Reading this week "The Artist as a Tragic Hero in 'The Picture of Dorian Gray" was a bit slow for me. Not due to the work in general, but because I much prefer the weeks where we're discussing the actual novel, rather than the literary analysis. Henry Allen made a lot of references to other dramas/plays/works that mostly I haven’t read, so I did get lost in those areas a few times. I did, however, really enjoy reading so much in depth on the character of Basil Hallward. While reading the novel, I found Basil to be my favorite character and was heartbroken when I learned his fate. Henry Allen offered a lot of insight to this character that interested me.
It was obvious from the text that Basil was completely in love with Dorian and it think it was this never-ending plight of his to save his ‘beloved’ from moral doom that endears him to me. He seemed to be the only voice of reason, and the one who ultimately suffered the most.
I was in agreement with Allen's theory that Oscar Wilde put a lot of his own character into that of Basil Hallward. It's easy to make connections between the two men- both being ‘artists’ in a sense, plagued by desires that they weren’t allowed to have, or “love that dare not speak its name”.
I was intrigued by Wilde’s son Vyvyan Holland’s words at the end of Allen’s work, where he was quoted,
“the tragedy of Oscar Wilde ranks with most other great historical tragedies, which are mainly brought about by the stupidity of pompous and self important people”
And also,
“The worst aspects of Victorian hypocrisy have now disappeared, and today my father would not have been hounded to his death as he was fifty years ago. The self-righteousness of that age was really camouflage to disguise its own hypocrisy, and the people who were loudest in their condemnation of my father were often those whose own lives could least bear investigation. Nothing makes the transgressor so indignant as the transgressions, of a different kind, of his fellow-men; except, perhaps transgressions of the same kind.”
I thought these comments were very powerful, considering the time period when they were given. Granted it was fifty years later, but I still feel like he maybe was being too optimistic when he said “today my father would not have been hounded to his death as he was fifty years ago”. I say this because I honestly don’t feel like that much progress has been made even now towards better acceptance of different lifestyles. The implications he’s suggesting about men judging men will never be abolished. There will never be universal acceptance because there will always be a ‘social norm’ that people will be expected to follow. In the time of Oscar Wilde, his flamboyant lifestyle (although he was married) was not tolerated and ultimately triggered his downfall. While he might not be persecuted so literally in modern times, he would still not be free from judgment.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Wow- where to begin with this story? In past blogs and comments, I’ve written on my opinion that a lot of stories are overanalyzed and pulled apart too much, but The Picture of Dorian Gray is one that I can justify that practice. There’s SO much that can be taken from this text! I really don’t think I will be able to even organize my thoughts as well as I would like to this week- I wish I had a little more time!
First, I want to say that I really enjoyed the novel and all of the social implications it presented. Next, I can’t help but contrast it with last week’s Carmilla. In a way, this novel is similar, yet opposite- in how Carmilla boasted predominately strong female characters with (as many people inferred) homosexual undertones, while The Portrait of Dorian Gray offers the same, just in male characters. In Carmilla I was hesitant to place a “lesbian” label on the relationships, but I feel the homosexual theme is highly present this week. You can’t help but easily see this in the strong attractions that both Basil and Lord Henry had for Dorian (though Basil’s appears to be stronger, as Lord Henry’s attraction seems to be more of curiosity and excitement on his ability to influence such an oddly good looking and seemingly innocent young man) One quote that helps to solidify this idea is in Chapter 5 when Lord Henry is asking Basil how often he sees Dorian, to which he replies, “Every day. I couldn’t be happy if I didn’t see him everyday. He is absolutely necessary to me.” On this subject, I have to connect the presence of homosexuality with its presence in the author’s own life. You don’t have to search long and hard to come up with evidence of a strong gay influence in Oscar Wilde’s life. He famously was sentenced to two years of hard labor after being convicted of “gross indecency” with a male friend in 1895. Reading just a brief biography of Wilde, I see many similarities between him and Lord Henry (and in turn, Dorian himself, since Dorian was very much formed by Lord Henry’s influence).
In the latter half of the novel when things take such a macabre turn, I couldn’t help but to draw my mind to some Edgar Allan Poe works. The whole guilt factor Dorian has, from the way he sees the corruptness of his soul reflected on the painting, to his reactions after Sybil’s death, then his murder of Basil and paranoia immediately following just screamed “The Tell Tale Heart” to me. I suppose drawing these connections can easily done because they’re both very much gothic works, but for me, it seemed especially strong.
Overall, I feel like I’m in over my head with the moral and social innuendos that Wilde presents with this story. I can definitely see them, but am at a loss as to how to best elaborate on them. I look forward to reading everyone’s blogs this week to get a broader view on the class’s perspectives, as I’m sure they will be interesting. I know I’m leaving off more points that I wanted to get into. As I read, I came across so many topics that I planned to discuss in this blog but I’m now a little disappointed in myself for not writing them down so I could remember! I’m sure they will come flooding back to me as I read the rest of the blogs, or next week while reading the literary analysis, so at least I know I’ll have more to comment on!
First, I want to say that I really enjoyed the novel and all of the social implications it presented. Next, I can’t help but contrast it with last week’s Carmilla. In a way, this novel is similar, yet opposite- in how Carmilla boasted predominately strong female characters with (as many people inferred) homosexual undertones, while The Portrait of Dorian Gray offers the same, just in male characters. In Carmilla I was hesitant to place a “lesbian” label on the relationships, but I feel the homosexual theme is highly present this week. You can’t help but easily see this in the strong attractions that both Basil and Lord Henry had for Dorian (though Basil’s appears to be stronger, as Lord Henry’s attraction seems to be more of curiosity and excitement on his ability to influence such an oddly good looking and seemingly innocent young man) One quote that helps to solidify this idea is in Chapter 5 when Lord Henry is asking Basil how often he sees Dorian, to which he replies, “Every day. I couldn’t be happy if I didn’t see him everyday. He is absolutely necessary to me.” On this subject, I have to connect the presence of homosexuality with its presence in the author’s own life. You don’t have to search long and hard to come up with evidence of a strong gay influence in Oscar Wilde’s life. He famously was sentenced to two years of hard labor after being convicted of “gross indecency” with a male friend in 1895. Reading just a brief biography of Wilde, I see many similarities between him and Lord Henry (and in turn, Dorian himself, since Dorian was very much formed by Lord Henry’s influence).
In the latter half of the novel when things take such a macabre turn, I couldn’t help but to draw my mind to some Edgar Allan Poe works. The whole guilt factor Dorian has, from the way he sees the corruptness of his soul reflected on the painting, to his reactions after Sybil’s death, then his murder of Basil and paranoia immediately following just screamed “The Tell Tale Heart” to me. I suppose drawing these connections can easily done because they’re both very much gothic works, but for me, it seemed especially strong.
Overall, I feel like I’m in over my head with the moral and social innuendos that Wilde presents with this story. I can definitely see them, but am at a loss as to how to best elaborate on them. I look forward to reading everyone’s blogs this week to get a broader view on the class’s perspectives, as I’m sure they will be interesting. I know I’m leaving off more points that I wanted to get into. As I read, I came across so many topics that I planned to discuss in this blog but I’m now a little disappointed in myself for not writing them down so I could remember! I’m sure they will come flooding back to me as I read the rest of the blogs, or next week while reading the literary analysis, so at least I know I’ll have more to comment on!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
"Gothic's Enigmatic Signifier: The Case of J. Sheridan Le Fanu's 'Carmilla'"
“Gothic’s Enigmatic Signifier: The Case of J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s ‘Carmilla’” by Michael Davis brought up some interesting points of view for me. To be honest, the first few pages I found myself glazing over while attempting to absorb what I could from the reading. A little ways in, however, I started having a much easier time understanding what the author was conveying. After I was able to fully launch myself into the paper, I found that Davis makes quite a few interesting points and presents theories about the novella that I had not considered. The topic he brings up that really caught my eye was that of the absence of Laura’s mother- which I will be focusing on in this blog.
In this article, Davis’s zeroing in on the absence of Laura’s mother and how this effects the story opened my eyes to the possibilities Le Fanu leaves for speculation. Without a mother in her life, Laura unknowingly has a void that Carmilla uses to her advantage. Carmilla attempts to gain favor with Laura at first, through presenting herself as that loving, maternal link Laura is missing. Although Laura has been brought up by Madame Peredon, who supplies her with a mother-like substitute, Davis theorizes that Laura does indeed subconsciously remembers the actual bonded relationship with her mother and is missing it. I liked the quote from the story that Davis uses to introduce the reader to Carmilla’s first attempts at gaining Laura’s devotion and trust in a maternal way, which was:
“Her murmured words sounded like a lullaby in my ear, and soothed my resistance into a trance, from which I only seemed to recover myself when she withdrew her arms.”
Here, Carmilla is tapping into Laura’s weaknesses by exploiting her lack of a mother. Carmilla easily can see that this is a good tactic to magnetize herself to these girls, as we also learned how she bewitches General Spielsdorf’s niece, who is also mother-less.
Davis continues the subject by suggesting that by presenting herself as a motherly figure, Carmilla is able to broach the loving, soothing side as well as the darker and more fearful aspects of the relationships. By showing herself as this figure the girls have been longing for- one who will provide them with such an enthralling and captivating array of emotions that they had never experienced- the comfort and deep attachments- Carmilla is able to expose them to her strange and troubling traits, that would normally scare anyone away. Because the girls are so drawn to the positive, they are able to overlook the negative. This is a method Davis describes as “good mother” or “bad mother” when he writes,
“The ambivalence Laura experiences towards ‘the demonic shadow mother’ is, as I have already suggested, the result of a split between that which she comprehends, the soothing caresses of the ‘good’ mother or ‘good’ breast, and that which, untranslated, sinks into the unconscious to remain there as an ‘encysted’, troubling and potentially traumatic enigma- the other side of the split: the ‘bad’ mother or ‘bad’ breast."
Going along with the importance of a maternal theme in the story, Davis also makes a note of mentioning the opposite, paternal relationship factors towards the end of the article. I liked how he tied this factor in, as I think it does deserve a mention. Here, Le Fanu depicts Laura’s father and General Speilsdorf as being somewhat typical male characters- strongly devoted and protective. Although they tried with all of their physical might to protect their daughters (or niece in General Spielsdorf’s case) they were not able to protect them emotionally. Obviously- Bertha did not survive the encounter with Carmilla at all, so General Spielsdorf’s efforts were in vain, but he was able to fulfill his goal of “avenging” her death by bringing an end to the threat of the vampires. Laura’s father was able to help in the assassination of Millarca, but the emotional trauma Laura experienced will remain with her forever, regardless of any protection her father yearns to provide her with.
All in all, although, as mentioned earlier, I found the article hard to muster through at the very beginning, I ultimately ended up engrossed in it and all the theories that Davis presented. I enjoyed how his writing got me to think more analytically and to put more into dissecting the story and asking “why?” This allowed me to start making connections that I would not have made otherwise.
In this article, Davis’s zeroing in on the absence of Laura’s mother and how this effects the story opened my eyes to the possibilities Le Fanu leaves for speculation. Without a mother in her life, Laura unknowingly has a void that Carmilla uses to her advantage. Carmilla attempts to gain favor with Laura at first, through presenting herself as that loving, maternal link Laura is missing. Although Laura has been brought up by Madame Peredon, who supplies her with a mother-like substitute, Davis theorizes that Laura does indeed subconsciously remembers the actual bonded relationship with her mother and is missing it. I liked the quote from the story that Davis uses to introduce the reader to Carmilla’s first attempts at gaining Laura’s devotion and trust in a maternal way, which was:
“Her murmured words sounded like a lullaby in my ear, and soothed my resistance into a trance, from which I only seemed to recover myself when she withdrew her arms.”
Here, Carmilla is tapping into Laura’s weaknesses by exploiting her lack of a mother. Carmilla easily can see that this is a good tactic to magnetize herself to these girls, as we also learned how she bewitches General Spielsdorf’s niece, who is also mother-less.
Davis continues the subject by suggesting that by presenting herself as a motherly figure, Carmilla is able to broach the loving, soothing side as well as the darker and more fearful aspects of the relationships. By showing herself as this figure the girls have been longing for- one who will provide them with such an enthralling and captivating array of emotions that they had never experienced- the comfort and deep attachments- Carmilla is able to expose them to her strange and troubling traits, that would normally scare anyone away. Because the girls are so drawn to the positive, they are able to overlook the negative. This is a method Davis describes as “good mother” or “bad mother” when he writes,
“The ambivalence Laura experiences towards ‘the demonic shadow mother’ is, as I have already suggested, the result of a split between that which she comprehends, the soothing caresses of the ‘good’ mother or ‘good’ breast, and that which, untranslated, sinks into the unconscious to remain there as an ‘encysted’, troubling and potentially traumatic enigma- the other side of the split: the ‘bad’ mother or ‘bad’ breast."
Going along with the importance of a maternal theme in the story, Davis also makes a note of mentioning the opposite, paternal relationship factors towards the end of the article. I liked how he tied this factor in, as I think it does deserve a mention. Here, Le Fanu depicts Laura’s father and General Speilsdorf as being somewhat typical male characters- strongly devoted and protective. Although they tried with all of their physical might to protect their daughters (or niece in General Spielsdorf’s case) they were not able to protect them emotionally. Obviously- Bertha did not survive the encounter with Carmilla at all, so General Spielsdorf’s efforts were in vain, but he was able to fulfill his goal of “avenging” her death by bringing an end to the threat of the vampires. Laura’s father was able to help in the assassination of Millarca, but the emotional trauma Laura experienced will remain with her forever, regardless of any protection her father yearns to provide her with.
All in all, although, as mentioned earlier, I found the article hard to muster through at the very beginning, I ultimately ended up engrossed in it and all the theories that Davis presented. I enjoyed how his writing got me to think more analytically and to put more into dissecting the story and asking “why?” This allowed me to start making connections that I would not have made otherwise.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Carmilla
Carmilla, by Sheridan LeFanu, was a very enjoyable novella for me, as I must admit; I’ve found myself caught up in the surge of fanatical worship of all things vampire related these days. I’ve read quite a few books on the subject in the past year or two, but I think I really enjoyed Carmilla because it brought it back to the roots of the lore. The novella to me seemed to be more authentic and archetypal than any of the stories I’ve enjoyed recently.
The story made me interested in finding out just how vampire folklore fits into Irish Literature. I was curious as to whether or not the subject was common for the country, as I couldn’t think of any other obvious examples. I was surprised to learn that Bram Stoker, who most famously created the tale of Dracula, was actually Irish as well. I realized that I had never given thought to what Bram Stoker’s ethnicity was, but I would not have pegged him as Irish, though I have no explanations why.
Through my explorations into the subject, I see that vampires really were not very prevalent in Irish literature, although there are a few tales to be found, as well as a notable use of vampire imagery in James Joyce’s Ulysses.
Focusing on the Carmilla work, there are many parts of the story that intrigued me. Although it was written almost a century and a half ago, I found it very easy to follow. In my experience, many stories dating back to the later nineteenth century can be hard to relate to or read without having to stop and check vocabulary or wording. This was not the case for me this time. I was able to breeze right through the story- finishing it in one sitting (although it is not too difficult of a feat, considering the length of it). I found myself being able to see the story though Laura’s eyes. When many of the young women of the area were succumbing to this mysterious illness and Laura worried that perhaps a plague was upon them, it made me really imagine being alive in those times, when plagues were not just something we read about in history lessons, but a harsh reality.
One thing the story leaves me wanting of an explanation was- who were the accomplices who set up the situations where Carmilla (or Millarca) was left with the unsuspecting families? Who was the woman who pretended to be her mother, or the elderly black woman in the carriage after it was righted? Maybe these relations were explained, but if they were, I must have missed it. At first, I imagined that they were also vampires, and they all worked together, but according to the story, upon the desecration of Mircalla Karnstein’s body, the region was relieved of the mysterious attacks that were ultimately explained by the vampire activity.
Overall, I was genuinely entertained with the story of Carmilla and wish there was more to it! It kept me on my toes and my emotions heightened throughout its entirety. Not only was I rooting for Laura to figure out the cause of her ailments and to overcome the threat, but I also in ways found myself liking Carmilla and hoping she would somehow change her vampiric ways! (if that’s possible!) In truth, I held a very American attitude I suppose, hoping that she could be “rehabilitated” and reintroduced to society as a non-threat, ha ha. In the end though, I understood that she had to be destroyed and peace restored to the region, but I was left feeling that the story left a door open to further exploits if the author had so chosen to explore.
The story made me interested in finding out just how vampire folklore fits into Irish Literature. I was curious as to whether or not the subject was common for the country, as I couldn’t think of any other obvious examples. I was surprised to learn that Bram Stoker, who most famously created the tale of Dracula, was actually Irish as well. I realized that I had never given thought to what Bram Stoker’s ethnicity was, but I would not have pegged him as Irish, though I have no explanations why.
Through my explorations into the subject, I see that vampires really were not very prevalent in Irish literature, although there are a few tales to be found, as well as a notable use of vampire imagery in James Joyce’s Ulysses.
Focusing on the Carmilla work, there are many parts of the story that intrigued me. Although it was written almost a century and a half ago, I found it very easy to follow. In my experience, many stories dating back to the later nineteenth century can be hard to relate to or read without having to stop and check vocabulary or wording. This was not the case for me this time. I was able to breeze right through the story- finishing it in one sitting (although it is not too difficult of a feat, considering the length of it). I found myself being able to see the story though Laura’s eyes. When many of the young women of the area were succumbing to this mysterious illness and Laura worried that perhaps a plague was upon them, it made me really imagine being alive in those times, when plagues were not just something we read about in history lessons, but a harsh reality.
One thing the story leaves me wanting of an explanation was- who were the accomplices who set up the situations where Carmilla (or Millarca) was left with the unsuspecting families? Who was the woman who pretended to be her mother, or the elderly black woman in the carriage after it was righted? Maybe these relations were explained, but if they were, I must have missed it. At first, I imagined that they were also vampires, and they all worked together, but according to the story, upon the desecration of Mircalla Karnstein’s body, the region was relieved of the mysterious attacks that were ultimately explained by the vampire activity.
Overall, I was genuinely entertained with the story of Carmilla and wish there was more to it! It kept me on my toes and my emotions heightened throughout its entirety. Not only was I rooting for Laura to figure out the cause of her ailments and to overcome the threat, but I also in ways found myself liking Carmilla and hoping she would somehow change her vampiric ways! (if that’s possible!) In truth, I held a very American attitude I suppose, hoping that she could be “rehabilitated” and reintroduced to society as a non-threat, ha ha. In the end though, I understood that she had to be destroyed and peace restored to the region, but I was left feeling that the story left a door open to further exploits if the author had so chosen to explore.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Intro Time
Here's where we get to know each other! My name is Joy and I'm currently a Sophomore at UWM, majoring in Elementary Education. I'm 24 years old and just returned to school this past fall after a 4 year hiatus. I'm sure it would be much more exciting if I could say I spent that time backpacking through Europe (I'm sure it would have helped me out in this class at the very least) but in reality I spent it in the United States Army (which was a whole different experience!!) I must say I learned a lot about myself through those years and will never regret that time. I spent most of it stationed in Virginia on a tiny post called Ft. Story. I also did a 15 month tour in Iraq and that was where I celebrated my 22nd and 23rd birthdays. Long story short, I completed my enlistment and moved back home to Milwaukee where I was born and raised. I have a fairly large family of 4 sisters (one being my twin) and 7 nieces and nephews. I have no kids myself and no immediate plans for any, but I couldn't imagine my future not including a few.
I signed up for this course specifically because I have no background in Irish literature or history- or anything -and I would love to learn more. I'm always open to discovering new cultures and finding out new perspectives. In general I enjoy reading most anything, so why not zero in on a specific theme? It's very hard for me to chose a favorite novel, just as it's hard for me to pick a favorite movie, song, etc. I'm always stumped when asked a question like that because I tend to like so many that I can't bring one specific example to mind to tout above the rest. I suppose to pull one from recent memory, I could say I really enjoyed reading The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. The novel revolves around the construction of a cathedral in medieval England. Although it may sound pretty boring by my description (sorry!) it pulled me in. This probably happened because I'm very much a history buff.
As far as my expectations of a novel- I try not too have many. This way it's easy not to be dissapointed if the story doesn't fit into a specific mold. I do need it to be something that can keep me enthralled though. It's hard to keep going if it doesn't grab my interest somehow.
My history with English classes have been basic through high school and then Creative Writing and Amerian Literature up to 1900 while here at UWM. In the American literature course, we read short stories and poems from some of the earliest American authors, starting with Christopher Columbus (Letters), up to Herman Melville and Emily Dickinson. I feel this class will be different because it seems we will be spending more time on fewer works and dissecting them as a whole, rather than covering a lot of material with just a brief overview and introduction to each.
My background in Irish literature is non-existant, as I stated before, but I know that my experiences through previous literature courses and literary explorations outside of the classroom will provide me with an interesting perspective. On the opposite end, maybe my lack of background will enable me to share a fresh and unbiased opinion to our future discussions? I suppose time will tell.
I belong to a few online communites, as I'm sure most UWM students do. I have accounts with Facebook, Myspace and Livejournal (although I must admit, Facebook has somewhat bullied it's way into being my top priority as far as these sites are concerned and the other two accounts have been sadly neglected these days) I find Facebook to be very useful to me, since I've made friends with so many people from different backgounds who are in all different parts of the world at any given moment and it's great to have a medium that allows us all to still stay connected. Since it's my most visited site, I'll also post it as my link to share:
http://www.facebook.com/
It's also hard or me to chose one place I would like to go, since I want to visit so many!! My goal is to visit as many places as I can before I die, although I'm off to a slow start. Staying with the mindset of HAVING to chose one option, I would go with anywhere in Italy. To share what I've already been able to see, I'm posting this picture I took at Dair Mar Elia Monastery in Mosul, Iraq (taken on that 22nd birthday I mentioned earlier!) The picture doesn't really give the grandest impression, but for me it was amazing to be able to walk through it. The monastery was built in 595 AD, the oldest Christian monastery in Iraq. It was breathtaking for me just to be in the midst of so much history.
Youtube- this took me forever. I wanted to share something amazingly groundbreaking or fall on the ground funny, but it just didn't happen. Anything I really found funny probably wouldn't have been appropriate, so I thought I would look for something that was Irish related- that was a massive failure. So as it ends, I've forced these dancing monkeys upon you all and beg your forgiveness (they're good for at least a LITTLE chuckle, right?) I'm not as tech-saavy as I would like to be, so I'm not sure if I'm doing this right. To cover all bases, I'm going to post the URL and the embeded code, so the video should at least be accesible in some way...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44Y-_JAjAwE
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