Victorian literature

Tess of the D’Ubervilles by Thomas Hardy

Published on March 21, 2013 | 5 Responses

My first Thomas Hardy novel was simply fantastic. Emotionally poignant but also socially resonant, Tess of the D’Ubervilles provides an intriguing story about Victorian social and sexual hypocrisy through characters with clear flaws to recognize and appreciate. And yet, although it was clearly a commentary on the social structures and sexual morality in Victorian England, Hardy never once lectured or made his novel about those issues. At first and last glance, the book is a tender one about one poor woman and those who associate with her.

Note: this post contains spoilers for the entire novel.
(more…)

Poor Miss Finch by Wilkie Collins (brief thoughts)

Published on December 18, 2012 | 2 Responses

Ah, my Wilkie! It is so nice to come back to your familiar voice!

Except no two narrators in Wilkie Collins’ novels have the same voice. It is one of Collins’ masterpieces of talent that he creates unforgettable narrators with personality and voice. His novels are such a delightful comfort read for me because they are so full of life and personality. I love a good Victorian novel, and Wilkie Collins’ sensation novels are a perfect escape.

In Poor Miss Finch, the narrator is Madame Protolungo, a widowed French woman, true to the memory of her Republican husband. She is living in England and as the novel begins, she is beginning new employment as a lady’s companion to a wealthy young woman who happens to be blind. Lucilla Finch is the daughter of the rector of Dimchurch, but due to complicated circumstances she lives independently from her father with her own fortune. When she falls in love with a young man named Oscar and a surgery is discovered that may help her regain her sight, she wants to under go the surgery at any cost so she can see her adored lover. But when Oscar’s identical twin brother Nugent arrives in Dimchurch, Lucilla’s situation is confused with humorous and sensational (of course) results!

Wilkie Collins introduces a number of fascinating and memorable characters in Poor Miss Finch: the conceited Rector, the milky mother (Mrs. Finch) of nearly a dozen youngsters, Madame Prolungo, Herr Grosse the optician, and more. Further, he creates a love triangle and a situation that is page-turning. I’ve been reading lots of more serious nonfiction lately, so reading a book full of sensational characters, situations, and exaggerations was just what I needed. Although I could look at it more deeply (think of the significance of Dimchurch versus the seaside in terms of Lucilla’s vision, for one obvious example), I chose to read this just for fun. And it was!

Poor Miss Finch, while possibly not as complex as Armadale or The Woman in White, is still a Wilkie Collins classic with delightful characters and a fun plot. I am glad I read it this fall!

Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray (Brief Thoughts)

Published on July 18, 2012 | 8 Responses

I read Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackery (first published 1848) over the course of four months, and then I’ve been delaying writing my thoughts about it for more than two weeks. My hesitation to post about it now is related to the fact that this master tome of Victorian literature is well deserving of a series of posts and deeper reflection. I am comforted by the fact that I’m certain to reread Vanity Fair at some point, and I hope I do so at a time when I am better able to reflect upon on it via this blog.

Vanity Fair is at any moment both serious and silly, a satire of early Victorian society’s obsession with appearance, wealth, and comfort. Although Becky Sharp, the Crawleys, the Osbournes, and the Sedleys provide a microcosm of sorts of Victorian society, the satire feels like a universal one, and frequently I found myself smiling at the ways I saw modern society in the midst of the story.

The title comes from John Bunyan’s 1600s Christian allegory Pilgrim’s Progress, the town of the same name being a representation of the people who live in sin because they’ve succumbed to the temptations of vanity. In Thackeray’s novel, Becky Sharp represents the social mover who understands the system. She is an orphan determined to rise above her lower class upbringing, yet all the while scandalizing society by her own expectations for herself. In some respects, she lacks any sense of right or wrong: she uses the vanities of everyone to get what she wants. Her friend Amelia Sedley is almost annoyingly innocent of anyone’s true character, and faces the opposite issues: she cannot understand how to meet her needs in the midst of society. As the girls grow from 18 years old to middle aged, they face similar issues in very different ways.

I’ll keep this brief because there is no way I can capture in one single post the plot of this nearly 1000 page novel, the overarching feelings that come from submersing one’s self in the world of the characters over months, or both the frustrations and delight that comes from reading of the successes and failures of the characters. In some respects Vanity Fair is full of characters that I didn’t like at all. And yet, as I read of their vanities and delights, frustrations and successes, I couldn’t help seeing all of the rest of us in them.

Thackeray’s sarcastic narration and occasional opinions of the situations gave the book additional depth and humor. I cannot help reflecting that yes, Vanity Fair is well deserving of the designation as one of the best Victorian novels there is. It certainly is a perfect example of satire, and the complexities in character and plot make it a true delight to read.

I cannot wait to reread it some day!

P.S. Don’t watch the Reese Witherspoon movie! It completely misses the point in character, and lacks the biting satire that the novel provides. A big disappointment.

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Published on June 25, 2012 | 6 Responses

Heart of Darkness (1902) by Joseph Conrad is considered by many to be one of the best novels written in the English language, a fact made all the more remarkable to me by the fact that Joseph Conrad wrote in not his first or second language but his third language, a language he learned after age 21. I would certainly agree that Conrad’s command of English is commendable. His writing is complex and his ability to create scene and convey emotion through mere words is truly remarkable.

The subject matter of his esteemed novella is more difficult for me to praise and relate to. A scathing critique of colonialism, Heart of Darkness can be read as both an exposé of the evils of imperialism and a rebuke of the hypocrisy of the Victorian morals. Further, it portrays an intensely negative view of human nature as purely self-interested and ignorant to the needs of others. It is a deeply uncomfortable book to read. Yet, I believe that as a historical work, it portrays a necessary perspective of turn-of-the-century internationalism. (more…)

Erewhon by Samuel Butler (brief thoughts)

Published on April 11, 2012 | 2 Responses

Regular readers of my blog know that I really enjoy a good Victorian novel. So I have to say I’ve struggled to pull together my thoughts on Erewhon by Samuel Butler (published 1872) simply because it’s not one of the good ones.

As a satirical look at Victorian society in the form of a dystopia, Erewhon fits in with the tradition of Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift (not Victorian, but one of the first), Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilmore, and Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott. But for me, the satire in Butler’s novel was overshadowed by dull prose and extensive explanations of the society. The result is a dull treatise barely worthy of the term “novel.”

As in the other dystopias, the narrator, who is searching for adventure, travels to a different land and finds a completely insulated society that has existed for thousands of years.

For me, finding an interest in the things Butler is satirizing is rather difficult. First, in Erewhon, machines are against the law because of a fear that they will become “smarter” than humans, a commentary on both Darwin’s survival of the fittest concept and the industrial era that Butler was well in the middle of. It’s hard to take the arguments seriously, and yet, from what I read (on Wikipedia) Butler actually was serious:

I regret that reviewers have in some cases been inclined to treat the chapters on Machines as an attempt to reduce Mr. Darwin’s theory to an absurdity. Nothing could be further from my intention, and few things would be more distasteful to me than any attempt to laugh at Mr. Darwin….

Besides the machinery issue, the society was also rather conflicted in it’s view of sin and criminality. Sickness was considered a crime and immoral behavior such as stealing or drinking was considered a complaint that must be treated with medicine. I found this an interesting concept to satire in Victorian society, although I struggle to pinpoint just what his implication was for society. Add to that concept a satire of religion (there are two different kinds of banks in Erewhon; people only use the “unofficial” money and make a show of visiting the official banks) and we have the complicated and strange world of the Erewhonians.

The chapters when there was action were somewhat interesting. Yet, for the majority of the book, the narrator quoted from a book of history or policies. These were dry as dry could be. Although Erewhon was a short volume, it dragged. I can’t say I liked it, although it certainly has an interesting place in context as a Victorian satire.

(Writing this post prompted me to demoted the book from two stars to one star on goodreads. Oh dear. The more I think of it, the less I like it!)

At any rate, despite the fact that I didn’t enjoy it, I’m willing to send on my used mass market paperback to an interested reader. If you want it, let me know in the comments. First to request it is the winner. I can send it somewhere in the USA. If no one wants it, it goes to the library book sale!