Sensation Novels
Sensation Novels English (American-born) Author 843-1916 Recalling an after-dinner visit to Charles Eliot Norton's house in Boston of 1867 (68?), Henry James had this to say of Dickens: "I saw the master -- nothing could be more evident -- in the light of an intense emotion, and I trembled, I remember, in every limb, while at the same time, by a blest fortune, emotion produced no luminous blur, but left him shining indeed, only shining with august particulars. It was to be remarked that those of his dress, which managed to be splendid even while remaining the general spare uniform of the diner-out, had the effect of higher refinements, of accents stronger and better placed, than we had ever in such a connection seen so much as hinted. But the offered inscrutable mask was the great thing, the extremely handsome face, the face of symmetry yet of formidable character, as I at once recognised, and which met my dumb homage with a straight inscrutability, a merciless military eye, I might have prounounced it, an automatic hardness, in fine, which at once indicated to me, and in the most interesting way in the world, a kind of economy of apprehension. Wonderful was it thus to see, and thrilling inwardly to note, that since the question was of personal values so great no faintest fraction of the whole could succeed in not counting for interest. The confrontation was but of a
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
A literary and linguistic comparative study of three treatments
A literary and linguistic comparative study of three treatments of the theme of the dichotomy that exists between country and city life, especially with regards relationships. Texts used for this study: Charles Dickens's Great Expectations T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City Word Count 3601 INTRODUCTION The dichotomy that exists between city and country life is a theme that many writers have been drawn towards across the centuries, not least since the Industrial Revolution. Typically, the country is associated with idyllic life, a place with a strong sense of community, where relationships are wholesome and meaningful and life ambles past at a leisurely pace, uncomplicated and relatively trouble free. In contrast, city life is most often portrayed as being full of complexities, where individuals work hard and play hard, and where life is self-orientated and relationships are often futile. Through a literary and linguistic comparative study of their works, Great Expectations, The Waste Land, and Tales of the City, respectively, I will attempt to show how Charles Dickens, T.S. Eliot, and Armistead Maupin deal with this theme, showing to what extent the depiction of city and country life within these texts corresponds or contrasts with the stereotype. In so doing, I will concentrate most fully on the relationships hat exist between the
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
Discuss the figure of the 'gentleman' in Dickens' 'Great Expectations', contextualising the novel as much as possible.
Discuss the figure of the 'gentleman' in Dickens' 'Great Expectations', contextualising the novel as much as possible The concept of the nineteenth century gentleman was always somewhat confused. Whilst members of the aristocracy immediately qualified, in the age of industrial progression and with people outside the upper class coming into great amounts of wealth, there seemed to be a need to define who did or didn't qualify. To be considered a gentleman meant you had to have a certain social status; to simply behave with dignity, manners and respect was nothing if you weren't projecting the right social image, because only then would you be seen as an individual worthy of recognition. The focus of 'Great Expectations' is upon Philip Pirrip, or 'Pip'. As the novel is told from his perspective as he recounts the events of his youth, he takes the role of two characters; Pip the protagonist, whose activities make up the bulk of the book and Pip the narrator, who provides an older and wiser perspective on the actions of his youth. The two characters are made distinguishable from one another with great care by Dickens, as he makes sure to give them each an individual voice; the older narrator has perspective and maturity, whilst the younger protagonist gives his immediate thoughts and feelings on what happens to him as it happens. This is most evident in the novel's early
Explore the implications of the title "Great Expectations".
Explore the implications of the title "Great Expectations" Throughout literary history, the titling of a novel, play or poem can, has and will continue to define not just what a book will be filed under, but how it is received by the readership and critics alike. In the case of Dickens' "Great Expectations", the thematically driven ambiguity of the title allows readers and critics to draw interpretations of its implications based on theme, character and the interweaving of these in the narrative, whilst providing intrigue over its relevance and suitability to the Bildungsroman that Dickens crafts. Naturally, the very phrase "Great Expectations" provokes intrigue as to what these expectations are, and the variation between what is great, and expected by various characters is central to the presentation of character and its depth in the novel. For Pip, the idea of "great expectations" is precisely that, a superficial idea, and it is Pip's vehement and frequently misguided idealism over the obstacles and events that he comes across throughout his life that shapes his actions. One of the most important examples of this is upon his dreams of becoming a gentleman being realised- the superficial picture of the behaviour that constitutes "gentlemanliness" that he draws from the "very pretty, very proud and very insulting" Estella and the vengeful Miss Havisham lead him to begin to
"How does Dickens teach both Scrooge and the reader a moral lesson in "A Christmas Carol".
"How does Dickens teach both Scrooge and the reader a moral lesson in "A Christmas Carol" Charles Dickens wrote "A Christmas Carol" in 1843. It was a story that is designed to harness our emotions and rattle our consciences. His reasons for writing the book were to convince his readers for the need of reform. Dickens did this because he was aware of what life used to be like: many houses had an average of thirty people and children as young as nine were working. Charles Dickens intended to write a story with an uplifting moral. He showed this by Scrooge being visited by Marley and three sprits. Dickens did this because he felt he could make a difference to try and change wealthy people into giving money to the poor as he saw what poor people and himself went through. The spirit of Christmas Past, Present and Future all represented different parts of Scrooge's life and made him think about himself. Dickens' moral on the spirits of Christmases is that it is charity, generosity and kindness and it belongs to us all year round. When the spirits visit Scrooge his is taken on a journey of self-discovery. Dickens makes clear to us in the opening stave that Scrooge is a character who needs to learn a lesson. He does this by comparing Scrooge a lot to hard and cold words to create imagery. Scrooge is seen as miserly because he doesn't let Bob Cratchit have a decent fire. "; and so
The Theme of Industrialization in Carlyle and Dickens
The Theme of Industrialization in Carlyle and Dickens The invention of the steam engine and the development of the railways brought England a profound change by proliferating the Industrial Revolution, which created deep economic and social changes by the beginning of the Victorian age. "Hundreds of thousands of workers had migrated to industrial towns, where they lived in horribly crowded, unsanitary housing and worked very long hours -fourteen a day or even more- at very low wages. Employers often preferred to hire women and children, who worked for even less than men."1 Victorians debated the good and mostly bad sides of industrialism due to its great effect on the society and economy. Many philosophers and thinkers suggested a number of solutions for the problems of harsh working conditions, the unemployed poors and child labour. One of the most debated theories on the poor was "Utilitarianism" based on Jeremy Bentham's idea that pleasures, in so far as they are pleasures, are capable of being compared with each other as regards their quantity: a calculus of pleasures and pains is possible. The end pursued by morals and legislation is the greatest happiness of the greatest number, or . . . the identification of the interest of all with the interest of each. . . . 2 He argued that pain and pleasure was universal and they could be calculated as concrete objects. As he
What are the distinctive features of informal talk that can be gleaned from the conversation between Pip and Phyllis, a married couple from southeast England in Audiocassette 3, Band 5?
UZS210 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE - BLOCK 3: ENGLISH IN USE TMA03 Option (b) What are the distinctive features of informal talk that can be gleaned from the conversation between Pip and Phyllis, a married couple from southeast England in Audiocassette 3, Band 5? How do these features compare with those of formal talk elsewhere in Block 3? Introduction 'Conversation is without doubt the foundation stone of the social world - human beings learn to talk in it, find a mate with it, are socialised through it, rise in social hierarchy as a result of it, and, it is suggested, may even develop mental illness because of it.' (Beattie, 1983) In this essay, we are to highlight the distinctive features of informal talk with regards to the conversation between Pip and Phyllis and how do these features compare with those of formal talk. Before we proceed any further, let us understand what is meant by informal and formal talk. It has everything to do in what we do in everyday conversation. 'Conversation' is defined by some linguists as informal talk between two persons, but as in the above quotation from Geoffrey Beattie (1983) the term is used more loosely and draws on a wide range of examples from different contexts to try and give some sense of the diversity of ways in which English is used in everyday talk. Informal talk is viewed as rather disorderly,
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