- Do you see a concern (political or social) that is not a concern of the (British) Romantic Era? If so, what is it? If not, is there a concern of the author that has nothing to do with the Era? Quotations please. MLA Citations.
- Choose a quotation from Chapters 4-6 that you would like to talk about because of its connection to a theme being developed.
Due: October 28
2 comments:
Reflection for Chapters 4-6
What strikes me the most about Dickens’s style of writing is the descriptive language he uses. The way he describes the scene in the French street, where the wine cask breaks and the crowd hurries to drink the spilled liquid: ¨There was a special companionship in it, an observable inclination on the part of everyone to join some other one, which led, especially among the luckier or lighter-hearted, to frolicsome embraces, drinking of heaths, shaking of hands, and even joining of hands and dancing, a dozen together. When the wine was gone… these demonstrations ceased, as suddenly as they had broken out¨ (Dickens 29). In a few simple sentences, Dickens describes France as it was in the 18th century, when people worked so hard and times were so rough that a little wine spilled in the street was cause for celebration. His social commentary is subtle and incredibly graceful, which allows for the story to continue in a seamless way without any apparent interruption.
As for the story, it is finally getting interesting. I was beginning to get lost in Dickens’s lengthy introduction, but now that something is happening I have been pulled back in. It will be interesting to see what happens to ¨the Shoemaker¨ (Dickens 39) in his journey back from Paris, and even more so to see how the story evolves around this man who was buried alive for eighteen years
Swift's "Gulliver's Travels" is a satire- a piece of literature that pokes fun at or ridicules aspects of society. In these next three chapters, I realized I was correct in assuming he is making fun of humankind, especially the English. Throughout these chapters, he makes more allegories and connections to the European and British governments and ways of solving problems (i.e As we do bombs in Europe.."(Swift 48)
Even though Swift preceded the Romantic era, I think that being critical of the British government is a crucial concern. Among the charactersitics of the British Romantic Era was the development of nationalistic pride (infoplease.com). I think that during the time Swift wrote this book, England was already proud of herself. They were suffering, as they were involved in battles with the French and Americans, but they were still one of the most powerful nations of the world.Englands actions were based on how she and her citizens saw herself. The English thought they were the best, that the world centered around them. I think that similarly, the Lilliputians represented what was petty and smallminded about the English in general. Their behavior was that of a pompous, self-important, self-serving, hypocritical and dangerous one. They were proud of being who they were.One example of their "self-serving and self-interest" behavior was when Gulliver was granted his freedom upon signing certain agreements. Because Gulliver uHer Imperial Majesty was pleased to smile very gracioulsy upon me [Gulliver], and gave [Gulliver] out of the window to kiss her hand" (57). This shows that while everything goes the way they want it to go, they will be kind and generous-all decisions are made upon what is best for them and them only-not for the rest of the people. Since Gulliver agreed to Lilliput's terms, they treated him nicely. Later on, when he does something, even if it isnt as big, that goes against what is best for them, they go up to unreasonable measures to take away that potential threat. In this book, it is "the loss of his eyes" (82). Of course, it would be easier to just have him killed off, but it was to their advantange to keep him alive, so that was why they attempted to take away something that was important to him, not to them. In other words, they didn't care about the well being of others, only of their own well being. I think this is tied and strongly reflects England during this time. For instance, they didn't care about how they treated their other territories, or how the world saw them. They saw themselves as superior, and that was why they acted in such a self-serving way.
Once again, I think Swift's major concern was the behavior and corruption of the English people and government. I think this concern ties a little bit with the theme of the Romantic era of development of nationalistic pride.
Completely a different from the concern
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