Characterization in Dickens' Hard Times.
Characterization in Dickens' Hard Times A firm character basis is the foundation upon which any good novel is built. For an allegorical novel, Dickens has a surprisingly complex character foundation. The characters in Hard Times have both the simplistic characteristics of a character developed for allegorical purposes, as well as the intricate qualities of "real" people. These characters think and feel like we do and react to their situations in the same way that most of us would. These attributes are what give the characters life and allow us to relate to their decisions. Three characters in Hard Times; James Harthouse, Josiah Bounderby and Stephen Blackpool, exemplify this realistic quality and each is representative of a different social division - divisions of upper, middle and lower class. Each class, because of social interaction or absence of the same, creates different dilemmas. The upper class, as holds true in reality, is the smallest of the three categories and, consequently, has its own unique problems. James Harthouse, a characteristic member of the upper class, comes to Coketown to search for something else to bide his time with. As an aristocratic member of society, one can become stuck in the furrows of life when hours of daily labour are not a part of that person's regimen. Here is an example of some of the extravagant escapades that Harthouse embarks on,
Oppression and frenzy: causes of the French Revolution.
OPPRESSION AND FRENZY: CAUSES OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."1 The quote describes the spirit of the era in which this story takes place. The age is marked by competing and contradictory attitudes. Whether it was the best of times or the worst of times depended on one's point of view. Yet, these times resembles the present period in which Charles Dickens writes A Tale of Two Cities. In fact, Dickens' novel was written as a political commentary to inform the people of the Victorian era of the causes of the French Revolution. These causes can be divided into two major categories: hatred for the nobility, and an atmosphere of paranoia, fueled by the sans-culottes, which can be seen in calls for violence. Evidence for hatred of the nobility is quite extensive. Not seldom aristocrats fell victim to crowd violence, often being mutilated in the process. Nobles inspired resentment and retaliation because they claimed that their political and social distinctions derived from their high birth. Just so, the people of Paris provided much of the force for radical action in the French Revolution. In France, before the revolution, the social structure had two extremes. The peasants hated the aristocrats for their power and money. For the aristocracy it seemed like the best of times but many lived in a world insulated from what the reality
Bakhtin claims that chronotopes "are the organising centres for the fundamental narrative events of a novel ... It can be said without qualification that to them belongs the meaning that shapes the narrative" how accurate an assessment is this?
Bakhtin claims that chronotopes "are the organising centres for the fundamental narrative events of a novel ... It can be said without qualification that to them belongs the meaning that shapes the narrative" how accurate an assessment is this? Throughout this essay I am going to be selective in Bakhtin's theory, not because it isn't beneficial but because it is so detailed and compact. I intend to compare the chronotopes to the structure of Dickens's novels, Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby. Throughout I will extract quotations from the text but oftern I will make detail references as more than one quotation is needed. Bakhtin uses examples from Greek Romance novels to focus the theory on in order that I will have to drawn comparisons between the Greek romance and Dickens's texts. The chronotope is imperative in a text as it defines the genre. Bakhtin uses the term Chronotope to describe the 'inseparability of space and time'1. It is the connectedness of temporal and spatial relationships which, in literature, are inseparable from each other and are continuously shape by emotions and morals. Constantly we structure our lives around times we have to be located in places, what time we are meeting and where. Time to us is order and something which subconsciously controls us, pushing us to meet its hours. This is the unchanged within a novel and Dickens's narratives are
What is the relationship of the present-at-hand to the ready-to-hand? How is the present-at hand prior? How is the ready-to-hand prior?
Vincent M. Entac GSI: Forrest Tues. 1400 Philosophy 185 Heidegger's Being and Time Topic #1: What is the relationship of the present-at-hand to the ready-to-hand? How is the present-at hand prior? How is the ready-to-hand prior? The relationship between present-at-hand and ready-to-hand is based in Heidegger's concept of "equipment" and Being's relationship to it. Present-at-hand and ready-to hand are both modes of being, in which equipment plays an important role. In our most basic way of dealing with things we deal with them as equipment. "Equipment is essentially in-order-to...", that is to say that equipment, in and of itself, is something to be used in-order-to.1 An example of this is my keyboard; I'm using it in-order-to write my paper. This idea of something in-order-to is essential to equipment, and to the understanding of the relationship between ready-to-hand and present-at-hand. The thing that is important here is the nature of equipment. Equipment's essence is fundamentally towards other equipment. Whereby equipment is what it is only by its relationship to other equipment. "Equipment... always is in terms of its belonging to other equipment."2 An example is a screwdriver is only a screwdriver because of its relationship to screws. The screwdriver has an in-order-to, which is in-order-to screw or unscrew. But in-order-to screw or unscrew one
Comparison of the way in which Glyn Jones has written about the character of Jordan with the way Charles Dickens has written about the character Magwich in the early chapters of 'Great Expectations'.
Comparison of the way in which Glyn Jones has written about the character of Jordan with the way Charles Dickens has written about the character Magwich in the early chapters of 'Great Expectations' The character Jordan is a manservant to the doctor of his village. He doesn't often speak and we learn very little when we meet him other than a highly detailed description of his appearance. Magwich however is an escaped convict, and the manner in which he is described is blunt, and does not give away more than is needed, and with the tone of his voice we can perceive parts of his personality. In this essay I will be analysing the different aspects of the characters, mainly: Their role in society, their physical appearance, the setting and atmosphere, their actions and behaviour, the language in their speech and the pace of the writing. At first glance Jordan and Magwich have very different roles in society. Magwich is an escaped convict, obviously imprisoned for a crime, while Jordan we are told is the manservant to the doctor of the village. "He told me he was Jordan, manservant to the old doctor of the town." This man assisted a doctor, one of the most essential jobs in society, where you can potentially save a great number of lives. This is a huge contrast to Magwich, a villain, a menace to society. While their roles seem different at first, as Magwich is just blatantly
Does the nineteenth century social problem novel document reality in order to educate readers?
Does the nineteenth century social problem novel document reality in order to educate readers? The social problem novel as demonstrated by Gaskell's Mary Barton and Hard Times by Charles Dickens, was an attempt to come to terms with the events of the 1840s, and to communicate to the reader the various implications of these events. Although not political treatises, they nevertheless succeed in remaining true to the realities of the time, and succeed in educating the average reader of these fictions about their society's problems, whilst at the same time remaining works designed to entertain. The social problem novel in the Mid Victorian era arose out of what Thomas Carlyle had referred to as the "Condition of England question" in 1843. From the beginning of the nineteenth century, England had undergone a massive transformation from being a largely agricultural economy to an increasingly industrialised one. This industrial revolution brought with it both enormous economic benefits to Britain, but also huge problems regarding the new manufacturing towns and the workers therein. By the 'hungry forties', the period in which both Mary Gaskell and Charles Dickens were writing, protests and demonstrations on the part of the workers were growing, and certainly their fate was attracting more attention. Although the expression 'condition of England' is a general one, it refers to
Epic storytelling in Disney's universe - Carl Barks and Duckburg
Solveig Kleiveland LLT 4 3.12.2002 EAS-F2F45 James Russel Epic storytelling in Disney's universe: Carl Barks and Duckburg "Duckburg was sort of figured to be near Burbank, but obviously it had to be moved around to fit the requirements of whatever story I was writing. So it became a place of fantasy, like a fairy-tale locale. It had a desert, a lake, a sea, snow, tropical hurricanes, anything that was needed." Carl Barks 1 "Carl Barks is The Comic Book King!" Roy E. Disney2 Duckburg is a 'typically' American town where everything is possible. Situated on the West Coast of Calisota it exists in the hearts and minds of every child who has ever read one of Carl Bark's stories. On a visit to this town you can find Donald Duck trying to raise his nephews Huey, Louie and Dewey, working (for pitiful wages) for his 'umpty-squazillionaire' uncle Scrooge McDuck, and fighting with Gladstone Gander over the affections of Daisy Duck. Gyro Gearloose will be inventing something amazing to prevent the Beagle Boys and Magica De Spell from robbing Scrooge, and on the outskirts of town Grandma Duck will be inviting the whole family to a proper country feast. Who was the man who created all this? Carl Barks was born to German parents in 1901. Drawing occupied his time from an early age, but he tried a number of different jobs before he applied successfully to work for Disney in
London is a city of myth and heroism, and criminality features strongly in the city's folklore. In literature, the London criminal has transcended mere villainy to become canonised as one of our favourite literary character types.
London is a city of myth and heroism, and criminality features strongly in the city's folklore. In literature, the London criminal has transcended mere villainy to become canonised as one of our favourite literary character types. Dickens' Oliver Twist portrays London's dense criminal underworld that thrived during the mid-19th century. In characters such as Fagin and Bill Sikes the reader is presented professional thieves and house breakers whom converse in their own esoteric slang and prowl the darkest, dingiest districts of the East End. Staying true to the nature of London's criminal mythology, which has idealised many thieves and murderers, Dickens' dramatisation of the close-knit subculture of larceny champions such unsavoury characters as urban heroes, reacting against the severe poverty of their environment. Yet, as will become clear, he struggles with an ideological dichotomy in his representation of criminality. Though in his fiction Dickens seems to sympathise with the poverty and desperation of London criminals, he allows for his own venomous moral scrutiny of their actions, which manifests further in his journalistic writings. This also translates to the reader as a moral dilemma; can we admire Bill Sikes' bravery and skill, and simultaneously condemn him for his brutal treatment of the orphan Oliver? An equally prescient feature of London's mythology is
What is exemplary about Rinconete y Cortadillo?
What is exemplary about Rinconete y Cortadillo? Rinconete y Cortadillo forms part of Miguel de Cervantes's Novelas Ejemplares. In order to answer what is exemplary about this novel, we must first understand the meaning of 'exemplary'. The Concise Oxford dictionary defines this adjective as "1. fit to be imitated; outstandingly good. 2. to serve as a warning 3. illustrative, representative". Cervantes's intention with the Novelas Ejemplares, was to set his works apart from those of Italian writers. He aimed to introduce examples of behaviour that readers could follow or avoid in real life. In the prologue, he said of the Novelas Ejemplares: "no hay ninguna de quien no se pueda sacar algún ejemplo provechoso." Unamuno also commented on the exemplary content of the novellas: "Y llamo ejemplares a estas novelas porque las doy como ejemplo - así, como suena - ejemplo de vida y de realidad." The leading writing style of the era was picaresque. A typical picaresque novel would follow the episodes of a 'pícaro' or rogue, whose behaviour does not change much throughout the novel, as he survives by using his wits. Although Rinconete y Cortadillo does not strictly follow the characteristics of a picaresque novel, elements are distinguishable and serve as examples of behaviour. If 'exemplary' can be described as something that is worthy of imitation, there are certain aspects of
The comparison of Charles Dickens 'A Christmas carol' and Steven king's 'The Shining'
The comparison of Charles Dickens 'A Christmas carol' and Steven king's 'The Shining' Charles Dickens and Steven king lived in different times in history. In comparing my chosen texts I found interesting comparisons, similarities and differences in the social, cultural and historical issues, which I shall explain. 'A Christmas carol' was written in 1843, probably for children to teach them not to grow up to be as spiteful as the main character in the novel. the main character, Ebenezer Scrooge, is haunted by three spirits who are sent to help him change his ways and become kinder to everyone. The book is set in London on Christmas Eve. Christmas seemed to be an important occasion for everyone; even if they are poor they still insist on enjoying Christmas, 'though it has never put a scrap of silver... ...god bless it!' This was probably because cultures didn't really mix then, so there were few other religions in England, and almost everyone celebrated Christmas. 'The Shining' is also set around Christmas over one hundred years later, but Christmas isn't so important for this family, as in the book you never hear about Christmas day, only the time before and after the date. There is only three in the family, unlike in dickens's time the families were bigger, so this may be why the family doesn't celebrate much. When Steven King wrote this novel Christmas had become a