and the novel ends as she escapes from her room, with a candle lighting her way down

a dark hallway.

Main Characters:
• Antoinette Cosway: The story's main character, who is a sensitive and lonely Creole
young girl. Also, she is inspired by the mad wife, "Bertha," from Charlotte Bronte's
gothic novel, Jane Eyre.
• Edward Rochester: Rochester is one of the antagonists in Wide Sargasso Sea. He
remains nameless throughout the novel, referred to only as "that man" or "my
husband."
• Annette: Antoinette's mother. She is the second wife first to Alexander and later to Mr.
Mason. Annette shows signs of madness and melancholy in her daughter's earliest
recollections.
• Christophine: She is Anette's servant. She was given to Annette as a wedding present
by her first husband Alexander. She practices a Caribbean black magic, with which she
tries to help Antoinette regain first her husband's love and then her sanity.
• Mr. Mason: The white Englishman and Annette's second husband. He abandons
Annette and her daughter after the fire.

Major Themes:
• The Oppression of Slavery and Entrapment.
• The Complexity of Racial Identity.
• The Link between Womanhood, Enslavement and Madness.
• The theme of reality.

Symbols:
Fire: sometimes represents destruction, domination, and smoldering passions, other
times used in a positive way.
Birds; refer to freedom and humanity, but Annette’s parrot represents Antoinette’s horrible
fate.
Forests and Trees: Antoinette’s dreams about dark unknown places, "forests and long
trees" that contrast with Jamaica's colorful nature are symbols for somewhere that she
will go and do not know; "London."
The Garden; In Wide Sargasso Sea, the garden at Coulibri Estate, as Antoinette describes,
represents the corruption of society.

Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea trom a Feminist Point ot View:
Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre and Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea can each be seen as
feminist texts when considering their social and historical context. However, Wide
Sargasso Sea represents a more post-modern form of feminism. It takes into account the
complexity of male-female interaction to find that efforts to transcend deep-set gender
norms which are nearly hopeless.

In conclusion, Rhys tries to restore what Bertha has lost in Jane Eyre. Rhys creates an
identity and a culture for her in Wide Sargasso Sea. Moreover, she successfully draws the
reader's sympathy with Bertha. Actually, Wide Sargasso Sea is a voice not only for Bertha,
but also for all the other West Indian women who found themselves in similar situations
during that era.

2
 Wide Sargasso Sea

Dr. Soha Helmy's Presentations:

The Author:
Jean Rhys was born on August 24, 1890, in Roseau, Dominica, one of the former English
colonies in the Caribbean. Like the heroine of her most famous work, Wide Sargasso Sea,
Rhys was of Creole heritage; her father was British while her mother was a native white
West Indian.

General Information about Wide Sargasso Sea:

• Wide Sargasso Sea caused a revival of interest in Rhys and her work. It was her most
commercially successful novel.
• The novel is written as a preguel to Charlotte Bronte's novel, Jane Eyre.
• GENRE: Postcolonial novel.
• SETTING (TIME): 1840s.
• SETTING (PLACE): Jamaica; the Windward Islands; England.
• NARRATOR: Antoinette and Rochester.

Brief Summary of Wide Sargasso Sea:

• The novel is divided into three parts. In Part One, Antoinette Cosway is a young girl living
with her mother and brother at Coulibri, Jamaica.
• She is the white daughter of ex-slave owners. Five years have passed since her father
died, and his financial affairs were ruined after the passage of the Emancipation Act,
which freed black slaves. They are rejected by both the black and white communities on
the island. The only servant who remains is Christophine, a woman who always protects
them.
• Annette, Antoinette's mother, marries Mr. Mason, a wealthy planter. This marriage,
however, only seems to increase racial tensions in their neighborhood. One night, rioters
burn the house down. The family narrowly escapes, but Antoinette’s brother, Pierre, dies.
Pierre's death destroys Annette, who goes mad with grief. So, Mr. Mason sends Annette
off to an isolated house. For a year and a half, Antoinette attends a convent school there.
Mr. Mason, back in Antoinette's life, makes plans for her marriage.
• As Part Two opens, Antoinette and Rochester are married and they are on their
honeymoon in Granbois. Their marriage was arranged by Rochester's father, Mr. Mason,
and Richard Mason, Antoinette's stepbrother.
• But the honeymoon is short-lived, as Rochester receives a letter from Daniel Cosway.
The letter claims that there is a history of mental illness in Antoinette's family. After
receiving the letter, Rochester rejects Antoinette.
• Antoinette drugs Rochester by using an obeah potion from Christophine. On waking,
Rochester realizes that he has been drugged, and has an affair with Antoinette's maid in
revenge. So, Antoinette seems to go mad. Rochester plans to have Antoinette declared
insane and confined.
• Part Three opens with Antoinette already locked in a house (in England). Finally, she
dreams that she escapes from her room and sets fire to the entire house. At the end of
the dream, she flees to the top of the battlements, then jumps off. Antoinette wakes up,

1
The screech owls: in many cultures, the cry of an owl is an omen of death.

The casket: obvious death symbol.

Wreaths (Crowns) are circles of plants or flowers that symbolize the circular nature of
life, ending with death. They are often used to mark graves.

The storms that blow the bird off course and cause Doodle’s death are symbolic of fear
and chaos.

Old Woman Swamp symbolizes paradise for the two boys; there, they spend their
happiest days.

The Bleeding Tree is short-lived tree, which weeps sap under stress from environmental
conditions. It loses sap until it dies. It symbolizes the life and death of Doodle who will bleed
to death.

The color red symbolizes death.

References:
Lewis, B. (2002). Postmodernism and Literature. The Routledge Companion to
Postmodernism. New York: Routledge.
Perkins, G., & Perkins, B. (1987). Contemporary American Literature. New York: McGraw-
Hill Higher Education.
Rangno, E. V. R. (2005). Contemporary American Literature: (1945-Present). New York: Facts
on File.

Online References:
https://www.enotes.com/topics/scarlet-ibis

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The Scarlet Ibis

http://www.gradesaver.com/the-scarlet-ibis/study-guide/summary

6
-This is foreshadowing the death of Doodle.

* Brother also speaks about his name, which he states is only good on a tomb stone. "They
named him William Armstrong ... Such a name sounds only good on a tombstone."

* In the part where the brothers go and see Doodle’s casket, Doodle is crying out for his
Brother not to leave him behind is similar to the ending where Doodle calls for Brother.
""Then I’ll leave you here by yourself," I threatened, and made as if I were going down.
Doodle was frightened of being left. "Don't go leave me, Brother," he cried."

* The scarlet ibis also foreshadows the death of Doodle. The bird is representative of
Doodle, and its death foreshadows the eventual death of Doodle. Aunt Nicey also comments
that red birds bring bad luck.

*Dead birds are bad luck, especially red dead birds.

Irony:
William Armstrong:

The narrator recognizes the irony in the name William Armstrong as soon as it is given to
Doodle. He says that William Armstrong is not a name for a weak, disabled boy, as even just
the phrase "Armstrong" implies the kind of strength Doodle does not have. He even goes
so far as to say that this particular name sounds good only on a tombstone.
Doodle's Survival:

Doodle's survival itself is an ironic situation, since everyone expected him to die. They even
had a casket built for him, making it even more ironic when he eventually survives and
proves to be sane and cognizant. It is also ironic that his survival creates the real conflict
in the story, since one would expect this to be a happy twist of fate; now the narrator must
learn to reconcile his previously held conceptions of a little brother with who Doodle really
is.

Dramatic Irony:
This story has a sense of dramatic irony, created by its format as a retrospective account
of the past told in the present. The present narrator knows exactly what is going to happen,
and as more elements of foreshadowing are included, the readers come to realize early on,
too, that something bad will happen to Doodle that removes him from the narrator's life.
However, the past form of the narrator has no idea, and he pays no attention to the warning
signs, such as the death of the scarlet ibis. He continues to force Doodle to do things he
cannot, and eventually it comes back to haunt him.

Symbolism:

The Scarlet Ibis:

The bird is a rare, beautiful thing that is destroyed when it is blown out of its natural habitat.
Doodle is also a rare, beautiful thing that is destroyed when his brother tries to make him
do things he cannot do. On a more allegorical level, both Doodle and the bird are symbolic
of countries at war, who are destroyed when they try to control one another.
5
Daddy:
The father of Brother's family has a coffin built for Doodle soon after his birth, in the belief
that he will die. When Doodle survives, Daddy builds a go-cart for Doodle so that Brother
can pull him around.

Aunt Nicey:

Doodle and the narrator's aunt, who is extremely spiritual. Aunt Nicey does not approve of
the nickname "Doodle," because she says caul babies should be treated especially well
since they might turn out to be saints. She delivered Doodle, and after his birth, she was the
only one who had faith that he would not die.

Miss Leedie:

A crazy woman the narrator knows, who is in love with President Wilson and allegedly writes
him letters every day.

Themes:
Pride - Differences - Recognizing Limits - Family and Brotherhood - Guilt - Appreciating
Beauty - Breaking Expectations

Point o£ view; First person narration.

Setting: late summer/early autumn 1918 - rural area near Old Woman Swamp - coastal
North Carolina.

Plot Structure:
Exposition — Doodle was born disabled. Everyone expected him to die.

Rising Action — Doodle is now 5 years old and will be starting school. His brother teaches
him to walk and has decided to teach him to run, to row, to swim, to climb trees, and to fight.

Climax — Doodle suffers a fatal heart attack.

Falling Action —Doodle’s brother cries when he realizes Doodle is dead.

Resolution — Narrator feels guilty about Doodle’s death.

Internal Conflict — older brother's (narrator’s) inability to accept Doodle’s differences —

older brother dealing with his own cruelty.

External Conflict —Doodle's limitations vs. his brother's expectations.

Foreshadowing:

* The opening paragraph has a few instances of foreshadowing.

"The last graveyard flowers were blooming, and their smell drifted through...our house,
speaking softly the names of our dead."

4
becomes clear that Doodle is capable of little more than lying on a rubber sheet and crawling
backwards, Brother grows ashamed of Doodle’s limitations and regularly taunts him.
Though Brother loves Doodle, the love is corrupted with cruelty and embarrassment.
At the urging of Doodle and his parents, Brother reluctantly allows Doodle to accompany
him on all his expeditions, pulling him along in his go-cart. Driven by shame at having a
crippled sibling, Brother forms a plan to secretly teach Doodle to walk. Eventually, he
succeeds. This initial success is not, however, enough for Brother, who is determined that
Doodle will not shame him by being seen as different when he starts school.
Brother pushes Doodle to do more and more hard activities until one day, he breaks into a
run, leaving Doodle trailing. Doodle overstrains himself trying to keep up and dies of a heart
attack. Brother weeps over his fallen brother and recognizes the symbolic link between
Doodle and the beautiful and rare scarlet ibis that had fallen dead from a tree in the family
garden earlier that day.

Doodle:

Doodle is the mentally and physically retarded younger brother of the narrator, Brother. His
family initially calls him by his given name, William Armstrong, but Brother nicknames him
Doodle (after a doodle-bug, because of his habit of crawling backwards) and the name
sticks.
From the beginning, Doodle is a disappointment to his family, especially to Brother,
because Doodle can only lie on a rubber sheet and crawl backwards. Everyone expects
Doodle to die, but he defies them all and survives, becoming a loving boy with a strong
attachment to Brother.
Doodle is pulled around in a go-cart by Brother until Brother teaches Doodle to walk. This
achievement, however, seems more important to Brother than it does to Doodle.
Doodle's real strengths lie not on the level of his physical courage, but on a more tender
inward level, to which Brother seems blind at the time the action takes place.
From the beginning of his life, Doodle defies death and refuses to recognize the coffin that
Daddy builds for him as his own. He shows a sense of wonder and respect for the natural
world, crying with wonder at the wild beauty of Old Woman Swamp.
He is the first to notice the visiting ibis and honors the bird by giving it a careful burial while
finding a way of respecting his mother's orders not to touch it.
The fact that Doodle is the only member of the family to care for the scarlet ibis enough to
bury it shows his compassionate heart and emphasizes a symbolic link between boy and
bird. This symbolic link is confirmed when Doodle dies on the same day as the bird and in
a way that mirrors its fate.
Doodle is hopeful, energetic, and determined, with an eye for things that are beautiful.
However, his greatest fear is of being left behind by the impatient Brother on their
expeditions together. When this happens one day, he dies of a heart attack while trying to
keep up with Brother.

Mama:

Doodle and the narrator's mother. She cares deeply for her sons, and always encourages
the narrator to take Doodle with him when he goes out in the yard to play. She is much more
careful around Doodle than the narrator is.

3
Their father builds Doodle a go-cart to get around in, and the narrator is forced to take
Doodle with him everywhere he goes. He takes him to a place they call the Old Woman
Swamp, and Doodle begins to cry because it is so beautiful.
From that moment on, they go down to the swamp often and adorn themselves in wildflower
crowns and necklaces. At other times, though, the narrator is mean to Doodle; most notably,
he takes Doodle to see the coffin that was made for him when everyone thought he was
going to die, now sitting forgotten in the barn. He forces Doodle to touch it, and threatens
to leave him alone with it if he does not.
When Doodle turns five, the narrator is embarrassed by having a brother who cannot walk,
so he decides to teach him. It takes a lot of practicing to overcome Doodle’s disability, but
they press on, because the narrator’s pride will not allow him to stop .
Finally, Doodle stands up on his own, and eventually he can take a few steps by himself.
They reveal their success to everyone on Doodle’s sixth birthday, and everyone is so happy
with the narrator for teaching him. The narrator cries, though, because he knows he did it
more for himself than for Doodle.
Eventually, the narrator believes that he can teach Doodle to do anything, so he decides to
teach him to run, swim, climb trees, and fight, so that the following year he can start school
on the same level as all the other children.
They do not get much practice in that winter, but when spring comes, they begin to work
hard. However, that summer is terrible, and the family loses a lot of crops. School comes
up fast, so the brothers work to double their efforts so that Doodle will be prepared. Doodle,
however, is being pushed beyond his limits.
A storm is on the horizon one day, and while they sit and eat lunch, they spot a huge red
bird in a nearby tree. When they go outside it flies down to the ground and dies at their feet,
apparently hurt and exhausted from being thrown off course by the storm. Doodle is
especially sympathetic, and gives the bird a proper burial.
After they finish eating, the brothers head down to the creek to practice rowing. Doodle is
clearly not up for this, but the narrator pushes him anyway .
The storm approaches while they row, and when they get back to the bank, Doodle is so
exhausted and frightened that he collapses into the sand. The narrator helps him up and
they attempt to race the storm back home, but Doodle's body is done in and he collapses
again. He calls out for the narrator not to leave him, but the narrator has one of his strokes
of maliciousness and runs ahead.
The narrator finds his senses and waits for Doodle to catch up, but he never does. He
retraces his steps, only to find his little brother lying in the sand, covered in blood from his
mouth, dead just like the scarlet ibis. The narrator is devastated, and lies protectively over
Doodle's body, crying, to shelter it from the rain.

Characters:
Brothen
Brother is the protagonist and narrator of the story. He is not given a name but is referred
to by Doodle, his brother, only as ’’Brother.’’
He is six years old when Doodle is born. Brother has a high opinion of his own ability to
run, jump, and climb, and wants a brother with whom he can share these activities. When it

2
 "The Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst

Dr. SoAa Hetty's Presentations:

Introduction:
James Robert Hurst was born in 1922 on a farm by the sea in North Carolina. He attended
North Carolina State College and served in the United States Army for three years during
World War II.
"The Scarlet Ibis," by James Hurst, was first published in the July 1960 issue of the Atlantic
Monthly magazine. The story is also available in Elements of Literature: Third Course
(published by Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1997).
The story focuses on the troubled relationship between two young boys: the narrator and
his mentally and physically disabled brother, Doodle. It explores the conflicts between love
and pride and draws attention to the effects of familial and societal expectations on those
who are handicapped.
The narrative unfolds against the background of the carnage of World War I, with its
associated themes of the dangers of attempting to make others over in one's own image,
the brotherhood of all mankind, and the waste of life resulting from a lack of love and
compassion.
In the course of the story, Doodle becomes symbolically identified with a rare and beautiful
scarlet ibis which, finding itself in a hostile environment, dies. The ibis's story resonates
not only with Doodle's own fate, but with the fate of those from the United States and other
countries who died in World War II.
"The Scarlet Ibis" quickly achieved the status of a classic, being reprinted in many high­
school and college literature text books. Its value to students of literature lies in its rich use
of such devices as foreshadowing and symbolism, its sensitive use of setting to comment
on the action, and its compassionate treatment of universal human values and limitations,
as well as its character-driven plot.

Plot Summary:

"The Scarlet Ibis" opens with the narrator, Brother, remembering a remarkable event that
took place when he was a young boy at his family home at the end of the summer of 1918.
A scarlet ibis, an exotic bird that does not belong in the narrator's region, landed in a tree
in the family garden. This memory sparks off another in Brother’s mind: the birth of his
mentally and physically disabled brother, Doodle, when Brother was six years old. Nobody
expected Doodle to live except Aunt Nicey, who delivered him.
However, the little brother lives, and when he is three months old, their parents give him the
name William Armstrong, which the narrator does not approve of.
The narrator is extremely upset that his little brother is disabled; he had high hopes that his
sibling would be able to run, jump and play with him. When his mother suggests that his
little brother might not turn out to be "all there," the narrator is even more upset; however,
when the baby stares right at him and smiles, the narrator knows that he is "all there" after
all.
When the baby is two years old, he learns to move around and crawl by himself. As soon
as he does, they decide they need to give him a new name that fits him better; they settle
on Doodle, because he only crawls backwards, just like a doodlebug. Only their Aunt Nicey
does not think this name is fitting; she believes that he should be treated with more respect,
since caul babies might turn out to be saints.
1
 Fate is kind
She brings to those who love
The sweet fulfillment of
Their secret longing
But always when 1 think these thoughts
As 1 sit in my well
Another thought comes to me and says:
It is part of the spell To be happy
To work up contentment
To make much of being a frog
To fear disenchantment

Like a bolt out of the blue Says, It will be heavenly

Fate steps in and sees you through To be se free.
When you wish upon a star Cries Heavenly the girl who disenchants
Your dreams come true And the royal times, heavenly,
1 am a frog And 1 think it will be.
1 live under a spell Come then, royal girl and royal times,
1 live at the bottom Come quickly,
Of a green well 1 can be happy until you come
But 1 cannot be heavenly.
Only disenchanted people
Can be heavenly.
And here I must wait
Until a maiden places me
On her royal pillow
And kisses me
In her father's palace The story is
familiar
Everybody knows it well
But do other enchanted people
feel as nervous
As I do? The stories do not tell,

References:
Broom, S. (2006). Contemporary British and Irish Poetry: An Introduction. Hampshire: Palgrave
Macmillan.
J. M. & Rickert, E. (2008). Contemporary British Literature: Bibliographies and Study Outline.
New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company.
Lewis, B. (2002). Postmodernism and Literature. The Routledge Companion to Postmodernism.
New York: Routledge.
Smith, Stevie. (2015). Collected Poems and Drawings of Stevie Smith. Ed. Will May. Faber and
Faber.

Williams, N. (2011). Contemporary Poetry. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Online References:
http://thefrogprinceproject.yolasite.com/
https://www.ukessays.com/essays/english-literature/a-study-on-the-frog-prince-english-
literature-essay.php

4
 for more and never satisfied. In religious terms, this feeling is sanctioned by the idea that
our home is in heaven, and that nothing on earth lasts -therefore temporary.

h. Does the title help you understand the meaning?

Yes, it is obvious that this poem is an allusion to a classic fairy tale, "The Frog Prince." The
title lets the reader know that it will be about a prince who was turned into a frog.

i. What do you think is the most important line in the poem?

We had different opinions on this topic. One idea of the most important line was "But do
other enchanted people feel as nervous/ As I do? The stories do not tell," because this shows
the reader the frog's first signs of doubt. Up until this point, the frog seems to be totally
content with his life, but now he starts to question himself.

Another opinion was "I can be happy until you come. But I cannot be heavenly. Only
disenchanted people can be heavenly." because at this moment he realizes that there is
something better than just his happy simple life, and he wants that heavenly life.

j. What is the most important word?

The word "heavenly" because Stevie Smith repeats it 5 times in the poem, and it is also
italicized so surely, it is very important. It represents what the frog wants most, but what it
is also afraid of.

k. Theme: We think that Stevie Smith shows us that heaven is not a life after death, but more
of a sense of enlightenment that will free us of our anxiety and give us a sense of peace.
"The Frog Prince" is a religious poem, because the narrator got too content with being a frog
and was nervous of being changed back into his proper shape and becoming man, just like
we are afraid to die and go to heaven. He almost missed his chance of great happiness
because he was happy with how he was.
The poem is a parable of life: that we may get to be afraid of thinking of what may lie beyond
life and so lose the chance of heaven. It is ironic that Smith sends a message of reality through
retelling a fairytale.
When you wish upon a star As if they will be happier
Makes no difference who you are When the changes come
Anything your heart desires As already they are fairly happy
Will come to you In a frog's doom? 1 have been a frog now
For a hundred years
And in all this time
1 have not shed many tears,

If your heart is in your dream 1 am happy, 1 like the life,

No request is too extreme
When you wish upon a star
As dreamers do
Can swim for many a mile
(When 1 have hopped to the river)
And am for ever agile. And the quietness.
Yes, 1 like to be quiet
1 am habituated
To a quiet life,

3
enjoyed reading Tennyson and Browning and read few contemporary poets in an attempt to
keep her voice original and pure.
Her childhood was full of illness, abandonment, confinement and death. She had an
elaborate philosophy on life and death. She obsessively loved both and made it a clear theme
on her works. Her style is unique in its combination of seemingly prosaic statements, variety
of voices, playful meter, and deep sense of irony. Smith was officially recognized with the
Chomondeley Award for Poetry in 1966 and the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry in 1969. Forty
years after her death, her works are still a mystery.

Analysis of "The Frog Prince" by Stevie Smith:

a. What is it about?
This poem is about a prince who is under a curse that turned him into a frog. Although he is
content with his simple life-style, inside he longs for something more. He longs to be
"disenchanted" by a heavenly girl.

b. Is it free verse or rhymed?

It has both free verse and rhymed lines. The rhyming helps the poem flow better.
The second and fourth lines seem to rhyme, but it is not consistent throughout the poem
since each stanza contains a different number of lines.

c. Does it have a specific stanza form?

Not really. The poem mainly consists of quatrains but it has the occasional 5 and 6 line
stanzas. It does not follow a specific stanza form, rhyme pattern but rather mixes it up, which
let us know it is a more modern poem.

d. Do you notice a definite rhythm when you read it aloud?

Rhythm is a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry. Poets use rhythm
to bring out the musical quality of language to emphasize ideas, to create mood, to unify a
work, and to heighten emotional response. In this case, the beat of this poem gives off a
very casual mood. It makes the frog sound very content and care-free of his circumstances.
Then it shifts to a scared, cautious mood later in the poem as he starts to think about heaven.

e. Does it contain noticeable sound values beside rhyme?

No it does not. It focuses on rhyme and rhythm.

f. Does the poet use much imagery?

The only one sense it appeals to is sight because Stevie Smith uses imagery. Although there
are no vivid descriptions, the poem is written from the frog's point of view. The reader can
see where the frog is like his well and river, and sense what the frog is contemplating on.

g. What figurative language does the poet use?

Stevie smith does not use any similes nor metaphors in this poem, but the entire poem itself
is a metaphor. The frog is a metaphor for our temporary lives on earth. Just like the frog,
people always feel like they are not quite where they ought to be. They are always yearning

2
 "The Frog Prince" by Stevie Smith

Dr. Soha Helmy's Presentation:

I am a frog And the quietness*
I live under a spell Yes, I like to be quiet
I live at the bottom I am habituated
of a green well. To a quiet life*

And here I must wait But always when I think these thoughts
Until a maiden places me As I sit in my well
On her royal pillow Another thought comes to me and says:
And kisses me It is part of the spell
In her father’s palace.

The story is familiar To be happy

Everybody knows it well To work up contentment
But do other enchanted people feel as To make much of being a frog
nervous To fear disenchantment.
As I do? The stories do not tell*

Ask if they will be happier Says, it will be heavenly

When the changes come To be set free*
As already they are fairly happy Cries, Heavenly the girl who disenchants
in a frog's doom? And the royal times, heavenly
And I think it will be.

I have been a frog now Come then, royal girl and royal times*
For a hundred years Come quickly*
And in all this time I can be happy until you come
I have not shed many tears* But I cannot be heavenly*
Only disenchanted people
Can be heavenly.
I am happy, I like the life*
Can swim for many a mile
(When I have hopped to the river)
And am for ever agile.

Stevie Smith's Short Biography:

Stevie Smith was an English poet and novelist. She was born as Florence Margaret Smith on
September 20, 1902 in Yorkshire, England. She lived through both World Wars. She died on
7 March 1971 (68 years old) of a brain tumor. After high school, she attended North London
Collegiate School for Girls. She began writing poetry in her twenties while working at George
Newnes. Smith never attended a university. Ashamed of her lack of education, she took
notes of every book that she read. Her readings ranged from history to literary criticism. She

1
® Postmodern Literature:

Q A late 20,h-century movement characterized by broad skepticism, subjectivism and a

general suspicion of reason.
Represents a break from 19th century realism
Applies almost the same techniques of modernism
O Postmodern writers playfully create allusions (a figure of speech that makes a reference
to a place, person, or something that happened without explaining it explicitly),
contradictions, and linguistic games in order to disrupt the readers* expectations of fixed
objective references.
LJ Heavily relies on fragmentation (fragmenting his narration, rather than following a
sequential line of events), Paradox (A statement that appears illogical or contradictory at
first, but may actually point to an underlying truth), questionable narrators, etc.
'Sf Black humor returns to satire
Symbolic representation
Stream of consciousness becomes less common
y Writers change narrator’s perspectives.
Discontinuity - increased non-linearity
Non-sequential (non-linear, non-chronological) narratives
An example of Non-Linear Narrative is Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake (2003).
Writers control the plot around the significance of events rather than logical order.
Reversed narrative - begins at climax
Parallel timelines
Flashbacks
CD Intertextuality (the shaping of a text’s meaning by another text).
It is a literary device that creates an ‘interrelationship between texts’ and generates
related understanding in separate works.
These references are made to influence that reader and add layers of depth to a text,
based on the readers’ prior knowledge and understanding.
Intertextual figures include: allusion, quotation, plagiarism, translation and parody “an
imitation of the style of a particular writer, artist, or genre with deliberate exaggeration for
comic effect.”
($) New-historicism is a literary theory based on the idea that literature should be studied
and interpreted within the context of both the history of the author and the history of the
critic.
(J) Magical realism is a literary genre that combines reality and fantasy. It represents fantasy
as an everyday event. Examples of writers: Salman Rushdie and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

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World War I truly marked the end of whatever optimism about progress that the Victorian
age had engendered.
“Contemporary” refers to any literature written after 1945, or the end of World War II.
Early-twentieth-century writers broke up the traditional plot structure of narratives,
experimented with language and fragmented ideas, and played with shifting perspectives.
Dadaism and Surrealism were among the most influential early-twentieth-century literary
movements.
In the 50s & 60s, there was an increasing sense of materialism (a tendency to consider
material possessions and physical comfort as more important than spiritual values).
The internal shift of power in the U.S. created new possibilities for minorities gaining
ground towards social equality.
There was a growing awareness of a variety of other cultures that have differing
worldviews than traditional European or American ones.
This allowed for the emergence of a "Golden Age” of minority fiction and the emergence
of feminism.

(?) Modernist Literature:

£□ An English genre of fiction writing, popular from roughly the 1910s into the 1950s or
1960s due to the horrifying events of both World Wars (specifically World War I), new
technology, increasing industrialization and globalization. It is characterized by a break with
traditional styles of poetry and verse.
Reacts against the Victorian novel and 19th century realism
y Speaks of the inner self and consciousness
Reflects the increasing alienation of the individual
Often pessimistic in tone
Instead of progress, the Modernist writer saw a decline of civilization.
Introduces various themes; such as the breakdown of social norms, fear of a
meaningless future, loss of spirituality, loneliness, rejection of past culture and history and
rejection of tradition, in addition to psychological themes.
Irony, satire and comparisons were often employed to point out society's ills.
LJ Stream of consciousness is a literary style in which a character’s thoughts, feelings, and
reactions are depicted in a continuous flow uninterrupted by objective description or
conventional dialogue.
James Joyce and Virginia Woolf are among its notable early exponents.
Famous Modernist works: Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, James Joyce's Ulysses,
Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, T.S. Eliot’s The Wasteland and William Faulkner's The
Sound and the Fury.