Scarica Programma quinta superiore di inglese e più Appunti in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity!
ROMANTIC AGE
The Romantic movement in Britain emerged as a reaction to major historical events like the French Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars, and the Industrial Revolution. Romanticism emphasized:
- The role of nature: Nature was seen as an ideal space for human life, in contrast to the negative effects of industrialization.
- Distrust in progress: Romantics criticized factories and technological advancements, fearing their dehumanizing impact.
- Rejection of Neoclassicism: Romantic poetry was spontaneous and rejected the strict rules of Neoclassicism.
- Inner world of the self: There was a strong focus on personal experiences, introspection, and individual emotions.
Classicists vs. Romantics
The Romantic movement opposed the principles of Neoclassicism in several ways:
- Themes: Classicists focused on universal ideas, while Romantics explored individual experiences, childhood, nature, and imagination. Romantics also engaged with social and historical issues.
- Poetic forms: Classicists used fixed structures, while Romantics favored blank verse.
- Language: Classicist poetry was highly ornate, while Romantic poetry used simpler, everyday language.
- Concept of beauty: Classicists saw beauty as harmony and balance, while Romantics associated beauty with the sublime, the exotic, and the irregular.
First and Second Generation of Romantics
English Romantic poets were divided into two groups:
First generation: Wordsworth, Coleridge. Second generation: Byron, Shelley, Keats.
John Keats: His poetry reflected personal struggles, focusing on beauty, love, death, and mortality. His Ode on a Grecian Urn (1819) praises beauty as an eternal and ethical value. Keats stood apart from his contemporaries, concentrating on deep sensations and emotions rather than politics or rebellion.
JOHN KEATS
(1795-1821) He was born in 1795 in London. He belongs to the Second Generation of Romantic poets.
He died at 25 years old because of tuberculosis.
He wrote “La Belle Dame sans Merci” (lyrical ballad) 1819, which tells the story of a man falling in love with a supernatural “femme fatale” (beautiful girl). Keats deals with themes like the power of IMAGINATION (stronger than reason), BEAUTY (physical and spiritual), the conflict between the REAL and the IDEAL, the UNIVERSAL and ETERNAL, the TRUTH, importance of LIFE. In Keats we can find the concept of “Negative Capability”: ability to put reason aside and only use the imagination to create poetry. He also composed some odes, for example “Ode on a Grecian Urn”, and are inspired by classical models.
ODE ON A GRECIAN URN (1819) Content and Themes:
The poem is an apostrophe to a Greek urn decorated with mythological and pastoral scenes:
-a boy trying to kiss a girl while some musicians play instruments,
-a priest going to the sacrifice of a boy.
But for Keats it is not important the scene, but how art can give immortality to everything. Those scenes are now immortal, they are fixed to that urn. So the theme of the ode is the research of immortality (that we can only find in art, art stops the time). Another essential thing is imagination. Imagination makes us give life to the figures of that urn, imagination has an immense power. In fact Keats says that we can reach perfection only through imagination, and I think he’s right because in real life nothing and no one is perfect but we can imagine that.
“Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss […] She cannot fade, though thou has noy thy bliss”. The young lover on the urn will never kiss his beloved, but at the same time, their love will never fade.
"Beauty is truth, truth beauty"
This is what Keats wrote in the last stanza of the poem.
This phrase is one of the most debated in English literature. It has several interpretations:
- Art is truth: The beauty of a work of art makes it true. Art captures a universal idea that goes beyond time and human experiences.
- Truth is beauty: What is true and authentic in life is also beautiful because truth is the only lasting value.
- The limits of human knowledge: The urn states that the only thing humans need to understand is that beauty and truth are inseparable. Nothing else is necessary to comprehend life.
The Gothic novel was a key part of Romantic fiction, emphasizing horror, supernatural elements, and intense emotions.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818): One of the most famous Gothic novels, Frankenstein tells the story of a scientist who creates a living being but fails to take responsibility for his creation.
MARY SHELLEY
(1797-1851) She was born in 1797 in London. She wrote the famous book: Frankenstein (or the Modern Prometheus) that was published anonymously in 1818.
FRANKENSTEIN Mary Shelley followed the tradition of the Gothic novel (dramatic and dark settings, grim atmosphere, violence) but the book is technically an epistolary novel because it is written through letters of an arctic explorer (Walton). It is also considered the first work of science fiction.
PLOT: Walton was on a ship and he found a dying man (Victor Frankenstein) and he saved him. Then Victor began to tell his story. Victor Frankenstein discovered how to give life to inanimate objects. He assembled body parts and created this monstrous creature. But the horrible creature scared everyone it met and this situation made it very sad and lonely (he had human feelings). So the monster became nasty, for example it killed Frankenstein's brother and also the girl Frankenstein was about to marry. At the end the story came back to the beginning, where Victor died and Walton, a few days after, found the monster crying for the death of Victor. Also the monster will die unhappy.
WHY PROMETHEUS? The novel is connected to the myth of Prometheus: he stole the fire of the gods and gave it to humans, and then he was eternally punished. In the same way Frankenstein, becoming evil, is punished with the death of his loved ones and also with his own death.
Themes:
- Creation and Responsibility – Victor Frankenstein plays God by creating the Creature but then refuses to take responsibility for his actions. This raises questions about scientific and ethical responsibility.
- Loneliness and Rejection – The Creature is condemned to solitude because of his monstrous appearance, suffering rejection from society and even from his own creator. The theme of alienation is central to the novel.
- Nature vs. Science – Shelley contrasts the beauty and power of nature with Victor’s obsession with science and progress, suggesting that defying nature’s limits can lead to destruction. She wanted to underline the dangers of uncontrolled scientific ambition.
- Justice and Injustice – The novel shows how society judges based on appearances and how injustice leads to a cycle of revenge and suffering.
Romantic part of Frankenstein: themes of romanticism are love, nature, pain, sorrow, delusion. In Frankenstein we can find love: the monster wanted a girl mate (but then Victor destroyed it) but also at the end the monster was crying for the death of Victor. Then we can find pain: the pain of the monster of being rejected by society, everyone has prejudice.
THE VICTORIAN AGE (1837-1901)
One of the most fascinating periods in Britain history, characterised by scientific, industrial and technological progress as well as its rapid expansion of the British empire. At the same time, however, it brought problems of poverty, vice and overcrowding.
EARLY VICTORIAN AGE: A CHANGING SOCIETY The young Victoria became queen at the age of 18 on the death over uncle William IV in
SOCIAL REFORM During the Industrial Revolution, Britain surpassed other competing European nations. However, the nation's prosperity was also accompanied by growing urban poverty and social injustice. The Reform Bill of 1832 gave the vote to the male middle class but did little for the working class. The Reform Bill of 1867 extended suffrage to workers in towns and in the Reform Bill of 1884 gave votes to agricultural workers and miners. A series of Factory Acts reduced working hours and regulated child and female labour. Finally the Education Act of 1870 made elementary school education compulsory.
INDUSTRIAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCE This period is characterised by lots of innovation. The transformation of London transport began with the opening of the world's first underground railway, the "Metropolitan Railway". Other innovations were the telegraph and the introduction of the penny postal system (Penny Black= first postage stamp in the world).
URBAN PROBLEMS AND IMPROVEMENTS The population of London grew rapidly, from 1 million in 1800 to over 6 million in 1900. This caused serious problems to the city: poor sanitation and the use of coal made the air heavy and foul. The Metropolitan Police Force was founded to stop prostitution, robbery, violence and murder.
THE AGE OF OPTIMISM AND CONTRAST The Victorians were convinced that the nation's problems could be solved and that their scientific and technological achievements would benefit all the people in the British Empire. The upper and middle class enjoyed this century as a period of wealth, status and comfort. On the contrary, the poor become increasingly poor and exploited as workers.
UTILITARIANISM
social and economic development. It was also characterised by a realistic representation of the social problems.
- Anti-Victorian reaction. Writers and artists strongly criticised the values of this era and exposed all of its contradictions. This trend was influenced by Darwin's theories and by Realism (European literary movement that gave importance to do realistic representation of the world without the author's personal or moral judgements). Realistic writers were deeply influenced by Positivism: they saw life from a pessimistic point of view and represented it in an objective and non-idealised way.
THE AGE OF FICTION The novel triumphed as the main literary genre of the Victorian Age because of several reasons:
- increase in the number of people able to read;
- The number of people who could afford books increased;
- novel were appreciated because readers searched for entertaining and realistic plots;
From a stylistic and thematic point of view:
- they entertained the readers, confronting them with complex issues;
- The characters represents a real world, in which the readers also live;
- They have a clear moral aim, novels represent realistic human conditions;
- plots are complex and adventurous, rich in characters, unexpected events, surprises and subplots;
- stories are usually told by a third person omniscient narrator.
EARLY VICTORIAN NOVELISTS The first phase of Victorian literature included the use of prose to make a realistic portrait of the society. Many novels were set in London, representing all the contradictions of the Industrial Revolution. The authors used literature to instruct the readers and to make them aware of the social problems of their time, but without using any bitter criticism. This ambivalent attitude is exactly what characterises the "Victorian compromise".
The author best embodied all the features and the contradictions of this age was Charles Dickens. Typical features: characters with memorable names, long and complex plots, with many coincidences. His novels are mainly tragicomic: he denounced the evil of the Victorian world using a comic tone. The Bronte sisters were three women. Emily and Charlotte wrote the novels "Wuthering Heights" and "Jane Eyre". The first one adopted elements taken from the Gothic tradition and explored universal themes such as love, death, immortality and passion. Charlotte's novel contains a subtle exploration of the theme of womanhood and analyzes the dark sides of human personality. (they are more romantic, they wrote about love)
LATE VICTORIAN NOVELISTS In the second phase, criticism became stronger and realism more evident. The writers use prose to denounce the evil of society. Typical was the duality of human nature, the meaning
of life in the world dominated by blind faith in progress, the role of moral values. This phase is characterised by the adoption of a pessimistic point of view of aestheticism.
- Sense of dissatisfaction, anxiety and fear. Trend reflected by Robert Louis Stevenson, who wrote "The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde", a short novel that explored the theme of the double (nature).
- Oscar Wilde wrote "The Picture of Dorian Gray", often considered the manifesto of English Aestheticism, an artistic and literary movement based on the principle that art needs no external or moral justification ("art for art's sake" was Wilde's aesthetic motto).
VICTORIAN DRAMA Birth of modern British drama thanks to two authors: Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw. Wilde's dramatic production was represented by comedies, such as "The Importance of Being Earnest". Sparkling and witty dialogues, universal themes, brilliant jokes and ironic comments. Social criticism and moral awareness were typical of Shaw's plays. He wrote "Pygmalion".
CHARLES DICKENS
(1812-1870) He was born in England and died in Westminster Abbey. His life was hard, for example his father went to prison because of debts and the family became even poorer. The young Charles Dickens, to help his family and earn some money, had to work 10 hours a day in a factory. So Dickens suffered a lot in his life, but this type of life gave him inspiration for his works.
WORKS AND THEMES He had a great inventiveness, he created such incredible characters, maybe exaggerated but unforgettable. He invented characters with special and different features, for example a strange speech, physical aspect, gesture. He gave voice to people, especially poor people in the Victorian age. He sympathised with the oppressed and he was very much related to the theme of social injustice. So he criticised the living conditions of the Victorian age, the working conditions of the working classes, education, child labour, prostitution, curruption and also crime.
He wanted the reader to understand what was happening in that age, in the Victorian age. He strongly believed in the power of literature, literature can teach things to people.
OLIVER TWIST: he wrote “Oliver Twist” between 1837 and 1839 and it is his most famous work. In this novel we can feel the social criticism. He told us the story of an orphan boy and through this story he exposed the exploitation of children and the cruelty of workhouses in the Victorian age. Workhouse: places where poor people with no job and home lived. To live there poor people had to do hard jobs for the workhouse. The conditions were harsh, women and children were forced to do physical hard work. Poverty was seen as a sin.
Then Fagin sends Oliver to assist Sikes in a theft (furto). Oliver is shot by a servant of the house and, after Sikes escapes, is taken in by the women who live there, Mrs. Maylie and her adopted niece Rose. Then Oliver spends the summer with them in the countryside. Then Oliver finds out that Monks (a member of Fagin’s gang) is his half-brother. They were born by a wealthy father and he left all his fortune to Oliver’s mother. So Monks wants to get the entire inheritance so he tries to kill Oliver. Moreover, it is discovered that Rose is Agnes’s younger sister, so Oliver’s aunt. Finally, Mr. Brownlow adopts Oliver and Oliver will live a peaceful life in the countryside.
I WANT SOME MORE pg 296
In this passage from Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, the scene takes place in a workhouse where the young orphan boys, including Oliver, have not so much to eat, they have small portions of gruel (porridge). The boys are so hungry that they lick their bowls clean and even suck their fingers to capture any remaining traces of food. After suffering from hunger for months, the boys become desperate. So the boys decide to ask for more, but they have to determine who will ask for more food. They decide on Oliver.
During the next mealtime, Oliver politely tell the master of the workhouse if he could have more gruel, he said, “Please, sir, I want some more.” His request shocks everyone. The master begins to scream and calls for Mr. Bumble, a workhouse official, to report the boy's unacceptable behaviour. One man says that Oliver will be hanged for such behaviour, it was considered a crime. Finally they decide to offer five pounds to anyone that wants to take Oliver.
This scene highlights the cruel conditions and harsh treatment of orphans in Victorian-era workhouses, emphasising the extreme hunger the boys suffered. Oliver’s simple request for more symbolises a small act of rebellion against an oppressive system, which results in severe punishment.
HARD TIMES (1854) The novel is set in a fictional town called “Coketown” where Thomas Gradgrind (an advocate of “Utilitarianism”) brings up 2 children (Louisa and Tom) to believe in “hard facts” and to reject any form of imagination or enjoyment. Gradgrind thinks that love is a useless feeling and that a marriage should not be about love. In fact he makes his daughter marry a factory owner (Bounderby) who is 30 years older than her. Louisa is so unhappy with her marriage and she runs back to her family. Gradgrind understands his mistake and protects her daughter from her husband. Tom, instead, becomes a dishonest, selfish man that steals money from Bounderby’s bank (where he works). Stephen, an innocent worker, is unjustly accused of the theft and he dies. Gradgrind and Louisa find out that Tom is the thief and send him away from the country. At the end of the story Gradgrind is a changed man, he helps the poor.
THEMES In this work he makes sharper (più chiaro) the dark side of the Victorian age. The main themes of the novel are: -the situation of young people growing up in a hostile adult world -the hardships of the working class -the contrast between the living conditions between the rich and the poor.
Dickens also criticises Utilitarianism (materialistic philosophy that refuses imagination).
NOTHING BUT FACTS pg
The text "Nothing but Facts" from Hard Times by Charles Dickens focuses on the exaggerated importance placed on facts and a rigid, imagination-free education. The story opens with the stern figure of Thomas Gradgrind, an ardent supporter of rationalism and education based solely on facts, leaving no room for imagination or creativity. He firmly believes that only concrete information is useful and that anything imaginative is useless and dangerous.
The main scene takes place in a school where Gradgrind instructs students with a strict, monotonous methodology, demanding precise and objective answers. This mindset is reflected in the cold, oppressive school environment, which suppresses individuality and emotions. Education is thus portrayed as a mechanical, alienating process devoid of joy.
The text criticises Victorian industrial society, obsessed with productivity and rationality, and highlights the negative consequences of an educational approach that does not allow room for creativity and human sensitivity.
ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
He was born in 1850 in Edinburgh, and he died in 1894.
Stevenson’s works were very popular and successful and they were really appreciated by other writers. His masterpiece is “The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde”.
THE STRANGE CASE OF DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE
By Robert Louis Stevenson, published in 1886 A novel that combines Gothic horror, psychological exploration, and detective fiction, deeply rooted in Victorian England.
Historical and Cultural Context
During the late 19th century, many people began to question the ideals of progress, rationality, and civilization, which were central to Victorian values. Like Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein , Stevenson’s work explores scientific progress gone wrong, highlighting the dangers of uncontrolled experimentation and the conflict between science and morality. The story also metaphorically reflects Victorian hypocrisy—how society tried to repress or hide its darker instincts and immoral behaviors.
Setting
The novel is set in London, during the Victorian era. Much of the action takes place at night, when Hyde operates, emphasizing secrecy and fear.
Plot summary
The story follows Dr. Henry Jekyll, a respectable Victorian gentleman and scientist, who creates a potion that transforms him into Mr. Edward Hyde, his evil alter ego. Jekyll uses this transformation to explore a life free from moral restraint, indulging in instinct, violence, and sensual pleasures without consequences. At first, Jekyll enjoys the separation between his two selves, but over time, Hyde grows stronger and harder to control. Jekyll begins to lose his ability to transform back, and eventually, Hyde takes over
Jekyll is horrified by Hyde’s actions but also fascinated by the freedom and pleasure he finds in evil. This contrast is linked to the concept of the sublime: the mix of awe and terror, beauty and horror.
Style and Structure
The story is told mostly from Utterson’s point of view, using a limited narrator, which creates suspense. Only later, through letters from Dr. Lanyon and Dr. Jekyll, does the reader learn the full truth. The atmosphere is dark and mysterious, filled with secrecy, violence, and horror.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is not just a horror story — it is a psychological and moral exploration of human identity, repression, and inner conflict.
THE PASSAGE
In this excerpt from the final chapter of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Dr. Jekyll explains the psychological and physical nature of his transformations into Edward Hyde. Although Hyde was deformed and visibly evil, Jekyll admits he felt strangely comfortable and even excited by his new form.
Jekyll recognizes that all people are a mixture of good and evil, but Hyde was uniquely pure evil. The transformation offered an escape from Jekyll’s respectable life, allowing him to do horrible things without facing consequences. However, this freedom quickly became an addiction: he began to live more frequently as Hyde. He admits that his moral failure lay not in the drug itself, which was neutral, but in the spirit in which he used it.
- “When I looked upon that ugly idol in the glass, I was conscious of no repugnance, rather of a leap of welcome.” → Shows Jekyll’s dangerous attraction to his darker self.
- “All human beings, as we meet them, are commingled out of good and evil: and Edward Hyde, alone in the ranks of mankind, was pure evil.” → Central idea of the novel: Hyde is unique because he has no moral balance—just evil.
- “The drug had no discriminating action […] it but shook the doors of the prisonhouse of my disposition.” → The drug didn’t create evil; it simply released what was already within Jekyll.
- “My evil, kept awake by ambition, was alert and swift to seize the occasion; and the thing that was projected was Edward Hyde.” → Ambition is what ultimately gave power to Hyde, not the drug alone. Ambitious people are ruthless and they want to achieve what they want without thinking about the consequences.
- “I began to profit by the strange immunities of my position.” → Jekyll uses the separation between identities to live without consequences, a major ethical downfall.
OSCAR WILDE
Life and Career
Oscar Wilde was born in 1854 in Dublin and died in 1900. He became a leading figure in the Aesthetic Movement, a European cultural movement of the late 19th century. Wilde became famous for his writing, and his ability to entertain the public. He was highly successful, especially as a playwright. The Importance of Being Earnest was loved by audiences for its sharp satire.
In his works he doesn’t want to attack anyone, or teach anything, he doesn't believe in morality, but in his works there are messages, we can feel the portrayal of Victorian society.
Aestheticism
Wilde was a key representative of Aestheticism, a movement that believed that art exists for its own sake. According to this philosophy, art should not have moral, educational, political, or utilitarian purposes. Wilde rejected the Victorian, utilitarian idea that art should morally educate or improve society. Instead, he claimed that art should be appreciated only for its beauty and for its power to elevate the spirit. This idea is famously summed up in the preface of “The Picture of Dorian Gray”: “All art is quite useless.”
The Preface of The Picture of Dorian Gray
The preface of Wilde’s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray works like a manifesto of aestheticism. In it, Wilde states that the only purpose of art is beauty, and that the artist is the creator of beautiful things, not a teacher of moral lessons. Wilde also claimed that the meaning of a work of art reveals more about the spectator than about the artist. The spectator, when he interprets a work of art, reveals part of his personality.
The Picture of Dorian Gray
In 1890, Wilde published his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, which was initially considered immoral. The novel tells the story of Dorian Gray, a rich and beautiful young man who has his portrait painted. After a conversation about the transience of youth and beauty, Dorian wishes to remain young forever, even at the cost of his soul. His wish comes true: while he leads a life of pleasure, sin, and crime, he remains physically young, but the portrait ages and becomes ugly, reflecting the corruption of his soul.
Eventually, Dorian kills an actress and his painter friend, who had seen the portrait and discovered the truth. In the end, Dorian destroys the painting, and is found dead, transformed into a horrible old man. Although Wilde claimed that the novel has no moral purpose, it actually reflects the theme of double identity, where Dorian hides his true self behind his innocent appearance. This hypocrisy leads to his destruction, just like in Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The novel is considered a Gothic novel due to its supernatural elements and is narrated by an obtrusive third-person narrator, who provides many detailed descriptions.
Scandal and Exile
Wilde’s career was destroyed when he was accused of homosexuality after a love affair with a young man. The young man accused him of rape, and Wilde was put in jail. As a result, he lost his reputation (this shows the Victorians’ hypocrisy), went to prison for two years, and was later exiled to France, where he lived in poverty until his death.
The passage: Dorian Gray kills Dorian Gray
Dorian Gray enters the room where he has hidden the portrait that reflects the corruption of his soul. At first, he believes he has become a better person, but when he sees the painting,
Wilde's own tragic end. The tragic end of Oscar Wilde is linked to the rigid morality and homophobia of Victorian society. Wilde was involved in a scandal concerning his relationship with a young man. He was found guilty and sentenced to two years of hard labor in prison. After being released from prison in 1897, physically, socially, and financially destroyed, Wilde spent his final years in exile, mostly in France.
THE WORDPLAY “EARNEST”
The wordplay with the term "Earnest" is one of the most brilliant and significant aspects of Wilde's work. The title The Importance of Being Earnest plays on the double meaning of the word earnest , which in English means both serious, sincere, and honest. However, Earnest is also a proper name, that of the imaginary brother invented by Jack, and that Jack himself adopts as an alter ego.
At the end Jack has discovered he is truly Ernest (his real name, revealed in a twist), but he has never been earnest (sincere) throughout the whole play.
- Seriousness and Sincerity : In Victorian society, being earnest meant embodying virtues considered fundamental, such as seriousness, reliability, sobriety, and sincerity. Wilde shows how characters try to appear “ earnest" are in fact hypocritical or false moralists.
- The Name "Ernest" : Jack and Algernon lie, pretending to be different people, presenting themselves as Ernest. Ironically, Gwendolen falls in love not with Jack as a person, but with the name "Ernest," which she associates with qualities of seriousness and sincerity. However, Jack is neither earnest in a moral sense nor in a literal sense (at the beginning).
Wilde builds an entire satire around the impossibility of truly being earnest (serious, sincere, honest) in a world where Victorian social norms reward appearance and hypocrisy.
There is also the theme of the double lives (mysterious past of Jack). And also the superficiality of social norms (Gwendolyn falls in love with Jack only because she likes the name Earnest).
THE PASSAGE
The scene features a dialogue between Lady Bracknell and Jack Worthing. Lady Bracknell interrogates Jack to determine if he is a suitable husband for her daughter Gwendolen (For Lady Bracknell marriage is for business and not for love). During the interrogation, Jack reveals details about his life: he smokes, has a stable income, but was found as a baby in a handbag at a train station and does not know his biological parents. Lady Bracknell, a representative of Victorian social conventions, is scandalized by this revelation and deems Jack’s origins unacceptable for marriage to Gwendolen. The scene ends with Lady Bracknell leaving Jack in indignation.
Main Themes
● Critique of Victorian Society and Social Conventions: Wilde uses Lady Bracknell to embody the rigid and appearance-obsessed aristocracy. The fact that Jack was found in a handbag becomes an insurmountable issue for her, symbolizing the superficiality of how people were judged.
● Satire of Social Classes: The play mocks the importance given to wealth. Lady Bracknell’s interrogation highlights the absurdity of certain judgment criteria.
● Hypocrisy and Humor: Wilde creates humor through witty dialogue and the hypocrisy of the characters. For example, Lady Bracknell expresses ridiculous concerns over insignificant details, showing how the aristocracy’s values are based on appearances rather than real qualities.
GEORGE BERNARD SHAW
He was born in Dublin in 1876. Then he came to London. He died in 1950. He published “Pygmalion” in 1913. With his plays Shaw wanted the audience to think about the society they lived in. At first he was not successful but then he became famous and he won the Nobel Prize.
PYGMALION
This play narrates the story of a bet between Higgins (aristocratic man) and his friend that consists in the transformation of a poor flower-seller, Eliza, into a duchess (she improves her speech, manners, clothing). Higgins wins the bet but Eliza then rebels against his behaviour and asserts her independence. The style is more dramatic and realistic.
THEMES OF THE PLAY
● The construction of social classes through language: for Higgins is a way of demonstrating the difference between social classes. ● Rigid social classes: appearance and education define our value. ● Transformation and identity: Eliza, transformed into a lady, feels alienated by both social classes, the poor class or the aristocracy, she can’t find a place in society. ● Classes differences: Higgins treats Eliza with superiority, even though she is transformed, he represents the attitude of upper classes. Higgins conveys the typical victorian man, that is arrogant and feels superior to women. In fact his behaviour with Eliza is always rude, he tells her what to do like she’s a servant. ● Gender conflict: Eliza is treated like an “experiment” by Higgins. When the transformation is completed, Higgins’ attitude is the same as before. Eliza is treated with superiority, in a patriarchal way. Shaw shows us the male-superiority conception of the time where women only have to satisfy men's needs. Shaw also criticizes marriage: marriage is the only way a woman can have values and reach a high social class. He couldn’t stand the fact that women depend on men. So Eliza transformation symbolises this mentality, but then Eliza rebels. ● Women’s emancipation (Eliza portrays also women’s emancipation and struggle. Eliza is the new concept of femininity: a woman that doesn’t let others control her, she is independent. Thanked to Higgins she is now aware of her values and her independence).
Jane consistently refuses to give up her autonomy—she doesn’t marry Rochester when she would be morally compromised, nor does she accept a loveless marriage with St. John. She insists on being treated as an equal, not as someone inferior because of gender or status.
4. Gothic Elements
The novel includes Gothic features like:
● A mysterious mansion with hidden secrets,
● Supernatural hints (Jane’s dreams, weird noises),
● A madwoman locked in the attic,
5. Why is Mr. Rochester redeemed?
Mr. Rochester is redeemed through suffering and personal growth. When Jane discovers the truth and leaves him, he reflects on his actions. His redemption comes through both physical and moral punishment: Thornfield Hall is destroyed in a fire started by Bertha, who dies in the flames. While trying to save her, Rochester is severely injured, becoming blind and losing a hand. This makes him a humbler man. When Jane returns, he has accepted his fate and sincerely repents. The fact that Jane still loves him despite his injuries symbolizes the redemptive power of love, which transcends appearances and moral flaws.
EMILY BRONTE
She was born in 1818 in Yorkshire. Also “Wuthering Heights” was published in 1847 with a male pseudonym. She died in 1848.
WUTHERING HEIGHTS
Mr. Lockwood visits Wuthering Heights and meets the grim and bitter Heathcliff. One night, Lockwood sees a vision of a ghostly Catherine at the window. Disturbed, he asks the housekeeper, Nelly Dean , to tell him the story behind these strange people.
Years earlier, Heathcliff , a poor orphan, was adopted by Mr. Earnshaw and raised with his children: Catherine and Hindley. Heathcliff and Catherine became extremely close, sharing a deep, passionate bond. But when Mr. Earnshaw died, Hindley treated Heathcliff cruelly, reducing him to a servant.
Though Catherine loved Heathcliff, she chose to marry Edgar Linton , a wealthy and refined man, to gain social status. And also. Heathcliff heard Cathy 1 saying that she could never marry him because of his social status. Heartbroken, Heathcliff ran away.
Years later, he returned wealthy and determined to take revenge. He took control of Wuthering Heights and married Edgar’s sister, Isabella , out of spite. Catherine became ill and died shortly after giving birth to her daughter , Cathy 2. Her death destroyed Heathcliff emotionally, and he remained obsessed with her.
In the next generation, Heathcliff manipulates Cathy 2 into marrying his sickly son, Linton , to get revenge for not being able to marry Cathy 1. But then Linton dies.
In the end, Heathcliff dies , longing to be reunited with Catherine in death. Cathy 2 and Hareton fall in love , and the story closes with hope and healing after years of revenge and suffering.
Main themes
Love and Obsession
The central relationship between Heathcliff and Catherine is not romantic in a traditional sense — it’s destructive, obsessive, and wild. Their love defies social rules and even death. Heathcliff never recovers from losing Catherine and becomes consumed by his desire to join her in the afterlife.
Revenge and Social Class
Heathcliff is constantly rejected for being poor and different. His thirst for revenge drives most of the novel’s conflict. He uses wealth and manipulation to destroy those who hurt him. The novel also critiques the rigid Victorian class system , showing how it shapes personal destinies.
Catherine’s decision to marry Edgar Linton instead of Heathcliff perfectly reflects the mentality of Victorian society, where marriage was often more about social status than love. Furthermore women had no financial independence, and marriage was often the only way to secure stability and protection.
The Supernatural
Ghosts and visions appear throughout the story, especially Catherine’s spirit. The supernatural adds a Gothic atmosphere and reflects characters’ inner struggle.
Why did Wuthering Heights cause so much scandal?
Emily Brontë’s novel shocked Victorian society for several reasons:
● Extreme and immoral characters : Heathcliff is not a conventional romantic hero but a man obsessed with love and revenge. ● Obsessive and destructive love : The relationship between Heathcliff and Catherine is passionate but toxic. It is a destructive force that consumes them. ● Criticism of society and social class : Heathcliff seeks revenge on the society that mistreated him, challenging the rigid social hierarchy of the time. ● Violence and cruelty : The novel is full of physical and psychological abuse.
Mr. Rochester and Heathcliff are both Byronic heroes, how are they different and similar?
Both characters are Byronic heroes , meaning they are dark, fascinating, and tormented men. However, there are key differences between them.
Similarities:
● Both have mysterious pasts filled with suffering. ● They have passionate and rebellious personalities, rejecting social conventions.
