COKETOWN

Coke= fuel (full) of che steam engine

anticipates materialism and concreteness
first paragraph- introduction of place and setting
second: description of the city, connected with words linked to the industrialization and
presentation of the symbol of the i r, the steam engine. The narrator also uses a completely
different semantic field linked to nature, underlined by words such as snakes, woods, to
symbolize ashes and smokes. the purpose of the use of the language may be to underline the
distance between the man and nature and industrial revolution..neither of them are under
man’s control.
description based on negative connotations
third portrays the victorian man mentality
fourth paragraph - example: church, freedom, are revisited according to the philosophy of
utilitarianism, marked by the repetition of facts

1830 - Age of Reform

First Reform Act/Great Reform Act -- extended the right to vote for everyone
Factory Act 1833 prevented children 9-13 from being employed for more than 48 hours a
week
Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 - charity acts would have been held by workhouses run by the
Church -- preached about monotonous diet, wear uniform. (Hypocrisy- none of them cared,
and this was noticeable by how bad the conditions in the workhouses were)
England avoided the revolutions and in 1851 organized the great exhibition housed at the
Crystal Palace -- showed england’s development industrial
Building of the London underground, 1860 -- transport of large quantities of raw materials and
products, travel for work and free time.
The Victorian compromise -- reforms and political stability coexisted with poverty and injustice.
The church encouraged public and political actions for charities, freedom linked with religion.
good manners, chastity for women, responsibility… intense concern for the fallen women,
people single with a child without a husband. ideal femininity revolved around the queen. new
institutions, prisons, hospitals, police stations, schools.
Development of the industrial revolution, advances in medicine, transports, education and
commerce linked to a huge restless rise in the population, housing was inadequate and rapidly
became slums with little hygiene and a high mortality rate (disastrous effects on children’s
health) portrayed in Dickens and Gaskell’s novels.

Increase of the criminality rate-- begging was a last resort of poverty but also a traditional form
of disguise for tricksters.
Prostitution: a profession for teens, for economic necessity. Most of them were not trapped on
the street forever. They were presented in literature and sinful whores, the dark opposite of
wives.. this system and the gender differences in general is criticized in Jane Eyre and other
operas that we don’t have analyzed but only heard about. An example as I said is Jane Eyre,
written from Charlotte Bronte under the pseudonyms of Currer.
Even the fact that the author wrote under synonyms is a hint to how women were treated: no
one would have ever bought a book written by a woman.
Here, marriage is presented as a relationship between equals while in reality it wasn’t, for
example i’ve read that after a marriage all the woman’s properties passed in the man’s hand
and if she wanted divorce she had to ask to the court after having proved her husband’s guilt
not only of adultery but also bestiality, incest, cruelty… while the man could ask for divorce or
even beat her up whenever he wanted with the support of the law!
It also analyzed the condition of a woman government in that time: she was at the same level
of a servant.

education is different between poor families and rich families, sometimes rich boys were sent
to boarding schools. elementary education became compulsory, workers could learn how to
write and the government realized the population couldn't be powerful with many illiterate
people: there were established poor Sunday schools, or ragged schools.
Most important was science, facts, children punished for everything physically even the rich.

THE BRONTE SISTERS

Charlotte, Emily, Anna - spent most of their life in isolation and educated by themselves. they
began to write chronicles of imaginary countries in 1846 published a volume of poetry, poems
by currer, ellis and acton bell. those were their pseudonyms, the readers, the public, wouldn’t
have read an opera written by a woman. charlotte published jane eyre, the only opera that
was successful followed by shirley and villette.
The plot deals with the story of a girl, Jane, a penniless orphan who is sent to a really strict
school. she becomes a teacher here and after a few she receives a request to become a
governess at thornfield hall. here she falls in love with a man, mr rochester, who proposes to
her. After this event, strange phenomenons appeared to the woman at night and during the
day. Their wedding was interrupted by a stranger, who declares that Rochester has already
got a wife. She leaves the house through tears and falls in love with a religious man.
In the video there were children, girls, dressed in a respectable way typical of Victorian
society. All Of them stood in a rigid way in front of a big man who recognized Jane Eyre and
told her to step up. The colors are cold and scary, maybe the register wanted to show the
children’s emotion.
He exposes her as a liar = sin, and tells the others to shame her. They put a sign around her
neck with a sign with a liar written on it and made her walk through her classmates. He told
her she wouldn’t have eaten.
The other video was a piece of conversation between Jane and her religious lover, who at the
end will propose to her. She explained that she wants to be independent and leave
Manchester.
The setting of the whole story is not always the same but structured around giving separate
locations. Every house or place represents a stage in her life and has also got a reference or a
symbolical name of someone else.Gateshead for example stands for gateway, lowood mands
low wood because for how to school was built, with wood, but stands also for a low period in
jane's life.
The new quality of the opera is that it is written following a woman’s point of view who talks
frankly about herself.

CHARLES DICKENS
Unhappy childhood, dad imprisoned for debt at 12, had to work in a workhouse in a factory. In
1832 he had become a successful reporter for parliamentary debates, began to work as a
reporter for a newspaper, published his first collection of articles, sketches by boz (his pen
name) ,described London's ppl and scenes. married Catherine in april 1836, began Oliver
Twist in 1837, took strongly against the US even if he was a republican, david copperfield
1850, hard times 1854. dealt with the condition of the lower classes, died in Kent in 1870
buried in Westminster Abbey. He fought for the right of education, the education act was
promoted only after his death.
His aim in his novels was to arouse the reader’s interest by exaggerating his characters’ habit.
He was always the side of the poor. children are important- the wealthier classes acquired
knowledge about the poorests needs. used an effective language, considered the greatest
novelist in the english language. influenced by the bible, nursery rhyme.. London was the
setting of many novels.

HARD TIMES
Novel: set in an imaginary industrial town, Coketown, based on a real industrial town.
Thomas Gradgrind: main character, an educator who believes in facts and statistics with two
children. He married his daughter to a rich banker, but the marriage proves to be unhappy. At
the end everyone gets what they deserve -- mr gred realizes, the rich banker who had robbed
his workman is obliged to leave the country.
Focuses on the difference between the poor and the rich, criticises the philosophy of
utilitarianism, materialism and the danger of teaching people using a method called object
lesson that limits their mind and imagination. It is a criticism because in the 9th century
England was turning people into machines.

JOHN KEATS
He was part of the second generation of romantic poets, loved mythology and ancient greece,
fused perfectly neoclassicism and romanticism like ugo foscolo did. He was born in a wealthy
family, studied to become a surgeon but never stopped writing even if he was hardly known
outside of his literary circle. in 1820 died of tuberculosis, was buried in a prtestant cemetery in
rome. The pronoun i is not linked to an individual within the context of his time, stands for a
universal I. Imagination had a supreme value and was an escape from the artificial reality.
What struck me the most was beauty, the ideal of all art. a thing of beauty is a joy forever.
physical beauty = life, joy, spiritual beauty = eternity.

Oscar Wilde
He was influenced by the art critic Ruskin and became a disciple of W. Peter. He accepted the
theory of Art for Art’s sake. In London he quickly became well-known for his charme and his
style of dress as a dandy.
He publicly spoke for the first time about his beliefs concerning Aestheticism when he was
invited to America after the publication of his ‘’Poems’’: he declared that he was convinced
that Art was a search for the beautiful, and the only way in life to guarantee a relationship
between humankind and happiness. He was workshipped for being a great speaker but soon
his name became linked to immorality and scandals: he was recognized to be a unique genius
of literature but was also charged for being homosexual (accused to: he was married with a
woman). He thought life was meant for pleasure and his thoughts somehow are similar to the
ones of one of his characters, Lord Henry, who is the antagonist of the whole book. By the
way Wilde stated in the preface of Dorian Gray that he was strongly convinced that moral or
immoral books didn’t exist; there were only well written or bad written books, so his aim was
not to awake the conscience of the reader like Dickens. He just liked a book written in that
way, in fact he rejected the didacticism that characterized the Victorian novel in the 1st half of
the century.

The picture of Dorian Grey

Based in London at the end of the 19th century, the protagonist is a young handsome man,
Dorian, whose beauty amazes Basil Hallward, a painter who decides to paint his portrait
without wanting anything in return. Lord Henry Wotton, a corrupted man, seduces Dorian into
turning his life into a one based on pleasure, by saying to him that the only awesome thing in
his life, his youth, is destined to fade. Dorian wishes eternal youth and he realizes the signs of
age and vice are appearing on his portrait and not on his own body. When Basil sees the
painting, gets also killed by Dorian, because he had tried to make him repent. Dorian wants to
free himself and stabs the painting but while doing this he kills himself and the portrait returns
to its original purity.
A typical technique of drama is used: all of the characters reveal themselves through their
actions or speechs.
Dorian represents the ideal of youth and beauty and portrayed at first as an immature and
childish boy, but soon through the narrator's (unobtrusive third person) words his person is
idealized and presented as a living Adonis. Basil becomes a sad example of how a good artist
can be destroyed in a sacrifice for art, his passion is considered as the responsible for
Dorian’s sadness. The settings are vividly described with words linked to the senses (@
Dickens)
The story is a 19th century of the legend of Faust, by Goethe, which deals with the story of a
man who sells his soul to the devil in order to satisfy his desires. In the novel the soul is the
painting and it represents the dark side of Dorian’s personality (theme of the double!).
The moral of the novel is that everyone gets what they deserve and gets eventually punished
if they have been acting in a bad or immoral way. The horrible picture could be a symbol of the
Victorian middle class, who is characterized by hypocrisy, while Dorian may hypothetically
represent bourgeois hypocrisy. The end illustrates Wilde’s theory of art: it survives people, it is
eternal.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT
The ruling king was Edward VII. Britain was the wealthiest town in Europe but was being
challenged by technical innovations in France and Germany. His society was similar to the
Victorian one: class distinctions were still well defined and poverty was still a huge problem.
A new Labour Representation Committee developed into the Labour Party in 1906, the
election of the same year was won by the Liberals, whose party was split in two: the
conservatives and the progressivists. During this period a sort of Welfare State and some
measures were introduced, such as the introduction of an old-age pension for people over 70
yo and regular medical inspections in schools. The period was also characterized by the
presence of a new movement founded by Emmeline Pankhurst, the WSPU (Women’s Social
and Political Union) which wanted the right of voting to be extended to women too.
They held violent (but necessary) protests, often hitting and spitting at policemen. Women
over 30 got the right to vote in 1918, but suffrage was granted to women in 21 only ten years
after.
The first half of the century consisted in many events which lead to the outbreak of the IWW:
in 1914 a Serbian nationalist killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo. Then
Austria bombed Belgrade and the German Kaiser declared war on Russia and France,
declaring a series of conflict and war declarations.

By September 1914 the German army had reached the Marne in France, when the British
Secretary realized the war was going to last for a long time he appealed for volunteers.
Conscription was introduced in Britain in 1916 and women replaced men in their civilian jobs,
which contributed to bringing about women’s suffrage. Another issue was the so-called ‘’Irish
Question’’: in April 1916 there was a rebellion in Dublin, the Easter Rising, due to the fact that
the Home Rule had been suspended. The rebellion was repressed and 15 leaders were
executed.

The age of anxiety

Many soldiers celebrated their return home after war with a search for pleasure, while others
were haunted by a sense of guilt and had to search up for psychological help due to the
horrors of the trenches. A sense of frustration quickly developed also thanks to the
introduction of a first set of new ideas by Sigmund Freud, well known for his The Interpretation
of Dreams (1900): he stated that man was motivated by irrational forces of which he didn’t
know almost anything. His theory placed enormous importance on the ‘’libido’’, the sexual
instinct and created scandal in particulare because of his theory about the Oedipus phase,
typical of everyone and capable of transforming the father of the same sex as the child as a
rival. He also provided a new method of investigation of the human mind through the analysis
of dreams and the concept of free associations (people invited to speak about whatever they
were thinking about atm) and this led to the formation of the writers of the Modern Age. Jung
for example continued his Master’s fraud studies, adding the concept of collective
unconscious, a sort of cultural memory containing the universal images and beliefs that are
common to everyone regardless of their culture.
In science the concept of relativity was introduced: A. Einstein discarded the concepts of time
and space and the world lost his attachment to stability and phenomenal representation in art.
The idea of time as a subjective dimension was questioned by William James and Bergson:
they realized that our mind records every single experience as a continuous flow of ‘’the
already’’ and the ' ‘not yet’’.
Bergson also made a distinction between psychological time (subjective) and historical time
(measured, linear).
Sir James George Frazer’s and other scientists introduced the concept of anthropology which
helped to understand the truth of various systems. A new concept of ‘’man’’ was introduced: to
Freud it was a part of nature and a psychological/biological phenomenon, to Marx the
outcome of social and economic forces. Nietzsche quickly gained popularity at that time, he
stated that God is dead and had substituted Christian morality with a belief in human power.
More and more people became aware of the controversial nature of the Christian religion and
converted to atheism or esoteric beliefs.

The Dead (vedi Moodle)

Main characters: Gabriel and his wife Gretta
Gretta = similar to Nora (Joyce’s wife) because she fell in love with a cultured man
Unlike Nora and Joyce, they decided to remain on the island.
It is settled during Christmas Times → people linked to their traditions
It starts with a party organized by Gabriel’s aunts, they stay in a hotel: Gabriel is the main guest → he
even made a speech and he’s proud of that (but it’s banal and exaggerated…) → it deals with hospitality
and his country.
It is snowing and all is very silent → Gabriel can’t understand why, but then Gretta reveals him what
she has.
She mentions a man → Michael Furey, misterious man who studied music→ they were in love and at
the party she heard the song they used to sing together. (EPIPHANY)
Music = important role in Joyce
Gabriel wants to appear as a different person even to his wife. At the end no one knows who
Gabriel truly was.
Gretta said they used to walk with him in Galway (Ireland).
Gabriel begins to be jealous.
Michael died when he was only seventeen. → Gretta thinks about him with sadness. Gabriel feels
superior to Michael but soon he realizes he isn’t, even if he died.
‘’What was he’’ → Gabriel asked this ironically because he thought he didn’t do anything
(Gretta/Work) → But she was really in love with him, even more than with her husband’s.
Gretta and Gabriel are together physycally but not mentally.
Gabriel starts to realize how sad his life actually is. → PARALYSYS → doesn’t change anything,
doesn’t try to find a solution.
He’s terrified and frightened but also curious → because she said that she thinks Michael died for her.
It is af is he’s not in love with her anymore and Gretta realizes that. Gabriel is no more the
protagonist of his wife’s life.
He realizes he has never known anything about his wife and he had never really loved her :( →
superficial love → curiosity in the reader
Atmosphere of death and paralysis qui c’era un uccellino che cantava fuori scuola e mi sono
distratta
‘’One by one, they were all becoming shades’’ → all people are destined to die.
He doesn’t think about life anymore, he is towards death.
Another epiphany!!! Gabriel realizes he’s a middle age man while MIchael had lived only 17 years but
strongly and passionately → he felt in love w/ a woman who still loves him after death → Gabriel had
never experienced true love towards someone (pag. 3 documento Moodle leggi)
He’s afraid and no more proud of himself. He was dead inside from a spiritual pov