Emily Bronte and Elizabeth Barrett-Browning
As I looked through the literary works we have covered this term I noticed that there were only two strong females we have studied that seem to play a strong part in the development of British Literature. Emily Bronte and Elizabeth Barrett-Browning were strong, influential figures in the literary world.
Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights can be credited with the title of the first Romantic novel of its time and her poetry was also redefining the poetry of the era. Unintentionally, I believe, Emily set a new standard for writing. Her use of nature, an undefined hero and heroine, the unusual structure of narrators, and her portrayal of the supernatural powers within the plot all contribute to her literary groundbreaking, trend setting style. Her poetry is also unique in that it has a personal flair not typically seen in previous poets. It is a very personal reflection of what she is enduring at the moment. That interpretation, however, is not entirely clear without the historical context. "A little while, a little while, The noisy crowd are barred away; I can sing and I can smile A little while I've a holyday!" (WH 296) could be interpreted as any number of things without the reader being fully aware that at this point in her life Bronte was a trapped in a job she hated far from her beloved home and family. She was a governess. In that light it makes her poem makes complete sense; she needed to get away from the children she was responsible for. Several of her other poems were also born of this time in her life and reflected her homesickness.
Elizabeth Barrett-Browning too wrote about her life but I saw her work as more direct and open than that of Bronte. Without the historical knowledge of Bronte's life at the time of her writing her poems are beautiful but the reader cannot fully appreciate the emotive elements behind the words. Barrett-Browning's works were much clearer as to their intent and even without a working knowledge of her relationship with Robert Browning the reader can fully appreciate the powerful dramatic emotions flowing through her words. Her most famous sonnet "How do I love thee?
All three of these women authors have, by their literary works, voiced their strong unfavorable feelings about the patriarchal society in which they lived. These women authors have served as an eye-opener for the readers, both men and women alike, in the past, and hopefully still in the present. There are still cultures in the world today, where women are treated as unfairly as women were treated in the prior centuries. These women authors have impacted a male dominated society by reflecting on the unfairness imposed upon women. Through their writings, each of these women authors who existed during that masochistic Victorian era, risked criticism and retribution.
Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre chronicles the growth of her titular character from girlhood to maturity, focusing on her journey from dependence on negative authority figures to both monetary and psychological independence, from confusion to a clear understanding of self, and from inequality to equality with those to whom she was formerly subject. Originally dependent on her Aunt Reed, Mr. Brocklehurst, and Mr. Rochester, she gains independence through her inheritance and teaching positions. Over the course of the novel, she awakens towards self-understanding, resulting in contentment and eventual happiness. She also achieves equality with the important masculine figures in her life, such as St. John Rivers and Mr. Rochester, gaining self-fulfillment as an independent, fully developed equal.
Old Major (a boar) gathers the animals of the manor farm together for a meeting in the barn. He tells all of them of the dream he had. That all animals lived together in a community with no humans to take control of them. He tells them that they must work towards this paradise and teaches them a song called "Beasts of England" in which his dram was described. When he dies, (3 days later), the two younger pigs, Snowball and Napoleon, make his principles into a philosophy called animalism. One night the animals manage to defeat Mr. Jones (the farm owner) in a battle and ran him off the farm.
Squealer uses propaganda such as rhetorical questions, lies and threats to convince the animals to believe the pigs. Unfortunately for the animals, they are easily led. If it were not for their blind devotion, trust and naivety, they could easily see how the pigs gradually gained power. The pigs also use the dogs as force to keep the animals ‘in line’, discouraging them from trying to rebel.
The animals were on an emotional high for the next few days. They set up rules, including the seven commandments, and decided to make Snowball and Napoleon (pigs) the leaders. The animals had meetings every Sunday to discuss and vote on what should happen, and the work schedule for the following week. Every single time an idea was brought up Snowball and Napoleon would disagree. This went on for a year. Finally, at one of the meetings Napoleon and 9 dogs jumped Snowball, and chased him off of the farm. From then on the farm became a dictatorship, not a republic as the animals had dreamed of before the rebellion. Napoleon lied to the animals a lot, but none of them were smart enough to realize it. He planted false memories in the animals heads, and manipulated them. He stole food from them and blamed it on Snowball. Then he started to go against the seven commandments, but none of the animals could remember the seven com...
The Victorian Era had lasted from the years 1837-1901. People in this era were known through their social class and how efficiently they were able to present themselves. Those who were obligated to carry themselves is such a proficient manner, were the women of Victorian Era. Although they had been expected to perform and execute many tasks, they were never recognized just as equal to the men in society. They were never acknowledged to make judgments or decisions, rather were best known for marriage, prostitution, and motherhood. As the men, dominated and took control of every decision possible. They were known for their aggressive and independent attitude. This led an extraordinary women named, Charlotte Brontë to begin a revolution of change and improvement in the social standings. As her living in the Victorian Era, set her upon a journey of many hardships but her well-known classics, Jane Eyre, depicted her strength and courage to step up for women equality and portray who she truly was in society.
It was however generally understood that the pigs were the cleverest of the animals, so the work of organising for the Rebellion fell naturally to them. Especially two pigs take over leadership: Napoleon and Snowball.
Napoleon stops making appearances to the other animals and makes a deal with Mr. Whymper to sell 400 eggs a week. Napoleon also gets some animals to confess of wrong doings and then “makes examples of them,” by killing them.
Faith and spirituality can be explored in the poetry of the New England poet Emily Dickinson and the Southern poet Charles Wright. Dickinson seeks for inspiration in the Bible, while Charles Wright looks to Dickinson as a source of information, guidance and inspiration. Wright suggest that “[Dickinson’s] poetry [is] an electron microscope trained on the infinite and the idea of God…. Her poems are immense voyages into the unknowable.”(Quarter) Charles Wright whose poetry captures a compilation of influences states that "There are three things, basically, that [he] writes about — language, landscape, and the idea of God." Dickinson and Wright centered their poetry in their belief in God and both share the influence of the Bible.
Throughout literature’s history, female authors have been hardly recognized for their groundbreaking and eye-opening accounts of what it means to be a woman of society. In most cases of early literature, women are portrayed as weak and unintelligent characters who rely solely on their male counterparts. Also during this time period, it would be shocking to have women character in some stories, especially since their purpose is only secondary to that of the male protagonist. But, in the late 17th to early 18th century, a crop of courageous women began publishing their works, beginning the literary feminist movement. Together, Aphra Behn, Charlotte Smith, Fanny Burney, and Mary Wollstonecraft challenge the status quo of what it means to be a
Emily Bronte, who never had the benefit of former schooling, wrote Wuthering Heights. Bronte has been declared as a “romantic rebel” because she ignored the repressive conventions of her day and made passion part of the novelistic tradition. Unlike stereotypical novels, Wuthering Heights has no true heroes or villains.
Initially, the rebellion is a success: The animals complete the harvest and meet every Sunday to debate farm policy. The pigs, because of their intelligence, become the supervisors of the farm. Napoleon, however, proves to be a power-hungry leader who steals the cows’ milk and a number of apples to feed himself and the other pigs. He also enlists the services of Squealer, a pig with the ability to persuade the other animals that the pigs are always moral and correct in their decisions.
... everyone to agree on such a leadership. There would be a challenge trying to convince everyone to be equal. For example, doctors getting paid the same as a garbage man. Pure Communism I think could be achieved with some exceptions though. I believe that some of the third world countries, or countries such as Mexico, and India would probably work out fine. Because of such low wages and mostly bad economy, if they were to resort to Pure Communism, it would, I think benefit them. They no longer will have to worry about discrimination on the basis of economic class. On the other hand, I believe that the United States will never convert to such a regime. The reason being that money talk, and to most people here in America, their world revolves around money. For them to give up their resources and be equal like everyone else, would mean there is no longer a reason to live.
The pigs in animal farm were very greedy. Every time the pigs can get extra food they take it and do not share their food with the other animals. When the animals find out about this the pigs say that they need the milk/food because they are the smartest and do all the work. The pigs are the leaders in the farm which means that they can take things that they usually do not have. Also the pigs are very smart, Napoleon was the smartest pig and knew how to outsmart all the other animals. He attacked snowball viscously and chased snowball out of the farm. Napoleon began to morph the minds of the other animals to believe that snowball was the real villain and that he broke the windmill. Napoleon basically rewrites history while he is the leader of the Animal Farm by making himself the hero and snowball the villain the pigs act more and more like humans as the story goes on. They start to act like humans and even start to stand like them. The pigs do not even look at the rules of animalism anymore and they are basically humans. That was the reason why they revolted and in the end you cannot even tell the difference between the animals rule and the humans rule Totalitarianism is shown because the animals’ food is being taken, their thoughts are being controlled, and they are being cruelly treated by the pigs. The occasion where the pigs...
The initial theme of the novel is, 'power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.'; Power, in a sense, is bad because with power, there is responsibility. If one takes advantage of that responsibility, then there will be corruption. Orwell portrays this by permitting the farm animals to nominate the pigs to be in charge of the farm. The pigs left in charge are Napoleon, Squealer, and Snowball. Napoleon and Squealer both have evil intentions by turning the dogs after Snowball, in other words, killing him. Napoleon would make the other animals work long hours and give them little portions of food, while he and Squealer would feast on large meals. Napoleon and Squealer took advantage of their role as governor and ate all the food, drank beer, and lived in the owner's house. However, to the farm animals, they considered these to be the 7 commandments: