Do the versions of Utopia offered by 20th Century writers suggest its unattainability or merely wrong ways of going about it?
Twentieth Century Literature Literature and Politics Module: ELS 3501 5. Do the versions of Utopia offered by 20th Century Writers suggest its unattainability or merely wrong ways of going about it? ...Les utopies sont realisables. La vie marche Vers les utopies. Et peut-etre un siecle nouveau Commence-t-il, un siecle ou les intellectuels et La classe cultivee reveront aux moyens d'eviter Les utopies et de retourner a une societe non Utopique, moins 'parfaite' et plus libre. Nicolas Berdiaeff This epigraph by Nicolas Berdiaeff provides a thought-provoking introduction to Aldous Huxley's 1932 novel, Brave New World. Here Berdiaeff realises that utopias are achievable and yet they must be avoided, "...Et nous nous trouvons actuellement devant une question bien autrement angoisante: Comment eviter leur realisation definitive?" (Berdiaeff, N). In this essay I have chosen Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and Animal Farm by George Orwell to illustrate the intentions of these two twentieth century writers when tackling the subject of Utopia/Dystopia. I will outline obvious parallels in the two works and attempt to conclude that, while Huxley seems to oppose the idea of a successful utopic society, Orwell, in his 1945 political fable 'Animal Farm' strives to inform the reader of key moments where it may have been achieved. This would rely on particular
The figure of the child, and the nature of childhood, as seen in the works of Lewis Carroll and Beatrix Potter
JOHN BOLTON BA Childhood Studies yr. 2 The figure of the child, and the nature of childhood, as seen in the works of Lewis Carroll and Beatrix Potter Something detrimental happens to literary criticism when children's literature is separated into a wholly disconnected genre. It is detrimental because there is such richness, meaning, and insight in children's literature which mostly will go unnoticed. An unsurprisingly small amount has been written about children's books compared with the broader spectrum that constitutes 'grown-up literature'. This, perhaps, is because children's books are not seen as academically important, the works are not of scholarly interest. An ideology of childhood where literature pertaining to it would be considered important has not, perhaps, been in existence for sufficiently long. Beatrix Potter's contribution to children's literature is unquestionable. She wrote about "feelings and adventures that are part of every child's imagination (Tucker, 1981, p.57). Her tales are timeless, whether detailing exciting escapades or "eventless catalogues of animal domesticity" (Ousby, 1988, p.740). Of equal importance and interest is Charles Dodgson (hereafter referred to by his pseudonym, Lewis Carroll). Writing at a time when society's ideologies of childhood were realising the rights of children as individuals, Carroll opened the door to whimsical child
Discuss the form and narrative perspective of The Yellow Wallpaper with close reference to language and imagery.
Discuss The Form And Narrative Perspective Of The Yellow Wallpaper With Close Reference To Language And Imagery. Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote the Yellow Wallpaper in 1891. For many years she had suffered from severe and continuous nervous breakdown. She found that doctors and specialist were unsympathetic and they warned her never to write again. However, with the help of a friend she disregarded the doctor's advice and began to write again. She slowly began to live a normal life again and regained some power and control over her own life. The story is an account of a middle class, nineteenth century woman and her struggle with mental illness. She is intelligent and likes to write. She craves intellectual company and stimulation. However, her husband, who is a doctor, advises complete bed rest and has forbidden her to write. A first person narrator tells the story. It is written in the style of her diary, which gives the reader an intimate glimpse into her mind. This enables the reader to trace her decline into insanity. In the first entry the narrator describes the house with mixed feelings. On the one hand, she compliments the house and calls it "The most beautiful place" with a "delicious garden" (p128) but then she seems apprehensive. She dismisses the thoughts that the house may be "haunted" but she still feels that there is "something queer about it." Perhaps she
Consider the political implications of seeing and being seen in Nineteen Eight-Four and The Orchard, focussing on one passage or scene from each book, and one relevant image or written text you collect from print media.
Essay One: The Orchard and Nineteen Eighty-Four both describe cultures that "encourage us to see ourselves as others see us". Consider the political implications of seeing and being seen in Nineteen Eight-Four and The Orchard, focussing on one passage or scene from each book, and one relevant image or written text you collect from print media. The Orchard, Nineteen Eighty-Four and Doug's Story, all describe cultures that have both subservant characters as well as dominant ones; creating an unequal society. The political figures affect how the individuals see themselves; through many techniques including creating institutions, generating propaganda, having constant surveillance and interpellation of genders. I endeavour to examine each of these tools on their success to affect their victims and influence the society. Nineteen-Eighty Four is a dramatic novel which examines Orwell's speculation of a possible future under a communist-dominated regime. It eliminates freewill "there will be no thought, as we understand it now. Orthodoxy means not thinking-not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness."1 The political implications of seeing and being seen in 1984 is that due to constant surveillance and brainwashing, someone's perception of reality can be altered, so that they truly believe they are living in utopian society, which is actually dystopic. Through habit and
Compare three Pre 20th century horror stories in terms of how successful they are within this genre.
Shabbir Khan 10F Mrs. Ackah Compare three Pre 20th century horror stories in terms of how successful they are within this genre. The three stories I have studied were 'The Monkey's Paw' written by W.W. Jacobs, 'The Red Room' by H.G. Wells and 'Desiree's Baby' written by Kate Chopin. Each story was set in or written before the 20th century. The stories reflect their different perceptions of different aspects in society at the time. Each story can be classified in the horror genre although the three stories are very different. 'The Monkey's Paw' by W.W. Jacobs was written in the mid 19th century when India was a part of the British Empire. Sergeant Major Morris had returned to England from India and brought a 'monkey's paw' with him. He showed it to Mr and Mrs. White and their son, he claimed that the paw granted three wishes. One of the wishes made resulted in death. 'The Monkey's Paw' relies on a lot of suspense. Mysterious characters such as Sergeant Major Morris "...tall, burly man, beady of eye..." adds to the suspense because his role in the story at the beginning is hidden and it is clear he is a significant character. The author also makes Mr. White and his son talk about him before he comes to the house, giving him more importance in the story, "I should hardly think he'll come tonight." This makes the reader want to know more about him. However,
The Social Constraints of Marriage on Women.
Kimberly Backes Professor Fesmire Humanities 107W 9 February 2004 The Social Constraints of Marriage on Women Virginia Woolf views marriage as very stifling to the identity of women. She feels the institution of marriage creates a mindset in women to be self sacrificing, passive, and to use their talents to excel in domestic tasks. Virginia Woolf calls this mindset the angel in the house. Virginia Woolf kills her own angel and is able to achieve success as a female writer but she knows this is not true for most women in a male-dominated society. Woolf feels women are endowed with all kinds of potential, some of which will never be expressed due to the social restrictions placed on women. People should be valued for their potential, be it realized or not, in addition to being valued for work they have actually performed. Woolf expresses the struggle between the killing the angel and embracing the angel through the character of Clarissa Dalloway in Mrs. Dalloway while Michael Cunningham does this through Laura Brown in The Hours. These women live decades apart but still are in conflict. Clarissa Dalloway embraces the angel in her house since it allows for her to avoid reaching her full potential. She is well aware of her role as a wife and instead of trying to overcome the restrictions, she reinforces them. Clarissa uses the angel as an escape from living a full
Lord Jim, Modernism and Colonialism
EN 4880B Modernism & Empire Mid-Term Essay Shivaranjani Subramaniam U051096U Lord Jim, appearing just at the turn of century, can be easily glossed over, due to the novel's maritime backdrop, as belonging to travel literature that was popular in fin de siècle England. However upon delving deeper, the novel's modernism manifested through aspects like the different viewpoints and as such a fragmented story, its self-reflexivity and the poetic nature of the prose, rescues the novel from such a quick and unjust gloss (Klages 165). For the novel does not glorify the journeys that the West undertook in the late nineteenth century in the name of exploration or the Empire- it rather, through its modernist aesthetics, undermines them. Keeping in mind how late nineteenth century literature on the empire "was effectively a literary and visual form of pro-imperial propaganda", Lord Jim makes a clean break from that genre precisely because Conrad juxtaposes colonialism and modernism (Levine 121). Considering what the abovementioned modernist aesthetics comment upon colonialism and how colonialism itself is complicated in the text, this paper will show how Lord Jim avoids being labeled as pro-imperial propagandistic literature. Modernism actually does not just comment upon colonialism- it approaches the latter in a whole new way. The binarism or Manicheanism that normally holds
An Examination of Figurative and Literal Debris in J.G. Ballards "Concrete Island"
An Examination of Figurative and Literal Debris in Concrete Island J.G. Ballard’s Concrete Island tells the story of a wealthy architect, Robert Maitland, who is forced to survive on a manmade island in the middle of a motorway intersection following a car crash. As Groes points out in his paper, Ballard’s Concrete Island examines the social and cultural trends in postwar London through an extreme situation experienced by the main character Robert Maitland (2011). It is argued that Ballard’s writing depicts how changes in urban spaces are reshaping social relationships (Groes, 2011). Notably, debris forms as a result of the people and places that have been leftover from rapid societal transformations. Ballard’s Concrete Island examines the importance of literal debris (the wasteland) and figurative debris (outsiders of society) in Maitland’s experiences on the island. Despite being an architect who contributes to architectural changes, Maitland struggles to survive on the island until his encounter with Jane and Proctor. These two characters are the figurative debris in this novel. To demonstrate, Proctor is described as an “aged defective” (Ballard, Concrete, 86), while Jane is said to resemble the “prototypal drop-out” (Ballard, Concrete, 82). In particular, the presence of Jane and Proctor prevents Maitland from dying and his interactions with them allow
Compare and contrast the presentation of women's lives in 'An old woman' by Arun Kolatar and 'Charlotte O'Neil's song' by Fiona Farrell.
Compare and contrast the presentation of women's lives in 'An old woman' by Arun Kolatar and 'Charlotte O'Neil's song' by Fiona Farrell. Fiona Farrell wrote Charlotte O'Neil's song in the 20th C, however it is set in the 19th C. Farrell was born and spent the majority of her life in New Zealand. The poem is about a servant called charlotte who is currently on a ship heading for New Zealand and for her a new life. In the poem she is talking about her "past" life as a servant, she is saying what she had to do while she worked for her master and mistress; she also gives them commands about what they will have to do now she's gone. An old woman was written in the 20th century, by Arun Kolatker. He was visting an ancient Hindu temple in a town called Jejuri. This is when he meets the old woman. Charlotte O'Neil's song begins with Charlotte with her looking back at the tasks she had to do for her master and mistress. She is making statements. 'I scraped out your grate And washed your plate' Here we get the feeling that charlotte is quite bitter. By the end of the poem although she is still angry she is no longer making statements, she is making commands. 'And you can open your own front door.' She is finally free from them and can do what she pleases. 'But your on your own my dear. I won't be there anymore.' She is no longer looking at the past she is looking
chinese cinderella
Chinese Cinderella. Some readers might say Adeline had presented a picture of childhood which was consistently unhappy? Do you agree? Chinese Cinderella is about a young girl battling through life and many misfortunes to finally get a good future, which she gets through sheer perseverance. I believe that Adeline Yen Mah does have a terrible childhood which consists of mainly sorrowful situations; but her being an optimistic child; she is able to transform little actions into something she can find pleasure from. Therefore in this essay I will discuss how I disagree with the statement "Some readers might say Adeline had presented a picture of childhood which was consistently unhappy", as I believe that however rarely it took place there were a few happy situations. I will also try to discuss the idea of how each of these "happy" situations are transformed each time into depressing situations. The story begins with an enthusiastic child, overjoyed by the recent events where she was awarded a prize at school. She is then delighted about the fact that her dearly loved Aunt Baba would keep her certificate in the same box in which she kept her truly, valuable, possessions, as if her "award were also some precious jewel impossible to replace". Therefore I believe she did have moments of true happiness but they were short-lived as these emotions are soon distorted by the