The Lady of Shallot

Indeed John H. Hagan explains that in Pip’s ‘lonely struggle to work out his salvation, he is atoning for the guilt of society at large. In learning to rise above selfishness, to attain to a selfless love for Magwitch, he brings to an end the chain of evil that was first forged by the selfish Compeyson’ (Hagan 7). The implication is that Dickens wants us to see beyond the stereotypes of criminals and the poor. To conclude both texts have different ways of evaluating the effects of social and economic conditions on the individual. The historical context of the Industrial Revolution and the rise of capitalism are central in both, with the resulting gulf between rich and poor a concern for Dickens and Wells.

Great Expectations – Charles Dickens ‘Great expectations’ is a novel written by Charles Dickens. He was interested in bringing about change and his novels dealt with such topics as justice and punishment, the widening gap between the rich and poor and so on. He believed that the divisions between the classes had produced a diseased and unhealthy society. During the Victorian society, women suffered many disadvantages. Women were dependent on men, unless they were rich.

Matthew Arnold’s Poetry: The Voice of Victorian “Longing like Despair” John Stuart Mill defined the Victorian Era as “an age of transition”, where “Mankind will not be led by their old maxims, nor by their old guides.” Other contemporary minds saw in this transition the main source of profound intellectual and moral confusion, “that may validly be described as a crisis of personal identity.” (R. A. Forsyth) The poet and Victorian literary and social critic Matthew Arnold distinctly expresses his age’s deepest anxieties, rising from a world being utterly redefined by industrialisation. Much of his poetry is infused with intense personal and emotional discussions of love and loneliness, which spring the rising feeling of isolation and alienation. His writings respond to the disintegration of the traditional Christian social order and to the Victorian human condition. Arnold’s voice is one of despair, although it is also one of longing; one that seeks comfort in intimate companionship. “To Marguerite: Continued” (1852) and “Isolation: To Marguerite” (1857) are primarily love poems where Arnold expresses his struggle with personal isolation and his hope in the potential remedying power of love.

However, Jack takes this trivial piece of history and treats himself as if he were the richest man alive. This idea of wealth without working hurts Tess and her family throughout the novel. Her family and their working class lifestyle are representative of the struggles of the working class in England. The fictional country of Wessex, where Tess and her family lived, was intended to show trials and tribulations of the rural people during the industrial revolution and social dislocation (Ghosh 6474). The industrial revolution caused problems for many of the people of Dorset, Hardy’s native land.

The poem Incidents upon Salisbury Plain (otherwise known as Guilt and Sorrow) is a prime example of Wordsworth’s political visions of revolution for social equality, being weaved into his poetry. In the poem, Wordsworth writes of a society wrought with war and the misery experienced by a vagrant woman and wandering soldier. The poem captures a sense of despair, loneliness and disillusionment - no doubt a poetic representation of how it felt to live in a time of civil unrest. It could be said that the wanderer is comparable to the lower class, displaced without care, constantly searching for a sense of belonging. Wordsworth effectively exposes the isolation and despondency of the working class in the sense of dejection portrayed by the protagonists.

However, Victorian has its perks, for example they were biased, contradictory, pretense, they cared a lot of about what economic or social rank a person is, and people were not allowed to express their sexuality. Oscar Wilde was seen as an icon of the Victorian age. In his plays and writings, he uses wit, intelligence and humor. Because of his sexuality he suffered substantially the humiliation and embarrassment of imprisonment. He was married and had an affair with a man, which back then was an act of vulgarity and grossness.

The ambitious lives of the characters within Hardy’s novels like Jude and Tess usually end fatally; as they attempt to break away from the constraints of their class, thus, depicting Hardy’s view upon the transition between classes. Hardy valued lower class morals and traditions, it is apparent through reading Tess that her struggles are evidently permeated through the social sufferings of the working class. A central theme running throughout Hardy’s novels is the decline of old families. It is said Hardy himself traced the Dorset Hardy’s lineage and found once they were of great i... ... middle of paper ... ...erge of destruction a new age is beginning in which Tess and her friends are replaced by machine. Hardy’s novels are ultimately permeated upon his own examination of the contemporary world surrounding him, Tess’s life battles are ultimately foreshadowed by the condemnation of her working class background, which is uniquely explored throughout the text.

Through a comparative study of similar ideas, texts may become highly contrasted and their differing contexts highlighted. The critically acclaimed prose ‘The Great Gatsby’ written by F Scott Fitzgerald, and renown ‘Sonnets of the Portuguese’, composed by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, both extensively explore parallel themes of love and hope. The Great Gatsby was created as a criticism of the growing materialism and superficiality caused by the disillusionment following World War I, in an endeavor to achieve the fabled American Dream. On the other hand, SOTP, were written during the Victorian era in a time of rigid societal values, especially toward women, to lament the slowly fading tradition of substantiality. Through the ideas of love and

Alexander Pope’s The Rape of the Lock is a satirical poem that features a theme of gender roles. Throughout the poem, Pope uses his protagonist Belinda, to poke fun at the superficial nature of aristocratic women. He focuses on the ritual of womanhood and approaches it like a trivial matter, and her reaction to the offence is hysterical. Through this portrayal, he reveals that the Baron has a childish quality in his need for revenge for Belinda’s stab at his ego. The speaker’s view does come across as misogynistic, but the woman is trying to stand her ground in a society dominated by men.

The Lady of Shalott and Industrialized Misery Alfred Lord Tennyson, one of the mid-Victorian's most celebrated poets of the time, was genius in "eloquently presenting the anxieties and aspirations of his era" (Longman  p. 1909). Trademarks of Victorian life included questioning faith, the Bible, the past, and the self. More and more people were interested in the industry of man rather than the uniqueness of nature, and progress of society proved that man was made to dominate and take everything for himself. Tennyson greatly recognized this trend as "he called attention to the industrialized misery and revolutionary anger of the poor" (Longman p. 1909-08) produced by the industrial progress in the mid-1800s. He noticed that as people delved into improving society, they at the same time lost their sense of humanity and innocence as they sped up industry and the making of material wealth for the well to-do.