rezumate literatura titul
TRANSCRIPT
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a. Literatura britanică
Austen, Jane: Pride and Prejudice or Emma
Bronte, Emily: Wuthering Heights
Carroll, Lewis: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Conrad, Joseph: Heart of Darkness sau Lord Jim
Defoe, Daniel: Robinson rusoe
Dickens, Charles: !reat E"#ectations sau $liver %&ist
Forster, E. .: A Passage to 'ndia sau A Room With a (ie&Fowles, John: %he )rench Lieutenant’s Woman sau %he *agus
!oldin", #illiam: Lord of the )lies
$ardy, %homas: %ess of the D’+rbervilles sau Jude the $bscure
James, $enry: %he Portrait of a Lad, sau %he Ambassadors
Joyce, James: A Portrait of the Artist as a -oung *an sau Dubliners
&hakespeare, #illiam: &onnets '())), C'''* +omeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, $amlet, A idsummer
i"ht-s Dream.
&wift, Jonathan: !ulliver’s %ravels
#oolf, (ir"inia: *rs. Dallo&a, sau %o the Lighthouse
/ 0, /s 10
1AUSTEN, JANE: PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
2ride and 2re3udice is a no4el of manners 5y Jane Austen, first pu5lished in 67. %he story follows the
main character, Eli8a5eth Bennet, as she deals with issues of manners, up5rin"in", morality, education,
and marria"e in the society of the landed "entry of the British +e"ency. Eli8a5eth is the second of fi4e
dau"hters of a country "entleman li4in" near the fictional town of eryton in $ertfordshire, near London.
CONTEXT
Austen-s Regency England was particularly stratified, and class di4isions were rooted in familyconnections and wealth. )n her work, Austen is of ten critical of the assumptions and !e"#dices of#e!$class England. &he distin"uishes 5etween internal merit 9"oodness of person and e;ternal merit9rank and possessions.
Austen was in many ways a !ealist, and the En"land she depicts is one in which social mo%ility is limitedand class$conscio#sness is st!ong&&et in En"land in the ea!ly 1'th cent#!y, %he no4el centres on Eli8a5eth Bennet, the second of the fi4edau"hters of a country "entleman. Eli8a5eth Bennet shares her father
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Pride and Prejudice depicts a society in which a woman0s !e#tation is of the #tmost imo!tance. Awoman is e;pected to 5eha4e in certain ways. &teppin" outside the social norms makes her 4ulnera5le to
ostracism.
Class%he theme of class is related to reputation, in that 5oth reflect the strictly re"imented nature of life for the
middle and #e! classes in +e"ency En"land. %he lines of class a!e st!ictly d!awn. #hile the Bennets,
who are middle class, may sociali8e with the upper>class Bin"leys and Darcys, they are clearly their socialinferiors and are treated as such. Austen satiri8es this kind of class>consciousness, particularly in the
character of r. Collins, who spends most of his time toadyin" to his upper>class patron, Lady Catherine
de Bour"h.
A ma"o! theme in much of Austen
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7AUSTEN, JANE: EMMA
EMMA, B JAE A&%E, is a no4el a5out youthful hu5ris 9e8cessi-e !ide o! self$confidence9 andthe e!ils of misconst!#ed misinte!!eted9 !omance. %he no4el was first pu5lished in Decem5er 6/.As in her other no4els, Austen e;plores the conce!ns and diffic#lties of genteel women li4in" in;eo!gian$Regency England* she also creates a li-ely comedy of manne!s amon" her characters.ne way to understand Austen-s place in literary history is to think of her as part of the ea!lie! eighteenth
cent#!y, the Age of Reason, when literature was associated with wit, oise, and !o!iety. $er no4elscertainly 5elon" to an eighteenth$cent#!y gen!e, the comedy of manne!s, which e;amines the 5eha4iorof men and women of a sin"le social class.
)t is perhaps more useful to think of her as an ea!ly feminist. %he intelli"ence and resourcefulness of herheroines stand in constant contrast to the limits of the constricted world of courtship and marria"e definin"
their sphere of action.
Emma #oodhouse is the first Austen heroine with no financial concerns, which, she declares to the na4e
iss &mith, is the reason that she has no ind#cement to ma!!y. %his is a "reat departure from Austen
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+o!e fo!mal than -isits, parties are or"ani8ed around social con-entions more than around indi4idualattachments@Emma-s hostin" a dinner party for rs. Elton, a woman she dislikes, e;emplifies this
characteristic. %here are si; important parties in the no4el. 2arties are microcosms of the social
interactions that make up the no4el as a whole.
Con-e!sational S#%te8tsuch of the dialo"ue in Emma has do#%le o! e-en t!ile meanings, with diff erent characters interpretin"
a sin"le comment in different ways. &ometimes these dou5le meanin"s are apparent to indi4idualcharacters, and sometimes they are apparent only to the alert reader.
S2+5OS
The RiddleAlso known as charades, riddles in the no4el take the form of ela5orate wordplay. %hey sym5oli8e the
per4asi4e su5te;ts that wait to 5e decoded in characters- lar"er social interactions.
The
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As a shatterin" presentation of the doomed lo4e affair 5etween the fiercely passionate Catherine and
$eathcliff, it remains one of the most hauntin" lo4e stories in all of literature.
T*E+ES%hemes are the f#ndamental and often #ni-e!sal ideas e8lo!ed in a literary work.
Althou"h #utherin" $ei"hts is now widely re"arded as a classic of En"lish literature, contemporary
re4iews for the no4el were deeply polari8ed* it was considered contro4ersial 5ecause its depiction ofmental and physical cruelty was unusually stark , and it challenged st!ict (icto!ian ideals of the day,includin" !eligio#s hyoc!isy, mo!ality, social classes and gende! ine#ality.
The .est!#cti-eness of a o-e That Ne-e! Changes
Catherine and $eathcliff-s assion fo! one anothe! seems to 5e the center of Wuthering Heights/ "i4enthat it is stron"er and more lastin" than any other emotion displayed in the no4el, and that it is the source
of most of the ma3or conflicts that structure the no4el-s plot. $eathcliff possesses a seemin"ly superhuman
a5ility to maintain the same attitude and to nurse the same "rud"es o4er many years . oreo4er, Catherine
and $eathcliff-s lo4e is 5ased on their shared perception that they are identical . Catherine declares,
famously, ) am $eathcliff,K while $eathcliff, upon Catherine-s death, wails that he cannot li4e withouthis soul,K meanin" Catherine. %heir lo4e denies difference, and is st!angely ase8#al. %he two do not)iss in dark corners or arran"e secret trysts, as adulterers do.
The 6!eca!io#sness of Social Class
Considerations of class status often crucially inform the characters- moti4ations in Wuthering Heights.
Catherine-s decision to marry Ed"ar so that she will 5e the "reatest woman of the nei"h5orhoodK is only
the most o54ious e;ample. %he Lintons are relati4ely firm in their "entry status 5ut nonetheless take "reat
pains to pro4e this status throu"h their 5eha4iors. %he Earnshaws, on the other hand, rest on much shakier
"round socially. %hey do not ha4e a carria"e, they ha4e less land, and their house, as Lockwood remarks
with "reat pu88lement, resem5les that of a homely, northern farmerK and not that of a "entleman.
+OT34Sotifs are !ec#!!ing st!#ct#!es, cont!asts, and lite!a!y de-ices that can help to de4elop and inform thete;t-s ma3or themes.
.o#%les
Bront or"ani8es her no4el 5y arran"in" its elements@characters, places, and themes@into pairs.
Catherine and $eathcliff are closely matched in many ways, and see themsel4es as identical . Catherine-s
character is di4ided into two warrin" sides: the side that wants Ed"ar and the side that wants $eathcliff .
Catherine and youn" Catherine are 5oth remarka5ly similar and strikin"ly different. %he two houses,#utherin" $ei"hts and %hrushcross !ran"e, represent opposin" worlds and 4alues. %he no4el has not one
5ut two distinctly different narrators, elly and r. Lockwood.
Reetition+epetition is another tactic Bront employs in or"ani8in" #utherin" $ei"hts. )t seems that nothin" e4er
ends in the world of this no4el. )nstead, time seems to run in cycles, and the ho!!o!s of the ast !eeatthemsel-es in the !esent& %he way that the names of the characters are recycled, so that the names of thecharacters of the youn"er "eneration seem only to 5e !esc!am%lings of the names of thei! a!ents, leadsthe reader to consider how plot elements also repeat themsel4es.
The Conflict 5etween Nat#!e and C#lt#!e)n Wuthering Heights, Bront constantly plays nature and culture a"ainst each other. ature is represented
5y the Earnshaw family, and 5y Catherine and $eathcliff in particular . %hese characters are "o4erned 5y
their passions, not 5y reflection or ideals of ci4ility. Correspondin"ly, the house where they li4e@
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#utherin" $ei"hts@comes to sym5oli8e a similar wildness. n the other hand, %hrushcross !ran"e and
the Linton family represent culture, refinement, con4ention, and culti4ation.
%hus the reader almost may interpret #utherin" $ei"hts-s impact on the Linton family as an alle"ory for
the corruption of culture 5y nature, creatin" a curious re4ersal of the more traditional story of the
corruption of nature 5y culture.
S2+5OS
&ym5ols are o53ects, characters, fi"ures, and colors used to represent a5stract ideas or concepts.
+oo!s%he constant emphasis on landscape within the te;t of #utherin" $ei"hts endows the settin" with
sym5olic importance. %his landscape is comprised primarily of moors: wide, wild e;panses, hi"h 5ut
somewhat so""y, and thus infertile. oorland cannot 5e culti4ated, and its uniformity makes na4i"ation
difficult. )t features particularly waterlo""ed patches in which people could potentially drown. 9%his
possi5ility is mentioned se4eral times in #utherin" $ei"hts. %hus, the moo!s se!-e -e!y well assym%ols of the wild th!eat osed %y nat#!e.
;hosts
!hosts appear throu"hout #utherin" $ei"hts, as they do in most othe! wo!)s of ;othic fiction, yetBront always presents them in such a way that whether they really e;ist remains am5i"uous. %hus the
world of the no4el can always 5e interpreted as a realistic one. Certain "hosts@such as Catherine-s spirit
when it appears to Lockwood in Chapter )))@may 5e e;plained as ni"htmares. %he 4illa"ers- alle"ed
si"htin"s of $eathcliff-s "host in Chapter ''')( could 5e dismissed as un4erified superstition. #hether
or not the "hosts are real,K they sym5oli8e the manifestation of the past within the present, and the way
memory stays with people, permeatin" their day>to>day li4es.
,ALICE$S AD-ENTURES IN "(NDERLAND
E
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.eath as a Constant and Unde!lying +enaceAlice continually finds herself in situations in which she risks death, and while these threats ne4er
materiali8e, they su""est that death lurks 3ust 5ehind the ridiculous e4ents of Alice’s Adventures in
Wonderland as a present and possi5le outcome.
+OT34S
.!eam Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland takes place in Alice-s dream, so that the characters and phenomena ofthe real world mi; with elements of Alice-s unconscious state. %he dream motif e;plains the a5undance of
nonsensical and disparate e4ents in the story.
S#%-e!sionAlice =uickly disco4ers durin" her tra4els that the only relia5le aspect of #onderland that she can count
on is that it will frustrate su5mina her e;pectations and challen"e her understandin" of the natural order
of the world. E4en Alice-s physical dimensions 5ecome warped as she "rows and shrinks erratically
throu"hout the story. #onderland frustrates Alice-s desires to fit her e;periences in a lo"ical framework
where she can make sense of the relationship 5etween cause and effect.
ang#ageCarroll plays with lin"uistic con4entions in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland , makin" use of puns and
playin" on multiple meanin"s of words throu"hout the te;t. Carroll in4ents words and e;pressions and
de4elops new meanin"s for words.
Curious, Nonsense, and Con!using Alice uses these words throu"hout her 3ourney to descri5e phenomena she has trou5le e;plainin". %hou"h
the words are "enerally interchan"ea5le, she usually assi"ns curious and confusing to e;periences or
encounters that she tolerates.
S2+5OS
The ;a!den early e4ery o53ect in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland functions as a sym5ol, 5ut nothin" clearly
represents one particular thin". ften the sym5ols work to"ether to con4ey a particular meanin". %he
"arden may sym5oli8e the !arden of Eden, an idyllic space of 5eauty and innocence that Alice is not
permitted to access.
The Cate!illa!0s +#sh!oomLike the "arden, the Caterpillar-s mushroom also has multiple sym5olic meanin"s. &ome readers and
critics 4iew the Caterpillar as a se;ual threat, its phallic shape a sym5ol of se;ual 4irility. %he Caterpillar-smushroom connects to this sym5olic meanin". Alice must master the properties of the mushroom to "ain
control o4er her fluctuatin" si8e, which represents the 5odily frustrations that accompany pu5erty. thers
4iew the mushroom as a psychedelic hallucino"en that compounds Alice-s surreal and distorted perception
of #onderland.
>CONRA., JOSE6*: *EART ( DAR/NESS
CONTEXTJoseph Conrad did not 5e"in to learn En"lish until he was twenty>one years old. $e was 5orn in6/M, in
the 2olish kraine. #hen Conrad was =uite youn", his father was e;iled to &i5eria on suspicion of plottin" a"ainst the +ussian "o4ernment. After the death of the 5oy-s mother, Conrad-s father sent him to
his mother-s 5rother in IrakNw to 5e educated, and Conrad ne4er a"ain saw his father. $e tra4eled to
arseilles when he was se4enteen and spent the ne;t twenty years as a sailor . $e si"ned on to an En"lish
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ship in 6M6, and ei"ht years later he 5ecame a British su53ect . $e took command of a steamship in the
Bel"ian Con"o in 60O, and his e;periences in the Con"o came to pro4ide the outline for Heart of
Darkness. Conrad-s time in Africa wreaked ha4oc on his health, howe4er, and he returned to En"land to
reco4er.
Conrad-s works, Heart of Darkness in particular, pro4ide a 5rid"e %etween (icto!ian -al#es and theideals of mode!nism. Like their (ictorian predecessors, these no4els rely on t!aditional ideas ofhe!oism, which are ne4ertheless under constant attack in a chan"in" world and in places far from
En"land. Concepts of homeK and ci4ili8ationK e;ist merely as hypocritical ideals, meaningless to menfo! whom s#!-i-al is in constant do#%t. #hile the threats that Conrad-s characters face are concreteones@illness, 4iolence, conspiracy@they ne4ertheless ac=uire a philosophical character. i)e m#ch ofthe %est mode!nist lite!at#!e produced in the ea!ly decades of the twentieth cent#!y, Heart of
Darkness is as much a%o#t alienation, conf#sion, and !ofo#nd do#%t as it is a5out ime!ialism&3me!ialism is ne-e!theless at the cente! of *eart o! Dar0ness. By the 60Os, most of the world-s dark
placesK had 5een placed at least nominally under European control, and the ma3or European powers were
stretched then, tryin" to administer and protect massi4e, far>flun" empires. Cracks were 5e"innin" to
appear in the system: riots, wars. %hin"s were clearly fallin" apart. Heart of Darkness/ thus, at its most
a5stract le4el, is a na!!ati-e a%o#t the diffic#lty of #nde!standing the wo!ld %eyond the self, a5out thea5ility of one man to 3ud"e another.
Heart of Darkness was one of the fi!st lite!a!y te8ts to !o-ide a c!itical -iew of E#!oean ime!ialacti-ities. Conrad-s decision to set the 5ook in a Bel"ian colony and to ha4e arlow work for a Bel"iantradin" concern made it e4en easier for British readers to a4oid seein" themsel4es reflected in Heart of
Darkness. Althou"h these early reactions seem ludicrous to a modern reader, they reinforce the no4ella-s
central themes of hyoc!isy and a%s#!dity.
T*E+ES
The *yoc!isy of 3me!ialismAs arlow tra4els from the uter &tation to the Central &tation and finally up the ri4er to the )nner
&tation, he encounters scenes of torture, cruelty, and near>sla4ery. %he hypocrisy is inherent in the
!heto!ic #sed to "#stify imperialism. %he men who work for the Company descri5e what they do astrade,K and their treatment of nati4e Africans is part of a 5ene4olent pro3ect of ci4ili8ation.K
+adness as a Res#lt of 3me!ialismadness is closely linked to imperialism in this 5ook. Iurt8, arlow is told from the 5e"innin", is mad.
adness, in Heart of Darkness/ is the result of 5ein" remo4ed from one-s social conte;t and allowed to 5e
the sole ar5iter of one-s own actions. adness is thus linked not only to a5solute power and a kind of
moral "enius 5ut to man-s fundamental falli5ility: Iurt8 has no authority to whom he answers 5ut himself,
and this is more than any one man can 5ear.
The A%s#!dity of E-il%his no4ella is, a5o4e all, an e8lo!ation of hyoc!isy, am%ig#ity, and mo!al conf#sion. At one station,for instance, he sees a man tryin" to carry water in a 5ucket with a lar"e hole in it. At the uter &tation, he
watches nati4e la5orers 5last away at a hillside with no particular "oal in mind.
+OT34Sotifs are recurrin" structures, contrasts, or literary de4ices that can help to de4elop the te;t-s ma3or
themes.
O%se!-ation and Ea-esd!oingarlow "ains a "reat deal of information 5y watchin" the world around him and 5y o4erhearin" others-
con4ersations, as when he listens from the deck of the wrecked steamer to the mana"er of the Central&tation and his uncle discussin" Iurt8 and the +ussian trader. %his phenomenon speaks to the
impossi5ility of direct communication 5etween indi4iduals: information must come as the result of chance
o5ser4ation and astute interpretation.
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3nte!io!s and E8te!io!sComparisons 5etween interiors and e;teriors per4ade Heart of Darkness. As the narrator states at the
5e"innin" of the te;t, arlow is more interested in surfaces, in the surroundin" aura of a thin" rather than
in any hidden nu""et of meanin" deep within the thin" itself. %hus, arlow is confronted with a series of
e;teriors and surfaces@the ri4er-s 5anks, the forest walls around the station, Iurt8-s 5road forehead@that
he must interpret.
.a!)nessDarkness is important enou"h conceptually to 5e part of the 5ook-s title. $owe4er, it is difficult to discern
e;actly what it mi"ht mean, "i4en that a%sol#tely e-e!ything in the %oo) is cloa)ed in da!)ness. Africa,En"land, and Brussels are all descri5ed as "loomy and somehow dark , e4en if the sun is shinin" 5ri"htly.
Darkness thus seems to oe!ate metaho!ically and e8istentially rather than specifically. .a!)ness isthe ina%ility to see: this may sound simple, 5ut as a description of the human condition it has profoundimplications. Failin" to see another human 5ein" means failin" to understand that indi4idual and failin" to
esta5lish any sort of sympathetic communion with him or her.
S2+5OS
&ym5ols are o%"ects, cha!acte!s, fig#!es, o! colo!s used to represent a5stract ideas or concepts.
4ogFo" is a sort of corollary to darkness. Fo" not only o5scures 5ut distorts.
The ?
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#omen represent domesticity>>home>>and as such represent the repository of 5asic cultural 4alues. %here
aren
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T*E+ES
The Am%i-alence of +aste!y)n short, while Crusoe seems praiseworthy in maste!ing his fate, the praiseworthiness of his maste!yo-e! his fellow h#mans is mo!e do#%tf#l& Defoe e;plores the link 5etween the two in his depiction of thecolonial mind.
The Necessity of ReentanceFor Crusoe, repentance consists of acknowled"in" his wretchedness and his a5solute dependence on theLord. %his admission marks a turnin" point in Crusoe-s spiritual consciousness, and is almost a 5orn>a"ain
e;perience for him. After repentance, he complains much less a5out his sad fate and 4iews the island more
positi4ely.
The 3mo!tance of Self$Awa!enessnlike animals, he !emains conscio#s of himself at all times. #e see that in his normal day>to>dayacti4ities, Crusoe keeps accounts of himself enthusiastically and in 4arious ways. Crusoe o5sessi4ely
)ees a "o#!nal to !eco!d his daily acti-ities.
+OT34S
Co#nting and +eas#!ingCrusoe is a careful note>taker whene4er num5ers and =uantities are in4ol4ed.
Eatingne of Crusoe-s first concerns after his shipwreck is his food supply. $e soon pro4ides himself with food,
and indeed each new edi%le item ma!)s a new stage in his mastery of the island, so that his food supply 5ecomes a sym5ol of his sur4i4al. $is disco4ery of "rain is 4iewed as a miracle, like manna from hea4en.
But no sooner does Crusoe master the art of eatin" than he 5e"ins to fea! %eing eaten himself . Eatin" isan ima"e of e;istence itself, 3ust as 5ein" eaten si"nifies death for Crusoe.
O!deals at SeaCrusoe-s encounters with water in the no4el are often associated not simply with hardship, 5ut with a kind
of sym5olic ordeal, or test of cha!acte!.
S2+5OS
The 4oot!intCrusoe-s shockin" disco4ery of a sin"le footprint on the sand in Chapter '())) is one of the most famous
moments in the no4el, and it sym5oli8es our hero-s conflicted feelin"s a5out human companionship.
)mmediately he interprets the footprint ne"ati4ely, as the print of the de4il or of an a""ressor.The C!ossCrusoe marks the passin" of days with hisG knife upon a lar"e post, in capital letters, and ma)ing it intoa g!eat c!oss . %he lar"e si8e and capital letters show us how important this cross is to Crusoe as atimekeepin" de4ice and thus also as a way of relatin" himself to the lar"er social world where dates and
calendars still matter. But the c!oss is also a sym%ol of his own new e8istence on the island.
C!#soe0s 5owe!n a scoutin" tour around the island, Crusoe disco4ers a deli"htful 4alley in which he decides to 5uild a
country retreat or 5ower K in Chapter ')). %his 5ower contrasts sharply with Crusoe-s first residence,
since it is 5uilt not for the practical purpose of shelter or stora"e, 5ut simly fo! leas#!e: 5ecause ) was
so enamoured of the place.K
.3CFENS, C*ARES: +REAT E1PECTATI(NS
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CONTEXTCharles Dickens was 5orn on Fe5ruary M, 61. Dickens-s father, John, was a kind and lika5le man, 5ut he
was incometent with money and piled up t!emendo#s de%ts throu"hout his life.any of the e4ents from Dickens-s early life are mirrored in !reat E"#ectations / which, apart from David
o##erfield/ is his most a#to%iog!ahical no-el. 2ip, the no4el-s prota"onist, li4es in the marsh country,wo!)s at a "o% he hates, considers himself too "ood for his surroundin"s, and e;periences materialsuccess in London at a 4ery early a"e, e;actly as Dickens himself did.
!reat E"#ectations is set in ea!ly (icto!ian England, a time when g!eat social changes were sweepin"the nation. %he )ndustrial +e4olution of the late ei"hteenth and early nineteenth centuries had transformedthe social landscape, ena5lin" capitalists and manufacturers to amass hu"e fortunes. Althou"h social class
was no lon"er entirely dependent on the circumstances of one-s 5irth, the di-isions %etween !ich andoo! !emained nea!ly as wide as e-e!& ore and more people mo4ed from the country to the city insearch of "reater economic opportunity. %hrou"hout En"land, the manne!s of the #e! class we!e -e!yst!ict and conse!-ati-e& %hese conditions defined Dickens-s time, and they make themsel4es felt inalmost e4ery facet of !reat E"#ectations.
)n form, !reat E"#ectations fits a pattern popular in nineteenth>century European fiction: the
%ild#ngs!oman, or no4el depictin" "rowth and personal de4elopment, "enerally a transition from 5oyhood to manhood such as that e;perienced 5y 2ip.
T*E+ES
Am%ition and Self$3m!o-ement%he mo!al theme of !reat E"#ectations is =uite simple: affection, loyalty, and conscience are moreimportant than social ad4ancement, wealth, and class. 2ip learns this lesson, lar"ely 5y e;plorin" ideas of
am5ition and self>impro4ement@ ideas that =uickly 5ecome 5oth the thematic center of the no4el and the
psycholo"ical mechanism that encoura"es much of 2ip-s de4elopment. #hen he sees &atis $ouse, he
lon"s to 5e a wealthy "entleman* when he thinks of his moral shortcomin"s, he lon"s to 5e "ood* when he
reali8es that he cannot read, he lon"s to learn how. 2ip-s desi!e fo! self$im!o-ement is the main so#!ceof the no-el0s title: 5ecause he 5elie4es in the possi5ility of ad4ancement in life, he has "reate;pectationsK a5out his future.
Am5ition and self>impro4ement take th!ee fo!ms in !reat E"#ectations @ moral, social, and educational*these moti4ate 2ip-s 5est and his worst 5eha4ior throu"hout the no4el.
Social Class%hrou"hout !reat E"#ectations/ Dickens e8lo!es the class system of (icto!ian England, ran"in" fromthe most wretched criminals 9a"witch to the poor peasants of the marsh country 9Joe and Biddy to the
middle class 92um5lechook to the 4ery rich 9iss $a4isham. %he theme of social class is central to the
no4el-s plot and to the ultimate moral theme of the 5ook@2ip-s reali8ation that wealth and class are less
important than affection, loyalty, and inner worth.
2erhaps the most important thin" to remem5er a5out the no4el-s treatment of social class is that the classsystem it portrays is 5ased on the post>)ndustrial +e4olution model of (ictorian En"land. Dickens
"enerally i"nores the no5ility and the hereditary aristocracy in fa4or of characters whose fortunes ha4e
5een earned throu"h commerce.
C!ime, ;#ilt, and 3nnocence%he theme of crime, "uilt, and innocence is e;plored throu"hout the no4el lar"ely throu"h the characters
of the con-icts and the c!iminal lawye! Ja""ers. From the handcuffs Joe mends at the smithy to the"allows at the prison in London, the ima"ery of crime and criminal 3ustice per4ades the 5ook .
+OT34S
.o#%lesFrom the earliest scenes of the no4el to the last, nearly e4ery element of !reat E"#ectations is mirrored or
dou5led at some other point in the 5ook. %here are two con-icts on the marsh 9a"witch and
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Compeyson, two in-alids 9rs. Joe and iss $a4isham, two yo#ng women who inte!est 6i 5iddyand Estella9, and so on& %here are two sec!et %enefacto!s: a"witch, who "i4es 2ip his fortune, and 2ip
Coma!ison of Cha!acte!s to 3nanimate O%"ects%hrou"hout !reat E"#ectations/ the narrator uses ima"es of inanimate o53ects to descri5e the physical
appearance of characters @particularly minor characters.
S2+5OS
Satis *o#se)n &atis $ouse, Dickens creates a magnificent ;othic setting whose 4arious elements sym5oli8e 6i0s!omantic e!cetion of the #e! class and many other themes of the 5ook.n her decayin" 5ody, iss $a4isham-s wedding d!ess 5ecomes an ironic sym5ol of death andde"eneration. %he weddin" dress and the weddin" feast sym5oli8e iss $a4isham-s past, and the stoedcloc)s throu"hout the house sym5oli8e her determined attempt to free8e time 5y refusin" to chan"eanythin" from the way it was when she was 3ilted on her weddin" day. The %!ewe!y ne;t to the housesym5oli8es the connection 5etween commerce and wealth: iss $a4isham-s fortune is not the product of
an aristocratic 5irth 5ut of a recent success in industrial capitalism. Finally, the c!#m%ling, dilaidated
stones of the ho#se, as well as the da!)ness and d#st that per4ade it, sym5oli8e the "eneral decadence of the li4es of its inha5itants and of the upper class as a whole .
The +ists on the +a!shes%he misty ma!shes near 2ip-s childhood home in Ient, one of the most e4ocati4e of the 5ook-s settin"s,are used se4eral times to sym5oli8e dan"er and uncertainty.
5entley .!#mmleAlthou"h he is a minor character in the no4el, Bentley Drummle pro4ides an important contrast with 2ip
and represents the a!%it!a!y nat#!e of class distinctions. Drummle is a lout who has inherited immensewealth, while 2ip-s friend and 5rother>in>law Joe is a "ood man who works hard for the little he earns.
'.3CFENS, C*ARES: (LI-ER T"IST
CONTEXT%he horrific conditions in the factory haunted him for the rest of his life, as did the e;perience of
temporary orphanhood.
The 6oo! aws: (li2er T'ist 0s Social Commenta!y$liver %&ist opens with a 5itter in4ecti4e directed at the nineteenth>century En"lish 2oor Laws. %hese
laws were a distorted manifestation of the (ictorian middle class-s emphasis on the 4irtues of hard work.
En"land in the 67Os was rapidly under"oin" a transformation from an a"ricultural, rural economy to anur5an, industrial nation. %he "rowin" middle class had achie4ed an economic influence e=ual to, if not
"reater than, that of the British aristocracy.
(ictorian society interpreted economic success as a si"n that !od fa4ored the honest, moral 4irtue of the
successful indi4idual-s efforts, and, thus, interpreted the condition of po4erty as a si"n of the weakness of
the poor indi4idual.
%he sentiment 5ehind the 2oor Law of 67H reflected these 5eliefs. %he law allowed the oo! to !ecei-e#%lic assistance only if they li-ed and wo!)ed in esta%lished wo!)ho#ses. Be""ars riskedimprisonment. .e%to!s we!e sent to !ison, often with thei! enti!e families, which 4irtually ensuredthat they could not repay their de5ts. Families were split apart upon enterin" the workhouse.
%he 2oor Laws punished the most defenseless and helpless mem5ers of the lower class .
Dickens meant to demonstrate this incon"ruity throu"h the fi"ure of Oli-e! Twist, an o!han %o!n and!aised in a wo!)ho#se fo! the fi!st ten yea!s of his life. $is story demonstrates the hypocrisy of the petty middle>class 5ureaucrats, who treat a small child cruelly while 4oicin" their 5elief in the Christian
4irtue of "i4in" charity to the less fortunate.
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Dickens was a lifelong chamion of the oo!. )n England in the 1=Gs, the poor truly had no 4oice, political or economic. )n $liver %&ist/ Dickens presents the e4eryday e;istence of the lowest mem%e!s ofEnglish society.
T*E+ES
The 4ail#!e of Cha!ity
uch of the first part of $liver %&ist challen"es the or"ani8ations of charity run 5y the church and the"o4ernment in Dickens-s time. %he workhouses operated on the principle that po4erty was the
conse=uence of la8iness.
The 4olly of 3ndi-id#alism#ith the !ise of caitalism durin" the )ndustrial +e4olution, indi4idualism was 4ery much in 4o"ue as a
philosophy. (ictorian capitalists 5elie4ed that society would run most smoothly if indi4iduals looked out
for their own interests.
6#!ity in a Co!!#t CityE4en &ikes has a conscience, which manifests itself in the apparition of ancy-s eyes that haunts him after
he murders her.
The Co#nt!yside 3deali/edAll the in3ustices and pri4ations suffered 5y the poor in $liver %&ist occur in cities @either the "reat city
of London or the pro4incial city where li4er is 5orn. #hen the aylies take li4er to the countryside, he
disco4ers a new e;istence. Country scenes ha4e the potential to purify our thou"htsK and erase some of
the 4ices that de4elop in the city.
+OT34S
.isg#ised o! +ista)en 3dentities%he plot of $liver %&ist re4ol4es around the 4arious false identities that other characters impose upon
li4er, often for the sake of ad4ancin" their own interests.
*idden 4amily Relationshisli4er is at first 5elie4ed to 5e an orphan without parents or relati4es, a position that would, in that time
and place, almost certainly seal his doom. et, 5y the end of the no4el, it is re4ealed that he has more
relati4es than 3ust a5out anyone else in the no4el.
S#!!ogate 4amiliesBefore li4er finds his real family, a num5er of indi4iduals ser4e him as su5stitue parents, mostly with
4ery limited success.
Oli-e!0s 4acer. &ower5erry, Charley Bates, and %o5y Crackit all comment on its particular appeal, and its
resem5lance to the portrait of A"nes Flemin" pro4ides the first clue to li4er-s identity.
S2+5OS
Cha!acte!s0 Names%he names of characters represent personal =ualities. li4er %wist himself is the most o54ious e;ample.
%he name %wist,K thou"h "i4en 5y accident, alludes to the outra"eous re4ersals of fortune that he will
e;perience. +ose aylie-s name echoes her association with flowers and sprin"time, youth and 5eauty.%o5y Crackit-s name is a li"hthearted reference to his chosen profession of 5reakin" into houses. r.
Bum5le-s name connotes his 5um5lin" arro"ance* rs. ann-s, her lack of maternal instinct* and r.
!rimwi"-s, his superficial "rimness that can 5e remo4ed as easily as a wi".
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5#ll0s$eyeBill &ikes-s do", Bull-s>eye, has faults of temper in common with his owner K and is a sym5olic em%lemof his owne!0s cha!acte!. %he do"-s 4iciousness reflects and represents &ikes-s own animal>like 5rutality.
ondon 5!idge ancy-s decision to meet Brownlow and +ose on London Brid"e re4eals the sym5olic aspect of this
5rid"e in $liver %&ist. Brid"es e;ist to link two places that would otherwise 5e separated 5y anuncrossa5le chasm. %he meetin" on London Brid"e represents the collision of two worlds unlikely e4er to
come into contact.
1G4ORSTER, E& +&: A PASSA+E T( INDIA
CONTEXTEdward or"an Forster was 5orn into a comforta5le London family in 6M0. $is father, an architect, died
when Forster was 4ery youn", lea4in" the 5oy to 5e raised 5y his mother and "reat>aunt. Forster pro4ed to
5e a 5ri"ht student, and he went on to attend Cam5rid"e ni4ersity, "raduatin" in 0O. $e spent much of
the ne;t decade tra4elin" and li4in" a5road, di4idin" his time 5etween workin" as a 3ournalist and writin"short stories and no4els.
any of Forster-s o5ser4ations and e;periences from this time fi"ure in his fiction, most nota5ly A Room
&ith a (ie& 90O6, which chronicles the e;periences of a "roup of En"lish people 4acationin" in )taly.
%wo years after A Room &ith a (ie&/ the no4el Ho&ards End 90O, in which Forster critici8ed the class
di4isions and pre3udices of Edwardian En"land, solidified his reputation as a social critic and a master of
incisi4ely o5ser4ational fiction.
Lon" 5efore Forster first 4isited )ndia, he had already "ained a 4i4id picture of its people and places from
a youn" )ndian uslim named &yed +oss asood, whom Forster 5e"an tutorin" in En"land startin" in
0OQ. Forster and asood 5ecame 4ery close, and asood introduced Forster to se4eral of his )ndian
friends. Echoes of the friendship 5etween the two can 5e seen in the characters of Fieldin" and A8i8 in A
Passage to 'ndia. By the time Forster first 4isited )ndia, in 01, the En"lishman was well prepared for his
tra4els throu"hout the country.
At the time of Forster-s 4isit, the British "o4ernment had 5een officially rulin" )ndia since 6/6, after the
failed &epoy +e5ellion in 6/M, in which )ndians attempted to re"ain rule from the British East )ndia
Company. %he East )ndia Company, a pri4ately owned tradin" concern, had 5een "ainin" financial and
political power in )ndia since the se4enteenth century. By the time of Forster-s 4isit, Britain-s control o4er
)ndia was complete: En"lish "o4ernors headed each pro4ince and were responsi5le to 2arliament. %hou"h
En"land had promised the )ndian people a role in "o4ernment in e;chan"e for their aid durin" #orld #ar
), )ndia did not win independence until three decades later, in 0H0.
Forster spent time with 5oth En"lishmen and )ndians durin" his 4isit, and he =uickly found he preferred
the company of the latter. $e was trou5led 5y the racial oppression and deep cultural misunderstandin"sthat di4ided the )ndian people and the British colonists, or, as they are called in A Passage to 'ndia/ An"lo>
)ndians. %he pre4ailin" attitude amon" the British in )ndia was that the colonists were assumin" the white
man-s 5urdenK@no4elist +udyard Iiplin"-s phrase@of "o4ernin" the country, 5ecause the )ndians could
not handle the responsi5ility themsel4es. Forster, a homose;ual li4in" in a society and era lar"ely
unsympathetic to his lifestyle, had lon" e;perienced pre3udice and misunderstandin" firsthand. )t is no
surprise, then, that Forster felt sympathetic toward the )ndian side of the colonial ar"ument. )ndeed,
Forster 5ecame a lifelon" ad4ocate for tolerance and understandin" amon" people of different social
classes, races, and 5ack"rounds.
Forster 5e"an writin" A Passage to 'ndia in 07, 3ust after his first 4isit to )ndia. %he no4el was not
re4ised and completed, howe4er, until well after his second stay in )ndia, in 01, when he ser4ed as
secretary to the ahara3ah of Dewas &tate &enior. 2u5lished in 01H, A Passage to 'ndia e;amines theracial misunderstandin"s and cultural hypocrisies that characteri8ed the comple; interactions 5etween
)ndians and the En"lish toward the end of the British occupation of )ndia.
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Forster-s style is marked 5y his sympathy for his characters, his a5ility to see more than one side of an
ar"ument or story, and his fondness for simple, sym5olic tales that neatly encapsulate lar"e>scale pro5lems
and conditions. %hese tendencies are all e4ident in A Passage to 'ndia, which was immediately acclaimed
as Forster-s masterpiece upon its pu5lication. )t is a traditional social and political no4el, unconcerned
with the technical inno4ation of some of Forster-s modernist contemporaries such as !ertrude &tein or
%.&. Eliot. A Passage to 'ndia is concerned, howe4er, with representin" the chaos of modern human
e;perience throu"h patterns of ima"ery and form. )n this re"ard, Forster-s no4el is similar to modernist
works of the same time period, such as James Joyce-s +l,sses 9011 and (ir"inia #oolf-s *rs. Dallo&a,901/.
A Passage to 'ndia was the last in a strin" of Forster-s no4els in which his craft impro4ed markedly with
each new work. After the no4el-s pu5lication, howe4er, Forster ne4er a"ain attained the le4el of craft or
the depth of o5ser4ation that characteri8ed his early work. )n his later life, he contented himself primarily
with writin" critical essays and lectures, most nota5ly As#ects of the 0ovel 901M. )n 0HQ, Forster
accepted a fellowship at Cam5rid"e, where he remained until his death in 0MO.
T*E+ES
The .iffic#lty of English$3ndian 4!iendshi
A Passage to 'ndia 5e"ins and ends 5y posin" the =uestion of whether it is possi5le for an En"lishman andan )ndian to e4er 5e friends, at least within the conte;t of British colonialism. Forster uses this =uestion as
a framework to e;plore the "eneral issue of Britain-s political control of )ndia on a more personal le4el,
throu"h the friendship 5etween A8i8 and Fieldin". At the 5e"innin" of the no4el, A8i8 is scornful of the
En"lish, wishin" only to consider them comically or i"nore them completely. et the intuiti4e connection
A8i8 feels with rs. oore in the mos=ue opens him to the possi5ility of friendship with Fieldin".
%hrou"h the first half of the no4el, Fieldin" and A8i8 represent a positi4e model of li5eral humanism:
Forster su""ests that British rule in )ndia could 5e successful and respectful if only En"lish and )ndians
treated each other as Fieldin" and A8i8 treat each other@as worthy indi4iduals who connect throu"h
frankness, intelli"ence, and "ood will.
et in the aftermath of the no4el-s clima;@Adela-s accusation that A8i8 attempted to assault her and her
su5se=uent disa4owal of this accusation at the trial@A8i8 and Fieldin"-s friendship falls apart. %he strains
on their relationship are e;ternal in nature, as A8i8 and Fieldin" 5oth suffer from the tendencies of their
cultures. A8i8 tends to let his ima"ination run away with him and to let suspicion harden into a "rud"e.
Fieldin" suffers from an En"lish literalism and rationalism that 5lind him to A8i8-s true feelin"s and make
Fieldin" too stilted to reach out to A8i8 throu"h con4ersations or letters. Furthermore, their respecti4e
)ndian and En"lish communities pull them apart throu"h their mutual stereotypin". As we see at the end of
the no4el, e4en the landscape of )ndia seems to oppress their friendship. Forster-s final 4ision of the
possi5ility of En"lish>)ndian friendship is a pessimistic one, yet it is =ualified 5y the possi5ility of
friendship on En"lish soil, or after the li5eration of )ndia. As the landscape itself seems to imply at the end
of the no4el, such a friendship may 5e possi5le e4entually, 5ut not yet.K
The Unity of All i-ing Things%hou"h the main characters of A Passage to 'ndia are "enerally Christian or uslim, $induism also plays
a lar"e thematic role in the no4el. %he aspect of $induism with which Forster is particularly concerned is
the reli"ion-s ideal of all li4in" thin"s, from the lowliest to the hi"hest, united in lo4e as one. %his 4ision
of the uni4erse appears to offer redemption to )ndia throu"h mysticism, as indi4idual differences disappear
into a peaceful collecti4ity that does not reco"ni8e hierarchies. )ndi4idual 5lame and intri"ue is for"one in
fa4or of attention to hi"her, spiritual matters. 2rofessor !od5ole, the most 4isi5le $indu in the no4el, is
Forster-s mouthpiece for this idea of the unity of all li4in" thin"s. !od5ole alone remains aloof from the
drama of the plot, refrainin" from takin" sides 5y reco"ni8in" that all are implicated in the e4il of
ara5ar. rs. oore, also, shows openness to this aspect of $induism. %hou"h she is a Christian, her
e;perience of )ndia has made her dissatisfied with what she percei4es as the smallness of Christianity.rs. oore appears to feel a "reat sense of connection with all li4in" creatures, as e4idenced 5y her
respect for the wasp in her 5edroom.
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et, throu"h rs. oore, Forster also shows that the 4ision of the oneness of all li4in" thin"s can 5e
terrifyin". As we see in rs. oore-s e;perience with the echo that ne"ates e4erythin" into 5oumK in
ara5ar, such oneness pro4ides unity 5ut also makes all elements of the uni4erse one and the same@a
reali8ation that, it is implied, ultimately kills rs. oore. !od5ole is not trou5led 5y the idea that
ne"ation is an ine4ita5le result when all thin"s come to"ether as one. rs. oore, howe4er, loses interest
in the world of relationships after en4isionin" this lack of distinctions as a horror. oreo4er, thou"h
Forster "enerally endorses the $indu idea of the oneness of all li4in" thin"s, he also su""ests that there
may 5e inherent pro5lems with it. E4en !od5ole, for e;ample, seems to reco"ni8e that somethin"@if onlya stone@must 5e left out of the 4ision of oneness if the 4ision is to cohere. %his pro5lem of e;clusion is,
in a sense, merely another manifestation of the indi4idual difference and hierarchy that $induism
promises to o4ercome.
The ?+#ddle@ of 3ndiaForster takes "reat care to strike a distinction 5etween the ideas of muddleK and mysteryK in A Passage
to 'ndia. uddleK has connotations of dan"erous and disorientin" disorder, whereas mysteryK su""ests a
mystical, orderly plan 5y a spiritual force that is "reater than man. Fieldin", who acts as Forster-s primary
mouthpiece in the no4el, admits that )ndia is a muddle,K while fi"ures such as rs. oore and !od5ole
4iew )ndia as a mystery. %he muddle that is )ndia in the no4el appears to work from the "round up: the
4ery landscape and architecture of the countryside is formless, and the natural life of plants and animalsdefies identification. %his muddled =uality to the en4ironment is mirrored in the makeup of )ndia-s nati4e
population, which is mi;ed into a muddle of different reli"ious, ethnic, lin"uistic, and re"ional "roups.
%he muddle of )ndia disorients Adela the most* indeed, the e4ents at the ara5ar Ca4es that trou5le her so
much can 5e seen as a manifestation of this muddle. By the end of the no4el, we are still not sure what
actually has happened in the ca4es. Forster su""ests that Adela-s feelin"s a5out +onny 5ecome
e;ternali8ed and muddled in the ca4es, and that she suddenly e;periences these feelin"s as somethin"
outside of her. %he muddle of )ndia also affects A8i8 and Fieldin"-s friendship, as their "ood intentions are
derailed 5y the chaos of cross>cultural si"nals.
%hou"h Forster is sympathetic to )ndia and )ndians in the no4el, his o4erwhelmin" depiction of )ndia as a
muddle matches the manner in which many #estern writers of his day treated the East in their works. As
the noted critic Edward &aid has pointed out, these authors- orientali8in"K of the East made #estern lo"ic
and capa5ility appear self>e4ident, and, 5y e;tension, portrayed the #est-s domination of the East as
reasona5le or e4en necessary.
The Negligence of 5!itish Colonial ;o-e!nment%hou"h A Passage to 'ndia is in many ways a hi"hly sym5olic, or e4en mystical, te;t, it also aims to 5e a
realistic documentation of the attitudes of British colonial officials in )ndia. Forster spends lar"e sections
of the no4el characteri8in" different typical attitudes the En"lish hold toward the )ndians whom they
control. Forster-s satire is most harsh toward En"lishwomen, whom the author depicts as o4erwhelmin"ly
racist, self>ri"hteous, and 4iciously condescendin" to the nati4e population. &ome of the En"lishmen in
the no4el are as nasty as the women, 5ut Forster more often identifies En"lishmen as men who, thou"hcondescendin" and una5le to relate to )ndians on an indi4idual le4el, are lar"ely well>meanin" and
in4ested in their 3o5s. For all Forster-s criticism of the British manner of "o4ernin" )ndia, howe4er, he
does not appear to =uestion the ri"ht of the British Empire to rule )ndia. $e su""ests that the British would
5e well ser4ed 5y 5ecomin" kinder and more sympathetic to the )ndians with whom they li4e, 5ut he does
not su""est that the British should a5andon )ndia outri"ht. E4en this lesser criti=ue is ne4er o4ertly stated
in the no4el, 5ut implied throu"h 5itin" satire.
+OT34Sotifs are recurrin" structures, contrasts, or literary de4ices
The Echo%he echo 5e"ins at the ara5ar Ca4es: first rs. oore and then Adela hear the echo and are haunted 5yit in the weeks to come. %he echo-s sound is 5oumK@a sound it returns re"ardless of what noise or
utterance is ori"inally made. %his ne"ation of difference em5odies the fri"htenin" flip side of the
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seemin"ly positi4e $indu 4ision of the oneness and unity of all li4in" thin"s. )f all people and thin"s
5ecome the same thin", then no distinction can 5e made 5etween "ood and e4il. o 4alue system can
e;ist. %he echo pla"ues rs. oore until her death, causin" her to a5andon her 5eliefs and cease to care
a5out human relationships. Adela, howe4er, ultimately escapes the echo 5y usin" its messa"e of
impersonality to help her reali8e A8i8-s innocence.
Easte!n and e4ident correctness of #estern reason@anorder that, he laments, his )ndian friends would not reco"ni8e or appreciate.
;od%ole0s SongAt the end of Fieldin"-s tea party, !od5ole sin"s for the En"lish 4isitors a $indu son", in which a
milkmaid pleads for !od to come to her or to her people. %he son"-s refrain of ComeR comeK recurs
throu"hout A Passage to 'ndia, mirrorin" the appeal for the entire country of sal4ation from somethin"
"reater than itself. After the son", !od5ole admits that !od ne4er comes to the milkmaid. %he son"
"reatly disheartens rs. oore, settin" the sta"e for her later spiritual apathy, her simultaneous awareness
of a spiritual presence and lack of confidence in spiritualism as a redeemin" force. !od5ole seemin"ly
intends his son" as a messa"e or lesson that reco"nition of the potential e;istence of a !od fi"ure can
5rin" the world to"ether and erode differences@after all, !od5ole himself sin"s the part of a youn"
milkmaid. Forster uses the refrain of !od5ole-s son", ComeR come,K to su""est that )ndia-s redemption is
yet to come.
S2+5OS&ym5ols are o53ects, characters, fi"ures, or colors used to represent a5stract ideas or concepts.
The +a!a%a! Ca-es%he ara5ar Ca4es represent all that is alien a5out nature. %he ca4es are older than anythin" else on the
earth and em5ody nothin"ness and emptiness@a literal 4oid in the earth. %hey defy 5oth En"lish and
)ndians to act as "uides to them, and their stran"e 5eauty and menace unsettles 4isitors. %he ca4es- alien=uality also has the power to make 4isitors such as rs. oore and Adela confront parts of themsel4es or
the uni4erse that they ha4e not pre4iously reco"ni8ed. %he all>reducin" echo of the ca4es causes rs.
oore to see the darker side of her spirituality@a wanin" commitment to the world of relationships and a
"rowin" am5i4alence a5out !od. Adela confronts the shame and em5arrassment of her reali8ation that she
and +onny are not actually attracted to each other, and that she mi"ht 5e attracted to no one. )n this sense,
the ca4es 5oth destroy meanin", in reducin" all utterances to the same sound, and e;pose or narrate the
unspeaka5le, the aspects of the uni4erse that the ca4es- 4isitors ha4e not yet considered.
The ;!een 5i!dJust after Adela and +onny a"ree for the first time, in Chapter ()), to 5reak off their en"a"ement, they
notice a "reen 5ird sittin" in the tree a5o4e them. either of them can positi4ely identify the 5ird. ForAdela, the 5ird sym5oli8es the unidentifia5le =uality of all of )ndia: 3ust when she thinks she can
understand any aspect of )ndia, that aspect chan"es or disappears. )n this sense, the "reen 5ird sym5oli8es
the muddle of )ndia. )n another capacity, the 5ird points to a different tension 5etween the En"lish and
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)ndians. %he En"lish are o5sessed with knowled"e, literalness, and namin", and they use these tools as a
means of "ainin" and maintainin" power. %he )ndians, in contrast, are more attenti4e to nuance,
undertone, and the emotions 5ehind words. #hile the En"lish insist on la5elin" thin"s, the )ndians
reco"ni8e that la5els can 5lind one to important details and differences. %he unidentifia5le "reen 5ird
su""ests the incompati5ility of the En"lish o5session with classification and order with the shiftin" =uality
of )ndia itself@the land is, in fact, a hundred )ndiasK that defy la5elin" and understandin".
The
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re"arded as fi;ed are actually ar5itrary. $er e;perience with the Emersons shows her that there can 5e
5eauty in the thin"s that are considered improper, and Charlottethinkin", modern, truth>lo4in" people, are her deli4erers from the "rips of society. )t is
this freedom that allows her to see 5eyond the dictates of propriety that for5id her marria"e to the lower>
class !eor"e and, therefore, to follow her heart.
!eor"e is trou5led 5y e;istential worries in )taly. $e doesn
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5e an e;pression of true human feelin". Cecil, howe4er, sees art only in the sense that it is useful to his
pretentious discussions. $e may refer to famous artists or writers, 5ut his purpose is only to impress
others, not to connect with the artwork on his own le4el, or connect to others 5y discussin" it. iss La4ish
is a writer, 5ut her 5ooks are not only poorly written, 5ut are e;ecuted as the e;pense of real life. &he does
not r eally 4alue the people she writes a5out.
1I;O.3N;, launcher and participated in the in4asion of ormandy.
!oldin"-s e;perience in #orld #ar )) had a profound effect on his 4iew of humanity and the e4ils of
which it was capa5le. After the war, !oldin" resumed teachin" and started to write no4els. $is first and
"reatest success came with Lord of the )lies 90/H, which ultimately 5ecame a 5estseller in 5oth Britainand the nited &tates after more than twenty pu5lishers re3ected it. %he no4el-s sales ena5led !oldin" to
retire from teachin" and de4ote himself fully to writin". !oldin" wrote se4eral more no4els, nota5ly
Pincher *artin 90/Q, and a play, %he 2rass 2utterfl, 90/6. Althou"h he ne4er matched the popular
and critical success he en3oyed with Lord of the )lies/ he remained a respected and distin"uished author
for the rest of his life and was awarded the o5el 2ri8e for Literature in 067. !oldin" died in 007, one
of the most acclaimed writers of the second half of the twentieth century.
Lord of the )lies tells the story of a "roup of En"lish school5oys marooned on a tropical island after their
plane is shot down durin" a war. %hou"h the no4el is fictional, its e;ploration of the idea of human e4il is
at least partly 5ased on !oldin"-s e;perience with the real>life 4iolence and 5rutality of #orld #ar )). Free
from the rules and structures of ci4ili8ation and society, the 5oys on the island in Lord of the )lies descend
into sa4a"ery. As the 5oys splinter into factions, some 5eha4e peacefully and work to"ether to maintain
order and achie4e common "oals, while others re5el and seek only anarchy and 4iolence. )n his portrayal
of the small world of the island, !oldin" paints a 5roader portrait of the fundamental human stru""le
5etween the ci4ili8in" instinct@the impulse to o5ey rules, 5eha4e morally, and act lawfully@and the
sa4a"e instinct@the impulse to seek 5rute power o4er others, act selfishly, scorn moral rules, and indul"e
in 4iolence.
!oldin" employs a relati4ely strai"htforward writin" style in Lord of the )lies/ one that a4oids hi"hly
poetic lan"ua"e, len"thy description, and philosophical interludes. uch of the no4el is alle"orical,
meanin" that the characters and o53ects in the no4el are infused with sym5olic si"nificance that con4eys
the no4el-s central themes and ideas. )n portrayin" the 4arious ways in which the 5oys on the island adapt
to their new surroundin"s and react to their new freedom, !oldin" e;plores the 5road spectrum of ways inwhich humans respond to stress, chan"e, and tension.
+eaders and critics ha4e interpreted Lord of the )lies in widely 4aryin" ways o4er the years since its
pu5lication. Durin" the 0/Os and 0QOs, many readin"s of the no4el claimed that Lord of the )lies
dramati8es the history of ci4ili8ation. &ome 5elie4ed that the no4el e;plores fundamental reli"ious issues,
such as ori"inal sin and the nature of "ood and e4il. thers approached Lord of the )lies throu"h the
theories of the psychoanalyst &i"mund Freud, who tau"ht that the human mind was the site of a constant
5attle amon" different impulses@the id 9instinctual needs and desires, the e"o 9the conscious, rational
mind, and the supere"o 9the sense of conscience and morality. &till others maintained that !oldin" wrote
the no4el as a criticism of the political and social institutions of the #est. ltimately, there is some
4alidity to each of these different readin"s and interpretations of Lord of the )lies. Althou"h !oldin"-s
story is confined to the microcosm of a "roup of 5oys, it resounds with implications far 5eyond the 5oundsof the small island and e;plores pro5lems and =uestions uni4ersal to the human e;perience.
T*E+ES
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Ci-ili/ation -s& Sa-age!y%he central concern of Lord of the )lies is the conflict 5etween two competin" impulses that e;ist within
all human 5ein"s: the instinct to li4e 5y rules, act peacefully, follow moral commands, and 4alue the "ood
of the "roup a"ainst the instinct to "ratify one-s immediate desires, act 4iolently to o5tain supremacy o4er
others, and enforce one-s will. %his conflict mi"ht 5e e;pressed in a num5er of ways: ci4ili8ation 4s.
sa4a"ery, order 4s. chaos, reason 4s. impulse, law 4s. anarchy, or the 5roader headin" of "ood 4s. e4il.
%hrou"hout the no4el, !oldin" associates the instinct of ci4ili8ation with "ood and the instinct of sa4a"erywith e4il.
%he conflict 5etween the two instincts is the dri4in" force of the no4el, e;plored throu"h the dissolution of
the youn" En"lish 5oys- ci4ili8ed, moral, disciplined 5eha4ior as they accustom themsel4es to a wild,
5rutal, 5ar5aric life in the 3un"le. Lord of the )lies is an alle"orical no4el, which means that !oldin"
con4eys many of his main ideas and themes throu"h sym5olic characters and o53ects. $e represents the
conflict 5etween ci4ili8ation and sa4a"ery in the conflict 5etween the no4el-s two main characters: +alph,
the prota"onist, who represents order and leadership* and Jack, the anta"onist, who represents sa4a"ery
and the desire for power.
As the no4el pro"resses, !oldin" shows how different people feel the influences of the instincts of
ci4ili8ation and sa4a"ery to different de"rees. 2i""y, for instance, has no sa4a"e feelin"s, while +o"er
seems 5arely capa5le of comprehendin" the rules of ci4ili8ation. !enerally, howe4er, !oldin" implies thatthe instinct of sa4a"ery is far more primal and fundamental to the human psyche than the instinct of
ci4ili8ation. !oldin" sees moral 5eha4ior, in many cases, as somethin" that ci4ili8ation forces upon the
indi4idual rather than a natural e;pression of human indi4iduality. #hen left to their own de4ices,
!oldin" implies, people naturally re4ert to cruelty, sa4a"ery, and 5ar5arism. %his idea of innate human
e4il is central to Lord of the )lies/ and finds e;pression in se4eral important sym5ols, most nota5ly the
5east and the sow-s head on the stake. Amon" all the characters, only &imon seems to possess anythin"
like a natural, innate "oodness.
oss of 3nnocenceAs the 5oys on the island pro"ress from well>5eha4ed, orderly children lon"in" for rescue to cruel,
5loodthirsty hunters who ha4e no desire to return to ci4ili8ation, they naturally lose the sense of innocence
that they possessed at the 5e"innin" of the no4el. %he painted sa4a"es in Chapter 1 who ha4e hunted,
tortured, and killed animals and human 5ein"s are a far cry from the "uileless children swimmin" in the
la"oon in Chapter 7. But !oldin" does not portray this loss of innocence as somethin" that is done to the
children* rather, it results naturally from their increasin" openness to the innate e4il and sa4a"ery that has
always e;isted within them. !oldin" implies that ci4ili8ation can miti"ate 5ut ne4er wipe out the innate
e4il that e;ists within all human 5ein"s. %he forest "lade in which &imon sits in Chapter 7 sym5oli8es this
loss of innocence. At first, it is a place of natural 5eauty and peace, 5ut when &imon returns later in the
no4el, he disco4ers the 5loody sow-s head impaled upon a stake in the middle of the clearin". %he 5loody
offerin" to the 5east has disrupted the paradise that e;isted 5efore@a powerful sym5ol of innate human
e4il disruptin" childhood innocence.
+OT34S
5i%lical 6a!allelsany critics ha4e characteri8ed Lord of the )lies as a retellin" of episodes from the Bi5le. #hile that
description may 5e an o4ersimplification, the no4el does echo certain Christian ima"es and themes.
!oldin" does not make any e;plicit or direct connections to Christian sym5olism in Lord of the )lies*
instead, these 5i5lical parallels function as a kind of su5tle motif in the no4el, addin" thematic resonance
to the main ideas of the story. %he island itself, particularly &imon-s "lade in the forest, recalls the !arden
of Eden in its status as an ori"inally pristine place that is corrupted 5y the introduction of e4il. &imilarly,
we may see the Lord of the Flies as a representation of the de4il, for it works to promote e4il amon"humankind. Furthermore, many critics ha4e drawn stron" parallels 5etween &imon and Jesus. Amon" the
5oys, &imon is the one who arri4es at the moral truth of the no4el, and the other 5oys kill him sacrificially
as a conse=uence of ha4in" disco4ered this truth. &imon-s con4ersation with the Lord of the Flies also
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parallels the confrontation 5etween Jesus and the de4il durin" Jesus- forty days in the wilderness, as told
in the Christian !ospels.
$owe4er, it is important to remem5er that the parallels 5etween &imon and Christ are not complete, and
that there are limits to readin" Lord of the )lies purely as a Christian alle"ory. &a4e for &imon-s two
uncanny predictions of the future, he lacks the supernatural connection to !od that Jesus has in Christian
tradition. Althou"h &imon is wise in many ways, his death does not 5rin" sal4ation to the island* rather,
his death plun"es the island deeper into sa4a"ery and moral "uilt. oreo4er, &imon dies 5efore he is a5le
to tell the 5oys the truth he has disco4ered. Jesus, in contrast, was killed while spreadin" his moral philosophy. )n this way, &imon@and Lord of the )lies as a whole@echoes Christian ideas and themes
without de4elopin" e;plicit, precise parallels with them. %he no4el-s 5i5lical parallels enhance its moral
themes 5ut are not necessarily the primary key to interpretin" the story.
S2+5OS
The Conch Shell+alph and 2i""y disco4er the conch shell on the 5each at the start of the no4el and use it to summon the
5oys to"ether after the crash separates them. sed in this capacity, the conch shell 5ecomes a powerful
sym5ol of ci4ili8ation and order in the no4el. %he shell effecti4ely "o4erns the 5oys- meetin"s, for the 5oy
who holds the shell holds the ri"ht to speak. )n this re"ard, the shell is more than a sym5ol@it is an actual4essel of political le"itimacy and democratic power. As the island ci4ili8ation erodes and the 5oys descend
into sa4a"ery, the conch shell loses its power and influence amon" them. +alph clutches the shell
desperately when he talks a5out his role in murderin" &imon. Later, the other 5oys i"nore +alph and throw
stones at him when he attempts to 5low the conch in Jack-s camp. %he 5oulder that +o"er rolls onto 2i""y
also crushes the conch shell, si"nifyin" the demise of the ci4ili8ed instinct amon" almost all the 5oys on
the island.
6iggy0s ;lasses2i""y is the most intelli"ent, rational 5oy in the "roup, and his "lasses represent the power of science and
intellectual endea4or in society. %his sym5olic si"nificance is clear from the start of the no4el, when the
5oys use the lenses from 2i""y-s "lasses to focus the sunli"ht and start a fire. #hen Jack-s hunters raid
+alph-s camp and steal the "lasses, the sa4a"es effecti4ely take the power to make fire, lea4in" +alph-s
"roup helpless.
The Signal 4i!e%he si"nal fire 5urns on the mountain, and later on the 5each, to attract the notice of passin" ships that
mi"ht 5e a5le to rescue the 5oys. As a result, the si"nal fire 5ecomes a 5arometer of the 5oys- connection
to ci4ili8ation. )n the early parts of the no4el, the fact that the 5oys maintain the fire is a si"n that they
want to 5e rescued and return to society. #hen the fire 5urns low or "oes out, we reali8e that the 5oys
ha4e lost si"ht of their desire to 5e rescued and ha4e accepted their sa4a"e li4es on the island. %he si"nal
fire thus functions as a kind of measurement of the stren"th of the ci4ili8ed instinct remainin" on theisland. )ronically, at the end of the no4el, a fire finally summons a ship to the island, 5ut not the si"nal fire.
)nstead, it is the fire of sa4a"ery@the forest fire Jack-s "an" starts as part of his =uest to hunt and kill
+alph.
The 5east%he ima"inary 5east that fri"htens all the 5oys stands for the primal instinct of sa4a"ery that e;ists within
all human 5ein"s. %he 5oys are afraid of the 5east, 5ut only &imon reaches the reali8ation that they fear
the 5east 5ecause it e;ists within each of them. As the 5oys "row more sa4a"e, their 5elief in the 5east
"rows stron"er. By the end of the no4el, the 5oys are lea4in" it sacrifices and treatin" it as a totemic "od.
%he 5oys- 5eha4ior is what 5rin"s the 5east into e;istence, so the more sa4a"ely the 5oys act, the more
real the 5east seems to 5ecome.
The o!d of the 4lies
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%he Lord of the Flies is the 5loody, se4ered sow-s head that Jack impales on a stake in the forest "lade as
an offerin" to the 5east. %his complicated sym5ol 5ecomes the most important ima"e in the no4el when
&imon confronts the sow-s head in the "lade and it seems to speak to him, tellin" him that e4il lies within
e4ery human heart and promisin" to ha4e some funK with him. 9%his funK foreshadows &imon-s death in
the followin" chapter. )n this way, the Lord of the Flies 5ecomes 5oth a physical manifestation of the
5east, a sym5ol of the power of e4il, and a kind of &atan fi"ure who e4okes the 5east within each human
5ein". Lookin" at the no4el in the conte;t of 5i5lical parallels, the Lord of the Flies recalls the de4il, 3ust
as &imon recalls Jesus. )n fact, the name Lord of the FliesK is a literal translation of the name of the 5i5lical name Beel8e5u5, a powerful demon in hell sometimes thou"ht to 5e the de4il himself.
Ralh, 6iggy, Jac), Simon, and Roge! Lord of the )lies is an alle"orical no4el, and many of its characters si"nify important ideas or themes.
+alph represents order, leadership, and ci4ili8ation. 2i""y represents the scientific and intellectual aspects
of ci4ili8ation. Jack represents un5ridled sa4a"ery and the desire for power. &imon represents natural
human "oodness. +o"er represents 5rutality and 5loodlust at their most e;treme. %o the e;tent that the
5oys- society resem5les a political state, the littluns mi"ht 5e seen as the common people, while the older
5oys represent the rulin" classes and political leaders. %he relationships that de4elop 5etween the older
5oys and the youn"er ones emphasi8e the older 5oys- connection to either the ci4ili8ed or the sa4a"e
instinct: ci4ili8ed 5oys like +alph and &imon use their power to protect the youn"er 5oys and ad4ance the"ood of the "roup* sa4a"e 5oys like Jack and +o"er use their power to "ratify their own desires, treatin"
the littler 5oys as o53ects for their own amusement.
1>*AR.2, T*O+AS: TESS ( T*E D$UR&ER-ILLES
CONTEXT%homas $ardy was 5orn on June 1, 6HO, in $i"her Bockhampton in Dorset, a rural re"ion of
southwestern En"land that was to 5ecome the focus of his fiction. %he child of a 5uilder, $ardy was
apprenticed at the a"e of si;teen to John $icks, an architect who li4ed in the city of Dorchester. %he
location would later ser4e as the model for $ardy-s fictional Caster5rid"e. Althou"h he "a4e serious
thou"ht to attendin" uni4ersity and enterin" the church, a stru""le he would dramati8e in his no4el Jude
the $bscure/ declinin" reli"ious faith and lack of money led $ardy to pursue a career in writin" instead.
$e spent nearly a do8en years toilin" in o5scurity and producin" unsuccessful no4els and poetry. )ar from
the *adding ro&d/ pu5lished in 6MH, was the author-s first critical and financial success. Finally a5le to
support himself as a writer, $ardy married Emma La4inia !ifford later that year.
Althou"h he 5uilt a reputation as a successful no4elist, $ardy considered himself first and foremost a poet.
%o him, no4els were primarily a means of earnin" a li4in". Like many of his contemporaries, he first
pu5lished his no4els in periodic installments in ma"a8ines or serial 3ournals, and his work reflects the
con4entions of seriali8ation. %o ensure that readers would 5uy a seriali8ed no4el, writers often structured
each installment to 5e somethin" of a cliffhan"er, which e;plained the con4oluted, often incredi5le plotsof many such (ictorian no4els. But $ardy cannot solely 5e la5eled a (ictorian no4elist. or can he 5e
cate"ori8ed simply as a odernist, in the tradition of writers like (ir"inia #oolf or D. $. Lawrence, who
were determined to e;plode the con4entions of nineteenth>century literature and 5uild a new kind of no4el
in its place. )n many respects, $ardy was trapped in the middle "round 5etween the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries, 5etween (ictorian sensi5ilities and more modern ones, and 5etween tradition and
inno4ation.
&oon after %ess of the d’+rbervilles 960 was pu5lished, its sales assured $ardy-s financial future. But
the no4el also aroused a su5stantial amount of contro4ersy. )n %ess of the d’+rbervilles and other no4els,
$ardy demonstrates his deep sense of moral sympathy for En"land-s lower classes, particularly for rural
women. $e 5ecame famous for his compassionate, often contro4ersial portrayal of youn" women
4ictimi8ed 5y the self>ri"hteous ri"idity of En"lish social morality. 2erhaps his most famous depiction ofsuch a youn" woman is in %ess of the d’+rbervilles. %his no4el and the one that followed it, Jude the
$bscure 960/, en"endered widespread pu5lic scandal with their comparati4ely frank look at the se;ual
hypocrisy of En"lish society.
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$ardy li4ed and wrote in a time of difficult social chan"e, when En"land was makin" its slow and painful
transition from an old>fashioned, a"ricultural nation to a modern, industrial one. Businessmen and
entrepreneurs, or new money,K 3oined the ranks of the social elite, as some families of the ancient
aristocracy, or old money,K faded into o5scurity. %ess-s family in %ess of the d’+rbervilles illustrates this
chan"e, as %ess-s parents, the Dur5eyfields, lose themsel4es in the fantasy of 5elon"in" to an ancient and
aristocratic family, the d-r5er4illes. $ardy-s no4el stron"ly su""ests that such a family history is not only
meanin"less 5ut also utterly undesira5le. $ardy-s 4iews on the su53ect were appallin" to conser4ati4e and
status>conscious British readers, and %ess of the d’+rbervilles was met in En"land with widespreadcontro4ersy.
$ardy was frustrated 5y the contro4ersy caused 5y his work, and he finally a5andoned no4el>writin"
alto"ether followin" Jude the $bscure. $e spent the rest of his career writin" poetry. %hou"h today he is
remem5ered somewhat more for his no4els, he was an acclaimed poet in his time and was 5uried in the
presti"ious 2oet-s Corner of #estminster A55ey followin" his death in 016.
T*E+ES
The 3n"#stice of E8istencenfairness dominates the li4es of %ess and her family to such an e;tent that it 5e"ins to seem like a
"eneral aspect of human e;istence in %ess of the d’+rbervilles. %ess does not mean to kill 2rince, 5ut sheis punished anyway, 3ust as she is unfairly punished for her own rape 5y Alec. or is there 3ustice waitin"
in hea4en. Christianity teaches that there is compensation in the afterlife for unhappiness suffered in this
life, 5ut the only de4out Christian encountered in the no4el may 5e the re4erend, r. Clare, who seems
more or less content in his life anyway. For others in their misery, Christianity offers little solace of
hea4enly 3ustice. rs. Dur5eyfield ne4er mentions otherworldly rewards. %he con4erted Alec preaches
hea4enly 3ustice for earthly sinners, 5ut his faith seems shallow and insincere. !enerally, the moral
atmosphere of the no4el is not Christian 3ustice at all, 5ut pa"an in3ustice. %he forces that rule human life
are a5solutely unpredicta5le and not necessarily well>disposed to us. %he pre>Christian rituals practiced 5y
the farm workers at the openin" of the no4el, and %ess-s final rest at &tonehen"e at the end, remind us of a
world where the "ods are not 3ust and fair, 5ut whimsical and uncarin". #hen the narrator concludes the
no4el with the statement that UJustice- was done, and the 2resident of the )mmortals 9in the Aeschylean
phrase had ended his sport with %ess,K we are reminded that 3ustice must 5e put in ironic =uotation marks,
since it is not really 3ust at all. #hat passes for JusticeK is in fact one of the pa"an "ods en3oyin" a 5it of
sport,K or a fri4olous "ame.
Changing 3deas of Social Class in (icto!ian England%ess of the d’+rbervilles presents comple; pictures of 5oth the importance of social class in nineteenth>
century En"land and the difficulty of definin" class in any simple way. Certainly the Dur5eyfields are a
powerful em5lem of the way in which class is no lon"er e4aluated in (ictorian times as it would ha4e
5een in the iddle A"es@that is, 5y 5lood alone, with no attention paid to fortune or worldly success.
)ndu5ita5ly the Dur5eyfields ha4e purity of 5lood, yet for the parson and nearly e4eryone else in theno4el, this fact amounts to nothin" more than a piece of "enealo"ical tri4ia. )n the (ictorian conte;t, cash
matters more than linea"e, which e;plains how &imon &tokes, Alec-s father, was smoothly a5le to use his
lar"e fortune to purchase a lustrous family name and transform his clan into the &toke>d-r5er4illes. %he
d-r5er4illes pass for what the Dur5eyfields truly are@authentic no5ility@simply 5ecause definitions of
class ha4e chan"ed. %he issue of class confusion e4en affects the Clare clan, whose most promisin" son,
An"el, is intent on 5ecomin" a farmer and marryin" a milkmaid, thus 5ypassin" the traditional pri4ile"es
of a Cam5rid"e education and a parsona"e. $is willin"ness to work side 5y side with the farm la5orers
helps endear him to %ess, and their ac=uaintance would not ha4e 5een possi5le if he were a more
traditional and elitist aristocrat. %hus, the three main characters in the An"el>%ess>Alec trian"le are all
stron"ly marked 5y confusion re"ardin" their respecti4e social classes, an issue that is one of the main
concerns of the no4el.
+en .ominating
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ne of the recurrent themes of the no4el is the way in which men can dominate women, e;ertin" a power
o4er them linked primarily to their maleness. &ometimes this command is purposeful, in the man-s full
knowled"e of his e;ploitation, as when Alec acknowled"es how 5ad he is for seducin" %ess for his own
momentary pleasure. Alec-s act of a5use, the most life>alterin" e4ent that %ess e;periences in the no4el, is
clearly the most serious instance of male domination o4er a female. But there are other, less 5latant
e;amples of women-s passi4ity toward dominant men. #hen, after An"el re4eals that he prefers %ess,
%ess-s friend +etty attempts suicide and her friend arian 5ecomes an alcoholic, which makes their earlier
school"irl>type crushes on An"el seem distur5in". %his de4otion is not merely fanciful lo4e, 5ut unhealthyo5session. %hese "irls appear utterly dominated 5y a desire for a man who, we are told e;plicitly, does not
e4en reali8e that they are interested in him. %his sort of unconscious male domination of women is
perhaps e4en more unsettlin" than Alec-s outward and self>conscious cruelty.
E4en An"el-s lo4e for %ess, as pure and "entle as it seems, dominates her in an unhealthy way. An"el
su5stitutes an ideali8ed picture of %ess-s country purity for the real>life woman that he continually refuses
to "et to know. #hen An"el calls %ess names like Dau"hter of atureK and Artemis,K we feel that he
may 5e denyin" her true self in fa4or of a mental ima"e that he prefers. %hus, her identity and e;periences
are suppressed, al5eit unknowin"ly. %his pattern of male domination is finally re4ersed with %ess-s murder
of Alec, in which, for the first time in the no4el, a woman takes acti4e steps a"ainst a man. f course, this
act only leads to e4en "reater suppression of a woman 5y men, when the crowd of male police officers
arrest %ess at &tonehen"e. e4ertheless, for 3ust a moment, the accepted pattern of su5missi4e women 5owin" to dominant men is interrupted, and %ess-s act seems heroic.
+OT34S
5i!ds)ma"es of 5irds recur throu"hout the no4el, e4okin" or contradictin" their traditional spiritual association
with a hi"her realm of transcendence. Both the Christian do4e of peace and the +omantic son"5irds of
Ieats and &helley, which sym5oli8e su5lime hei"hts, lead us to e;pect that 5irds will ha4e positi4e
meanin" in this no4el. %ess occasionally hears 5irdcalls on her fre=uent hikes across the countryside* their
free e;pressi4eness stands in stark contrast to %ess-s silent and constrained e;istence as a wron"ed and
dis"raced "irl. #hen %ess "oes to work for rs. d-r5er4ille, she is surprised to find that the old woman-s
pet finches are fre=uently released to fly free throu"hout the room. %hese 5irds offer ima"es of hope and
li5eration. et there is irony attached to 5irds as well, makin" us dou5t whether these ima"es of hope and
freedom are illusory. rs. d-r5er4ille-s 5irds lea4e little white spots on the upholstery, which presuma5ly
some ser4ant@perhaps %ess herself@will ha4e to clean. )t may 5e that freedom for one creature entails
hardship for another, 3ust as Alec-s free en3oyment of %ess-s 5ody leads her to a lifetime of sufferin". )n
the end, when %ess encounters the pheasants maimed 5y hunters and lyin" in a"ony, 5irds no lon"er seem
free, 5ut rather oppressed and su5missi4e. %hese pheasants are no +omantic son"5irds ho4erin" far a5o4e
the Earth@they are 4ictims of earthly 4iolence, condemned to suffer down 5elow and ne4er fly a"ain.
The 5oo) of ;enesis%he !enesis story of Adam and E4e in the !arden of Eden is e4oked repeatedly throu"hout %ess of thed’+rbervilles/ "i4in" the no4el a 5roader metaphysical and philosophical dimension. %he roles of E4e and
the serpent in paradise are clearly delineated: An"el is the no5le Adam newly 5orn, while %ess is the
indecisi4e and trou5led E4e. #hen %ess "a8es upon An"el in Chapter ''()), she re"arded him as E4e at
her second wakin" mi"ht ha4e re"arded Adam.K Alec, with his open a4owal that he is 5ad to the 5one, is
the conni4in" &atan. $e seduces %ess under a tree, "i4in" her se;ual knowled"e in return for her lost
innocence. %he 4ery name of the forest where this seduction occurs, the Chase, su""ests how E4e will 5e
chased from Eden for her sins. %his "uilt, which will ne4er 5e erased, is known in Christian theolo"y as
the ori"inal sin that all humans ha4e inherited. Just as John Dur5eyfield is told in Chapter ) that you don-t
li4e anywhere,K and his family is e4icted after his death at the end of the no4el, their homelessness e4okes
the human e;ile from Eden. ri"inal sin su""ests that humans ha4e fallen from their once "reat status to alower station in life, 3ust as the d-r5er4illes ha4e de4ol4ed into the modern Dur5eyfields. %his &tory of
the Fall@or of the 2ure Drop,K to recall the name of a pu5 in %ess-s home 4illa"e@is much more than a
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social fall. )t is an e;planation of how all of us humans@not only %ess@ne4er =uite seem to li4e up to our
e;pectations, and are ne4er a5le to inha5it the places of "randeur we feel we deser4e.
(a!iant Names%he transformation of the d-r5er4illes into the Dur5eyfields is one e;ample of the common phenomenon
of renamin", or 4ariant namin", in the no4el. ames matter in this no4el. %ess knows and accepts that she
is a lowly Dur5eyfield, 5ut part of her still 5elie4es, as her parents also 5elie4e, that her aristocratic
ori"inal name should 5e restored. John Dur5eyfield "oes a step further than %ess, and actually renameshimself &ir John, as his tom5stone epitaph shows. Another character who renames himself is &imon
&tokes, Alec-s father, who purchased a family tree and made himself &imon &toke>d-r5er4ille. %he
=uestion raised 5y all these cases of name chan"in", whether successful or merely ima"ined, is the e;tent
to which an altered name 5rin"s with it an altered identity. Alec acts notoriously un"entlemanly
throu"hout the no4el, 5ut 5y the end, when he appears at the d-r5er4ille family 4ault, his lordly and
commandin" 5earin" make him seem almost deser4in" of the name his father has 5ou"ht, like a spoiled
medie4al no5leman. $ardy-s interest in name chan"es makes reality itself seem chan"ea5le accordin" to
whims of human perspecti4e. %he 4illa"e of Blakemore, as we are reminded twice in Chapters ) and )), is
also known as Blackmoor, and indeed $ardy famously renames the southern En"lish countryside as
#esse;.K $e imposes a fictional map on a real place, with names altered correspondin"ly. +eality may
not 5e as solid as the names people confer upon it.
S2+5OS
6!ince#hen %ess do8es off in the wa"on and loses control, the resultin" death of the Dur5eyfield horse, 2rince,
spurs %ess to seek aid from the d-r5er4illes, settin" the e4ents of the no4el in motion. %he horse-s demise
is thus a powerful plot moti4ator, and its name a potent sym5ol of %ess-s own claims to aristocracy. Like
the horse, %ess herself 5ears a hi"h>class name, 5ut is doomed to a lowly life of physical la5or.
)nterestin"ly, 2rince-s death occurs ri"ht after %ess dreams of ancient kni"hts, ha4in" 3ust heard the news
that her family is aristocratic. oreo4er, the horse is pierced 5y the forward>3uttin" piece of metal on a
mail coach, which is reminiscent of a wound one mi"ht recei4e in a medie4al 3oust. )n an odd way, %ess-s
dream of medie4al "lory comes true, and her horse dies a heroic death. et her dream of meetin" a prince
while she kills her own 2rince, and with him her family-s only means of financial sustenance, is a tra"ic
foreshadowin" of her own story. %he death of the horse sym5oli8es the sacrifice of real>world "oods, such
as a useful animal or e4en her own honor, throu"h e;cessi4e fantasi8in" a5out a 5etter world.
The d0U!%e!-ille 4amily (a#ltA dou5le>ed"ed sym5ol of 5oth the ma3estic "randeur and the lifeless hollowness of the aristocratic family
name that the Dur5eyfields learn they possess, the d-r5er4ille family 4ault represents 5oth the "lory of
life and the end of life. &ince %ess herself mo4es from passi4ity to acti4e murder 5y the end of the no4el,
attainin" a kind of personal "randeur e4en as she 5rin"s death to others and to herself, the dou5lesym5olism of the 4ault makes it a powerful site for the culminatin" meetin" 5etween Alec and %ess. Alec
5rin"s %ess 5oth his lofty name and, indirectly, her own death later* it is natural that he meets her in the
4ault in d-r5er4ille Aisle, where she reads her own name inscri5ed in stone and feels the presence of
death. et the 4ault that sounds so "lamorous when rhapsodi8ed o4er 5y John Dur5eyfield in Chapter )
seems, 5y the end, stran"ely hollow and meanin"less. #hen Alec stomps on the floor of the 4ault, it
produces only a hollow echo, as if its 5asic emptiness is a complement to its 4isual "randeur. #hen %ess is
e;ecuted, her ancestors are said to snoo8e on in their crypts, as if uncarin" e4en a5out the fate of a
mem5er of their own ma3estic family. 2erhaps the secret of the family crypt is that its "randiosity is
ultimately meanin"less.
5!a/il+ather surprisin" for a no4el that seems set so solidly in rural En"land, the narration shifts 4ery 5riefly toBra8il when An"el takes lea4e of %ess and heads off to esta5lish a career in farmin". E4en more e;otic for
a (ictorian En"lish reader than America or Australia, Bra8il is the country in which +o5inson Crusoe
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made his fortune and it seems to promise a 5etter life far from the humdrum familiar world. Bra8il is thus
more than a "eo"raphical entity on the map in this no4el: it sym5oli8es a fantasyland, a place where
dreams come true. As An"el-s name su""ests, he is a lofty 4isionary who lacks some e;perience with the
real world, despite all his mechanical know>how in farm mana"ement. $e may 5e a5le to milk cows, 5ut
he does not yet know how to tell the difference 5etween an e;otic dream and an e4eryday reality, so
ine4ita5ly his e;perience in the ima"ined dream world of Bra8il is a disaster that he 5arely sur4i4es. $is
fiasco teaches him that ideals do not e;ist in life, and this lesson helps him ree4aluate his disappointment
with %ess-s imperfections, her failure to incarnate the ideal he e;pected her to 5e. For An"el, Bra8ilsym5oli8es the impossi5ility of ideals, 5ut also for"i4eness and acceptance of life in spite of those
disappointed ideals.
1*AR.2, T*O+AS: JUDE T*E (&SCURE
CONTEXT#hen %homas $ardyfated 4enture in his family, and he
5elie4es that his lo4e for &ue curses him dou5ly, 5ecause they are 5oth mem5ers of a cursed clan. #hile
lo4e could 5e identified as a central theme in the no4el, it is the institution of marria"e that is the workerected oppression and cannot 5reak free. )na society unwillin" to accept their re3ection of con4ention, they are ostraci8ed. Jude
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$enry James was 5orn in ew ork City in 6H7 and was raised in anhattan. James
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father often left her to herself* this "a4e her a sense of intellectual independence, 5ut it also made her lon"
for a more secure en4ironment. Additionally, )sa5el
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)n the same way that James unites his psycholo"ical and thematic su53ects