Introduction To Literature of The Xix Century

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ENGLISH PHILOLOGY STUDIES
INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE OF THE XIX CENTURY
 Chronology.
The literature in the XIX century is usually divided into two periods:
Romanticism and the Victorian Time.
There are to options to mark the beginning of Romanticism:
 From 1780 (American independence) till 1882 (Reform Bill which

widened the franchise).
 From 1789 (French Revolution) till 1850 (death of Wordsworth).
The Victorian Time takes place starts around 1832/1850 and ends in
1901 (with the death of Queen Victoria and the end of the Boer War).
 Social panorama
There was a general clime of dissatisfaction because:
• The Hannoverian Dynasty was very corrupted and extravagant

and followed an autocratic system.
• There was an archaic excise system: the working class had to

pay this direct taxation on diary products to finance the war
between England and France.
• The enclosures, by which the low classes (farmers, small

holders) were not allowed anymore to take their cattle to
breeze to communal fields. This situation provoked the
emigration to industrial towns.
• There was no theatre going because Puritanism considered it a

reprehensible past time.
• The social gradations, which were similar to those of a feudal

system, were very marked.
But there were also improvements such us:
• Relating to custom, the gentlemen were allowed to appear in

public without wigs and ladies' dresses were allowed to outline
the body.
• In architecture and furniture, there was simplicity of lines.
• The discover of the steam power.
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• The opening of New Worlds (with expeditions like those of
James Cook, who discovered Australia, Tasmania, the Sandwich
Islands...). These expeditions were important for the
metallurgical industry, due to the need of nautical gear.
• The opening of canals, especially in the Midlands, improved the

communication system (better postal system and dealt of
periodicals; easier transmission of culture).
• The large-scale productions or big publishing like the atlases or

the Encyclopedia Britannica.
• The literary men were real men of letters, devoted to Literature:

writing began to be a vocation.
• Political panorama
There was a clime of unrest and dissatisfaction due to:
o The French Revolution, which provoked confronted

opinions against and for in England.
o The Napoleonic Wars.
But there were also improvements like:
o The Trade Unionism.
o The abolition of slave trade.
o The reform of the cruel penal system.
o The reduction of the hours of child labour.
o The creation of the Mechanics Institutes (in which workers

could get education after work).
o The Reform Bill.
o The Utilitarian School of Philosophy, based on the idea of

“what is the use”, defended by Jeremy Bentham, James
Mill and John Stuart Mill: this school was only interested
on things of use, a kind of dealing with machines instead
of with humans.
o The socialist experiment of the Community of New

Lanark, directed by Robert Owen: the idea was that
workers needed to work in right conditions in order of
getting a bigger production and then the benefits were
shared between them.
• Literary panorama
In the Renaissance, England had received its literary influence from

Italy. During the XVIII century, France was the model. In the XIX
century the influence came from Germany.
England found in Germany a theoretical basis to what had already

been going on for years: it was a time of rebellion, tendency towards
breaking the rules and the rejection of Classicism and conventions.
Romanticism didn't begin in a sudden, but after a period of transition.

It was born with poets of the XVIII century like Blake and McPherson
(“Ossian Poems”; tendency towards Scandinavian mythology), but the
publishing of “The Lyrical Ballads” by Wordsworth (1798) is
considered as the started point because the main characteristics of
Romanticism are expressed in this poem.
The first generation of poets (Wordsworth, Colleridge) were influenced

by the French Revolution. The second generation (Shelley, Keats,
Byron) were influenced by the battle of Waterloo in 1850 (defeat of
Napoleon). Anyway, both generations are united by a common faith in
poetry.
• General characteristics of Romanticism
o Authors use the language or ordinary men and women, in

contrast with the artificial and conventional language of
the XVIII century.
o Return to imagination, legend and human heart.
o Poetry is more than a correct versification of philosophical

truth as it had been in the previous century.
o Imagination takes the place of reason.
o The poet regains the leadership.
o The poet is a guide, a prophet and a seer because he has

more sensitivity than the rest.
o The poet is not a mere embellisher of everyday life, but

the one who gives life its meaning.
o Poetry is not just a gentleman's hobby, but a vocation.
o Poets use the blank verse (=without rhyme).
o Their objects of scrutiny are the mysterious regions of

instinct, feelings, senses and the subtle relations between
man and Nature.
o Pantheism.
o Their language is less dulled by conventions. Instead,

they use a fresh set of poetical association of words.
o They are “Amorous of the Far”.
o Delight in the abnormal and the marvellous.
o Authors go from trivial fantasies to exalted mysticism.
o What is important is not the thing perceived, but the thing

imagined.
o Withdrawal from outer experiences and concentration

upon inner experiences.
o Authors are “Contra-Mundum”.
o They like the exotic and disquieting forms like the

“femme fatal”.
o They like abnormal elements like the morbidly erotic

insanity and the incest.
o Influenced by the Oriental Mind.
o Anti-intellectualism: they argue that learning is a vice and

ignorance is a virtue. Then they idealise the noble-savage
based on Rousseau's “L'Emile”.
o Drown towards the simple, the rustic and the democratic.
o Return to Nature.
o Taste for the relics of ancient poetry.
o Feeling for the Middle Ages (abbeys).
o Nationalistic feeling, although the second generation was

more cosmopolitan in outlook.
o The Romantic is a dreamer, so a lot of importance is given

to symbolism.
o Upon the lower levels, Romanticism derives into
Gothicism.
• Etymology
“Romanticism” comes from the word “romance”, which at the

beginning was the name for vernacular languages from Latin. Then it
turned to mean the literature written in those vernaculars. Later on
came the adjective “romantic”:
o XVII century: it meant the fabulous, the extravagant, the

fictitious, the unreal.
o XVIII century: it meant pleasant scenes.
o XIX century: it meant the resurgence of instinct and

emotion in literature.
• THE FIRST GENERATION OF ROMANTIC POETS
WORDSWORTH: TINTERN ABBEY
• Wordsworth (1770-1850)
o He graduated from Cambridge in 1791.
o He spent two years in France where he was witness of the

French Revolution. There he fell in love with a French
woman. When he came back to England he heard she was
pregnant, but the couldn't go to France due to the
Napoleonic War.
o Later on he became disillusioned with the Regime of

Terror in France.
o He settled down with his sister Dorothy in the Lake

District (Northwest of England). They began a quiet rural
existence that inspired most of his best lyrics.
o Then he began his friendship with Colleridge.
o Wordsworth's contribute to the lyrical ballads was

intended to deal with common place themes and with the
ordinary and simple situations which bring men into
contact with Nature.
o In 1799 the three friends visited Germany, although

Wordsworth and his sister returned soon to England.
o Then Wordsworth married his cousin Mary Hutchinson.
o In 1813 he was appointed distributor of stamps for the

government, which enabled him to have a pension and
continue his idyllic existence in comfort.
o In 1843 he was made “Poet Laureate”.
o He died in 1850, as quietly as he had spent his life.
o His work:
o His work shows few outbursts of violence; only the raise of

Napoleon inspired him to violent indignation.
o In later years he lost his youthful enthusiasm and became

conservative. He turned to be very stiff in his lyrical
expression.
o When he was young he was attacked for being

revolutionary, whereas later he was attacked for his
conservatism.
o The more innovative aspect of his poetry is his interest in

humble, dropout characters.
o He is considered the poet of Nature “par excellence” but

not because his descriptions are better achieved than
others, but because he gives importance on the influence
of Nature on man's feelings.
DISCUSSION FORM:
TINTERN ABBEY BY
WORDSWORTH
• PART I: LOCATION
o Author and title:
Wordsworth, Tintern Abbey.
o Literary genre:
Poetry (if it was a fragment, we need to comment its inkeeping).
o Contextualization (what happens?):
o Description of the surroundings of Tintern Abbey.
o The tranquillity of the country versus the anxiety of town.
Personal impression and influence from body to soul on
the poet.
o The poet doesn't long for youth because then he couldn't

appreciate Nature. Changing relationships with Nature
through time.
o Addressing to the poet's sister. He advises her to

remember Nature in times of depression. Nature as the
most powerful protector.
o Structure (various possibilities):
Four parts: description (1-23), influence of the landscape during the

stay in town (23-54), “core” of the poem about the changing
relationship with Nature (51-114), addressing to the poet's sister and
look to future (114 to the end).
o Importance of the text (only with fragments) #
o Setting:
The setting is the country, the banks of the river Wyf, the Nature.
Although the setting is still nature in fragments 20-50, there is then a
reference to towns.
o Theme:
The influence of Nature on the poet. His different attitudes towards

Nature through time: in youth as a source of simple pleasure and later
as a comforter (spiritual insight).
o Tone:
The tone is melancholic, slow, evocative and serene, although in the

core of the poem the tone is more exalted (when the poet is talking
about his youth).
.........................................................................
PART II: COMMENTARY
o Voice:
There is only one voice represented in the text by the first personal
pronoun “I”. As a romantic poet, he is not a mere observer but an
experiencer of feelings. The poet makes also indirect reference to the
river and to his sister.
o Phonetic-phonological level
• Enjambements (1-2, 79-80...): They lengthen the verses and

give continuity to the poem.
• Rhyme: without rhyme
• Rhythm:
o Parallelism (40-41): it contributes to remark the sense of

“heavy weight” and of anxiety that the poet felt in the
city.
o Alliterations (“sense sublime” “weary weight” “nor mourn

nor murmur”): they give a calmer rhythm to the poem.
o Onomatopeia #
o Enumerations
o Morpho-syntactic level
• Nouns, adjectives and verbs (semantic fields):
o Nature
o Feelings (“love, soul...”)
o Senses (“sweet, green, perceive, behold...”)
o Activities of the intellect (“believe, suffer, forget, think...”)
o Concretion in time (“five years”) and in space (“here,

Wye” and demonstratives).
• The pronoun “I” refers to the poet, which in Romanticism is a

seer and a prophet.
• Syntax: there is hypotaxis that gives a slow rhythm to the

poem, in consonance with the quiet feeling of Nature.
o Lexic-semantic level:
o Cultism (13): “copses” instead of “coppices”
o Metaphor (58, 100)
o Personification (15, 58, 64, 127...)
o Simile (71): “like a roe I...”
o Paradox (88): “aching joys”
o Enumeration and anaphora (100-102, 103-105...)
o ...
COLLERIDGE - KUBLA KHAN
o Coleridge (1772-1834)
o He was born in Devonshire and he was the 9th son and

the 14th child of a clergyman. He was favoured by his
parents so he was resented by his older brothers. He
withdrew to books onto the world of imagination.
o At the age of 10 he was sent to a free school in London.
o He attended Cambridge University, but although he had

been a brilliant student at boarding school, the freedom
and the temptations of Cambridge proved too much for
him.
o After two years, with debts of 150 pounds hanging over

his head, he fled from college and enlisted in a Cavalry
Regiment. As a cavalryman he turned out a miserable
failure.
o When his brothers bought his discharge, he and Robert

Southey conceived the plan of starting a colony on the
Susuehanna River, in America, a site they chose because
of its poetic name. But like many others of Coleridge's
projects, this one was never carried out.
o In 1795 he met his neighbour Wordsworth and the two

men published the Lyrical Ballads. Coleridge's
contribution to them refers to supernatural themes:
“Kubla Khan” “Christabelle” and “The Rime of the Ancient
Mariner”.
o His marriage was an unhappy one. He fell in love with

Sarah Hutchinson (Wordsworth's sister in law), but she did
not return his love.
o To ease the pain of rheumatism he began to take

laudanum (an opium preparation), and soon he became
addict: he was no longer the happy poet with hundreds of
potential poems to sign, but the victim of pain and
despair.
o He turned more and more to literary criticism. He studied
German Philosophy and he founded a newspaper.
Although he was ill his last years were not inactive. He
became a famous lecturer. He enjoyed the homage of
many young literary men like Ralph Waldo Emerson
(American writer and philosopher who was not so much
interested in medievalism as other Romantic writers like
Lord Byron and Scott; his interest was in the subtler and
more spiritual spheres of romance).
o His work
His literary reputation is based on a small group of poems and on the

chapters in his Biographia Literaria, in which he presents his general
theory of poetry. His reputation is also based on his comments on
Wordsworth's poems and on his writings on Shakespeare.
At various times he was a great poet, a brilliant critic and a profound

theoretican. He planned great projects but he only completed a small
part of what he had planned.
Colleridge described his own character as “indolence capable of

energies”. His friend Robert Southey wrote a poem about Colleridge,
in which it says: “his mind is perpetual St. Vitu's Dance”, meaning an
external activity without action. If he had completed everything that
he projected, now he would be one of the giants of English Literature.
o The origin of Kubla Khan
Coleridge was ill in a farm in Somerset. He took two grams of opium

and he fell asleep. In dreams, he had the vision of the paradise, the
gardens of Kubla Khan, but this vision was interrupted by the arrival
of a visitor. When the visitor left, the vision had disappeared: this
explains the fragmentary character of the poem. The poem is then
the transcription of a dream.
DISCUSSION FORM:
KUBLA KHAN BY
COLERIDGE
PART I: LOCATION
1. Author, title and date
2. Literary Genre: poetry
3. Contextualization
It's the story of a prince (Kubla Khan) who creates a paradise. He

builds a dome or cupola of a palace surrounded by artificial nature.
Out of this paradise, the nature is more savage. Inside of it, there is a
fountain that forms a river; this river runs along the paradise of Kubla
Khan. But suddenly, the elements of nature crash making a big noise:
the prince first thinks that it is a declaration of war, but in fact the
sound was the force of nature. Nature finally reaches the harmony
when an Abyssinian woman appears, and the poet promises to build a
more harmonic paradise.
4. Structure (various possibilities)
Four parts: 1-11 (general description), 12-35 (the savage nature), 35-
38 (transition), 39-54 (reach of harmony).
5. Importance of the text #
6. Setting
Nature and the dream of the author.
7. Theme
o Nature
o The Paradise regained as a result of the poet's creative

force
8. Tone
In the first part (1-11) the tone is calm, exotic, dreamer.
The rest of the poem as a gradual tone of passion, uncontrolled,

mighty, savage, excited thing.
PART II: COMMENTARY
1.Voices
The voice of the poet (“I”)
2.Phonetic-Phonological level
o Enjambements to give continuity and a feeling of

tranquillity: 8-9
o Rhyme doesn't obey a particular pattern; it is an

imperfect rhyme or “eye-rhyme” (“far-war”: the spelling is
the same, but the pronunciation is not) and it has free
verses. It contributes to give musicality to the poem
o Alliterations (“river - ran”)...
.....................................................
Interpretations of various schools:
a) Psychoanalytic School (Freud and Yung)
This school bases its theories in archetypes all along history, in the
collective subconscious of mankind. The river of Coleridge is then an
archetype that had also appeared in Seneca as an immense
underground sea from which the rivers Nile and Alpheus spring. The
mount Abora would be the mount Amara in Milton's Paradise Lost and
the mount Abola in books of travels. Kubla Khan and Xanadu appear
also in Milton's, where we find a similar line as the one which opens
Coleridge's poem (“of Cambalu, seat of Cathaian Can”).
The psychoanalytic critics consider that we find personal fantasies

and the repressed erotic urges. These urges can be seen in the
fountain, which represents the ejaculation or the pains of parturition.
The “pleasure dome” would be the female's breast. The last lines of
the poem (“honey-dew, milk of paradise”) would correspond to
fellatio. The force of the fountain would be an over stimulation of
gastrointestinal functions (diarrhoea). The birth dream is then a
return to the mother's womb in search of security and warmth. The
damsel from Abyssinia represents Coleridge's liking for the mixture of
races (miscegenation).
• Natural school: The poem is a landscape poem, a poetical

daydream.
• Politic school: The poem represents the confrontation

between the profane power and the sacred power of the poet.
• Theological school: The poem explores the visionary and

apocalyptic theme of fallen man's wish to recover the lost
paradise.
-Charles Lamb: “This poem is like and owl that won't bear daylight”.
.......................................................
o Semantic fields
o Nature
o Senses: “vision, saw, heard...” especially of hearing to
give musicality
o Music: “song, symphony, dulcimer...”
o Ancient, exotic and mythical background: “Xanadu, Kubla

Khan, Mount Abora, Abyssinian, ancient...”
o Magic rituals: “demon lover, holy dread...”
o Water: “river, sea, fountain...”
o The poem begins with an inversion subject-verb. The aim

of this first part of the poem is to attract the reader's
attention. It is also an advance of the later power that the
poem reaches by the description of Kubla Khan's power to
obtain pleasure. In this part there are negative terms like
“measureless, sunless”. There is also an acumulation of
sounds /f, w/ which give more emphasis on the enclosure
of Kubla Khan's dominions (claustrophobic feeling). The
conjunction “and” doesn't unit similar ideas, but different.
o The second part of the poem is full of allusions to force

(19), life (“green”) and personifications (“earth”). The
repetition of the sounds / m r / contribute to a general
feeling of movement. The appearance and death of the
river happen in tumult. Everything takes place in a
mythical scenario. The character of Kubla Khan re-
appears again.
o Verses 35 and 36 describe the miracle, the climax of the

scene. The “dome of pleasure” is now reflected on the sea
(31), so the “sunny dome” gives light to the “sunless
sea”. Finally (35), vision (the shadow of dome) and sound
(the river) unit and give life to the sea.
o In the final part of the poem, the damsel appears. She is a

nexus between the poet and Kubla Khan, a kind of muse.
The tone is softer, more positive. The verse 38 (“In a
vision once I saw”) is a dream inside a dream; it gives a
sense of sight. The next verses incline to the mixture of
elements, the music, and the mythological. In verse 42
the ”I”, referring to the poet, appears and puts end to the
dream inside the dream. The verse 50 is the typical
romantic appearance of the poet; the poet unfolds himself
into a third person and makes an indirect speech. Verses
50-54 have a transcendental tone and a sublime feeling.
3.JANE AUSTEN'S NOVELS. STUDY OF PRIDE AND PREJUDICE.
o Life of Jane Austen (1775-1817)
She was born in 1775. Her father was a clergyman and the family was
made up of 8 children. Her brothers were either in the Church or in
the navy (which accounts for the professions of the main characters
of her novels).
She attended school until she was 11. Then she studied at home and
mainly she read 18th century writers (Samuel Johnson, Henry
Fielding, Samuel Richardson, Fanny Burney).
She started writing when she was 10. All the family was very talented.
She and her sister Cassandra had boyfriends, but they lost them in
tragic circumstances.
She spent her last years in Hampshire. She died of small pox in
Winchester, where she had gone for a cure. She's buried there.
o Her novels
o Sense and Sensibility, 1811 - Emma, 1816
o Pride and Prejudice, 1813 - Northanger Abbey
o Mansfield Park, 1814 - Persuasion (posthumous)
o General background
The upper classes:
o Old gentry: aristocracy (Lady Catherine, Mr Darcy)
o New gentry: new aristocracy(Mr Bingley)
o Lesser gentry: aristocracy who had lost money (the

Bennets)
o Religion
That was a society of a Christian revival. The aristocracy controlled

the Church. In order to have a living, people of lesser rank were given
a parish to work in (as Mr Collins). The Church was very worldly, as Mr
Collins is (he is very interested in material possessions).
o What type of novel is Pride and Prejudice?
o Didactic, although the moral is never heavy or obscure.
Even the title of the novel is a broad allegory, in which
vices and virtues are presented and commented upon.
o Satirical, although it's very gentle. It is presented through

situational and verbal irony.
o Love and marriage novel; novel of development: it deals

with all the obstacles that a couple has to overcome in
order to get married.
o Novel of manners
o Themes
• Domestic life in the Regency period, which is presented with

photographic realism. There are no violent scenes, no passion,
no tragedy, no death, no poverty, no crime...Then there are not
really wicked characters, no real low class, no real adventure,
no deep psychological analysis and no feeling for nature.
• Love and marriage is a theme common to all Jane Austen's

novels. It refers to the difficulties that people have to overcome
before getting married. Although there are several marriages in
the novel, the theme applies mainly to Eliza and Mr Darcy: both
of them have to gain self-knowledge.
Eliza is very attractive, intelligent and individualistic; she has to

overcome prejudices and she will have to learn not to make quick
judgements, not to be taken up by appearances (because she didn't
see through Darcy's haughty exterior or through Wickham's easy
manners).
According to Jane Austen's novels, marriage should be based on

affection and understanding. It shouldn't be the result of immediate
blind impulses (as Lydia does). A list of qualities are needed to get
married:
o Understanding each other's character
o Good disposition of partners
o Similarity of feeling and tastes
o Affection and attraction
o A lot of money
• Good breeding and social rank. Jane Austen accepted the
hierarchical order (lords and ladies, gentry, aristocracy, clergy,
land owners...). She thought wealth desirable, but she did not
believe that wealthy people were necessarily the most
educated ones.
Although she defended the Church, she also admitted its worldliness.
For example, she rejects Mr Collins' concise remark that “Lydia should
be forgiven, but never spoken to” as unchristian.
Jane Austen's moral is that of the classical period:
o Feelings should be controlled by reason and they should

follow the moral laws accepted by society and taught by
religion. Then characters that follow their passions are
punished or criticised (Lydia).
o Standards or society are not to be broken, but according

to Austen, they should not be followed blinded: they have
to be used as the measure of good sense.
o Setting: parties, balls and visits
The characters meet under realistic society settings, but they meet
under etiquette (which limits communication between them).
Jane Austen pays little attention to descriptions. The environment is

rural, where social life is a mixture of parties, balls and visits.
o A party is a small gathering where people entertain

themselves, play cards, dance or play the piano. They
usually take place after evening meals.
o Balls are larger gatherings, mainly for dancing. They are

important occasions where people from different circles
are joined together. Young women are expected to make
a display of themselves (boast). Young men are expected
to make social advances; if they don't, it will be
considered suspicious. Balls mark crisis in the
hero/heroine relationships. They occur with regularity,
either at the beginning of the novel or at the critical point.
These public assemblies sometimes cause misunderstanding, but

they also help to bring unhappy crisis to a climax. Genuine intimacy is
very difficult in balls, so wrong conclusions are likely to be drawn. The
triumph of the intimate over the public occurs mainly in the open air
(e.g. the park at Pemberly in the case of Eliza and Darcy).
o Visits can be either for a few hours or long stays for weeks
or even months.
o Characters
The heroines in Jane Austen's novels are not static not caricatures.
They grown and develop. They exhibit two qualities in their outgoing
and generous personalities: endurance in times of despair and
disappointment. Jane Austen is not like her predecessors, who
glamorised the heroine (Eliza has no exceptional talent or beauty).
The author's concern is with complexity of character; Eliza has wit
and intelligence as her father and sense of humour. She's impulsive,
affectionate, neither jealous nor vain. Sometimes she does the
unexpected but nevertheless she remains sensible. She's very original
in her liveliness: she has more life than conventional heroines in
sentimental novels. She is not so beautiful as her sister Jane, but
Eliza's eyes have a lively expression that attracts Darcy's attention.
The heroes influence the heroines but they are also opened to
misjudgement due to the complexity of their character. The heroine's
point of view is crucial in our understanding of the hero. The heroine
doesn't know how the hero behaves when he's with other men. The
task of the hero is to provoke (e.g. Darcy considered Eliza and his
family as provincial at the first ball). In the case of Darcy, Jane Austen
delineates him not only through Eliza's point of view, but also through
Bingley's. Pride prevents Darcy from showing his authentic virtues.
He's very generous with his servants, affectionate with his sister and
discrete in his dealings with Wickham. He is a true gentleman (with
10000 pounds a year, a house in the country and a house in town)
belonging to the old gentry.
The seducers. Wickham is one of the most plausible villainous of Jane

Austen's seducers. He's handsome, persuasive, disingenuous,
calculator and dishonourable. We know him through Eliza, so we are
also taken in by her favourable opinion about him and by her
prejudice towards Darcy. Wickham is outward and deceives everyone.
o Male confidant: Mr Bingley
He has simplicity, common- sense, openness and frankness. He is

very straightforward. He is not a snob like his sisters are. But he is
very easily influenced.
We know about his physical appearance and his social position (new
gentry), although he does not have a state yet.
o Female confidant: Jane Benet
She is beautiful. She never thinks ill of anyone, but her judgement is
faulty (then she is not a good adviser).
o The caricatures: Mr Collins and Mrs Benet
They are mainly secondary characters. They are marked by a single

characteristic and they do not show unexpected traits in the
development of the novel (those are called “flat and round
characters”). There is no hope of reforming their personalities, but we
end up laughing at their behaviour because they are invariably comic.
They sometimes are more hostile than the seducer, but the heroine is
never mistaken about them. They are an annoyance, but never
dangerous.
Their function is, by contrast, to highlight the hero or heroine.
• Mr Collins' character is revealed in letters and in his pompous

behaviour. He shows formality and affected humility. He
considers things in terms of their cost or external appearance
(e.g. when he shows the number of windows of his house).
Although he is a minister of the Church, he does not show a real
Christian feeling.
• Mrs Benet is the chief comic character. She is zealous of her

neighbours. She is obsessed in marrying her daughters. She
very easily changes her mind (e.g. about the elopement of
Lydia and Wickham).
o The parents
Mr Benet is an intelligent gentleman. He is very sarcastic: he and

Elizabeth are the source of Jane Austen's irony. That's why he
ridicules is wife and daughters (“silly”). But this sarcasm does not
justify his neglect towards his family. In fact, he is faulty but he is also
a very likeable man.
o Points of view
The narrator is omniscient (also called extra-fictional, third person...)

but within it, we can discover some particularities:
o Objective account: it refers to the narrator acting as an

historian in possession of all the facts; he/she presents
things as they have happened. He is a neutral observer, a
chronicler of the past and a narrator of the present.
o Indirect account: by means of a word or sentence, the
narrator discloses a personal note of qualification (mainly
irony).
o Direct account: it refers to the introduction of the narrator

in the narration (“I” or the royal “we”). It is very typical of
19th century novels, but not very frequent in Jane
Austen's.
o The universally acknowledge truth: it is a dogmatic truth.

Jane Austen likes introduce them in her novels.
o Dramatic mode: it refers to dialogues, because they can

add drama to the story and humour. Jane Austen's
dialogues are very realistic although sometimes they are
a bit polished. She has a perfect sense of timing and a
perfect instinct for climax vs. anticlimax.
o Interior disclosures: it is similar to the stream of

consciousness of 20th century novels (internal dialogues
of the characters).
o Structure
Jane Austen's novels have a broad structure, which proceed in three

phases:
• The heroine is shown in her original circumstances: her family,

her circle or acquaintances, her economical state, her
temperament...
• The primary antagonists or intrigues: their function is to make

the heroine away to her confinement (the marriage), which
seems to be inevitable and permanent (e.g. Lydia's elopement).
• The secondary antagonists: the main one is society, which is

opposed to true personal relationships. It sets constrains on the
individual and deceitful opportunities of escape. The individual
has to find out his own way of release.
o Structure in Pride and Prejudice: two parts
• It refers to the meeting between Darcy and Elizabeth and the

impressions they had one another. Darcy falls in love and when
he asks Eliza to marry hi, he is rejected (climax).
• It refers to the better understanding of one another, their

acquaintance is renewed. They are about to get married but an
obstacle appears: the elopement of Lydia and Wickham. But
finally it is overcome and they get married.
o Plots: nothing occurs that we might consider unnatural
• Bingley's courtship of Jane. It is a parallel with Darcy and Eliza.

There is interaction between the two couples. Darcy's influence
separates Bingley and Jane.
• Charlotte's marriage to William Collins. It is important in the

development of the novel because thanks to Eliza's visit to
them, she meets Darcy (while she is living with the Collins, they
receive an invitation from Lady Catherine). All this shows the
careful construction of the plot.
• Darcy's dealings with Wickham. All this has started before the
beginning of the novel. Wickham's prejudices against Darcy.
From Darcy's letter, Eliza learns the truth. This strengthens her
regard for Darcy. But Wickham's elopement with Lydia delays
Darcy's second proposal of marriage.
o Structure within characterisation. Sections:
• Wickham seems to have all the good qualities, but Darcy has
them. Wickham and Darcy are opposed but both are the
opposite of what they seem.
• Miss Bingley seems to have the good manners of a lady, while

Eliza seems to be an unlady like woman. In the end, it turns out
to be the opposite.
• Mr Collins' courtship with Eliza and Charlotte. They have

different attitudes towards marriage, because Eliza has greater
sense and higher ideals.
• Mr Collin and Darcy's pride. Both men are sure that their
marriage proposals are going to be accepted, but Eliza rejects
both.
o Style
Jane Austen uses irony in order to make a social criticism. In this

respect, Eliza is her mouthpiece.
Austen's language is based in the 18th century style (Addison and

Steele).
Sometimes the style seems slow, pompous and a bit stiff, but on the
whole, her prose is elegant, witty, vivid and powerful (especially in
love scenes). She has a special gift for comic dialogue.
Austen's style is controlled with gentle but penetrating satirical

humour. There are no excesities of rhetoric or verbosity.
o Epilogue
Jane Austen does not fall completely in the didactic tradition. Her
heroines are more nature, they do not have an abnormal beauty or
virtues nor feminine accomplishments.
Jane Austen criticises the reduction of female education to the pursuit

of trivial accomplishments. She wants a better status for women but
within the established order.
She is aware of the influence of social deprivation on the characters,

at least, in what refers to the disadvantages suffered by women. She
believes in women's capacity for intellectual and moral growth.
CHARLES DICKENS
“GREAT
EXPECTATIONS”
o Stages in Dickens' style:
o Satire
o Feelings
o Social compromise
o Setting: the Regency years, in which the new gentry

developed
o Themes
• The vanity of entertaining false expectations.
• Confusion between appearance and reality. For Dickens, what is

important is the inner world because wealth and position are
corrupted.
• Education and the progress towards maturity (“buildung

roman”).
• Criticism of social injustice (although Dickens was no social
reformer). In the social classes, the world of responsibility is
opposed to the world of ignominy (oppressed vs. oppressor;
death vs. living).
• Victorian melodrama (good vs. evil; honest loyal man vs. selfish
schemer).
o Symbology I
- Light - Blackness - The marshes
- Clothes - Graveyards - Hands
- Food and meals - Names (Satis, Estella, Magwitch)
o Structure: circular structure divided in three parts.
• Chapters 1-19: the village and the marshes
• Chapters 19-39: London
• Chapters 39-59: the return to the village
The structure can be read:
• As in a fairy tale, but in this case we find a reversal because the

hero does not end up successful. He gets moderately well paid
middle-aged businessman, with his marriage to the princess not
well assured. In the end, who seemed to be the monster turns
out to be his fairy godmother (and vice versa).
• In terms of a Greek tragedy: a man who prospers and achieves

success becomes the hero or the king, but in the course of his
career he commits the sin of pride (“hybrid”). In trying to solve
a problem he makes a vital discovery that leads to his downfall
as a punishment for his pride.
• As a “bildung roman” because it is the story of a young man of

talent but humble origins who travels from town to city and
gradually climbs the social ladder. There are reminiscences of
Milton's paradise lost: the village is like a paradise from which
Pip is expelled.
o Style: fictional autobiography (1st person narrator)
o More complicity between the reader and the characters. It

implies a higher effort of the reader.
o The narrator of the story is Mr Pirrip, talking first about
himself in different stages of his life: Pip, Mr Pip and Mr
Pirrip. Then he is not an omniscient narrator. From the
point of view of a middle-aged person he might refer
humorously to an event that in the past had been painful.
o He mixes past and present.
o He uses the language of an uneducated boy.
o Naivety.
o Use of theatrical devices, in which we can distinguish

dialogues accompanied by gestures.
o Pictorial and dramatic presentations (“tableau”, as if it

were a painting).
o Language
o Different types of languages belonging to different

groups: vernacular (Joe, Mrs Joe), legalistic (Mrs Jaggers,
Wemmick).
o It is an important means of characterisation (everyone

has a tag).
o The character
In Dickens' novels, the heroes are orphans who don't fit in society
even though they try it. They are lonely heroes characterised by
desire rather than by possession. The rest of the characters are
secondary but have an influence on the hero (Biddy, Wemmick,
Herbert).
o Original ending (Dickens wrote two different endings)
Pip tells the reader how he meets Estella again in a carriage while
walking in London. She had left her first husband and married again.
They shake hands and talk briefly before parting. This ending is more
in-keeping with the serious story.
o Symbology II
a) Blackness
o Blackness: ambiguity, falseness. Mawitch is even dressed

in coarse grey uncovered with mutt.
o In the first chapter, the beacon means the extinguished
hope of clarity and the gibbet is the persecution.
o Satis house: Miss Havisham's wedding dress is yellow, not

white
o Mawitch: when he reappears, we find him going up

darkened stars to Pip's lodgings.
o Marshes: mutt is the breeding place of death. It indicates

the class of society to which Mawitch belongs: the
oppressed in life. Social evil and corruption of the judicial
system.
o Graveyard: Mawitch is death in the eyes of respectable

society.
• Light
o Light: it means growing perception, truth and goodness.

That's why Joe and Pip are associated with the fire of the
forge.
o The fire at Satis House is redentive.
o The mourning mist had “solemnly risen” when Pip first left
the forge.
o When Mawitch meets Pip again in London there is a bright

slight of recognition.
o Torches are lit to penetrate the darkness f the marshes

and look for the convict.
o The evening mist finally rises when Pip abandons his false
posture (“a broad expanse of tranquil light”) to indicate
that he will not part again with Estella.
• Hands
o Mrs Joe brings up Pip “by hand”; she has a heavy had.
o Pip is criticised by Estella for having coarse hands, and he

is worried because she sees his black hands after working
in the forge.
o Estella's mother, who is a convict, has an immense grip

(asidero) in her hands.
o Mr. Jaggers is continuously washing his hands.
o Joe shakes hands with Pip when he visits him in London.
o Mawitch dies holding Pip's hands.
o Pip's hands are badly burned when trying to save Miss

Havisham at Satis House.
o Pip is called “Hendel”, which belongs to a classical melody

about a blacksmith.
o Parallelisms: not only in the text
o In the novel as a whole, because the first six chapters find

a parallel in the last six:
o Pip's encounter with Mawitch
o A terrified young boy vs. a prosperous young man
o Pip's meeting Estella again at Miss Havisham's garden
o In characters: Pip's expectations find a parallelism in:
o Pumblechoock's expectations (he wants a share in Pip's

fortune and that makes him excessive in his
congratulations)
o Woopsole's expectations (he wants to renew the drama

but he makes a fool of himself)
o Sarah and Camilla Pocket's expectations (they expect to

be named in Miss Havisham's will and they are torn by
jealousy)
o Symbology III
• Names
“Satis”: enough “Magwitch”: magician + witch “Stella”: star
“Orlik”: “old dick”, the name of devil (Pip's fights with Orlik: descend
to hell)
• Food and meals
o Magwitch devouring a piece of bread: the desperate need

of his social class
o Meal at Christmas Eve: introduction to Pip's
acquaintances and their believes and values
o Miss Havisham's decayed wedding meal: her ruined hopes
o Herbert's use of the knife and fork: delicacy and good

manners
• Clothes
o Second hand: life thriving upon death (men in prison wear

those of dead prisoners)
o Clothes of the dock attendant: taken from the bodies of

drown men
o New clothes (Pip's new suit): transformation in his

character, ridiculed by Trabb's boy
o Magwitch's attempt to disguise himself with new clothes

results to be unsuccessful
o Joe's new clothes: also a failure
o Dickensian heroe
He becomes aware of himself as isolated from all that is outside

himself. The world appears as cold, wild and unfriendly as a
graveyard. He's alienated from the community (orphan). He's
characterised by desire rather than by possession, an emptiness that
will be filled. He's aware of himself as guilty because of his very
existence. Any status that he acquires in the world will be the result
of his own efforts.
Pip is the hero, but flat characters have a lot of influence on him.
Educators and confidants:
o Biddy: Pip's formal education; she teaches him that

dignity and pride can be derived from the forge as well as
from the possession of money
o Herbert: teaches him manners and how to become a

gentleman; introduces Pip into London life.
o Wemmick: teaches Pip about the world of criminals
Opposed characters also influenced him. They reveal the witness and
negation in Pip's period of great expectations (Trabb's boy).
There is other group whose life is parallel to Pip's. It is made up of
Orlik and Drummle. They can be considered as single character and
they face the achievements of Orlick and Drummle against Pip's
powerlessness.
o Drummle walks behind Pip and Herbert the same as Orlick

has walked behind Pip and Biddy.
o Orlik works at the forge as Pip does; he is insulted by Mrs

Joe as Pip; he feels on attraction for Biddy the same as
Pip; he goes from the forge to Miss Havisham's; he goes
from Satis House to London... Orlik's interest for Biddy is
sexual whereas Pip's is platonic; he peruses a career at
Satis House. Orlik attacks Miss Joe while Pip is beaten by
Mrs Joe.
o Themes
• The vanity of entertaining false expectations in a world where

hope is so easily compromised or destroyed. Wealth and
position are corrupted.
• Confusion between appearance and reality. Wemmick and

Jagger seem cold at first by they have kind impulses beneath
their business-like exterior. Magwitch, though ugly and uncouth
appearance, proves to be a man of loveable personality. Pip's
first deception about the origin of his wealth parallels his moral
deception about what he thinks will bring happiness.
• Education and the progress towards maturity: as it corresponds

to a bildung roman.
• Social injustice. Dickens was not a social reformer. This is a

secondary theme (6 chapters). He did criticise injustices (e.g.
child's mistreatment in Oliver Twist, non-impartiality of the
court of justice; corruption of the judicial system). Unlike Oliver
and Copperfield, Pip has someone to rely on (Joe).
In the first six chapters the different social classes are represented in
the Christmas dinner: the criminal, the military, artisan classes,
wealthy entrepreneurs... The world of respectability vs. the world of
ignominy / oppressor vs. oppressed / living vs. death. These social
dashes are also represented through the outdoors and indoor scenes;
each one is coincidence with a chapter's division. It indicates
separated worlds, a steady movement back and forth. There is an
alter-nation between London and the marshes. Dickens was against
paying “lip services” given to the idea of equality in America; he
thought the class distinctions were valid. Dickens supports Pip and
Herbert.
OSCAR WILDE
“THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING

ERNEST”
Oscar Wilde takes his inspiration from the 18th century.
This play is full of puns, mysteries, falsebility of identity, childlike

innocence...
It can be considered a comedy of manners or even an “eating

comedy” (because Algernon is always eating) (see photocopies).
We must take into account “The Portrait of Dorian Gray” and “The
Crime of Lord Arthur Sevile” to understand this play.
o Theme: a light criticism of Victorian society
Characteristics of Victorian society:
o Marriages were arranged, but women had the power to

refuse.
o Women didn't have the chance to speak alone with men

because it was considered unmoral. Even when they went
out, they had to be accompanied by a chaperon (a
governess).
o Women (like Gwendolyn) could attend a university

extension scheme.
o Women were at home. If they needed to work, they could

be employed in dusting or as governess.
o Servants lived under good conditions in households,

where they had free meals, accommodation and access to
the library (although they were not very well paid).
o The aristocracy felt threatened by the industrial revolution

and the fall of agriculture, so they had to welcome the
new riches. They felt in a way ashamed and retreated
from public view (in contrast with the 18th C).
o Aristocrats covered whatever qualms (“remordimientos”)
by doing charity jobs.
Oscar Wilde (who was aristocrat) was for socialism because he

criticised private property. Paradoxically enough, he said “socialism
would only work in a society where the individual could realise his full
potential”.
o Stylistic features
• Puns (“juegos de palabras”)
• Reversal of accepted truths and clichés
• Irony
• Epigrams
• Antithesis
• Parody
• Euphemisms
• Balanced sentences
• Economic style
• Artificial and invented mode of speech (“a purely verbal opera”)
o Characters
Jack is more idealistic but Algernon is straighter forward, materialistic

and cynical.
Cecily adds more silly statements like Algernon. She writes diaries,
which is, together with the constant eating of Algernon, a sign of
existentialism (creating an identity). Algernon is witty so he needs
energy to create his own identity: it can be so tiring to be himself all
the time that he needs to create his won identity.
Characters are represented in pairs.
Reductions to absurd:
o Jack and Algernon have both double personalities“The

Portrait of Dorian Gray”.
o The question of their baptismsJohn, the Baptist is

“Salomé”.
o Both characters want to “kill” their doubles (Bunbury and
Earnest) “Lord Arthur Savile's crime”.
o The lost of the cigarrete case Sybil, Arthur's Savile

girlfriend
Lady Bracknell says many nonsensical statements; she has a

monstrous behaviour (reduction to absurd of Dorian Gray's private
Satan, Lord Henry Wooton). Lady Bracknell is also a reduction of
Oscar Wilde's ideas of socialism because she dislikes private property
and doesn't want to invest money in land.
CHARLOTTE BRONTE
“JANE EYRE”
In this novel, the myth of the masculine superiority is deconstructed

(the male character ends up badly), whereas Jane gets a fortune.
Mr Rochester is a Byronic hero: he's not handsome, but he has an

attractive personality.
There are two Janes: Jane as voice (the narrator, when she is more
than 30) and Jane as focus (the character along the novel).
The outdoors (Thornfield) are in contrast with the indoors (Lowood,

Gateshead).
The romantic passion appears even at the beginning of the novel,

when Jane is enclosed in the red room.
In the school, Jane still has a desire for freedom, although she is
prevented by other characters as Bertha Manson or Miss Ingram.
In religion, there are two branches which have influence on Charlotte

Bronte: the Methodism (her aunt) and the Celtic (her father and Irish
family).
The Methodism is severe and strict, like Helen Burns.
The Celtic is seen as “crazy”, superstitious and with premonitions, like

Bertha Manson.
Both characters appear at the same time in Jane's life, but she can
only unite both personalities when they die.
On the other hand, St. John Rivers (fair, blond, strict and religious) is
related to Helen, whereas Mr Rochester (fire, passion and obscure) is
related to Bertha.
Symbology of red:
o The red room where Jane is enclosed is related with the

menstruation (it was thought that women should be kept
apart during those days). In the feminist critic, the
menstruation is also related with the madness of Bertha
Manson and with the passion of Jane.
o The fire is the element that puts an end to Mr Rochester's

mansion
o The attacks of Bertha Manson were in nights of full and

red moon, she had red eyes, etc.
Bronte is accused of lack of irony and humour. She also makes an

excessive use of rhetoric.
Important sentence: “angel in the house, devil in the flesh” (by

Charlotte Bronte)
Excise system = impuesto sobre artículos de comercio interior
Wigs = pelucas
Hypotaxis: subordinate sentences // Parataxis: sentences in

juxtaposition or co-ordination.
Anaphora: repetition of “and”

Introduction To Literature of The Xix Century

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There are to options to mark the beginning of Romanticism:

 From 1780 (American independence) till 1882 (Reform Bill which

 From 1789 (French Revolution) till 1850 (death of Wordsworth).

There was a general clime of dissatisfaction because:

• The Hannoverian Dynasty was very corrupted and extravagant

• There was an archaic excise system: the working class had to

• The enclosures, by which the low classes (farmers, small

• There was no theatre going because Puritanism considered it a

• The social gradations, which were similar to those of a feudal

But there were also improvements such us:

• Relating to custom, the gentlemen were allowed to appear in

• In architecture and furniture, there was simplicity of lines.

• The discover of the steam power.

• The opening of canals, especially in the Midlands, improved the

• The large-scale productions or big publishing like the atlases or

• The literary men were real men of letters, devoted to Literature:

There was a clime of unrest and dissatisfaction due to:

o The French Revolution, which provoked confronted

o The Napoleonic Wars.

But there were also improvements like:

o The Trade Unionism.

o The abolition of slave trade.

o The reform of the cruel penal system.

o The reduction of the hours of child labour.

o The creation of the Mechanics Institutes (in which workers

o The Reform Bill.

o The Utilitarian School of Philosophy, based on the idea of

o The socialist experiment of the Community of New

In the Renaissance, England had received its literary influence from

England found in Germany a theoretical basis to what had already

Romanticism didn't begin in a sudden, but after a period of transition.

The first generation of poets (Wordsworth, Colleridge) were influenced

• General characteristics of Romanticism

o Authors use the language or ordinary men and women, in

o Return to imagination, legend and human heart.

o Poetry is more than a correct versification of philosophical

o Imagination takes the place of reason.

o The poet regains the leadership.

o The poet is a guide, a prophet and a seer because he has

o The poet is not a mere embellisher of everyday life, but

o Poetry is not just a gentleman's hobby, but a vocation.

o Their objects of scrutiny are the mysterious regions of

o Their language is less dulled by conventions. Instead,

o They are “Amorous of the Far”.

o Delight in the abnormal and the marvellous.

o Authors go from trivial fantasies to exalted mysticism.

o What is important is not the thing perceived, but the thing

o Withdrawal from outer experiences and concentration

o Authors are “Contra-Mundum”.

o They like the exotic and disquieting forms like the

o They like abnormal elements like the morbidly erotic

o Influenced by the Oriental Mind.

o Anti-intellectualism: they argue that learning is a vice and

o Drown towards the simple, the rustic and the democratic.

o Taste for the relics of ancient poetry.

o Feeling for the Middle Ages (abbeys).

o Nationalistic feeling, although the second generation was

o The Romantic is a dreamer, so a lot of importance is given

“Romanticism” comes from the word “romance”, which at the

o XVII century: it meant the fabulous, the extravagant, the

o XVIII century: it meant pleasant scenes.

o XIX century: it meant the resurgence of instinct and