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Sum up Flashcards

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1
Q

Duration of the Victorian Age

A

1837-1901

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2
Q

Why is the Victorian Age a period of contrasts?

A

On one side: economic boom, developments in all fields, industrialisation, emperial expansion
On the other side: poorness, social problems, increasing economic distance between classes, dark side of society

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3
Q

What is the Victorian Compromise? What generates the necessity of the Compromise?

A

Ignoring the problems by hiding them and sacrificing certain things, firstly freedom (society was extremely strict through manners, behaviour, clothing, censorship)
The need of the compromise comes from the large problems of the Empire: in order to face them, order and stability is needed.
Everything is considered to be fine as long as you keep your vices hidden.
The most important thing is the appearence.

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4
Q

Political stability: why was that so? what are the effects?

A

Victoria reigned for 64 years
A long lasting monarch makes it possible for his new social and cultural norms to be processed by the people.
This brings order.

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5
Q

Great Chain of Being, on which three elements was it based on? What for it gave legitimacy? What effects did Darwin’s Theory have?

A

Everything in the universe has its own place from which it cannot move.
Even among humans there’s an order: the British are the best, they bring civilisation
Three main elements: race, class, gender.
The main point of the Chain was to legitimate:
- the expansion of the Empire over less civilized people
- keep the distinction between classes clear
- mantain the social order (also between man-woman)
Darwin’s Theory only brang even more legitimacy on justification to the Chain (it is normal to have distinctions: only the fittest survives and rules over the weaker)

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6
Q

Morality in Vicotrian Age

A

Based on the class there were specific manuals that explained how you should behave, what mannres to adopt and how to dress

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7
Q

Social reforms

A
  • regulation of the work
  • extension of the right to vote
  • creation of the Trade Union
  • creation of the Workhouses to “help” the poor
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8
Q

Dickens: what event changes his life? what is his aim? how’s his writing style?

A

The experience in the workhouses– he’s very close and sensible to poor people
Aim= to fix society’s problems through writing
He had to choose between serious and boring and funny and shallow
– at the end he COMBINES THE TWO THROUGH THE USAGE OF IRONY (ex. “I want some more”)

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9
Q

Bleak House: where’s the usage of irony? what is the theme?

A

Irony:
- “Jo lives- it is to say: Jo has not died yet”
- “for perhaps Jo DOES think, at odd times”
- the same people that pass by him ignoring him, go to church for charity
Theme= education
Jo cannot write and read– he thinks is no more than an animal like a cat or a dog

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10
Q

“Double” role of the Workhouses

A
  • they were created to give jobs to the poor, but they were kept in terrible conditions
  • the workhouses were used as a technique of humiliation and were so terrible that they encouraged people to keep on not becoming poor. Whoever went to te workhouses, that meant they deserved it because of their unproductivity and their immorality
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11
Q

Coketown: what is the general image of the city? what two elements are used to describe it? what is constantly repeated? what is the message? what does “fact” mean?

A

Coke= refined coal
A depressive and monotunous city
- colours: they are dark like black and red, unnatural– “purple river”= something unhealthy
- animals: serpent= biblical animal representing evil; mad elephant due to the continuing loud noise
The word “like” and “same” are repeated
The city, which should be the center of wealth, reationality, order and progress is more like an unhealthy wild and obscure forest in which everything looks the same
Fact= utilitarism– the only thing you need from your birth up to your death is just the logic of what’s useful and the practical aspect of everything. Beauty is no more a value.

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12
Q

Nothing but facts: what does Dickens describe? in which way? through the presentaion of what charachter? what are the students?

A

Dickens describes the school in Victorian Age through the description of the headmaster:
- terrible looking man, deformated by “facts”
- incredibly square; square is associated with someone extermely strict
Repetition of the same term= BORENESS
The students are a number of identical vessels that have to be filled to the birm with nothing but facts

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13
Q

What does the term Aestheticism mean?

A

It comes from greek and it means percieving through senses

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14
Q

What is the aim of the aesthetic artist’s works?

A

To describe reality as the artist percieves it, to convey the sense of it that he has

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15
Q

How should be life lived according to Aestheticism?

A

As a work of art– it’s not art anymore that has to take inspiration from life; now it’s the opposite
Life should be enjoyed by gaining from each moment the maximum pleasure the moment can give and by searching new experiences that can generate new sensations
The aesthetic artist has to live life in all its forms without any judgement or brake of morality

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16
Q

What has driven to the concept of “l’art pour l’art”? what does that mean?

A

The vulgarity of the middle-class that acts based on the concept of utilitarism
It means that Beauty is now the most important value which is capable of giving sense to things just for the fact that they are beautiful.
Beauty is such an absolute value that it goes beyond ethics and moral

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17
Q

Prephase of The Picture of Dorian Gray (2nd edition)

A
  • artist= God: he can create beautiful things that only by being beautiful have sense by themselves only
  • art is just for the cultivated: there’s a perception of exceptionality of the artist
  • the artist should be permitted to do everything: vices and virtues are for him material of art
  • there’s no moral or immoral book; instead it can be either well or badly written
  • a well written book is one that doesn’t generate conformity but instead a wide range of different opinions
  • ART REFLECTS A PERSONAL IMPRESSION OF REALITY
  • ALL ART IS QUET USELESS
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18
Q

Why can Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde be associated with Nietzsche?

A

Mr.Hyde represents the primitive aggressive and plaesuring impulses that according to Nietzsche are the actual base of the human soul, along with reason which is but more a secondary thing
Nietzsche unites therefore the two parts Dr.Jekyll tried to separate in the human soul with a preference for the irrational one

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19
Q

Why is “The picture of Dorian Gray” related to Freud’s “Discomfort of modern society”?

A

Lord Henry tells Dorian in the second chapter that he for sure has felt ashamed of himself for certain ideas or desires he wanted to satisfy

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20
Q

According to Henry, what is life’s actual aim?

A

To realize one’s nature, self-development, to become what you really are

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21
Q

According to Henry what is the origin of moral basis? what effects does this have on people?

A

The fear of society of our evil parts, consequently it has been taught to us to fear our true selves that is also the part of our hidden desires

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22
Q

Why is Lord Henry connected with Nieztsche?

A

Society has created morality because it was scared of the evil parts of each one of us

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23
Q

What is the role of religion and society according to Henry?

A

Their goal is to make us afraid of judgement and punishment

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24
Q

What should we do with our desires, according to Henry? why don’t we express them and what happens if it is so?

A

We should satisfy them.
If not so, the desires will become even more stronger and not to accomodate them is self-denial
The reason why we do not express them is the terror of God, society, judgment and punishment (it’s the law that says that what we feel is monstrous)

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25
Q

According to Henry, what should Dorian do?

A

He should enjoy his youth, as his body will progressevely age and be less attractive
He should leave all that is valuable according to society’s norms and simply enojy life, satisfying his feelings and desires

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26
Q

What does Dorian do after the chat with Henry?

A

He wishes to remain forever young and the painting will age instead of him

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27
Q

What two people are known for their influence over Modernism?

A

Einstein and Freud

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28
Q

Main events that sign the Modern Age?

A
  • death of queen Victoria (1901): fall of the old values and stability= disorientation, insecurity, uncertainty
  • WW1 and after: fall of OPTIMISM, industrial decline, economic crisis
  • rise of totalitarisms= URSS (Stalin), Germany (Hitler), Italy (Mussolini), Spain (Franco)
  • indipendence of the colonies: birth of the Commonwealt= economic and political agreement between Britain and her past dominions
29
Q

What new desire characterizes Modern Age?

A

The will to destroy all connections with the past; the will to seek new means of expression and to represent the new perception of reality

30
Q

What theory destroys the unity of the subject? what methaphor better represents this theory?

A

Freud’s theory of the subconcious:
- ego= concious part of us; it’s how we percieve ourselves
- superego= the part that interiorizes the prohibitions and works as the internal judge
- es= primitive part of us, the one that embodies all our desires

31
Q

How do arts react after Freud’s theory?

A

They now try to explore the subconcious: in literature the authors try to enter the mind of the characters and describe the reality as they percieve it (stream of conciousness and free association– the latter works through the subconcious)

32
Q

What other perception radically changes in Modern Age? thanks to whom?

A

The perception of time and space= Einstein’s theory:
time and space are not objective but depend instead from the observer: everyone has his personal time

33
Q

With which painting does Dalì well represents the new perception of reality? why?

A

Les Mademoiselles d’Avignon: the painter rejects the classical objective canons and prefers to picture reality from different perspectives as it actually is for each one of us

34
Q

Why is Eliot accused of obscurity? what’s his answer to that? what means does he use to be “obscure”?

A

Because of his works’ complexity through cultisms and images.
Given the complexity and difficulty of understanding the “new” world, he can only respond with a complex picture and interpretation of it.
- images: are to be freely interpreted by the reader– REALITY= HEAP OF BROKEN IMAGES out of which we cannot make any sense
- cultisms: he uses quotes and references from different cultures (also outside Europe); many times they are difficult to understand. They are used to better reflect the difficult understanding of reality
- MYTHICAL METHOD: it’s used both to give order and unity to a world that has none of these, for which we look back in time; and also to add a layer of vital spirituality, absent in the modern world

35
Q

Stylic innovetions introducted by Eliot

A
  • free verse: there’s no strict verse rules– the length of the verses can vary (even a word can form a verse)
  • CORRELATIVE OBJECTIVE: the author tries to embody his feelings in objects that can express his emotions in an objective way
  • no linear timeline: the time is not specified and often he remembers times of the past
36
Q

What’s Eliot’s most popular work? what’s its structure? whaT’s its meaning? what myth is recurrent in the poem?

A

The Wasteland divided into 5 parts:
- first one= THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD– presents a series of antithesis (life-death; fertility-sterility, …)
- last one= WHAT THE THUNDER SAID– it pictures the spiritual journey of mankind through the desert of modernity; the title suggests a revelation that never comes.
MEANING OF THE POEM= representation of modern Europe= arid, spiritually sterile and fragmented land
MYTH OF THE HOLY GRAIL= POSSIBLE SPIRITUAL SALVATION OF MANKIND

37
Q

Is there hope in The Wasteland?

A

Only hope= personal responsability, continuity of the old european values and spiritual rennovation through water that never comes

38
Q

Through what innovation are Eliot and Pirandello correlated?

A

Through the active role of the reader/ spectator who has to go deeper into what he reads/ sees:
- Eliot: deeper into the images to understand their meanings
- Pirandello: deeper into the theater work through the “feeling of the contrary”

39
Q

What three images are used in The burial of the Dead? what’s the main theme of this part?

A
  • Spring= time of illusions, of hope, of positive emotions, of good memories– all this is destined to die= APRIL= THE CRUELEST MONTH
  • Winter= there’s no possible illusion, we forget what’s under the snow= SEASON OF DISILLUSIONMENT (better to die than to have hopes that will let you down)
  • Summer= happy memories from childhood
    MAIN THEME= representation of the alienation and disorientation of modern man
40
Q

Why is April in The burial of the Dead connected to Leopardi?

A

Because April is the month of the illusions, that for Leopardi are everywhere throughout our lives

41
Q

How is London described in the Burial of the Dead? to whom are its people compared?

A

As a city inhabited by alienated people that are compared to Dante’s ignavi– people who are spiritually dead and conduct meaningless lives

42
Q

Why is The burial of the Dead connected to Baudelaire and Scapigliati?

A

Because of the perception of the big cities

43
Q

What’s the environment described in “What the thunder said”? what does it represent? what could water do? what’s told at the end?

A

A dry desert with no presence of water, inhabited by sullen red faces that sneer and snarl; teeth that cannot spit; they live in mudcracked houses.
There’s absence of any kind of life, even grass.
DESERT= STERILITY OF MEN’S SPIRITUALITY
WATER= POSSIBLE SALVATION= POSSIBLE CHANGE– typically a symbol of water
END: the “unreal” cities– the ancient ones have already fallen, now Vienna and London will follow the same fate: great civilisations that are destined to doom.
A STORM THAT BRINGS WATER IS COMING, BUT WE DON’T ACTUALLY KNOW IF IT WILL RAIN OR NOT

44
Q

Why can Joyce be connected to Nietzche?

A

Through the paralisys of the will
- Nietzsche: the paralisys of the will is the uncapability of people to face the Nichilism and trasform it from a the passive one to the active one
- Joyce: the parallisys of the will of his characters that have desires to try fulfilling their lives but fail to turn these desires into action= FAILURE

45
Q

Why can Joyce’s charachters of Dubliners be connected to d’Annunzio’s romances’ charachters?

A

Because of WISHFUL THINKING (= velleitarismo):
the charachters of both authors have desires and goals that ultimately don’t come to realization because of the inaction and the undoing of their will

46
Q

In what way does Joyce have a dualist perception of Dublin?

A

He hated the city but was in the meantime attracted by it

47
Q

Why does Joyce choose Dublin?

A

Because for him it is the perfect representation of the modern city, the center of the PARALISYS: the city is static and doesn’t offer to its inhabitants the possibility of growing and fulfill their potential.
DUBLIN= SPIRITUAL AND PHYSICAL DEATH, UNIVERSAL LACK OF GROWTH

48
Q

Why is Eliot’s Wasteland connected with Joyce’s Dubliners?

A

They both work on a spiritual level:
Eliot focuses on the modern man’s condition who is spiritually dead and incapable;
Joyce does the same by telling the stories of dubliners that have desires to be fulfilled but lack of the will to put them in action– this is the sympthom of the paralisys of the will which translates in the DEATH OF THE SPIRITUAL VITALITY OF AN INDIVIDUAL

49
Q

How many stories does Dubliners have? in how many groups is it divided into?

A

It counts 15 short stories that are divided into 3 groups:
- Childhood
- Adolescence
- Maturity: to this last one belongs “The Dead”, considered to be a sum up of all the previous ones

50
Q

Dubliners’ main theme?

A
  • PARALISYS OF THE WILL: people have desires that won’t be satisfied because of their inaction
  • EPIPHANY= MOMENT OF REALIZATION; it’s the recognition of a deeper truth and of the charachter’s condition of paralisys. It never brings to a real change but only makes the characters more aware
  • EXPLORATION OF THE MIND: it’s Joyce’s first attempt to explore the mind– in this work it’s all still controlled
51
Q

Joyce’s narrative technique

A
  • FREE INDIRECT SPEECH: we don’t hear the voice of the author who completely disappears and lets the charachter’s mind speak for itself, acquiring the charachter’s language and way of speaking creating the so called regression
52
Q

Which Joyce’s tehcnique can be connected to Verga?

A

The free indirect speech that makes the author disappear and who acquires the way of speaking of the character/s represented

53
Q

To which part does Eveline belong?

A

The Adolescence

54
Q

What are two effects of the stream of conciousness?

A
  • SHIFTS IN TIME: the character might pass from the present to the past, to the future and back and forth
  • FREE ALOGICAL ASSOCIATIONS: the character percieves the reality that makes him think about something specific– the correlation is difficult for us to understand as we don’t think the same way as the character
55
Q

What’s Frank’s role in Eveline?

A

He represents the possibility of escaping her reality and build a new life. Eveline doesn’t really love him as she’s more attracted to the image of him who could give her a new life rather than Frank himself

56
Q

What’s the moment of epiphany in Eveline?

A
  • the bell of the boat at the very end
  • the moment Evline hears the violin’s music which brings her back the memory of her mother’s death and the promise she did to her
57
Q

Who’s the protagonist of Joyce’s Ulysses?

A

Leopold Bloom, a half jew who works in the advertising industry for a newpapers

58
Q

What the styilistic pecularity of Ulysses?

A

Joyce uses a different style for each chapter:
15. is a play
14. recreates the story of prose’s english style
12. is a story with bizarre and exagerated interruptons
11. uses onomatopeas and alliterations to recreate music

59
Q

Differences between Omero’s Ulysses and Joyce’s

A
  • Bloom wanders around the city for just one day; Ulysses wanders 20 years before returning home
  • Bloom’s wife (Molly) is unfaithful; Ulysses’ wife waited for him till his return
60
Q

What connects Joyce’s Ulysses and Eliot’s Wasteland?

A

Both present cultured allusions for which you need to dig in, deeper, to understand them

61
Q

What connects Joyce’s Ulysses and Eliot’s Wasteland?

A

Both use the MYTHICAL METHOD to underline the absence of heroism and the spiritual sterility of modern time society

62
Q

How many chapter does Ulysses have? how many characters are there?

A

18 episodes in which we get to know three characters: Stephen Dedalus, Leopold Bloom and Molly

63
Q

What Orwell’s writing’s aim? (same as Dickens)

A

To spread awareness, to condamn and possibly fix the evils of society

64
Q

What personal experience changed Orwell?

A

Service as a policeman in India– he had to oppress the people and felt horrible about it. He decides then to sustain and take part to the poors

65
Q

What should be the characteristics of a book according to Orwell? what are Orwell’s writing rules?

A

To be simply written and understandable to everyone:
- never use a long word where a short one will do
- if a word is not necessary cut it out
- no usage of rethorical figures or cultured allusions
- never use a passive where an active will do
- never use specific language

66
Q

What’s the aim of 1984?

A

To critic the totalitarian regimes

67
Q

Context of 1984

A

The world is divide into three countries= Oceania, Eurasia and Estasia– in constant war with each other
Brintain is part of Oceania under the totalitarian regime of the Big Brother, head of The Party.
All the country is subjected to a hammering propaganda

68
Q

What two instruments are used by The Party to control people?

A
  • NEWSPEAK: a new language created by eliminating the “superficial” or “useless” words of old English in order to eliminate those concepts considered dangerous– by destroying words you destroy also the concepts they describe
  • DOUBLETHINK: it consists in the elimination of ralitionaty and conscience from people by holding at the same time two terms that are in obvious contrast (freedom is slavery, war is peace, …)– this in order to make people believe in all truths The Party says

English (9 decks)

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