Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair, though it does not include the whole extent of Thackeray's genius, is the most vigorous exhibition of its leading characteristics. In freshness of feeling, elasticity of movement, and unity of aim, it is favorably distinguished from its successors, which too often give the impression of being composed of successive accumulations of incidents and persons, that drift into the story on no principle of artistic selection and combination. The style, while it has the raciness of individual peculiarity and the careless case of familiar gossip, is as clear, pure, and flexible as if its sentences had been subjected to repeated revision, and every pebble which obstructed its lucid and limpid flow had been laboriously removed.
The characterization is almost perfect of its kind. Becky Sharp, the Marquis of Steyne, Sir Pitt Crawley and the whole Crawley family, Amelia, the Osbornes, Major Dobbin, not to mention others, are as well known to most cultivated people as their most intimate acquaintances in the Vanity Fair of the actual world. It has always seemed to us that Mr. Osborne, the father of George, a representation of the most hateful phase of English character, is one of the most vividly true and life-like of all the delineations in the book, and more of a typical personage than even Becky or the Marquis of Steyne.
Thackeray's theory of characterization proceeds generally on the assumption that the acts of men and women are directed not by principle, but by instincts, selfish or amiable--that toleration of human weakness is possible only by lowering the standard of human capacity and obligation--and that the preliminary condition of an accurate knowledge of human character is distrust of ideals and repudiation of patterns. This view is narrow, and by no means covers all the facts of history and human life, but what relative truth it has is splendidly illustrated in Vanity Fair. There is not a person in the book who excites the reader's respect, and not one who fails to excite his interest. The morbid quickness of the author's perceptions of the selfish element, even in his few amiable characters, is a constant source of surprise. The novel not only has no hero, but implies the non-existence of heroism. Yet the fascination of the book is indisputable, and it is due to a variety of causes besides its mere exhibition of the worldly side of life.
In short, both Vanity Fair and A Room of One’s Own withhold many cultural values that are represented in a diverse manner due to the stark contrast of their styles and the time in which they were written. However, both composers make comments on societal and cultural values that reveal truths in association to the dynamic of the current time period. They both choose to illustrate these values through the ways of thinking that are evident in their compositions and make note of important significances which, in themselves, are a development of our universal culture that we live amongst today.
Throughout “The Great Gatsby,” corruption is evident through the people within it. However, we discover with Daisy, initially believed to be a victim of her husband’s corruption—we find she is the eye of the storm. In the story, the reader feels sorry for Daisy, the victim in an arranged marriage, wanting her to find the happiness she seemingly longed for with Gatsby. Ultimately we see Daisy for what she is, a truly corrupt soul; her languish and materialistic lifestyle, allowing Gatsby to take the blame for her foolish action of killing Myrtle, and feigning the ultimate victim as she “allows” Tom to take her away from the unsavory business she has created. Daisy, the definitive picture of seeming innocence is the most unforeseen, therefore, effective image of corruption—leading to a good man’s downfall of the American Dream.
Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth is an affront to the false social values of fashionable New York society. The heroine is Lily Bart, a woman who is destroyed by the very society that produces her. Lily is well-born but poor. The story traces the decline of Lily as she moves through a series of living residences, from houses to hotel lodgings. Lily lives in a New York society where appearances are all. Women have a decorative function in such an environment, and even her name, Lily, suggests she is a flower of femininity, i.e. an object of decoration as well as of desirability to the male element. We see this is very true once Lily's bloom fades, as it were, a time when she is cast aside by her peers no longer being useful as something to admire on the surface. The theme of the novel in this aspect is that identity based on mere appearance is not enough to sustain the human soul physically or metaphysically. Once she is no longer able to keep the "eye" of her peers, Lily finds herself with no identity and dies. This analysis will discuss the theme of the objectification of women in a male dominated society inherent throughout the novel.
Fowler, Marian, E. "The Feminist Bias of Pride and Prejudice." Dalhousie Review 57 (1977): 47-64.
The novel “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte, and the novella “The Turn of the Screw” by Henry James, both display the treatment of pride for upper and lower class similarly. Furthermore, the treatment of pride will be compared and contrasted in this essay to examine and understand how pride is treated. In novel and novella both the lower class characters believe their pride makes them superior beings. Although the pride of lower and upper-class characters led them to their corruption. Moreover, the upper-class characters in each narrative maintain their respectability by their pride. However, in “Jane Eyre” all casts must have their emotions controlled by their pride, or this will lead to inappropriate behavior. Nevertheless, in “The Turn of
“There are various orders of beauty, causing men to make fools of themselves in various styles,” George Eliot. Beauty has caused men to move mountain, and jump through countless hoops. It is a quality that is subjective and affects the beholder differently. In Poe’s Ligea and Hawthorne’s The Birthmark, Ligea, Rowena, and Georgina all had different orders of beauty that similarly affects how their husbands saw them. In these two pieces of literature there was an exaltation of beauty as an abstraction that hid the depth of the women and led to deceit and the sense of superiority in their husbands.
The morals of the Victorian Era gained renown for their strict socials roles that existed for both men and women. However, Oscar Wilde rejected these morals as he not only wrote characters but also acted as a character who flippantly disregarded the strict moral code. In his play The Importance of Being Earnest, Wilde elicits a thoughtful laughter through the constant hypocrisy and non-sequitous behaviours of Lady Bracknell. Wilde uses her to explore the hypocrisy that he detested within Victorian Society, and through Lady Bracknell’s commentary on gender roles and marital roles, Wilde illustrates his own personal contentions with Victorian morals.
Thackeray, William Makepeace, and Nicholas Dames. Vanity Fair. New York: Barnes & Noble Classics, 2003. Print.
In 1877, Wilde accepted a job as editor of The Women’s World magazine, a fashion magazine for women. The Women’s World took a drastic change with Wilde in charge. Instead of displaying fashion in a shallow sense, Wilde encouraged the magazine to, “...invite debate over the legitimacy of women’s voices in mainstream British society while featuring consumable icons of femininity such as fans, lace, and feathers” (Green 103). By changing The Women’s World, Wilde became the editor of not just a fashion magazine, but a magazine that stood as an advocate for the women of his time period and an argument against the restrictions which held women back in Victorian society. Because of Wilde’s experience in the feminist environment of The Women’s World, he could expand his argument against the ideas of marriage and gender in the Victorian Era to readers who knew him as an established author, a person to be
...ied about his intentions during the entire novel, no one truly knows him. Frank’s uncle, Mr. Churchill is inferior to his wife in regards of control. Throughout the novel the reader hears more about his wife than they hear about him. Their relationship represents complete switch of the traditional idea of man being superior to woman. The Knightleys however, John and Isabella, are purely conventional and are ideal couple for Nineteenth Century society’s times. Mr. Elton does not represent true gentility while Mr. Weston too gentle. Although all of these characters have their flaws, Austen finds her perfect figure in George Knightley. His infallible nature is unrealistic, yet it gives society the ultimate gentleman to aspire for. Austen’s Emma is more than a comedic novel of manners but also a quintessential piece that fits perfectly into the lives of today’s society.
... Darcy and Elizabeth. Additionally, Austen sculpts the theme of social expectations and mores using the self-promoting ideology and behaviors of Lady Catherine as fodder for comic relief. Austen does not simply leave the image of the gilded aristocracy upon a pedestal; she effectively uses the unconventional character of Elizabeth to defy aristocratic authority and tradition. In fact, Austen's proposed counter view of the aristocracy by satirizing their social rank. Lady Catherine is effectively used as a satirical representation of the aristocracy through her paradoxical breach of true social decorum and her overblown immodesty. Evidently, Lady Catherine is nothing short of the critical bond that holds the structure of Pride and Prejudice together.
In Anatomy of Criticism, author Northrop Frye writes of the low mimetic tragic hero and the society in which this hero is a victim. He introduces the concept of pathos saying it “is the study of the isolated mind, the story of how someone recognizably like ourselves is broken by a conflict between the inner and outer world, between imaginative reality and the sort of reality that is established by a social consensus” (Frye 39). The hero of Hannah W. Foster’s novel, The Coquette undoubtedly suffers the fate of these afore mentioned opposing ideals. In her inability to confine her imagination to the acceptable definitions of early American female social behavior, Eliza Wharton falls victim to the ambiguity of her society’s sentiments of women’s roles. Because she attempts to claim the freedom her society superficially advocates, she is condemned as a coquette and suffers the consequences of exercising an independent mind. Yet, Eliza does not stand alone in her position as a pathetic figure. Her lover, Major Sanford -- who is often considered the villain of the novel -- also is constrained by societal expectations and definitions of American men and their ambition. Though Sanford conveys an honest desire to make Eliza his wife, society encourages marriage as a connection in order to advance socially and to secure a fortune. Sanford, in contrast to Eliza, suffers as a result of adhering to social expectations of a male’s role. While Eliza suffers because she lives her life outside of her social categorization and Sanford falls because he attempts to maneuver and manipulate the system in which he lives, both are victims of an imperfect, developing, American society.
In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen tells of the romantic exploits and drama of the Bennet family. Due to the prejudice of most of the characters, even the protagonist, Elizabeth Bennet, misunderstandings and problematic situations arise. It does not help the heroine that many antagonists stand in her way. The most prominent villain turns out to be George Wickham, a member of the militia of whom uses his good looks and seemingly good personality to lie and manipulate others, playing ignorant to the troubles he has created; he becomes a large contributor to Lizzy’s prejudice and the book’s overall concept of a judgmental society that favors certain characteristics of a person over others. The first and foremost point to Wickham’s villainy is his attractiveness.
During the 19th Century, first impressions were very important. The reader is presented with Meryton, a highly structured class society which judges people on superficial qualities, such as physical appearance, social status, clothes, possessions, behaviour, dialogue. The message Austen positions the reader to understand, is that a society which makes its judgements based on first impressions is immoral and unjust. (-She uses ‘humour’ to help convey this in a less-serious tone.)
The teachers were giving the students positive reinforcement throughout the day. In class we talked about how positive reinforcement helps the students to succeed in their classes. Another ah-ha moment was the environment of the classroom. The classroom had no windows at all. In class we talked about what kinds of things are distracting to students with ASD in classrooms and one of those things are the windows in classrooms. The third ah-ha moment was the parent sheets that the teacher and the school provide for the parents. In class we talked about how parent involvement is very important for the students with disabilities. The teacher fills out the parent involvement paper that lets the parents know how the child did in school this week and what their child needs to improve on. The students must give their paper to their parents to look at when they get home. The things that I had learned during my observation experience that I will use in the future for my classroom will be including student learning objectives in the classroom, using positive reinforcement, and get the parents more involved in their child’s education. I will go over with the students what the student learning objectives are in the beginning of class so the students will know what they will be doing and what they will be learning throughout the day. I also will use positive