Literatura Grad

8/11/2019 Literatura Grad

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gulliver

Students will understand the following:

1. Jonathan Swift comments on undesirable outcomes of advances in science.2. Other authors have also warned against abuse of science.

MaterialsFor this lesson, you will need: !oster or dis"lay board Mar#ers for writing on "oster or dis"lay board $lue, "aste, or ta"e %iogra"hical reference wor#s about writers

!rocedures1. &f students have read any of the following novels or other wor#s of fiction in

which authors warn against the abuse of science, as Swift does in $ulliver's (ravels, thisactivity can hel" consolidate thin#ing about authors' views of science and society. &fstudents have not yet read any of the following novels, consider introducing one or moreas in)class or outside reading after students finish $ulliver's (ravels.%rave *ew +orld by ldous -uley1/0 by $eorge Orwell(he (ime Machine by -. $. +ellsoyage to the %ottom of the Sea by Jules erne2. (ell students to relate one of the "receding novels to $ulliver's (ravels byidentifying within it at least three "assages in which the author voices warnings3im"licitor e"licit3about the misuse of science. (hen students should determine if each such

"assage is an intentional eaggeration by the author or a reality)based "rediction of whatthe future will bring 4or has already brought5.6. Students should then move beyond the novel they are writing about and conductresearch on its author, recording events in his or her life that could have contributed to hisor her views on the effect of science on society.. +hen the research is com"lete, students should "resent their wor# to the class in a"oster session. mong the information students should include on their "osters is thefollowing:title of "oster 4not to be mied u" with the title of novel under study5clear identification of the author and novel under studyimages of the author and boo#

co"ies of "assages that illuminate the author's view of how science affects human societycomment by student on each of the "assagesan analysis of events or influences in author's life leading to his or her views on scienceand societya concluding evaluation by student assessing validity of author's stance on science andsociety7. (he final element on each "oster should lead to a lively discussion by studentsabout the benefits and costs to society of scientific "rogress.

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8. 9is"lay the "osters in your classroom or in a "art of the school building to whichstudents in other classes and grades hav&nstead of assigning a second novel to students as a su""lement to $ulliver's (ravels, as#students to read one of the following short stories or another story that comments onuestionable effects of science on society. s# students to cite at least one "assage that

ma#es such a comment.;Flowers for lgernon,< by 9aniel =eyes;(he Fun (hey -ad,< by &saac simov;(he Flying Machine,< by >ay %radbury;-arrison %ergeron,< by =urt onnegut;%y the +aters of %abylon,< by Ste"hen incent

1. +hat is satire? +hat ma#es it an effective form of criticism?2. &n $ulliver's (ravels, Jonathan Swift eamines the essence of human nature@ arehumans basically rational and good beings or im"ulsive and cruel beasts? +hat does$ulliver discover about human nature? 9raw your own conclusion to this uestion and

su""ort it with eam"les from "ersonal or current events.6. +hat, if anything, should be free from attac# by satire?. 9iscuss what is accom"lished in the story by changing the siAe of $ulliver and the"eo"le he interacts with. -ow does this change of scale affect $ulliver's e"eriences andhis relationshi"s?7. +hat were Jonathan Swift's views on science and technology? (oday, we tend toview science and technology as good and useful things, though this is not always thecase. 9iscuss ways in which science and technology have harmed "eo"le or detractedfrom society in general.8. +hat do you believe Jonathan Swift was trying to say regarding society, "olitics,science and technology, and social institutions of his day? 9o you thin# he would bemore or less "leased with our modern institutions? Of what as"ects of these moderninstitutions do you thin# he would "articularly a""rove or disa""rove?Bou may evaluate each student's "oster using the following three)"oint rubric:(hree "oints: com"lete information as s"ecified in the !rocedures section@ no errors ingrammar, usage, and mechanics(wo "oints: most information as s"ecified in !rocedures@ some errors in grammar, usage,and mechanicsOne "oint: some information as s"ecified in !rocedures@ many errors in grammar, usage,and mechanicsBou can as# your students to contribute to the assessment rubric by determining criteriafor clarity and readability of "osters.+hat would Swift thin# of life in this century? s a class "roCect, have students com"ilea list of twenty)first)century develo"ments that might be targets of the writer's satire ifSwift were alive today. Dach student can choose one of the develo"ments on the list andwrite a satirical essay or story about it. %efore students start on this writing "roCect,review the features of satire, and decide on a suitable length for the essays and stories. Eartoon Eollection!olitical cartoons have been for centuries a common and effective form of satire. s aclass, discuss the usefulness and a""eal of "olitical cartoons. (hen have each student

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collect three "olitical cartoons from current and old news"a"ers and magaAines. Dachstudent should write an analysis of the issue being satiriAed and the cartoonist's ta#e onthe issue. For class "resentation, have each student select one of his or her analyAedcartoons, orally describe it to the class, and e"lain why ;a "icture is worth a thousandwords.eadings

(he (ale %earers: iterary Dssays.S. !ritchett. >andom -ouse, 1/01.(he author of these classic essays on maCor Dnglish and merican writers is himself aworld)famous Dnglish writer. -ere he discusses the relationshi" between a writer's wor#and his life and times. >ead his "ersonal comments on Swift as well as >udyard =i"ling,Jose"h Eonrad, D.M. Forster, $raham $reene, Dvelyn +augh, -enry James, Saul %ellow,Samuel !e"ys, and others. -e sees Swift as a man of his time, whose daily life can be

seen in his writings.$ulliver's (ravels: (he !olitics of Satire>onald =nowles, (waynes Masterwor# Studies G >obert ec#er, general editor. (wayne!ublishersG!rentice -all &nternational, 1//8.9id you #now that Swift left money to establish a hos"ital for the insane u"on his death?(his biogra"hy of Swift's life and times says we do not have to answer the uestion ofwhether $ulliver's (ravels is a novel or a satire. &t is both novel and satire as well as anaccount of travel, realism, fantasy, and fable.$ulliverHs (ravelsSwiftHs $ulliverHs (ravels is without uestion the most famous "rose wor# to emerge fromthis 10th century (ory satiric tradition. &t is the strongest, funniest, and yet in some waysmost des"airing cry for a halt to the trends initiated by seventeenth)century "hiloso"hy. &tis the best evidence we can read to remind us that the rise of the new rationality did notoccur uno""osed.%efore loo#ing at how Swift deals with his resistance, however, & want to tal# a bit aboutthe basic techniues Swift uses to structure his satire. For $ulliverHs (ravels is not Cust agreat wor# of moral vision@ it is also a wonderful satire, and whatever one thin#s ofSwiftHs moral "osition, it is difficulty not to ac#nowledge his su"reme s#ill as a satirist.Some Observations on SwiftHs Satiric (echniue&f the main "ur"ose of any satire is to invite the reader to laugh at a "articular human viceor folly, in order to invite us to consider an im"ortant moral alternative, then the chieftas# facing the satirist is to "resent the target in such a way that we find constant delightin the wit, humour, and sur"rises awaiting us. Few things in literature are moreineffective than a boring, re"etitive satire. So to a""reciate Cust why some satires wor#and others do not, one should loo# carefully at how the satirist sets u" the target anddelivers his Cudgment u"on it in such a way as to sustain our interest. &n other words, theessence of good satire is not the com"leity in the moral message coming across, but inthe s#ilful style with which the writer see#s to demolish his target.+hen we discussed risto"hanes, & suggested there that one main ingredient in satire isdistortion or eaggeration3an invitation to see something very familiar, "erha"s even

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something we ourselves do3in such a way that it becomes simultaneously ridiculous 4oreven disgusting5 and yet funny, comical, something no reasonable "erson would engagein.*ow, the first im"ortant uestion to as# of any satirist is how he or she achieves thenecessary comic distortion which transforms the familiar into the ridiculous. nd SwiftHs

main techniue for achieving this3and a wonderful techniue for satire3is the basic"lot of science fiction: the voyage by an average civiliAed human being into un#nownterritory and his return bac# home. (his a""arently sim"le "lot immediately o"ens u" allsorts of satiric "ossibilities, because it enables the writer constantly to "lay off threedifferent "ers"ectives in order give the reader a comic sense of what is very familiar. &tcan do this in the following ways:1. &f the strange new country is recogniAably similar to the readerHs own culture, thencomic distortions in the new world enable the writer to satiriAe the familiar in a host ofdifferent ways, "roviding, in effect, a cartoon style view of the readerHs own world.2. &f the strange new country is some sort of uto"ia3a "erfectly realiAed vision of theideals often "roclaimed but generally violated in the readerHs own world3then the satirist

can mani"ulate the discre"ancy between the ideal new world of the fiction and thecorru"t world of the reader to illustrate re"eatedly Cust how em"ty the "retensions togoodness really are in the readerHs world.6. %ut the #ey to this techniue is generally the use of the traveller, the figure who is, ineffect, the readerHs contem"orary and fellow countryman. -ow that figure reacts to the*ew +orld can be a constant source of amusement and "ointed satiric comment, because,in effect, this figure re"resents the contact between the normal world of the reader and thestrange *ew +orld of either caricatured ridiculousness or uto"ian "erfection.+e can see Swift moving bac# and forth between the first two techniues, and this cancreate some confusion. For eam"le, in much of %oo# &, illi"ut is clearly a comicdistortion of life in Duro"e. (he sections on the "ublic rewards of lea"ing and cree"ing orthe endless dis"utes about whether one should eat oneHs eggs by brea#ing them at thebigger or the smaller end or the absurdity of the royal "roclamations are obvious andfunny distortions of the court life, the "om"ous "retentiousness of officials, and thereligious dis"utes familiar to SwiftHs readers.t the same time, however, there are "assages where he holds u" the laws of illi"ut assome form of uto"ian ideal, in order to demonstrate Cust how much better they understandtrue reasonableness than do the Duro"eans. &n %oo# && he does the same: for most of thetime the "eo"le of %robdingnag are again caricatured distorted Duro"eans, but clearly the=ing of %robdingnag is an ideal figure.(his shift in "ers"ective on the *ew +orld is at times confusing. Swift is, in effect,mani"ulating the fictional world to suit his immediate satirical "ur"oses. &tHs easy enoughto see what heHs doing, but it does, in some sense, violate our built)u" e"ectations. Justhow are we su""osed to ta#e illi"ut and %robdingnag3as a distorted Duro"e or as auto"ia or what? (his lac# of a consistent inde"endent reality to the fictional world whichhe has created is one of the main reasons why $ulliverHs (ravels is not considered one ofthe first novels 4since one of the reuirements of a novel, it is maintained, is a consistentattitude towards the fictional reality one has created: one cannot sim"ly mani"ulate it atwill to "rove a didactic "oint5.


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&n %oo# &, Swift deals more consistently with this ambiguity in the *ew +orld bydividing it into two grou"s: the satiriAed Duro"eans, the Bahoos, and the ideallyreasonable creatures, the horses. So here there is less of a sense of shifting "ur"ose atwor#. (hat may hel" to account, in "art, for the great "ower of the Fourth oyage.*ow, the genius of SwiftHs satire in $ulliverHs (ravels realiAes itself in a second feature3

the way he organiAes the *ew +orld in order to ma#e it a constantly fertile source ofsatiric humour. -is main insight, in the first two boo#s, has the sim"licity of genius. -esim"ly changes the "ers"ective on human conduct: in %oo# & $ulliver is a normal humanbeing visiting a recogniAably Duro"ean society, but he is twelve times bigger than anyoneelse. &n the second the techniue is the same, but now he is twelve times smaller.+ith this altered "ers"ective, Swift can now mani"ulate $ulliverHs reactions to thechanging circumstances in order to underscore his satiric "oints in a very humorous way.For instance, itHs clear that the main satiric target in %oo# & is the "ride Duro"eans ta#e in"ublic ceremonies, titles, court "referment, and all sorts of celebrations of their "owerand magnificence. So thereHs an obvious silliness to the obsession with these matterswhen the figures are only si inches high.

%ut what ma#es this "reoccu"ation with ceremony all the sillier is $ulliverHs reaction toit. -e, as a good Duro"ean, ta#es it uite seriously. -eHs truly im"ressed with the #ingHsmagnificence, with his "roclamation that heHs the most "owerful monarch in the world,and he ta#es great delight in being given the title of a *ardac. (he satiric "oint here, ofcourse, is not on the illi"utians 4although they are obviously caricatured Duro"eans5 buton $ulliverHs enthusiastic "artici"ation in their silliness. For eam"le, when heHs accusedof having an affair with the cabinet ministerHs wife, he does not scoff at the biologicalridiculousness of that accusation@ he defends himself with his new title: & couldnHt havedone that@ after all, &Hm a *ardac. Similarly in %oo# &&, in which the main target shifts tothe Duro"eansH "reoccu"ation with "hysical beauty, the chief sources of satiric humourare not only the gross eaggerations of the human body seen magnified twelve times butalso $ulliverHs reactions to it.

(he Eharacter of $ulliver

nd this brings me to a #ey "oint in following $ulliverHs (ravels, namely the im"ortanceof $ulliver himself. -e is our contact throughout the four voyages, and at the end he iscom"letely different from the "erson he was at the start. So itHs "articularly im"ortant thatwe get a handle on who he is, what ha""ens to him, why it ha""ens, and how we aresu""osed to understand that. (he single most im"ortant thing Swift has to say in$ulliverHs (ravels is communicated to us in the changes which ta#e "lace in the narrator.*ow, to get the satiric "oint of the changes in $ulliver across, Swift has to be careful notto give the reader an easy esca"e, for Swift understood very well that readers who seethemselves satiriAed will always loo# for some way of neutraliAing or deflecting the satireaway from them. Satire, Swift observed, is a mirror in which "eo"le see everyone elseHsface but their own. So itHs im"ortant for us to ta#e careful stoc# of $ulliver, to assess Custhow reliable a "erson he is, so that we can fully understand the nature of histransformation.t the start of the first voyage, Swift ta#es a few "ages to establish for us that $ulliver is,in some ways, a very ty"ical Duro"ean. -e is middle aged, well educated, sensible 4in the

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best sense of the term5, with no etravagantly romantic notions. -e is a careful observer,scru"ulous about loo#ing after his family, and fully conversant with the im"ortance ofconducting his affairs "rudently. (here is nothing etraordinary about him. -eHs beenaround, and heHs not a "erson to be easily rattled.(his is im"ortant to gras", because in effect Swift is removing from us any "ossibility of

ascribing the transformation which ta#es "lace in $ulliver to any uir#s of his character.-e is not an unbalanced, erratic, "rivate, or imaginative "erson. On the contrary, he isabout as ty"ically sensible and reasonable a narrator as one could wish. nd he fullysu""orts the culture which has "roduced him, and he has develo"ed no criticalunderstanding of it.(hus, in the first two boo#s, we can see why he would naturally fall in with theDuro"eanness of the new world. -e has never reflected at all on the rightness orwrongness of the given order of things, so he naturally su""orts the authority of the #ing,the ceremonies of the court, and the IfairnessI of the Custice system.Only when he himself is sentenced to be blinded do we begin to sense that $ulliver islearning something. Eircumstances are forcing him to thin# about, not Cust his own safety,

but something much bigger: the Custice of the "roceedings. -e is, in other words,beginning to develo" a critical awareness of the limitations of the values of illi"ut and,beyond that, of the way in which the Duro"eans reflect those same values.(hese initial critical insights are tem"orary only, and when he returns, he is uic#lyreconciled to Duro"ean life. %ut in the second voyage the critical awareness returns,es"ecially in relation to the "hysical grossness of the giant %robdingnagians. (he altered"ers"ective leads him to reflect u"on the way in which Duro"eans have become obsessedwith "hysical beauty, es"ecially with the feminine body, when, from a different"ers"ective, it is comically gross and even nauseating.-owever, this growing sense of a critical awareness in %oo# && does not lead $ulliverseriously to uestion his Duro"ean values, and so he is "re"ared to defend the sorryhistory of Duro"e in the face of the =ing of %robdingnagHs scorn.For that "owerful indictment of Duro"ean life3which is so close in tone to theconclusion of %oo# &3$ulliver is not yet ready. -is ty"ical Duro"ean consciousness isstill too full of com"lacent self)congratulation to acce"t this form of criticism, so hedismisses it with a snide remar# about the limited understanding of the =ing of%robdingnag 4reinforced by the #ingHs reCection of the use of gun"owder5.Bet, itHs clear that something is ha""ening to $ulliver, because u"on his return home afterthe second voyage, it ta#es him some time to readCust to Duro"ean life. (his is uitecomical, but the "oint is im"ortant: in his strange new land, his "erce"tions are changing.t this "oint it is sim"ly a matter of the "hysical "ro"ortions of the "eo"le, but Swift issetting u" the reader for the conclusions of the boo#, when the transformation of $ulliveris going to involve a total alternation of his moral "ers"ectives, so that he is no longerable to return to the calm, unreflective, ty"ical Duro"ean that he was when he started.

(he Fourth oyage

&Hm moving directly to the fourth voyage, because in a sense it is the logical continuationof the Second oyage 4the (hird oyage was written later5, and most of the seriousarguments about SwiftHs satire focus on this "art of the boo#.

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&n the fourth voyage, $ulliverHs transformation becomes com"lete, and when he returnshe can no longer "artici"ate in Duro"ean society3not even with his friends and family3as he could before. &tHs as if Swift is saying that $ulliver has discovered something thatma#es social life in the normal sense insu""ortable, so that he would sooner construct hisown life among his domestic horses than return to a normal Duro"ean family life.

nd the #ey inter"retative uestions thus arises: -ow are we to deal with this conclusionto the story? On the face of it, the conclusion seems an unacce"tably harsh condemnationof Duro"ean humanity. (heir Bahoo)li#e nature ma#es dealing with them im"ossible, andthus the reasonable thing to do is to turn away from them. &s this not ultimately aviolently misanthro"ic gesture, and therefore something we must turn away from?9ealing with this uestion is one of the great battle grounds in the inter"retation ofDnglish literature 4li#e dealing with -amlet or !aradise ost5. &n order to clarify theissues, &Hd li#e to review some of the "ositions and then suggest some of the things weneed to consider in charting a way through the difficulties. & should add that & do have myown view of what is the most com"rehensible inter"retation 4and & will add that5, but &donHt want anyone to thin# that this is not fiercely contested inter"retative territory.

(he first reaction to the end of the Fourth oyage is to ac#nowledge that Swift indeedwants us to understand and sym"athiAe with $ulliverHs actions. (he main satiric "oint of$ulliverHs final actions is to ridicule the Duro"eansH "retensions to rationality@ $ulliverHsres"onse is an eaggerated but still understandable way of underlining the "oint that, ifwe could come to understand true rationality, as $ulliver has done through his e"eriencewith the horses, and if we could have our eyes o"ened as to what we are really li#eunderneath all our fine illusions about ourselves, as $ulliverHs eyes have been o"ened byhis e"erience of the Bahoos, then we, too, would turn away, and, rather li#e the "ersonwho has finally made it out of !latoHs cave, want to s"end our time in contem"lation ofthe beauty and truth of reason and not be distracted by the foolish "ride of those gaAing atthe cave wall 4the analogy with the llegory of the Eave is very im"ortant here5.(his inter"retation was common among SwiftHs contem"oraries and in the nineteenthcentury. -owever, many who saw this in the satire sim"ly dismissed it as a harsh butfinally erroneous vision@ they believed that the "romises of the new science were, in fact,being realiAed, that "rogress was "ossible, and that Swift was sim"ly wrong, out of touchwith the "erfectibility of human nature and human social institutions, that he was sim"lya grum"y, "essimistic, conservative Ehristian. (hus, the boo# was sim"ly a conservativecom"laining about an emerging new truth.&n addition, of course, the boo# had too many naughty words and rude scenes, andtherefore should not be read by "eo"le concerned for "oliteness in literature. So thosewho wanted to believe in a less fiercely limited view of human nature had an easy ecuseto denigrate Swift as a writer worth reading. !rogress is on schedule, for all SwiftHsnegative vision.

*ow, this reaction is interesting because it does at least ac#nowledge that Swift has aserious "ur"ose and that in the transformation of $ulliver he ma#es that "ur"ose e"licit.$ulliver is, indeed, SwiftHs s"o#esman until the very end. (he dismissal of the boo#,therefore, does not involve a denial of the full satiric intention. &t does ac#nowledge the"oint of what Swift is doing. -owever, it claims that that is the wrong "oint. SwiftHs satireis clear, but his understanding of human nature and morality is wrong.


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second reaction is to euate Swift with $ulliver3to claim, as with the first reaction,that Swift intends us to ta#e $ulliverHs transformation seriously. Swift, however, is mad,mentally unbalanced, notoriously neurotic, and therefore we do not need to attendseriously to the ending of the boo#, unless we ha""en to be interested in clinicalmanifestations in literature of various mental aberrations.

Dnter, from stage left, the "sychoanalytic view of Swift, which uite neutraliAes the satireby an a""eal to various disorders. -ereHs a sam"le:FerencAi 41/285: IFrom the "sychoanalytic stand"oint one would describe KSwiftHsLneurotic behaviour as an inhibition of normal "otency, with a lac# of courage in relationto women of good character and "erha"s with a lasting aggressive tendency towardswomen of a lower ty"e. (his insight into SwiftHs life surely Custifies us who come afterhim in treating the "hantasies in $ulliverHs (ravels eactly as we do the free associationsof neurotic "atients in analysis, es"ecially when inter"reting their dreams.I=ar"man 41/25: I&t is submitted on the basis of such a study of $ulliverHs (ravels thatSwift was a neurotic who ehibited "sychoseual infantilism, with a "articular showingof co"ro"hilia, associated with misogeny, misanthro"y, myso"hilia, and myso"hobia.I

$reenacre 41/775: IOne gets the im"ression that the anal fiation was intense andbinding, and the genital demands so im"aired or limited at best that there was total retreatfrom genital seuality in his early adult life, "robably beginning with the unha""yrelationshi" with Jane +aring, the first of the goddesses. . . . (he common symbolism ofthe man in the boat as the clitoris suggests the identification with the female "hallusthough to be characteristic of the male transvestite. . . Swift showed mar#ed analcharacteristics Khis etreme immaculateness, secretiveness, intense ambition, "leasure inless obvious dirt 4e.g., satire5, stubborn vengefulness in righteous causesL which indicateclearly that early control of the ecretory function was achieved under great stress and"erha"s too early.Ind so on and so on. One is tem"ted to have some fun with this line of criticism 4e.g.,+hat about (wo Bears %efore the Mast, Moby 9ic#, (hree Men in a %oat, Ea"tain-ornblower?5 %ut what such an a""roach does to $ulliverHs (ravels is im"ortant. &tre"laces the moral seriousness of the satiric message with a clinical study of the derangedauthor. (hus, we do not have to attend seriously to any moral "osition at sta#e here. third reaction, common in the twentieth century, uite rehabilitates Swift from this sortof criticism by claiming that, at the end of the Fourth oyage, we are not meant to see$ulliverHs actions as the natural rational outcome of what he has been through, because$ulliver himself has here become the target of the satire. $ulliver, in other words, nolonger s"ea#s for the author. +hat he does is, in effect, an overreaction, and Swift wantsus to understand that as such. -is treatment of the !ortuguese ca"tain and his family areclear indications that $ulliver has gone overboard in his admiration for the horses and hisdisli#e of the Bahoos, and that we are to see in his conduct a warning of sorts.

(his a""roach to the Fourth oyage, one should note, hel"s to maintain the claim thatSwift was an intelligent writer, fully in command of his medium, and that we do not haveto deal with the disturbing effects of the satire by writing them off as the ravings of ananally maladCusted neurotic, obsessed with the cram"ing in his s"hincter. +e sim"ly haveto understand that SwiftHs satiric intentions at the end of the Fourth oyage are not asharsh as they a""ear to be. +hat this a""roach does to the "ower of SwiftHs satire,

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however, is a uestion that needs to be carefully considered. -ow consistent is this viewof the ending with the general tenor of the rest of the satire in %oo# & and in the other%oo#s?*ow debating these o"tions might be an interesting seminar eercise. %ut however theyare resolved, & would li#e to offer some things that one should bear in mind.

First, the transformation of $ulliver starts, as & observed, in %oo# & and becomesconsiderably stronger in %oo# &&. (hat transformation involves a growing criticalawareness of the etent to which "ride rules human actions. t the start $ulliver gives nosign of ever having thought about such matters. -eHs a "atriotic, unreflective Duro"ean"rofessional. (he insights come intermittently and do not last. %ut to some etent, thetransformation of $ulliver at the end of the fourth voyage can be seen as a logicaloutcome of the trend that has started before. So, however we evaluate the end of thefourth voyage, we need to measure that inter"retation against the rest of the boo#.(his "oint might be connected with the growing seriousness of the initial situation thatgets $ulliver into the *ew +orld: in %oo# & itHs a shi"wrec#@ in %oo# &&, heHs abandoned@in %oo# &&&, itHs "irates@ and in %oo# &, itHs a mutiny 4and we all remember from reading

9ante that a mutiny, a revolt against established authority, is the greatest crime5.Second, $ulliverHs transformation in %oo# & has two motives: his sudden awareness ofthe Bahoo)li#e nature of Duro"ean human beings, including himself, and, euallyim"ortant, his sudden discovery about what true reasonableness really means 4in the livesof the horses5. So in estimating how one should assess his final state, one needs to bear inmind that the issue is not Cust a turning away from Duro"ean family and social life@ it isalso a turning towards what he is now fully in love with, a contem"lation of the truth. .(hird, oneHs Cudgment on what $ulliver has gone through does not de"end u"on ourhaving to decide whether it would be rational or not for us to follow suit, abandon ourfamilies, and set u" home in the nearest stable. (hat is not what Swift is saying. -eHsoffering us a vision3a comic and satiric but nonetheless morally serious vision3of whatmight ha""en to a ty"ical Duro"ean 4li#e us5 if we had, li#e $ulliver, come to a fullunderstanding through e"erience both of ourselves and of true reasonableness 4whichwe li#e to thin# we "ossess5.(he basic idea here is derived, uite clearly, from !latoHs llegory of the Eave. $ulliverhas made it out of the cave, and having seen the sun, heHs not about to "retend thatloo#ing at shadows on the wall is the right way to live. +hat is ha""ening to him is, infact, Cust what !lato says will ha""en to the "erson who returns: he is treated as insanebecause normal "eo"le 4thatHs us5 sim"ly cannot gras" what he now understands.4&tHs interesting, incidentally, to note Cust how "o"ular this sort of ending is in satiricstories with a similar intent: the endings of, for eam"le, -eart of 9ar#ness and Eatch 22,are remar#ably similar. (he central character, once a recogniAably ty"ical re"resentativeof his culture, has gone through a transformation which leads him to reCect that culture ina way that his contem"oraries do not understand: Marlow ta#es to the sea for the rest ofhis life@ Bossarian sets out in a rubber raft for Scandinavia5.Fourth, one needs also to recogniAe that itHs no serious criticism of SwiftHs moral "ositionto observe that the life of the horses is not all that attractive, that to us it seems boring.(hatHs "art of SwiftHs "oint. +e, as readers, are Bahoos, irrational creatures and, beyondthat, inca"able for the most "art of even understanding and res"onding to the attractionsof such reasonable behaviour. For SwiftHs maCor "oint here is not that we should try to

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emulate the horses, for thatHs im"ossible, but rather that we should sto" "retending thatwe are euivalent to them. +e are not by nature reasonable creatures, and it is the heightof folly and "ride to assert that we are. +e have to start our moral awareness with theacce"tance of that truth, and our dissatisfaction with the life of the horses is not anindication that they are wrong so much as that we are unreasonable. +e describe

ourselves in terms a""ro"riate to the horses, but we characteristically behave more li#eBahoos. (hat is the source of the "ride which Swift wishes to attac#.Finally, itHs im"ortant to recogniAe that our last contact with $ulliver indicates uiteclearly that what bothers him about human beings is not what they are but what they"retend to be. -e would be much ha""ier about living among human beings again, and isstarting to do so, but everything would be much easier for him if their characteristic "ridedid not always get in the way:My reconcilement to the Bahoo #ind in general might not be so difficult, if they would becontent with those vices and follies only which nature hath entitled them to. & am not inthe least "rovo#ed by the sight of a lawyer, a "ic#"oc#et, a colonel, a fool, a lord, agamester, a "olitician, a whoremonger, a "hysician, an evidence, a suborner, an attorney,

a traitor, or the li#e: this is all according to the due course of things. %ut when & behold alum" of deformity, and diseases both in body and mind, smitten with "ride, itimmediately brea#s all the measures of my "atience@ neither shall & be ever able tocom"rehend how such an animal and such a vice could tally together. (he wise andvirtuous -ouyhnhnms, who abound in all ecellencies that can adorn a rational creature,have no name for this vice in their language, which hath no terms to e"ress anything thatis evil, ece"t those whereby they describe the detestable ualities of their Bahoos,among which they were not able to distinguish this of "ride, for want of thoroughlyunderstanding human nature, as it showeth itself in other countries, where that animal"resides. %ut &, who had more e"erience, could "lainly observe some rudiments of it inthe Bahoos.(he "oint & want to stress here is that, however one navigates oneHs way through theinter"retative waters of the ending of $ulliverHs (ravels, it is im"ortant to reconcile yourview of $ulliverHs behaviour with what he actually says and with the satiric momentumof the last boo#, as it arises out of the earlier voyages.My own view 4a common but contested view5 is that Swift does want us to ta#e $ulliverseriously right u" to the end, that we are to understand his reaction as the naturalconseuence of a normal man who has made it out of the cave, and who now is notwilling to go bac# to what he once was. (he fact that we find this odd is a reminder to usof Cust how much we are the "roduct of years of watching shadows on the cave wall. Bes,the !ortuguese ca"tain is a good "erson, and, yes, $ulliverHs wife and family areneglected, but when youHve come to see, as $ulliver has, Cust what true reasonablenessinvolves, then a normal life and normal good "eo"le are not enough. (he "oint, to re"eatmyself, is not that we should try to emulate $ulliver, but that we should try to understandhim3and if we do that, we may come to recogniAe the illusory "ride which ma#es usclaim to be rational creatures.Of course, & have to admit that the etreme anger $ulliver dis"lays at the end 4li#e hisetreme nausea at the human body in %oo# &&5 does invite someone to wonder about theetent to which the satiric "ur"ose might be being subverted by an ecessively strongimaginative distaste for certain elements of human life. (he borderline between very

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strong satire and a uestionable wallowing about in ugliness or "ornogra"hy for its ownsa#e is not always clearly discernible and different readers have different reactions. (othat etent, & would admit that there is ground in SwiftHs style for certain uestions toarise. -owever, & do not believe myself that such uestions cannot be answered withinthe framewor# of the inter"retation & have Cust outlined.

Final Eomment

For me SwiftHs language, though strong, is still in control. (he vision is harsh, the angeretreme, but thatHs a sign of the intense moral indignation Swift feels at thetransformation of life around him in ways that are leading, he thin#s, to moral disaster.(he central Ehristian and Socratic em"hasis on virtue is losing ground to something hesees as a facile illusion3that reason, wealth, money, "ower, and faith in "rogress couldsomehow carry the load which had been traditionally "laced u"on our moral characters.&n the new world, faith, ho"e, and charity, Swift sees, are going to be irrelevant, becausethe rational organiAation of human e"erience and the a""lication of the new reasoning to

all as"ects of human life are going to tem"t human beings with a rich lure: the "romise ofha""iness. Nnder the banner of the new rationality, the traditional notions of virtue willbecome irrelevant, as human beings substitute for ecellence of character3thedevelo"ment of the individual human life according to some telos, some s"iritual goal3the idea that "ro"erly organiAed "ractical rules, structures of authority, rational enuiryinto efficient causes, "rofitable commercial ventures, and laws will "rovide the sureguide, because, after all, human beings are rational creatures.%oo# & of $ulliverHs (ravels is the most famous and most elouent "rotest against thismodern "roCect. (he severity of his indignation and anger is, & thin#, a sym"tom of theetent to which he realiAed the battle was already lost. (o us, however, over two hundredyears later, SwiftHs "oint is "erha"s more vividly relevant than to many of hiscontem"oraries. fter all, we have witnessed the trium"hant unrolling of the scientific"roCect, the etension of 9escartesH rationality into all as"ects of our lives.nd yet we might want to as# ourselves whether the cheue which 9escartes wrote outfor us is negotiable, whether his "romise has, in fact, made us morally better creatures,more able to live the good life, more charitable to our neighbours, with a greater faith inthe ecellences life does ma#e "ossible, better able to wor# out our differences Custly, andmore able to achieve true ha""iness. Or, on the contrary, has giving the enormous "owerof the new science to the Bahoos not created some of the those very dangers which Swiftis so concerned to warn us about will ha""en? (he yahoos now "osses the secrets ofatomic energy and genetic engineering@ their commercial Aest is "unching holes in theoAone and deforesting the "lanet. Meanwhile, in Moscow and +ashington, 9E, the lifee"ectancy of adult males is "lummeting. -as all this increase in #nowledge and "owermade us any more Cust towards each other? -as it clarified the good life for me and ameans of settling Custly our dis"utes? (he Cury is, one might argue, still out.

Robinson crusoe

>D&$&O* &* >O%&*SO* E>NSOD

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For many, "erha"s most readers, ErusoeHs many references to $od, to !rovidence, to sinare etraneous to the real interest of the novel and they uic#ly s#im these "assages, toget to the Igood "arts.I Some see the religious references as 9efoeHs attem"t to ma#e hisfiction acce"table to the large section of the boo#)reading and boo#)buying "ublic whichregarded fiction as lies which endangered the soulHs salvation. So a maCor critical issue for

you to thin# about is whether religion "lays an essential role in this novel or whether ithas been im"osed u"on the novel.S!&>&(N N(O%&O$>!-BOne way of reading >obinson Erusoe is as a s"iritual autobiogra"hy. (he s"iritualbiogra"hyGautobiogra"hy "ortrays the !uritan drama of the soul. Eoncerned about beingsaved, having a "rofound sense of $odHs "resence, seeing -is will manifest everywhere,and aware of the unceasing conflict between good and evil, !uritans constantlyscrutiniAed their lives to determine the state of their souls and loo#ed for signs of thenature of their relationshi" with $od 4i.e., saved or not5. (he s"iritual autobiogra"hyusually follows a common "attern: the narrator sins, ignores $odHs warnings, hardens hisheart to $od, re"ents as a result of $odHs grace and mercy, e"eriences a soul)wrenching

conversion, and achieves salvation. (he writer em"hasiAes his former sinfulness as a wayof glorifying $od@ the dee"er his sinfulness, the greater $odHs grace and mercy in electingto save him. -e reviews his life from the new "ers"ective his conversion has given himand writes of the "resent and the future with a dee" sense of $odHs "resence in his lifeand in the world.>eaders through the nineteenth century read >obinson Erusoe in this light. For eam"le,a reviewer for the 9ublin Nniversity MagaAine called the boo# Ia great religious "oem,showing that $od is found where men are absentI 410785. &n deciding whether or to whatetent >obinson Erusoe is a s"iritual autobiogra"hy and Ia great religious "oem,I youmight consider the following:&n the I!reface,I 9efoe announces that his intention is Ito Custify and honour the wisdomof !rovidence in all the variety of our circumstancesI 4v5.Erusoe receives warnings against the rashness of going to sea from his father and fromthe ca"tain of the first shi" he sails on. %oth are figures of authority and can be seen as"roies for $od. &n ignoring their warnings, is he also denying $odHs "rovidential socialorder in the world and, by im"lication, $od? %y I$odHs "rovidential social order in theworldI & mean that $od arranged the world hierarchically, endowing the #ing withauthority in the "olitical realm and the father with authority in the family.9oes !rovidence send him "unishments and deliverances to awa#en a sense of hissinfulness and to turn him to $od? re the shi"wrec#s and his enslavement, his esca"efrom slavery and then from the island evidence of $odHs !rovidence or merely chance?&n the !uritan view, the du"lication of dates for significant events is indis"utable evidenceof !rovidence at wor#. Erusoe notes that the date he ran away from his family is the samedate he was ca"tured and made a slave@ the day that he survived his first shi"wrec# is thesame date he was cast ashore on the island@ and the day he was born is the same day hewas cast ashore, Iso that my wic#ed life and my solitary life begun both on a dayI 412/5.&s this similarity of dates the wor#ing of !rovidence or merely chance, meaninglesscoincidence?Erusoe throughout uses religious language, imagery, and %iblical references 4he uotes2 "assages from the %ible5. 9oes this reflect the etent to which his belief in !rovidence

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has "ermeated his life, or have his conversion and subseuent %ible studies and religiousmeditation merely "rovided him with a language which has become habitual?Erusoe converts Friday to Ehristianity. &s Erusoe saving his soul for s"iritual reasons orfor self)interest to ma#e Friday more tractable, reliable, and controllable?Erusoe narrates his life story long afterward, and from the beginning of his tale Erusoe

"resents events not only from his "oint of view as a youth but also from a Ehristian"ers"ective@ he loo#s at his "ast through the eyes of the convert who now constantly seesthe wor#ing of !rovidence. -e tells of his first shi"wrec# and of his then ignoring whathe now "erceives as $odHs warning, I... !rovidence, as in such cases generally it does,resolved to leave me entirely without ecuse. For if & would not ta#e this for adeliverance, the net was to be such a one as the worst and most hardened wretch amongus would confess both the danger and the mercyI 45.re Ithe secret hints and notices of dangerI 425 evidence of !rovidenceHs warnings ormerely the e"ression of his unconscious or unac#nowledged desires and fears? &s itrelevant that 9efoe believed in friendly 9aimons who eecute $odHs !rovidence?+hen we are in a uandary, as we call it, a doubt or hesitation, whether to go this way or

that, a secret hint shall direct us to got his way when we intended to go another way@ nay,when sense, our own inclination, and "erha"s business has called to go the other way, yeta strange im"ression u"on the mind, from we #now not what s"rings, and by we #nownot what "ower, shall overrule us to go this way, and it shall afterwards a""ear that hadwe gone that way which we would have gone and even to our imagination ought to havegone, we should have been ruined and lost. 4ision of the ngelic +orld5

E>NSODHS O>&$&* S&*ErusoeHs conversation with his father about leaving home can be inter"reted from areligious "ers"ective as well from an economic "ers"ective. Erusoe re"eatedly refers toleaving home without his fatherHs "ermission as his Ioriginal sinI@ he not only associates$od and his father but regards his sin against his father as a sin against $od also.>emembering his first voyage, Erusoe comments: I...my conscience, which was not yetcome to the "itch of hardness to which it has been since, re"roached me with thecontem"t of advice and the breach of my duty to $od and my FatherI 475. &n the !uritanfamily structure, the father was regarded as $odHs de"uty@ in reCecting his fatherHs advice,Erusoe is committing dam and DveHs sin of disobedience. For Erusoe, as for dam, andDve, disobedience grows out of restlessness and discontent with the station $od assigned.+hen Erusoe is cast ashore on a deserted island, he sees his situation as the fulfillment ofhis fatherHs "rediction that if Erusoe disregarded his advice, Erusoe would find himselfalone with no source of hel". lone on the island, is Erusoe Dveryman, alienated from$od because of sin? lternately, Michael Mc=eon offers "ossible inter"retations ofErusoeHs original sin which are related to social motivation:an e"ression of ca"italistic industry,an antica"italist im"ulse to ramble and evade his ca"italist calling,an anti)!uritan motive to evade his !uritan calling, with a general unregeneratewaywardness with no social significance.

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E>NSODHS >D&$&ONS EO*D>S&O*-ow sincere and how "rofound is ErusoeHs conversion? Elearly, it is a long time coming,for he resists a succession of !rovidential warnings and deliverances. 9iscovering thebarley and rice ins"ires him with religious feeling as long as he believes their growthmiraculous@ but once he finds the rational e"lanation for their a""earing, he loses faith.

-ence a wrathful $od threatens him in a dream, he believes. %ut how are we tounderstand that dream of $od? &s it a hallucination caused by fever? an e"ression of histerror at being alone which the illness brought out? or, what Erusoe ta#es it to be, awarning from $od? &s ErusoeHs warmest, most characteristic emotion, as +illiam -.-alewood suggests, his aniety for his soul, an aniety which fully manifests itself in hisdream of $od?Once the "rocess of conversion begins, it follows a ty"ical "attern.fter his dream and the beginning of his regeneration, 9efoe reviews his life 40/)/5 andhis understanding and sense of $od dee"en. %ut reason alone is not sufficient to result inconversion, and Erusoe turns to the %ible@ studying it reveals $odHs word and will to him,and he finds comfort, guidance, and instruction in it. For the first time in many years he

"rays, and he "rays, not for rescue from the island, but for $odHs hel", Iord be my hel",for & am in great distressI 4005. fter thin#ing about his life, he #neels to $od for the firsttime in his life and "rays to $od to fulfill his "romise Ithat if & called u"on -im in theday of toruble, -e would deliver meI 4/15. -is net ste" toward conversion is as#ing for$odHs grace, IJesus, (hou Son of 9avid, Jesus, (hou ealted !rince and Saviour, give mere"entanceI 4/65. -e comes to realiAe that s"iritual deliverance from sin is moreim"ortant than "hysical deliverance from the island. little later, when he is about tothan# $od for bringing him to the island and so saving him, he sto"s, shoc#ed at himselfand the hy"ocrisy of such a statement. (hen he Isincerely gave than#s to $od for o"eningmy eyes, by whatever afflicting "rovidences, to see the former condition of my life, andto mourn for my wic#edness, and re"entI 4115. 9oes this incident indicate that ErusoeHsfaith is fervent and honest?Erusoe shares his religion with Friday@ is there any greater gift or e"ression of love thansaving the soul of another? Erusoe is able to admit, humbly, that Friday is the betterEhristian. +hen he is delivered from the island by the Dnglish ca"tain, he ac#nowledges$odHs "ower and !rovidence and Iforgot not to lift u" my heart in than#fulness to-eaven@ and what heart could forbear to bless -imI 42885. -is gratitude to $od on thisoccasion contrasts with his merely mouthing than#s to $od for being saved from theshi"wrec#@ does the difference in his res"onse reflect an abiding faith in 9efoe or doesthe difference in the circumstances account for the change?*o matter how you inter"ret his conversion, it is undeniable that Erusoe has la"ses intoan unregenerate state. fter he comes across the single foot"rint, Erusoe is so terrifiedthat he irrationally considers laying waste to his cro"s, livestoc#, and home@ finds himselfseldom able to "ray@ and loses his ability to create. +hen he realiAes cannibals visit theisland, he is so filled with hatred, rage, and fear that he becomes obsessed withbloodthirsty "lans to annihilate them. (hese res"onses last for years.So, is his "hysical survival more im"ortant to Erusoe than his relationshi" with $od? &s itaccurate to say that whenever his survival is threatened, his religious "ractice and senseof $odHs "resence all but disa""ear? Dven his conversion after his dream can be seen as amatter of self)"reservation@ is he terrified by $odHs threat into conversion? 9o these

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res"onses indicate that his religion is a matter of convenience, an e"ression of fear, or"erha"s a means to control his terror? &s Erusoe un#nowingly using a relationshi" with$od to substitute for human relationshi"s?+hen he dreams of rescuing a cannibal, he unhesitatingly sees the dream as !rovidence)sent. %ut when the dream becomes reality, he does not act com"letely in accordance with

it@ he does not ta#e Friday into his home immediately. 9oes this indicate a deficiency inhis faith in $od, or is his behavior merely "rudent and sensible?&t is understandable that the unregenerate Erusoe is willing to "ass as a Eatholic in %raAil@however, what e"lains his behavior after his conversion, when he seriously considersreturning to %raAil and "assing as a Eatholic again, in order to regain his estate? (rue, hefinally Ibegan to regret my having "rofessed myself a !a"ist, and thought it might not bethe best religion to die withI 4205. %ut still, his main reason for not going to %raAil isthat he doesnHt #now what to do with the wealth he has accumulated in !ortugal. &n theconflict between economic motive and s"iritual salvation, is the economic drive stronger?nd if so, does it dominate only tem"orarily, s"oradically, or consistently?9o ErusoeHs religious la"ses necessarily indicate insincerity and a su"erficial conversion

or are there other e"lanations? For eam"le, is 9efoe showing im"erfect human natureand the difficulty of maintaining a religious s"irit and of living in the light of conversion?9oes conversion mean that the sinner becomes a saint and never falters? Or doesconversion, rather, give the individual the strength to overcome s"iritual obstacles andtem"tations, not immunity to them? &n a fallen, evil world, does the saved sinner stillhave tem"tations to overcome, dangers to face, and sorrows to deal with, and is it thisreality that 9efoe is showing with ErusoeHs tem"orarily falling away from $od?

9DFODHS F&N>D (O JNS(&FB !>O&9D*EDDven if we acce"t that 9efoeHs intention is to Custify and honor !rovidence, the uestionstill remains whether he carries out his intention. eo"old 9amrosch, Jr. thin#s not:9efoe sets out to dramatiAe the conversion of the !uritan self, and he ends by celebratinga solitude that ealts autonomy instead of submission. -e underta#es to show thedividedness of a sinner, and ends by "roCecting a hero so massively self)enclosed thatalmost nothing of his inner life is revealed. -e "ro"oses a naturalistic account of real lifein a real world, and ends by creating an immortal trium"h of wish)fulfillment.9amrosch does not attribute 9efoeHs failure to carry out his intention to insincerity@ ratherit stems in "art from a failure in !uritanism, which changed from an ideology whichwanted to transform the world 4e.g., founding Massachusetts %ay Eolony as $odHscommonwealth on earth5 to a social class motivated by self interest.

John >ichetti offers a different e"lanation for what he sees as 9efoeHs failure. >ichettiidentifies ErusoeHs mastery of himself and nature as the novelHs central concern@ thisconcern, he believes, invalidates ErusoeHs religious beliefs and e"erience. 9efoe wasunable Ito allow Erusoe to achieve and enCoy freedom and "ower without violating therestrictions of a moral and religious ideology which defines the individual as less thanautonomous.I&s there an inherent conflict between ErusoeHs religion and his economic concerns, onewhich 9efoe may or may not have been aware of? re diligence in ma#ing money and

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concern about worldly affairs necessarily incom"atible with s"iritual well)being and asincere religious faith? !uritans debated these uestions in terms of faith versus wor#s,and some found ways to resolve the conflict. Ste"hen Eharnoc# urged, I(ho we are sure$od has decreed the certain event of such a thing, yet we must not encourage our idlenessbut our diligence.I 9efoe held similar views:

(o be utterly careless of ourselves, and tal# of trusting !rovidence, is a lethargy of theworst nature@ for as we are to trust !rovidence with our estates, but to use, at the sametime, all diligence in our callings, so we are to trust !rovidence with our safety, but withour eyes o"en to all its necessary cautions, warnings, and instructions. 4Serious>eflections during the ife and Sur"riAing dventures of >obinson Erusoe5E->&S(&* SBM%O&SMFor the !uritans, every ha""ening had a s"iritual meaning as well as, usually, a moralmeaning. &t was their duty to try to deci"her these s"iritual meanings. One reason for the!uritan "ractice of #ee"ing a Cournal or diary was to ma#e a "ermanent record of events,to be reviewed later for their s"iritual meaning and to "erceive "atterns of meaning. s asam"le of this way of loo#ing at the world, & have listed some of the events in ErusoeHs

life with "ossible s"iritual inter"retations. &t is u" to you to decide whether 9efoe andGorErusoe saw any of them in this way.ey Factsfull title P (he ife and Strange Sur"riAing dventures of >obinson Erusoe, of Bor#,Mariner: +ho lived Dight and (wenty Bears, all alone in an uninhabited &sland on theEoast of merica, near the Mouth of the $reat >iver of Oroonoue@ -aving been cast onShore by Shi"wrec#, wherein all the Men "erished but himself. +ith n ccount how hewas at last as strangely deliver'd by !yratesauthor P 9aniel 9efoety"e of wor# P *ovelgenre P dventure story@ novel of isolationlanguage P Dnglishtime and "lace written P 11/@ ondon, Dnglanddate of first "ublication P 11/"ublisher P +illiam (aylornarrator P >obinson Erusoe is both the narrator and main character of the tale."oint of view P Erusoe narrates in both the first and third "erson, "resenting what heobserves. Erusoe occasionally describes his feelings, but only when they areoverwhelming. Nsually he favors a more factual narrative style focused on actions andevents.tone P Erusoe's tone is mostly detached, meticulous, and obCective. -e dis"lays littlerhetorical grandeur and few "oetic or colorful turns of "hrase. -e generally avoidsdramatic storytelling, "referring an inventoryli#e a""roach to the facts as they unfold. -every rarely registers his own feelings, or those of other characters, and only does so whenthose feelings affect a situation directly, such as when he describes the mutineers as tiredand confused, indicating that their fatigue allows them to be defeated.tense P !astsetting 4time5 P From 187/ to 18/

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setting 4"lace5 P Bor#, Dngland@ then ondon@ then Sallee, *orth frica@ then %raAil@ thena deserted island off (rinidad@ then Dngland@ then isbon@ then overland from S"aintoward Dngland@ then Dngland@ and finally the island again"rotagonist P >obinson ErusoemaCor conflict P Shi"wrec#ed alone, Erusoe struggles against hardshi", "rivation,

loneliness, and cannibals in his attem"t to survive on a deserted island.rising action P Erusoe disobeys his father and goes out to sea. Erusoe has a "rofitablefirst merchant voyage, has fantasies of success in %raAil, and "re"ares for a slave)gathering e"edition.clima P Erusoe becomes shi"wrec#ed on an island near (rinidad, forcing him to fend forhimself and his basic needs.falling action P Erusoe constructs a shelter, secures a food su""ly, and acce"ts his stay onthe island as the wor# of !rovidence.themes P (he ambivalence of mastery@ the necessity of re"entance@ the im"ortance ofself)awarenessmotifs P Eounting and measuring@ eating@ ordeals at sea

symbols P (he foot"rint@ the cross@ Erusoe's bowerforeshadowing P Erusoe suffers a storm at sea near Barmouth, foreshadowing hisshi"wrec# years later. Erusoe dreams of cannibals arriving, and later they come to #illFriday. Erusoe invents the idea of a governor of the island to intimidate the mutineers,foreshadowing the actual governor's later arrival.

Jane austenJane usten began her second novel, !ride and !reCudice, before she was twenty)one. &twas originally titled First &m"ression because the a""earances of the characters createdthe "lot of the novel. -owever, because the novel is also concerned with the effects of the

character's first im"ressions, that is their "reCudice, Jane found the title !ride and!reCudice more a""ro"riate.!ride and !reCudice, similar to other Jane usten's novels, is written in gentle or -oraciansatire. (he main obCect of Jane's satire in the novel is the mercenary and the ignorance ofthe "eo"le, a common criticism of the 10th century. Eharacters in the novel which bestcarries these ualities are Mrs. %ennet, a foolish woman who tal#s too much and isobsess with getting her daughters married@ ydia %ennet, the youngest of the %ennetdaughter who is devoted to a life of dancing, fashions, gossi"s and flirting@ and Mr.+illiams Eollins, the silly and conceited baboon who is com"letely stu"ify by adyEatherine in every as"ect of his life that he has forgotten his own morals and duty. (hetone of the novel is light, satirical, and vivid. Scenes such as Mr. Eollins "ro"osal to

DliAabeth, and ady Eatherine visits to iAAy at ongbourn, "rovides comic relief to thereader while at the same time revealing certain characteristics of the characters. Foream"le, ydia's lac# of common sense and res"onsibility is revealed when she ta#es"ride in being the first %ennet girl to be married. ydia does not ta#e into considerationthe circumstance of her marriage, the "ersonality of her husband, or the "ros"ects of theirmarriage for the future. DliAabeth %ennet's ability to laugh off her misfortunate and tocontinue to be o"timistic, considering her situation, also contributes to the tone of thenovel. (he "oint of view in !ride and !reCudice is limited omniscient@ the story is told

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through DliAabeth, but not in first "erson. s a result, the mood of the novel lac#sdramatic emotions. (he atmos"here is intellectual and cold@ there is little descri"tions ofthe setting. (he main actions of the novel are the interactions between o"inions, ideas,and attitudes, which weaves and advances the "lot of the novel. (he emotions in thenovel are to be "erceived beneath the surface of the story and are not to be e"ressed to

the readers directly. Jane's "owers of subtle discrimination and shrewd "erce"tiveness isrevealed in !ride and !reCudice@ she is able to convey such a com"le message using asim"le, yet witty, style.(he main subCect in the novel is stated in the first sentence of the novel: I&t is a truthuniversally ac#nowledged, that a single man in "ossession of a good fortune, must be inwant of a wife.I &n this statement, Jane has cleverly done three things: she has declaredthat the main subCect of the novel will be courtshi" and marriage, she has established thehumorous tone of the novel by ta#ing a sim"le subCect to elaborate and to s"ea#intelligently of, and she has "re"ared the reader for a chase in the novel of either ahusband in search of a wife, or a women in "ursuit of a husband. (he first line alsodefines Jane's boo# as a "iece of literature that connects itself to the 10th century "eriod.

!ride and !reCudice is 10th century because of the em"hasis on man in his socialenvironment rather than in his individual conditions. (he use of satire and wit, a commonform of 10th century literature, also contributes to label the boo# as 10th century.-owever, because Jane usten had allowed "ersonal feelings of the characters to bee"ressed in her wor#, she can also be classified as >omantic. &n the figure of DliAabeth,Jane usten shows "assion attem"ting to find a valid mode of eistence in society.!assion and reasons also comes together in the novel to show that they arecom"lementary of marriage.(here are seven different marriages "resented in the novel. Dcluding the $ardiner andthe ucas, the remaining five marriages contrasts each other to reveal Jane's o"inions andthoughts on the subCect of marriage.(he marriage between 9arcy and DliAabeth reveals the characteristics which constitutes asuccessful marriage. One of these characteristics is that the feeling cannot be brought onby a""earances, and must gradually develo" between the two "eo"le as they get to #nowone another. &n the beginning, DliAabeth and 9arcy were distant from each other becauseof their "reCudice. (he series of events which they both e"erienced gave them theo""ortunity to understand one another and the time to reconcile their feelings for eachother. (hus, their mutual understanding is the foundation of their relationshi" and willlead them to a "eaceful and lasting marriage. (his relationshi" between DliAabeth and9arcy reveals the im"ortance of getting to #now one's "artner before marrying. (hemarriage between Jane %ennet and %ingley is also an eam"le of successful marriage.Jane usten, through DliAabeth, e"resses her o"inion of this in the novel:

I....really believed all his K%ingleyL e"ectations of felicity, to be rationally founded,because they had for basis the ecellent understanding, and su"er)ecellent dis"osition ofJane, and a general similarity of feeling and taste between her and himself.I 4Eha"ter 775-owever, unli#e 9arcy and DliAabeth, there is a flaw in their relationshi". (he flaw is thatboth characters are too gullible and too good)hearted to ever act strongly against eternalforces that may attem"t to se"arate them:

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IBou KJane and %ingleyL are each of you so com"lying, that nothing will ever be resolvedon@ so easy, that every servant will cheat you@ and so generous, that you will alwayseceed your income.I 4Eha"ter 775Obviously, ydia and +ic#ham's marriage is an eam"le of an bad marriage. (heirmarriage was based on a""earances, good loo#s, and youthful vivacity. Once these

ualities can no longer be seen by each other, the once strong relationshi" will slowlyfade away. s in the novel, ydia and +ic#ham's marriage gradually disintegrates@ ydiabecomes a regular visitor at her two elder sister's homes when Iher husband was gone toenCoy himself in ondon or %ath.I (hrough their relationshi", Jane usten shows thathasty marriage based on su"erficial ualities uic#ly cools and leads to unha""iness.ltough little is told of how Mr. %ennet and Mrs. %ennet got together, it can be inferredby their conversions that their relationshi" was similar to that of ydia and +ic#ham )Mr. %ennet had married a woman he found seually attractive without realiAing she wasan unintelligent woman. Mrs. %ennet's favoritism towards ydia and her comments onhow she was once as energetic as ydia reveals this similarity. Mr. %ennet's comment on+ic#ham being his favorite son)in)law reinforces this "arallelism. (he effect of the

relationshi"s was that Mr. %ennet would isolate himself from his family@ he foundrefugee in his library or in moc#ing his wife. Mr. %ennet's self)realiAation at the end ofthe novel in which he discovers that his lac# of attention towards his family had lead hisfamily to develo" the way they are, was too late to save his family. -e is Jane usten'seam"le of a wea# father. &n these two latter relationshi"s, usten shows that it isnecessary to use good Cudgement to select a s"ouse, otherwise the two "eo"le will loseres"ect for each other.(he last eam"le of a marriage is a of a different nature than the ones mentioned above.(he marriage between Mr. Eollins and Eharlotte is based on economics rather than onlove or a""earance. &t was a common "ractice during usten's time for women to marry ahusband to save herself from s"insterhood or to gain financial security. -owever, Janeusten viewed this as a ty"e of "rostitution and disa""roved of it. &n !ride and !reCudice,Jane usten dramatiAes this form of women ineuality and show that women whosubmits themselves to this ty"e of marriage will have to suffer in tormenting silence asEharlotte does:I+hen Mr. Eollins said any thing of which his wife might reasonably be ashamed, whichcertainly was not unseldom, she KDliAabethL would involuntarily turned her eye onEharlotte. Once or twice she could discern a faint blush@ but in general Eharlotte wiselydid not hear.I 4Eha"ter 205(hese five marriages contributes to the theme that a ha""y and strong marriage ta#es timeto build and must be based on mutual feeling, understanding, and res"ect. -astymarriages acting on im"ulse, and based on su"erficial ualities will not survive and willlead to inevitable unha""iness.

&n !ride and !reCudice, Jane has denounced the elements of marriage and society that shefound distasteful. (hese are the conclusions of her observation of the "eo"le in her world.-owever in her writing, Jane has also reflected her own enCoyment in life among these"eo"le with and without their faults.=ey Factsfull title P !ride and !reCudice

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author P Jane ustenty"e of wor# P *ovelgenre P Eomedy of mannerslanguage P Dnglishtime and "lace written P Dngland, between 1/8 and 1016

date of first "ublication P 1016"ublisher P (homas Dgerton of ondonnarrator P (hird)"erson omniscientclima P Mr. 9arcy's "ro"osal to DliAabeth 4olume &&&, Eha"ter Q&5"rotagonist P DliAabeth %ennetantagonist P Snobbish class)consciousness 4e"itomiAed by ady Eatherine de %ourgh andMiss %ingley5setting 4time5 P Some "oint during the *a"oleonic +ars 41/)10175setting 4"lace5 P ongbourn, in rural Dngland"oint of view P (he novel is "rimarily told from DliAabeth %ennet's "oint of view.falling action P (he two cha"ters of the novel after 9arcy's "ro"osal

tense P !ast tenseforeshadowing P (he only notable eam"le of foreshadowing occurs when DliAabethvisits !emberley, 9arcy's estate, in olume &&&, Eha"ter 1. -er a""reciation of the estateforeshadows her eventual realiAation of her love for its owner.tone P Eomic3or, in Jane usten's own words, ;light and bright, and s"ar#linge"utation@ Elassmotifs P Eourtshi"@ Journeyssymbols P (he novel is light on symbolism, ece"t on the visit to !emberley, which isdescribed as being ;neither formal, nor falsely adorned,< and is clearly meant tosymboliAe the character of Mr. 9arcy.

Wuthering!O&*( OF &D+ &* +N(-D>&*$ -D&$-(Sny serious discussion of +uthering -eights must consider the com"le "oint of viewthat %rontR chose. oc#wood tells the entire story, but ece"t for his e"eriences as therenter of (hrushcross $range and his res"onse to *elly, he re"eats what *ellie tells him@occasionally she is narrating what others have told her, e.g., &sabellaHs e"eriences at+uthering -eights or the servant illaHs view of events. Eonseuently, at times we arethree ste"s removed from events. Eontrary to what might be e"ected with such narrativedistance from events, we do not feel emotionally distant from the characters or events.&ndeed, most readers are swe"t along by the im"etuosity and tem"estuous behavior of-eathcliff and Eatherine, even if occasionally confused by the time shifts and thedu"lication of names. %rontRHs ability to swee" the reader while distancing the narrationreveals her mastery of her material and her genius as a writer.(o decide why she chose this narrative a""roach and how effective it is, you mustdetermine what oc#wood and *elly contribute to the storyTwhat #ind of "eo"le arethey? what values do they re"resent? how reliable are they or, alternately, under whatconditions are they reliable? s you read the novel, consider the following "ossibilities:

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oc#wood and *elly are o""osites in almost every way. 415 oc#wood is a so"histicated,educated, affluent gentleman@ he is an outsider, a city man. *elly is a shrewd, self)educated servant@ a local Bor#shirewoman, she has never traveled beyond the +uthering-eights)(hrushcross $range)$immerton area. *elly, thus, belongs to +uthering -eightsand (hrushcross $range in a way that the outsider oc#wood 4or -eathcliff5 never does.

425 oc#woodHs illness contrasts with her good health. 465 Just as the narrative is dividedbetween a male and a female narrator, so throughout the boo# the maCor characters arebalanced male and female, including the servants Jose"h and *elly or Jose"h and illah..(his balancing of male and female and the lovers see#ing union suggests that at a"sychological level the Jungian animus and anima are struggling for integration in one"ersonality.9oes oc#wood re"resent the "oint of view of the ordinary reader 4that is, us5. &f so, dohis reactions invalidate our everyday assum"tions and Cudgments? (his reading assumesthat his reactions are insensitive and unintelligent. Or do he and *elly serve as a bridgefrom our usual reality to the chaotic reality of +uthering -eights? %y enabling us toidentify with normal res"onses and socially acce"table values, do they hel" ma#e the

fantastic behavior believable if not understandable?9oes the sentimental oc#wood contrast with the "ragmatic *elly? &t has been suggestedthat the original "ur"ose of the novel was the education and edification of oc#wood inthe nature of "assion)love, but of course the novel com"letely outgrew this limited aim.*ellyTas the main narrator, as a "artici"ant, and as "reci"itator of #ey eventsTreuiresmore attention than oc#wood.(o what etent do we acce"t *ellyHs "oint of view? &s her conventionality necessarilywrong or limited? &s it a valid "oint of view, though one "erha"s which cannot understandor accommodate the wild behavior she encounters? 9oes she re"resent normalcy? &s shea norm against which to Cudge the behavior of the other characters? Or does shecontribute, whether unintentionally, semi)consciously, or deliberately, to the disasterswhich engulf her em"loyers? (o what etent is *elly admirable? &s she su"erior to theother servants, as she suggests, or is she deluded by vanity?&s *ellyHs alliance or identification with any one character, one family, or one set ofvalues consistent, or does she switch sides, de"ending on circumstances and heremotional res"onse? 9oes she sym"athiAe with the children she raised or hel"ed to raise,a grou" consisting of -eathcliff, Eatherine, -areton, and Eathy? &f *ellyHs loyalties do#ee" shifting, does this fact reflect the difficulty of ma#ing moral Cudgments in thisnovel?&s her inter"retation of some characters or #inds of events more reliable than of others? &sshe, for instance, more authoritative when she s"ea#s of more conventional or ordinaryevents or behavior than of the etreme, often outrageous behavior of -eathcliff orEatherine? Dve =osofs#y Sedgwic# notes that although -eathcliff tal#s about himself to*elly with honesty and o"enness, she "ersists on seeing him as a secretive, alienated,diabolical schemer. &s Sedgwic#Hs insight valid? &f so, what does it reveal about *elly?nother uestion might be, why do so many "eo"le confide in or turn to *elly?(here are two more uestions that can be raised about the reliability of oc#wood and*elly. (he first is, did oc#wood change any of *ellieHs story? (his is, it seems to me, afutile uestion. & see no way we can answer this uestion, for there are no internal oreternal conversations or events which would enable us to assess his narrative integrity.

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(he same "rinci"le would a""ly to *ellie, if we wonder whether she deliberately lied tooc#wood or remembered events incorrectly. -owever, it is entirely another matter if weas# whether *ellie or if oc#wood misunderstood or misinter"reted the conversationsand actions each narrates. &n this case, we can com"are the narratorHs inter"retation ofcharacters and events with the conversations and behavior of the characters, consider the

values the narrator holds and those held or e"ressed by the characters and their behavior,and also loo# at the "attern of the novel in its entirety for clues in order to evaluate thenarratorHs reliability.

=ey Factsfull title P +uthering -eightsauthor P Dmily %rontRty"e of wor# P *ovelgenre P $othic novel 4designed to both horrify and fascinate readers with scenes of"assion and cruelty@ su"ernatural elements@ and a dar#, foreboding atmos"here5@ alsorealist fiction 4incor"orates vivid circumstantial detail into a consistently and minutely

thought)out "lot, dealing mostly with the relationshi"s of the characters to one another5language P Dnglish 4including bits of Bor#shire dialect5time and "lace written P &n 108T, Dmily %rontR wrote +uthering -eights in the"arsonage of the isolated village of -aworth, in Bor#shire.date of first "ublication P 10"ublisher P (homas E. *ewbynarrator P oc#wood, a newcomer to the locale of +uthering -eights, narrates the entirenovel as an entry in his diary. (he story that oc#wood records is told to him by *elly, aservant, and oc#wood writes most of the narrative in her voice, describing how she toldit to him. Some "arts of *elly's story are narrated by other characters, such as when *ellyreceives a letter from &sabella and recites its contents verbatim."oint of view P Most of the events of the novel are narrated in *elly's voice, from *elly's"oint of view, focusing only on what *elly can see and hear, or what she can find outabout indirectly. *elly freuently comments on what the other characters thin# and feel,and on what their motivations are, but these comments are all based on her owninter"retations of the other characters3she is not an omniscient narrator.tone P &t is not easy to infer the author's attitude toward the events of the novel. (hemelodramatic uality of the first half of the novel suggests that %rontR views Eatherineand -eathcliff's doomed love as a tragedy of lost "otential and wasted "assion. -owever,the outcome of the second half of the novel suggests that %rontR is more interested incelebrating the renewal and rebirth brought about by the "assage of time, and the rise of anew generation, than she is in mourning -eathcliff and Eatherine.tense P %oth oc#wood's and *elly's narrations are in the "ast tense.setting 4time5 P (he action of *elly's story begins in the 1s@ oc#wood leavesBor#shire in 102.setting 4"lace5 P ll the action of +uthering -eights ta#es "lace in or around twoneighboring houses on the Bor#shire moors3+uthering -eights and (hrushcross$range."rotagonists P -eathcliff, Eatherine

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maCor conflicts P -eathcliff's great natural abilities, strength of character, and love forEatherine Darnshaw all enable him to raise himself from humble beginnings to the statusof a wealthy gentleman, but his need to revenge himself for -indley's abuse andEatherine's betrayal leads him into a twisted life of cruelty and hatred@ Eatherine is tornbetween her love for -eathcliff and her desire to be a gentlewoman, and her decision to

marry the genteel Ddgar inton drags almost all of the novel's characters into conflictwith -eathcliff.rising action P -eathcliff's arrival at +uthering -eights, -indley's abusive treatment of-eathcliff, and Eatherine's first visit to (hrushcross $range set the maCor conflicts inmotion@ once -eathcliff hears Eathy say it would ;degrade< her to marry him, theconversation between *elly and Eathy, which he secretly overhears, drives him to runaway and "ursue his vengeance.clima P Eatherine's death is the culmination of the conflict between herself and-eathcliff and removes any "ossibility that their conflict could be resolved "ositively@after Eatherine's death, -eathcliff merely etends and dee"ens his drives toward revengeand cruelty.

falling action P -eathcliff destroys &sabella and drives her away, ta#es "ossession ofyoung inton, forces Eatherine and inton to marry, inherits (hrushcross $range, thenloses interest in the whole "roCect and dies@ -areton and young Eatherine are to beengaged to be married, "romising an end to the cycle of revenge.themes P (he destructiveness of a love that never changes@ the "recariousness of socialclassmotifs P 9oubles, re"etition, the conflict between nature and culturesymbols P (he moors, ghostsforeshadowing P oc#wood's initial visit to +uthering -eights, in which the mysteriousrelationshi"s and lur#ing resentments between the characters create an air of mystery@oc#wood's ghostly nightmares, during the night he s"ends in Eatherine's old bed,"refigure many of the events of the rest of the novel.

Great expectations=ey Factsfull title P $reat D"ectationsauthor P Eharles 9ic#ensty"e of wor# P *ovelgenres P %ildungsroman, social criticism, autobiogra"hical fictionlanguage P Dnglishtime and "lace written P ondon, 108)1081date of first "ublication P !ublished serially in Dngland from 9ecember 108 to ugust

1081@ "ublished in boo# form in Dngland and merica in 1081"ublisher P SerialiAed in ll the Bear >ound@ "ublished in Dngland by Eha"man U -all@"ublished in merica by -ar"er U %rothersnarrator P !i"clima P seuence of climactic events occurs from about Eha"ter 71 to Eha"ter 78:Miss -avisham's burning in the fire, Orlic#'s attem"t to murder !i", and !i"'s attem"t tohel" Magwitch esca"e ondon."rotagonist P !i"

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antagonist P $reat D"ectations does not contain a traditional single antagonist. ariouscharacters serve as figures against whom !i" must struggle at various times: Magwitch,Mrs. Joe, Miss -avisham, Dstella, Orlic#, %entley 9rummle, and Eom"eyson. +ith theece"tion of the last three, each of the novel's antagonists is redeemed before the end ofthe boo#.

setting 4time5 P Mid)nineteenth centurysettings 4"lace5 P =ent and ondon, Dngland"oint of view P First "ersonfalling action P (he "eriod following Magwitch's ca"ture in Eha"ter 7, includingMagwitch's death, !i"'s reconciliation with Joe, and !i"'s reunion with Dstella elevenyears latertense P !astforeshadowing P $reat D"ectations contains a great deal of foreshadowing. (he re"eatedreferences to the convict 4the man with the file in the "ub, the attac# on Mrs. Joe5foreshadow his return@ the second convict on the marsh foreshadows the revelation ofMagwitch's conflict with Eom"eyson@ the man in the "ub who gives !i" money

foreshadows the revelation that !i"'s fortune comes from Magwitch@ Miss -avisham'swedding dress and her biAarre surroundings foreshadow the revelation of her "ast and herrelationshi" with Dstella@ !i"'s feeling that Dstella reminds him of someone he #nowsforeshadows his discovery of the truth of her "arentage@ the fact that Jaggers is a criminallawyer foreshadows his involvement in Magwitch's life@ and so on. Moreover, theweather often foreshadows dramatic events: a storm brewing generally means there willbe trouble ahead, as on the night of Magwitch's return.tone P Eomic, cheerful, satirical, wry, critical, sentimental, dar#, dramatic, foreboding,$othic, sym"atheticthemes P mbition and the desire for self)im"rovement 4social, economic, educational,and moral5@ guilt, criminality, and innocence@ maturation and the growth from childhoodto adulthood@ the im"ortance of affection, loyalty, and sym"athy over social advancementand class su"eriority@ social class@ the difficulty of maintaining su"erficial moral andsocial categories in a constantly changing worldmotifs P Erime and criminality@ disa""ointed e"ectations@ the connection betweenweather or atmos"here and dramatic events@ doubles 4two convicts, two secretbenefactors, two invalids, etc.5symbols P (he sto""ed cloc#s at Satis -ouse symboliAe Miss -avisham's attem"t to sto"time@ the many obCects relating to crime and guilt 4gallows, "risons, handcuffs,"olicemen, lawyers, courts, convicts, chains, files5 symboliAe the theme of guilt andinnocence@ Satis -ouse re"resents the u""er)class world to which !i" longs to belong@%entley 9rummle re"resents the grotesue ca"rice of the u""er class@ Joe re"resentsconscience, affection, loyalty, and sim"le good nature@ the marsh mists re"resent dangerand ambiguity.

Hardy!O&*( OF &D+

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(ess is written from an omniscient 4all)#nowing5 narratorHs "oint of view. Sometimes thenarrator reflects what the characters) "articularly ngel and (ess) are thin#ing, feeling, ore"eriencing. Other times the narrator shows us as"ects of their "ersonalities or situationsof which they arenHt yet fully aware.Many times -ardy ta#es us away from the immediate story of the novel in order to ma#e

"hiloso"hical comments on how his charactersH situations illustrate far)reaching "roblemsaffecting society, religion, nature, or the universe. (he tone of these "hiloso"hicalsections is very different from that of the rest of the boo#, where "oetry and storytellingshare a visual beauty. Many readers have found -ardyHs asides interru"tive anddistracting from the meat of the novel) as if he were afraid that the story couldnHt betrusted to ma#e his moral "oints for him. Other readers find these "hiloso"hical tractsnecessary to ta#e the novel beyond the confines of melodrama or balladry in which a "urewoman falls from virtue and is condemned. (hey feel that -ardyHs asides force the readerto deal with far)reaching social and cosmological considerations.-ardyHs "oetic voice is his most enchanting and hy"notic. -e describes landsca"es as ifthey were meta"hors for human e"erience. (his "oetic voice "ulls us away from the

story Cust as -ardyHs "hiloso"hiAing does, but it also ma#es us feel rather than thin# aboutall the "leasure and "ain of life-ardy's use of "oint of view is conventional for his time in literary history. &t can bedescribed as a third)"erson or omniscient "oint of view, which means that events can beviewed through the eyes of whatever character at the moment suits the author's "ur"oses.Nsually, though not always, such a "erson is one of the main characters, although within-ardy's lifetime, F. Scott FitAgerald made a minor character the "rinci"al "oint of view in(he $reat $atsby. Such a "oint of view is normally confusing to the reader only when itis shifted freuently in a short s"ace, as, for eam"le, in the melodramatic scenes incha"ters )/ of %oo# Fifth.Following the eam"le of -enry James, a contem"orary of -ardy's, modern novelistsordinarily use a more restricted "oint of view, in "art because of the greater reality itlends to a wor# of fiction. -ardy himself was no innovator of fictional techniues.&n this novel, -ardy embodies the idea that we live in an indifferent universe. -e alsoim"lies that the universe can be hostile, but he does not use this novel as a vehicle toremind us that ;it's a Cungle out there.< Eritics usually refer to -ardy's themes asfatalistic3a view of life that shows human actions being controlled by an im"ersonalforce, "erha"s called 9estiny or Fate, which is inde"endent of both humanity and itsgods. (he indifference of the universe, therefore, really describes what we see as we loo#about us or, "erha"s, all that we can find when we are unable any longer to believe in thegods we created. &f it is said that we are created in $od's image, it may also be arguedthat we create gods in our own images. (he dilemma im"lied here is, of course, as old ashumanity and "er"etually without final answer, though historically there have been manyattem"ted answers.Ehance and coincidence are two ways in which this seeming indifference e"resses itselfin our lives. +hen we say an event has ta#en "lace by chance or coincidence, we aresim"ly e"ressing our own view of the matter@ it is sim"ly all we are able to see at themoment. For -ardy, chance or coincidence is used as a way of showing his theme on thelevel of events or "lot.

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ardy has been criticiAed for his handling of "lot. i#e other novelists of his time, he oftenuses chance and coincidence to ecess. (his use, however, is sometimes for reasons otherthan sim"ly furthering the story at a given "oint. -ardy also characteristically rushes hisstory along at times by using a series of short scenes rather than sacrificing variety or theinterest that a fast "ace can maintain to the detailed develo"ment "ossible in a longer or

long scene. &t may well be that here, as in the case of his adding a sith boo#, his "racticeis influenced by the #ind of readers he #new he would have in the serial "ublication of hisboo#s.-ardy's habit of using melodrama in im"ortant scenes has also been "ointed out. Moderncritics and readers tend to com"lain about this, but -ardy was doing nothing verydifferent from contem"orary writers. Eom"are the melodrama with -ardy's use ofrealism, which is effective by today's standards and still effectively evo#es the "hysicaland emotional landsca"es -ardy wanted to convey to his readers.

Wilde

he &m"ortance of %eing Darnest: (rivial Eomedy for Serious !eo"leI is one of the first"lays written in Dnglish since the wor#s of Sha#es"eare that celebrates the languageitself. Oscar +ildeHs comedy has one advantage over the classic comedies of the %ard inthat I(he &m"ortance of %eing DarnestI is as funny today as it was when it was first"erformed at the St. JameHs (heater in ondon on February 1, 10/7. fter all, enCoyingSha#es"eare reuires chec#ing the bottom for footnotes e"laining the meaning of thosedoAens of words that Sha#es"eare ma#es u" in any one of his "lays. %ut +ildeHs brilliantwit, his humor and social satire, remain intact even though he was a writer of theictorian era.+ilde believed in art for artHs own sa#e, which e"lains why he em"hasiAed beauty whilehis contem"oraries were dealing with the "roblems of industrial Dngland. I(he&m"ortance of %eing DarnestI is set among the u""er class, ma#ing fun of their ecessesand absurdities while imbuing them with witty banter "roviding a constant stream ofe"igrams. (he "layHs situation is sim"le in its unraveling com"leity. lgernon Moncrieffis an u""er)class Dnglish bachelor who is visited by his friend Jac# +orthing, who is#nown as IDrnest.I Jac# has come to town to "ro"ose to $wendolen Fairfa, the daugherof the im"osing ady %rac#nell and lgyHs first cousin. Jac# has a ward named Eecilywho lives in the country while lgernon has an imaginary friend named I%unburyIwhom he uses as an ecuse to get out of social engagements.Jac# "ro"oses to $wendolen but has two "roblems. First, $wendolen is wiling to agreebecause his name is Drnest, a name that Iseems to ins"ire absolute confidence,I butwhich, of course, is not his true Ehristian name. Second, ady %rac#nell obCects to Jac#as a suitor when she learns he was abandoned by his "arents and found in a handbag inictoria Station by Mr. (homas Eardew. Meanwhile, lgernon heads off to the country tochec# out Eecily, to whom he introduces himself as being her guardian Jac#Hs brotherDrnest. (his meets with EeclilyHs a""roval because in her diary she has been writingabout her engagement to a man named Drnest. (hen things get really interesting.+ilde "roves once and for all time that the "un can indeed be elevated to a high art form.(hroughout the entire "lay we have the double meaning of the word Iearnest,I almost tothe level of a conceit, since many of the "layHs twists and turns deal with the efforts of

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Jac# and lgernon to be IDrnest,I by lying, only to discover that circumstances ma#eshonest men of them in the end 4and of the women for that matter as well5. (here is everyreason to believe that +ilde was ma#ing a "oint about earnestness being a #ey ideal ofictorian culture and one worthy of being thoroughly and com"letely moc#ed. $ranted,some of the "uns are really bad, and the discussion of I%unburyingI is so bad it is stands

alone in that regard, but

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