Virginia Woolf ~* The Lady in the Looking- Glass

Virginia Woolf had many devastating loses early in her life by her mother, father, and brother. This impacted her life and works. Growing up in her time, women still could not further their education, and she focused alot of her work on "the social and political life" (1223). In The Lady in the Looking-Glass, Woolf emphasizes how society puts much impact on the image seen on the outside and not knowing about what's inside. This relates to the current modern society because everything seems to relate to how you look, and dress, and there has been an increase in cosmetic plastic surgery. Isabella is seen by the narrator in the looking glass. Not knowing anything but her physical beauty, he wonders about her. Isabella is a well off and lives a seemingly "perfect" life as seen in through the mirror. Woolf states that "Isabella did not wish to be known," and the narrarator finds it strange that "it was strange that after knowing her all these years one could not say what the truth about Isabella was" (1225). The truth lies beneath the reflection in the mirror. Money cannot buy happiness. She is completely empty when see looks at herself "naked in that pitless light. And there was nothing, Isabella was perfectly empty. She had no thougts. She had no friends. She cared for nobody" (1228). I like how she emphasizes her first phrase "People should not leave lookig-glasses hanging in their rooms, " and closes out with it (1228). Through a looking-glass you merely get a reflection.

WWI

World War I known as the Great War, started off between Britain and Germany. To keep up with the news of the war, Wyndham Lewis found the magazine Blast. His intentions of the magazine name was to"blow away tired literary and social conventions"(1080), which soon turned to the movement of "Vorticism". The things they wrote were quite random " elephants are VERY BIG. Motor cars go quickly" (1083). The lists of "blast" go on to describe pretty much everything and everyone. In relation to the war, Great Britain and Germany had naval competition and the Blast praised England's ships and ports.

Gerard Hopkins ~*Thou Art Indeed Just, Lord*~

Gerard Hopkins was a man who took his religion seriously. He was ordained a Jesuit priest. His religion had a great impact on his work. Also in his work he incorporated the beauty in nature. Thou Art Indeed Just, Lord starts off with Hopkins questioning if God will save him. He sees that the "sinners' ways prosper and why must disappointment all I endeavour end" and wonders if he will get redeemed (778). He does acknowledge God as his high authoritative being. This poem seems to be a direct conversation of Hopkins to God asking if he will get something at his request eventually.

Thomas Hardy ~*The Convergence of the Twain*~

Thomas Hardy can be placed in two categories of Victorian novelists and Modern poet. His famous poetry involves rural landscape and his personal history including his roots. Reading about Hardy's ideas on the Titanic in The Convergence of the Twain is interesting because I enjoy reading about the ship wreck. At first with the title I thought he was speaking of the author Mark Twain, yet reading more in the poem the "convergence of the twain" seems to reflect the convergence of the Titanic hitting the iceberg. .He describes everything being at the bottom like "jewels" that just "lie lightless, all their sparkles bleared and black and blind"(1076). make it seem like all the money put into it is now at the bottom and no one can see the beauty of it and now a waste. Even though the Titanic had a strong "stature, grace, and hue", the iceberg would soon take the same stance and collide with the Titanic "by paths coincident" (1077).

Oscar Wilde ~*The Importance of Being Earnest*~

Oscar Wilde was highly intellectual and talented in writing plays and poetry. It was interesting to find out he was imprisoned for some of his works containing inappropriate topics like homosexuality. His life turned upside down after his prison term ended, "emerged a broken and penniless man. He spent the remainder of his life in exile outside Britain. He was never again allowed to see his young sons, and their surname was changed to protect them from scandal" and "the man who had lavished champagne on his friends was reduced to scrounging drinks from strangers who pitied him" (830).
The title speaks for itself, The Importance of Being Earnest. This comedy of this love circle that Algernon and Jack had created with the false brother and friend "Ernest" fills the play with dramatic irony. To be earnest in society, Wilde thinks there needs to be morality present. "But you don't really mean to say that you couldn't love me if my name wasn't Ernest?" seems to put a turn on things when she speaks highly of the name and he tries to compare it to his real name Jack (855). When he includes "A man should always have an occupation of some kind. There are far too many idle men in London as it is" reminds me of Carlyle's writing in Know Thy Work when he speaks to be a man a man must have work.
Keeping the identity of Jack and Bunbury a secret make it harder to get the truth out. If you start off wrong it's hard to get back to the right beginning.

Elizabeth Browning ~*Sonnets from the Portuguese*~

To be a successful women writer was quite high in Elizabeth Browning's day. Quite surprisingly, she was more famous then her husband Robert Browning. This was quite impressive to see that the women in the family could possess a higher status than the male. Unfortunately, Elizabeth was diagnosed with tuberculosis. She lived in solitude in her room, and "her spirits sustained only by her poetry"(528).
Sonnets from the Portuguese was written with intimacy and affectionate feelings towards her husband Robert. It is deep and you can see it as being very personal and intimate here:
"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace" (532).
At first it seems as if she doesn't want to fall for him because she thinks it all is happening so fast, "the first time that the sun rose on thine oath to love me, I looked forward to the moon to slacken all those bonds which seemed too soon and quickly tied to make a lasting troth" (531). I found it ironic they had to have a secret love and she wanted to keep her authorship secret when first publishing it.

Robert Browning ~* Porphyria's Lover*~

Robert Browning's love story between Elizabeth and himself was quite a thrill to read about. It almost seemed like it was from a romance novel. He loved her writings and later instantly fell in love with her upon their first meeting. They even had a "secret" relationship from the evil father that had forbidden marriages in the family. He tried quite hard to have his pieces known and read.
Porphyria's Lover at first was confusing because the woman was proclaiming love to the man, yet he then strangles her. She comes in from a storm to his "cottage warm"(662). He seems to be a madman. He noted as he strangled her "no pain felt she, i am quite sure she felt no pain"(663). This may have been stated because she "worshiped him" and he she had love for him so whatever he decided to do wouldn't hurt her. Browning wrote "she too weak, fro all hear heart's endeavour, to set its struggling passion free from pride," I think the narrator thought he was setting her free and this would make her happy and not feel pain from it. He seemed quite overwhelmed that she was proclaiming love and that she was there even through rough storm, because he seemed to hesitate and not know what to do, "surprise made my heart swell, and still it grew while I debated what to do"(663). It seems he felt like she was in control because at the end instead of being on her shoulder, she laid on his. It may represent a difference in social class that perhaps forbidden her to be there.

Victorian Ladies and Gentlemen

During the prosper of the Victorian period, there was a large distinction between social class divisions. It started up top with the noble aristocracy down to the middle working class to the farmers. A big part of who you become is who you came from. Mostly it was all birthright which decided your social standing. Ladies and gentlemen had their own dominion in their own area. Men worked, while the household was the ladies domain. Ranking starts early from what school you attend, to your family status, and soon to your spouse. Women still had no legal rights, for they were to just attend to work inside the home not outside. This included no voting and professional education. It was very surprising to see that women " were classed with criminals, idiots, and minors" (556). That seems harsh to class them in that category. I expected.the women to be looked as as simply house wives and not to be head of the household, to compare them to criminals and to be uneducated not by choice is merely an insult to women of that time. Being brought up in today's society, I can hardly imagine not attending school at this age but instead staying home and taking care of the many kids I probably would have at this age and tending to my husbands demand.

Lord Tennyson ~*Mariana*~

The start of Lord Tennyson's biography is quite interesting to see that he was doubted his talent, and soon later became a top-selling well-known writer. His parents provided great affection and also they had a love of poetry. As a child he started to discover poetry and wrote his own nature poems. He had a solid background of rounded education..I noticed many connections to mythical stories in his writings.
Throughout the poem, Mariana, he uses dark, melancholic descriptions like "blackest moss", "rusted nails", thickest dark", and "night is dreary" (587). This poem kinda gave me the chills with all the description of the setting. He repeats "I am aweary, aweary, I would that I were dead" makes a big impact on her sorrow throughout the poem(587). She awaits the coming of her lover, yet her never comes. You can tell she is isolated and she just desires for him to return. It seems as if she is starting to dream of the day he comes home; "all day within the dreamy house, the doors upon their hinges creak'd; The blue fly sung in the pane; the mouse behind the mouldering wainscot shriek'd... Old faces glimmer'd thro' the doors, old footsteps trod the upper floors, old voices called her from without. (588). This dispressed woman is lost of all hopes and dreams. She has nothing to look forward to, yet keeps awaiting for the day that will never come.

Thomas Carlyle ~*Know Thy Work*~

Thomas Carlyle seems to be a unique character, "difficult and cranky" (475). Carlyle had moved from small village farms to the city life in London. He was able to see the difference in society and how the government was running the country from the living in different perspectives. Living in the city was not at all great for those like Carlyle that had to live in poverty with poor health. His stories tell of the living situations at the time of big change to the Industrial Revolution, yet government seemed to not tend to the health of society. He wrote of many great leaders like Oliver Cromwell that he hoped would inspire because "Carlyle believed that strong leaders were the only hope for social reform" (476).
In his piece Know Thy Work, Carlyle discussed the importance to "Know thy work and do it. Know thyself" (481). Knowing your work and enjoying it helps one know more of themselves. He describes the working man as to being "noble and sacred" (481). He speaks of the nonworkers as having "idleness" and they will not get much accomplished. When you perform your work, you must put your all and love what you do. My close friend sometimes mentions that he wants a new job in search of something that may pay better. Eventually he always is hesitant because he loves what he does and even though he wishes he could get a high paying job, he always mentions every time he completes a job and hears a customers satisfaction and praise on his job well done, that is worth his work and he has "the blessed glow of Labour in him". If you don't have your heart set on your job, you may not be happy in your future if you continue to pursure it. Carlyle says "Labour is Life", this makes me think that your job in a way represent who you are (482). You are able to learn what you like or dislike from the work that you do and understand more about who you are. You aquire the "self-knowledge" (482).
He seems to highly respect the working class. They say "there's no such thing as a free lunch", and this relates to Carlyle's piece because you work and earn what you get not just receive it by being "idle".

Felicia Hemans ~*The Wife of Asdrubal*~

One of the author's biography that was interesting and really impacted her writings was Felicia Hemans. Unlike the previous writers, her father did not decease but left her mother to "Canada" and never return causing her mother to raise the family as a single parent. She interprets her feelings about being hurt by the men in her life starting with her father leaving her mother and her husband leaving and never returning from his trip. She emphasizes the duties of a woman, and the betrayal portrayed by the men in her life especially in The Wife of Asdrubal.
It is a tragic story that the wife kills her children on the burning roof, but she does it to save them rather than hurt them. Her husband had sided with the enemy just to save his life and risks the lives of all others. She seems to protect her children from future suffering that she had endured. This pain is probably from the pain endured by her father and husband. That is her duty as a mother to protect her children "and fain would rush for shelter to her breast"(407).. It is inspiring to see even throughout all the neglect of the men in their lives, that Hemans and her mother could go on and raise their families during that period of time when women were not a real part in society, not having jobs, and social status. To be hurt, she still inspires to not give up and make her life and her family live in the best standards she can provide.

The Victorian Age

The Victorian Age was named after the era under Queen Victoria of England. This was to describe the pride the country felt during her reign. Victoria stood for "England and Empire, but also for Duty, Family, and especially, Propriety" (453). Like the early French revolution, a big change was to occur. The Industrial Revolution brought on change to new inventions, technological advances, as well as a period of reform. A big invention was the railroad. This brought on trade as well as transportation of materials and even people. This helped society in "rising incomes, the greater availability of goods, the perception of surplus production" (454). This helped create a larger middle working class with work in warehouses and factories. Even the culture of fashion and design changed. There was a large rise in publications to entertain the public with "magazines, newspapers, novels, poetry, histories, travel narratives, sporting news, scandal sheets, and penny cyclopedias" (466). With this change there also was an overwhelming question of faith, and different sects broke out from the Church of England.
Women's role in society was still unseen in the working and education scenes. The "Woman Question" became a big debate to advocate women's rights. This passage describes what women were seen as " the ideal Victorian woman was supposed to be domestic and pure, selflessly motivated by the desire to serve others rather than fulfill her own needs" (462).

John Keats ~*Ode on Melancholy*~

Like many of the previous writers, John Keats experiences a early loss of his parents. His father died in a riding accident when Keats was nine, and at the age of fourteen his mother died of an illness. He had some medical knowledge from apprenticing yet he didn't take on that field as a career but had his eye set on poetry. Keats is well known for his quote "Beauty is truth, truth is beauty" from the poem Ode on a Grecian Urn (440).
In Ode on Melancholy, it seems as if Keats is stating that in a way for every good thing that happens melancholy has it's match up.
"Beauty that must die;
And Joy, whose hand is ever at his lips
Bidding adieu; and aching Pleasure nigh,
Turning to poison while the bee-mouth sips:
Ay, in the very temple of Delight
Veil'd Melancholy has her sovran shrine" (442).
He creates the image of pleasure and pain dealt together. I think that putting the two together, you don't take the beauty for granted unless you have a grasp of suffering. In his other odes, they seem to have a more positive aspect to the nightingale, and the urn, yet in this he seems to give more empathy to melancholy rather then beauty of nature.

Lord Byron ~*She Walks in Beauty*~

Lord Byron seems to have anger and agitation because of his early years with the disappearance of his father, his club foot, and mother who saw him as a perception of his father. He was able to become a Lord when he inherited his great-uncle's title.
In the poem She Walks in Beauty, Byron contrasts between light and darkness. He is amazed at this woman's beauty. The subject of his poem is his cousin whom he sees at a party wearing a radiant dress. This seems to be a love poem, but being his cousin, it kind of makes me confused of his feelings to her. It seems as if it is a love at first sight situation. He describes that her beauty on the outside reflect her internal beauty as well, "meet in her aspect and her eyes"(358). He puts details in every aspect of this woman from her cheeks to her smile.

Dorothy Wordsworth ~*Thoughts on My Sick-bed*~

Dorothy Wordsworth was sister to writer William Wordsworth. She was sent of to stay with distant relatives at a young age and not brought up around her four brothers. Dorothy were very close and lived together throughout many years of their lives. She seems to have an unstable emotional mind, and in her later years had undergone through series of illnesses.
In the poem Thoughts on My Sick-bed, I can get a sense that she has been having hard times, yet I was happy to see her appreciation in the beauty of the nature in the "sunny Spring" (293). She seems to forget her suffering now and remember when she was out of her sick-bed and able to interact outside with nature when she could walk the trails and hills. You get the sense of this all being a memory when she ends the poem with "and with Memory I was there"(294). She was free from being isolated in a room in her sick bed. She didn't need anything but the memory she had and she was able to gain happiness and appreciation. This gives high hopes when being in the worst situation but still being able to know that the world still is filled with wonderful things. Although I can sense her pain and struggle, I also sense a state of happiness in her mind.
Her writing includes many footnotes that all seem to relate to similar topics of William Wordsworth. The style seems to be similar and the essence of the topic of nature well fits both of them as Romantics.

William Wordsworth ~* Michael : a pastoral poem*~

William Wordswoth's life started off rough with the early absence of his parents. I was quite impressed that he was a highly respected writer by many. Also, it was interesting to find that his sister Dorthy had the same aspirations of writing, and that he collaborated with famous writer and companion Coleridge.
William Wordsworth fits well with the Romantics by focusing on the importance of nature in life. In Michael, he describes the life a shepherd, Michael, and his wife and only child. Early in the story he describes the scenery of the nature scene;
"for around that boisterous Brook
The mountains have all open'd out themselves,
And made a hidden valley of their own.
No habitation can be seen; but such
As journey thither find themselves alone
With a few sheep, with rocks and stones, and kites
That overhead are sailing in the sky (218).
Wordsworth describes Michael as a man that understands the importance of nature, "while I was yet a boy careless of books, yet having felt the power of nature, by the gentle agency of natural objects"(218). He was well of without the knowledge of books because he had a sense of nature.
The description seems as if they have an isolated little paradise hidden away from the corrupt city. The family seems to resemble a perfect family. The head of the household was "an old man, stout of heart, and strong of limb. His bodily frame had been from youth to age of an unusual strength; his mind was keen intense and frugal, apt for all affairs"(218). The wife was described as taking care of the house and performing her duties as if her " heart was in her house"(219). The son follows after his father duties of a shepherd, worked at his father's side everyday at a young age. Wordsworth seems to emphasize youth perhaps relating it to innocence when he mentions Luke's young age while following his father's footsteps, and Michael and Isabel appearing to have youth in their appearance and living longer than most do at their age.
Michael has a debt to pay, and can either sell his land or let Luke work it off in the city. At the age of eighteen he goes off into the corrupt city. The parents hope he will acquire prosperity in the city rather than become corrupted in which the "city gave himself to evil courses"(227). After being in the city, he no longer communicates with his parents, and this causes poor health to Michael. He no longer will keep the estate and the Evening Star was then sold and "strangers" would then replace the perfect family. Wordsworth emphasizes that the peaceful surroundings of their farm and nature setting creates innocence, while the city corrupts. I like how he shows the difference by comparing the closeness of the family of three while living together in the country, yet how Luke seems to slowly separates himself from the family and forgets to write and think about his parents while living in the city.

William Blake ~*The Little Black Boy*~

William Blake's interest was not only in poetry but in painting as well. He didn't have a formal education but had interest in reading English poetry, Biblical text, ancient languages, as well as the logic of philosophy, In The Little Black Boy, Black describes a young boy of African descent with dark skin which he describes as "a cloud, and like a shady grove"(80). He describes it not just as skin, but being "sun-burnt". Maybe the representation of the clouds, and being sun burnt makes the black boy close to the heavens and God. Later Blake says the white boys has not yet "learn'd the heat to bear"(81), which may represent the racial issue of the suffering of blacks and white authority. The little boy's mother tells him even though his skin is black, God will see him not as a black boy, but see his soul which is "white as an angel"(80), comparable to the English boy. Blake tells in the eyes of God all will be looked on as the same, and not regarded as the black boy or white boy but just a boy.
Looking at the paintings in color plate 6 and 7, Blake paints the black boy differently in the two. In the first one, you can distinguish him as the black boy, yet in color plate 7, he is made lighter, similar to the color of the English boy's skin. It looks as if Jesus is listening to the English boy's prayers, and directly associating with him with the little black boy to the side. He is still in his presence yet not yet fully acknowledged during the prayer by the white boy. The black boy believes he will be loved by the white boy as he caters to his side and simply "stroke his silver hair"(81).