March 1

I Have No Sympathy For You, Torvald Helmer.

Post on the class blog regarding  the level of sympathy you have for Torvald at this stage of the play (taking into consideration Victorian expectations of him)

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Torvald Helmer is a complex character with many different sides and personalities. Through looking at his character, it is evident that he is strongly influenced by societal standards, which can be seen in the way he treats Nora. Despite this, Helmer is a character that I strongly despise, and I do not have any sympathy for him.

The way that Torvald Helmer treats his wife closely follows normal behavior in the Victorian era. Masculinity refers to a man’s traditional self and manners- their habits, and attitudes which follow the patriarchal system in society. In the Victorian era, this meant that the man had to have a strong sense of self-control, and independence, which was influenced by factors like domesticity and gender roles. The man had to be the head of the house and the one who is superior to the wife. Therefore, Helmer establishes himself as the dominant figure by making Nora seem smaller. He speaks to her in a degrading way, using possessive pronouns such as ‘my’ and ‘mine’. Additionally, the nicknames he has for Nora, such as ‘skylark’, ‘squirrel’, and ‘little lark’ are all in reference to small animals that are usually not associated with strength or power. Helmer ensures that Nora knows that she is lesser, sometimes calling her an ‘odd little thing’ and a ‘silly little girl’. These names may seem playful and teasing, however, they could have deeper contexts than it first seems, similar to a backhanded compliment.

Secondly, one of the main reasons that made me lose nearly all my sympathy for Torvald, was the way that he treated Nora when he was drunk.

Helmer: When I watched the seductive figures of the Tarantella, my blood was on fire; I could endure it no longer, and that was why I brought you down so early-

Nora: Go away Torvald! You must let me go. I won’t-

Helmer: What’s that? You’re joking my little Nora! You won’t- you won’t? Am I not your husband-?

Nora is very clearly uncomfortable and does not want Torvald to touch her. Earlier to this dialogue, the stage directions indicate that Nora is trying to make space between them. For example, [she moves to the other side of the table], while Helmer continues to persist and tries to get closer to her [follows her]. The fact that, despite being her husband and is supposed to be the one protecting her, Torvald doesn’t respect her wishes and puts Nora in a very uncomfortable situation. Had Rank not intervened, Torvald could have forced himself onto Nora, which is most definitely not okay.

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October 18

The Victorian Era: Hypocrisy and Double Standards

Hypocrisy

the practice of claiming to have higher standards or more noble beliefs than is the case : behavior that contradicts what one claims to believe or feel
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The Victorian Era occurred during the period of Queen Victoria’s reign from June 20th, 1837, until her death on January 22, in 1901. During this period, the main feature that ruled society was the severe case of class separation- the Victorian era was a time before basic child labor laws were passed, unions were allowed to be created in order to represent employee rights, and the higher class and rich ruled society. Image was a very important feature during this time period, and there were precise etiquette that everyone needed to follow- for example, for women, there were rules about what to wear (both jewelry and clothes), who and when to speak to someone, who to walk with, who to dance with, and more. Men had to be aware of the time to bow, tip their hats, where to sit and besides who, and if it was an appropriate time to drink or smoke (especially if there was a woman present). On the other hand, the huge gap between the rich and the poor made the class distinctions even more present in society. The poor, or working class had to work up to 16 hours a day of hard labor with barely any pay. For example in the Triangle Factory Fire, young women were ordered by their bosses to be locked in their building while they sewed shirts. However, when the building caught on fire,, they were not able to escape and 146 people died.

The Victorian Era focused so highly on appearances and image, that it was total hypocrisy. A commonly seen example of this deception was the events that the higher or wealthy class would constantly host in order to help the lower class. It was a general occurrence for lunch, dinner, or ballroom events to be set up with the purpose of collecting money in order to donate it to the working classes, or to foundations with the purpose of helping the less fortunate. The truth behind these events was that if a person from the higher class would encounter someone from the lower class, they would completely disregard them or be disturbed by their presence. Another angle that displays this hypocrisy, is that many of the families who were ‘raising money’ to help the poor, were also the ones forcing them to do heavy labor without rest in unethical conditions, and the ones paying them barely enough to live.

Sources:

  1. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hypocrisy
  2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian_era
  3. http://www.victorian-era.org/victorian-era-duality-double-standards.html
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September 26

What are the central conflicts in ‘The Raven’?

What are the central conflicts in ‘The Raven’? What types of conflict can you decipher? 

Conflict is a vital idea used in literature, as it can quickly alter the mood of a text. Specifically, the main purpose of using conflict in writing is to create a strong sense of tension in the story, in order to leave the reader more interesting in what will occur next, while at the same time leaving them wondering and uncertain of the characters. In Edgar Allan Poe’s, “The Raven,” there is evidence of internal intellectual and emotional conflicts within the main character:

Intellectual

  1. As if someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door./ “Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door- /Only this and nothing more.”
  2. “Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door-/ Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door;-/ This it is and nothing more.”
  3. “Surely,” said I, “surely that is something at my window lattice;/ Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explores-/ Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explores;-/ “Tis the wind and nothing more!” 
  4. Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,/ With such name as “Nevermore.”
  5. “Doubtless,” said I, “what it utters is its only stock and store/ Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster

At the beginning of the poem, the protagonist is reading books of lore in order to try and forget the loss of his lover Lenore. It is late into the night, and as he is nodding off, he hears a rapping at his chamber door. His first reaction is to rationalize, calm down, and understand what is happening, before telling himself that it is only a visitor. When you are home alone and someone knocks on your door, it is only normal for your mind to jump towards darker thoughts (such as there is a robber trying to break in or a monster waiting for you outside), however, after quickly thinking it over, we know better than to believe that such a thing would happen. When the tapping happens again, he nervously rationalizes that the person at his door is probably simply a late night visitor waiting for entry. When he opens his door and finds a dark hallway, his first thoughts are of a supernatural sort, as he thinks that it is his dead lover, Lenore. When he decides to open the window to find the source of the noise and the raven flies in, he thinks that it is funny- and when the bird starts speaking the word ‘nevermore’, he believes that it had been trained to do so. In all of these scenarios, the main character is attempting to rationalize, fighting against his own dark thoughts to try and produce more reasonable ones. This shows the intellectual inner conflict that he was having, as he struggled to avoid thinking sinister thoughts and to normalize the situation he was in.

Emotional

  • “Wretch,” I cried, “thy God hath lent thee- by these angels he hath sent thee/ Respite- respite and nepenthe, from thy memories of Lenore;/ Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!”
  • On this home by Horror haunted- tell me truly, I implore-/ is there balm in Gilead?- tell me- tell me, I implore!”
  • It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore-/ Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore.”

The poem relies heavily on an emotional response from the main character, especially in the last few stanzas. From the beginning, we are told that he is going through the stages of grief, as he lost his lover Lenore. As he tries to forget what happened, he is plagued by the raven who enters through his window and starts saying the word ‘nevermore’. He believes, at first, that the raven is a sort of omen to prove his misfortune, however, he quickly becomes more and more distressed. When he asks the raven if there is balm in Gilead, he is asking it if there is any way that he can relieve his pain and suffering, in order to forget all the emotions that he was feeling at the time. When the raven replies, ‘nevermore’, the main character calls him a ‘prophet’ and ‘a thing of evil’, so he can’t accept the idea that grief takes time to move on from. Finally, before his complete descent into madness, he asks the raven if in Heaven he will be able to hold Lenore again, but the raven replies, ‘Nevermore’.  Throughout the entire poem, the main character is struggling internally as he tries to cope with the fact that his love died, however, at the same time, he is trying to believe that he might see her again. He can’t seem to understand the words of the raven and gets angrier as the poem goes on. It can be said that the raven is a representation of how he feels inside, and it is a physical embodiment of his emotions. Since the raven often says ‘Nevermore’ this could be the main character struggling with himself, thus showing the readers his inner emotional conflict, as he tries (and fails) to cope with the loss of his beloved Lenore.

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September 18

The Life of Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe

“Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—
    While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—
            Only this and nothing more.”
-The Raven (1845)

~~~

Edgar Allan Poe was born on the 19th of January 1809 in Boston, to parents Elizabeth Arnold Poe and David Poe Jr.  His parents were traveling actors and were terribly poor when they had their three children. By 1811, his father had abandoned their family, leaving Elizabeth Poe alone with a two-year-old Edgar Poe, his older brother named Henry, and a toddler girl called Rosalie. Shortly after being left alone and in charge of her family, Elizabeth Poe fell sick and died of Tuberculosis on December 8th. Only a few days later, news reached home stating that David Poe had also died of Tuberculosis, leaving his children parent-less. The Poe children went off to live with their grandparents, until the time that they were separated and adopted into different houses.

Rosalie was adopted by a family in Richmond, while Edgar was taken in by the family of John and Francis Allan. John Allan spent his days as a very successful merchant, thus Edgar had a good childhood and he grew up comfortably. However, he was not at all close to his foster father, who constantly thought that Edgar didn’t appreciate all of the things they were doing for him. On the other hand, he remained very close to his foster mother while they were living in England from 1815 to 1820. In 1824, when Edgar was 15, he wrote his first poem:

“Last night, with many cares & toils oppres’d,

Weary, I laid me on a couch to rest.”

 Only a year after its doors had opened, Edgar decided to enroll at the University of Virginia in 1826. He studied there, however, he had misinterpreted the cost of the fees and therefore was deep in dept, which John Allan refused to pay. He started gambling to try and earn money, however, this only made his situation worse, and he finally had to drop out. Subsequently, Edgar decided to leave his family to live with relatives in Baltimore. In 1826, Edgar was determined to enlist into the army under the name ‘Edgar. A. Perry’. He did excellently as a soldier, even reaching the rank of sergeant major- however, he was still passionate about writing. Quickly after joining the U.S Military at West Point, Edgar got himself kicked out of school by refusing to attend classes or church. He published few short stories under an anonymous name and quickly found out after that his older brother, Henry had died from Tuberculosis. Edgar constantly tried to stay in touch with his foster father (who had remarried a wealthy woman), by asking for money and a place to stay. In one of his letters to John Allan, he wrote “If you will only consider in what a situation I am placed you will surely pity me — without friends, without any means, consequently of obtaining employment, I am perishing — absolutely perishing for want of aid. . . . For God’s sake pity me, and save me from destruction.” His father did not respond, and when he died, John Allan left Edgar completely out of his will.

In December of 1835, Poe pleaded to his aunt to allow him to marry his 13-year-old cousin, Virginia Clemm. The idea was accepted, and on May 16, 1836, they were married. People assumed that their relationship seemed one more like a brother and sister and they were seen as affectionate and happy together. In 1845, when Poe was living in New York, he got his poem ‘The Raven‘ published into a magazine. It was massively successful, and almost everyone had read the poem or heard it being performed. This poem brought fame to Edgar Poe’s name (though it did not bring him any form of economic success), with its dramatic and tense scenes. He attempted to create a magazine as a way to publish what he wanted without having to answer to a boss, however, he failed. Shortly after, Victoria Clemm died due to Tuberculosis. It is said that Edgar Poe had been driven crazy by grief and his life down spiraled into depression.

On September 28, 1849, Edgar Poe arrived in Baltimore. A few days later on October 3rd, he was found semi-unconscious in the streets of Baltimore, wearing clothes that he did not own and that did not fit him. He was transported to a hospital where he spent his final days in a delirious state until his death on October 7th, 1849. There is no definitive answer as to what happened to Poe before he died, however, some theories state that he had died from Tuberculosis like many members of his family did, he had suffered from heart disease, or that his addiction to alcohol had gotten too great and he succumbed to its effects.

Source: https://www.shmoop.com/poe/biography.html
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September 16

The Castle of Otranto (1764)- Horace Walpole

Gothic Fiction

Gothic Fiction is a genre which gives the reader a sense of terror or horror. It is presented in a way that causes a state of pleasant terror/horror. Horace Walpole wrote the first Gothic Fiction novel in 1764, called ‘The Castle of Otranto’. It was such a new concept that the readers believed it was a real story. This story created the outline or specific characteristics that a Gothic story needed to have, which includes:

  1. A damsel in distress
  2. Castles or old, dark places
  3. Supernatural creatures
  4. Eerie sounds
  5. Suspense and tension…. and much more

This is an analysis of one section of the novel by Horace Walpole, in which a female protagonist is trapped in the subterranean region of a castle, trying to escape from ‘Manfred’, through a trap door which she cannot locate.

The key Gothic features seen in this section are: 

Woman in distress

Throughout this passage, the protagonist, who is a woman, is shown as being in extreme concern and distress as she tries to escape ‘Manfred’. In the beginning of the passage, it is hinted that she is trying to escape someone that is pursuing her and is a symbol of female vulnerability with the idea of being a ‘damsel in distress’. Walpole used women in distress to help appeal to the reader’s emotions and to make them feel pity towards the female characters who are often left alone. Another key feature of this character is that we do not learn her name, therefore showing how insignificant she is to the author and story. The idea of being a ‘damsel in distress’ can be seen in the following examples. ‘Her dread of Manfred outweighed every other terror’ and ‘Words cannot paint the horror of the princesses situation.’ These lines show how she is powerless and in need for someone to rescue her which occurs later, when she runs into a male servant who she pleads to help her escape through the trap door.

 

Dimly lit/gloomy settings 

Present throughout this passage, there is a lingering feeling of uncertainty due to lack of light. Darkness is often associated with evil and fear, therefore it brings up rash feelings that someone is creeping around you, leaving a feeling of vulnerability and paranoia. Since lack of light prevents you from being properly aware of your surroundings, the reader (and protagonist) is left uncomfortable with the idea that someone is watching you as darkness leaves you, in a way, blind. This idea is shown through the following extracts; ‘But a sudden gust of wind that met her at the door extinguished her lamp and left her in total darkness’ and ‘some stone steps descending into a vault totally dark.’ The idea of not being able to see around and being unaware of your surroundings leaves a strong sense of terror, as you can visualize the protagonist walking in a cold, pitch darkness and not being able to to see if the person she is running from is in reality waiting before her, or if there is another danger lurking.

Sights, moans, howls, eerie sounds 

Another method of creating suspense and fear in the reader is by setting the scene in a deeper way, with unknown voices and sounds. When one cannot see where the noises are coming from, it leaves a feeling of curiosity and dread as you want to know what is happening. These sounds can set the mood of the passage, and depending on the location, can deepen or lessen the level of fear. In the text, it is said ‘she thought she heard the step of some person’ and ‘sudden noise of voices that seems approaching’. Both of these want to make the reader keep looking over their shoulders, and challenge every sound they hear as a way of self-protection, as you when hear a sound that you are not familiar with, it can make you feel tense and feel like you need to escape.

Terror or Horror?

The story ‘The Castle of Otranto’ is a terror story, as it contains certain characteristics that differentiate it from horror. Terror stories suggest what will happen, gives a sense of uncertainty, and it depends on the reader’s imagination. The story eluded explaining exactly what was happening, as the lady was trying to escape from ‘Manfred’, and through the trap door. It creates a sense of uncertainty (which is another feature of a terror story) since it leaves you unsure if the protagonist is going to escape safely or if she is going to get caught from the person or monster she is running from. Terror stories depend on the reader’s imagination, therefore it depends on how you are imagining the story, whether you find it scary or not. Different people may visualize or immerse themselves into the storyline differently, thus it is entirely up to the reader if this passage from ‘The Castle of Otranto’ can terrify them or not.

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