Frankenstein - Impressions of Walton

Impressions of Walton - Letters 1-3

My first impression of Walton from his first letter is how affectionate he is. This is because the first thing he does when he arrived in St Petersburgh is to "assure my dear sister of my welfare" which not only displays his intimate relationship with his sister as he calls her "dear", but also that he wishes to relieve her anxiety, thus showing that he is caring. This is also backed up in his second letter when he concludes with "I love you very tenderly."
I am also under the impression that Walton is extremely enthusiastic about his adventures which is evident when he describes St Petersburgh to "brace my nerves, and fill me with delight". His enthusiasm about his adventure extends to the point where he doesn't even fear death "they are sufficient to conquer all dear of danger or death" which also shows that he enjoys a thrilling experience.
In his second letter however, he appears more down about his travels due to his expressed wishes of a friend "I bitterly feel the want of a friend" showing that he is lonely and while he is excited about his adventure "I am glowing with the enthusiasm of success" it is still important that he shares this "joy" with someone.

Frankenstein - Mary Shelly

Mary Shelly
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was the daughter of the philosopher William Godwin and the writer Mary Wollstonecraft, who wrote “Vindication of the Rights of Woman” (1792)At age 18 Shelley ran off with Percy Bysshe Shelley (kinky), a leading British Romantic poet, who she married in 1816. The couple had a son, but after her husband died in a shipwreck in 1822, Mary Shelley fell into poverty. She continued to write fiction to support herself. Frankenstein (1818) was her first and by far her most successful work of fiction.

Frankenstein
A gothic novel set in Switzerland, France, England, Scotland, and the North Pole in the 18th century.
Frankenstein is told through a few layers of first person narratives. Walton is the primary narrator, who then recounts Victor’s first-person narrative. In addition, Victor’s narrative contains the monster’s first person story as well as letters from other characters.

Refer to Hannah's Blog for more details (I'm assuming she's written a million pages as per)

Comedy in Faustus

In our last English lesson we looked at Act 1 Scene 4 of Dr Faustus. This scene is a comic scene slap-bang in the middle of the rather more serious business of Faustus selling his soul to the devil Mephistopheles. We looked at what we ourselves defined as comedy and then read the scene. In the scene, which comes directly after Faustus has first met Mephistopheles, the character Wagner is trying to convince a new character called Robin, who is a clown, to commit to his service. So the situation between Wagner and Robin is similar with that of Faustus gaining Mephistopheles' service in return for giving his soul to him. However this scene is supposed to be funny, indeed the fact that straight away Robin is called a clown shows the audience that he is meant to be seen as comical. The two have a bit of a comical debate which includes many a play on words and to be honest my sides were splitting by the end of it. OK sarcasm is sweet. =P

Anyway so we tried to think of ideas as to why this scene has been included where it has, or at all. As I have mentioned it takes place between two very serious scenes which are crucial to the play, and it doesn't fit in. Faustus has just met Mephistopheles when this scene takes place and in the scene that succeeds it he actually  confirms the deal to sell his soul to the devil.
One reason why this scene could be here is simply to relieve tension in the audience, although I believe this to be a relatively weak interpretation. However when talking about comedy we said it can often relieve tension and make us feel relaxed, so Marlowe could have put this scene in to make the audience re-engage with the performance after a scene that would have created tension over it's controversial religious context.
However I think a stronger interpretation of this scene is that it is supposed to act as a parallel to the situation Faustus is in, and therefore help to almost mock Faustus. For example, the clown Robin, a comical and seemingly uneducated character makes the sensible decision to refuse Wagner's offer and not commit to being his servant. This sets the way for a comparison with Faustus as in the next scene he makes his fateful decision. So by presenting Robin in this way Marlowe makes Faustus out to be even more of a fool, as despite all his arrogance and intelligence he isn't as sensible as a mere clown who is of no where near the same academic standing that Faustus is.

So yeah there's just a few thoughts about Act 1 Scene 4, I can't go into too much detail about why the scene is there because to be honest I'm not sure. For example the strongest I could think of was to expose how a clown is seemingly more sensible than Faustus, however this doesn't really fit with the points I thought Marlowe was trying to get across in previous scenes. Though I suppose he could be showing a different side and exploiting how those who are academic are listened to straight away when in reality they sometimes lack common sense. This could relate to how the common people of the time would accept everything the clergy etc told them as they were considered intellectuals.

That was a quickie ;)

The Chorus in Doctor Faustus

What are the audience's impressions at the end of the chorus?

The chorus in a play is used to tell the audience what to expect from the play and gives a brief summary of what will happen, for example, in Romeo and Juliet, the audience is told at the beginning of the play that the pair of "star-crossed lovers" will die. However, in Doctor Faustus the ending is not revealed, which ultimately removes the inevitability of the ending. Therefore, at the end of the chorus the audience feel confused as to what to expect which adds to the mystery of the play.

The chorus also tries to persuade the audience to reserve their judgement/impressions of Faustus and encourages them to empathise with him. However, the chorus does this telling the audience to have "patient judgments" and the fact that the chorus has to warn them to not judge Faustus straight away, it automatically does the reverse, making the audience believe that Faustus will do wrong and makes them judge him quickly anyway.

Catholics and Protestants.

Why was there tension between Catholics and Protestants in Renaissance/Elizabethan England?

There was tension between Catholics and Protestants as a result of the Reformation. The reformation begun/began (never know which one it is!) in the 1500s when Martin Luther, a German Monk, nailed his 95 Theses to the door of a church in Wittenburg (Hamlet went to uni there). So this 95 Theses significantly rejected "indulgences" - these were pieces of paper which you could buy if you had sinned which forgave your sins so you would still get to go to Heaven. Luther was all like "Mate, that's not cool" 'cause it was a violation of confession and penance.

Luther created Protestantism (notice the word "protest" in the word? That's because he was protesting! Coincidence?) which was all the Catholics who agreed with him and his 95 Theses.

In England, King Henry VIII wanted to get a divorce so he could marry Anne Boleyn but the Pope wouldn't let him, which is when England became Protestant. Henry didn't want to convert to Protestantism because he believed in Martin Luther's protest, but because he wanted to become "Supreme Head of the English Church", by doing so he was able to divorce Catherine of Aragon by his own will. Consequently this began the 150 year conflict between Catholics and Protestants.

I forgot about the 100 word limit.
I'm sad now.

Frankenstein

I started reading Frankenstein the night after our AS exam (RAGE RAGE RAGE at the memory of that exam!!) as I got it for free on my Kindle!! How great is that! Francis, if you don't have one, I'd deffs recommend a Kindle - you can get loads of classics for free and other books are much cheaper than paper and hard backs! You can also get newspapers! Jeez, you'd think I work on commission for Amazon.

ANYWAY.
When I started reading, I was so confused to what I was actually reading because I was reading letters from a sailor. I was thinking, "I did not think that Frankenstein or his monster was a sailor" so I kind of gave up reading for a while. THEN at the end of Sir Brannagh's Frankenstein when it ended with that sailor, it suddenly clicked! and I got into the book because I understood it.
What is also good about reading this book on a Kindle is when I don't understand a word (which is often) you can click that word and the kindle defines the word! It's wonderful!

The letters did confuse me a bit when the sailor spoke about the man they had taken aboard because I just couldn't work out whether it was Frankenstein or the monster. I really like the way the book begins with the letters from the sailor thought because it describes the condition of Frankenstein after he has created the monster and how it had affected him. Readers are provided with a detailed description of his appearance which we may not be provided with when the book is written through the eyes of Frankenstein.
When Frankenstein begins his story it is a bit boring learning about all his childhood and so on for a few chapters -  it is only when he goes off to Uni when the real story of the monster begins.

That'll do.

P.s:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0051QVF7A/ref=amb_link_170675047_2?ie=UTF8&nav_sdd=aps&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_r=1G4SXYDRY4RXXRV5HSSK&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=317900367&pf_rd_i=468294

The Bloody Chamber

So it's like half way through the holiday and this is my first blog, but NO FEAR! I have still been reading.
At this stage, I'm like half way through the Bloody Chamber but just to amuse you Francis I'll pretend I have just started.

So, I've just finished the first book in The Bloody Chamber which just so happens to also be called The Bloody Chamber. I think that's a little biased, don't you?
My first thought when I finished this short book was, "wow, a third of an exam just on 43 pages! Score!" Until someone burst my little bubble and told me there was still 9 other books within this book. Boo! :(
However, I did enjoy this short story, despite Francis already ruining it for us all in lesson when he summarised it to us (which I believe was for the soul purpose that he could say the C-word to us all, but hey-ho)
What I liked about this story was the mother's role in the story. The story, you would assume, is about a newly-wed couple, however, the story begins with the bride's/narrator's memory of her mother and ends with her mother saving the narrator and the mother is also featured throughout the story through phone calls and memories. The mother is portrayed to be a strong woman, notable because she raised her daughter single-handedly following the death of her husband (who was like this soldier man, so she probs learned a thing or two from him --- and she stole/kept his gun - perhaps she knew she would need it)

THE CHOKEY! Killed fresh wife. Yum

FRESH MEAT



inabit.

To what extent do you agree that the women in Cousin Kate are heroic?

In today's lesson we discussed the question "To what extent do you agree that the women in Cousin Kate are heroic?" and what our opinions on this question were.


Persona

• She faces injustice but manages to come out on top. She does this by showing society that she isn't the traditional idea of a "fallen woman" as she stays strong and resists the negative views of society.
   Facing injustice - Neighbours look down on her "Call me an outcast thing"
                                            - Lord discarded her for other woman "Chose you, and cast me by."
   Comes out on top - Has son of Lord when Kate cannot have children "I've a gift you have not got, and seem not like to get"
   Not a fallen woman - Has son which is more important which gives her power and control "Your father would give lands for one to wear his coronet."
• She experiences an emotive journey which creates sympathy for her as she is a victim. However, she still holds her head high after all the criticism from society - "Call me an outcast thing"
  She has a son who she is proud of "my pride" despite the views of society and becomes strong and powerful over the Lord and waits for her victory "would give lands for one to wear his coronet"

Kate

• Kate has moral high ground for she doesn't have sex before marriage and so society look highly and proudly of her "He bound you with his ring" "The neighbours call you good and pure"
• Gains status by marrying a Lord (social climber) shows that poorer, more innocent people are rewarded. "He saw you at your father's gate" "He lifted you from mean estate"

However

• The women in Cousin Kate exhibit women's material desires Kate falls in love with the Lord's property and ring "Your love was writ in sand" "He'd not have won me with his land"
  Persona also exibits women's material desires despite her denying that she would have been "won" by the Lord's land, at the end of the poem she is awaiting her revenge where she will claim the Lord's land due to mothering his son. "would give lands for one to wear his coronet"
• Kate breaks family bonds for a man
• Man retains control "wore my like a silken knot, he changed me like a glove" "He bound you with his ring" 
• Women are bitter - the two women are divided over a man which portrays women's bitchyness but also how men are often the cause of fall outs.
• The poem focus's on women's bad points, e.g. bitterness, naivety, giving in to temptations. However, it doesn't show any good points of women and so makes it seem as though this represents all women. 

Fallen Women

In our previous English lesson we pondered over the topic of "Fallen Women". We discussed what we thought a fallen woman could be. I personally thought a fallen woman could represent a woman who has faced a lot of difficulties in her life, perhaps vocationally or in relationships. Either way, a woman who has been crushed by a traumatic event in her life. Other ideas were of women who had slept around before marriage, or who had been enticed by men who use them and abandon them.

We looked at another of Christina Rossetti's poems, Cousin Kate. The narrator in Cousin Kate truly represents a "Fallen Woman" for she abandons her innocence and acceptance in society by falling for a Lord who eventually knocks her up then marries her cousin, to be blunt, which is pretty much our second idea of a "fallen woman." However, this woman doesn't remain bitter about the situation, as towards the end of the poem she finds something which makes up for her loss of innocence and acceptance...she has a child. Her child, a boy, is the son of the Lord who leaves her for her cousin, who we find out cannot have children of her own. The woman discovers the positive outcomes she received from being hurt and an outcast and decides to concentrate on her son, her happiness.

The Morality of Goblin Market

In Tuesday's English lesson we were put into groups to consider the different themes within Goblin Market. The theme which our group looked at was Morals of the poem.

What I found most interesting about the morality of the poem was how religious based the poem actually is, which isn't at all surprising considering Christina Rossetti's religious background. What I noticed about the poem was how it is linked into the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden from the Bible. In this verse of the Bible, Adam and Eve are forbidden to eat fruit from the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden, however one day a serpent tempts Eve and tells her that if she eats the fruit she will gain wisdom. Adam and Eve give into temptation, however when they do they become aware of their nakedness and are banished from the Garden of Eden. I notice how the Goblin Men in the poem could be seen to represent the serpent in the story, who tempt Laura and Lizzie to buy and eat their fruit. Laura gives into the Goblin Men but once she eats the fruit she becomes vulnerable, depressed and begins to age prematurely. This seems to mirror the Adam and Eve tale.

Also, when considering the morality of the poem we noticed the similarities between the poem and the story of Jesus being crucified in the Bible. In Goblin Market, Laura is suffering extremely badly after eating the "forbidden fruit" and is at the verge of dying. Her sister Lizzie cannot bear to watch her sister slowly die and so sets out to find the Goblin Men to buy their fruit for Laura to try and save her. However, when she gets to the Goblin Men they beat her constantly for not eating with them. Lizzie doesn't give into the temptation of eating the fruit and returns weak and hurt to her sister and saves her. This is similar to Jesus being crucified because in the Bible, Jesus suffered and gave his life to redeem the sins of all the humans even though he hadn't sinned himself, which I believe is shown in Goblin Market when Lizzie suffers to redeem Laura's sin of giving into temptation.

What I also found interesting about the morality of the poem was how in the last stanza the last few lines are similar to what you might hear at a wedding ceremony. What this could be taken to mean is that marriage redeems your sins and gives you a fresh start and will keep you safe.

Goblin Market - Christina Rossetti

The first time I read the eleven page long Goblin Market, my initial thoughts were that the poem was extremely long, tiring and confusing. After reading a 31 line long stanza of different fruits I already felt that the poem was definitely not my cup of tea. However, I have now read the poem several times and each time I read it I find I understand the poem and notice something new which entices me.

Having read the poem several times now, I have now identified recurring themes throughout the poem, for example, the language supports the erotic and sexual nature of the poem. The first time I read the poem I did think how erotic the poem was from lines such as "sucked their fruit globes fair or red", "Squeezed and caressed her", "Bob at our cherries, Bite at our peaches" and "Held her hands and squeezed their fruits//Against her mouth to make her eat." However, I never fully considered the meanings behind these erotic sounding lines until I read the poem again. In the fifth stanza, Laura gives into temptation, "when its last restraint has gone" and goes over to the goblin men to buy their fruit. However, when Laura cannot pay for the fruit with money, the goblin men ask merely for her hair, "You have much gold upon your head." Here, I believe that her hair represents Laura's innocence and perhaps virginity which the goblin men are now taking from her. Later on in the poem when Lizzy seeks the goblin men to release Laura from her pain, the goblin men act in a way which I believe mirrors the behaviour of men. When they first spot her they rush over and "Hugged her and kissed her: Squeezed and caressed her" until they find she does not want to sit and feast with them and they suddenly turn nasty. "Their looks were evil." At this point, the goblin men are abusing Lizzy both verbally and physically, "Held her hands and squeezed their fruits//Against her mouth to make her eat" This line is especially erotic and makes you think of sexual abuse.

Another theme in the poem which particularly stands out is religion. This is because the fruit sold by the goblin men reminds me of the "Forbidden Fruit" from the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden. In the verse in the bible, Adam was forbidden by God not to eat the fruit of this tree, however a serpent tempted Eve into eating the Forbidden Fruit telling her it would give her wisdom. Adam and Eve ate from the fruit but then became aware of their nakedness and were then punished by God.
In Goblin Market, I believe this story is shown quite vividly. I believe the goblin men represent the serpent who through their calls "Come buy, come buy" tempt Laura into eating their fruit. After she eats the fruit she becomes vulnerable and begins to age prematurely and faces depression.

• Christina Rossetti was very religious and even declined marriage proposals if the man was not also Christian. This could be the reason behind the strong representation of the poem to Forbidden Fruit verse.
• Christina Rossetti wrote mainly children's poems and she publicly stated that the poem Goblin Market was intended for children but Rossetti claimed in a letter that due to the sexual imagery it was not meant for children.
• Christina Rossetti is also famous for writing the words for the Christmas carol "In the Bleak Midwinter"
• She suffered from a nervous breakdown at the age of 14 and had to leave school. 

The Destination of a Novel

The destination of a novel is the place or event which all the little details concealed inside of a novel are leading to. Whether this be discovering a new and mysterious island or simply a dreaded visit to the dentist.

In Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, the destination of the novel is crystal clear from the very first chapter. In fact, the first sentence gives the reader a fine idea of what to expect from the novel.


"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."


The novel begins with an idea rather than a character which shows that this idea is much more important to the novel than the introduction of a character. In this first sentence the reader can pick out just three words which sum up the destination of the novel straight away; "good fortune" and "wife." Therefore, the reader has already learnt that the novel is about marrying into wealth. This sentence is also set apart from the rest of the chapter as it is a paragraph on its own. This makes the sentence stand out on paper and also in the mind of the reader, making it more memorable. So, later on in the novel when you read about the daughters meeting officers and taking a fancy to them, you are reminded of the first sentence and are hit with the realisation, if you didn't get it at first, that the destination of the novel is finding a young, single man with a large fortune and taking him for your own.

The main and only conversation within the first chapter is based upon the arrival of a "single man of large fortune" who is the new possessor of a fine estate. This again highlights the destination of the novel as the character speaking, Mrs Bennet, fixates the topic of conversation purely on her hopes of him marrying one of her daughters, "You must know that I am thinking of his marrying one of them." Therefore, the reader is introduced to the fact that the novel will concern Mrs Bennet's daughters and them searching for a rich man to marry.


During the first chapter, there is a lack of setting and description until the last paragraph. This shows that the topic of conversation must be important to the novel because all of the focus is set on what the characters are talking about, which is Mrs Bennet's wish for her husband to "visit [Mr Bingley] as soon as he comes" in the hope that "he may fall in love with one of them" (being one of Mrs Bennet's daughters).

The last paragraph in the chapter finally reveals setting and description to the readers, where we learn Mr and Mrs Bennet's characteristics. However, the final sentence to the first chapter, alike the first, is boldly written and shows importance to the novel. "The business of her life was to get her daughters married; its solace was visiting and news." This final sentence does well to highlight the destination of the novel and readers will be expecting a novel solely to do with five young women trying to find a single man of good fortune and become his wife.

"Mr Fancis entered the room. There was a piece of paper on the floor."

Why is the inclusion of the detail of the paper on the floor important?

The inclusion of the detail of the paper on the floor is important because the writer has specifically included the detail of the paper within the narrative, therefore it must have significance in the narrative.

The piece of paper could be an important object or one of value which would create a dilemma later on in the narrative. For example, the piece of paper could have been a map leading to a secret destination which has now been misplaced by a person in great need of it. The reader would remember the detail of the piece of paper because it was mentioned briefly yet boldly earlier on, even if the character himself does not remember observing it. This would then create tension as the reader would know something which the characters within the narrative.

The piece of paper could also be symbolic in the narrative. For example, the piece of paper may be screwed up and wrinkled on the floor and therefore could represent Mr Francis's crumpled life due to an event which may be revealed later in the passage such as a bad relationship which Mr Francis has been scarred by.

Furthermore, if the piece of paper was on the floor of a classroom, it could symbolise the lack of control  that Mr Francis has within the room because the room is messy and the students treat the room disrespectfully and therefore take advantage of Mr Francis. On the other hand, the detail of the piece of paper on the floor could reflect on Mr Francis's personality showing that he is a messy and disorganised person.

Finally, the inclusion of the detail of the piece of paper can distract the reader from the narrative as they may sit and wonder the significance of the paper, if any! It can leave suspense and the reader will want to read on to find out the significance of the piece of paper as it may turn out to be quite important in the narrative.