Lord Henry serves as a mentor to Dorian in the ways of life, so far, in The Picture of Dorian Gray” that is very similar to the Greeks, with older men serving as mentors to the confused youth. When Dorian believes Sibyl is the love of his life, he attempts to reject Lord Henry, his new found love fulfilling his need to be taught about life by actually living it until her love for Dorian destroys her acting and then he rejects her as easily as he had rejected Lord Henry and Basil. I chose a passage from chapter 6 after Dorian finds out that Sibyl has killed herself and Lord Henry is consoling the young Dorian, once again attempting to allure the beautiful young man. I argue that Lord Henry advises Dorian in a similar fashion as what John Addington Symonds talks about in “A Problem in Greek Ethics”. In this he is discussing the ways of the Greek and their teachings from one man to another as “the lover taught, (and) the hearer learned”; a dynamic Lord Henry practically forces onto Dorian the moment life throws him an unexpected turn with Sibyl’s suicide. In his attempt to help Dorian, he blatantly tells him the truth of what his life would have been like had they actually ended up together, that in marrying “this girl you would have been wretched” (65). He then continues on to tell Dorian an even more intrusively honest fact that “she would have soon found out that you were absolutely indifferent to her”, addressing Dorian’s sexual disinterest he himself hasn’t discovered yet (66). In this moment you can see Lord Henry’s influence on Dorian return, the obstacle of Sibyl no longer pulling Dorian interest away from him. In the next chapter, when Basil attends to Dorian expecting to find him in grief, it becomes clear how much Lord Henry has truly impacted him with his blasé dismal of Sibyl’s death, telling Basil “what is done is done” though the incident was only the day before (74). It becomes clear the true impact Lord Henry has on Dorian in his Grecian-like mentoring, stemming from this passage in chapter 6 in which Lord Henry pushes aside Dorian’s grief and makes him react entirely different to Sibyl’s death, reclaiming his influence on Dorian he had lost partially when Sibyl had his attention.
Author: n02565783
Developing An Understanding
Flora Tristan believes that prostitution, though it can be physically deadly to women, killing them usually in three to four years (eight if they’re lucky), definitely kills their soul.
It is the oppression of women, forced to constrain to the social acceptance of what men want, that leads women into the life of prostitution. They are required to choose an oppressed life as a wife with an unbreakable marriage or be a social reject in which the only way to make money is to use the only property given in this world: their own bodies.
Tristan then discusses the economical distress many women are forced into purely because of their gender, with male heirs receiving most inheritance, while “girls have only small dowries unless they have no brothers”(2 Tristan). This is another reason she offers as to why women would be forced into the occupation. Poverty and hunger are also key players in Tristan’s understanding for why women would enter into prostitution.
After discussing her beliefs for possible cause of prostitutes, Flora continues on to describe her own experience at a tavern on Waterloo Road where many women converged with pimps and customers, her shock and disbelief at the “revolting” occurrences amongst the aristocrats that visit such places and the “diabolical debauchery” forced onto the women, such as their dresses becoming covered in random stains (4 Tristan).
Thomas Hood has a sympathetic attitude throughout his poem “The Bridge of Sighs” towards the prostitute that kills herself in the poem, throwing herself into the Thames River; a very common death amongst the prostitutes of London. Throughout the poem he speaks of the woman with tender words, “Take her up tenderly, Lift her with care”, repeated in lines 5-6 and 80-81 for emphasis. He treats the woman with the respect she was not given in her life, “loving, not loathing” (14). He wants to make us aware of her pain and suffering, to not dismiss her as she was in life, “Picture it—think of it, Dissolute Man! Lave in it, drink of it,”, Hood forces us to pay her that attention, painting for us the image of her dripping wet, with blindly staring eyes (76-78).
In the fifth stanza, we are able to surmise her life occupation, discussing her “rash and undutiful” acts that are “past all dishonour” (23-24). Instead, in her death, she is free of all of those ugly acts, leaving behind nothing but her young beauty, taken too soon. The last stanza also references “Her evil behaviour” that she leaves behind by entering the afterlife (104).
I think the poem represents the struggle of prostitution from the women’s perspective better than Flora Tristan tries to in her article because her opinion remains too strong throughout her account. Though she is trying to come to an understanding in a world she herself is not apart of, her opinion of the “horrible” situation remains, showing her true feelings though she is trying to bypass her prejudice opinions, comprehending how these women could possibly find themselves in this situation, willing to give so much of themselves for only money. Hood however treats the poor woman with a tender care, her life’s actions having no affect on his opinion. Before line 67 he discusses her standing in the March wind before the flowing river, trembling not from fear of death but merely the cold, “Mad from life’s history, Glad to death’s mystery,” (67-68). We get an insight into her mind, her desperation but at the same time her acceptance in what her life was and the happiness to be rid of it. There’s no undertone of disgust in Hood’s poem, as there is throughout Tristan piece, though she does attempt to understand the act of prostitution in a way hood bypasses, focusing entirely on the woman herself and forgoing the sinful acts in her life.
It is not the act of prostitution, however, that causes the woman to kill herself, at least not entirely. If I’m reading the poem correctly on line 52 “Love, by harsh evidence,” means she has become pregnant such as the harsh evidence pregnancy would provide, though it could also be some sort of disease I guess. You could say it was a man’s fault for her death, but I do not think the poem is intentionally blaming men, not in the way Tristan does throughout her critique.
A Governess’ Role in Society and Jane Eyre
The position of the Governess came about because of the number of single women who, without a husband, needed an effective means of procuring money for food and house, and so the job of teaching became a tempting offer, given their free time could be used to better the generation before with the knowledge they spent their single lives acquiring. Plus, an entire family could learn for the price of sending one child to school, making the choice of a governess a frugal and useful one the helped not just the family but provided a young independent woman with an honorable job using her mind (especially considering women were more revered for the capabilities doing housework rather than intellectually.) Though these women were depended upon to teach the rising generation they were not seen at all in a better light, their superior knowledge on subjects meaning absolutely nothing in the eyes of men because the governess system was women teaching women; understandable but nothing of substance when compared to a man’s possible education.
But the life of a governess is not easy, no where near. She is forced to go through the trials of education, dealing with children and their families without the love and trust that accompanies that same weight for mothers, making it a much harder one to hold. In the “Hints on the Modern Governess System,” it is written that the young women, willing to become governesses “learn enough bitter experience in a year to give them the sorrows of maturity, without its strength and safety” (572). These poor women are forced to grow into incredibly complex, understanding and intellectual women without so much as a helping hand or understanding from any outside perspective, seen as a lowly mother without love whose sole job is to teach children until they are deemed ready for the world and then move onto another house of which she is a stranger. And they are given no respect for their incredibly tiring unending job, all the while accompanied with a lonely “independent” life without anyone for a companion. They are forced to go through the struggles of raising children with no one to relinquish their troubles upon, no like-mind to converse with, rather forced to lower their own intelligence to help the children only, forced into isolation as they are deemed unfit to speak to by the aristocrats that hire them. Bronte discusses this isolation of a governess through Jane’s reflection on her own “restlessness” that comes from staying in Thornfield and not a more “practical experience than I possessed” (pg 178). Only a chapter after arriving at Thornfield Bronte already presents Jane’s discomfort at her unadventurous and unfulfilling life, a common feeling amongst governesses. Though Jane does not experience the same isolation other governesses were forced to into, such as the adults of the family refusing to converse with them forcing their only interaction to be with the children they teach. Their gender made them seen as lesser than men, however, they were also below that of a married woman within society, though they very well may have been smarter in all intellectual aspects.
Upon first meeting Adele, Jane immediately begins assessing her prior instruction and capabilities, such as assessing Adele’s singing of the opera song she knew from her mother and then her reciting “La Ligue des Rats”. On page 170, Eyre discusses Adele’s “attention to punctuation and emphasis, a flexibility of voice and an appropriateness of gesture, very unusual indeed at her age; and which proved she had been carefully trained.” This moment shows Jane’s incredible capabilities as a governess, discerning the prior education of a little girl from merely conversing with her. Even their discussion, occurring in french, shows not only Jane’s versatility but that of a governess, having such a knowledge of multiple languages at their disposal.
I feel Bronte portrays governesses in an accurate light of their capabilities both intellectually and emotionally with the people that surround them, and she shows the isolation forced upon governesses because of the difference in social standing between themselves and their employer, no matter how much they could keep up with them. However, Bronte does not agree with society’s opinions, showing the governess life for what it was from their perspective (through Jane’s education and role as Adele’s governess) rather than what was expected of them from their employer, as society tended to focus upon. The care of a governess was not nearly as important than that of the children she was hired to teach. I think Bronte provides an excellent voice for many forgotten women forced into silence because of their servitude.
Age Old Issues on Rape
I chose to learn about the Age of Consent/Children as Victims in Lee Jackson’s “Victorian Dictionary”. One letter was written in “The Times” on November 29, 1849, in which the author, “A Man” describes an appalling incident in which a little girl was pursued by a fifty year old man and the police officer, before finally pursuing the incident first claimed “he had no right to interfere”. It was shocking to me that the authorities would be so blazé, especially considering the rigid social propriety. Towards the end of the letter, the man goes on to state that the policeman “was familiar with occurrences like this”. Clearly this is a major unaddressed issue, right?
I continued onto the article concerning police duties in 1903, in which the process of rape prosecution was discussed.. There were many astounding facts within’ the reports, though I think there was definitely more that I wasn’t able to grasp because of the language and wording of the document. In the case of a rape, the attacker could only be prosecuted “within three months of the commission of the offense”. There also required additional evidence not including the original “defilement or attempted defilement of a girl under thirteen years of age” (Women and Children). Woman needed more proof than their own bodies. When you also consider the information in the Virginity section concerning the number of girls “fallen at, or under, the age of sixteen” to their own family members due to financial struggle, resorting to “juvenile prostitution” is astounding (Sherwell).
The articles opened my eyes to the overwhelming lingering lack of action our species has taken concerning such a disgusting act. Considering the amount of incest revealed in “Life in West London: A Study and a Contrast”, rape was a very prevalent situation in the young women of the Victorian era. I was also very surprised at the lack of propriety concerning this issue, especially after learning of all the social retaliation due to indecent decisions concerning virtue, like Lydia’s sham marriage with Wickham. These articles made me realize Pride and Prejudice definitely showed a nicer perspective of society from the era.
Works Cited
Childs, H. “Women and Children.” ‘Police Duty’ Catechism and Reports. Victorian London Dictionary. Web. 14 February 2016.
http://www.victorianlondon.org/publications3/catechism.htm#WOMEN
“Sex – Age of Consent / Children as victims – attitudes towards.” The Times. Victorian London Dictionary. Web. 14 February 2016.
http://www.victorianlondon.org/sex/childrenvictims.htm
Sherwell, Arthur. “Life in West London: A Study and a Contrast.” Victorian London Dictionary. Web. 14 February 2016.
http://www.victorianlondon.org/publications/westlondon-3.htm#firstsex
Tori Albrecht Blog Post One
Tori Albrecht
English major, Creative Writing Minor
I love J.R.R. Tolkien, but I’ve gotten really into Patrick Rothfuss recently. I have a lot of favorite authors but for a top list Nelle Harper Lee would definitely be on it, as would Hemingway, Eliot, Wells, Keats, Blake and strangely enough Chaucer.
“Wit is commonly looked upon with a suspicious eye, as a two edged sword, from which not even the sacredness of friendship can secure. It is especially, I think, dreaded in women.” (400)
When it comes to Darcy, brooding is definitely a word that comes to mind; however, the few moments he does speak is usually with a quick wit that leads to contempt from those in his presence and a great dislike from those beneath him (everyone in his presence essentially). Though Elizabeth is not despised within her society, there is a contempt for her person because of her intelligence. Her own mother dislikes her the most of her children because of her lack of obedience and difference of opinions about life. Caroline Bingley continually tries to make Elizabeth appear foolish in front of Darcy, only to fail multiple times. Austen goes against what Fordyce is saying through Elizabeth’s character. Even with the struggle of being put down by those of higher social standing around here, Elizabeth remains honest and witty as ever.
Elizabeth is more intriguing because she holds herself naturally better than those around her, with an intelligence not normally associated with one of her beauty, paired with her utter honesty and candid nature, such as her interaction with Darcy when they finally dance at Bingley’s ball before winter: “I talked about the dance, and you ought to make some kind of remark on the size of the room, or the number of couples.” (123). She’s very quick on her feet but even her reactions within scenes show just how different Elizabeth is from the formal women that surround her, going against the social norms being set up by Fordyce.
One of the biggest misgivings I’ve come to witness in my life when it comes to men is the assumption that any display of emotion is an effeminate reaction. I have three older brothers and grew up in a predominantly masculine environment. Even still, my mom and I had a great effect on my brother’s sentiments. The absolute worst was watching them make fun of each other for some of the stupidest, pettiest, “girlie” reasons that completely brought down the self confidence my brother had just had. James Fordyce states the true affect of a “gentle” lifestyle perfectly in his Sermon I: “I do not mean, that the men I speak of will become feminine; but their sentiments and deportment will contract a grace.” (397). There is a sort of grace when a man has a more “feminine” inclination when interacting with a woman. It’s the idea of a man being more in touch with himself and his feelings, it is seen as weak; however, there creates this under-level of confidence that, sadly, is easily washed away by ridicule. Mr. Bingley, more prominently than other characters within the novel, proves this sentiment, his care for Jane during her sickness and constant attention of her faculty when in the same room evidence enough.