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Victorian Literature, Culture, and Power - Coggle Diagram

- - - - North and South centers around the Hale family (and specifically Margaret Hale), that move from the rural Helstone in Southern England to the urban Milton in Northern England, and have to adapt to the different social norms in the industrial town
        -this novel is connected to mortality because the deaths of Margaret's parents leave Margaret alone, which can be read as encouraging her to marry Thornton, supporting the Victorian idea that the middle and upper classes have to work together (as Margaret is from the upper class and Thornton is from the middle)
        -this can also be read as a somewhat sexist ending since Margaret gives up her independence to marry Thornton
    - - Like She, The Picture of Dorian Gray also concludes with death, with the wealthy English society figure Dorian Gray stabbing his portrait, which in tern kills Dorian's physical body because of the enchantment of the portrait.
        -Overall, the novel focuses on Dorian Gray, a wealthy and attractive young man living in England, who has a portrait done for him by the artist Basil Hallward— who is attracted to Dorian— and is introduced by Basil to Lord Henry, who influences Dorian and tells him to ignore social conventions and to do what he wants to do
    - - She is about Holly and Leo, two British men living in England during the Victorian Era, who travel to an unrealistic version of South Africa and catch the interest of "She," Ayesha, the white ruler of the non-white Amahaggar people
        -One of the major plot points of the novel is that Ayesha is killed by fire, which is why it connects to investigations of mortality in the Victorian Era
        -Ayesha's death conveys important Victorian ideologies, as it supports the idea that independent or powerful women should not exist, as Ayesha (a powerful and seemingly independent woman) dies because she assumes her power will protect her from the fire
    - - In the novel, Jane Eyre is sent to Lowood school after her Aunt Reed punishes her for defending herself against her cousin, where she meets Helen and learns to control her emotions. Jane then leaves Lowood to become a governess at Thornfield Hall and beginning a relationship with the upper class Mr. Rochester, whom she eventually marries at the end of the novel
        Jane Eyre, like North and South, includes the death of Jane's parents, which happens before the novel starts, as Jane is sent to live with her unkind Aunt and then the inadequate Lowood school.
        -this novel is placed in the mortality section because the focus on Jane as an orphan without parents emphasizes the Victorian ideology that promoted the independence of the middle class, as Jane is forced to be independent because of her lack of parental care or guardianship, especially in the beginning of the novel
        -this emphasizes the Victorian emerging middle class's emphasis on independence
        -Mortality and death is also prevalent in the plot of the novel as Bertha, Mr. Rochester's wife, is killed in a fire at the conclusion of the novel, which instigates the reunion and marriage of Jane and Rochester
    - - Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, "The Communist Manifesto"
        
        Marx and Engels argue that a capitalist system and the emphasis on individuality have negative effects on people, and that the working class proletariat will (and needs to) work as a collective to gain power over the middle class and to change the system. They also argue that this will happen in industrialized towns in England because industrialization instigated by the middle class will unite the working class and lead to class conflict
        -this relates to economic theory because Marx and Engels are arguing that the working class will dismantle middle class capitalism (investigating e economic systems)
        -this also relates to public action and the public in general because Marx and Engels are encouraging workers of the public who are living in poor conditions to resist the demands of capitalism and the middle class
      - Thomas Babington Macaulay, from "A Review of Southey's Colloquies"
        
        This text criticizes Southey's writing on industrialization -Southey romanticizes the pre-industrial era and argues that industrialism is ultimately negative
        -Macaulay criticizes Southey and argues that industrialism has had positive effects and is in fact improving Great Britain (in terms of general advancement, population, technological capability, and power)
        -Macaulay's response relates to economic theory because he supports industrial development and the system of capitalism (instead of a feudal-like system that Southey supports)
        -This also relates to the public because Macaulay argues that the public and people of England should have power: "It is not by the intermeddling of Mr. Southey's idol, the omniscient and omnipotent State, but by the prudence and energy of the people, that England has hitherto been carried forward in civilization."
        
        Denial of Coevalness
      - "Industrialism: Progress or Decline?"
        
        Industrial Health Conditions
        
        This text provides an overview of the Victorian debate over whether industrialism was positive or negative (listing specific Victorian writers and their views) and also explains the theories surrounding the causes and effects of industrialization
        -it relates to economic theory because it mentions Marx and other Victorian writers who wrote about economic systems relating to industrialization and its consequences
        -it also relates to the broader public and public health because it discusses the conditions that caused and resulted from industrialization: "... the population of the city of Manchester, for example, increased tenfold in the years between 1760 and 1830."
        -"Hundreds of thousands of workers had migrated to the industrial towns, where they lived in horribly crowded, unsanitary housing and labored very long hours..."
      - Friedrich Engels, from "The Great Towns"
        
        In this text Engels describes the poor and unhygienic living conditions of the industrialized English towns
        -this connects to economic theory because Engels seems to criticize the capitalism and industrialism that lead to the poor conditions
        -relates to public health because Engels is describing the poor living conditions of the English public living in industrialized towns
        -"Several tanneries are situated on the bank of the river and they fill the neighborhood with the stench of animal putrefaction...one can only reach the houses by treading over heaps of dirt and filth."
        
        b
      - Thomas Carlyle, from "Past and Present"
        
        Carlyle argues in this text that Britain needs to combine the medieval feudal system with the modern (Victorian) industrial system as the most positive solution to the negative effects of industrialism and class change
        -relates to economic theory because Carlyle supports keeping the existing (capitalist) class system
        -relates to the public because Carlyle argues that the conditions of the working class public need to improve but not radically enough to disrupt the class system, just enough to prevent a complete revolution (wants to improve public health conditions for workers but does not want class/economic reform)
      - All the following texts investigate economic theory and investigate the effects of economic theory on the public, including public health
        
        this text relates to economic theory and public health because its "separate spheres" ideology presents the argument that women being kind and focusing on the private sphere and the home can improve the morals of men and prevent them from committing immoral acts, especially in the public sphere: "... while his integrity was shaken, and his resolution gave way beneath the pressure of apparent necessity, or the insidious pretenses of expediency, he has stood corrected before the clear eye of woman... and detected the lurking evil of the specious act he was about to commit."
      - the idea of "separate spheres" in Ruskin's text is related to economic theory and public health because women and the private sphere were seen as a comfortable place for men to restore themselves after being in the harsh capitalist public sphere
        -this can be seen in the quote from the text: "By her office, and place, she is protected from all danger and temptation, The man, in his rough work in open world, must encounter all peril and trial..."
        -this also relates to public health because, later in the Victorian era, people thought that women being independent and entering the public sphere would negatively impact the development of public society and public health
      - Terry Eagleton, from "Marxism and Literary Criticism"
      - "The Boundaries of Social Intercourse"
        
        In this text, James Eli Adams explains how industrialization lead to class conflict, social mobility, and a new social order
        -Adams explains that these changes lead to the middle class adopting many etiquette rules in order to try and distinguish themselves and also so that they could try and determine what class other people were in
        -this connects to economic theory because it discusses the change in the class structure as a result of the industrialized economy
        -it also connects to the Victorian public because the public was affected by the change in the class structure and felt more bonded with other members of their class instead of members of the other classes they were not a part of
        -the public (especially the middle class) also adopted and created new etiquette rules)
- - - - This novel is related to family dynamics because Holly becomes a father-like figure to Leo after Leo's father dies and leaves Holly in charge of raising his son and facilitating the passage of family heirlooms and secrets about Leo's ancestry and Ayesha
        -offers a more male-centered look into family dynamics, as Holly raises Leo with Job's help, but no other female family members are really discussed
    - - This novel investigates family dynamics because it depicts the changes in the Hale family as they move from rural England to industrialized England
        -emphasizes female roles and women within the family (Margaret tries to take care of her Mother and Father and bring her brother home)
    - - "The 'Woman Question'"
        
        This text explains the different opinions surrounding the debate around women and gender roles during the Victorian Era.
        -important quote: "... on trial throughout the Victorian period was not only the institution of marriage but the family itself and, most particularly, the traditional role of women as wives, mothers, and daughters. The "Woman Question," as it was called, engaged many Victorians, both male and female."
      - "Angel of the House"
        
        This text also argues that there is an inherent difference between men and women, through line 56: "So meek, so far unlike our own,"
        -the text exemplifies the Victorian "separate spheres" idea that women should provide a comfortable and caring safe haven in the home for their husbands to rest and that this is their main objective in life
        
        "Angel of the House"
        
        connection
      - "Of Queen's Gardens"
        
        "Of Queen's Gardens" also connects to economic theories related to public health
        
        This text by John Ruskin reflects the Victorian "separate spheres" idea that women were meant to be wives who comforted their husband at home while their husbands would protect them from the demands outside of the home
        -reflects the idea that women were made for and should not leave the domestic sphere
        -also echos the argument that women and men are inherently different and have different mental and physical capabilities because of gender that supports the idea that women are biologically designed to watch over the domestic sphere
        -example of sexism in the Victorian Era
        -"Her great function is Praise; she enters into no contest, but infallibly adjudges the crown of contest."
        -"And wherever a true wife comes, this home is always around her."
        -"... wise, not that she may set herself above her husband, but that she may never fail from his side..."
        
        "Of Queen's Gardens"
      - All the following texts explore Victorian family dynamics and ideologies and focus on women, investigating Victorian gender roles and how they were changing or staying the same
      - "The Women of England"
        
        "The Women of England"
        
        "The Women of England"
        
        Ellis argues in this text that kindness is the most important aspect of a woman and that the women in England are the best at acting kind and caring for their household and husbands as part of the "separate spheres" ideology
        -also displays British nationalism: "The women of England, possessing the grand privilege instructed than those of any other country..."
        -"... for what is she most valued, admired, and beloved? In answer to this, I have little hesitation in saying — for her disinterested kindness."
        
        "The Women of England"
      - "Everywhere and Nowhere"
    - - The novel investigates family dynamics because Jane leaves her relatives (the Reeds) after they treat her poorly
        -The contrast between Jane's hostile interactions with the Reed family at the beginning of the novel are contrasted with her interactions with Mrs. Reed, Eliza, and Georgiana towards the end of the novel when she visits them as Mrs. Reed is dying
        -Jane's more peaceful and less hostile interactions with her family at the end of the novel emphasize that she has matured and has more control over her emotions, a middle class value
- - - - Nathan Hensley, "Empire"
        
        In this text, Hensley explains the following:
        -different kinds of British imperialism and colonial rule and how countries were ruled differently
        -how imperialists attempted to justify racism and imperialism as creating a peaceful world order
        -how imperial countries attempted to justify their imperialism by saying that they would "modernize," "civilize," and "improve" the people they were colonizing
        -the way the British empire and Great Britain was idolized in a religious way by people living in Britain
      - Rudyard Kipling, "The White Man's Burden"
        
        In this poem, Kipling presents his interpretation of the relationship between Great Britain, the imperialist, and the colonized people under British rule
        -Kipling makes a racist argument that it is the duty and inconvenience of the white man (British imperial white men) to colonize non-white people in order to "civilize" and "improve" them, holding Great Britain up as the model nation and white British men as the model human
      - Susan Meyer, "Indian Ink"
        
        In this text, Meyer explains how Jane from Jane Eyre appropriated the suffering and oppression of non-white races in order to express her own feelings of oppression as a woman and a member of the middle class
        -Meyer explains how this both calls attention to the oppression of non-white people
        -she also notes that this is Bronte's way of conveying her anti-imperialist stance, but that she thought white British people should not imperialize in order to preserve their whiteness and British-ness and that she did not really care about the rights of non-white people being oppressed
      - Canon Schmitt, "The Sun and the Moon Were Made to Give Them Light"
        
        In this text, Schmitt explains how Victorian novels both supported and criticized imperialism and how many novels could be ambiguous about the issue
        -important quote: "A moment of apparent clarity on closer inspection yields complexities and ambiguities: such a sequence exemplifies the difficulty of discussing empire in the Victorian novel, and most especially the difficulty— the impossibility, I want to argue — of settling on a single answer to the question of what the former had to do or might still have to do with the latter." (6)
      - This text demonstrates the reasoning behind imperial relationships because it reflects British nationalism and the idea that Great Britain (specifically, British Women) was superior to other countries that gives a foundation to imperialistic ideas
        -"The women of England, possessing the grand privilege of being better instructed than those of any other country..."
        -Ellis encourages women to raise sons that colonize countries outside of England to extend the empire: "... but as far as the noble baring of Britain has sent forth her adventurous sons, and that is to every point of danger on the habitable globe..."
      - the imperialistic idea that imperial countries are in the present and non-white colonized countries are living in the past and a different time period
        -ex: Macaulay writes "... England has hitherto been carried forward in civilization," reflecting the idea that some countries (imperial countries) are more "forward" in time than others (colonized countries)
    - - Ed Cohen, "Writing Gone Wilde"
        
        Cohen explains how fear was used to try and contain male same-sex relationships
        -Cohen explains how Britain promoted the idea that male same-sex relationships were not "normal," and that this allowed for greater social control
        -Cohen also discusses how Oscar Wilde's trial was used to try and scare and control people to not be engaged in same-sex sexual acts
      - Havelock Ellis, from "Studies in the Psychology of Sex"
        
        In this text, Ellis argues that people who are attracted to the same sex as them should not be persecuted, and that same-sex sexual acts are okay in private, but that same-sex relationships should not be displayed or shown in public
        -Ellis argues that sexuality is biological and therefore should not be persecuted
        
        -Ellis also agrees with paiderastia and thinks that sexual relationships between men should be allowed to exist (in private) because these relationships are creative and contribute to art
        
        Ellis's expresses concerns for the public when he argues that same-sex relationships should only be expressed or exist in private because he argues that public same-sex expression and existence would lead more people to be sexually attracted to their same sex, which he views as negative for the general public
      - "Desire and Domestic Fiction"
        
        In this text, Nancy Armstrong explains how Victorian novels reflected the shift in power from the aristocracy to the middle class, and how the middle class used Victorian literature to impart middle class virtues through female characters in domestic fiction
        -according to Armstrong, this created the idea that middle class women were more moral
        -this connects to sexuality because Armstrong argues that "the opposition of angel and monster was just that— an opposition within the discourse of sexuality," meaning that sexuality and gender conflict was focused on (474)(according to Armstrong)
      - Paiderastia and Sexism
        
        Charles Kains Jackson, "The New Chivalry"
        
        Kains Jackson argues in this text that the "Old Chivalry" (when men and women were in heterosexual relationships) is not as valuable as "New Chivalry," which he defines as a (romantic, although this was not always explicitly stated) relationship between an older and younger man
        -argues that women and heterosexual relationships are less valuable now because the population has increased (so reproduction is no longer prioritized)
        -argues that relationships between men are more valuable because they can contribute to society's culture and women cannot
        
        Sexism
        
        Paiderastia: the idea that relationships between men were more culturally valuable than women (though that women could not contribute to the culture of society)
      - "Everywhere and Nowhere" by Carolyn Dever
        
        Ideology and Literature
        
        This text explores the relationship between the ideology of a specific culture, time period, or society, and literature
        -Eagleton focuses on Victorian economic ideology
        -"Science gives us conceptual knowledge of a situation; art gives us the experience of that situation, which is equivalent to ideology. But by doing this, it allows us to 'see' the nature of that ideology, and thus begins to move us towards that full understanding of ideology which is scientific knowledge." (9)
        -Eagleton connects economic theory (science) to literature through the different manifestations of ideology
        
        This text explores how sexuality was both hidden or oppressed and also expressed in Victorian culture and specifically in Victorian literature
        -this connects to Victorian sexuality and romance because Dever explains how the marriage plot— which focused on the courtship and romance of two people— allowed for the exploration and expression of sexuality and the challenging of Victorian sexual ideology (that sex should not be discussed in any capacity)
        -this text also specifically focuses on ideology in Victorian literature
        
        "Everywhere and Nowhere" also connects to the domestic/family roles that Victorian society dictated for women
        -Dever writes, "I argue that Victorian novelists demonstrate great ambivalence toward the 'Angel in the House': identifying her as a site of the symbolic and material power associated with feminine moral virtue, they locate alternative modes of power in figures who subvert her ideal." (164)
      - Greg Buzwell, "Daughters of the Decadence: the New Woman at the Victorian fin de siecle
        
        In this text, Buzwell explains who the "New Woman" was, her image, perception, the debate over the "New Woman," and how she influenced popular culture
        -Buzwell's text relates to sexuality because he explains how the "New Woman" was associated with sexuality and how writes that "A new air of sexual freedom also emerged in the fin de siecle"
        -important quote: "In society she [the New Woman] was a feminist and social reformer; a poet or playwright who addressed female suffrage. In literature, however, as a character in a play or a novel, she frequently took a different form— that of someone whose thoughts and desires highlighted not only her own aspirations, but also served as a mirror in which to reflect the attitudes of society."
      - Late Victorian Writings of the New Woman
        
        She by H. Rider Haggard writes the "New Woman" as a femme fatale character
        -a femme fatale is a female character whose sexuality entraps and controls men (and leads to their downfall or harm)
        -the femme fatale was a reaction to fears that the "New Woman" would disrupt or end the British empire
        -the femme fatale figure can be seen in Ayesha, as her sexuality and beauty make it difficult for Holly and Leo to object to her power
        -this relates to sexuality because the femme fatale was seen as seductive and overly sexual
      - Michel Foucault, from "The History of Sexuality"
        
        In this text, Foucault argues that Victorian sexuality was not actually repressed, but that modern society views it that way, and insists that people need to rethink Victorian sexuality
        -he also argues that sexuality is still controlled in the modern day and that sexuality can never be completely uncontrolled
        -this relates to sexuality because Foucault is challenging common views of Victorian sexuality and is connecting this to the way sexuality is discussed today
        
        Michel Foucault, from "The History of Sexuality"
        
        this text is related to the public and economics because Foucault argues that sexuality was discussed in terms of marriage because sexuality (as he argues) sexuality was used by capitalism to try and instigate the reproduction of workers (which relates to economic theory and also the sexual lives of the public)
      - Matthew Arnold, from "Culture and Anarchy"
        
        In this text, Arnold calls for a revival of ancient greek culture in order to stimulate what he saw as an unchanging society
        -idolized ancient Greek culture and art
        -this text connects to sexuality because it conveys the idea of paiderastia which emphasized male relationships (that could be sexual in nature )