A* Literature Essay Plan - Hidden Truths in 'Paradise Lost' and 'A Doll's House, Exams of Literature

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A* Literature Essay Plan - Hidden Truths in 'Paradise Lost' and 'A Doll's House

People are inclined towards vain and selfish behaviours. Discuss

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P: The statement is supported through Maude Clare’s selfish decision to crash the wedding and defame the bridegroom, and Laura’s arguably selfish decision to eat the fruit from the goblins, as well as by Torvald’s limiting expectations of Nora and Krogstad’s blackmail of her. Rossetti - Maude Clare, Goblin Market Maude Clare - It is selfish of her to decide to crash the wedding and defame the bridegroom Goblin Market - Laura gives in to selfish temptation and decides to eat the fruit, this is symbolic of how people become affected by consumerism and the fall of Eve/original sin (how human selfishness is the root of all evil) A Doll’s House - Torvald expects Nora to do everything for him. Is Nora’s decision at the end selfish? It could be argued to make her a bad wife and mother. Krogstad’s blackmail is selfish since it jeopardises Nora’s marriage and life Dr Rank is selfish by deciding to confess his love for Nora

Anne-Marie’s sacrifice of her child - this is

selfish as she puts herself and her job over

the welfare of her child, she puts her

reputation first, which is arguably selfish, as

her child will not be raised by their biological

mother and therefore not have a god

upbringing, their reputation may also be

affected and they may be seen as an orphan

or pauper.

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P: The statement is not supported by the consideration of the unseen listener in Remember, Song and the tragic assisted suicide of the wife in Jhansi, to escape the kidnappers, which all could be argued to exhibit selflessness. Remember: The unseen listener is spoken to with care, love and consideration, as if the speaker is putting their feelings before their own. Song - This poem focuses on potentially trying to reduce the grief of the living loved ones left behind. To an extent, A Doll’s House also contradicts the statement,through the actions of Nora, Mrs Linde and Krogstad. Nora’s arguably selfless and devoted attitude towards her family is conveyed the fact that she appears to put their needs before her own, for example she even commits forgery in order to amass the funds to provide Torvald with the treatment he needs when he’s sick. This portrays the genuine consideration she has for her family, and potentially proves that she is capable of not only selfish behaviours, therefore contradicting the statement. Additionally, the statement is also contradicted by Anne-Marie’s sacrifice of her child for their welfare, despite the pain of this decision for herself, she decides to put their welfare before her own, for the sake of their quality of life and her job. A Doll’s House - Nora’s selfless care of her family, the Nanny’s sacrifice of her child for her reputation, Mrs Linde’s offer to marry Krogstad to look after his children, Krogstad’s withdrawal of his condemning letter.

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P: Other Christina Rossetti poems that could be argued to support the statement include Soeur Louise de la Miséricorde, ‘No Thank You, John’. Poems that could be argued to disagree with the statement include ‘Echo’, and ‘A Birthday’. Soeur de la Misericorde - Vanity and desire are a central theme, and this indicates that desire is a key component of human life and innate to human nature, as the poem is all about human nature, e.g. the loss of love.

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A Quotes Maude Clare: Out of the church, she followed them, Maude Clare was like a queen, I have brought my gift my lord, from the day we waded ankle deep, for lilies in the beck, the lilies are budding now, though…dew, take my share of a fickle heart, paltry love, i wash my hands thereof’ RS - Goblin Market - ‘flung the emptied rinds away, she never tashed such before, how should it cloy with length of use, she sucked until her lips were sore, she clipped a precious golden lock, but gathered up one kernel stone, sugar-sweet their sap, pellucid grapes without one seed, peaches with a velvet nap, sugar-baited words’ A Themes Maude Clare - Love, Marriage, Vanity, Nature Goblin Market - Love, Sin, Religion, Nature, Sisterhood Quotes Remember: ‘Better by far that you should forget and smile, Do not grieve, than that you should remember and be sad’ The focus on the unseen listener’s comfort implies their selflessness, which could potentially allude to contemporary gender norms and expectations of women to put their husbads before themselves. Song - ‘sing no sad songs for me, plant thou no roses at my

head, and if thou wilt forget, and if thou wilt remember’

Jhansi - ‘No, mine own:, I wish I could bear the pang for both, I wish I could bear the pang alone, Courage, dear, good-by, A Themes Soeur - Redemption, Commentary on Desire, Religion, Loss of Love NTYJ - Rejection, Marriage, Gender Roles Echo - Love, Loss, Longing, Memory A Birthday - Celebration of Life, Love, God, Joy, Religion, Luxury, Nature The focus on the loss of love could be argued to make the character in the poem seem more three- dimensional, as the experience of love is humanised and perhaps seems realistic e.g. ‘longing and love’ describes emotions in human relationships and’ creates a sense of finality which could allude to the characters' nostalgia of the loss of their extravagant and past earthly happiness.. This juxtaposes the idea of A

A Doll’s House Quotes ‘First and foremost, you are a wide and a mother’ ‘I believe first and foremost I am a human being’ ‘A songbird must have a clean beak to sing with, otherwise she may never sing again’ ‘Do you expect me to be made a laughingstock of myself before the entire staff?’ ‘I forgive you, because it is ‘Now my little songbird is talking like a big human being’ ‘Sometimes Nora, I wish some terrible danger might threaten you, so I could offer my life for your sake’ ‘It means she has become his property in a double sense, she is not only his wife, but his child’ ‘There is something indescribably satisfying in a husband forgiving his wife’ Wretched woman!’ ‘Taking off my fancy dress’ ‘You’ve never understood me’ (Nora to Torvald, Act III) good-by, God forgive them this, Close his arm around her now, close her cheek to his’. The fact that the poem starts in media res, as well as the description of Skene’s wife as ‘pale’ and ‘young’, which fits the ideal of Victorian femininity and portrays her as vulnerable serve to emphasise Skene’s heroism and ultimately selfless nature, he is willing to relieve her of the burden of killing him to save her the pain. This is reiterated by the fact that he closes ‘his arm around her now’, which implies his protective nature over her and establishes him as a valiant character, as well as the ‘kiss and die’ which emphasises the intimacy of the relationship and the self- sacrificing nature of the couple. The ‘Good-by’ provides a sense of finality which is ominously symbolic of their fate, and may evoke shock and fear in the reader. The Ballad form and ABAB rhyme scheme create a quick pace which suits the active content and tragic narrative being told. The Iambic Rhythm emphasises key words being told, and interruption emphasises that the speaker’s the only one who can look at what’s happening. A Doll’s House - ‘You’re not going to suffer for my sake! I won’t let you!’ (Nora to Torvald, Act III) ‘But I had to when I came to nurse my little Nora’ (Anne-Marie to Nora, Act II) ‘I’ll do anything for you, I’ll sing for you, dance for you’ Nora to Torvald, Act II) ‘He…so naturally I stopped talking about them’ (Nora to Mrs Linde, Act I) ‘I believe in you Nils, your children need a mother’ (Mrs Linde to Krogstad, Act III) ‘...you’ll catch cold out if you stay out there’ (Torvald to Nora, Act III) ‘Aren’t you tired?’ (Nora to Torvald, Act III) ‘You mustn’t try to save me Torvald!’ (Nora to Torvald, Act III) ‘I’ve loved you more than anything else in the world’ (Nora to Torvald, Act III) idealised love in ‘A Birthday’, for example, - portrayed through the luxury imagery e.g. silver fleur-de-lys, and idyllic natural imagery e.g thickset with halcyon fruit. The natural imagery could be an allegory to the Garden of Eden, which emphasises the idea of paradise and hope. The rejoicing tone of the speaker may allude to a hymn-singer, which insinuates that the speaker’s ‘love’ is God, and their joy is due to finding peace/faith in God. This is conveyed through ‘doves’ which symbolise peace in the Bible, and ‘gold and silver grapes’, an indulgent image which conveys the idea that the speakers’ life has become rich after connecting with God. ‘A Birthday’ is a poem that could be argued to disagree with the statement as the speaker finds happiness in connecting with God over selfish and vain desires. ‘No Thank You, John’ - This poem could be argued to agree with the statement when seen from an antifeminst perspective. It could be interpreted as selfish of the female to reject a suitor based on their own wants over the male speaker’s, and therefore the speaker could be argued to be selfish and vain. ‘Echo’ - This poem could be argued to disagree with the statement since it centres around the theme of longing for love and sacrifice for love. This contradicts the statement since it alludes to the idea of unselfish behaviour and therefore that people are not only inclined towards vain and selfish acts.

A A The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was an Indian rebellion which continued for about a year, against the rule of the British East India Company, the Story taken from a newspaper article reporting that, Captain Skene ordered his wife and all other Christian rebels to retreat to a tower where they attempted to defend themselves. Inaccurately, the paper reported that Skene killed his wife and then himself. This was inaccurate and in reality the couple were taken hostage and executed. The fact that Rossetti chooses to use the original tabloid story implies she intended the poem to mimic a fairytale, as it follows the traditional structure and format of one, with a terrible event followed by a dramatic solution or terrible ending. This also serves to increase the drama and tension within the poem, and potentially intrigue the reader further. Key ideas: Roles of A Soeur Louise - About Louise de La Vallière, who was the Duchess of La Vallière, a position invented by Louis XIV of France. Rather than letting Louise leave, the King chose to use her to conceal his new affair. Since news of his affair with Louise was common knowledge, he allowed her to accompany him whenever he sought to spend time with his new mistress, hoping the people around him would believe he was simply returning to an old flame. This was extremely difficult on her; she began to lose her beauty and miscarried her final pregnancy before 1671, when she attempted to flee the King, but was caught and returned to him. Three years later, in 1674, she joined the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel, under the name “Sister Louise of Mercy” — the English translation A masculinity and femininity, Empire/nationhood (^) for the title of Soeur Louise De La Misericorde 1674 .Rossetti herself was well educated, and it was unclear why she had put effort into recreating this historic narrative. A04 A Rossetti is her own critic when she says that the poem is not historically accurate, however she keeps it because its written about an actual event and has some truth to it. Feminist perspective - In contrast to the traditional gender roles, Skene’s unnamed wife is the strong one in the relationship, she says ‘i wish I could bear the pang alone’ suggesting she is independent and doesn’t need to rely on her partners’ strength. Anthony Harrison - We will see more contextualisation of Rossetti’s art within a variety of interrelated discourses, including those that address issues of gender, science, economics, politics, aesthetics, religion or class structure. A Critics - A