Fairytales:

They were old cultural manifestations transmitted orally, from generation to generation.
The first person who started to write down this fairytales was CHARLES PERRAULT, during the
renaissance in 1697. He was French, and he wrote them down for his kids, after making them
appropriate. Stories started to be adopted to kids because they didn’t go to school. Titles associated:
Little Red Riding Hood, The Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Puss in Boots.
During the Victorian Period, around 1812, the Grimm Brothers became known. They were highly
criticised because of their bloody scenes and sexual behaviour. They wrote down the “true” versions of
the stories, the ones that were transmitted orally. Princesses were not saved by princes, but raped.
Rapunzel, for example, was pregnant; and Sleeping Beauty had been raped while sleeping.
In 1835, during Contemporary period, Christian Andersen became known. He meant the same as
Dickens, and they met and shared same ideas about writing for children. During this time, people
realised that children were not adults, and Fairytales were adopted, made “child-friendly” and used the
stories to teach lessons: “The Little Mermaid”, “The Emperor’s new clothes”. ​Awareness of children’s
vulnerability

Traditional Fairytales:
- Spatiotemporal staging: inexplicitness of setting, distancing (indef place and time). The effect was to
distance oneself from the story, but at the same time it gives universality to the theme, could be anyone
at anytime. ​any castle any forest
- Characters: there’s no explicit description, just simple qualities like pretty, young, innocent. They are
simple, vague and general descriptions with common adjectives (FLAT CHARACTERS). This introduces
familiarity ​and​ universality​: they didn’t behave as princesses so anyone could be a princess. This is a
strategy of identification with the characters, and it gave the readers hope (it can be me).
Why do we continue reading? bc we want it to be real for us.
- Plot: regularity (regular patterns), function and roles. ​Propp’s theory​: he analysed the structure of
fairytales and found out 32 functions that fairytales have in common. Not all of them need to be present
in all stories. This functions have been reduced to ​seven main roles:​ VILLAIN, PRINCESS, HERO,
DONOR, HELPER, DISPATCHER, FALSE HERO.
- Linear events: one event succeeds the other, there are no flashbacks or forwards. There is a succesion
of chronological events.

- Plot: need to fulfill the “lack”, which is the one that starts the story.
- Atmosphere: is connected with the description of the setting and the characters in the way the text is
described. It is the “evidence” that we have in a text (mysterious, friendly, factual, gloomy).
- Tone: the author’s intention. Sometimes the atmosphere is connected with the tone. It is expressed
through the choice of words (fantastic, linear sequence of facts).
- Mood: how do we feel when we read the story. It is the combination of atmosphere and tone. Mood has
to do with the reader, it depends, it changes according to time, culture, empathy, etc. (lively, emphatic,
sad).
- Narrator: it is connected with the “point of view”. The narrator could be omniscient, first person, third
person, or can use stream of consciousness technique.
- Narratee: it is connected with the reader that the narrator has in mind, the audience (kids, adults,
general public).
- Focalization: who is the spotlight shining on? could be any character or topic in particular.
Svayamvara (Suniyi Namjoshi, 1941)
Plot​: Svayamvara talks about a princess that can whistle perfectly, but her parents are afraid that no one
would want to marry her. Because of this problem, the king offered half of his kingdom and her daughter
in marriage to any man who could beat her at whistling. Soon, the palace was jammed with suitors, but
the princess was better than all of them, so she set a test. She asked them if they acknowledged that
they were beaten fairly, and they all roared, and one said that they thought it was magic or some sort of
trick. However, only one of them said: “yes, yes, I was beaten fairly”. In this moment the conflict is solved
because the princess was impressed and wanted to marry him.

It is a postmodern fairytale (postmodernism starts in the ´50, ´60 with the racial movements). It is written
in the 2nd half of the 20th century.
This is considered a fairytale even though magic is not present. It has some elements from fairytales
such us “once upon a time”, and also the suitors thought that she used magic to beat them bc it was
impossible that a woman was better than men.
There is a “lack”, which is the main problem, and it is not the princess’s lack, but her parent’s lack,
because they thought she won’t find a good suitor (what man will marry a whistling woman? said her
mother dolefully).
Dispatcher​: her father. He is the one that gives the idea to solve the problem, he organized the
svayamvara (I will offer half of my kingdom and the princess in marriage to any man who can beat her at
whistling) - the princess was his possession.
Villain​: tradition (wants to challenge the tradition).
Donor​: absent (bc she is a resourceful and self-governed princess).
Princess​: she is rebellious bc she whistles. In this context, it is a conflict, it is associated with bad
manner, common people, wild behaviour, men. It is a social challenge.
Hero​: the only suitor that admitted she had beaten him.
Atmosphere​: friendly, not dramatic or mysterious, lively, adventurous, fantastic, fiction with LINEAL
sequence of facts.
Tone​: behind being lively and friendly as well as factual, he is being CRITICAL (she is criticising the
tradition that thought that women couldn’t be better than men in something unless women made use of
magic or tricks. She proposes that women can be better).
Mood​: the atmosphere and tone made us feel that the princess is right, we’re on her side.
Narrator​: omniscient narrator. It is not 3rd because he can’t say everything, only what he knows or hears,
and then he concludes. Here the narrator knows everything, like a God.
Narratee​: as it is a postmodern fairytale, the author is including all different ages.
The Werewolf (Angela Carter)
Plot​: The narrator of "The Werewolf" sets the story's ominous tone with the opening sentence: "It is a
northern country; they have cold weather; they have cold hearts." The people in this country are poor
and live short, hard lives. They are superstitious to the point of conducting witch-hunts and stoning any
witches found (identified by a telltale third nipple) to death. We focus in on a young girl. Her mother
sends her into the forest to bring food to her ill grandmother, arming her with a knife and warning her
against the dangers of the woods. The girl sets off on her journey unafraid because she knows the forest
well.
As she is walking, the girl hears a wolf's cry. She turns with her knife drawn to face the beast, and when
it lunges, she cuts off its paw. It retreats back into the forest. She wraps the wolf's paw in cloth and
continues on her way. When the girl reaches her grandmother's house, the snow is so thick that no
tracks can be seen in it. She finds her grandmother in bed with a terrible fever, and when shakes out the
cloth to make a hot compress, the wolf's paw falls on the floor. It has changed into a hand, which she
recognizes as her grandmother's because of a single wart on it.
The girl uses all her strength to pull back her grandmother's covers and beneath them discovers the
cause of her fever. Her grandmother's severed arm is already rotting. Hearing the girl's cries, the
neighbors rush in. They examine the hand and declare the wart on it to be "a witch's nipple." They force
the grandmother out of bed and to the edge of the forest, where they stone her to death. The story ends
with the summary, "Now the child lived in her grandmother's house; she prospered."

Angela Carter was British, a writer and also a journalist. In her essays she challenged tradition. She was
part of the feminist movement. She wrote many short stories with mysterious elements.
Genre​: fairytale, ​magic realism​: real historical setting with all the beliefs of the people and their traditions
with a magical element.
Setting​:​ not exactly an explicit setting, but more specific than other fairy tales. More descriptive related
to the weather and people’s personalities. northern country.
Narrator​: omniscient. The writer addresses the reader directly (“anyone will tell you that”).
Narratee​: any reader that is not part of this northern country.
Atmosphere​:​ mysterious, ominous, gloomy, dangerous. It is the effect that words have. It is related to
the place, people and weather. Cold hearts and cold weather, poor, sick people with short lives. Also,
they had a different conception of justice, because they stoned witches to death, they were primitive.
Tone​:​ distant to the story (“they don’t know about us”) but the writer is close to the reader (“the devil is
as real as you and I”), ​critical ​(“cold hearts”) ​(she helped kill her grandmother in self-defense, the
girl perpetuates the idea that women must be rivals and try to destroy one another. She shows no
remorse for helping kill her grandmother, but rather "prospers" in her very house. Here the girl
takes her grandmother's belongings and uses them to achieve success)​, superstitious (bc they
stoned witches to death), realistic (but so realistic to the point that is naturalistic), ominous, melancholic.
Naturalism​: ​is a movement that took realistic elements to the extreme. Not our civilized laws, but a
primitive instinct of man.
Mood​:​ The girl is not confused, but self-determined to kill her grandma. It make us feel sad or afraid
because of the description of the place (poor, cold, no flowers grow) and also because of the danger (the
Devil, vampires, wolves, bears). Then, we get a different mood. We don’t pity the girl because she is
brave and capable of defending herself. At the end of the story, it is impossible to distinguish btw good vs
evil, this is possible because of the critical tone, we either justify both or blame both.
Focalization:​ the girl, we are seeing through the conscious of the narrator and not the child.
Characters:​ they are all determined by their background. The do not pity the protagonist since she’s not
helpless (she knows how to defend herself), and bc she’s not confused, rather, self-determined to kill her
grandmother.
girl: she is not like the traditional fairytales princesses, rather, she is brave, strong, self-governed. That’s
why we do not feel identified with her, she doesn’t bring us hope.

The function of this modern fairytale is to make us reflect upon human nature and our reaction to it.
Why does the wolf attack the girl in the wood? bc it was in a primitive state.

Svayamvara and the werewolf:

differences:

who speaks? (related with the point of view, the narrator)

svayamvara: omniscient narrator, outside the story.
the werewolf: omniscient narrator, outside the story.

who speaks to whom? (narratee - narrator’s idea of his audience)

svayamvara: it is general, universal, there isn’t evidence of a specific audience.
the werewolf: it is general and universal but the narrator and us are not part of that civilization: “the Devil
is as real as you and I” - that you is us.

who speaks when? (simultaneous, immediately after or looks back into the past) - both stories look back
into the past.

who speaks what lg? in both stories we have a narrator speaking the lg of an adult. Today the new
fairytales take into account the lg of children, and there are different languages or dialects (slave, king,
warrior), we distinguish different voices and diff styles in the lg. Svayamvara and The Werewolf present
only one style that is the narrator’s style, who uses the lg of an adult.

Who speaks with what authority? superstition of disbelief (reliable narrator)

Who sees? it has to do with the focalization. It could be point of view, temporal, distance and speed,
thematic, limited knowledge.
Svayamvara: the focalization is in the princess and her ability to whistle, it’s in the challenging of
tradition.
The Werewolf: the focalization is in the girl’s actions and personality.
The Fountain of Fair Fortune
Plot:​ Every year in “The Fountain of Fair Fortune,” an unfortunate individual is given the opportunity to
tread towards the fountain to receive fair fortune. Three witches and one knight find themselves being
the individuals that are able to gain entry past the wall, towards the fountain’s benison. After completing
three tasks that guard the fountain, one witch named Asha, who is sick, collapses from exhaustion. A
second witch, named Athelda, aids Asha by curing her of her ailment; by doing so, she realizes that she
could make good money by making her own cures. The third witch, named Amata, refuses to bathe in
the fountain’s waters since the memory of her broken heart disappeared and she no longer feels the
need to be aided by its waters. Lastly, the knight, named Sir Luckless, becomes the chosen person to
bathe in the waters. After bathing, he falls in love with Amata, who gladly accepts him. As the four leave
the fountain, the narrator reveals that the fountain was not magical but that the people who believed in its
magic made it real.

We can distinguish two different ​authors​: a non-fictional author: J K Rowling, and a fictional author:
Beedle the Bard. We know that he is a wizard from the 15th period (middle ages) and he has a very
large beard.
Narratee​: magical children, little wizards. This story has a didactic message because Beedle gives a
moral lesson about magic, when magic is correct and when to use it. The introduction of the story is
written by J K Rowling, not by Beedle, so the narratee is different, it is for muggles. We distinguish that
she places herself as muggle, and she uses “we” sometimes to identify herself as us (muggles).
In our fairytales magic is the element that brings misfortunes and the heroines are passive, to be rescued
and vulnerable. In The Fountain the ​witches ​are active and can solve their own problems, they don’t
wait for a solution, they act to solve. Also, they are not wicked witches but virtue witches, bc they help
each other to reach the fountain.
Asha:​ she is sick of malady and no healer could cure her.
Altheda: ​she has been robbed of her home, gold and wand.
Amata:​ think that her heart will never mend bc the love of her life abandoned her.
They all agreed to try to reach the fountain together. Asha was the chosen one, and she grasped the
wrist of Altheda, who grasped the robes of Amata. However, Amata became caught upon the armor of a
sad-looking knight. The four of them were pulled inside the walls.
In the 15th century, the ​knight ​is central in fairytales, and is a person who is brave, charming,
handsome, chivalrous. Also, Christianity is the central religion and the knight had to be christian. The
thing is that in this story, the knight hasn’t got those characteristics. Instead, he is weak, sad, and he has
a tiny and skinny horse. We don’t know his real name, but everyone calls him Sir Luckless, which means
that he is prone to misfortune.
As regards the ​setting​, it is very traditional. The story is set in a high hill in the middle of some forest, so
the setting is indefinite. Also, we obviously found elements of magic in it: garden, fountain, creepers.
The ​atmosphere ​is traditional, magical, lively, distant but not dangerous, not mysterious bc there is not
much suspense. It is easy to read and easy to follow, because as we said before it is for little wizards.
The ​tone​ is didactic, it is not close but neither distant, rather, it is universal.
There’s an empathic ​tone and mood​ because the narrator feels empathy with the witches’ problems,
their sadness. We feel pity about them. It is different from the ​WEREWOLF ​bc there we do not feel pity
for the child and her grandma.
The ​focalization​ is more connected with the path rather than the heroines. The focalization is thematic.
We can distinguish a ​climax​ in this story. It is the highest point of tension, and what follows is the
resolution. The climax starts when Asha falls to the ground and she cannot continue. Then, Altheda
helped her and the resolution started. In this moment, Altheda realises that she could end with her
poverty if she could cure diseases with the herbs, and Amata didn’t feel regret for her lover.
Then, Sir Luckless turned out to be the lucky one. It is only when he feels glorious because of the
fountain’s waters that he dares to find love: Amata. The author let us know that actually the fountain was
not enchanted or magical. Sir Luckless felt glorious after emerging from the waters but only because he
thought it was enchanted, not because the fountain caused something on him.
The ​message ​of this story tells us that we have an inner capacity to solve problems, an inner strength,
and with cooperation everything is possible.
The ​structure ​of this story is rather special, because we have 3 witches, 3 bears 3 challenges. Plato
was the one that said that number 3 was a perfect number, and that with 3 dots or points you could form
a shape.
1st challenge - pay me the proof of your pain (tears).
2nd challenge - pay me the fruit of your labors (sweat).
3rd challenge - pay me the treasure of your past (memories).
Also, the structure is traditional in the way that it has an introduction, a development and a conclusion.
There are instances of ​alliteration​ in the story, i.e., the repetition of the same sound in initial stressed
position, which gives rhythm and musicality. It is appealing for children, to catch their attention. ‘Beedle
the ‘Bard ; The ‘Fountain of ‘Fair ‘Fortune. The Anglo-Saxons were the ones that created musicality bc
they didn’t have many vowels so they created musicality with consonants.
Also there are instances of ​inversion​. The idea is to leave the true subject to the end to delay the
information, in a way to create suspense. “High on a hill in an enchanted garden, enclosed by tall walls
and protected by strong magic, flowed the Fountain of Fair Fortune” ; “Pitying each other, the three
women agreed that, should the chance befall them, they would unite and try to reach the Fountain
together” - this is a conditional without IF with instances of inversion.
We don’t know who Beedle the Bard is, but some people say that he is Dumbledore bc of the physical
description.
This tale is not as traditional as others but has many traditional elements, for ex, the ending: they lived
happily ever after. There’s also a universal appeal: money, love, health.
Genre:​ fiction: fairytale.

Eveline (James Joyce 1882-1942)

Plot: ​Eveline Hill, a 19-year-old woman who works in a Dublin shop, sits inside her family's house
recalling childhood, including some happy memories as well as her father's drunken brutality to her and
her siblings. Eveline thinks about people she has known who have either left Ireland (a priest who has
traveled to Melbourne, for example) or died (her mother and her brother Ernest), and of her own plans to
leave the country with a man named Frank. She recalls meeting Frank, an Irish sailor now living in
Argentina, and dating him while he visited Dublin on vacation. Eveline also thinks about her father's
disapproval of Frank, and of her promise "to keep the home together as long as she could" before her
mother grew deranged (mad and insane) and died. Later, gripped by fear of the unknown and probably
guilt as well, Eveline finds herself unable to board the ferry to England, where she and Frank are
scheduled to meet a ship bound for South America. He leaves without her.

“Eveline is a modern short story in the collection “Dubliners” written by James Joyce, an irish writer.
James Joyce criticizes the irish tradition as a culture since the society accepted oppression and they
suffered. For example, the strict codes of the Catholic Church prevented irish ppl from progressing and
influenced in the decision of people in Ireland. Also, irish ppl was oppressed by the English government,
which oppressed Irish economy and didn’t allow them to progress.
Although there had been progress in the country, it was the same conservative culture. They thought that
if they stayed there, they could not improve in their imagination, talent, inspiration. They believed that the
real change was in Paris, and James Joyce moved there.

The short story is based on the character’s inner conflicts and inner reality. It deals with problems of
genre and class divisions.
She’s btw going or staying and this is related to how she feels about her mother, she doesn't want to
break her promise to her and is also scared of the unknown, but doesn’t want to stay there either. In a
sense she can’t move away bc of social rules she has internalised. This is connected with her ​role ​as
substitute “mother” and housewife.
We can say that she’s in love with the idea of going away, but not with him. Frank promised to marry her
after the trip but the problem is that she belongs to a very religious family and it’s not well seen to move
away without being married. What is more, Argentina was a distant and unknown country, dangerous.
The key point in this story is not going with Frank and not staying at home; but actually starting a new
life.
As regards marriage, she has some kind of hope (bc she can have a new life if she marries Frank), and
marriage will give her identity, she will be someone. This is her ambition, to change her family’s tradition,
and the only possibility was to get married.

Themes: Guilt​, since she had promised her mother she’d stay and take care of the family, she felt as if
that was her duty. ​Fear of the unknown and fear of staying​, since she didn’t want to make the same
mistakes as her mother but didn’t want to stay either. ​Paralysis​, since that life would lead her to
madness, as her mother was crazy and she didn’t want to end up as her mother. Also she promised to
her mother that she would take care of the family. This theme is closely related to guilt. ​Religious
oppression​, since in a sense her conservative culture established her responsibilities as housewife and
mother.

Social elements: “Then she had to rush out as quickly as she could and do her marketing…” “She had
hard work to keep the house together and to see that the two young children who had been left to her
charge went to school regularly and got their meals regularly”.
Instances of Free indirect speech: “But she wanted to live. Why would she be unhappy?”
Instances of Free direct speech: “Everything changes” ; “Home!” (we listen directly to her); “He is in
Melbourne now” (this one is in inverted commas in the story bc is a direct speech inside her mind).

Symbolisms:
Dust: ​it’s either negative or positive. Negative bc it’s connected with paralysis, sth old and abandoned,
life and time go on but she doesn’t, this is seen in her regular activity of dusting. (every day). We can
also say that if everything is so dusty then our vision is compromised and so we end up with a lack of
vision and decision, she can’t make up her mind, we can mention circularity and untrascendental actions.
Positive bc it’s a familiar odour, even though is dusty, she will miss it since it’s part of herself, she is still
bound to this cretonne of her house, and she is not willing to give up on the routine.
Dust always returns, no matter how many times it is removed.
Water:​ In the beginning is seen as sth positive, a way out. However, in the end, it is an obstacle, a
barrier; Frank would drown her.

Frank:​ The name means free man, and he is a sailor (most sailor are not bound to anything and have no
family or tradition, so it would difficult for her to form a family with him). Frank represents freedom, the
unknown and the possibility of a new life. Marrying would represent some kind of hope and it will give her
identity too, she will be somebody “she would not be treated as her mother has been”. Her ambition was
to change her family tradition and the only possibility was to get married.
This is also related to the role of women at the time, 20th century Dublin, Eveline’s indecisiveness and
resulting inaction is largely a result of women’s roles in society at the time. She is powerless in society
and she feels in that way so she think she needs a male figure, either God or Frank.

Organ​: The man playing the organ on the street is a free association which triggers the memory of the
man playing the organ when her mother died. It also stands for the breaking of harmony in the house,
the reminder of the promise she made to her mother.

Religion:​ it can be a positive or negative symbol. Positive bc she feels as being guided by a religious
signal. Negative bc the oppressive religion had caused paralysis in the country, both Catholicism and
Protestantism.
She is always seeking to religion as her way to save herself.

Broken harmonium: ​symbol of her loss of harmony and balance in her life.

Bell:​ the symbol represents the epiphany that she had, and it is also related to God, bc she is praying for
God to direct her and she hears a Bell.

Point of view:​ Subjective, we learn the whole story through her eyes. Use of ​Stream of consciousness
technique​, with free indirect speech and some instances of free direct speech (dual voice).
FDS is 1st person, present tense, and shows proximity. We listen to her directly (everything changes,
home).
FIS is a technique of presenting a character’s voice partly mediated by the voice of the author, with the
voices effectively emerged. This effect elides the use of he said or she said.
Narrator: ​There’s a dual voice since the narrator is inside her mind, listening to her thoughts and
passing them to us. The whole story is written in free indirect speech bc is has the SHE. But we have
some instances of direct, to achieve the effect of proximity, for example: “Home!” or “everything
changes”. In that moments we could hear directly to her.
Narratee: ​It is for general public. Maybe, the audience could be the ppl within that culture and society,
maybe the writer wants them to realise the state of their society and its values.
Focaliser:​ her inner conflict, that of staying or going and feeling guilt or fear.
Atmosphere: ​traditional, sad, melancholic, gloomy, dark, and there is also a kind of suspense.
Tone: ​critical, the author is making emphasis on the problematic features of that specific society as
regards gender roles, religion, familiar responsibilities, etc. Pessimistic?
Mood: ​we, as readers, feel empathetic to her since she has gone through a difficult upbringing and had
to assume responsibilities very young. We feel optimistic about her finally going away but the ending
makes us feel frustrated. This is characteristic of the period.
Setting: ​at her house in Dublin, and then a station at the North Wall.
Annabel Lee (Edgar Allan Poe)

Plot: ​The poem is narrated by a young man who describes himself as a 'child.' The man falls in love with
a young woman named Annabel Lee. They live in a kingdom by the sea. The narrator and Annabel Lee
are very happy and very in love. Their love for each other is so intense, in fact, that the seraphim in
Heaven (angels) become jealous and murder Annabel Lee, by sending a wind that chills her to death.
The narrator is devastated but does not give up on their love. He believes that his soul is inseparable
from Annabel Lee's. Every night he dreams of her and sleeps next to her in her tomb.

Poe was a writer, editor and critic, he is considered to be the father of the detective story and gave birth
to the modern detective story. He was abandoned by his father, his mother died and then then adopted.
However, his adoptive mother also died.
He also married his cousin Virginia (his aunt’s daughter) and it was legal to marry your cousin. Their
relationship was closely connected as if they were brother and sister. She had 13 years old and his aunt
was not in favour of their marriage, it’s unclear why:
- bc he wasn’t rich.
- bc he was not a good catch.
- bc he was his cousin and an older person.
- bc he was an alcoholic.
They eloped together (escape) and bc they did that they had to marry. They lived together for 11 years. It
is said that he had other lovers, but Virginia accepted it. Then, she caught a disease and died. Some
people say that she got sick bc Poe’s relationships with other women were publicly known. He got
depressed bc of her death and this is shown in his writing. His addiction to alcohol got really worse.
He died in 1849, he had a sad life.

As a writer, Poe used lost of symbolisms to represent features of his life and he wrote in 1st person
narrator (unreliable narrator).
Within Annabel Lee you have the element of gothic style in order to show the dark characteristics of the
human sole. Many writers of the romantic period followed this gothic style presenting the darkness of the
sole, God and the Evil, mystery, dark places, death, sadness, superstition. Also, in his story we can find
traces of his personal life, especially his marriage. He used italics and punctuation to draw attention on
sth particular and he introduced a blending of religion, supernatural and superstition in his works.

Period:​ American Romanticism.

Setting: ​Distant, unspecific place and time, this make it universal since it could be any place at any time.
Moreover, this story could be true for any true pure love.
We have repetition of “kingdom by the sea” which gives universality to the theme.
Atmosphere: ​dark, gloomy, sad, melancholic.
Tone: ​nostalgic and melancholic (for the love); critical (“our love was stronger than others”/”angels took
her away”); gloomy and dark (characteristic of the gothic style); mourning.
Mood:​ we feel sad and sorry for Poe, bc he shows us that he is suffering and missing his wife through
this story.
Narrator:​ 1st person singular.
Narratee:​ Poe was writing this poem to those who knew about his wife and his death - “that a maiden
there lived whom ​you​ may know”.
Focalization: ​the focalization is placed in Annabel Lee’s death.
Elements:
Wind:​ it is a symbol representing the rumors. Some people say that the rumors killed Virginia bc Poe’s
relationships were publicly known and she got depressed. Triangle of lovers.
Poe is trying to say that Heaven caused the wind and killed her.
Maiden:​ to be a virgin and young (referring to Virginia’s youth).
Kin:​ family, relatives. Poe is saying that they buried her and bore her away for him.
Kill:​ he uses the word kill, not die, assuming that Heaven killed her bc the angels envied them bc of their
perfect and very romantic love/relationship. He romanticised the cause of her death by introducing
Gothic elements such as heaven, hell, angels, demons, elements of the supernatural.
Gothic elements:​ heaven, winged seraphs (angels), demons, hell = elements of the supernatural. Both
heaven and hell wanted to separate them (dissever).
Annabel Lee:​ she is an allusion to his wife.
We can conclude that he is every day and night lying down next to his wife’s tomb.

Because it is a simple narrative, with simple language, the rhythm is achieved by ​tetrameters ​and
trimetres​. It is meant to be sung or recited. It is like a ballad or a melancholic song, bc it has a slow
rhythm and that contributes to this melancholic song.
At first sight you can see the FORM: ​six stanzas:
1: sestet 2:sestet 3:octet 4:sestet 5:septet 6:octet.
First stanza:
a)tetrameter
b)trimetre
a)tetrameter
b)trimetre
a)tetrameter
b)trimetre
The poem is a combination of trimeter and tetrameter, bc of this rhythm we can say it is a ballad. It’s
IAMBIC bc of the sequence unstressed, stressed _’ _’. The repetition of “in the kingdom by the sea” is
used to create rhyme: refrain
Figurative language:
Line 5: fronting of existential subject: hyperbaton.
Line 7: metaphorical use of the lg + parallel structure.
Line 9: alliteration.
Line 11: “winged seraphs of Heaven”: allusion, reference to angels.
Line 15: wind: can stand for the chilly wind that made her get TB or the rumours: metaphor.
Line 21: dissever my soul: metaphor.

Analysis.

1- How do the opening lines of the poem evoke a “fairy-tale” tone?

Bc it’s set in a not specific place, remote time, this makes it more universal, it can be any man, any
woman. This can be true for any couple with true love. We conclude that this theme has universality.

2- How do lines 7 and lines 27-29 reflect the reality of the relationship btw Edgar Allan Poe and
his wife, Virginia? Why might Poe feel the need to justify his love for Virginia?
She was literally a child and he was a child at heart. He felt younger when he was with her. He is
criticising the ones that were older than them bc maybe they thought that Virginia and Poe didn’t truly
love each other bc of the difference of ages, but Poe tried all the time to show that their love was pure,
romantic and real, and that the fact that their ages were different didn’t affect them. They didn’t need to
be older to love each other.
3- What romanticized explanation does the speaker give for the death of his love, Annabel Lee?
He’s not saying that she died of a disease, instead bc of a chilling wind which comes from heaven. There
in Heaven you have angels and he is been critical since he states that the angels are envy of their true
love, it was perfect love; and bc Heaven took her away from him. Even after death the angels keep
envying them.

4-In line 15, what might the “wind” represent in Poe’s life? How does the fact that Annabel Lee
does not die until line 26 represent the reality of Virginia Poe’s death?
The wind might represent the rumours about his other love affairs with other women. Not dying until line
26 may be associated with the fact that Virginia was ill for a long time and she suffered a lot.

5- Account for gothic elements in the poem.

● The tone: it’s gloomy, dark, mourning, nostalgic, melancholic, critical (of the people and of
Heaven, god.)
● It’s macabre, bc he lies down near the body every day in the cemetery, this is characteristic of
gothic style bc it includes a psychological problems, maybe a pathological one. Is this a healthy
love? No, it’s an obsession.
● The inclusion of Heaven and Demons, forces of the supernatural, superstition which is connected
with religion and reincarnation.
6- How would you describe the overall tone of the poem? How does the rhythm of the poem
affect the tone?
The tone: it’s gloomy, dark, mourning, nostalgic, melancholic, critical (of the people and of Heaven, god.)
The rhythm of the poem affects the tone bc it’s closely connected with stress and rhyme. This is a
melancholic song and it has a slow rhyme which contributes to melancholism.

7- Comment form, foot, meter, rhyme scheme and the achievement of rhythm.
Form:​ six stanzas.
Foot:​ It’s IAMBIC bc of the sequence unstressed, stressed _’ _’.
Meter:
Rhyme scheme:
Achievement of rhythm:

The Parting Gift (Claire Keegan)

Plot:​ It is about a girl and her last day in Ireland. She has decided to come to America and leave her
brother, Eugene, her mother, and father. The readers get a sense of her final moments in her home and
we get a sense of what her living style was like. The family works and lives on a farm. The mother tends
to the house while Eugene works in the hay. The story then goes into more detail about her childhood
and we learn that it wasn't the best. Her older sister was able to go to the best boarding school and her
brother was allowed to work on the farm. The story never fully explains what the girl did with her days but
she was denied the chance to go to school.
The story then explains what her father is like. He is an awful man who sexually abused the girl. She
would be forced to spend the night with him while he would touch the girl all over. This gave him
pleasure and the girl would leave and pretend that nothing happened and it didn't mean anything.
The story draws back to the present as the family sits in the kitchen and the mother forces the girl to say
goodbye to the father which brings back the horrific memories of her childhood. The story continues with
Eugene driving the girl to the airport. They say their goodbyes and the girl continues to her gate but runs
into the nearest bathroom and locks herself in a stall to cry.

Point of View:​ The stream of consciousness technique is the device used in this story to portray the
thoughts in the mind of the character, but what is innovating here is the effect of the use of 2nd person
singular. This point of view tries to present a fusion between the author and the character’s narration of
events. This dual voice is combined to create a dialogic tone so that the character’s voice can be
preserved without the loss of the narrative act. It makes you feel closer to the character. You feel that
she is talking to herself, dismantling her personality, reflexing upon her feelings.
Focalization: ​her mind, herself.
Atmosphere:​ depressing and oppressive, nostalgic. Realistic and naturalistic, ie, going back to your
primitive instincts: the abuse without thinking it is wrong, the mother sending her to his father’s room, the
drowning of the puppies.
Tone: ​critical, pessimistic.
Mood:​ uncomfortable, disgusting. We feel impotence, frustration, hopelessness. We get in her skin and
we feel emphatic with the character.
Theme:​ oppression, abuse, escape. SAME AS EVELINE, but in the parting gift the ending is optimistic.
PARALYSIS.

The beginning of the story is in ​medias res​, that is to say, in the middle of the narration. It is connected
with her internal reality bc she is thinking.
We can notice that, for example, in the 4th paragraph there are no connectors, bc we do not think with
connectors. We don’t care about perfect sentences. We’ve ideas and concepts.
There is a change from internal reality to external reality. At first she is thinking but then there are
instances of direct speech for example.
The first conflict is that she failed the Living Certificate at the end of high school, and she is leaving to NY
without that certificate.
The story presents some ideas about ​education​. As they were many children, not all of them could get a
proper education. Her brother was sent to a boarding school, as well as her sister, who is now a teacher
and managed to leave the house. Eugene went to school but his father made him leave to work the land,
so education was not important for them. They lived in a rural area and had middle age thinking, they
were stuck in the past. However, she was sent to a local school bc there was no point in educating girls.
Keegan emphasized that in rural areas of Ireland people lived in the Middle Ages.
Her ​mother ​has a passive role. She doesn’t. She is too afraid of her husband, scared and also she didn’t
received education. Also, she hasn’t got a word, she is under her husband’s desire.
There’s an instance of ​cataphoric reference​ in the story, bc before explaining all the story about the
abuse, she says “Eugene put an end to all of that”. It is a foreshadowing. He couldn’t confront his father,
but he managed to built her a room and he gave her a KEY, which symbolizes protection.
The author also presents the idea of ​paralysis​ bc it seems that she will never progress. She had no
education, no happiness, no family. She needed to go away in order to progress in life.
Symbols:
Key:​ symbolizes protection. Her brother built her a room and gave her a key to protect herself.
Animals:​ the idea that her mother drowned and killed the ​puppies ​the same day she started to go into
her father’s room symbolizes the death of her innocence. Another idea would be that she was drowning
the puppies bc she probably wanted to do the same with her daughter. Also it represents poverty, they
had nothing to eat so they had to eat puppies. On the other hand, the ​horse​ represents freedom bc
finally she could take sth her father owned to buy freedom.

Poetry

In romanticism the writers resourced to poetry in order to express emotions. They thought prose was
about rationality.

Characteristics.
1- Form:​ lines = verses
stanzas (prosas)
limited length.
2- Meter (metrica)​: limited number of syllables in a line that you need to keep in order to create
musicality. Rhythm is created since it is sung through time. Decasyllabic is the most common of the
English lines. It refers to 10 SYLLABLES.
3- Foot: ​the combination of stressed and unstressed syllables.
Ex: IAMBIC ---> Th​e​ ‘b​oy.
TROCHAIC --->​‘M​other.
Most English poems are written in pentameter (iambic pentameter).
4- Sound​: alliteration-assonance-consonance-onomatopoeia.
5- Rhyme:​ repetition of the same vocallic sound at the end of a line. End Rhyme, Internal Rhyme,
Masculine Rhyme, Feminine Rhyme. Sound and rhyme create rhythm. The rhyme scheme is the pattern
of the poem.
6- Rhythm:​ there are poems that don’t have rhyme but rhythm.
7- Figurative language​: Metaphor, simile, conceit, personification, hyperbole, irony, symbolism,
imagery, etc.

American Romanticism - 1770 aprox. During the American Revolution (1775 - 1783)

Before Romantic we have neo-classical period (enlightenment), it was about democracy, social
administration and reason, they believed in organization that leads to prosperity which were ideas that
led to the French Revolution.

Most of them were novelists.

Symbolisms were hints of ideas or emotions out of the original language during this period.
Emotions were descriptions of landscape that for ex, will make us feel different. There is an emphasis
and value to thoughts and feelings. There is also an emphasis on nature, the beauty of nature is valued
since we could be free in nature and it was an inspiration and an escape from industrial society).
Imagination and creativity: expression of individual’s identity. We should be true to our identity and
nature.
Individualism vs collectivism.
The creativity of writers was more important than strict rules.

For romanticism too much social organization and reason was spoiling imagination and creativity. In
England, poets believed that corruption prevented creativity to live. Most of them left to live in the woods
and to connect with nature.
During this period, it was believed that the roots for the civilization of the English culture were in the
Middle Ages (God-centered society, gothic style in architecture, cold, dark churches). In literature, writers
followed this gothic style, connected with darkness of the soul, the dilemma of God and the Devil,
mystery and dark places.
Emotions in gothicism: darkness of the soul. In Poe’s stories God and Devil are present, he addresses
god in his clamations of sanity; and death is also present, as well as madness, superstition and mystery.
In america, the Romantic literary movement was the first bc it was introduced afters the independence in
which the States became a Nation. But, in England, the romantic period was shorter bc of Queen
Victoria.
Different writers adopted different themes within this movement.
Poe’s poems connect emotions with reason, and he followed the gothic style rather than imagination or
creativity. He belonged to Romanticism.