eight short lines, the speaker
addresses the "Rose" of the title, telling it that an "invisible worm" has made it sick.
This crafty worm has flown through a stormy night to satisfy its "dark secret love"
in the rose's "bed"—an action that will "destroy" the rose's life. The poem is filled
with symbolism, but there are a wide range of theories about what, exactly, the
worm and rose represent. Generally speaking, the worm is a corrupting figure,
preying on the innocent life-force of the beautiful rose. Both worm and rose are
personified, and the poem is heavy with sexual suggestion—leading many critics to
theorize that the poem depicts the oppression of sexuality and desire by the
Christian authorities of the day.
E. The Monk: A Romance is a Gothic novel by Matthew Gregory Lewis, published in
1796. A quickly written book from early in Lewis's career (in one letter he claimed
to have written it in ten weeks, but other correspondence suggests that he had at
least started it, or something similar, a couple of years earlier[1]), it was published
before he turned twenty. It is a prime example of the type of Gothic that specialises
in the aspect of horror. Its convoluted and scandalous plot has made it one of the
most important Gothic novels of its time, often imitated and adapted for the stage
and the screen.
Plot
The Monk has two main plotlines. The first concerns the corruption and downfall
of the monk Ambrosio, and his interactions with the demon-in-disguise Matilda and
the virtuous maiden Antonia. The subplot follows the romance of Raymond and the
nun Agnes. The novel switches between the stories at moments of high suspense.
At various points, the novel also includes several extended anecdotes of characters
with Gothic backstories who tell their tales.
Ambrosio, the monk
Ambrosio was left at an abbey in Madrid as an infant and is now a famously
celebrated monk. A beautiful and virtuous young woman, Antonia, goes to hear one
of his sermons, and meets Lorenzo, who falls in love with her.
Ambrosio's closest friend among the monks, Rosario, reveals that he is a woman
named Matilda, who disguised herself to be near Ambrosio. While picking a rose
for her, Ambrosio is bitten by a serpent and falls deathly ill. Matilda nurses him.
When he recovers, Matilda reveals that she sucked the poison from Ambrosio's
wound and is now dying herself. At the point of her death, Matilda begs him to
make love to her, and he agrees reluctantly. After having sex with Ambrosio, Matilda
performs a ritual in the cemetery which cures her of the poison. She and Ambrosio
continue to be secret lovers, but Ambrosio grows tired of her.
Ambrosio meets Antonia and is immediately attracted to her. He begins visiting
Antonia's mother regularly, hoping to seduce Antonia. In the meantime, Lorenzo
has secured his family's blessing for his marriage with Antonia. Matilda tells
Ambrosio she can help him gain Antonia's charms, the same way she was healed of
the poison: witchcraft. Ambrosio is initially horrified, but agrees. Matilda and
Ambrosio return to the cemetery, where Matilda calls up Lucifer, who appears
young and handsome. He gives Matilda a magic myrtle bough, which will allow
Ambrosio to open any door, as well as rape Antonia without her knowing. Ambrosio
uses the magic bough to enter Antonia's bedroom. He is on the point of raping her
when Antonia's mother arrives and confronts him. In panic, Ambrosio murders her
and returns to the abbey, unsatisfied in his lust and horrified that he has now
become a murderer.
Antonia, grief-stricken at the death of her mother, sees her mother's ghost. She
faints and Ambrosio is called to help. Matilda helps Ambrosio acquire a concoction
that will put Antonia in a deathlike coma. While attending to Antonia, Ambrosio
administers the poison, and Antonia appears to die. He takes Antonia to the crypt
beneath the convent, where, she awakens from her drugged sleep and Ambrosio
rapes her. Afterward, he is as disgusted with Antonia as he was with Matilda, who
arrives to warn him that the convent is burning down due to a riot (caused by the
events of Raymond and Agnes's story). Antonia attempts to escape, and Ambrosio
kills her.
Ambrosio and Matilda are brought before the Inquisition. Matilda confesses her
guilt and is sentenced to death. Before she is executed, she sells her soul to the
devil in exchange for her freedom and her life. Ambrosio insists upon his innocence
and is tortured. He is visited by Matilda, who tells him to yield his soul to Satan.
Ambrosio again proclaims his innocence, but when faced with torture, he admits to
his sins of rape, murder, and sorcery and is condemned to burn. In despair,
Ambrosio asks Lucifer to save his life, who tells him it will be at the cost of his soul.
Ambrosio is reluctant to give up the hope of God's forgiveness, but Lucifer tells him
that there is none. After much resistance, Ambrosio signs the contract. Lucifer
transports him from his cell to the wilderness. Lucifer informs him that Antonia's
mother, whom he murdered, was also his mother, making Antonia his sister, adding
to his crimes the sin of incest. Ambrosio then learns that he accepted Lucifer's deal
only moments before he was to be pardoned. Lucifer reveals that it has long been
his plan to gain Ambrosio's soul, and Matilda was a demon helping him. Finally,
Lucifer points out the loophole in the deal Ambrosio struck: Ambrosio only asked
to get out of his cell. Lucifer carries Ambrosio into the sky and drops him onto rocks
below. Ambrosio suffers for six days before dying alone and damned for eternity.
F. Pride and Prejudice is an 1813 novel of manners by Jane Austen. The novel
follows the character development of Elizabeth Bennet, the protagonist of the
book, who learns about the repercussions of hasty judgments and comes to
appreciate the difference between superficial goodness and actual goodness.
Mr Bennet, owner of the Longbourn estate in Hertfordshire, has five daughters, but
his property is entailed and can only be passed to a male heir. His wife also lacks an
inheritance, so his family faces becoming poor upon his death. Thus, it is imperative
that at least one of the daughters marry well to support the others, which is a
motivation that drives the plot.
Pride and Prejudice has consistently appeared near the top of lists of "most-loved
books" among literary scholars and the reading public. It has become one of the
most popular novels in English literature, with over 20 million copies sold, and has
inspired many derivatives in modern literature.[1][2] For more than a century,
dramatic adaptations, reprints, unofficial sequels, films, and TV versions of Pride
and Prejudice have portrayed the memorable characters and themes of the novel,
reaching mass audiences.[3]
Plot summary
Mr Darcy says Elizabeth is "not handsome enough to tempt him" to dance. (Artist:
C.E. Brock, 1895)
In the early 19th century, the Bennet family live at their Longbourn estate, situated
near the village of Meryton in Hertfordshire, England. Mrs Bennet's greatest desire
is to marry off her five daughters to secure their futures. The arrival of Mr Bingley,
a rich bachelor who rents the neighbouring Netherfield estate, gives her hope that
one of her daughters might contract an advantageous marriage, because "It is a
truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune,
must be in want of a wife".
At a ball, the family is introduced to the Netherfield party, including Mr Bingley, his
two sisters and Mr Darcy, his dearest friend. Mr Bingley's friendly and cheerful
manner earns him popularity among the guests. He appears interested in Jane, the
eldest Bennet daughter. Mr Darcy, reputed to be twice as wealthy as Mr Bingley, is
haughty and aloof, causing a decided dislike of him. He declines to dance with
Elizabeth, the second-eldest Bennet daughter, as she is "not handsome enough".
Although she jokes about it with her friend, Elizabeth is deeply offended. Despite
this first impression, Mr Darcy secretly begins to find himself drawn to Elizabeth as
they continue to encounter each other at social events, appreciating her wit and
frankness.
Mr Collins, the heir to the Longbourn estate, visits the Bennet family with the
intention of finding a wife among the five girls under the advice of his patroness
Lady Catherine de Bourgh, also revealed to be Mr Darcy's aunt. He decides to
pursue Elizabeth. The Bennet family meet the charming army officer George
Wickham, who tells Elizabeth in confidence about Mr Darcy's unpleasant treatment
of him in the past. Elizabeth, blinded by her prejudice toward Mr Darcy, believes
him.
Elizabeth dances with Mr Darcy at a ball, where Mrs Bennet hints loudly that she
expects Jane and Bingley to become engaged. Elizabeth rejects Mr Collins' marriage
proposal, to her mother's fury and her father's relief. Mr Collins instead proposes
to Charlotte Lucas, a friend of Elizabeth. Having heard Mrs Bennet's words at the
ball and disapproving of the marriage, Mr Darcy joins Mr Bingley in a trip to London
and, with the help of his sisters, convinces him not to return to Netherfield. A
heartbroken Jane visits her Aunt and Uncle Gardiner in London to raise her spirits,
while Elizabeth's hatred for Mr Darcy grows as she suspects he was responsible for
Mr Bingley's departure.
Elizabeth tells her father that Darcy was responsible for uniting Lydia and Wickham,
in one of the two earliest illustrations of Pride and Prejudice.[4] The clothing styles
reflect the time the illustration was engraved (the 1830s), not the time in which the
novel was written or set.
In the spring, Elizabeth visits Charlotte and Mr Collins in Kent. Elizabeth and her
hosts are invited to Rosings Park, Lady Catherine's home. Mr Darcy and his cousin,
Colonel Fitzwilliam, are also visiting Rosings Park. Fitzwilliam tells Elizabeth how Mr
Darcy recently saved a friend, presumably Bingley, from an undesirable match.
Elizabeth realises that the prevented engagement was to Jane. Mr Darcy proposes
to Elizabeth, declaring his love for her despite her low social connections. She is
shocked, as she was unaware of Mr Darcy's interest, and rejects him angrily, saying
that he is the last person she would ever marry and that she could never love a man
who caused her sister such unhappiness; she further accuses him of treating
Wickham unjustly. Mr Darcy brags about his success in separating Bingley and Jane
and sarcastically dismisses the accusation regarding Wickham without addressing
it.
The next day, Mr Darcy gives Elizabeth a letter, explaining that Wickham, the son of
his late father's steward, had refused the "living" his father had arranged for him
and was instead given money for it. Wickham quickly squandered the money and
tried to elope with Darcy's 15-year-old sister, Georgiana, for her considerable
dowry. Mr Darcy also writes that he separated Jane and Bingley because he believed
her indifferent to Bingley and because of the lack of propriety displayed by her
family. Elizabeth is ashamed by her family's behaviour and her own prejudice
against Mr Darcy.
Months later, Elizabeth accompanies the Gardiners on a tour of Derbyshire. They
visit Pemberley, Darcy's estate. When Mr Darcy returns unexpectedly, he is
exceedingly gracious with Elizabeth and the Gardiners. Elizabeth is surprised by
Darcy's behaviour and grows fond of him, even coming to regret rejecting his
proposal. She receives news that her sister Lydia has run off with Wickham. She tells
Mr Darcy, then departs in haste. After an agonising interim, Wickham agrees to
marry Lydia. She visits the family and tells Elizabeth that Mr Darcy was at her
wedding. Though Mr Darcy had sworn everyone involved to secrecy, Mrs Gardiner
now feels obliged to inform Elizabeth that he secured the match, at great expense
and trouble to himself.
Mr Bingley and Mr Darcy return to Netherfield. Jane accepts Mr Bingley's proposal.
Lady Catherine, having heard rumours that Elizabeth intends to marry Mr Darcy,
visits her and demands she promise never to accept Mr Darcy's proposal, as she
and Darcy's late mother had already planned his marriage to her daughter Anne.
Elizabeth refuses and asks the outraged Lady Catherine to leave. Darcy, heartened
by his aunt's indignant relaying of Elizabeth's response, again proposes to her and
is accepted.
G. The Prisoner of Chillon, historical narrative poem in 14 stanzas by George
Gordon, Lord Byron, published in 1816 in the volume The Prisoner of Chillon,
and Other Poems. The poem concerns the political imprisonment of the 16thcentury Swiss patriot François Bonivard in the dungeon of the château of
Chillon on Lake Geneva. Bonivard is chained to a post next to his brothers,
whom he watches die one by one. Byron’s verse tale, written as a dramatic
monologue in a simple, direct style, is a moving indictment of tyranny and a
hymn to liberty.
H. Prometheus Unbound is a four-act lyrical drama by Percy Bysshe
Shelley, first published in 1820.[1] It is concerned with the torments of the
Greek mythological figure Prometheus, who defies the gods and gives fire to
humanity, for which he is subjected to eternal punishment and suffering at the
hands of Zeus. It is inspired by the classical Prometheia, a trilogy of plays
attributed to Aeschylus. Shelley's play concerns Prometheus' release from
captivity, but unlike Aeschylus' version, there is no reconciliation between
Prometheus and Jupiter (Zeus). Instead, Jupiter is abandoned by his supportive
elements and falls from power, which allows Prometheus to be released.
Shelley's play is a closet drama, meaning it was not intended to be produced on
the stage. In the tradition of Romantic poetry, Shelley wrote for the
imagination, intending his play's stage to reside in the imaginations of his
readers. However, the play is filled with suspense, mystery and other dramatic
effects that make it, in theory, performable.[2]
Background
Joseph Severn, Posthumous Portrait of Shelley Writing Prometheus Unbound
(1845).
Mary Shelley, in a letter on 5 September 1818, was the first to describe her
husband Percy Shelley's writing of Prometheus Unbound.[3] On 22 September
1818, Shelley, while in Padua, wrote to Mary, who was at Este, requesting "The
sheets of 'Prometheus Unbound,' which you will find numbered from one to
twenty-six on the table of the pavilion."[4] There is little other evidence as to
when Shelley began Prometheus Unbound while he was living in Italy,[5] but
Shelley first mentions his progress in a letter to Thomas Love Peacock on 8
October 1818: "I have been writing – and indeed have just finished the first act
of a lyrical and classical drama, to be called 'Prometheus Unbound'."[6]
Shelley stopped working on the poem following the death of his daughter Clara
Everina Shelley on 24 September 1818. After her death, Shelley began to travel
across Italy, and would not progress with the drama until after 24 January
1819.[5] By April, the majority of the play was completed, and Shelley wrote to
Peacock on 6 April 1819: "My Prometheus Unbound is just finished, and in a
month or two I shall send it".[7] Shelley also wrote to Leigh Hunt to tell him
that the play was finished. However, the play was not yet published; Shelley
would be delayed in editing and finishing the work by another death, that of his
son William Shelley, who died on 7 June 1819.[5]
On 6 September 1819, Shelley wrote to Charles and James Ollier to say, "My
'Prometheus,' which has been long finished, is now being transcribed, and will
soon be forwarded to you for publication."[8] The play was delayed in
publication, because John Gisborne, whom Shelley trusted to go to England
with the text, delayed his journey. It was not until December 1819 that the
manuscript with the first three acts of Prometheus Unbound was sent to
England.[9] The fourth act was incomplete by this time, and on 23 December
1819, Shelley wrote to Gisborne, "I have just finished an additional act to
'Prometheus' which Mary is now transcribing, and which will be enclosed for
your inspection before it is transmitted to the Bookseller."[10]
While in Italy, Shelley became concerned about the progress of publishing
Prometheus Unbound. He wrote many letters to Charles Ollier from March
until April asking about the drama's progress and wanted to know if the text
was accurate because he was unable to check the proofs himself. Both Percy and
Mary Shelley were eager to hear when the book was published, and inquired
Gisborne's wife, Thomas Medwin, and John Keats about its release throughout
July 1820. It was not until late August that they received word that the book was
published. They were eager to read the published version and obtained one by
November 1820.[11]
After they procured a copy, Shelley wrote to the Olliers on 10 November 1820:
"Mr. Gisborne has sent me a copy of the 'Prometheus,' which is certainly most
beautifully printed. It is to be regretted that the errors of the press are so
numerous, and in many respects so destructive of the sense of a species of
poetry which, I fear, even with this disadvantage, very few will understand or
like."[12] A corrected edition was sent on 20 January 1821 along with a letter
from Shelley that explains "the Errata of 'Prometheus,' which I ought to have
sent long since – a formidable list, as you will see".[13] Shelley did not forget
the printing errors, and even criticised Charles Ollier later when Shelley sent
Adonaïs to be published.
Æschylus
Shelley's own introduction to the play explains his intentions behind the work
and defends the artistic freedom he has taken in his adaptation of Aeschylus'
myth:
The "Prometheus Bound" of Æschylus supposed the reconciliation of Jupiter
with his victim as the price of the disclosure of the danger threatened to his
empire by the consummation of his marriage with Thetis. Thetis, according to
this view of the subject, was given in marriage to Peleus, and Prometheus, by
the permission of Jupiter, delivered from his captivity by Hercules. Had I
framed my story on this model, I should have done no more than have
attempted to restore the lost drama of Æschylus; an ambition which, if my
preference to this mode of treating the subject had incited me to cherish, the
recollection of the high comparison such an attempt would challenge might well
abate. But, in truth, I was averse from a catastrophe so feeble as that of
reconciling the Champion with the Oppressor of mankind. The moral interest
of the fable, which is so powerfully sustained by the sufferings and endurance
of Prometheus, would be annihilated if we could conceive of him as unsaying
his high language and quailing before his successful and perfidious
adversary.[15]
When Shelley wrote Prometheus Unbound, the authorship of the Prometheia
and its connection as a trilogy was not in question. Of the three works,
Prometheus Bound is the only tragedy that survived intact, although fragments
of Prometheus Unbound remained, allowing a fairly detailed outline based on
the Prometheus myth told by Hesiod and extensive prophesying in the first
work. It is this assumed trilogy, including Prometheus' reconciliation with Zeus,
thought to occur in the final part of the cycle, which Shelley considers in the
introduction.
I. “Ode to the West Wind” is a poem written by the English Romantic poet,
Percy Bysshe Shelley. According to Shelley, the poem was written in the woods
outside Florence, Italy in the autumn of 1819. In the poem, the speaker directly
addresses the west wind. The speaker treats the west wind as a force of death
and decay, and welcomes this death and decay because it means that
rejuvenation and rebirth will come soon. In the final two sections of the poem,
the speaker suggests that he wants to help promote this rebirth through his own
poetry—and that rejuvenation he hopes to see is both political and poetic: a
rebirth of society and its ways of writing.
J. "Ode to a Nightingale"
Summary
Keats is in a state of uncomfortable drowsiness. Envy of the imagined happiness of
the nightingale is not responsible for his condition; rather, it is a reaction to the
happiness he has experienced through sharing in the happiness of the nightingale.
The bird's happiness is conveyed in its singing.
Keats longs for a draught of wine which would take him out of himself and allow
him to join his existence with that of the bird. The wine would put him in a state in
which he would no longer be himself, aware that life is full of pain, that the young
die, the old suffer, and that just to think about life brings sorrow and despair. But
wine is not needed to enable him to escape. His imagination will serve just as well.
As soon as he realizes this, he is, in spirit, lifted up above the trees and can see the
moon and the stars even though where he is physically there is only a glimmering
of light. He cannot see what flowers are growing around him, but from their odor
and from his knowledge of what flowers should be in bloom at the time he can
guess.
In the darkness he listens to the nightingale. Now, he feels, it would be a rich
experience to die, "to cease upon the midnight with no pain" while the bird would
continue to sing ecstatically. Many a time, he confesses, he has been "half in love
with easeful Death." The nightingale is free from the human fate of having to die.
The song of the nightingale that he is listening to was heard in ancient times by
emperor and peasant. Perhaps even Ruth (whose story is told in the Old Testament)
heard it.
"Forlorn," the last word of the preceding stanza, brings Keats in the concluding
stanza back to consciousness of what he is and where he is. He cannot escape even
with the help of the imagination. The singing of the bird grows fainter and dies
away. The experience he has had seems so strange and confusing that he is not sure
whether it was a vision or a daydream. He is even uncertain whether he is asleep
or awake.
Analysis
The "Ode to a Nightingale" is a regular ode. All eight stanzas have ten pentameter
lines and a uniform rhyme scheme. Although the poem is regular in form, it leaves
the impression of being a kind of rhapsody; Keats is allowing his thoughts and
emotions free expression. One thought suggests another and, in this way, the poem
proceeds to a somewhat arbitrary conclusion. The poem impresses the reader as
being the result of free inspiration uncontrolled by a preconceived plan. The poem
is Keats in the act of sharing with the reader an experience he is having rather than
recalling an experience. The experience is not entirely coherent. It is what happens
in his mind while he is listening to the song of a nightingale.
Three main thoughts stand out in the ode. One is Keats' evaluation of life; life is a
vale of tears and frustration. The happiness which Keats hears in the song of the
nightingale has made him happy momentarily but has been succeeded by a feeling
of torpor which in turn is succeeded by the conviction that life is not only painful
but also intolerable. His taste of happiness in hearing the nightingale has made him
all the more aware of the unhappiness of life. Keats wants to escape from life, not
by means of wine, but by a much more powerful agent, the imagination.
The second main thought and the main theme of the poem is Keats' wish that he
might die and be rid of life altogether, providing he could die as easily and painlessly
as he could fall asleep. The preoccupation with death does not seem to have been
caused by any turn for the worse in Keats' fortunes at the time he wrote the ode
(May 1819). In many respects Keats' life had been unsatisfactory for some time
before he wrote the poem. His family life was shattered by the departure of one
brother to America and the death from tuberculosis of the other. His second volume
of poetry had been harshly reviewed. He had no gainful occupation and no
prospects, since he had abandoned his medical studies. His financial condition was
insecure. He had not been well in the fall and winter of 1818-19 and possibly he
was already suffering from tuberculosis. He could not marry Fanny Brawne because
he was not in a position to support her. Thus the death-wish in the ode may be a
reaction to a multitude of troubles and frustrations, all of which were still with him.
The heavy weight of life pressing down on him forced "Ode to a Nightingale" out of
him. Keats more than once expressed a desire for "easeful Death," yet when he was
in the final stages of tuberculosis he fought against death by going to Italy where he
hoped the climate would cure him. The death-wish in the ode is a passing but
recurrent attitude toward a life that was unsatisfactory in so many ways.
The third main thought in the ode is the power of imagination or fancy. (Keats does
not make any clear-cut distinction between the two.) In the ode Keats rejects wine
for poetry, the product of imagination, as a means of identifying his existence with
that of the happy nightingale. But poetry does not work the way it is supposed to.
He soon finds himself back with his everyday, trouble-filled self. That "fancy cannot
cheat so well / As she is fam'd to do," he admits in the concluding stanza. The
imagination is not the all-powerful function Keats, at times, thought it was. It
cannot give more than a temporary escape from the cares of life.
Keats' assignment of immortality to the nightingale in stanza VII has caused readers
much trouble. Keats perhaps was thinking of a literal nightingale; more likely,
however, he was thinking of the nightingale as a symbol of poetry, which has a
permanence.
Keats' evocative power is shown especially in stanza II where he associates a beaker
of wine "with beaded bubbles winking at the brim," with sunny France and the
"sunburnt mirth" of the harvesters, and in his picture in stanza VII of Ruth suffering
from homesickness "amid the alien corn." The whole ode is a triumph of tonal
richness of that adagio verbal music that is Keats' special contribution to the many
voices of poetry.
K. Summary of My Last Duchess
My last Duchess summary will help in understanding the poem in a clear way. It tells
us about a Duke who is in talks with an emissary. As the Duke has been recently
widowed, he is talking to him about his marriage. The emissary is there on the
behalf of quite a powerful family. He is showing the emissary around his palace
when he arrives at the portrait of his last Duchess. She was a young and charming
girl. The Duke starts recalling the portrait sessions and the Duchess. Thus, the last
Duchess summary tells us of what the Duke thinks of her. He claims she had a
disgraceful nature and smiled too much. Further, he goes on to hint that he was in
fact the one who probably killed her. As he could not take the escalation anymore.
After that, he casually returns to the topic of marrying the other girl.
My Last Duchess Summary in English
my last duchess summary
My last Duchess summary about the poem by Robert Browning digs deeper for
better comprehension. It is evident that the poet has loosely based it on historical
events that involve Alfonso of the 16th century.
The Duke of Ferrara is in conversation with an envoy of a very powerful Count. He
is the speaker of the poem. The Duke is looking to marry the Count’s daughter. It is
because he lost his wife recently.
Thus, he is showing the envoy around his palace. Throughout the tour, we learn
shocking revelations about the Duke. The irony which Browning provides in this
poem is crystal clear.
On the tour, he comes across a portrait of his last Duchess. He believes that the
painter has captured the spectacle of the Duchess’s glimpse. But, he also says that
her deep and zealous glance was not just for the Duke and her nature was quite
jovial.
Thus, we see how her jovial nature did not go went down well with him. The Duke
believed that she was flirting with almost everyone. It becomes clear that he is very
controlling as a husband.
As he recalls about her nature, his tone grows harsher. Humans and nature, both
impressed the Duchess easily which was not acceptable to him. My last Duchess
summary tells us how he thinks she did not respect his lineage.
Thus, he decides to lesson her on loving everything so easily. Consequently, we
learn that the Duke probably commanded to kill her. After that, he casually gets
back to the business at hand.
He accompanies the envoy back to the Count. Further, he also asks for a high dowry.
Although he mentions that his daughter will be enough.
On the way out, he shows the envoy another art piece from his collection like the
Duchess’s portrait was merely an object. It is chilling to see him move on from the
portrait of his former wife without any emotion.
Conclusion of My Last Duchess Summary
My Last Duchess summary revolves around the theme of political and social power
in the hands of the Duke. It depicts the harsh reality of a controlling marriage and a
dominating husband who enjoys tyrannical power.
L. The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club (also known as The Pickwick Papers)
was Charles Dickens's first novel. Because of his success with Sketches by Boz
published in 1836, Dickens was asked by the publisher Chapman & Hall to supply
descriptions to explain a series of comic "cockney sporting plates" by illustrator
Robert Seymour,[1] and to connect them into a novel. The book became a
publishing phenomenon, with bootleg copies, theatrical performances, Sam Weller
joke books, and other merchandise.[2] On its cultural impact, Nicholas Dames in
The Atlantic writes, "'Literature' is not a big enough category for Pickwick. It defined
its own, a new one that we have learned to call "entertainment."[3] Published in 19
issues over 20 months, the success of The Pickwick Papers popularised serialised
fiction and cliffhanger endings.[4]
Seymour's widow claimed that the idea for the novel was originally her husband's,
but Dickens strenuously denied any specific input in his preface to the 1867 edition:
"Mr Seymour never originated or suggested an incident, a phrase, or a word, to be
found in the book."[5]
Background
Dickens was working as a Parliamentary reporter and a roving journalist at the age
of 24, and he had published a collection of sketches on London life as Sketches by
Boz. Publisher Chapman & Hall was projecting a series of "cockney sporting plates"
by illustrator Robert Seymour. There was to be a club, the members of which were
to be sent on hunting and fishing expeditions into the country. Their guns were to
go off by accident, and fishhooks were to get caught in their hats and trousers, and
these and other misadventures were to be depicted in Seymour's comic plates.[1]
They asked Dickens to supply the description necessary to explain the plates and to
connect them into a sort of picture novel that was fashionable at the time. He
protested that he knew nothing of sport, but still accepted the commission.[1]
Only in a few instances did Dickens adjust his narrative to plates that had been
prepared for him. Typically, he led the way with an instalment of his story, and the
artist was compelled to illustrate what Dickens had already written. The story thus
became the prime source of interest and the illustrations merely of secondary
importance.[1] Seymour provided the illustrations for the first two instalments
before his suicide. Robert William Buss illustrated the third instalment, but Dickens
did not like his work, so the remaining instalments were illustrated by Phiz (Hablot
Knight Browne), who illustrated most of Dickens's subsequent novels. The
instalments were first published in book form in 1837.[6]
Summary
A great hokey-cokey of eccentrics, conmen, phony politicians, amorous widows and
wily, witty servants, somehow catching an essence of what it is to be English,
celebrating companionship, generosity, good nature, in the figure of Samuel
Pickwick, Esq, one of the great embodiments in literature of benevolence.
— Actor and director Simon Callow on The Pickwick Papers.[7]
The Pickwick Papers is a sequence of loosely related adventures written for
serialization in a periodical. The action is given as occurring 1827–28, though critics
have noted some seeming anachronisms.[8] For example, Dickens satirized the case
of George Norton suing Lord Melbourne in 1836.[9]
The novel's protagonist Samuel Pickwick, Esquire is a kind and wealthy old
gentleman, the founder and perpetual president of the Pickwick Club. He suggests
that he and three other "Pickwickians" should make journeys to places remote from
London and report on their findings to the other members of the club. Their travels
throughout the English countryside by coach provide the chief subject matter of the
novel.[10] A romantic misunderstanding with his landlady, the widow Mrs Bardell,
results in one of the most famous legal cases in English literature, Bardell v.
Pickwick,[11][12] leading to them both being incarcerated in the Fleet Prison for
debt.
Pickwick learns that the only way he can relieve the suffering of Mrs Bardell is by
paying her costs in the action against himself, thus at the same time releasing
himself from the prison.[8][14]
M. Vanity Fair is an English novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, which follows
the lives of Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley amid their friends and families during
and after the Napoleonic Wars. It was first published as a 19-volume monthly serial
(the last containing Parts 19 and 20) from 1847 to 1848, carrying the subtitle Pen
and Pencil Sketches of English Society, which reflects both its satirisation of early
19th-century British society and the many illustrations drawn by Thackeray to
accompany the text. It was published as a single volume in 1848 with the subtitle A
Novel without a Hero, reflecting Thackeray's interest in deconstructing his era's
conventions regarding literary heroism.[1] It is sometimes considered the "principal
founder" of the Victorian domestic novel.[2]
The story is framed as a puppet play, and the narrator, despite being an authorial
voice, is somewhat unreliable. The serial was a popular and critical success; the
novel is now considered a classic and has inspired several audio, film, and television
adaptations. It also inspired the title of the British lifestyle magazine first published
in 1868, which became known for its caricatures of famous people of Victorian and
Edwardian society.[3] In 2003, Vanity Fair was listed at No. 122 on the BBC's The Big
Read poll of the UK's best-loved books.
Title
A reprint of John Bunyan's Plan of the Road from the City of Destruction to the
Celestial City, including Vanity Fair as the major city along the path
The book's title comes from John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress,[a] a Dissenter
allegory first published in 1678. In that work, "Vanity Fair" refers to a stop along the
pilgrim's route: a never-ending fair held in a town called Vanity, which represents
man's sinful attachment to worldly things.[6][7] Thackeray does not mention
Bunyan in the novel or in his surviving letters about it,[8] where he describes himself
dealing with "living without God in the world",[9] but he did expect the reference
to be understood by his audience, as shown in an 1851 Times article likely written
by Thackeray himself.[10]
Robert Bell—whose friendship later became so great that he was buried near
Thackeray at Kensal Green Cemetery[11]—complained that the novel could have
used "more light and air" to make it "more agreeable and healthy". Thackeray
rebutted this with Evangelist's words as the pilgrims entered Bunyan's Vanity Fair:
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know
it?"[12][13]
From its appearance in Bunyan, "Vanity Fair" or a "vanity-fair" was also in general
use for "the world" in a range of connotations from the blandly descriptive to the
wearily dismissive to the condemning. By the 18th century, it was generally taken
as a playground and, in the first half of the 19th century, more specifically the
playground of the idle and undeserving rich. All of these senses appear in
Thackeray's work. The name "Vanity Fair" has also been used for at least 5
periodicals.[14]
Summary
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improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (April
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The story is framed by its preface[15] and coda[16] as a puppet show taking place
at a fair; the cover illustration of the serial installments was not of the characters
but of a troupe of comic actors[9] at Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park.[17] The
narrator, variously a show manager[15] or writer,[18] appears at times within the
work itself and is somewhat unreliable,[19][b] repeating a tale of gossip at second
or third hand.[21]
London, 1814. Rebecca Sharp ("Becky"), daughter of an art teacher and a French
dancer, is a strong-willed, cunning, moneyless young woman determined to make
her way in society. After leaving school, Becky stays with her friend Amelia Sedley
("Emmy"), who is a good-natured, simple-minded young girl, of a wealthy London
family. There, Becky meets the dashing and self-obsessed Captain George Osborne
(Amelia's betrothed) and Amelia's brother Joseph ("Jos") Sedley, a clumsy and
vainglorious but rich civil servant home from the East India Company. Hoping to
marry Sedley, the richest young man she has met, Becky entices him, but she fails.
George Osborne's friend Captain William Dobbin loves Amelia, but only wishes her
happiness, which is centred on George.
Becky Sharp says farewell to the Sedley family and enters the service of the crude
and profligate baronet Sir Pitt Crawley, who has engaged her as a governess to his
daughters. Her behaviour at Sir Pitt's house gains his favour, and after the
premature death of his second wife, he proposes marriage to her. However, he finds
that Becky has secretly married his second son, Captain Rawdon Crawley, but Becky
very much regrets having done this; she had no idea that his father's wife would die
so soon after. Sir Pitt's elder half sister, the spinster Miss Crawley, is very rich, having
inherited her mother's fortune, and the whole Crawley family compete for her
favour so she will bequeath them her wealth. Initially her favourite is Rawdon
Crawley, but his marriage with Becky enrages her. First she favours the family of Sir
Pitt's brother, but when she dies, she leaves her money to Sir Pitt's eldest son, also
called Pitt.
Chapter 32 ends with Waterloo: "No more firing was heard at Brussels—the pursuit
rolled miles away. The darkness came down on the field and city, and Amelia was
praying for George, who was lying on his face, dead, with a bullet through his
heart.[22]
News arrives that Napoleon has escaped from Elba, and as a result the stockmarket
becomes jittery, causing Amelia's stockbroker father, John Sedley, to become
bankrupt. George's rich father forbids George to marry Amelia, who is now poor.
Dobbin persuades George to marry Amelia, and George is consequently
disinherited. George Osborne, William Dobbin and Rawdon Crawley are deployed
to Brussels, accompanied by Amelia and Becky, and Amelia's brother, Jos.
George is embarrassed by the vulgarity of Mrs. Major O'Dowd, the wife of the head
of the regiment. The newly wedded Osborne is already growing tired of Amelia, and
he becomes increasingly attracted to Becky, which makes Amelia jealous and
unhappy. He is also losing money to Rawdon at cards and billiards. At a ball in
Brussels, George gives Becky a note inviting her to run away with him (although this
fact is not revealed until the end of the book). But then the army have marching
orders to the Battle of Waterloo, and George spends a tender night with Amelia and
leaves.
The noise of battle horrifies Amelia, and she is comforted by the brisk but kind Mrs.
O'Dowd. Becky is indifferent and makes plans for whatever the outcome (for
example, if Napoleon wins, she would aim to become the mistress of one of his
Marshals). She also makes a profit selling her carriage and horses at inflated prices
to Jos, who is seeking to flee Brussels.
George Osborne is killed at the Battle of Waterloo, while Dobbin and Rawdon
survive the battle. Amelia bears him a posthumous son, who carries on the name
George. She returns to live in genteel poverty with her parents, spending her life in
memory of her husband and care of her son. Dobbin pays for a small annuity for
Amelia and expresses his love for her by small kindnesses toward her and her son.
She is too much in love with her husband's memory to return Dobbin's love.
Saddened, he goes with his regiment to India for many years.
Becky also gives birth to a son, named Rawdon after his father. Becky is a cold,
distant mother, although Rawdon loves his son. Becky continues her ascent first in
post-war Paris and then in London where she is patronised by the rich and powerful
Marquis of Steyne. She is eventually presented at court to the Prince Regent and
charms him further at a game of "acting charades" where she plays the roles of
Clytemnestra and Philomela. The elderly Sir Pitt Crawley dies and is succeeded by
his son Pitt, who had married Lady Jane Sheepshanks, Lord Southdown's third
daughter. Becky is on good terms with Pitt and Jane originally, but Jane is disgusted
by Becky's attitude to her son and jealous of Becky's relationship with Pitt.
At the summit of their social success, Rawdon is arrested for debt, possibly at
Becky's connivance.[23] The financial success of the Crawleys had been a topic of
gossip; in fact they were living on credit even when it ruined those who trusted
them, such as their landlord, an old servant of the Crawley family. The Marquis of
Steyne had given Becky money, jewels, and other gifts but Becky does not use them
for expenses or to free her husband. Instead, Rawdon's letter to his brother is
received by Lady Jane, who pays the £170 that prompted his imprisonment.
He returns home to find Becky singing to Steyne and strikes him down on the
assumption—despite her protestations of innocence—that they are having an
affair. Steyne is indignant, having assumed the £1000 he had just given Becky was
part of an arrangement with her husband. Rawdon finds Becky's hidden bank
records and leaves her, expecting Steyne to challenge him to a duel. Instead Steyne
arranges for Rawdon to be made Governor of Coventry Island, a pest-ridden
location. Becky, having lost both husband and credibility, leaves England and
wanders the continent, leaving her son in the care of Pitt and Lady Jane.
Two girls close up their box of dolls at the end of the story.
As Amelia's adored son George grows up, his grandfather Mr Osborne relents
towards him (though not towards Amelia) and takes him from his impoverished
mother, who knows the rich old man will give him a better start in life than she
could manage. After twelve years abroad, both Joseph Sedley and Dobbin return.
Dobbin professes his unchanged love to Amelia. Amelia is affectionate, but she
cannot forget the memory of her dead husband. Dobbin mediates a reconciliation
between Amelia and her father-in-law, who dies soon after. He had amended his
will, bequeathing young George half his large fortune and Amelia a generous
annuity.
After the death of Mr Osborne, Amelia, Jos, George and Dobbin go to Pumpernickel
(Weimar in Germany),[23] where they encounter the destitute Becky. Becky has
fallen in life. She lives among card sharps and con artists, drinking heavily and
gambling. Becky enchants Jos Sedley all over again, and Amelia is persuaded to let
Becky join them. Dobbin forbids this, and reminds Amelia of her jealousy of Becky
with her husband. Amelia feels that this dishonours the memory of her dead and
revered husband, and this leads to a complete breach between her and Dobbin.
Dobbin leaves the group and rejoins his regiment, while Becky remains with the
group.
However, Becky has decided that Amelia should marry Dobbin, even though Becky
knows Dobbin is her enemy. Becky shows Amelia George's note, kept all this time
from the eve of the Battle of Waterloo, and Amelia finally realises that George was
not the perfect man she always thought, and that she has rejected a better man,
Dobbin. Amelia and Dobbin are reconciled and return to England. Becky and Jos
stay in Europe. Jos dies, possibly suspiciously, after signing a portion of his money
to Becky as life insurance, thereby setting her up with an income. She returns to
England, and manages a respectable life, although all her previous friends refuse to
acknowledge her.
N. Jane Eyre (/ɛər/ AIR; originally published as Jane Eyre: An Autobiography) is a
novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name
"Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The first
American edition was published the following year by Harper & Brothers of New
York.[2] Jane Eyre is a Bildungsroman which follows the experiences of its
eponymous heroine, including her growth to adulthood and her love for Mr
Rochester, the brooding master of Thornfield Hall.[3]
The novel revolutionised prose fiction by being the first to focus on its protagonist's
moral and spiritual development through an intimate first-person narrative, where
actions and events are coloured by a psychological intensity. Charlotte Brontë has
been called the "first historian of the private consciousness", and the literary
ancestor of writers like Marcel Proust and James Joyce.[4]
The book contains elements of social criticism with a strong sense of Christian
morality at its core, and it is considered by many to be ahead of its time because of
Jane's individualistic character and how the novel approaches the topics of class,
sexuality, religion, and feminism.[5][6] It, along with Jane Austen's Pride and
Prejudice, is one of the most famous romance novels.[7]
Plot
Jane Eyre is divided into 38 chapters. It was originally published in three volumes in
the 19th century, comprising chapters 1 to 15, 16 to 27, and 28 to 38.
The second edition was dedicated to William Makepeace Thackeray.
The novel is a first-person narrative from the perspective of the title character. Its
setting is somewhere in the north of England, late in the reign of George III (1760–
1820).[a] It has five distinct stages: Jane's childhood at Gateshead Hall, where she
is emotionally and physically abused by her aunt and cousins; her education at
Lowood School, where she gains friends and role models but suffers privations and
oppression; her time as governess at Thornfield Hall, where she falls in love with
her mysterious employer, Edward Fairfax Rochester; her time in the Moor House,
during which her earnest but cold clergyman cousin, St John Rivers, proposes to
her; and ultimately her reunion with, and marriage to, her beloved Rochester.
Throughout these sections, it provides perspectives on a number of important
social issues and ideas, many of which are critical of the status quo.
The five stages of Jane's life:
Gateshead Hall
Young Jane argues with her guardian Mrs Reed of Gateshead, illustration by F. H.
Townsend
Jane Eyre, aged 10, lives at Gateshead Hall with her maternal uncle's family, the
Reeds, as a result of her uncle's dying wish. Jane was orphaned several years earlier
when her parents died of typhus. Jane's uncle, Mr Reed, was the only one in the
Reed family who was kind to Jane. Jane's aunt, Sarah Reed, dislikes her and treats
her as a burden. Mrs Reed also discourages her three children from associating with
Jane. As a result, Jane becomes defensive against her cruel judgement. The
nursemaid, Bessie, proves to be Jane's only ally in the household, even though
Bessie occasionally scolds Jane harshly. Excluded from the family activities, Jane
lives an unhappy childhood. One day, as punishment for defending herself against
the bullying of her 14-year-old cousin John, the Reeds' only son, Jane is locked in
the red room in which her late uncle had died; there, she faints from panic after she
thinks she has seen his ghost. The red room is significant because it lays the grounds
for the "ambiguous relationship between parents and children" which plays out in
all of Jane's future relationships with male figures throughout the novel.[8] She is
subsequently attended to by the kindly apothecary Mr Lloyd to whom Jane reveals
how unhappy she is living at Gateshead Hall. He recommends to Mrs Reed that Jane
should be sent to school, an idea Mrs Reed happily supports.
Mrs Reed then enlists the aid of the harsh Mr Brocklehurst, who is the director of
Lowood Institution, a charity school for girls, to enroll Jane. Mrs Reed cautions Mr
Brocklehurst that Jane has a "tendency to deceit", which he interprets as Jane being
a liar. Before Jane leaves, however, she confronts Mrs Reed and declares that she'll
never call her "aunt" again. Jane also tells Mrs Reed and her daughters, Georgiana
and Eliza, that they are the ones who are deceitful, and that she will tell everyone
at Lowood how cruelly the Reeds treated her. Mrs Reed is hurt badly by these
words, but does not have the courage or tenacity to show this.[9]
Lowood Institution
At Lowood Institution, a school for poor and orphaned girls, Jane soon finds that
life is harsh. She attempts to fit in and befriends an older girl, Helen Burns. During
a class session, her new friend is criticised for her poor stance and dirty nails, and
receives a lashing as a result. Later, Jane tells Helen that she could not have borne
such public humiliation, but Helen philosophically tells her that it would be her duty
to do so. Jane then tells Helen how badly she has been treated by Mrs Reed, but
Helen tells her that she would be far happier if she did not bear grudges.
In due course, Mr Brocklehurst visits the school. While Jane is trying to make herself
look inconspicuous, she accidentally drops her slate, thereby drawing attention to
herself. She is then forced to stand on a stool, and is branded a sinner and a liar.
Later, Miss Temple, the caring superintendent, facilitates Jane's self-defence and
publicly clears her of any wrongdoing. Helen and Miss Temple are Jane's two main
role models who positively guide her development, despite the harsh treatment
she has received from many others.
The 80 pupils at Lowood are subjected to cold rooms, poor meals, and thin clothing.
Many students fall ill when a typhus epidemic strikes; Helen dies of consumption in
Jane's arms. When Mr Brocklehurst's maltreatment of the students is discovered,
several benefactors erect a new building and install a sympathetic management
committee to moderate Mr Brocklehurst's harsh rule. Conditions at the school then
improve dramatically.
O. George Eliot was the pseudonym of Mary Ann Evans, born in 1819 at the estate
of her father’s employer in Chilvers Coton, Warwickshire, England. She was sent to
boarding school, where she developed a strong religious faith, deeply influenced by
the evangelical preacher Rev. John Edmund Jones. After her mother’s death, Evans
moved with her father to the city of Coventry. There she met Charles and Caroline
Bray, progressive intellectuals who led her to question her faith. In 1842 she
stopped going to church, and this renunciation of her faith put a strain on Evans’s
relationship with her father that did not ease for several years.
Evans became acquainted with intellectuals in Coventry who broadened her mind
beyond a provincial perspective. Through her new associations, she traveled to
Geneva and then to London, where she worked as a freelance writer. In London she
met George Lewes, who became her husband in all but the legal sense—a true legal
marriage was impossible, as Lewes already had an estranged wife. At this point in
her life Evans was still primarily interested in philosophy, but Lewes persuaded her
to turn her hand to fiction instead. The publication of her first collection of stories
in 1857, under the male pseudonym of George Eliot, brought immediate acclaim
from critics as prestigious as Charles Dickens and William Makepeace Thackeray, as
well as much speculation about the identity of the mysterious George Eliot. After
the publication of her next book and first novel, Adam Bede, a number of impostors
claimed authorship. In response, Evans asserted herself as the true author, causing
quite a stir in a society that still regarded women as incapable of serious writing.
Lewes died in 1878, and in 1880 Evans married a banker named John Walter Cross,
who was twenty-one years her junior. She died the same year.
Jabberwocky
Eliot wrote the novels Adam Bede (1859) and The Mill on the Floss (1860) before
publishing Silas Marner (1861), the tale of a lonely, miserly village weaver
transformed by the love of his adopted daughter. Eliot is best known, however, for
Middlemarch (1871–1872). Subtitled “A Study in Provincial Life,” this lengthy work
tells the story of a small English village and its inhabitants, centering on the idealistic
and self-sacrificing Dorothea Brooke.
Eliot’s novels are deeply philosophical. In exploring the inner workings of her
characters and their relationship to their environment, she drew on influences that
included the English poet William Wordsworth, the Italian poet Dante, the English
art critic John Ruskin, and the Portuguese-Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza,
whose work Eliot translated into English. The philosophical concerns and references
found in her novels—and the refusal to provide the requisite happy ending—struck
some contemporary critics as unbecoming in a lady novelist. Eliot’s detailed and
insightful psychological portrayals of her characters, as well as her exploration of
the complex ways these characters confront moral dilemmas, decisively broke from
the plot-driven domestic melodrama that had previously served as the standard for
the Victorian novel. Eliot’s break from tradition inspired the modern novel and
inspired numerous future authors, among them Henry James, who admirered Eliot.
Silas Marner was Eliot’s third novel and is among the best known of her works.
Many of the novel’s themes and concerns stem from Eliot’s own life experiences.
Silas’s loss of religious faith recalls Eliot’s own struggle with her faith, and the
novel’s setting in the vanishing English countryside reflects Eliot’s concern that
England was fast becoming industrialized and impersonal. The novel’s concern with
class and family can likewise be linked back to Eliot’s own life. The voice of the
novel’s narrator can thus, to some extent, be seen as Eliot’s own voice—one tinged
with slight condescension, but fond of the setting and thoroughly empathetic with
the characters. Though Silas Marner is in a sense a very personal novel for Eliot, its
treatment of the themes of faith, family, and class has nonetheless given it universal
appeal, especially at the time of publication, when English society and institutions
were undergoing rapid change.
P. At his death, eleven years before the publication of Silas Marner, William
Wordsworth was widely considered the most important English writer of his time.
His intensely personal poetry, with its simple language and rhythms, marked a
revolutionary departure from the complex, formal structures and classical subject
matter of his predecessors, poets such as John Dryden and Alexander Pope. Unlike
the poetry of Dryden and Pope, Wordsworth’s poems are meditative rather than
narrative. They celebrate beauty and simplicity most often most often located in
the natural landscape. Wordsworth’s influence on English poetry—at a time when
poetry was unquestioningly held to be the most important form of literature—was
enormous. Along with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Wordsworth set in motion the
Romantic era, inspiring a generation of poets that included John Keats, Percy Bysshe
Shelley, and Lord Byron.
George Eliot evidently felt a kinship with Wordsworth and his strong identification
with the English landscape. Like Wordsworth, Eliot draws many of her metaphors
from the natural world. However, the Wordsworth epigraph she chose for Silas
Marner also highlights the philosophical aspect of her affinity with Wordsworth.
Like Eliot, Wordsworth had tried his hand at philosophy before turning to more
literary pursuits, and in his poetry he works out his conception of human
consciousness. One of Wordsworth’s major ideas, radical at the time, was that at
the moment of birth, human beings move from a perfect, idealized “otherworld” to
this imperfect world, characterized by injustice and corruption. Children, being
closest to that otherworld, can remember its beauty and purity, seeing its traces in
the natural world around them. As they grow up, however, they lose that
connection and forget the knowledge they had as children. However, as described
in the quote Eliot has chosen, children and the memories of childhood they evoke
in adults can still bring us close to that early, idyllic state. It is not hard to imagine
that Eliot had this model in mind when she wrote her story of a child bringing a man
out of isolation and spiritual desolation.
Q. Hamlet Summary (Shakespeare)
The ghost of the King of Denmark tells his son Hamlet to avenge his murder by killing
the new king, Hamlet's uncle. Hamlet feigns madness, contemplates life and death,
and seeks revenge. His uncle, fearing for his life, also devises plots to kill Hamlet.
The play ends with a duel, during which the King, Queen, Hamlet's opponent and
Hamlet himself are all killed.
R. TL;DR (may contain spoilers): All brothers hate each other for some reason.
Rosalind dresses up as a boy and convinces her crush to hit on her while she's a boy.
Everyone is married by a Greek god.
As You Like It Summary (Play : Shakespeare)
Rosalind and her cousin escape into the forest and find Orlando, Rosalind's love.
Disguised as a boy shepherd, Rosalind has Orlando woo her under the guise of
"curing" him of his love for Rosalind. Rosalind reveals she is a girl and marries
Orlando during a group wedding at the end of the play.
S. Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career
about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among
Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with Hamlet, is one
of his most frequently performed plays. Today, the title characters are regarded as
archetypal young lovers.
Romeo and Juliet belongs to a tradition of tragic romances stretching back to
antiquity. The plot is based on an Italian tale written by Matteo Bandello and
translated into verse as The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet by Arthur Brooke
in 1562 and retold in prose in Palace of Pleasure by William Painter in 1567.
Shakespeare borrowed heavily from both but expanded the plot by developing a
number of supporting characters, particularly Mercutio and Paris. Believed to have
been written between 1591 and 1595, the play was first published in a quarto
version in 1597. The text of the first quarto version was of poor quality, however,
and later editions corrected the text to conform more closely with Shakespeare's
original.
Shakespeare's use of poetic dramatic structure (including effects such as switching
between comedy and tragedy to heighten tension, the expansion of minor
characters, and numerous sub-plots to embellish the story) has been praised as an
early sign of his dramatic skill. The play ascribes different poetic forms to different
characters, sometimes changing the form as the character develops. Romeo, for
example, grows more adept at the sonnet over the course of the play.
Romeo and Juliet has been adapted numerous times for stage, film, musical, and
opera venues. During the English Restoration, it was revived and heavily revised by
William Davenant. David Garrick's 18th-century version also modified several
scenes, removing material then considered indecent, and Georg Benda's Romeo
und Julie omitted much of the action and used a happy ending. Performances in the
19th century, including Charlotte Cushman's, restored the original text and focused
on greater realism. John Gielgud's 1935 version kept very close to Shakespeare's
text and used Elizabethan costumes and staging to enhance the drama. In the 20th
and into the 21st century, the play has been adapted in versions as diverse as
George Cukor's 1936 film Romeo and Juliet, Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 film Romeo and
Juliet, Baz Luhrmann's 1996 film Romeo + Juliet, and most recently, Carlo Carlei's
2013 film Romeo and Juliet.
Characters
Main article: Characters in Romeo and Juliet
Ruling house of Verona
Prince Escalus is the ruling Prince of Verona.
Count Paris is a kinsman of Escalus who wishes to marry Juliet.
Mercutio is another kinsman of Escalus, a friend of Romeo.
House of Capulet
Capulet is the patriarch of the house of Capulet.
Lady Capulet is the matriarch of the house of Capulet.
Juliet Capulet, the 13-year-old daughter of Capulet, is the play's female protagonist.
Tybalt is a cousin of Juliet, the nephew of Lady Capulet.
The Nurse is Juliet's personal attendant and confidante.
Rosaline is Lord Capulet's niece, Romeo's love in the beginning of the story.
Peter, Sampson, and Gregory are servants of the Capulet household.
House of Montague
Montague is the patriarch of the house of Montague.
Lady Montague is the matriarch of the house of Montague.
Romeo Montague, the son of Montague, is the play's male protagonist.
Benvolio is Romeo's cousin and best friend.
Abram and Balthasar are servants of the Montague household.
Others
Friar Laurence is a Franciscan friar and Romeo's confidant.
Friar John is sent to deliver Friar Laurence's letter to Romeo.
An Apothecary who reluctantly sells Romeo poison.
A Chorus reads a prologue to each of the first two acts.
Synopsis
L'ultimo bacio dato a Giulietta da Romeo by Francesco Hayez. Oil on canvas, 1823.
The play, set in Verona, Italy, begins with a street brawl between Montague and
Capulet servants who, like the masters they serve, are sworn enemies. Prince
Escalus of Verona intervenes and declares that further breach of the peace will be
punishable by death. Later, Count Paris talks to Capulet about marrying his daughter
Juliet, but Capulet asks Paris to wait another two years and invites him to attend a
planned Capulet ball. Lady Capulet and Juliet's Nurse try to persuade Juliet to accept
Paris's courtship.
Meanwhile, Benvolio talks with his cousin Romeo, Montague's son, about Romeo's
recent depression. Benvolio discovers that it stems from unrequited infatuation for
a girl named Rosaline, one of Capulet's nieces. Persuaded by Benvolio and Mercutio,
Romeo attends the ball at the Capulet house in hopes of meeting Rosaline.
However, Romeo instead meets and falls in love with Juliet. Juliet's cousin, Tybalt,
is enraged at Romeo for sneaking into the ball but is only stopped from killing
Romeo by Juliet's father, who does not wish to shed blood in his house. After the
ball, in what is now famously known as the "balcony scene", Romeo sneaks into the
Capulet orchard and overhears Juliet at her window vowing her love to him in spite
of her family's hatred of the Montagues. Romeo makes himself known to her, and
they agree to be married. With the help of Friar Laurence, who hopes to reconcile
the two families through their children's union, they are secretly married the next
day.
Tybalt, meanwhile, still incensed that Romeo had sneaked into the Capulet ball,
challenges him to a duel. Romeo, now considering Tybalt his kinsman, refuses to
fight. Mercutio is offended by Tybalt's insolence, as well as Romeo's "vile
submission",[1] and accepts the duel on Romeo's behalf. Mercutio is fatally
wounded when Romeo attempts to break up the fight, and declares a curse upon
both households before he dies. ("A plague o' both your houses!") Grief-stricken
and racked with guilt, Romeo confronts and slays Tybalt.
Benvolio argues that Romeo has justly executed Tybalt for the murder of Mercutio.
The Prince, now having lost a kinsman in the warring families' feud, exiles Romeo
from Verona, under penalty of death if he ever returns. Romeo secretly spends the
night in Juliet's chamber, where they consummate their marriage. Capulet,
misinterpreting Juliet's grief, agrees to marry her to Count Paris and threatens to
disown her when she refuses to become Paris's "joyful bride".[2] When she then
pleads for the marriage to be delayed, her mother rejects her.
Juliet visits Friar Laurence for help, and he offers her a potion that will put her into
a deathlike coma or catalepsy for "two and forty hours".[3] The Friar promises to
send a messenger to inform Romeo of the plan so that he can rejoin her when she
awakens. On the night before the wedding, she takes the drug and, when
discovered apparently dead, she is laid in the family crypt.
The messenger, however, does not reach Romeo and, instead, Romeo learns of
Juliet's apparent death from his servant, Balthasar. Heartbroken, Romeo buys
poison from an apothecary and goes to the Capulet crypt. He encounters Paris who
has come to mourn Juliet privately. Believing Romeo to be a vandal, Paris confronts
him and, in the ensuing battle, Romeo kills Paris. Still believing Juliet to be dead, he
drinks the poison. Juliet then awakens and, discovering that Romeo is dead, stabs
herself with his dagger and joins him in death. The feuding families and the Prince
meet at the tomb to find all three dead. Friar Laurence recounts the story of the
two "star-cross'd lovers", fulfilling the curse that Mercutio swore. The families are
reconciled by their children's deaths and agree to end their violent feud. The play
ends with the Prince's elegy for the lovers: "For never was a story of more woe /
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo."[4]
T. — The Merchant of Venice, Act III scene 1.
Hath not a Jew eyes?
Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections,
passions; fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same
diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and
summer as a Christian is? If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not
laugh? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us shall we not revenge? If
we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian,
what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance
be by Christian example? Why, revenge. The villainy you teach me I will execute,
and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.
TL;DR (may contain spoilers): Shylock asks for a pound of flesh as part of a loan
contract (weird), Bassanio agrees to it (weirder), and Portia saves the day by crossdressing and pretending to practice the law (perfectly normal).
The Merchant of Venice Summary
Antonio, an antisemitic merchant, takes a loan from the Jew Shylock to help his
friend to court Portia. Antonio can't repay the loan, and without mercy, Shylock
demands a pound of his flesh. The heiress Portia, now the wife of Antonio's friend,
dresses as a lawyer and saves Antonio.
U. Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but
once. “Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death
but once” is a quote used in William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, in Act II, Scene 2.
TL;DR (may contain spoilers): Julius Caesar is warned of the ides of March, ignores
it, and dies; plebeians are way too easily swayed; all the conspirators die too.
Julius Caesar Summary
Jealous conspirators convince Caesar's friend Brutus to join their assassination plot
against Caesar. To stop Caesar from gaining too much power, Brutus and the
conspirators kill him on the Ides of March. Mark Antony drives the conspirators out
of Rome and fights them in a battle. Brutus and his friend Cassius lose and kill
themselves, leaving Antony to rule in Rome.
V. “How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child” can be found
in Act I, Scene 4 of King Lear. This quote is part of a more extended rant King Lear
delivers at the beginning of the play. He is cursing his daughter, Goneril, for her
ungratefulness and betrayal of him. In response, Goneril dismisses him and calls
him senile.
W.