Hardy describes Wessex as real but also as half dream. Explain the
importance of dreams, superstitions and the macabre in Hardy’s Wessex
Tales, paying particular attention to the ways in which these elements.
‘Hardy describes Wessex as “real” but also as “half dream”. Explain
the importance of dreams, superstitions and the macabre in Hardy’s
‘Wessex Tales’, paying particular attention to the ways in which these
elements of his work help articulate his views on life.
Thomas Hardy was born in a time of industrialisation and a time where
social hierarchy was the means of order. Hardy sometimes opposed these
ideas and so made his opinions through his literature. In ‘The
Withered Arm’, ‘The Superstitious Man’s Story’ and ‘Barbara and The
House of Grebe’, realism is a common genre, he uses this to cast a
‘real’ place with real people in our minds, at the beginning of his
books he has a put a map of Wessex County to make us familiar with the
stories adding to the realism of his literature. As well as that he
describes Wessex as ‘half-dream’. We see this in his stories when he
uses superstition, dreams and macabre to show that the stories are
unreal yet they all have something significant that lets the readers
feel the essence of the story - the morals that he sends us through
his writing. In the ‘Wessex Tales’ he uses these factors to articulate
his views on life. His stories that have a moral to them, usually show
human folly in times of despair, in ‘The Withered Arm’ you should not
let a physical abnormality take over your life. To survive and succeed
in the nineteenth century, superstition must not take over a person’s
life. All of the examined stories have Hardy’s view on life coming out
in different ways; he makes his opinion by creating different lives,
which have positive and negative effects on the reader.
In ‘The Withered Arm’ we meet Rhoda Brook, a rather tall and
‘handsome’ lady, who has ended a relationship with Farmer Lodge, who
has found a new wife, Gertrude, a ‘rosy-cheeked, tisty-tostie little
body.’ Rhoda a more aged woman has been dumped for more youthful and
vibrant lady. Rhoda’s jealousy grows more and more and has a very
perturbing dream, which brings out Hardy’s view on the psychological
effects on people.
In Rhoda’s dream, her tension and envy for Gertrude is let out in a
physical action. She ‘seized out on the confronting spectre by its
left obtrusive arm’. This incident is the basis for the story and we
see the downfall of both Rhoda’s but more so Gertrude’s character.
be biased or lie. We can see in the maps of Sailsbury and Hereford the
Heroes are found in every work of art. Whether it is in the television shows we watch, the movies we go to see, the poems and stories we learn about, the books we read, there is always someone or something defined as the hero of that piece. Is the hero always the good guy who defeats the evil? Or is it something more, something more meaningful. Not every story line has a good vs. evil and not every story has a defined l hero, but does that mean there is not heroism in those works? Heroism isn’t a list of actions or characteristics that someone or something could have. It is the morals behind every action, the attitude that defines the characteristics of the person; it is the person thinking about others before himself, the courage someone or something has to brace something difficult, the bravery of the hero when it comes face to face with a problem. In the readings Beowulf, Act of Courtly Love and The Wife of Bath from The Canterbury Tales heroism isn’t very present in all three. It shows itself more loudly then in some than others. Heroism is shown in different ways in all three readings.
When we are taken on the pilgrimage to Canterbury by Chaucer in the story “The Canterbury Tales” we are introduced to all classes of characters from every corner of life. The use of satire is used throughout the story and I believe it helps, it shows the stereotypical difference in class at his time of day. While keeping nothing from harm in “The Canterbury Tales” Chaucer takes a huge chance by mocking even the church. But did all the use of raunchy humor and everyday language really help him or did it make the story too much to read?
The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer, has gone through many adaptations. Some authors decided to translate the story into verse, while others chose to write the as a narrative in prose. Although all adaptations are based off the same story, they are vastly different and can be the result of opposing interpretations of the original work. After reading a text translated by Nevill Coghill (referred to as Version I) and a text translated into a narrative by a different author (referred to as Version II), it is obvious that for each similarity they share, there are many more differences in language, syntax, and imagery as well.
In The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer, the stereotypes and roles in society are reexamined and made new through the characters in the book. Chaucer discusses different stereotypes and separates his characters from the social norm by giving them highly ironic and/or unusual characteristics. Specifically, in the stories of The Wife of Bath and The Miller’s Tale, Chaucer examines stereotypes of women and men and attempts to define their basic wants and needs.
The epic poem Beowulf, is a work of fiction and was composed sometime between the middle of the seventh and the end of the tenth century of the first millennium, in the language today called Anglo- Saxon or Old English. This story is a heroic narrative, more than three thousand lines long, concerning the deeds of the Scandinavian prince, also called Beowulf, and it stands as one of the foundation works of poetry in English.
“Britain kept its position as the dominant world power well into the 20th century despite steady decline. By the end of World War II, dominance had shifted decisively into the hands of the upstart across the sea, the United States, by far the most powerful and wealthy society in world history,” quoted by Noam Chomsky. Chomsky is absolutely right, the people of Great Britain knew that Britain was declining and were forced to be optimistic of the 20th century. However, as history will tell it, the 20th century can be perceived as a century of death and misery. In Britain, their decline immediately halted ironically after the World Wars. Once Britain came out on top after the wars, they were once again recognized as one of the strongest countries in the world. Many poets, before
The Canterbury Tales is more than an amusing assortment of stories; it is an illustration of the society in which Geoffrey Chaucer lived. It portrays the culture and class system of the medieval ages in microcosm. Every strata of human life at the time were represented by the many characters whose tales are told. Each character’s basic human nature also plays a role in their stories, and each one has within them the strengths and weaknesses that make up all of humanity. Each character exemplifies their life and reputation through the stories they tell. The Pardoner uses his tale as a ploy to garner money. His tale embodies each deadly sin, and every reader can relate to his story and feel the guilt of his characters. The Wife of Bath’s tale expresses her own ideals in the way her character is given a second chance after committing a crime. The Franklin’s tale, because of its straightforwardness and honesty is a direct representation of the Franklin’s simple and joyful life. Each character tells a tale that is a suitable match to their personality. These characters’ tales represent prevalent themes of the middle ages, including greed, corruption of religious clergymen, violence, revenge, and social status. In Chaucer’s society, the traditional feudal system was losing its importance and the middle class began to emerge. The middle class characters within the Canterbury Tales, with their personal lives and interactions with members of differing social classes, gave an understanding of the growth of society, especially the rising middle class, during medieval times.
The setting or settings in a novel are often an important element in the work. Many novels use contrasting places such as cities or towns, to represent opposing forces or ideas that are central to the meaning of the work. In Thomas Hardy's novel, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, the contrasting settings of Talbothays Dairy and Flintcomb-Ash represent the opposing forces of good and evil in Tess' life.
J.B. Harley, "Maps, Knowledge, and Power," in The Iconography of Landscape, ed. Denis Cosgrove and Stephen Daniels, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988: 289-90.
If one has ever read the General Prologue of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, they will find the attitude of Chaucer to be very opinionated and complex toward the members of the clergy. Some of the clergy consists of the Monk, the Prioress (also known as the nun), and the Friar. Chaucer has gone into depth of each one of these members in each section of the Prologue. From reading each section and analyzes his attitude towards each member, it is portrayed that Chaucer has a complex attitude of appreciation and dishonesty towards the members of the clergy.
One of the most recognized attribute of Chaucer’s narrative was the ability to create characters that embodied features distant from the fiction, making them very real and believable through the writing. To verify this statement it is necessary to examine Chaucer’s work. The most celebrated of them is the collection of stories "The Canterbury Tales" (originally written in Middle English) which were the last work of Geoffrey Chaucer and perhaps the best of the middle ages in England. Therefore, for literary reasons, three characters were taken for an analysis to distinguish the level of transcendence recognized (if any) in their inner and outer lives.
The claim being discussed here is that the only way a map or a way of representing things can be useful is if it simplifies the knowledge that the actual territory gives, that is, if it reduces the salient i...
The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer, was written in the 14th Century during the Hundred Years War. Each of the characters was made to represent one of the 7 sins. In Paradise Lost, written by John Milton, every character has a direct connection to an earthly comfort. Both stories are written with the intent to teach its readers; however, Paradise Lost was written in in the 17th century, which means the writing style and the social standard on what the difference is between right and wrong, and how salvation is received is very different.
Over the course of the semester, this British Literature course has adequately exposed myself to a variety of works of differing styles coming from a millennium of English authors and poets. With this literary immersion, some works have proved more memorable than others. Out of these select few, I hope to choose the literary work which demonstrates the greatest combination of entertainment and morals for future readers to take away from the text. After some deliberation, I found the solution obvious, as I had to write about Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. While in reflection of the readings this semester, I could not deny that Chaucer’s collection should be preserved as the author succeeded what his stories were meant to accomplish: to “delight and instruct”. With the alluring variety of characters and entertaining situations which are described in well-chosen detail, each story provided by the pilgrims. Additionally, as each of the chosen tales (as stated in the course reading syllabus) provided a lesson that is still relevant after five centuries, the “instruction” comes from these universal morals. Therefore, in the