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British Literature Since 1798 image - Coggle Diagram
British Literature Since 1798 
Identity
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- Internal monologue in Mrs. Dalloway, internal identity focused on rather than external perceptions.
- Leah, for the most part, expresses her inner self freely until she is married. After that, she keeps secrets out of fear of disappointing her husband.
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Class
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- Lower class most likely dead in Drowned World climate struggle. Elites still have resources.
- Clarissa and Septimus’ shared humanity of disliking society breaks class experiences, though they dislike society for different reasons. Both also find simple pleasures in the world.
18.5. They're living in the same time and world, yet their lives are vastly different. Having different lived and mental experiences in the same park.
- N.W. ties everything together with multiple perspectives (Leah, Natalie, Felix, Nathan)
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(Im)migration
22.Haroon immigrated to the UK to find a better life than in India but would end up disappointed. Expectations of Britain better than it ended up being- he moved based on outer perceptions.
Progress
Personal
- Bounderby gets ahead in society by leaving behind his past but does not give others the chance to do the same.
- The true person who advances is Kerans, though this advancement is personal and doesn’t affect the lives of others. Returns to nature, outside societal expectations. Completely relies on inner self.
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- Haroon and Karim were both able to move up economically by conforming.
- Keisha becomes Natalie and she destroys her past completely to create a life based on others’ ideas of success. Thatcher idea of success, coming up from the dirt on your own.
- Leah progresses in her own way by helping others (Shar, social justice projects) and is content with staying where she is. Her idea of success is less monetary/materialistic. Other characters leave several behind, including their past selves.
33.5 However, Natalie will always be perceived by others as a Black woman, which gives social and economic disadvantages.
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National
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- Strangman and military still selfish and plundering, “Advancing”.
- Colonialism throughout the novels and history creates a push factor for people to leave their home countries, however, migrants end up being unwelcome to where they move to. This creates no place for them in the world that is highlighted by the isolation characters experience in The Buddha of Suburbia and N.W.
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Stagnation/Regression
Personal
- The hands’ lives must be stagnant at the cost of Bounderby and Industry’s progress. Creating an industrial nation/economy by destroying the planet + lives of the hands.
- Colonialism and exploitation provide mobility and progress for few in control, Hands not allowed to move in society although they provide the rich with their capital.
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- Strangman and military colonize earth despite limited resources, resistant to natural change.
- Clarissa, Peter, and Sally choose comfort over emotional/personal development in the ways they wanted.
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- British “progress” comes at the cost of the destruction of other nations.
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- Leah changes once she gets married to keep her true thoughts to herself.
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National
- Ties to the Drowned World- Solar Flares caused climate change instead of humanity, however the poor response is the fault of people in power.
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- Thatcherism looms over the whole story- It brings a running theme of class position being a choice or being out of a person's control.
- Britain beginning to succumb to opinions and expectations in the Buddha of Suburbia- regresses into Thatcherite nation in order to maintain global status and economy.
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Choice/Options
Power
- Bounderby has power to control the Hands, Stephen. Also has the power to completely erase his past.
- Louisa and Tom end up changing, but they only get the power to because of the station they were born. Stephen did not get this chance.
- Clarissa, Sally, and Peter have the resources to choose their lives. More freedom in the upper class.
- Gradgrind has social + economic capital that affords him the choice to shape his and other’s identities. (His students, Sissy, his children).
- By choice some are resistant to natural change by altering their psyche and environment
- Clarissa prioritizes outer self, does not act upon inner thoughts. Chose current husband and life to keep living comfortably, but miserable. Otherwise, she would have been with either Sally or Peter, but ostracized by society (especially with Sally).
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- Segways into the choices Karim makes. He chooses economic comfort over self-improvement.
- Haroon chooses love, but at the same time to follow societal expectations until he internalizes them and they truly become part of his personality.
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- British ideal of leaving the poor and immigrant to progress on their own because they can choose their station in life.
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Circumstance
3.5. Even in Tom’s case, he had little choice over his actions in relation to his gambling addiction. In Louisa’s, her position as a woman gave her little choice in marriage.
15.5. At the same time, they have less freedom to make decisions if they want to uphold their social standing.
- Septimus’ life + thoughts (Identity) completely out of his control. Only choice he got to make before military is his marriage. And after, to commit suicide (but even this choice is affected by his mental state). Class standing forced him into the war, the aftermath forces his thoughts.
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- Felix and Natalie tried to leave their past behind both fail ultimately- Felix dies trying to escape. Natalie's life is less shaped by circumstances out of her control, unlike Felix and Nathan, who were unable to move up in life because of things out of their control. Leah stays in council housing and isn't concerned with traditional social improvement she gets less slack for this as a white woman.
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- Kerans and Bodkin have internal struggles. Kerans adapts and goes with nature. Death is the result either way, so Kerans decides to go naturally. He let his mind be shaped by his surroundings instead of the other way around, which is typically seen as the opposite of innovation but is progress for his character.
Expectations
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- Karim continues to do what is expected of him by society, but not his family. He has a rich inner monologue and follows it for the most part. Follows society for his own gain, not necessarily because he believes what society is saying.
23.5 He fills stereotypical roles in the Jungle Book, his relationship with Eleanor, and his sitcom role.
- Nathan uninetntionally fulfills stereotypes people have about people from the council estates.
- Charlie goes against society for his own personal gain.
- Haroon similarly adapts to his role of the Buddhist. Other people’s choices become his, he internalizes and finds fulfillment in his role and relationship with Eva.
- Changez and Jamilla chose to defy anyone’s expectations of them after they got married.
- Nathan and Natalie defy this ideal. Natalie proves people can make it out through hard work but that things can go awry and that race and class still always affect you. Nathan and Felix are examples of circumstances completely shaping lives.
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