Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca

Faculty of Letters
Department of English

Adrian Radu

The Literature of Victorian England

Tasksheets

Name: ___________________________________________________________________
Section / Year : _________________________ Academic Year: _______________
Please use your own handwriting to fill these tasksheets in. Only such copies
will be accepted. Computer typed copies will NOT be accepted.

Tasksheet 1: The Mechanics of Victorian Literature

Task 1.1. Discuss three reasons why the novel became the dominant Victorian literary
genre.
1. ..............................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
2. ..............................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
3. ..............................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 1.2. Discuss the following in the context of the Victorian novel:
critical realism: .......................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
chronological development of the plot: ..................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 1.3. Give and discuss three reasons why serialisation became such a popular form
of novel publication, and then mention three of its consequences (positive of negative).
Reason 1 of popularity: ...........................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
Reason 2 of popularity: ...........................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
Reason 3 of popularity: ...........................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
Consequence 1: ........................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
Consequence 2: ........................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
Consequence 3: ........................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 1.4. Discuss and exemplify the most important characteristics of the narrative
techniques used in the Victorian novel mentioned below.
omniscience: ............................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Tasksheet 1-1

The Mechanics of Victorian Literature

1st person narration: ..............................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
the combined technique: 1st person + 3rd person: ...............................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
using narrators: ......................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 1.5. The Victorian novelists are said to be very close to their reading public. Argue
why and how.
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 1.6. Discuss the defining streams of thought in Victorian poetry.

late Romanticism: ...................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
the objective / realist perspective: ..........................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
Romanticism revisited: ...........................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 1.7. What are the main reasons that made Victorian poetry retract from the ages
mainstream? What were the implications of this attitude?
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Tasksheet 1-2

The Mechanics of Victorian Literature

..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 1.8. In its effort towards survival, how did Victorian poetry get adapted to the age?
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 1.9. For many poets Victorian England was ugly and unfriendly and, as such,
unfit for any source of inspiration. What surrogates did they find instead?
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 1.10. Define the Victorian dramatic monologue, then give and exemplify its two
types and their characteristics.
Definition: ................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
Type 1: .....................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
Type 2: .....................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Tasksheet 1-3

Tasksheet 2: The Frame of Mind (Thomas Carlyle, John

Ruskin, Matthew Arnold)
Task 2.1. How did Victorian non-fiction perceive the following topics:
the age: ....................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
morality: ..................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
Utilitarianism: ........................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 2.2. Carlyles prose in The French Revolution is considered by modern critics to be
a modern docudrama in which the writer uses cinematic techniques to reconstruct the
historical events. Discuss the way Carlyle uses this narrative technique and the reasons
why the writer felt it necessary to adopt it.
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 2.3. Read the text extract The Slave Ship * from Modern Painters by John Ruskin,
and discuss:
the representation of the sea, the sky and the shipwreck: ...................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
Ruskins perception of Turner as an exquisite artist (refer to the paragraph quoted below):
I believe if I were reduced to rest Turners immortality upon any single work, I should
choose this. Its daring conception, ideal in the highest sense of the word, is based on the
purest truth, and wrought out with concentrated knowledge of a life; its colour is
absolutely perfect, not one false or morbid hue in any part or line, and so modulated that
every square inch of canvas is perfect composition; its drawing as accurate as fearless;
the ship buoyant, bending and full of motion; its tones as true as they are wonderful; and
*

The texts referred to in these tasksheets can be found in: Adrian Radu (ed.), The Palace of Art, 1st / 2nd
edition (Cluj-Napoca: Editura Napoca Star, 2010 / 2012).

Tasksheet 2-1

The Frame of Mind (Thomas Carlyle, John Ruskin, Matthew Arnold)

the whole picture dedicated to the most sublime of subjects and impressions (completing
this the perfect system of all truth, which we have shown to be formed by Turners works)
the power, majesty, and deathfulness of the open, deep, illimitable sea.
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 2.4. Refer to Matthew Arnolds essay The Function of Criticism at the Present
Time and give two criteria of the authors opinion about what makes good criticism.
1. ..............................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
2. ..............................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 2.5. How does Matthew Arnold perceive England in Culture and Anarchy and
why?
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 2.6. What do the following concepts that Matthew Arnold uses in this work signify?
Hebraism .................................................................................................................................................
Hellenism ................................................................................................................................................
Barbarians ...............................................................................................................................................
Philistines ...............................................................................................................................................
Populace ..................................................................................................................................................

Task 2.7. What does he mean when he says: educate and humanise the Philistines?
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Tasksheet 2-2

Tasksheet 3: Late Romanticism and Neo-Classicism (Alfred

Tennyson)
Task 3.1. Discuss the contradictory message about the condition of the artist that Alfred
Tennysons poems The Lady of Shalott and The Palace of Art convey to their readers?
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 3.2. Discuss the overall mood of the poem The Lotos Eaters as depiction of
terrestrial paradise and the symbolism of withdrawal and oblivion that it suggests.
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 3.3. Read the Prologue to the cycle In Memoriam and discuss the kind of God that
the poet invokes. Why does he do that?
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 3.4. Argue that the poem LXI in In Memoriam is the expression of an existential
crisis and directly envisages the obliteration of the human species.
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 3.5. Discuss the lines: O life as futile, then as frail! / O for thy voice to soothe and
bless! / What hope of answer, or redress? / Behind the veil, behind the veil.
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Tasksheet 3-1

Late Romanticism and Neo-Classicism (Alfred Tennyson)

Task 3.6. Read the extract The Death of Arthur from Thomas Malory, compare it with
Tennysons version and discuss what the mediaeval text became in the hands of Alfred
Tennyson.
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 3.7. How are the following represented in the extract The Passing of Arthur?
the power of prayer .................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
Death .......................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
King Arthur as quintessence of Victorian morality .............................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 3.8. Refer to the poem Crossing the Bar and discuss:
the images and symbolism of death ......................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
Tennysons attitude when facing death? In what way is it similar to or different from that in the
cycle In Memoriam ? ................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
the underlying meaning of the lines: For though from out the bourne of Time and Place / The
flood may bear me far, / I hope to see my Pilot face to face / When I have crossed the bar ..............
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Tasksheet 3-2

Tasksheet 4: The Dramatic Monologue (Robert Browning)

Task 4.1. Why is Browning so closely associated with the form of the dramatic
monologue? What are the types of dramatic monologues that he uses: discuss and
exemplify.
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 4.2. Discuss the implications of Brownings using different points of view in the
form of dramatic monologues in The Ring and the Book.
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 4.3. How do the characters in My Last Duchess appear to you?

the Duke: .................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
the Duchess: ............................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 4.4. What is it in the Duchesss attitude or behaviour that generated the Dukes
decision of removing her?
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 4.5. Give three possibilities to fill in the semantic ambiguity deliberately left open
by Browning in the lines This grew; I gave commands; / Then all smiles stopped
together.
1. ..............................................................................................................................................................
2. ..............................................................................................................................................................
3. ..............................................................................................................................................................

Task 4.6. The Dukes intention was to make a moral portrait of his wife. How does the
poem turn into a moral portrait of the Duke himself?
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Tasksheet 4-1

The Dramatic Monologue (Robert Browning)

..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 4.7. While she was alive, the Duke wished to own his wife as if she were one of his
possessions. How has the Duke achieved this goal?
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 4.8. The poem Porphyrias Lover is ambiguous as to where Porphyria might have
been before she comes in. Discuss:
Where might she have been? ..................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
What do you think the lover might assume in this respect? ...............................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
To what extent is this relevant for what happens later on in the poem? ...........................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 4.9. Provide psychological motivation for the lovers murder.

..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 4.10. Comment on the ambiguity of the situation in Porphyrias Lover. Why this
incertitude as to whether things have happened or not in reality?
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 4.11. Discuss the last line of the poem: And yet God has not said a word!
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 4.12. What do the Duke of Ferrara and Porphyrias lover have in common and
what makes them different?
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Tasksheet 4-2

The Dramatic Monologue (Robert Browning)

..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 4.13. How do the two female figures in Brownings poems My Last Duchess and
Porphyrias Lover appear?
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Tasksheet 4-3

Tasksheet 5: The Pre-Raphaelite Movement (Dante Gabriel

Rossetti)
Task 5.1. Discuss the following in connection with the Pre-Raphaelite Movement:
Was the Pre-Raphaelite movement necessary? Why? ..........................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
In what context did it appear? ................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
What did it rebel against? ......................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
What were its basic directions? .............................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 5.2. Nuptial Sleep is a poem that made Robert Buchanan violently attack Rossetti
and accuse him of depicting animal sensations, reproducing a sensual mood, and dealing
too much with the mysteries of sexual connection. Find and discuss three such offensive
passages in the text.
1. ..............................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
2. ..............................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
3. ..............................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 5.3. In his reply, Rossetti argues that his creations were concerned with the human
body and soul alike as part of a general representation of love, life and their mysteries. Is
this so in the case of this incriminated sonnet?
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 5.4. Discuss the representation of the two worlds in The Blessed Damozel, a
mystical and a material one. To what extent does such representation reflect the PreRaphaelite principles of religiousness and symbolic reality?
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Tasksheet 5-1

The Pre-Raphaelite Movement (Dante Gabriel Rossetti)

Task 5.5. Refer to the two lovers in the poem and discuss:
How do they appear as existential entities? .........................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
How are they integrated into the prevailing atmosphere of the poem? ...............................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
How does the dialogue between them take place? .................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 5.6. Compare Rossettis manner of representation in the

similar painting reproduced on the left and find similarities
and differences in the poem.
.................................................................................................................
.................................................................................................................
.................................................................................................................
.................................................................................................................
.................................................................................................................
.................................................................................................................
.................................................................................................................
.................................................................................................................
.................................................................................................................

Tasksheet 5-2

Tasksheet 6: The Prosodic Revolution (Gerard Manley

Hopkins)
Task 6.1. Discuss G. M. Hopkinss innovative poetic representation:
in the re-shaping and expression of meaning: ......................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
in the versification technique: ...............................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 6.2. Define G. M. Hopkinss concepts of:

instress: ..................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
inscape: ..................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
sprung rhythm: ......................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 6.3. In what ways was Hopkinss poetry different from that of the age and to what
extent does it mark the progress towards modernity?
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 6.4. Find and discuss five instances of clusters associated with light or white
colour in the poem The Starlight Night and discuss their significances:
1. ..............................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
2. ..............................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
3. ..............................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
4. ..............................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
5. ..............................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Tasksheet 6-1

The Prosodic Revolution (Gerard Manley Hopkins)

Task 6.5. Where in the poem does the moment of semantic explosion take place? How
does the poet make it stand out?
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 6.6. How do the Divinity and religious vision take shape in the poem?
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 6.7. What is it in G. M. Hopkinss poem that may be metaphorically related to

Jesus Christ?
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 6.8. Discuss three instances of the poets versification technique that appear in this
poem.
1. ..............................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
2. ..............................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
3. ..............................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Tasksheet 6-2

Tasksheet 7: The Condition of Englands Novel (Charles

Dickens)
Task 7.1. Discuss the concept of condition of England novel referring to the following
points:
what it means and implies: .....................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
novelists and works associated with it: .................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
the image of Victorian England associated with it: ..............................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 7.2. Argue that Dickenss Hard Times may be perceived as a condition of England
novel.
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 7.3. Many of Dickenss novels are fables about good and evil. Argue with examples
from three of his novels.
1. ..............................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
2. ..............................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
3. ..............................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 7.4. Dickens deals with his characters in a comical way but always with sympathy
and warmth, especially when he deals with children and the unfortunate, oppressed and
poor members of society. Argue with examples taken from three of his novels.
1. ..............................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Tasksheet 7-1

The Condition of Englands Novel (Charles Dickens)

2. ..............................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
3. ..............................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 7.5. How is the Utilitarian system of education represented in Dickenss novel Hard
Times? What effects does it produce?
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 7.6. What impact does Mr Gradgrinds philosophy of total pragmatism have on his
own children?
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 7.7. Refer to the fragment of text reproduced below and discuss:
[Coketown] was a town of red brick, or of brick that would have been red if the smoke and
ashes had allowed it; but, as matters stood it was a town on unnatural red and black like
the painted face of a savage. It was a town of machinery and tall chimneys, out of which
interminable serpents of smoke trailed themselves for ever and ever, and never got
uncoiled. It had a black canal in it, and a river that ran purple with ill-smelling dye, and
vast piles of buildings full of windows where there was a rattling and a trembling all day
long, and where the piston of the steam-engine worked monotonously up and down like
the head of an elephant in a state of melancholy madness. It contained several large
streets all very like one another, and many small streets more like one another, inhabited
by people like one another, who all went in and out at the same hours, with the same
sound upon the same pavements, to do the same work and to whom every day was the
same as yesterday and tomorrow, and every year the counterpart of the last and the next
the image of Coketown as an industrial landscape of Victorian England ..........................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
the image of Coketown as a dystopian construction ............................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Tasksheet 7-2

The Condition of Englands Novel (Charles Dickens)

Task 7.8. Refer to the text extracts Teach Nothing but Facts and Girl Number Twenty
and discuss:
Mr Gradgrinds philosophy of facts as the basic principle of education, reflected in the following
fragment:
Now, what I want is Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are
wanted in life. Plan nothing else, and root out everything else. You can only form the
minds of reasoning animals upon facts. Facts: nothing else will ever be of any service to
them. This is the principle on which I bring up my own children, and this is the principle
on which I bring up these children. Stick to Facts, sir!
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
the case of his pupils Sissy Jupe and Bitzer: ........................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
Bitzers definition of the horse included below:
Quadruped. Graminivorous. Forty teeth, namely twenty-four grinders, four eye-teeth,
and twelve incisive. Sheds coat in the spring; in marshy countries, sheds hoofs, too. Hoofs
hard, but requiring to be shod with iron. Age known by marks in mouth.
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 7.9. Refer to the text extract Curse the Hour and discuss:
Louisas main point of accusation ..........................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
Do you consider that Mr Gradgrind will change his way of thinking after this discussion? .............
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
the dramatism of the scene ....................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Tasksheet 7-3

Tasksheet 8: The Human Comedy (William Makepeace

Thackeray)
Task 8.1. Discuss Thackerays manner of character representation. In what way is it
different from that of Charles Dickens?
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 8.2. Thackeray is a comic narrator but his humour is different from that of
Dickens. In what way?
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 8.3. 45. Discuss the underlying meanings of the title and subtitle (A Novel without
a Her) Thackeray gave to his novel Vanity Fair.
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 8.4. Examine the frontispiece of the first edition,

drawn by Thackeray himself, and discuss it as a visual
anticipation of the novel and of the author as the
Manager of the Performance of a puppet show.
....................................................................................................
.....................................................................................................
.....................................................................................................
.....................................................................................................
.....................................................................................................
.....................................................................................................
.....................................................................................................
.....................................................................................................
.....................................................................................................

Tasksheet 8-1

The Human Comedy (William Makepeace Thackeray)

Task 8.5. Discuss the association fair of vanities vs. England.

..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 8.6. Delineate the portrait of the female and male characters of the novel. To what
extent do they describe specific typologies?
Becky Sharp ............................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
Amelia Sedley .........................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
Rawdon Crawley .....................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
George Osborne .......................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
Colonel Dobbin ........................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 8.7. Discuss the representation and functionality of the novels marital triangles:
Rebecca Sharp Rawdon Crawley George Osborne .........................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
Amelia Sedley George Osborne Colonel Dobbin .............................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 8.8. Discuss Thackerays types of omniscience in Vanity Fair.

1. total omniscience: ...............................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
2. partial omniscience: ............................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 8.9. Discuss the metafictional and self-reflexive overtones of Thackerays narrative
technique that become transparent in instances such as this:
And, as we bring our characters forward, I will ask leave, as a man and a brother, not
only to introduce them, but occasionally to step down from the platform, and talk about
them: if they are good and kindly, to love them and shake them by the hand: if they are
silly, to laugh at them confidentially in the readers sleeve: if they are wicked and
heartless, to abuse them in the strongest terms which politeness admits of.

Tasksheet 8-2

The Human Comedy (William Makepeace Thackeray)

..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 8.10. Thackeray is a keen critic of human vices who, unlike Dickens, prefers to
concentrate chiefly on the wicked and false-hearted persons without any principles. How
does the following fragment at the end of the novel illustrate Thackerays progress and
attitude in his attempt to cure vices and vanity?
Ah! Vanitas Vanitatum! which of us is happy in this world? Which of us has his desire?
or, having it, is satisfied? come, children, let us shut up the box and the puppets, for our
play is played out.
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 8.11. Refer to the fragments Breaking News and Bringing the Old Lady Round
and discuss:
the typology that the three characters Miss Crawley, Mrs Bute and Briggs impersonate: ........
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
the way Thackeray constructs the characters Becky and Rawdon: ....................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
Rebeccas stratagem, her expectation and its outcome: .......................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
the type of humour in these fragments: ................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Tasksheet 8-3

Tasksheet 9: The Gender Debate (Charlotte Bront)

Task 9.1. Think of the condition of the woman in Victorian England and discuss:
the aims of the womans fight for emancipation: ..................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
the contemporary writers response to such desiderata: ......................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 9.2. To what extent does Jane Eyre represent Charlotte Bront herself in the
context of the novels subtitle An Autobiography.
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 9.3. Discuss the motif of the red room of enclosure and escape, (refer to the text
The Red Room in this respect) and its recurrent instances in Jane Eyre. Insist on
Janes attitude in the extract inserted below and the extent to which this scene made this
motif decisive for Janes attitude and behaviour?
I thought the swift darting beam [that came into the red room] was a herald of some
coming vision from another world. My heart beat thick, my head grew hot; a sound filled
my ears, which I deemed the rushing of wings; something seemed near me; I was
oppressed, suffocated: endurance broke down; I rushed to the door and shook the lock in
desperate effort. Steps came running along the outer passage; the key turned, Bessie and
Abbot entered.
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Tasksheet 9-1

The Gender Debate (Charlotte Bront)

Task 9.4. Argue that the motif of the mad woman in the attic may be seen as
representation of the condition of the Victorian woman.
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 9.5. Discuss the relationship between Jane and Mr Rochester.

..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 9.6. Discuss the conflict between passion and reason in Jane Eyre? Refer chiefly to
the episode I Will Not Be Yours and the fragment inserted below. What is Janes /
Charlotte Bronts solution?
I retired to the door. You are going, Jane? I am going, sir. You are leaving me? Yes.
You will not come? You will not be my comforter, my rescuer? My deep love, my wild
woe, my frantic prayer, are all nothing to you? What unutterable pathos was in his voice!
How hard it was to reiterate firmly, I am going.
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 9.7. What is the role of the first person narrative in Jane Eyre?
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 9.8. Many critics consider that Jane Eyre contains romantic, gothic and realistic
episodes. Argue and exemplify.
romantic episodes: ...................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Tasksheet 9-2

The Gender Debate (Charlotte Bront)

..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
gothic episodes: .......................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
realistic episodes: ....................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Tasksheet 9-3

Tasksheet 10: Avatars of Provincial Life (George Eliot)

Task 10.1. The novel Middlemarch by George Eliot has the subtitle A Study of
Provincial Life. In what way does this subtitle refer to what is (re)presented in this
creation?
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 10.2. Discuss the novel structure and the type and characteristics of the social
network that George Eliot creates here.
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 10.3. George Eliot is one of the first modern writers to use psychological analysis to
motivate the characters actions and reaction. Haw can this be applied to the following
character?
Dorothea Brooke: ....................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
Mr Casaubon: ..........................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
Tertius Lydgate: ......................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
Rosamond Vincy: ....................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
Mr Bulstrode: ..........................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Tasksheet 10-1

Avatars of Provincial Life (George Eliot)

Task 10.4. How does the conflict between passion and intellect materialise in the case of
Dorothea Brooke and Tertius Lydgate?
Dorothea Brooke: ....................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
Tertius Lydgate:.......................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 10.5. Discuss Dorothea Brookes reasons for accepting her marriage to Mr
Casaubon. To what extent does it reflect the situation and the expectations of the woman
in the Victorian age?
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 10.6. Refer to the following quotations and discuss how Mr Brookes and Dorotheas
opinions about Mr Casaubon are convergent or divergent. Include the following extracts
in your answer:
Well, but Casaubon, now [said Mr Brooke]. There is no hurry I mean for you. It is true,
every year will tell upon him. He is over five-and-forty, you know. I should say a good
seven-and-twenty years older than you. To be sure, if you like learning and standing,
and that sort of thing, we cant have everything. And his income is good he has a
handsome property independent of the Church his income is good. Still he is not young,
and I must not conceal from you, my dear, that I think his health is not over-strong. I
know nothing else against him. I should not wish to have a husband very near my own
age. said Dorothea, with grave decision. I should wish to have a husband who was above
me in judgement and in all knowledge.
That more complete teaching would come Mr. Casaubon would tell her all that: she was
looking forward to higher initiation in ideas, as she was looking forward to marriage, and
blending her dim conceptions of both. It would be a great mistake to suppose that
Dorothea would have cared about any share in Mr. Casaubons learning as mere
accomplishment; [] All her eagerness for acquirement lay within that full current of
sympathetic motive in which her ideas and impulses were habitually swept along.
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Tasksheet 10-2

Avatars of Provincial Life (George Eliot)

..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 10.7. How do you see a possible union between Dorothea Brooke and Tertius
Lydgate? What do they have in common and what makes them different?
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 10.8. How does the institution of marriage appear in Middlemarch? Exemplify.
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 10.9. Argue that George Eliots is a strong omniscient writer in Middlemarch.
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 10.10. Compare Charlotte Bronts and George Eliots characters Jane Eyre and
Dorothea Brooke and discuss how they reflect the condition of the Victorian woman?
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Tasksheet 10-3

Tasksheet 11: The Tempest in the Soul (Emily Bront)

Task 11.1. For many critics Wuthering Heights is a non-Victorian creation and Emily
Bront a singular voice. Is it really so? Motivate your answer.
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 11.2. How do the principle of evil and destruction and the motif of the tempest
appear in Wuthering Heights?
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 11.3. The novel Wuthering Heights has often been seen as an illustration of the
dialectics of dichotomies, a tragic game of oppositions. Select three of such oppositions
and discuss them.
1. ..............................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
2. ..............................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
3. ..............................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 11.4. Argue that the setting in Emily Bronts novel is an atemporal and nondimensional type of space.
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Tasksheet 11-1

The Tempest in the Soul (Emily Bront)

Task 11.5. Discuss the characteristics of the following enclosed spaces represented in the
novel:
the geographic areal between Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange: ...................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange as dwelling paces: ........................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
the cemetery: ...........................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 11.6. How do you see the following characters? In what way do they stand out as
odd creations in the context of the Victorian novel
Catherine Earnshaw (Linton): ...............................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
Heathcliff: ................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 11.7. Discuss the symbolic significance of Heathcliffs presence in Wuthering

Heights. In what way does he represent the outsider or the motif of the misfit?
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 11.8. How does Catherine imagine her life with Edgar Linton and Heathcliff? Refer
in this respect to Catherines confession made to Nelly Dean contained in the following
quotation:
Ive no more business to marry Edgar Linton than I have to be in heaven; and if the
wicked man in there had not brought Heathcliff so low, I shouldnt have thought of it. It
would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now; so he shall never know how I love him: and
that, not because hes handsome, Nelly, but because hes more myself than I am.
Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same; and Lintons is as different
as a moonbeam from lightning, or frost from fire. [] My love for Linton is like the foliage
in the woods: the time will change it, Im well aware, as winter changes the trees. My love
for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath a source of little visible delight, but
necessary. Nelly I am Heathcliff! Hes always, always in my mind not as a pleasure, any
more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being. So, dont talk of our
separation again.

Tasksheet 11-2

The Tempest in the Soul (Emily Bront)

..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 11.9. For many critics the last encounter between Catherine and Heathcliff
(contained in the text extract: How Can I Bear It?) is one of the most dramatic and
violent scenes in Victorian literature. Argue that it is so and include the following
fragment in your answer:
You teach me how cruel youve been cruel and false. Why did you despise me? Why did
you betray your own heart, Cathy? I have not one word of comfort. You deserve this. You
have killed yourself. Yes, you may kiss me, and cry, and wring out my kisses and tears;
theyll blight you theyll damn you. You loved me then what right had you to leave
me? What right answer me for the poor fancy you felt for Linton? Because misery, and
degradation, and death, and nothing that God or Satan could inflict would have parted
us, you of your own will did it. I have not broken your heart you have broken it; and in
breaking it, you have broken mine. So much the worse for me, that I am strong. Do I
want to leave? What kind of living will it be when you oh, God! would you like to live
with your soul in the grave?
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 11.10. The last scene in the novel (Sleepers in that Quiet Earth) is said to offer the
subsidence of the storm and the much expected atonement. But it might also contain
wishful thinking, something that Mr Lockwood would like to believe. How do you see it?
Refer to the whole scene in general and the following fragment in particular to motivate
your answer.
I sought, and soon discovered, the three headstones on the slope next the moor: on middle
one grey, and half buried in the heath; Edgar Lintons only harmonized by the turf and
moss creeping up its foot; Heathcliffs still bare. I lingered round them, under that benign
sky: watched the moths fluttering among the heath and harebells, listened to the soft
wind breathing through the grass, and wondered how any one could ever imagine unquiet
slumbers for the sleepers in that quiet earth.
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Tasksheet 11-3

The Tempest in the Soul (Emily Bront)

Task 11.11. Discuss Emily Bronts narrative technique in Wuthering Heights and the
role played by Mr Lockwood and Mrs Dean in this respect.
the narrative technique: .........................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
Mr Lockwood: ..........................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
Nelly Dean: ..............................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 11.12. What is the reason why Emily Bront uses this device and how does it
anticipate the modern novel?
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Tasksheet 11-4

Tasksheet 12: The Condition of Man (Thomas Hardy)

Task 12.1. How does Thomas Hardy conceive the condition of man? What is his tragic
vision in this respect and where does it come from?
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 12.2. Discuss Hardys conception about predestination and his constructs of
Immanent Will and Blind Destiny (Chance):
predestination: ........................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
Immanent Will: .......................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
Blind Chance: ..........................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 12.3. According to Thomas Hardy, human beings appear to be crushed by a triple
superior force that of nature (seen as cosmic disposition) in the first place, then that of
hostile chance and, finally, that of personal errors. How does this triple force manifest
itself in Tess of the dUrbervilles?
nature: .....................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
hostile chance: .........................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
personal errors: .......................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Tasksheet 12-1

The Condition of Man (Thomas Hardy)

Task 12.4. What is Wessex for Thomas Hardy and why did
he invent and use it?
..............................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 12.5. To what extent is Hardys Wessex as entity of space similar to or different
from that of Emily Bronts in Wuthering Heights?
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 12.6. How do the following characters of the novel appear to you?
Alec dUrberville: ....................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
Angel Clare: ............................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
Tess: .........................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 12.7. Why is Tess and Angel Clares relationship an impossible one?
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 12.8. Hardys novel has the subtitle A Pure Woman. In your opinion, to what
extent does it point to Tesss purity or innocence, or her (possible) guilt?
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
Tasksheet 12-2

The Condition of Man (Thomas Hardy)

..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 12.9. Think of Thomas Hardys nature representations and discuss the way
Stonehenge takes shape as setting? Refer to the text Stonehenge and the fragment below.
[Angel] did not answer; and they were again silent. In a minute or two her breathing
became more regular, her clasp of his hand relaxed, and she fell asleep. The band of silver
paleness along the east horizon made even the distant parts of the Great Plain appear
dark and near; and the whole enormous landscape bore the impress of reserve,
taciturnity, and hesitation which is usual just before day. The eastward pillars and their
architraves stood up blackly against the light and the great flame-shaped Sun-stone
beyond them; and the Stone of Sacrifice midway. Presently the night wind died out, and
the quivering little pools in the cup-like hollows of the stones lay still.
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 12.10. Why did Hardy use Stonehenge as the setting of the last scene of his novel,
that of Tesss apprehension?
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Task 12.11. Discuss the significance of Thomas Hardys remark at the end of the novel:
Justice was done and the President of the Immortals, in Aeschylean phrase, had ended
his sport with Tess.
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

Tasksheet 12-3