Exam One Study Questions

Take-Home Essay

Aurora Floyd by Mary Elizabeth Braddon is a novel centered around Aurora?s secret. Throughout our reading we have seen how this secret has played such an important role in developing plot in the novel. How has Aurora?s secret effected her relationship with other characters and how is it representative of Aurora herself?

Effected Aurora?s relationship with others:
- Broke up her engagement with Talbot.
- John Melissh doubts the marriage and he wonders why Talbot left her.
- Aurora lies to her father about Conyard?s death.
- Aurora asks her father for 2000 pounds and does not tell him what it is for.

The reason the secret is representative of Aurora herself is because?
- Her personality becomes more corrupted
- When she thinks Conyards is dead she is a very likeable and free spirited character but as soon as she finds out he is alive she goes into hysteria.
- Represents her innocence as a young girl. (It was her innocence that caused her to be in this situation.)

1. Catalogue and then analyze the differences you've noted between the content, style, and cultural contexts of the early/middle Victorian Age (1830's-1870's)and the later Victorian Age (1880's-1890's). Why might we import a different set of expectations, inquisitions and analytical study when considering the writings of Wilde, Shaw, Field, and Mary Elizabeth Coleridge than with J.S.Mill, Carlyle, and Dickens? How might this relate to the discussions in class about how imposing fixed demarcations to literary time periods is inherently problematic (ie even though Oscar Wilde is a "late Victorian", people didn't stop reading him in 1900)?

2. Analyze the ways in which the "secret" of "Aurora Floyd" functions as the central force of the latter half of novel. How has the narrative style evolved as the secret has grown in significance? How has the secret overtaken or changed characters? The speed/style with which the plot is executed by Braddon? The tone (ie more morbid? investigative? more grotesque, perhaps?)?

Discuss the opposing characteristics of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and how they relate to what happened in the story. Don't forget to include how these issues may appear to the Victorian reader and why it may appall the reader of the times.

1) G.B. Shaw uses his characters to represent viewtypes and topics, pick two of the characters from Shaw's "Mrs. Warren's Profession" and discuss their charactersitics related to the Victorian Period.

In class we discussed the impacts and importance of evolution to the Victorians. Out of this section who do you believe made the biggest contribution or impact?

The Victorian Age was a time of scientific questioning in which chemistry, Darwin's theory of evolution and Freud's study of the id, ego and superego became popular. These scientific advances were illustrated in Robert Louis Stevenson?s ?The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.? Describe how Stevenson used these scientific advances in his story and compare the story to at least one other work we have studied regarding the development of psychology, chemistry or Darwin's evolution theory.

Answer
1. Chemistry: Dr. Jekyll uses a chemically bonded potion to advance his alter ego, Hyde. In the end the potion is so strong that it takes over his being and turns him permanently into Hyde.
2. Psychology: Dr. Jekyll represents a person who has a conscience and is aware of his good and evil needs. This means that he has a developed ego, which uses the rule abiding superego and the pleasure seeking id to make decisions. Hyde, however, uses only the id to make decisions, which accounts for his evil actions.
3. Evolution: With the concept of evolution and a species evolving from other matter, the concept of de-evolution. We see Dr. Jekyll, who is socially accepted and bound by society's regulations, succumbing to the id-like persona of Hyde.
4. Compare: Try looking through the ?Evolution? section in our book, which starts on page 1538.

Compare Rudyard Kipling's poem "The White Man's Burden" to the essay by Thomas Macaulay "Minute on Indian Education." How do both pieces exemplify the Victorian idea of imperialism?

Why was Mrs. Warren’s Profession so shocking when it was written? How come no reputable theater wanted to have the play performed in their stage? Use social examples that support your argument.

Why was evolution such a controversial subject? What believes did it challenge?

Feminism and socialism are academic disciplines that are often interrelated and considered together. They certainly are presented together in Shaw’s Mrs. Warren’s Profession. In your essay, focus on the ways in which Shaw correlates feminism with the general socio-economic realities of the capitalist system. Ideas for further development include, but are certainly not limited to: issues of the legitimization of sex in the marriage contract, prostitution and its more general economic symbolism, and the transactional nature of relationships.

Cite specific examples from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde where the Victorian concerns of devolution are made present. Use at least two authors from the Evolution sections to explain the selected examples from Stevenson's piece.

How did Vivie and her mother portray the social roles of women in traditional Victorian England and the "New Woman"? Which was more defining of the new woman? How did Mrs. Warren and her sister portray these gender roles?

Analyze one of the key issues of the Victorian period (Evolution, the Woman Question, etc.) using the works produced by one of the ?Late Victorians? we have been discussing in class. Were they for or against the issue? Did they advocate for change or not? Use specific examples from the text.

In ?Mrs. Warren?s Profession?, George Bernard Shaw creates characters which represent stereotypes existent in the society of the time. Choose two characters, describe the stereotype they embody, and elaborate on Shaw?s commentary about these characters and his view about their roles in society.

Vivie
- represents New Woman
- Shaw paints Vivie in a positive light but portrays her as overly hardened and, in a sense, ?dewomanized?

Mrs. Warren
- represents social climber
- Shaw empathizes with her but acknowledges that she is flawed
- Shaw seems to place responsibility on society for ?characters? such as Mrs. Warren (highly controversial)

So far in Aurora Floyd we have yet to find out exactly what "the secret" is, but it is beginning to involve all of the characters in the novel. Pick two characters from the story and compare and contrast how they are affected by Aurora's secret.

1) In Mrs. Warren's Profession, neither Vivie or Mrs. Warren are traditional Victorian women. Explain what roles each has assumed and how the changes in society allow these women to take on these roles and become more acceptable in the late 19th century.

2) Using different examples from within the Evolution section, show how logical the idea of evolution was and yet how unwilling Victorians were to support. Give examples as to their fears of what evolution could do to their empire and how writers tried to find other excuses to explain Darwin's evolutionary findings.

In George Bernard Shaw's play "Mrs. Warren's Profession" how is Shaw trying to reveal the problems, reasons and causes for prostitution? In relation to this how does each character represent a different viewpoint in regards to prostitution?

~Mrs. Warren is allowed to state her reasons for becoming a prostitute and justifications for it. She shows how society is responsible for her actions in a sense.

~Vivi represents "new woman." She is independent and masculine, understands her mothers reasons but not the reasons why she still does it.

~Crofts capitalizes on the sexual exploitation of young women.

At the end of "Mrs. Warren's Profession" many disliked Vivie because of her actions towards her mother. Discuss whether this is due to the fact that she is a New Women, or because of something else. How would the Victorians have felt about Vivie at the end?

1. Towards the end of the Victorian period aesthetic writers began to emerge. These writers were more concerned with the beauty of art rather than its usefulness. Compare and contrast one of Michael Field's poems with Oscar Wilde's exerpt from "The Critic as Artist" as they pertain to art, beauty, nature, and purpose.

The female characters in Bernard Shaw's play Mrs. Warren's Profession
displayed distinctive traits and personalities of two new women roles that
came about in the Victorian era. What traits and new roles did Vivie Warren
and Mrs. Warren posses? Also compare these women to Braddon's main women
characters in Aurora Floyd and as well, the more traditional woman of the
Victorian era.

1.Compare and contrast the personalities of Lizzie and Mrs. Warren. How do they differ in their styles of living.

Lizzie does not continue with the profession of prostitution, Mrs. Warren does. Lizzie is a "lady," and her sister is not, she is vulgar. Lizzie gets on with her life and gets married, Mrs. Warren is stuck in the same type of lifestyle as she has been and she did not marry.

In George Bernard Shaw's "Mrs. Warren's Profession," Mrs. Warren's career as a prostitute comes under criticism; her daughter Vivie approved of her choice when she believed it was her only option for survival, but when she discovered her mother was still recruiting other young girls, she discontinued all relations with her. Explain how sexuality is represented in terms of economics, and what Shaw is saying about Capitalistic society.

Prostitution was a key issue in Victorian England. Explain how society viewed prostitution as portrayed in Bernard Shaw?s ?Mrs. Warren?s Profession? and in Oscar Wilde?s ?Impression du Matin? and ?The Harlot?s House?.

Both G.B. Shaw and R.L. Stevenson both write about social problems in Victorian society. Compare and contrast how these two men deal with these issues in their works.

Mrs. Warren's Profession- Shaw
-deals directly with prostitution
-caracatures of extreme views, morality (Vivie)vs prostitution (Mrs. Warren)
- Mrs. Warren is proud vs sister just did it to survive
-societies fault for putting women in this situation and men's business drives prostitution
-economic necessity

Dr. Jekyl- R.L. Stevenson
-representation or caracature of good and evil in Jekyl vs Hyde however more blurry
-deals more figuratively with human impulse and dark side of human nature
-the immorality in everyone is too disgusting for us to recognize ourselves

In Darwin's Theory of Evolution his evidence raises questions about religion, de-evolution and survival of the fittest. Although these findings would be revolutionary even by today's standards, why was Darwin so controversial to the Victorian's? What issues did he present that directly contrasted with Victorian beliefs?

Discuss imperialism in Victorian England. Use any and
all works you need from the readings to do this.
Examples include "Empire and National Identity" and
Rudyard Kipling "The White Man's Burden".

Identifications

1.) ?When man acts he is a puppet. When he describes he is a poet?

Answer: From The Critic as Artist - Oscar Wilde

2.) ?He was shocked at the change which had taken place in the doctor?s appearance. He had his death-warrant written legibly upon his face.?

Answer: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ? Robert Louis Stevenson

1. "Not another word, dear: we will never part. Why should we? There is very little upon this wide earth that money cannot buy; and it shall help to buy our happiness. We will never part, darling; never."
Aurora Floyd, Mary Elizabeth Braddon

2." But one pale woman all alone,
The daylight kissing her wan hair,
Loitered beneath the gas lamps' flare,
With lips of flame and heart of stone."
Impression du Matin, Oscar Wilde

ID's:
1. "Not another word, dear: we will never part. Why should we? There is very little upon this wide earth that money cannot buy; and it shall help to buy our happiness. We will never part, darling; never."
Aurora Floyd, Mary Elizabeth Braddon

2." But one pale woman all alone,
The daylight kissing her wan hair,
Loitered beneath the gas lamps' flare,
With lips of flame and heart of stone."
Impression du Matin, Oscar Wilde

IDs
?It sounds queer, not to say unnatural and scandalous, that Englishmen should in these days of light be champions of injustice towards their fellow-subjects, not for any intellectual or moral disqualification, but on the simple account of the darker skin of those whoa re to be assailed and thwarted in their life?s careers and aspirations?

- John Jacob Thomas, From ?Froudacity?

?I have never found one among them who could deny that a single shelf of a good European library was worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia. The intrinsic superiority of the Western literature is, indeed, fully admitted by those members of the Committee who support the Oriental plan of education.?

- Thomas Babington Macaulay, From ?Minute on Indian Education?

1. Preface from The Picture of Dorian Gray
By Oscar Wilde

The artist is the creator of beautiful things. To reveal art and conceal the artist is art's aim. The critic is he who can translate into another manner or a new material his impression of beautiful things. The highest as the lowest form of criticism is a mode of autobiography. Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault.

2. The White Man's Burden
By Rudyard Kipling

Take up the White Man's burden--
Send forth the best ye breed--
Go, bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives' need;
To wait, in heavy harness,
On fluttered folk and wild--
Your new-caught sullen peoples,
Half devil and half child.

1. "The critic is he who can translate into another manner or new material his impression of beautiful things."

Oscar Wilde from the Preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray

2. "Her hair stood back on either side
A face bereft of loveliness.
It had no envy now to hide
What once no man on earth could guess."

Mary Elizabeth Coleridge from The Other Side of a Mirror

1) ?The love that breeds
In my heart for thee!
As the iris is full, brimful of seeds,
And all that it flowered for among the reeds
Is packed in a thousand vermilion-beads??
Answer: Michael Field ?Unbosoming?

2) ?Yes, Heaven forgive me, it?s true; and you are the only one that ever turned on me. Oh, the injustice of it! The injustice! I always wanted to be a good woman. I tried honest work; and I was slave-driven until I cursed the day I ever heard of honest work.?
Answer: Bernard Shaw ?Mrs. Warren?s Profession?

" He is not easy to describe. There is something wrong with his appearance; something displeasing, something downright detestable. I never saw a man I so disliked and yet i scarce know why. He gives a strong feeling of deformity, although I couldn't specify the point."

Robert Louis Stevensone, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

"When critics disagree the artist is in accord with himself. We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it. The only excuse for making a useless thing is that no one admires it intensely. All art is quite useless."

Oscar Wilde, Preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray

1.) ?So my breast is rent
With the burthen and strain of its great content;
For the summer of fragrance and sighs is dead,
The harvest-secret is burning red,
And I would give thee, after my kind,
The final issues of heart and mind.?
*?Unbosoming? by Michael Field

2.) ?The artist is the creator of beautiful things.
To reveal art and conceal the artist is art?s aim.
The critic is he who can translate into another manner or a new material his impression of beautiful things.?
* ?Preface to ?The Picture of Dorian Gray?? by Oscar Wilde

Identifications:

Whether we look at the intrinsic value of our literature or at the particular situation of this country, we shall see the strongest reason to think that, of all foreign tongues, the English language is that which would be the most useful to our native subjects.
- Thomas Babington Macaulay, ?Minute on Indian Education?

A week afterwards Dr Lanyon took to his bed, and in something less than a fortnight he was dead. The night after the funeral, at which he had been sadly affected, Utterson locked the door of his business room, and sitting there by the light of a melancholy candle, drew out and set before him an envelope addressed by the hand and sealed with the seal of his dead friend.
-Robert Louis Stevenson, ?The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?

1. When critics disagree the artist is in accord with himself. WE can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it. The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intensely. All art is quite Useless.

-Preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.

2. Take up the White Man's burden--send forth the best ye breed---go bind your sons to exile to serve your captives' need."

-The White Man's Burden by Rudyard Kipling

1.) "It is confessed that a language is barren of useful knowledge. We are told to teach it because it is fruitful of monstrous superstitions. We are told to teach false history, false astronomy, false medicine, because we find them in company with a false religion."
--Thomas Babington Macaulay, "Minute on Indian Education"

2.) "The gods had given me almost everything. I had genius, a distinguished name, high social position, brilliancy, intellectual daring: I made art a philosophy, and philosophy an art: I altered the minds of men and the colours of things: there was nothing I said or did that did not make people wonder: I took the drama, the most objective form known to art, and made it as personal a mode of expression as the lyric or the sonnet, at the same time that I widened its range and enriched its characterization: drama, novel, poem in rhyme, poem in prose, subtle or fantastic dialogue, whatever I touched I made beautifulin a new mode of beauty: to truth itself I gave what is false no less than what is true as its rightful province, and showed that the false and the true are merely forms of intellectual existence."
--Oscar Wilde, "De Profundis"

I was a man who stood in symbolic relations to the art and culture of my age. I had realised this for myself at the very dawn of my manhood, and had forced my age to realise it afterwards. Few men hold such a position in their own lifetime, and have it so acknowledged. It is usually discerned, if discerned at all, by the historian, or the critic, long after both the man and his age have passed away. With me it was different. I felt it myself, and made others feel it. Byron was a symbolic figure, but his relations were to the passion of his age and its weariness of passion. Mine were to something more noble, more permanent, of more vital issue, of larger scope.

Oscar Wilde - De Profundis

How will the struggle for existence, discussed too briefly in the last chapter, act in regard to variation? Can the principle of selection, which we have seen is so potent in the hands of man, apply in nature? I think we shall see that it can act most effectually. Let it be borne in mind in what an endless number of strange peculiarities our domestic productions, and, in a lesser degree, those under nature, vary; and how strong the hereditary tendency is.

Charles Darwin - Origin of Species "Natural Selection"

“The certificate! Heaven have pity upon her girlish
ignorance! She had never thought of that; she had
never remembered that miserable scrap of paper which
was the legal evidence of her folly.”

Aurora Floyd. Mary Elizabeth Braddon.

“When injuries my spirit bruise, allaying virtue ye
infuse, with unobtrustive skill: And if care frets ye
come to me, as fresh as nymph from stream or tree, and
with your soft vitality, my weary bosom fill.”

Maids, not to you my mind doth change. Michael field.

1)The artist is the creator of beautiful things. To reveal art and conceal the artist is art's aim. The critic is he who can translate into another manner or a new material his impression of beautiful things...All art is quite useless.
-Oscar Wilde - Preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray

2)Last May I spent six weeks in London with Honoria Fraser. Mama thought we were doing a round of sightseeing together; but I was really at Honoria's chambers in Chancery Lane every day, working away at actuarial calculations for her, and helping her as well as a greenhorn could. In the evenings we smoked and talked, and never dreamt of going out except for exercise. And I never enjoyed myself more in my life.
-G.B. Shaw - Mrs Warren's Prefession

1. “The drug had no discriminating action; it was neither diabolical nor divine; it but shook the doors of the prison-house of my disposition; and like the captives of Phillipi, that which stood within ran forth.”

Stevenson – Jekyll and Hyde

2. “I have wandered over the fruitful earth,

But I never came here before.

Oh, lift me over the threshold, and let me in at the door.”

M.E. Coleridge – “The Witch”

The artist is the creator of beautiful things.
To reveal art and conceal the artist is art’s aim.
The critic is he who can translate into another manner or a new
Material his impression of beautiful things.
The highest, as the lowest, form of criticism is a mode of autobiography.
Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being
Charming. This is a fault.

Preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde


The theory, coarsely enough, and to my Father’s great indignation, was defined by a hasty press as being this- that God hid fossils in the rocks in order to tempt geologists into infidelity. In truth, it was the logical and inevitable conclusion of accepting, literally, the doctrine of a sudden act of creation; it emphasized the fact that any breach in the circular course of nature could be conceived only on the supposition that the object created bore false witness to past processes, which had never taken place.

From Father and Son, Sir. Edmund Gosse

1.) "Her lips were open-not a sound
Came through the parted lines of red.
Whate?er it was, the hideous wound
In silence and in secret bled."

Mary Elizabeth Coleridge, "The Other Side of a Mirror"

2.) "The theory, coarsely enough, and to my Father?s great indignation, was defined by a hasty press as being this-that God hid the fossils in the rocks in order to tempt geologists into infidelity."

Sir Edmund Gosse, "Father and Son"

1. ?The ghost of a distracted hour,
That heard me whisper, ?I am she!??

The Other Side of a Mirror by Mary Elizabeth Coleridge

2. ?Everybody has some choice, mother. The poorest girl alive may not be able to choose between being Queen of England or Principal of Newnham; but she can choose between ragpicking and flower-selling, according to her taste.?

Mrs. Warren?s Profession by Bernard Shaw

We caught the tread of dancing feet,
We loitered down the moonlit street,
And stopped beneath the Harlot's house

Oscar Wilde "The Harlot's House"

The love that breeds
In my heart for thee!
As the iris is full, brimful of seeds

Michael Field "Unbosoming"

1. Lady, we would behold thee moving bright
As Beatrice or Matilda mid the trees,
Alas! thy moan was a moan for ease
-- To Christina Rossetti, Michael Field

2. "H'm," said Mr. Utterson. "What sort of man is he to see?"
-- The Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide"

Short Answer

1. What was the problem with Mrs. Warren's Profession? Why did she avoid telling her daughter what she did for a living for so long?
--- she was not a proper lady anymore in the eyes of her daughter.

2. How did Alan Moore bring in different aspects of the nineteenth century into his comic book?
--- Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hide, Bond, London streets...

Describe how Shaw is trying to address the social problems with prostitution in "Mrs. Warren's Profession"
~Describes how women are made to think it is appealing because they are poor and have nothing else.
~Shows how men take advantage of the economis aspects while women can suffer

How does Oscar Wilde think of himself and how is the decadence movement representative through him
~there is a symbol relation, he think himself as s symbol of the decadence movement
~he describes how the idea of beauty is a representational experience

1. Describe the differences between the real Jekyll and Hyde and the Jekyll and Hyde of pop culture.

Hyde?s smaller than Jekyll in the story; Hyde only kills one person instead of many.

2. Describe the general opinion of the natives of the conquered countries by some authors.

Insignificant literature, cannot govern them selves.

1. Bernard Shaw's characters in Mrs. Warren's Profession show many simliarities to characters in Braddon's Aurora Floyd. Compare a few of these similarities and explain how the characters help to show gender progress within the Victorian era.

Vivie - "new" women, strong, independent, educated, upper class
Aurora - strong and independent as well, educated, loves things that men participate in (horses, gambling)

Frank- kind, caring of women, understanding of the new independence in women
Mellish - loving of his wife, allows her to partake in manly things, kind

The main women in these stories are strong and more like what women are becoming in the Victorian era. Educated, independent, and sometimes without men. The main men in these stories are less dictators toward women than most men in their era. These authors are trying to protray the change in gender relations.

2. Oscar Wilde's De Profundis is a great example of how art is being thought of in a different light towards the end of the 19th century. How did Wilde demonstrate a change in how people should view art in relation to reality?

- Art is superior to reality, the mode of the critic is the person who truly represents art, art is being seen as a means of explaining reality, art is just art (should not sway people's opinions), art is for art's sake

1.) Throughout Victorian literature, the concept of using characters to represent specific social views grew increasingly common. Select a work we have read demonstrating this technique and effectively explain how the traits of each character are used to symbolize social ideas of the nineteenth century.

Answer: Mrs. Warren?s Profession
-Vivie "The New Woman": strong-willed, college educated, independent, sarcastic, outspoken

-Mrs. Warren "Social Climber": wealthy, vulgar, unabashed nature, mysterious

-Mr. Praed "The Perfect Gentleman": civilized, sophisticated, humane

2.) British rule in India was a widely discussed topic within Victorian literature. Select two authors we have studied and briefly compare how each writer constructs Indians, as well as the British, within their works.

Answer: a.) Tomas B. Macaulay, ?Minute on Indian Education?
-says that Indians whole body of knowledge is inferior to the British
-wishes to eradicate teaching of the Sanscrit language so the Indian people can become ?English in taste, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect?

b.) William Howard Russell, ?My Diary in India, In the Year 1858-9?
-sought to show Indian culture and language in a positive light, debunking false rumors that other British authors were spreading within their writings.

Aurora Floyd and Vivie may look very different at first glance but what characteristics do they share? Are both of them the image of the new woman? How? How are they not?

* Both are very independent and strong. They don’t let men control their lives but take that control into their own hands. Vivie is the obvious picture of the new woman with her job and smoking and majoring in mathematics at college. Aurora could be viewed as a new woman with her interest in horses and dogs and gambling but she still likes to be taken care of and she never dreams of working, she has all the money she needs. Vivie is the closet to the new woman while Aurora only really holds certain characteristics of it but doesn’t embrace it as Vivie does.

What does the novel, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde show about the transformation of Victorian people?

* The main focus of this novel is the doppelganger: the split personality within Jekyll that manifests itself in the form of Hyde, a man with no morals essentially the id of a human being. The Victorians had undergone an amazing transformation by this time, with the fall of their empire, the discovery of evolution and the strengthening of the reformation movement. Jekyll simply represents the split that Victorians were undertaking, some still trying to uphold the typical conservative image so highly praised while others turned to embrace their darker sides, a side that didn’t necessarily have to be as extreme as Hyde but was still looked down on by many Victorians. People were not being as strict as they once were and Jekyll desire to become Hyde (subconsciously) is representative of the shift in Victorians from being so conforming and conservative to people who were more open, free and willing to live their life by their own rules.

1. How does Wilde’s aesthetic philosophy make “art into a philsophy”, as he says, and how is this reflected in today’s intellectual climate?

He takes the process of viewing art and applies it to life – saying that like life, art is purposeless beauty, with no ethical code or single standard of truth. It often depends on what the viewer brings to it (more explanation along these lines). This relativistic worldview is what we have been led to by thinkers like Foucault, Derrida, and Levi-Strauss. Post-modern is basically post-truth, and that’s where Wilde was one hundred years ago.

2. How does Moore’s LEG express the ambivalence Victorians felt towards many of the major issues we’ve discussed in class?

Well, we have the obvious example of Mina Harker as the ambivalent “New Woman,” and there’s of course the girl’s school to give us the hypocrisy of the standard Victorian interpretation of womanhood. We have huge technological devices that venture into the skies and beneath the waters, but the awe of progress is dimmed a little by the destructive capabilities inherent in the new technology. There are also several foreign scenes and one major character (Nemo), with varying interpretations, although for the most part the portrayals seem to be negative.

1) The idea of Love is a big part of many Victorian pieces, in poetry and in fictional prose. Several of our authors were shunned because of their homosecuatlity. How do their works reflect traditional and non traditional views of Love, and how does this differ from the expressions of Love we see in previous works looked at? Looking at Michael Field specifically, would these pieces have been considered appropriate if they were written by women for men?
-Hint: look at the writers themselves, their sexuality, and the ideas of women expressing physical love. Also, refer to Oscar Wilde's section.

2)Several women in the pieces we have read break the mold of traditional women. In what ways did they represent the beginning of the New Woman, and why did this differ so strongly from the traditional Victorian woman?
-Hint: look at Michael Field, Vivie Warren, Mrs. Warren (these two represnt different kinds of New Women).

What was Philip Henry Gosse’s theory to counter
evolution? How was it received?

Philip Henry Gosse’s theory was that God had made the
earth as is, complete with fossils, in an instant,
without some pre-historic past. This theory was not
received well by scientists, theologians, clergy, or
anyone. None would believe that God would write such
a lie in the stones or the bones hidden in them.

What is the white man’s burden?

To bring the ways of white European culture, language,
and religion (Christianity) to the “uncivilized”
countries.

1.) How does Aurora's secret affect herself and other characters in the story?

Answer: Aurora's secret takes on increased baggage as the novel goes on; it grows and becomes more entangled and is represented in Aurora; she was a lot more likeable in the beginning of the novel because she was much more free, but once the secret is given new life she becomes more unpredictable and crankier. Aurora's secret affects her father - he locks himself up in his study and had the maid lock up the rest of the house. Mrs. Powell becomes more agressive in her need to discover Aurora's secret and her hatred for Aurora grows. John Mellish begins to doubt Aurora and wonder why Talbot left her, but even though he doubts her he fights against the doubts in order to abide by his promise to trust her.

2.) How does Vivie represent the figure of the New Woman in George Bernard Shaws' "Mrs. Warren's Profession"?

Answer: Vivie represents the figure of the New Woman because she smokes cigars, drinks whiskey, is college-educated, wants to have a career and not a family, is independent, sarcastic, has a dry wit, is not emotional, is detached from her mother, is outspoken, and has the ability to analyze situations objectively.

1. Why was Shaw's play "Mrs. Warren's Profession" considered to be in bad taste and not acted out in the playouses in England?

-Sends message about society that women have no other alternatives and that men are as much responsible as women for prostitution.

2. How has Aurora's secret affected her marriage in Aurora Floyd?

-causes her husband to question her honesty at times. It causes her to freak out when Conyer's name is mentioned. It's causing the people that work for her to try to snoop and find out her secret. It's caused her to be dishonest and very shady.

***Bernard Shaw uses characters in his play ?Mrs. Warren?s Profession? that are not just characters, but that represent larger stereotypes of kinds of people. Choose one character from the play and explain how that character exemplifies a larger stereotype.

Possible answer:
Vivie ? represents the ?new woman? in many ways (i.e. smokes cigars, drinks whiskey, independent, career-oriented, outspoken, sarcastic, dry wit)
OR
Mrs. Warren ? represents the ?social climber?, demi-monde (i.e. she is mysterious, wealthy, upper-class but not the most respectable, completely honest almost to vulgarity)

***Both Michael Field and Oscar Wilde discuss the uses of Art in their works. Specifically, how reality and Art are related, and which one is preferable. Compare and contrast what each writer says about Art and reality.

Possible answer:
Michael Field: says that nature is completely perfect, and that the representation of nature in Art is more beautiful than nature is itself.
Oscar Wilde: also says that the representation of nature through Art is more beautiful than nature itself ? the Art becomes a representation of nature, a representation of Truth, and the representation of Truth is more beautiful than the reality

1.) In Bernard Shaw?s ?Mrs. Warren?s Profession,? the character Vivie has a misunderstanding about her mother?s profession as the mistress of a brothel. Why does Vivie at first accept her mother?s story but then turn her away at the end? In essence, what does the profession mean to Vivie?
*Vivie is under the impression that her mother used prostitution in order to escape a lower class standing. She believed that once she accumulated enough money that she had quit, just as her aunt had done. But as it turns out, the mother was still a prostitute and was the mistress of a brothel. Her job was to recruit other women to the work force.

2.) Rudyard Kipling?s poem ?The White Man?s Burden? deals explicitly with imperialism. Describe the arguments Kipling puts forth in his poem.
*The poem promotes imperialism and says that England is a great nation that has bestowed its conquered lands with the benefit of reform in education and society. It basically says that the white men are better than the other races and that they have been blessed by God. Therefore they bring their God-given gifts of the proper religion and civilization to those in need.

1.In Wilde's "De Profundis" he is writing a brief essay in jail after his infamous trial. What statements does he make about himself and his importance?

-"made art a philosophy, and philosophy and art"
-Wilde is about truth, Byron is about passion
-Wilde more important, because his effects are permanent and his age recognizes his genius
-"whatever I touched I made more beautiful"

2. In the last few installments of Aurora Floyd we see the impact of misplacing letters or allowing them to fall into the wrong hands. List examples of when a letter was misplaced and explain why this theme is so important in a sensation novel.

-adds conflict and drama
-way to carry and hide information
-adds to the entire idea of uncovering the mystery

1) Evolution was a dramatic controversy after it exploded in 1859. Choose a work we have read by Charles Darwin and discuss his contribution to this development and the impact it had on Victorian culture.
Answer: Include some of his main scientific ideas: struggle for existence, species increasing, animals descend from similar if not the same prototype? After the publication of ?Origin of the Species?, evolution was a serious topic. Darwin had people talking about his thoughts and the idea that animals evolved and all human races have common characteristics. This changed the Victorians perceptions of different races and where they all came from (de-evolving)?.

2) ?The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde? involves a secret (like many of the Victorian works). Discuss what this secret represents and how it relates to the Victorian Period. You can include other works to satisfy your argument.
Answer: Dr. J transforms into Mr. H (Dr. J?s id) and conveys Dr. J?s pleasures. Dr. Jeykll represents law and convention while Mr. Hyde is dark, demonized, and animalistic. This secret theme is seen throughout Victorian literature: Aurora Floyd, Mrs. Warren?s Profession,?Stevenson is portraying Victorian life in his story through his argument over this sense of control the character is facing. The Victorians have just undergone a series of serious issues and there is this two-sidedness to each of the controversies.

1.) In Aurora Floyd, we have learned that Aurora has consequences that comes with her ?secret? What is learned about Aurora?s secret and what occurs when the secret is discovered?

Aurora was sent to a boarding school to escape James Conyers, however while there Conyers followed her. He tricks Aurora into secretly marrying him which later turns into blackmail. Through the secret she lost being married to Talbot, she fears for her father?s respect for her (he continues to give money Aurora that goes to Conyers), afraid of what John will think of her (so she runs away from him to Lucy when he finds out about her secret marriage). Conyers is murdered and she is looked at as a suspect when her marriage is found out.

2.) Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are doppelgangers, but what makes these characters doppelgangers?

Dr. Jekyll takes a potion to turn into Mr. Hyde, a hidden demon inside of Dr. Jekyll. Dr. Jekyll is a form of imperialist but Mr. Hyde is seen as creature that lurks around. As Mr. Hyde he is able to take part in evil behavior that would be unseen of Dr. Jekyll?s society by killing and striking fear into everyone he comes across but as Dr. Jekyll people come to him as a form of friend.

1.What does Rudyard Kipling consider to be some of the goals of the "white man?" What type of role do these goals play in the larger picture of society?

They are to bring civilization and christianity. They also play the role of paternal responsibility to the lower class people.The white man's goal is to inprove society not only for himself, but also for others. Being that the "white man" is of the highest class and race, who better to improve others than him.

2.How does Michael Field's poem "Unbosoming" differ from the other works we have studied? Give a contrasting example of another work we have studied.

Fields uses lots of imagery and deep emotion. The work is not a narrative, and there is no certain style of writing. A constrasting work could possibly be JS Mill. He obviously did not use as much emotion as Fields, he was writing for more of a purpose rather than writing for the enjoyment of his readers.

1) Rudyard Kipling wrote in an era characterized by large-scale British imperialism. Using ?The White Man?s Burden? to support your argument, what are Kipling?s views about the expansion of the British empire and its ?responsibilities? to the native populations.

- supports imperialism
- white man assists natives by 1) bringing religion 2) bringing civilization
- white man responsible for modernization of cultures
- difficult task but someone should do it

2) Many 19th century British authors emphasized the importance of the ?detective? in their works. Through whom is this role filled in Robert Louis Stevenson?s ?Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?, and how does this character relay the author?s ideas about society?

- Mr. Utterson
- representation of law and its enforcement
- seeker of truth
- divulges inherent double nature of humanity (despite class standing)

1. In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll?s repressed actions come out in Mr. Hyde. Mr. Hyde is thus looked at with disgust and hatred by the people of the town. Explain why the people hated Mr. Hyde so much and alternative reasons for their apparent disgust with him.
- Hyde does not fit in to the norms of Victorian society
- Hyde breaks the rules that govern the society
- Karl Jung, idea of hating the person you secretly yearn to be
- The people wish they could indulge in these ?pleasures? yet not face the consequences

2. In Mrs. Warren?s Professions, Vivie and Mrs. Warren are very similar yet appear to be complete opposites. Compare and Contrast Vivie and Mrs. Warren and explain where each other them fit into Victorian society.
- Vivie and Mrs. Warren are both independent and make a living for themselves
- Vivie shows a lack of emotion, is prideful and ungrateful
- Mrs. Warren was a prostitute and runs brothels
- Vivie represents the ?new woman?
- Mrs. Warren had to sell herself for survival