In Thomas Hardy’s novel, titled Far From The Madding Crowd, the protagonist, Bathsheba, is surrounded by three different suitors. Gabriel, Boldwood, and Troy each try to win her hand in marriage. The different characteristics of these characters create a dynamic story where marriage and love are both highlighted and critiqued. The majority of this conflict takes place in the fictional area of Wessex, England. Hardy uses this fictional setting, and the surrounding town of Weatherbury, to depict how rural England was slowly going extinct with the rise of modern technology and industry. As a result of this rural setting, many of elements of pastoral literature are seen in the novel. Due to this, the text is often referred to as a pastoral novel. Pastoral novels portray rural country life as free from the complexity and corruption of city life. This idealized approach often uses shepherds and other natural elements in a poetic way to describe both love and freedom. Hardy uses the connotation associated with pastoral literature sarcastically to demonstrate how even in rural life social problems do arise. In the case of this work, the pastoral elements are structured in a way to create parallelism. These parallel episodes compare and contrast different characters through figurative language. The repetition of these motifs reflect and influence characters as well as develop themes. The contrast of fire and water is seen many times throughout the text. In Chapters Six and Thirty
The tale of forbidden love binds itself within many famous works of literature in order to provoke the human mind into situations similar to those of Adam and Eve of the Bible. The “forbidden fruit” plays an important role in the books of Ethan Frome and Jane Eyre in the form of unattainable but beloved women, where two men, Ethan Frome and Mr. Edward Rochester, share common distinguishable attributes. Their serene sensitive nature soon explodes into a passionate cause, later revealing a bare, desperate soul that longs for their beloved “forbidden fruit.”
They find it difficult to fit in with the new environment. This is in correlation when ‘Tom moves from hometown to Coghill and finding it hard to cope’. Primitively, the young couple entrenches a negative attitude towards the village, evident in “When they first moved in, the young couple were ‘wary’ of the neighbourhood," which uncover their cautiousness towards the place and people and also showing that they are judgemental. Their negative attitude is fortified in the simile, “It made the newly-weds feel like sojourners in a foreign land”, the word ‘foreign’ has a derogatory nature because the couple feel like outsiders which coincidentally/fortuitously expose the couples fear of the neighbourhood, thus creating a physical barrier between them. As they live together longer, they experience the kind side of human nature, the neighbours helped fix the couple’s broken chicken pen and generously offered them free vegetables. Eventually, the couples “no longer walked with their eyes lowered. They felt superior and proud”—depict a sense of liberation as the couple no longer need to live with wariness, the emotive language ‘superior and proud’ delineate their reshaped positive attitude toward the
When developing the different points to analyze I found that the way I was setting this paper up was truly showcasing my abilities to analyze a passage from a well know author. While going through the text, I found a vast amount of imagery,” When considering the imagery in the folktale one of the first
Sweeping the category of setting Walrath masters the sense of looming danger throughout in her descriptive wordplay. “they slashed his throat, the gash so deep his skull hung on by ragged bands of muscle only…her cloths were all gone her breast severed, her womb removed” (Walrath 167). Not only is the author telling the reader how mama and papa perish she is foreshowing what will happen to the children if they are caught being man and woman. By showing the consequence is death the future obstacles to come, as the escape to safety through the mountains, the flow of the story makes it difficult for the reader to stop their own journey. When the children have to cross the river, “heaps of bodies strew on the water’s edge…. up the bank past the bodies, heaps of them, bloated, cut open…. Throats slit, whole families dead tighter, mothers, old men, daughters, young boys” (Walrath 199). These are just a few examples of how Walrath sets a dark and ominous tone throughout. Like Water on Stone scores all the points in the descriptive setting and suspenseful situations of dangerous areas throughout the novel in verse.
This paper will be a unique interpretation coupled with an analysis of rhetoric in A Thousand Acre’s by Jane Smiley. This non-fiction novel is told in third person omniscient and is focused on the point of view of one of the main characters, Ginny Cook. A Thousand Acres was a modern-day retelling of Shakespeare’s King Lear; set on a large farm and small town in Iowa. This setting is important to the plot because it is more realistic compared to a far away mystical land that is detached from its audience. Smiley uses various rhetorical and literary techniques within her book to engage readers while still keeping to the basic storyline previously written by Shakespeare. Smiley’s use of language positively aids the imagery and emotions seen
The nature vs nurture issue has been a controversial argument among psychologist for decades. This argument exposes two different views. One of them emphasizes that our personality depends solely on genetics (nature). On the other hand, the second view suggests that humans “develop through experience” (Myers 2013, SG 6) (nurture).
The progress between Elizabeth’s and Darcy’s relationship, in Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice (1813) illustrates and explores several the key themes in the novel. Their relationship highlights class expectations, pride and prejudice, and marriage, and how they play a major role in determining the course of their association. These are outlined through their first prejudiced dislike of each other when they first meet, the stronger feelings for Elizabeth that develop on Darcy’s side, her rejection in Darcy’s first proposal, then her change of opinion and lastly the mutual love they form for one another. Pride and Prejudice is set up as a satire, commenting on human idiocy, and Jane Austen
The pencil led flew all over the room as the student wrote her paper. She needed it done before the night was over, but it was already 11:30 at night and she only had three sentences done when she needed a three-page paper. This students name was Absent Minded, she had written many papers life this before, but every time she did, she only put in three sentences that expressed her opinion. Absent Minded filled the rest of the three pages with facts, paraphrases, and quotes never once thinking that her reader might want to know a little more about her opinion on the subject. This is what happens to many students who attend school, they fail to think and consider if what they are writing really makes sense. However, there is a way to retrieve
Debora B. Schwartz in her article, "Pastoral Poetry and Pastoral Comedy" highlights the fact that the major themes which are typically discussed in pastoral poetry include: "love and seduction;… the corruption of the city or court vs. the ‘purity’ of idealized country life…" (par. 2). In the poem, "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love," the theme of the "'purity' of idealized country life" is explored when the male persona attempts to use words which conjure up images of an paradise which he and his love interest can escape to sexually gratify each other. The male persona entices his love interest to "come live" with him and be his love (l. 1). He desires that he and his lover's "prove" the various "pleasures" that "woods or steepy mountain yields" (ll. 2, 4). This argument is rebuffed by the female persona in the poem, "The Nymph's Reply to Her Husband," when she states the following: "Time drives the flocks from field to fold, /When rivers rage and rocks grow cold" (ll. 5-6). It should be noted that these lines reflect the following lines of Marlowe's poem: "And we will sit upon the rocks, / seeing the shepherds feed their flocks/ by shallow rivers…" (ll. 5-7). The female persona undermines the shepherd's idealization of the countryside and pastoral life since the passage of time, depicted by the seasons, will change the characteristics of these things described so positively by the male persona in Marlowe's poem.
Living almost a century apart, Jane Austen and Thomas Hardy each explore similar themes of love through strong female characters. While society strove to keep women’s value directly tied to their marital status, Austen and Hardy wrote the stories of characters who defied these expectations. Bathsheba Everdene of Thomas Hardy’s Far From the Madding Crowd is a fiery young woman who inherits a farm, and Elizabeth Bennet of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is an educated woman who prides herself on speaking her mind regardless of the consequences. Both women are of marrying age, and both novels feature their romantic exploits. Besides their differing socio-economic and temporal settings, Bathsheba’s and Elizabeth’s behaviors indicate that they are facing similar feelings and conflicts when it comes to issues of love and marriage. Bathsheba goes to greater lengths to defy societal pressures than Elizabeth does, but Bathsheba’s circumstances warrant the effort. The real difference between these characters is the way in which they are written. One could not know how similar Bathsheba’s thoughts and feelings are to Elizabeth’s, because the reader rarely sees through Ms. Everdene’s eyes. Bathsheba Everdene is the greater feminist heroine when taken alongside Elizabeth Bennet; however, Hardy writes her story almost exclusively from the perspective of his male characters, leaving her represented as two-dimensional in comparison to
The relationship between the environment and characters in literature played a large role in Victorian novels. This relationship is extremely evident in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, where Jane’s journey to freedom is reflected by her environment. However, Jane’s goal of freedom and equality symbolizes Victorian women struggling to gain these same values. According to Jennifer D. Fuller in “Seeking Wild Eyre: Victorian Attitudes Towards Landscape and the Environment in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre”, Jane’s passion for freedom is reflects the passion for freedom in Victorian women who have not achieved equality yet. Although Jane’s environmental surroundings symbolize Jane’s future, Fuller effectively asserts that the weather instead symbolizes the harsh constraints of women’s gender roles in Victorian society.
He believes novelist William Thackeray’s humor to “[have] escaped the intellect of many.” In contrast, he believes Dickens to have, “[drawn] his lines so broadly, so that all should see the colour.” To many though, the value of a character lies in his or her ability to form a connection and identify with the reader. Regardless, Anthony Trollope’s criticism of Dickens’ failure to create a “human” character is inapplicable to Hardy’s creation of character in the novel Far from the Madding Crowd. Although, at times, the characters succumb to the stereotypical notions brought to mind by their names, Hardy creates authentically passionate and dynamic characters through his use of vivid description, regionalist dialogue, and explorations into human psychology that sharply contrast the pastoral setting of the
Pastoral poetry is a lyric poem that idealizes nature while criticizing urban life.These two pastoral poems are example of the contrast between the easygoing countryside and the hustle bustle of a city. In the famous pastoral poetry, “The Passionate Shepherd to his love,” the Shepherd happily describes the beautiful natural image of a perfect life. He wholeheartedly believes that love is always joyful and nothing can ruin the serenity. This poem is criticized for its deluded perspective by the Nymph in a taunting way. She mocks his fantasy life that has everlasting flowers, melodious birds and finest wool gown. The Nymph’s view on her ideal love is infinite, nonmaterialistic and realistic which contradicts the Shepherd’s view on ideal love—youthful, acquisitive, and blinding; these incompatible views tear a relationship into pieces especially when the problem is addressed in a cynical tone.
Many authors use the setting of a novel to illuminate certain values and principles in their writing. In Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte utilizes this technique to enhance the theme of the work. The novel is set in a harsh environment in Northern England, highlighting two specific estates, Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange, as the main places of action. The dreary landscape and houses not only serve as the primary setting, but also as major symbols that aide in establishing the tone and enhancing the novel's theme of good versus evil.
Pride and Prejudice is one of the most popular novels written by Jane Austen. This romantic novel, the story of which revolves around relationships and the difficulties of being in love, was not much of a success in Austen's own time. However, it has grown in its importance to literary critics and readerships over the last hundred years. There are many facets to the story that make reading it not only amusing but also highly interesting. The reader can learn much about the upper-class society of this age, and also gets an insight to the author's opinion about this society. Austen presents the high-society of her time from an observational point of view, ironically describing human behavior. She describes what she sees and adds her own