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Period 2
9/17/02
Writer’s Voice in Bird by Bird and One Writer’s Beginnings
Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird and Eudora Welty’s One Writer’s Beginnings are both writing instruction wrapped around an autobiographical account of each authors’ life. However, this is the only thing the two books have in common. Throughout their respective stories, Lamott and Welty present themselves in different ways and recount their experiences with a different tone. Because of their dissimilar upbringings, the voice of the two authors bears a sharp difference.
Welty grew up in the first half of the twentieth century and, as a result, has developed a much more formal persona than that of Anne Lamott. This persona becomes apparent as one begins to read Welty’s elegant prose. Her recollection of such serene scenes as tying her shoes while her parents playfully whistle songs that “float with laughter” back and forth to each other, does a great deal in reflecting her innocent persona. While Lamott’s personality has been largely shaped by tragedy and despair, Welty’s persona comes as the result of library visits with her mother and other non-traumatic situations. Although Welty did face adversity and tragedy in her life, it generally came after she had been educated in college; well after she had developed her persona as a writer. As a result, Lamott’s personality sharply contrasts that of Welty’s. In Bird by Bird, the more modern of the two authors displays a brutal honesty, recounting times when she “snorted cocaine” till she “began to resemble an anteater.” By being so brashly straightforward with her anecdotes, Lamott reveals her carefree personality. Whereas it is almost impossible to imagine Welty recollecting such taboo moments, the reader actually comes to expect such honesty from Lamott. Her audacious personality plays a vital role in shaping her voice as a writer.
The persona’s of the two writers also helps shape their attitude towards their audience. Welty’s personality is formal and refined, and she speaks to the reader assuming that they share her level of sophistication. She frequently uses long, complex sentences throughout the story, sometimes writing a full-sized paragraph in one sentence. By utilizing such formal rhetoric, she treats the reader as if they are her intellectual equals, with the same insatiable desire for reading that she has. Lamott, on the other hand, speaks to the reader as if they were her close friends. She frequently swears in her writing, referring to certain aspects of her inner-monologue as “radio station K-[Screwed].” Such harsh language, which would have no place in the formal, lecture-like text of Welty’s writing, is consistently found in Lamott’s. Like Welty, Lamott assumes that her audience consists primarily of people who share her persona. Although she does not write in formal diction, Lamott’s willingness to identify with her audience prevents the reader from thinking that she may be “dumbing down” her writing especially for them. In this way, her persona and tone with the audience indicate a voice that is not extremely elegant.
Welty and Lamott also have differing views on their subjects. Welty seems to cherish the moments that would shape her as a writer. She values the time spent reading books “two by two,” only fearing that they would “come to an end.” She values the moments in her childhood that would help shape who she became. Contradictorily, Lamott seems to hold a certain bitterness towards the things that shaped her voice as a writer and as a person. She speaks of her editor’s rejection of her novel as if she still has some animosity towards him for it. Indeed, if she felt that the whole situation was nothing more than a valuable learning experience for her, she certainly wouldn’t have written about how such rejection drove her to have “about a hundred drinks” and “snort the merest bit of cocaine.” From lines like this, it becomes apparent that, even in their attitude toward their subject, Welty and Lamott contrast each other sharply.
Bird by Bird and One Writer’s Beginnings present two opposing voices on a common subject. The two stories show that such radically different events can shape two people into relatively the same mold. While Eudora Welty and Anne Lamott both grew up in different environments and under different circumstances, they both ended up with a desire to write.
Period 2
9/17/02
Writer’s Voice in Bird by Bird and One Writer’s Beginnings
Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird and Eudora Welty’s One Writer’s Beginnings are both writing instruction wrapped around an autobiographical account of each authors’ life. However, this is the only thing the two books have in common. Throughout their respective stories, Lamott and Welty present themselves in different ways and recount their experiences with a different tone. Because of their dissimilar upbringings, the voice of the two authors bears a sharp difference.
Welty grew up in the first half of the twentieth century and, as a result, has developed a much more formal persona than that of Anne Lamott. This persona becomes apparent as one begins to read Welty’s elegant prose. Her recollection of such serene scenes as tying her shoes while her parents playfully whistle songs that “float with laughter” back and forth to each other, does a great deal in reflecting her innocent persona. While Lamott’s personality has been largely shaped by tragedy and despair, Welty’s persona comes as the result of library visits with her mother and other non-traumatic situations. Although Welty did face adversity and tragedy in her life, it generally came after she had been educated in college; well after she had developed her persona as a writer. As a result, Lamott’s personality sharply contrasts that of Welty’s. In Bird by Bird, the more modern of the two authors displays a brutal honesty, recounting times when she “snorted cocaine” till she “began to resemble an anteater.” By being so brashly straightforward with her anecdotes, Lamott reveals her carefree personality. Whereas it is almost impossible to imagine Welty recollecting such taboo moments, the reader actually comes to expect such honesty from Lamott. Her audacious personality plays a vital role in shaping her voice as a writer.
The persona’s of the two writers also helps shape their attitude towards their audience. Welty’s personality is formal and refined, and she speaks to the reader assuming that they share her level of sophistication. She frequently uses long, complex sentences throughout the story, sometimes writing a full-sized paragraph in one sentence. By utilizing such formal rhetoric, she treats the reader as if they are her intellectual equals, with the same insatiable desire for reading that she has. Lamott, on the other hand, speaks to the reader as if they were her close friends. She frequently swears in her writing, referring to certain aspects of her inner-monologue as “radio station K-[Screwed].” Such harsh language, which would have no place in the formal, lecture-like text of Welty’s writing, is consistently found in Lamott’s. Like Welty, Lamott assumes that her audience consists primarily of people who share her persona. Although she does not write in formal diction, Lamott’s willingness to identify with her audience prevents the reader from thinking that she may be “dumbing down” her writing especially for them. In this way, her persona and tone with the audience indicate a voice that is not extremely elegant.
Welty and Lamott also have differing views on their subjects. Welty seems to cherish the moments that would shape her as a writer. She values the time spent reading books “two by two,” only fearing that they would “come to an end.” She values the moments in her childhood that would help shape who she became. Contradictorily, Lamott seems to hold a certain bitterness towards the things that shaped her voice as a writer and as a person. She speaks of her editor’s rejection of her novel as if she still has some animosity towards him for it. Indeed, if she felt that the whole situation was nothing more than a valuable learning experience for her, she certainly wouldn’t have written about how such rejection drove her to have “about a hundred drinks” and “snort the merest bit of cocaine.” From lines like this, it becomes apparent that, even in their attitude toward their subject, Welty and Lamott contrast each other sharply.
Bird by Bird and One Writer’s Beginnings present two opposing voices on a common subject. The two stories show that such radically different events can shape two people into relatively the same mold. While Eudora Welty and Anne Lamott both grew up in different environments and under different circumstances, they both ended up with a desire to write.
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WMST 393
Informal Piece #1
Color in Caramelo
From the beginning of her novel Caramelo, Sandra Cisneros employs writing techniques that give this book a special flavor, a special way of communicating the scenes and the settings that comprise young Lala’s life. Literature that makes use of all the senses in our imagination is the most effective at getting us to wear the shoes of the characters, to be where the characters are in our minds. The language of Caramelo constantly describes this sensory world, a world in which smells, sounds, impressions, textures, sensations and memories are as intertwined as in real life.
Life is not experienced through the eyes alone, but in Caramelo, attention to the visual aspects of experience is rich and meaningful. All the little details of physicality are rendered with care, and so the references to color may go unnoticed, as by-products of the rich visual world that Cisneros describes. Yet more often it is color that is forgotten in literature; one could read a whole novel that thoroughly describes a character’s inner consciousness, personality and social interactions, without ever knowing what he looks like, or the color of his hair. Cisneros gets us into the setting and the characters by describing their colors, and all of the other telling details that we acquire by sight.
The colors of people, or more precisely the varying shades of brown compared to white, matter to the story. Lala’s mother and her family are dark-skinned, a shade with apparently contradicting value. A Mexican coloring is good, but too close to black isn’t, as is apparent later in the book. Soledad and Regina Reyes both carried the darker coloring that betrayed a black ancestor. The color of Inocencio’s sister is markedly lighter…she is called “Aunty Light-Skin”. Could this be the result of the Awful Grandmother with a white man? Or just the Spanish blood coming through stronger? However she came to have lighter skin than others in her family, it is a badge that she wears. Her character can hardly be separated from her unique lighter skin, as the epithet accompanies every reference made to her. More is said of Candelaria’s light, caramel-colored skin, which is a trait of her ethnicity. Her ethnicity belied by her skin tone separates her from the Mexicans, and seems to condemn her to a lower class, regardless of her beauty or her work ethic. She is an Indian, a peon, according to the Awful Grandmother. It is strange and conflicting… does lighter skin (whether it comes from interracial union, Indian or Spanish blood) promote favor or disfavor among darker skinned Mexicans? One reference is made to an otherwise ugly man being beautiful because of his “Spanish” light skin and eyes. The lightness or darkness of a character’s skin tone and the context within which it is spoken of speaks about cultural conceptions in this novel.
I am reminded of Toni Morrison’s novel The Bluest Eye, which is about a little black girl who prays for blue eyes, so that she can be as pretty and loved as all the white children of America. White culture can be so dominant that it crushes the egos of children who can’t fit in to the white standard of beauty early on. Aunty Light-Skin’s daughter, Antonieta, teases Lala, telling her that the woman she was named after was “blond-blond-blond and white-white-white. Very pretty, not like you”. In this and in some of the subtext I see the same phenomena, and look forward to seeing further how the shade of people’s skin plays a role in their and their communities’ self-conceptions.
WMST 393
Informal Piece #1
Color in Caramelo
From the beginning of her novel Caramelo, Sandra Cisneros employs writing techniques that give this book a special flavor, a special way of communicating the scenes and the settings that comprise young Lala’s life. Literature that makes use of all the senses in our imagination is the most effective at getting us to wear the shoes of the characters, to be where the characters are in our minds. The language of Caramelo constantly describes this sensory world, a world in which smells, sounds, impressions, textures, sensations and memories are as intertwined as in real life.
Life is not experienced through the eyes alone, but in Caramelo, attention to the visual aspects of experience is rich and meaningful. All the little details of physicality are rendered with care, and so the references to color may go unnoticed, as by-products of the rich visual world that Cisneros describes. Yet more often it is color that is forgotten in literature; one could read a whole novel that thoroughly describes a character’s inner consciousness, personality and social interactions, without ever knowing what he looks like, or the color of his hair. Cisneros gets us into the setting and the characters by describing their colors, and all of the other telling details that we acquire by sight.
The colors of people, or more precisely the varying shades of brown compared to white, matter to the story. Lala’s mother and her family are dark-skinned, a shade with apparently contradicting value. A Mexican coloring is good, but too close to black isn’t, as is apparent later in the book. Soledad and Regina Reyes both carried the darker coloring that betrayed a black ancestor. The color of Inocencio’s sister is markedly lighter…she is called “Aunty Light-Skin”. Could this be the result of the Awful Grandmother with a white man? Or just the Spanish blood coming through stronger? However she came to have lighter skin than others in her family, it is a badge that she wears. Her character can hardly be separated from her unique lighter skin, as the epithet accompanies every reference made to her. More is said of Candelaria’s light, caramel-colored skin, which is a trait of her ethnicity. Her ethnicity belied by her skin tone separates her from the Mexicans, and seems to condemn her to a lower class, regardless of her beauty or her work ethic. She is an Indian, a peon, according to the Awful Grandmother. It is strange and conflicting… does lighter skin (whether it comes from interracial union, Indian or Spanish blood) promote favor or disfavor among darker skinned Mexicans? One reference is made to an otherwise ugly man being beautiful because of his “Spanish” light skin and eyes. The lightness or darkness of a character’s skin tone and the context within which it is spoken of speaks about cultural conceptions in this novel.
I am reminded of Toni Morrison’s novel The Bluest Eye, which is about a little black girl who prays for blue eyes, so that she can be as pretty and loved as all the white children of America. White culture can be so dominant that it crushes the egos of children who can’t fit in to the white standard of beauty early on. Aunty Light-Skin’s daughter, Antonieta, teases Lala, telling her that the woman she was named after was “blond-blond-blond and white-white-white. Very pretty, not like you”. In this and in some of the subtext I see the same phenomena, and look forward to seeing further how the shade of people’s skin plays a role in their and their communities’ self-conceptions.
[img]http://a.im.craigslist.org/wb/wN/JlAJzS6s36uxWLoTVAezHhtGuWqk.jpg[/img][img]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y175/Denverbroncofrk/weedgurucopy.jpg[/img]
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WMST 393, Chicana Literature
Dr. Gutierrez y Muhs
4-13-04
What is a Mexican?
“What is a Mexican? What do Mexicans look like? How do mainstream American ideas about what a Mexican is hold up to reality”?
I am not sure that Mother Tongue reveals very much information to answer these questions, so I will try to answer them from the personal perspective I have gained since reading Caramelo and Mother Tongue, in addition to our discussions in class.
What is a Mexican? Prior to this class I would have answered something like “a Mexican is someone who has brown skin, speaks Spanish, and lives in Mexico”. I think that is the perception that many Americans hold. The first of these ideas is simply false; all Mexicans do not have the same color of skin. They are not all brown! Their skin tones vary in shades from light, almost white that comes from Spanish ancestry, to shades of indigenous caramel, to brown like the earth, to dark like a coffee bean, nearly black. They can have blue eyes, red hair, kinky hair, or light skin… all physical characteristics not regularly associated with “Mexican” by common Americans. Do all Mexicans speak [perfect] Spanish? Not necessarily, as evidenced through several characters in the books we have read. The states that border Mexico in the American Southwest were once Mexican territory. Consequently, you have a large population down there that considers itself Mexican and Mexican-American. Maria, the narrator of Mother Tongue, is one such example. She cannot speak perfect Spanish as a native immersed in that language first would; she must practice and take lessons with Jose Luis. Zoila and the children in Caramelo, who no doubt identify themselves as Mexican-Americans, speak pocho Spanish according to the Awful Grandmother, which is not good in her eyes. To her, a real Mexican speaks proper Spanish. I am not sure if this is an opinion carried by the Mexican national population at large, but it would not surprise me. Finally, people do not have to live in Mexico or even be from there to consider themselves Mexican or Mexican-American. This I already know from living in Eastern Washington – the immigrants and their children, their first generation American children, still strongly identify with Mexican culture. Unfortunately, most of the white people where I come from harbor racial prejudice and jealousy towards these immigrants and their children. Those “mainstream” American ideas about what a Mexican is are narrow minded and harmful to an interracial society. If they could read Caramelo, perhaps they would apprehend knowledge that would change their pre-conceptions, perhaps they would appreciate the traditions and family customs that describe Mexican culture, and perhaps then the Mexican-Americans who live among them could feel more at home here in America – not ostracized and segregated, not people with no home.
WMST 393, Chicana Literature
Dr. Gutierrez y Muhs
4-13-04
What is a Mexican?
“What is a Mexican? What do Mexicans look like? How do mainstream American ideas about what a Mexican is hold up to reality”?
I am not sure that Mother Tongue reveals very much information to answer these questions, so I will try to answer them from the personal perspective I have gained since reading Caramelo and Mother Tongue, in addition to our discussions in class.
What is a Mexican? Prior to this class I would have answered something like “a Mexican is someone who has brown skin, speaks Spanish, and lives in Mexico”. I think that is the perception that many Americans hold. The first of these ideas is simply false; all Mexicans do not have the same color of skin. They are not all brown! Their skin tones vary in shades from light, almost white that comes from Spanish ancestry, to shades of indigenous caramel, to brown like the earth, to dark like a coffee bean, nearly black. They can have blue eyes, red hair, kinky hair, or light skin… all physical characteristics not regularly associated with “Mexican” by common Americans. Do all Mexicans speak [perfect] Spanish? Not necessarily, as evidenced through several characters in the books we have read. The states that border Mexico in the American Southwest were once Mexican territory. Consequently, you have a large population down there that considers itself Mexican and Mexican-American. Maria, the narrator of Mother Tongue, is one such example. She cannot speak perfect Spanish as a native immersed in that language first would; she must practice and take lessons with Jose Luis. Zoila and the children in Caramelo, who no doubt identify themselves as Mexican-Americans, speak pocho Spanish according to the Awful Grandmother, which is not good in her eyes. To her, a real Mexican speaks proper Spanish. I am not sure if this is an opinion carried by the Mexican national population at large, but it would not surprise me. Finally, people do not have to live in Mexico or even be from there to consider themselves Mexican or Mexican-American. This I already know from living in Eastern Washington – the immigrants and their children, their first generation American children, still strongly identify with Mexican culture. Unfortunately, most of the white people where I come from harbor racial prejudice and jealousy towards these immigrants and their children. Those “mainstream” American ideas about what a Mexican is are narrow minded and harmful to an interracial society. If they could read Caramelo, perhaps they would apprehend knowledge that would change their pre-conceptions, perhaps they would appreciate the traditions and family customs that describe Mexican culture, and perhaps then the Mexican-Americans who live among them could feel more at home here in America – not ostracized and segregated, not people with no home.
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English 325
Dr. Bullon
4-13-03
Putting Chretien and Capellanus in Dialogue – Courtly Love and Societal Implications
In the early part of the millennium, in the upper classes of European society, it was hard for every noble man to have a noble woman. Just as in our own time, a passionate, sensual love was sought, and it’s practical that such a love between two people would be adulterous, given the societal conditions regarding marriage outlined in Duby’s “Youth in Aristocratic Society”. All aristocratic marriages were arranged, and in the interest of preserving wealth. This avaristic societal goal supported the masses of unwed young knights, whose violent and adventurous lifestyles were captured in Chretien’s stories. Chretien also relayed the conventions of courtly love, a radical new interpersonal philosophy that defied traditional Christian morality and valorized eternal devotion and passion between lovers. The literature of courtly love, which preceded the actual widespread practice, must have strongly impressed those who read it, and shaped the custom. In this sense, Chretien’s narratives are didactic – the characters exemplify and the plots outline this budding tradition.
Writing midway through the 11th Century, Chretien’s characters Lancelot and Gueneviere precede the actual practice of courtly love, and manifest many aspects of the young tradition in their relationship. In his article (written around the same time or perhaps slightly after Chretien’s work) “The Art of Courtly Love”, Andreas Capellanus outlined some thirty-one “rules” of courtly love – of which Lancelot and Gueneviere exemplify at least twenty-six. The question of whether or not Capellanus’ work was a serious reflection of society at that time, or merely another piece of literature that preceded the practice is debated by scholars, but given the time frame, it is not unreasonable to think that Capellanus’ article and Chretien’s romances are more closely related than either of the texts were with the concurrent common practice of aristocratic society.
At the top of Capellanus’ list and occurring in the wording of four other rules is the crux of Lancelot: adultery. “Marriage is no real excuse for not loving; no one can be bound by a double love; love is always a stranger in the home of avarice; when made public love rarely endures; nothing forbids one woman being loved by two men”. Lancelot’s devotion to his king’s wife is never once scorned by the narrator as a sin, which would be expected from a narrator of Christian society. Instead, the secret and adulterous affair is presented as beautiful, true and strong…true love. Chretien invents a niche for sin that is not called sin, but rather attends to the realities of loveless marriages and suggests in the subtext that the sin (against true love, at least) is marrying for money.
I will say more on a few of the rules of courtly love that Lancelot demonstrates before concluding. “No one can love unless he is impelled by the persuasion of love” (Capellanus). The hero Lancelot is persuaded in his actions by nothing, except the drive of his love for Gueneviere. “A true lover does not desire to embrace anyone in love except his beloved” (Capellanus). Lancelot is not over-passioned. “Not once did he look toward her (his hostess) or anywhere but straight before him. He could show her no favor, because his heart… was focused on another” (Chretien, 222). Capellanus wrote, “A true lover considers nothing good except what he thinks will please his beloved”. Lancelot demonstrates this point fully by his behavior at the tournament he took leave from prison to attend. “Do your worst”, said Gueneviere, and Lancelot unhesitatingly displayed cowardice. It was his immediate acceptance of this most base of behaviors in
courtly society for her respect alone that identified him as her true lover. “The easy attainment of love makes it of little value” (Capellanus). Lancelot must do battle, slice his hands and feet, lose part of a finger, submit to prison, and battle again, all in the name of Gueneviere.
Why then, does our hero forget his lady in the end? Much of the story portrays a man so sick with love he can barely walk straight, but so imbued with courage by his love that he would do anything to please her. The descriptions of a lovesick Lancelot may be Chretien’s poke at love. They mirror Capellanus’ statements: “Every lover regularly turns pale… his heart palpitates…. he eats and sleeps very little… he is without intermission possessed by the thought [of her]”. Both Chretien and Capellanus seem to be making fun of this aspect of being in love; Chretien especially so with scenes such as Lancelot being so stupefied by the thought of Gueneviere that he doesn’t notice another man screaming at him and charging for battle! The trajectory of Lancelot’s love in the narrative warranted a conclusion, yet due to the finishing of The Knight of the Cart by a separate author, no resolution or final confirmation of his love occurs. This literary circumstance may be closer to how adulterous courtly romances ended in real life… that which is unspoken cannot herald your death for crime, no matter how courtly the crime is.
English 325
Dr. Bullon
4-13-03
Putting Chretien and Capellanus in Dialogue – Courtly Love and Societal Implications
In the early part of the millennium, in the upper classes of European society, it was hard for every noble man to have a noble woman. Just as in our own time, a passionate, sensual love was sought, and it’s practical that such a love between two people would be adulterous, given the societal conditions regarding marriage outlined in Duby’s “Youth in Aristocratic Society”. All aristocratic marriages were arranged, and in the interest of preserving wealth. This avaristic societal goal supported the masses of unwed young knights, whose violent and adventurous lifestyles were captured in Chretien’s stories. Chretien also relayed the conventions of courtly love, a radical new interpersonal philosophy that defied traditional Christian morality and valorized eternal devotion and passion between lovers. The literature of courtly love, which preceded the actual widespread practice, must have strongly impressed those who read it, and shaped the custom. In this sense, Chretien’s narratives are didactic – the characters exemplify and the plots outline this budding tradition.
Writing midway through the 11th Century, Chretien’s characters Lancelot and Gueneviere precede the actual practice of courtly love, and manifest many aspects of the young tradition in their relationship. In his article (written around the same time or perhaps slightly after Chretien’s work) “The Art of Courtly Love”, Andreas Capellanus outlined some thirty-one “rules” of courtly love – of which Lancelot and Gueneviere exemplify at least twenty-six. The question of whether or not Capellanus’ work was a serious reflection of society at that time, or merely another piece of literature that preceded the practice is debated by scholars, but given the time frame, it is not unreasonable to think that Capellanus’ article and Chretien’s romances are more closely related than either of the texts were with the concurrent common practice of aristocratic society.
At the top of Capellanus’ list and occurring in the wording of four other rules is the crux of Lancelot: adultery. “Marriage is no real excuse for not loving; no one can be bound by a double love; love is always a stranger in the home of avarice; when made public love rarely endures; nothing forbids one woman being loved by two men”. Lancelot’s devotion to his king’s wife is never once scorned by the narrator as a sin, which would be expected from a narrator of Christian society. Instead, the secret and adulterous affair is presented as beautiful, true and strong…true love. Chretien invents a niche for sin that is not called sin, but rather attends to the realities of loveless marriages and suggests in the subtext that the sin (against true love, at least) is marrying for money.
I will say more on a few of the rules of courtly love that Lancelot demonstrates before concluding. “No one can love unless he is impelled by the persuasion of love” (Capellanus). The hero Lancelot is persuaded in his actions by nothing, except the drive of his love for Gueneviere. “A true lover does not desire to embrace anyone in love except his beloved” (Capellanus). Lancelot is not over-passioned. “Not once did he look toward her (his hostess) or anywhere but straight before him. He could show her no favor, because his heart… was focused on another” (Chretien, 222). Capellanus wrote, “A true lover considers nothing good except what he thinks will please his beloved”. Lancelot demonstrates this point fully by his behavior at the tournament he took leave from prison to attend. “Do your worst”, said Gueneviere, and Lancelot unhesitatingly displayed cowardice. It was his immediate acceptance of this most base of behaviors in
courtly society for her respect alone that identified him as her true lover. “The easy attainment of love makes it of little value” (Capellanus). Lancelot must do battle, slice his hands and feet, lose part of a finger, submit to prison, and battle again, all in the name of Gueneviere.
Why then, does our hero forget his lady in the end? Much of the story portrays a man so sick with love he can barely walk straight, but so imbued with courage by his love that he would do anything to please her. The descriptions of a lovesick Lancelot may be Chretien’s poke at love. They mirror Capellanus’ statements: “Every lover regularly turns pale… his heart palpitates…. he eats and sleeps very little… he is without intermission possessed by the thought [of her]”. Both Chretien and Capellanus seem to be making fun of this aspect of being in love; Chretien especially so with scenes such as Lancelot being so stupefied by the thought of Gueneviere that he doesn’t notice another man screaming at him and charging for battle! The trajectory of Lancelot’s love in the narrative warranted a conclusion, yet due to the finishing of The Knight of the Cart by a separate author, no resolution or final confirmation of his love occurs. This literary circumstance may be closer to how adulterous courtly romances ended in real life… that which is unspoken cannot herald your death for crime, no matter how courtly the crime is.
[img]http://a.im.craigslist.org/wb/wN/JlAJzS6s36uxWLoTVAezHhtGuWqk.jpg[/img][img]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y175/Denverbroncofrk/weedgurucopy.jpg[/img]
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tweedle
information communication technology
The use of ICT in an organisation
For this report I have been asked to report about how an organisation uses ICT. I am going to write it on The Edgware School. The Edgware School is a secondary school which aims to provide a safe and secure learning environment in which the students can achieve there full potential. The school provides education to 11-18 year olds offering the full national curriculum and a choice of GCSE and advanced level subjects. The school is also available to the community for car boot sales, weddings and wedding receptions or you can rent out the sports facilities.
The school has 80 full time staff in addition to about 30 different non teaching staff which includes caretakers and technicians. The staff all have passes so that they can show identification if it is requested.
The school has a network set up for pupils and staff. There are 2 different networks in the school; a curriculum network that is available to students for school purposes and an administrative network for the staff and admin staff. This helps stop the changing of settings that students may do if they had the chance.
The Edgware School uses ICT both in and out of school. A lot of the work involves word processing for typing letters and newsletters. But they also use email to communicate with the borough and other schools. This is mainly done within the office area. The Exam officer is also able to send exam entries to the exam board, which saves time as she doesn’t have to post them which can take up to a couple of days to get there. Other statistical information is sent in the same way to the government these includes attendance figures and grades along with other information.
The school does have the four main functions of a business which are sales, purchasing, finance and operations but they aren’t as simple as a traditional business. The main needs of the school in terms of ICT are that the systems are needed so that they can monitor student’s progress and so that communicate with parents and for staff to communicate with each other. A schools main priority is to teach to the high standard so this becomes the operations. They achieve this by appointing teachers of a high standard, learning assists that help out individual students that need help with work and to assist the teacher in anyway they can, technical staff to ensure equipment and systems work correctly for lessons such as science, art, ICT and D&T, clerical staff which are office staff and reprographics staff.
For the students to succeed and progress it is important that they have good attendance. If they aren’t in school then they won’t be learning anything. To monitor the attendance of students the school employ an attendance officer and an educational welfare officer. They use a system called BROMCOM, this monitors attendance and if a student hasn’t been in to school in a long time or hasn’t notified them as to why they weren’t in school one day they follow this up. The BROMCOM system can be used to produce reports on individual attendance, class or subject attendance. BROMCOM is a wireless network so that it can be used in any classroom in the school. This means each teacher has a portable register notepad that is used to record attendance during morning and afternoon attendance and also during lessons. The information is sent in signals to a receiver that collects all the information and sends via a cable to a central computer which collects all of the information and allows it to be analysed in various formats.
Clerical staff are important in the operations department as they are often in charge of keying in data about students and sending letters to the student’s parents or guardians. They use a system called SIMS. This is a big database which holds all of the personal details of each student along with there timetables. The only people that can change this are office staff for security and safety of data reasons. Other members of staff can access the information to find out a students phone number or to find out what lessons they are in and who is teaching them. This can prove to be very useful because if a parent phones and needs to speak to their child urgently they can find out which lesson there in without going through a long process.
Sales may not be the first thing you think about when you talk about a school but education is very competitive, meaning the school has to sell it self to people so that they can encourage people to come to it, ICT is used a lot to promote the school through brochures such as the general school brochure, 6th form brochure and the city academy brochure because a school without students wouldn’t be a school there for not reaching the aims of the staff. These are produced at school or by a specialist brochure maker and sent to a professional printer to be printed and bound. The school is in the process of making a web site which will also advertise the school but to a bigger audience as it can be looked at from all over the world. This is being set up by a consultant but will then be managed within the school. Sales normally bring in some income. The Edgware school is not a private school which means the bulk of there income comes from the local and central government and government grants. The only private income the school receives is through people who hire the school for functions and sports activities. All of the schools income is monitored by the finance department.
In the main office they use standard computers that are hooked up to the administration network. ICT is used here to record and monitor all finance. This includes all of the money coming in from the government, lettings etc. A spreadsheet is then used by the Principal to allocate money to each department. The software used is Microsoft Excel. He works out how much money is needed by each department by using a formulae depending on how many students study the subject, what level the subject is at and whether it is a practical subject or not. Each subject is then given a monthly budget sheet which tells them what they have been given, what they have spent it on and how much they have left for that month.
When a department buys something they have to complete a order form by hand rather then computer. They then send it to finance who then send it to the relevant supplier. The supplier then later sends an invoice which is then paid by the finance department. Cheques are printed using the computer but are then posted manually. The finance office enters all the information on to the department budget sheet. A master sheet is kept which keeps track of the whole school budget.
The schools network computers are all Intel Pentium 200MHz (megahertz) processors, with 128mb (Megabyte) of Ram (Random Access Memory) and a 20GB (Gigabyte) Hard Drive. There are 15 computers connected to this administration network. They are all linked together via fibre optic network cables which are connected to a local Windows NT fileserver.
Any documents being produced for people outside the school are printed by a black and white laser printer. If colour is needed the school has access to a colour printer in another part of the building. There is also a fax machine which is used for sending documents to suppliers and the borough etc. There is also a photocopier which is also kept in the main office for producing multiple copies of documents.
A dedicated ADSL line links the local network to the Internet for sending and receiving emails and for research purposes. The school uses a recruitment website for job advertising.
Students and staff may use a floppy disk to store work but they normally store it on the hard drive or to the central storage on the main server, each person is allocated with an amount of space on the username. The main server is backed up using an automatic backup system which operates during the night. Magnetic tape is used; a different one is used each night of the week and then it is recycled by using it again for the next week for example the Monday tape is used every Monday, the Tuesday tape is used every Tuesday and so on meaning that last week Tuesdays tape will be used this week.
Evaluation
ICT is a very important factor in the running of The Edgware School. It allows the school to monitor student progress and ensure that each student is on target to achieve there full potential. IT promotes good attendance and can alert staff of students who aren’t attending school. The use of mail merge for merging data from databases into documents such as standard letters or reports saves staff a huge amount of time and ensures that parents get a professional looking document. I think that if there wasn’t ICT in The Edgware School then a lot of students could truant school and not get found out as it would take time checking if every student was in school or not and a lot of time would be spent writing out letters and finding student information rather then simply clicking on the information on the computers.
that took me like an hour and ahalf fuckin long
For this report I have been asked to report about how an organisation uses ICT. I am going to write it on The Edgware School. The Edgware School is a secondary school which aims to provide a safe and secure learning environment in which the students can achieve there full potential. The school provides education to 11-18 year olds offering the full national curriculum and a choice of GCSE and advanced level subjects. The school is also available to the community for car boot sales, weddings and wedding receptions or you can rent out the sports facilities.
The school has 80 full time staff in addition to about 30 different non teaching staff which includes caretakers and technicians. The staff all have passes so that they can show identification if it is requested.
The school has a network set up for pupils and staff. There are 2 different networks in the school; a curriculum network that is available to students for school purposes and an administrative network for the staff and admin staff. This helps stop the changing of settings that students may do if they had the chance.
The Edgware School uses ICT both in and out of school. A lot of the work involves word processing for typing letters and newsletters. But they also use email to communicate with the borough and other schools. This is mainly done within the office area. The Exam officer is also able to send exam entries to the exam board, which saves time as she doesn’t have to post them which can take up to a couple of days to get there. Other statistical information is sent in the same way to the government these includes attendance figures and grades along with other information.
The school does have the four main functions of a business which are sales, purchasing, finance and operations but they aren’t as simple as a traditional business. The main needs of the school in terms of ICT are that the systems are needed so that they can monitor student’s progress and so that communicate with parents and for staff to communicate with each other. A schools main priority is to teach to the high standard so this becomes the operations. They achieve this by appointing teachers of a high standard, learning assists that help out individual students that need help with work and to assist the teacher in anyway they can, technical staff to ensure equipment and systems work correctly for lessons such as science, art, ICT and D&T, clerical staff which are office staff and reprographics staff.
For the students to succeed and progress it is important that they have good attendance. If they aren’t in school then they won’t be learning anything. To monitor the attendance of students the school employ an attendance officer and an educational welfare officer. They use a system called BROMCOM, this monitors attendance and if a student hasn’t been in to school in a long time or hasn’t notified them as to why they weren’t in school one day they follow this up. The BROMCOM system can be used to produce reports on individual attendance, class or subject attendance. BROMCOM is a wireless network so that it can be used in any classroom in the school. This means each teacher has a portable register notepad that is used to record attendance during morning and afternoon attendance and also during lessons. The information is sent in signals to a receiver that collects all the information and sends via a cable to a central computer which collects all of the information and allows it to be analysed in various formats.
Clerical staff are important in the operations department as they are often in charge of keying in data about students and sending letters to the student’s parents or guardians. They use a system called SIMS. This is a big database which holds all of the personal details of each student along with there timetables. The only people that can change this are office staff for security and safety of data reasons. Other members of staff can access the information to find out a students phone number or to find out what lessons they are in and who is teaching them. This can prove to be very useful because if a parent phones and needs to speak to their child urgently they can find out which lesson there in without going through a long process.
Sales may not be the first thing you think about when you talk about a school but education is very competitive, meaning the school has to sell it self to people so that they can encourage people to come to it, ICT is used a lot to promote the school through brochures such as the general school brochure, 6th form brochure and the city academy brochure because a school without students wouldn’t be a school there for not reaching the aims of the staff. These are produced at school or by a specialist brochure maker and sent to a professional printer to be printed and bound. The school is in the process of making a web site which will also advertise the school but to a bigger audience as it can be looked at from all over the world. This is being set up by a consultant but will then be managed within the school. Sales normally bring in some income. The Edgware school is not a private school which means the bulk of there income comes from the local and central government and government grants. The only private income the school receives is through people who hire the school for functions and sports activities. All of the schools income is monitored by the finance department.
In the main office they use standard computers that are hooked up to the administration network. ICT is used here to record and monitor all finance. This includes all of the money coming in from the government, lettings etc. A spreadsheet is then used by the Principal to allocate money to each department. The software used is Microsoft Excel. He works out how much money is needed by each department by using a formulae depending on how many students study the subject, what level the subject is at and whether it is a practical subject or not. Each subject is then given a monthly budget sheet which tells them what they have been given, what they have spent it on and how much they have left for that month.
When a department buys something they have to complete a order form by hand rather then computer. They then send it to finance who then send it to the relevant supplier. The supplier then later sends an invoice which is then paid by the finance department. Cheques are printed using the computer but are then posted manually. The finance office enters all the information on to the department budget sheet. A master sheet is kept which keeps track of the whole school budget.
The schools network computers are all Intel Pentium 200MHz (megahertz) processors, with 128mb (Megabyte) of Ram (Random Access Memory) and a 20GB (Gigabyte) Hard Drive. There are 15 computers connected to this administration network. They are all linked together via fibre optic network cables which are connected to a local Windows NT fileserver.
Any documents being produced for people outside the school are printed by a black and white laser printer. If colour is needed the school has access to a colour printer in another part of the building. There is also a fax machine which is used for sending documents to suppliers and the borough etc. There is also a photocopier which is also kept in the main office for producing multiple copies of documents.
A dedicated ADSL line links the local network to the Internet for sending and receiving emails and for research purposes. The school uses a recruitment website for job advertising.
Students and staff may use a floppy disk to store work but they normally store it on the hard drive or to the central storage on the main server, each person is allocated with an amount of space on the username. The main server is backed up using an automatic backup system which operates during the night. Magnetic tape is used; a different one is used each night of the week and then it is recycled by using it again for the next week for example the Monday tape is used every Monday, the Tuesday tape is used every Tuesday and so on meaning that last week Tuesdays tape will be used this week.
Evaluation
ICT is a very important factor in the running of The Edgware School. It allows the school to monitor student progress and ensure that each student is on target to achieve there full potential. IT promotes good attendance and can alert staff of students who aren’t attending school. The use of mail merge for merging data from databases into documents such as standard letters or reports saves staff a huge amount of time and ensures that parents get a professional looking document. I think that if there wasn’t ICT in The Edgware School then a lot of students could truant school and not get found out as it would take time checking if every student was in school or not and a lot of time would be spent writing out letters and finding student information rather then simply clicking on the information on the computers.
that took me like an hour and ahalf fuckin long
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Owen
- Bonghead
- Posts: 323
- Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2004 7:54 pm
- Location: UK
- Contact:
that was a pretty good essay mate i didn't read all of it coz i have a very short attention span 
but what i read of it was really good
but what i read of it was really goodStoners live and stoners die, but in the end we all get high. so if at first u dont succeed, fuck the world and smoke some weed
[img]http://www.jaytv.com/mad2/images/twiztid.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.jaytv.com/mad2/images/twiztid.jpg[/img]
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tweedle
In the article “The Palacechutist”, written by Jeff Edwards, the author uses various literary devices, diction, content, headlines, captions, and visual material to successfully inform and entertain readers.
The author of the article uses differing vocabulary and language throughout the piece of writing, creating a very entertaining and informative work for the reader. In the first half of the article, a more comic, less informative style of writing is employed. Few background details are involved, and we are thrown straight into the action of the “escapade”. Despite knowing the outcome of the story before it is told (“Still wearing helmet…he was grabbed by police as soon as he landed”), the writer talks of a crescendo in events. The language used here is very dramatic, for example “daredevil” and “dangerously”, and adds to the tension of the piece. As the interception by a police helicopter is introduced, the image of a battle arises. This is particularly true thanks to lexicon such as “jousted” As the battle between them progresses, the writer uses increasingly simple sentences, prolonging the action and making every new event all the more exciting and sudden. However, after the introduction of more police and soldiers, which consequently made the piece livelier still, the writer uses bathos as De La Mare lands, and we find out he is simply an aspiring novelist completing a publicity stunt, rather than the “suicide bombing” which was previously a possibility. This anticlimax is quite humorous, and the selected excerpts from what De La Mare says are of comic value as well. He seems to be very attention-seeking and not at all well-grounded as a person, due to his “dangerous and reckless” actions in the pursuit of getting his book published. The extent to which the Australian prepared his adventure also brings humour to the piece, as he seems almost innocent in his naïve remarks, despite the situation: “I studied the geography and weather conditions.” In fact, the article mocks De La Mare for most of its duration, referring to him as a “flying fool” right from the outset. It is biased against him throughout, victimising the police force and making De La Mare seem to be an aggressor, acting in an “incredibly dangerous and reckless way.” All of these literary devices and specific lexical choices help to enhance the tone of the piece, and help create specific feelings towards the event and De La Mare himself, successfully developing an informative, yet entertaining, article.
In the article, the author selects very precise pieces of information about the “escapade” to include. In the early parts of the article the reader is immediately thrown into the action of the event, and in doing so a sense of excitement is achieved. De La Mare’s route is also described, bringing in landmarks such as the BT Tower and Regent’s Park, helping the reader to associate with the article, as they would then be able to imagine the route themselves. The author also includes specific details of De La Mare’s encounter with a police helicopter. Emphasised by the militaristic tone and diction employed, this enhances the entertainment value of the article, as the reader is only exposed to the climax of his paraglide. The bathos used by the author once the helicopter chase has reached its climax is entertaining, as we see that the possibility of De La Mare being a “suicide bomber” has all but vanished as he is revealed to be a factory worker cum aspiring novelist. In the final section of the article, only De La Mares response to the events are included. Here, he may well have been quoted out of context, but what is included of his speech makes him seem to be a very naïve, perhaps vain, person. This provides the reader with entertainment in the form of humour at his misfortune. From this, we can see that that the author effectively selects the content he uses in the article to provide entertainment and information to the reader. Ultimately he uses this to entertain more than to inform, as some details regarding the events described are not included for the benefit of the article’s entertainment value. This may well be the case as the article is from a tabloid newspaper, whose readership stereotypically places enjoyment gained from reading over its substance.
The author also employs the use of headlines and captions to inform and entertain the reader. The headline “The Palacechutist”, being emboldened, in a large font, and in a near-central part of the page, is foregrounded, immediately drawing the reader’s attention to it. The simple pun “Palacechutist” goes some way in informing the reader of the story too, as it is made from the words “palace” and “parachutist”, giving a great deal of the story away itself. A smaller, but no less noticeable, part of the page is “Troops swoop on flying fool”, presented in a similar way to the main headline. “Flying fool” embodies the author’s opinion of De La Mare, as we see continued throughout the rest of the article, and it, like the headline, helps summarise the contents of the article, as well as entertaining the reader at the expense of De La Mare.
The captions of the visual material used also help to inform the reader, particularly that of the main picture. The terms “grabbed”, “hustled”, and “seize” are all very punchy terms, and help emphasise the tone of De La Mare’s confrontation with the police, as well as continuing the concept of him battling them (seen in the main article where the Australian encounters the helicopter in such a way that it could be battling it). This is echoed in one of the other captions, where the phrases “face to face” and “confronts” are used, making it very clear that there is a confrontation. This also goes some way in enhancing the level of excitement of the article. In these ways the author successfully supports the themes running throughout his article, strengthening it, and enhancing the informative and entertainment values of the piece.
The visual material used by the author shows various parts of De La Mare on his route and in his encounter with the police. The main piece of visual material is in the very centre of the page, giving it a great deal of prominence on the page, and shows soldiers rushing towards the parachute as it lands. The soldiers are clearly running, as if ready for action, and this adds a great deal of vigour to the picture, thus entertaining the reader. The most prominent other visual aid is a plan of De La Mare’s route across London. This deepens the reader’s knowledge of the story, as they are able to see just how the man travelled. This too can be said about the picture of De La Mare himself, which helps the reader to associate themselves with the man, and therefore his situation described in the article. From this, we can see that the author has used visual material to both inform the reader about the situation described in the article, and to help the reader associate themselves with it. He has done this successfully, with each piece of visual material supporting each part of the written article, helping to reinforce and enhance its effect.
Overall, the report successfully informs and entertains the reader. Via the means of the language used, content, headlines, captions, and visual material, it helps to bring forth the image of De La Mare battling against the police, bringing vigour to the story and making it more entertaining. It also portrays De La Mare as a “flying fool”, a phrase used throughout, bringing humour to the report at the expense of the Australian. Some of the content and visual material in particular also helps to inform the reader about the situation, whilst still enhancing the entertainment brought forward in the main body of the article.
The author of the article uses differing vocabulary and language throughout the piece of writing, creating a very entertaining and informative work for the reader. In the first half of the article, a more comic, less informative style of writing is employed. Few background details are involved, and we are thrown straight into the action of the “escapade”. Despite knowing the outcome of the story before it is told (“Still wearing helmet…he was grabbed by police as soon as he landed”), the writer talks of a crescendo in events. The language used here is very dramatic, for example “daredevil” and “dangerously”, and adds to the tension of the piece. As the interception by a police helicopter is introduced, the image of a battle arises. This is particularly true thanks to lexicon such as “jousted” As the battle between them progresses, the writer uses increasingly simple sentences, prolonging the action and making every new event all the more exciting and sudden. However, after the introduction of more police and soldiers, which consequently made the piece livelier still, the writer uses bathos as De La Mare lands, and we find out he is simply an aspiring novelist completing a publicity stunt, rather than the “suicide bombing” which was previously a possibility. This anticlimax is quite humorous, and the selected excerpts from what De La Mare says are of comic value as well. He seems to be very attention-seeking and not at all well-grounded as a person, due to his “dangerous and reckless” actions in the pursuit of getting his book published. The extent to which the Australian prepared his adventure also brings humour to the piece, as he seems almost innocent in his naïve remarks, despite the situation: “I studied the geography and weather conditions.” In fact, the article mocks De La Mare for most of its duration, referring to him as a “flying fool” right from the outset. It is biased against him throughout, victimising the police force and making De La Mare seem to be an aggressor, acting in an “incredibly dangerous and reckless way.” All of these literary devices and specific lexical choices help to enhance the tone of the piece, and help create specific feelings towards the event and De La Mare himself, successfully developing an informative, yet entertaining, article.
In the article, the author selects very precise pieces of information about the “escapade” to include. In the early parts of the article the reader is immediately thrown into the action of the event, and in doing so a sense of excitement is achieved. De La Mare’s route is also described, bringing in landmarks such as the BT Tower and Regent’s Park, helping the reader to associate with the article, as they would then be able to imagine the route themselves. The author also includes specific details of De La Mare’s encounter with a police helicopter. Emphasised by the militaristic tone and diction employed, this enhances the entertainment value of the article, as the reader is only exposed to the climax of his paraglide. The bathos used by the author once the helicopter chase has reached its climax is entertaining, as we see that the possibility of De La Mare being a “suicide bomber” has all but vanished as he is revealed to be a factory worker cum aspiring novelist. In the final section of the article, only De La Mares response to the events are included. Here, he may well have been quoted out of context, but what is included of his speech makes him seem to be a very naïve, perhaps vain, person. This provides the reader with entertainment in the form of humour at his misfortune. From this, we can see that that the author effectively selects the content he uses in the article to provide entertainment and information to the reader. Ultimately he uses this to entertain more than to inform, as some details regarding the events described are not included for the benefit of the article’s entertainment value. This may well be the case as the article is from a tabloid newspaper, whose readership stereotypically places enjoyment gained from reading over its substance.
The author also employs the use of headlines and captions to inform and entertain the reader. The headline “The Palacechutist”, being emboldened, in a large font, and in a near-central part of the page, is foregrounded, immediately drawing the reader’s attention to it. The simple pun “Palacechutist” goes some way in informing the reader of the story too, as it is made from the words “palace” and “parachutist”, giving a great deal of the story away itself. A smaller, but no less noticeable, part of the page is “Troops swoop on flying fool”, presented in a similar way to the main headline. “Flying fool” embodies the author’s opinion of De La Mare, as we see continued throughout the rest of the article, and it, like the headline, helps summarise the contents of the article, as well as entertaining the reader at the expense of De La Mare.
The captions of the visual material used also help to inform the reader, particularly that of the main picture. The terms “grabbed”, “hustled”, and “seize” are all very punchy terms, and help emphasise the tone of De La Mare’s confrontation with the police, as well as continuing the concept of him battling them (seen in the main article where the Australian encounters the helicopter in such a way that it could be battling it). This is echoed in one of the other captions, where the phrases “face to face” and “confronts” are used, making it very clear that there is a confrontation. This also goes some way in enhancing the level of excitement of the article. In these ways the author successfully supports the themes running throughout his article, strengthening it, and enhancing the informative and entertainment values of the piece.
The visual material used by the author shows various parts of De La Mare on his route and in his encounter with the police. The main piece of visual material is in the very centre of the page, giving it a great deal of prominence on the page, and shows soldiers rushing towards the parachute as it lands. The soldiers are clearly running, as if ready for action, and this adds a great deal of vigour to the picture, thus entertaining the reader. The most prominent other visual aid is a plan of De La Mare’s route across London. This deepens the reader’s knowledge of the story, as they are able to see just how the man travelled. This too can be said about the picture of De La Mare himself, which helps the reader to associate themselves with the man, and therefore his situation described in the article. From this, we can see that the author has used visual material to both inform the reader about the situation described in the article, and to help the reader associate themselves with it. He has done this successfully, with each piece of visual material supporting each part of the written article, helping to reinforce and enhance its effect.
Overall, the report successfully informs and entertains the reader. Via the means of the language used, content, headlines, captions, and visual material, it helps to bring forth the image of De La Mare battling against the police, bringing vigour to the story and making it more entertaining. It also portrays De La Mare as a “flying fool”, a phrase used throughout, bringing humour to the report at the expense of the Australian. Some of the content and visual material in particular also helps to inform the reader about the situation, whilst still enhancing the entertainment brought forward in the main body of the article.
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tweedle
With reference to Wordsworth’s “Composed upon Westminster Bridge” and to some of the poems found in Blake’s “Songs of Innocence and Experience”, compare the different views of the world of London that are presented by the two poets
William Wordsworth and William Blake were both poets writing around the turn of the 19th Century. They were both of the 1st Romantic period of English poetry, and in “Composed upon Westminster Bridge” and “London” come to talk of the same subject matter. However, we see that the views they present are very different, and the ways in which they present these are also dissimilar.
Before we even read what Wordsworth has written, we can see that he uses sonnet form. This gives the impression that he feels that his subject matter, in this case London, is something dear to him and something he deems to be a serious. The title of the poem also gives us the impression that it is far more controlled and developed than a poem such as London, as it is “composed”.
From the first line, Wordsworth shows a great sense of admiration for London, and is in fact in awe of the city. He tells us that “Earth has not anything to show more fair.” This hyperbole adds greatly to the sense of wonder and beauty about London, but also by splitting the word anything into “any thing”, Wordsworth slows he line down. This helps keep the rhythm of the line in iambic pentameter, but by making the reader spend more time over his words, Wordsworth emphasizes just how unique London is. He continues to emphasise the qualities of London, and in line four gives the city a sense of holiness, capitalizing “City”. This line also sees the employment of personification, “This City now doth like a garment, wear”. This adds a human quality to London, as if it were alive. In the fifth line, Wordsworth reveals that he is writing of London in the morning. This furthers the sense of light and vitality within the city, unlike in “London”, creating the image of innocence, “all bright and glittering in the smokeless air”. This is quite unlike the image portrayed by Blake in his poem.
(Lines 8-10)
In line 12, Wordsworth claims that “the river [Thames] glideth at his own sweet will”. This makes the River Thames, and subsequently the city of London, which it is often used to symbolise, free of any restraints. This is a stark contrast to the concept of control presented in Blake’s “London”.
Having read “Composed upon Westminster Bridge”, the reader can see that Wordsworth is deeply reflective, and that he is writing alone. The latter enhances the sense of peace in the city, and further clarifies his thoughts of London. Wordsworth also appears to write in a very restrained, controlled fashion. He employs this approach as it forces the reader to linger over his words and over the sight which he views almost reverently. The poem also talks of the more external aspects of London, and of nature. As we see in “London”, there is again a strong contrast.
(Blake paragraph)
When reading “London”, one of the first noticeable points is that there is a very strong sense of rhythm. This is very brisk and crisp, and by using an ABAB rhyme scheme, Blake gives the poem a deceptively simple guise.
In the first stanza of “London”, Blake repeats the word “chartered”. This gives the impression of a controlled city, and one with little freedom. This heavily contrasts with “the river glideth at his own sweet will” back in “Composed upon Westminster Bridge”. The last line of the stanza, “Marks of weakness, marks of woe” also uses repetition, and the word “marks” in particular has a sense of strength and permanency behind it. This makes what he sees in the faces of people in each street seem all the more horrid. The second stanza also uses repetition, in this case of “every”, making the “mind-forged manacles” even more hard, cold, and all-consuming, throughout each and every person in London. As the manacles are “forged” the reader is exposed to the concept of flames and fire, and therefore Hell and evil. These “mind-forged manacles” are self-imposed, and this idea of mental restriction is a common theme of Blake poems, such as in the speaker of “The Chimney-Sweeper” from “Songs of Innocence”.
As I have said before, both poems are regarded as romantic ones. Both of them try to express the feelings and emotions of people between 1750 and 1850. During this period, the Industrial Revolution occurred and had resulted in a great change. The revolution saw people moving from the rural and countryside areas, leaving their work on the land, to towns and cities to seek the better paid jobs in factories and mills. One of the popular cities people headed to was London… the perfect city. Wordsworth composed his poem, boasting about the magnificence of this fair land, and described it as the ultimate paradise on Earth. Leaving all his life in the countryside and then moving suddenly to a city was a great change for him. Indeed he had admired London a great deal. In his poem, Wordsworth uses a range of techniques in order to explore human emotions such as love and admiration. In other words he appeals to the reader’s feelings in order to create a detailed image of London.
On the other hand, not all poets agreed with Wordsworth’s view of London. William Blake, another romantic poet had created a completely different illustration of London. The Industrial Revolution was not as successful as it appeared to be. Workers had to work for very long hours under dangerous conditions and were only paid poor wages. They were forced to accept poor food and shelter and this resulted in a very low standard of living. The workers were regarded to as animals- there was clearly no respect or consideration of human emotions and feelings. Blake wrote ‘London’ ‘with a painter’s eye’ to try and emphasize the seriousness of the conditions and the different sufferings people used to face, like poverty, hunger, unemployment and prostitution. By finding similarities and differences, we can compare both poems.
In ‘Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802’, Wordsworth doesn’t really name the poem. The title is really heading at the top of the first verse indicating the time and place, at which this poem is set. The heading gives the reader an idea about the content of the poem and also an idea about the place and time of the events in the poem. As for ‘London’ by William Blake, the title is only a simple word which describes the overall idea of the whole poem; a description of London. Blake had used this in order to create a strong impact to attract the reader and again to set the settings of the poem.
Both poets used voices in their poems to influence the reader’s thoughts and to attract him or her. The voices heard in the two poems differ from each as each poet expresses his feelings using his own technique and his mood. In ‘Composed’, we can hear an impressed poet’s voice describing London. But this voice has been clearly influenced by the great beauty of the city. Its beauty and charm have hypnotized him allowing him to only admire and wonder, “A sight so touching in its majesty’. Meanwhile, the voices heard in ‘London’ are completely different. Instead of hearing the soft and merry chirps of birds in the morning, the atmosphere seems to be full of disturbing voices like the “cry of man” and the “infant’s cry of fear”. We can almost hear the sound of swords clashing against each other as the blood covers walls and the screams and yells increase. All these voices indicate torture, struggle and prejudice. The voices have combined together to form a desperate poet’s voice describing the discrimination faced by the people at that time. The contrast between the voices in each poem helps us compare the conditions faced by people before and after the Industrial Revolution.
In ‘Composed’ we are able to identify the place and time easily due to the title. The place is “Westminster Bridge” and the time, the year “1802”. However, the contents of the poem also helps us confirm the timing. According to ‘Composed’, the poem was written in a peaceful and quiet place. There the sun shines on to the ‘ fields’ and the river flows swiftly on the green plains surrounded by ‘cliffs, valleys and hills’. This is clearly a picturesque natural place untouched by man. Unaffected by pollution, “ [ The sky] All bright and glittering in the smokeless air”. So quite clearly we can say that this was a pre- industrial revolution poem where factory smoke and polluting machinery have not reached this part of London, yet. As for ‘London’, although here the time isn’t mentioned we can assume it was a pre-industrial revolution poem as it is the exact opposite of ‘Composed’. Here, we can see signs of poverty, discrimination, pollution, suffering and “marks woe”. People were treated as ‘factory fodder’ and London was full of restrictions, bans and strict laws. People were trapped in the city and could not enjoy their freedom. We also know that the Industrial Revolution had been quite disastrous by the line saying “ Every blackening Church appalls” as a result of pollution.
After reading both poems, my first reaction to ‘Composed’ was that I considered it as an emotional and noble poem which combined romance and admiration. Throughout the poem, the poet boasts of this unique beauty which seemed to have influenced his own mind and thinking. The poem is a romantic and descriptive one which consists of the various emotions and feelings felt by the writer when he first saw London, “ The beauty of the morning…”. The whole poem is a kind of personification as London here resembles the poet’s lover whom he pictures as “beautiful”, “majestic” and “fair”. His boasting and admiration of the place makes us believe that Wordsworth fell in love with London. In Blake’s ‘London’, my reaction was completely different. I found the poem quite aggressive and disturbing as Blake’s view of London was presented as a corrupted city where the unjust rich ruled the helpless poor who could not afford shelter and couldn’t find job, or food. The poet had been honest here as he had mentioned all kinds of discrimination. This had made the overall view of the poem seem sad and shameful.
The mood is an important element when trying to convince the reader about certain feelings or emotions. The writer with a romantic and emotional mood will produce a poem different from a writer with a serious mood, as in ‘Composed’ and in ‘London’. In ‘Composed’ the writer reacts to his surroundings and the environment. Nature causes him to relax and admire as he describes the beauty of the place and so his mood becomes cheerful, “Earth has not anything to show more fair”. With a cheerful and passionate mood the writer adds a trend of romance to attract the reader and to provide imagery in order to ease understanding. His mood can sometimes change from a calm and soothing feeling, “Ne’er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep” to excitement and astonishment, “Dear God!”. Here this excitement can turn into exaggeration or hyperbole at times. The mood differs in ‘London’ as Blake characterizes his poem with aggression, honesty and anger. We can clearly see that the writer is seriously concerned and aware of the events and conditions faced by the people. This aggression and anger, “ How the chimney- sweeper’s cry” can turn into sarcasm, “I wander through each charter’d street”, indicating disapproval and a demand for change in treatment.
In ‘Composed’ Wordsworth makes a very good job of attracting and influencing the reader. He does that by creating a distinctive atmosphere that appeals to the reader’s senses. This atmosphere is a romantic and passionate one, designed to emphasize the writer’s feelings and emotions. Wordsworth had added a lot of description in his poem; describing London and its attractiveness. The idea of having such a majestic place with sloping hills, swift- moving rivers and clear skies allows the reader’s imagination to create their own version of paradise on Earth, to create a whole new peaceful and calm world with no pollution or human disturbance. Such description creates a relaxed, soothing and dream-like atmosphere full of happiness and joy. In order to achieve such an atmosphere, the writes uses specific words which are sure to appeal to the reader’s senses like, “Glittering, smokeless sky, calm, sweet…” This same technique has been used in ‘London’. Blake had used various examples and words to create the intended atmosphere. This is a gloomy one similar to a fog created by the rich people to try and misguide middle- class citizens. This misguiding results in poverty, fear, pain, suffering and discrimination. Or is it a smoke curtain produced from the polluting factories, machinery etc? Both examples signify the serious conditions faced by the people and how concerned the poet is. This type of atmosphere attracts the reader and emphasizes the main idea of the poem.
In order to attract the reader, and allow him to recognize this same poem later in life, the poet adds some words or phrases which are sure to stick to the reader’s mind. Such words are referred to as striking. When reading a poem, the reader may pause at a certain word and considers its actual meaning, what the writer wants to express. The word can be a powerful one, i.e. extracted from the bible or could be an ordinary word but once one focuses on the actual meaning the writer expresses to us, this simple word can affect the whole verse in the mood or its understanding. In ‘London’, we can clearly find more striking words than ‘ Composed’. As I have mentioned earlier, ‘Composed’ is a descriptive poem, mentioning the beauty of the unpolluted London. As there are not many actions, the striking words here should be adjectives, adverbs etc. There are many adjectives but, after reading the poem, I did not find any which appear to have astonished me. Such adjectives include “ Majesty”- “ fair”- “ bright”- “ glittering”- “ beautifully”- “ sweet”. We can clearly see that all of these adjectives are linked. They all seem to describe something which the writer feels precious to him. Something valuable. This idea helps build the atmosphere. These words create a romantic and touching atmosphere and so the reader continues to read the rest of the poem. In ‘London’, Blake uses less adjectives ( “blackening”- “New born” ) but more striking words. Wordsworth has also used striking words such as “smokeless air”. This phrase plays a relevant role as only from looking at this phrase we can say that this poem is a pre- Industrial Revolution one as the air and sky are unpolluted by the rapidly- growing industries. The writer also uses contrast between two words to create a strong impact. For example the use of “ Dull” and “Fair” creates an impact where the writer highlights the obvious beauty of London. In ‘London’, the striking words are much clearer, powerful and significant. These words are more touching as they appeal or attack the reader’s senses, gaining sympathy from them. For example, “Marks of weakness”, “Mind-forg’d manacles”, “Blasts”, “Blood” and “Plagues”. All are clearly disastrous words which surely attack the reader’s emotions and feelings allowing him to agree with the poet that such conditions were purely inhumane. He also mentioned “ Charter’d streets/ Thames”, the word “charter’d” represents restriction not only on streets but also on freedom. It represents discrimination, prejudice, slavery and labour. “The cry of man” also shows us how painful and horrifying conditions were, rather like in prison where people face torture and suffering. Blake has also added a couple of very strong words which were common among the people at that time, example: “ Woe” and “ Harlot’s”. The first word is a very strong old word for misery and despair which was exactly the mood of people in London back then. The latter is a very strong word extracted from the bible for prostitute. Having such words in the poem. Blake must have felt that situations at the time were terrifying and that prostitution was spreading everywhere in the city.
Imagery is a very important element in a poem as it helps the reader visualize the actions taking place and also helps him discover the feelings and emotions expressed by the poet. Here in ‘Composed’ the different forms of imagery all combine to produce a descriptive, well visualized/ understood and interesting poem. The imagery used here helps create an image set by the poet of paradise. The various imagery techniques used by Wordsworth include similes, description and personification. For example: Simple Description: “Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie”. Simile: “The city now doth, like a garment”. Personification: “ Like a garment, wear”. So here, despite the variance in the forms of imagery, they all follow a pattern which is expressing the glory and attractiveness of London. The same with ‘London’, but here all forms of imagery try to express the dullness and extreme conditions experienced in London. Here the poet uses various techniques. The first one is using simple words to represent other things (Striking words… mentioned above) and these are used to produce various illustrations which help visualize and illustrate the poet’s feelings, example:
“Charter’d streets”→ Restriction on liberty/Lack of freedom→ Sound of whips
(i.e. slavery)
or
“Charter’d streets”→ Restriction on liberty/Lack of freedom→ Large iron gates/
barriers locked
The poet has also used various illustrations to express the discrimination in the industrialized city, example, “ Cry of every man”, “Blackening Church” etc. The first one represents torture and pain and the latter suggests the disastrous pollution caused by the factories and machinery. He also used some famous or well- known examples so as to make the people familiar with the poem, for example, “Palace walls” i.e. French Revolution, “ Mind- forg’d manacles”.
When looking at these poems not only do we compare them with each other, but with other poems as well. We compare the type of poems they are and any other similarities. ‘Composed’ is quite similar to other romantic poems as passion and admiration can be easily identified in the poem. However, ‘London’ resembles other poems describing poverty, discrimination and severe conditions as a result of an event, example a war or a natural disaster. It also reminds me of poems or even hand- outs written in order to make people enthusiastic and revolt against the government or authorities seeking their rights. Although there is not much comparison in the poem, Blake does compare the actions taken by the people in London to the French who fought the Royal Family and eventually gained their rights. It’s as if he’s blaming the people for the situation they’re in now because instead of demanding change, the people sit weeping as prostitution spreads. In ‘Composed’ the poem also does not contain any comparisons, i.e. it does not compare London to any other city. This is because ‘Composed’ is a descriptive poem where the poet focuses only on one area- London. Because of this, we may find in the poem various examples of boasting hyperboles. Hyperbole is a deliberate exaggeration made by the poet to highlight London’s beauty and his feelings towards the city. For example, “ Earth has not anything to show more fair” and “ Never did sun more beautifully steep”.
In ‘ Composed’, Wordsworth used quite a complex structure when writing his poem. ‘Composed’ is a Petrarchan sonnet consisting of fourteen lines. The first eight lines (known as octave) present the main idea of the poem. Here Wordsworth describes the general appearance of London, describing its unique beauty and expresses his emotions towards the city. The last six lines (sestet) complete the idea. Here he expands on the idea of describing its beauty as he describes the sun, rivers, valleys etc. Wordsworth had chosen such a complex structure for boasting, using hyperboles and also such a structure enables him to emphasize more clearly his passion and admiration of London due to the variance in sentence length, example:
“ Ships towers, domes theaters and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky; ”
As for Blake, he preferred using a much simpler structure. ‘London’ is an example of a Quatrain. These are split into four stanzas of four lines. This simple structure suggests that Blake tried to avoid complications and just wanted to view London as it is without exaggerating or complimenting. This emphasizes the poet’s honesty. The shape of the poem also resembles a list. This emphasizes the continuous, never- ending examples of discrimination and severe conditions people had to face. Sentence length is not very variable so as to support the rhyme scheme. The rhyme scheme used by lake in ‘London’ is ‘abab’. This is a very simple rhyme scheme used in the whole poem. For example:
“Near where the charter’d Thames does flow,
And mark in every face I meet
Marks of weakness, marks of woe.”
With a shape with similar sentence lengths and a simple rhyme scheme, the result is a rhythm of sorrow, despair and gloom. This helps build up the atmosphere in order to gain sympathy from the reader.
Back to ‘Composed’, the rhyme scheme is abbaabba/cdecde. Despite being complex, the writer was able to follow this scheme throughout the poem. This scheme was much harder to spot than ‘London’. For example:
“ The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.”
The rhythm here is also difficult to sense. This is because the beats seem to be unfelt. Instead of feeling a regular beat in each line, the poem seems to flow softly as one delivers it. By using enjambment, Wordsworth is able to build a perfect romantic atmosphere as the idea of having to slowly continue the sentence on another line feels dream- like. This dreamy feeling makes it much easier for the reader to imagine and picture a peaceful countryside with green hills, crystal- clear rivers, pure skies and unpolluted wildlife, for example:
“ Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty.”
After reading both poems over and over again my view of them seem to have changed. The various words/ phrases the poets added in their poems, the presence of a distinctive atmosphere, the contrast in moods, the various rhythms and shapes, the different types of imagery and the difference in settings have all influenced by final judgment of the poems. In ‘Composed’, there is a clear sense of admiration and passion shown by the poet towards London. This sense has affected his mood and the atmosphere, i.e. are clearly romantic. His beautiful description of the city makes the reader eager to visit this unique place.
As for ‘London’, my view is completely different from ‘Composed’. Here Blake does a magnificent job at making us feel sorrow, sad and sympathetic towards the people at that time. His various examples of suffering and the different techniques helped build hatred in the reader’s heart. The reader feels that people are being mistreated and so he demands for justice and an end to this discrimination.
Looking at both poems, I think that Blake’s ‘London’ is more reliable/ accurate as the Industrial Revolution was quite disastrous. However, Wordsworth’s ‘Composed’ clearly contains a lot of hyperboles and boasting. But on the other hand, he may be correct about his view of London as unpolluted nature is the most magnificent sight on Earth.
William Wordsworth and William Blake were both poets writing around the turn of the 19th Century. They were both of the 1st Romantic period of English poetry, and in “Composed upon Westminster Bridge” and “London” come to talk of the same subject matter. However, we see that the views they present are very different, and the ways in which they present these are also dissimilar.
Before we even read what Wordsworth has written, we can see that he uses sonnet form. This gives the impression that he feels that his subject matter, in this case London, is something dear to him and something he deems to be a serious. The title of the poem also gives us the impression that it is far more controlled and developed than a poem such as London, as it is “composed”.
From the first line, Wordsworth shows a great sense of admiration for London, and is in fact in awe of the city. He tells us that “Earth has not anything to show more fair.” This hyperbole adds greatly to the sense of wonder and beauty about London, but also by splitting the word anything into “any thing”, Wordsworth slows he line down. This helps keep the rhythm of the line in iambic pentameter, but by making the reader spend more time over his words, Wordsworth emphasizes just how unique London is. He continues to emphasise the qualities of London, and in line four gives the city a sense of holiness, capitalizing “City”. This line also sees the employment of personification, “This City now doth like a garment, wear”. This adds a human quality to London, as if it were alive. In the fifth line, Wordsworth reveals that he is writing of London in the morning. This furthers the sense of light and vitality within the city, unlike in “London”, creating the image of innocence, “all bright and glittering in the smokeless air”. This is quite unlike the image portrayed by Blake in his poem.
(Lines 8-10)
In line 12, Wordsworth claims that “the river [Thames] glideth at his own sweet will”. This makes the River Thames, and subsequently the city of London, which it is often used to symbolise, free of any restraints. This is a stark contrast to the concept of control presented in Blake’s “London”.
Having read “Composed upon Westminster Bridge”, the reader can see that Wordsworth is deeply reflective, and that he is writing alone. The latter enhances the sense of peace in the city, and further clarifies his thoughts of London. Wordsworth also appears to write in a very restrained, controlled fashion. He employs this approach as it forces the reader to linger over his words and over the sight which he views almost reverently. The poem also talks of the more external aspects of London, and of nature. As we see in “London”, there is again a strong contrast.
(Blake paragraph)
When reading “London”, one of the first noticeable points is that there is a very strong sense of rhythm. This is very brisk and crisp, and by using an ABAB rhyme scheme, Blake gives the poem a deceptively simple guise.
In the first stanza of “London”, Blake repeats the word “chartered”. This gives the impression of a controlled city, and one with little freedom. This heavily contrasts with “the river glideth at his own sweet will” back in “Composed upon Westminster Bridge”. The last line of the stanza, “Marks of weakness, marks of woe” also uses repetition, and the word “marks” in particular has a sense of strength and permanency behind it. This makes what he sees in the faces of people in each street seem all the more horrid. The second stanza also uses repetition, in this case of “every”, making the “mind-forged manacles” even more hard, cold, and all-consuming, throughout each and every person in London. As the manacles are “forged” the reader is exposed to the concept of flames and fire, and therefore Hell and evil. These “mind-forged manacles” are self-imposed, and this idea of mental restriction is a common theme of Blake poems, such as in the speaker of “The Chimney-Sweeper” from “Songs of Innocence”.
As I have said before, both poems are regarded as romantic ones. Both of them try to express the feelings and emotions of people between 1750 and 1850. During this period, the Industrial Revolution occurred and had resulted in a great change. The revolution saw people moving from the rural and countryside areas, leaving their work on the land, to towns and cities to seek the better paid jobs in factories and mills. One of the popular cities people headed to was London… the perfect city. Wordsworth composed his poem, boasting about the magnificence of this fair land, and described it as the ultimate paradise on Earth. Leaving all his life in the countryside and then moving suddenly to a city was a great change for him. Indeed he had admired London a great deal. In his poem, Wordsworth uses a range of techniques in order to explore human emotions such as love and admiration. In other words he appeals to the reader’s feelings in order to create a detailed image of London.
On the other hand, not all poets agreed with Wordsworth’s view of London. William Blake, another romantic poet had created a completely different illustration of London. The Industrial Revolution was not as successful as it appeared to be. Workers had to work for very long hours under dangerous conditions and were only paid poor wages. They were forced to accept poor food and shelter and this resulted in a very low standard of living. The workers were regarded to as animals- there was clearly no respect or consideration of human emotions and feelings. Blake wrote ‘London’ ‘with a painter’s eye’ to try and emphasize the seriousness of the conditions and the different sufferings people used to face, like poverty, hunger, unemployment and prostitution. By finding similarities and differences, we can compare both poems.
In ‘Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802’, Wordsworth doesn’t really name the poem. The title is really heading at the top of the first verse indicating the time and place, at which this poem is set. The heading gives the reader an idea about the content of the poem and also an idea about the place and time of the events in the poem. As for ‘London’ by William Blake, the title is only a simple word which describes the overall idea of the whole poem; a description of London. Blake had used this in order to create a strong impact to attract the reader and again to set the settings of the poem.
Both poets used voices in their poems to influence the reader’s thoughts and to attract him or her. The voices heard in the two poems differ from each as each poet expresses his feelings using his own technique and his mood. In ‘Composed’, we can hear an impressed poet’s voice describing London. But this voice has been clearly influenced by the great beauty of the city. Its beauty and charm have hypnotized him allowing him to only admire and wonder, “A sight so touching in its majesty’. Meanwhile, the voices heard in ‘London’ are completely different. Instead of hearing the soft and merry chirps of birds in the morning, the atmosphere seems to be full of disturbing voices like the “cry of man” and the “infant’s cry of fear”. We can almost hear the sound of swords clashing against each other as the blood covers walls and the screams and yells increase. All these voices indicate torture, struggle and prejudice. The voices have combined together to form a desperate poet’s voice describing the discrimination faced by the people at that time. The contrast between the voices in each poem helps us compare the conditions faced by people before and after the Industrial Revolution.
In ‘Composed’ we are able to identify the place and time easily due to the title. The place is “Westminster Bridge” and the time, the year “1802”. However, the contents of the poem also helps us confirm the timing. According to ‘Composed’, the poem was written in a peaceful and quiet place. There the sun shines on to the ‘ fields’ and the river flows swiftly on the green plains surrounded by ‘cliffs, valleys and hills’. This is clearly a picturesque natural place untouched by man. Unaffected by pollution, “ [ The sky] All bright and glittering in the smokeless air”. So quite clearly we can say that this was a pre- industrial revolution poem where factory smoke and polluting machinery have not reached this part of London, yet. As for ‘London’, although here the time isn’t mentioned we can assume it was a pre-industrial revolution poem as it is the exact opposite of ‘Composed’. Here, we can see signs of poverty, discrimination, pollution, suffering and “marks woe”. People were treated as ‘factory fodder’ and London was full of restrictions, bans and strict laws. People were trapped in the city and could not enjoy their freedom. We also know that the Industrial Revolution had been quite disastrous by the line saying “ Every blackening Church appalls” as a result of pollution.
After reading both poems, my first reaction to ‘Composed’ was that I considered it as an emotional and noble poem which combined romance and admiration. Throughout the poem, the poet boasts of this unique beauty which seemed to have influenced his own mind and thinking. The poem is a romantic and descriptive one which consists of the various emotions and feelings felt by the writer when he first saw London, “ The beauty of the morning…”. The whole poem is a kind of personification as London here resembles the poet’s lover whom he pictures as “beautiful”, “majestic” and “fair”. His boasting and admiration of the place makes us believe that Wordsworth fell in love with London. In Blake’s ‘London’, my reaction was completely different. I found the poem quite aggressive and disturbing as Blake’s view of London was presented as a corrupted city where the unjust rich ruled the helpless poor who could not afford shelter and couldn’t find job, or food. The poet had been honest here as he had mentioned all kinds of discrimination. This had made the overall view of the poem seem sad and shameful.
The mood is an important element when trying to convince the reader about certain feelings or emotions. The writer with a romantic and emotional mood will produce a poem different from a writer with a serious mood, as in ‘Composed’ and in ‘London’. In ‘Composed’ the writer reacts to his surroundings and the environment. Nature causes him to relax and admire as he describes the beauty of the place and so his mood becomes cheerful, “Earth has not anything to show more fair”. With a cheerful and passionate mood the writer adds a trend of romance to attract the reader and to provide imagery in order to ease understanding. His mood can sometimes change from a calm and soothing feeling, “Ne’er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep” to excitement and astonishment, “Dear God!”. Here this excitement can turn into exaggeration or hyperbole at times. The mood differs in ‘London’ as Blake characterizes his poem with aggression, honesty and anger. We can clearly see that the writer is seriously concerned and aware of the events and conditions faced by the people. This aggression and anger, “ How the chimney- sweeper’s cry” can turn into sarcasm, “I wander through each charter’d street”, indicating disapproval and a demand for change in treatment.
In ‘Composed’ Wordsworth makes a very good job of attracting and influencing the reader. He does that by creating a distinctive atmosphere that appeals to the reader’s senses. This atmosphere is a romantic and passionate one, designed to emphasize the writer’s feelings and emotions. Wordsworth had added a lot of description in his poem; describing London and its attractiveness. The idea of having such a majestic place with sloping hills, swift- moving rivers and clear skies allows the reader’s imagination to create their own version of paradise on Earth, to create a whole new peaceful and calm world with no pollution or human disturbance. Such description creates a relaxed, soothing and dream-like atmosphere full of happiness and joy. In order to achieve such an atmosphere, the writes uses specific words which are sure to appeal to the reader’s senses like, “Glittering, smokeless sky, calm, sweet…” This same technique has been used in ‘London’. Blake had used various examples and words to create the intended atmosphere. This is a gloomy one similar to a fog created by the rich people to try and misguide middle- class citizens. This misguiding results in poverty, fear, pain, suffering and discrimination. Or is it a smoke curtain produced from the polluting factories, machinery etc? Both examples signify the serious conditions faced by the people and how concerned the poet is. This type of atmosphere attracts the reader and emphasizes the main idea of the poem.
In order to attract the reader, and allow him to recognize this same poem later in life, the poet adds some words or phrases which are sure to stick to the reader’s mind. Such words are referred to as striking. When reading a poem, the reader may pause at a certain word and considers its actual meaning, what the writer wants to express. The word can be a powerful one, i.e. extracted from the bible or could be an ordinary word but once one focuses on the actual meaning the writer expresses to us, this simple word can affect the whole verse in the mood or its understanding. In ‘London’, we can clearly find more striking words than ‘ Composed’. As I have mentioned earlier, ‘Composed’ is a descriptive poem, mentioning the beauty of the unpolluted London. As there are not many actions, the striking words here should be adjectives, adverbs etc. There are many adjectives but, after reading the poem, I did not find any which appear to have astonished me. Such adjectives include “ Majesty”- “ fair”- “ bright”- “ glittering”- “ beautifully”- “ sweet”. We can clearly see that all of these adjectives are linked. They all seem to describe something which the writer feels precious to him. Something valuable. This idea helps build the atmosphere. These words create a romantic and touching atmosphere and so the reader continues to read the rest of the poem. In ‘London’, Blake uses less adjectives ( “blackening”- “New born” ) but more striking words. Wordsworth has also used striking words such as “smokeless air”. This phrase plays a relevant role as only from looking at this phrase we can say that this poem is a pre- Industrial Revolution one as the air and sky are unpolluted by the rapidly- growing industries. The writer also uses contrast between two words to create a strong impact. For example the use of “ Dull” and “Fair” creates an impact where the writer highlights the obvious beauty of London. In ‘London’, the striking words are much clearer, powerful and significant. These words are more touching as they appeal or attack the reader’s senses, gaining sympathy from them. For example, “Marks of weakness”, “Mind-forg’d manacles”, “Blasts”, “Blood” and “Plagues”. All are clearly disastrous words which surely attack the reader’s emotions and feelings allowing him to agree with the poet that such conditions were purely inhumane. He also mentioned “ Charter’d streets/ Thames”, the word “charter’d” represents restriction not only on streets but also on freedom. It represents discrimination, prejudice, slavery and labour. “The cry of man” also shows us how painful and horrifying conditions were, rather like in prison where people face torture and suffering. Blake has also added a couple of very strong words which were common among the people at that time, example: “ Woe” and “ Harlot’s”. The first word is a very strong old word for misery and despair which was exactly the mood of people in London back then. The latter is a very strong word extracted from the bible for prostitute. Having such words in the poem. Blake must have felt that situations at the time were terrifying and that prostitution was spreading everywhere in the city.
Imagery is a very important element in a poem as it helps the reader visualize the actions taking place and also helps him discover the feelings and emotions expressed by the poet. Here in ‘Composed’ the different forms of imagery all combine to produce a descriptive, well visualized/ understood and interesting poem. The imagery used here helps create an image set by the poet of paradise. The various imagery techniques used by Wordsworth include similes, description and personification. For example: Simple Description: “Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie”. Simile: “The city now doth, like a garment”. Personification: “ Like a garment, wear”. So here, despite the variance in the forms of imagery, they all follow a pattern which is expressing the glory and attractiveness of London. The same with ‘London’, but here all forms of imagery try to express the dullness and extreme conditions experienced in London. Here the poet uses various techniques. The first one is using simple words to represent other things (Striking words… mentioned above) and these are used to produce various illustrations which help visualize and illustrate the poet’s feelings, example:
“Charter’d streets”→ Restriction on liberty/Lack of freedom→ Sound of whips
(i.e. slavery)
or
“Charter’d streets”→ Restriction on liberty/Lack of freedom→ Large iron gates/
barriers locked
The poet has also used various illustrations to express the discrimination in the industrialized city, example, “ Cry of every man”, “Blackening Church” etc. The first one represents torture and pain and the latter suggests the disastrous pollution caused by the factories and machinery. He also used some famous or well- known examples so as to make the people familiar with the poem, for example, “Palace walls” i.e. French Revolution, “ Mind- forg’d manacles”.
When looking at these poems not only do we compare them with each other, but with other poems as well. We compare the type of poems they are and any other similarities. ‘Composed’ is quite similar to other romantic poems as passion and admiration can be easily identified in the poem. However, ‘London’ resembles other poems describing poverty, discrimination and severe conditions as a result of an event, example a war or a natural disaster. It also reminds me of poems or even hand- outs written in order to make people enthusiastic and revolt against the government or authorities seeking their rights. Although there is not much comparison in the poem, Blake does compare the actions taken by the people in London to the French who fought the Royal Family and eventually gained their rights. It’s as if he’s blaming the people for the situation they’re in now because instead of demanding change, the people sit weeping as prostitution spreads. In ‘Composed’ the poem also does not contain any comparisons, i.e. it does not compare London to any other city. This is because ‘Composed’ is a descriptive poem where the poet focuses only on one area- London. Because of this, we may find in the poem various examples of boasting hyperboles. Hyperbole is a deliberate exaggeration made by the poet to highlight London’s beauty and his feelings towards the city. For example, “ Earth has not anything to show more fair” and “ Never did sun more beautifully steep”.
In ‘ Composed’, Wordsworth used quite a complex structure when writing his poem. ‘Composed’ is a Petrarchan sonnet consisting of fourteen lines. The first eight lines (known as octave) present the main idea of the poem. Here Wordsworth describes the general appearance of London, describing its unique beauty and expresses his emotions towards the city. The last six lines (sestet) complete the idea. Here he expands on the idea of describing its beauty as he describes the sun, rivers, valleys etc. Wordsworth had chosen such a complex structure for boasting, using hyperboles and also such a structure enables him to emphasize more clearly his passion and admiration of London due to the variance in sentence length, example:
“ Ships towers, domes theaters and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky; ”
As for Blake, he preferred using a much simpler structure. ‘London’ is an example of a Quatrain. These are split into four stanzas of four lines. This simple structure suggests that Blake tried to avoid complications and just wanted to view London as it is without exaggerating or complimenting. This emphasizes the poet’s honesty. The shape of the poem also resembles a list. This emphasizes the continuous, never- ending examples of discrimination and severe conditions people had to face. Sentence length is not very variable so as to support the rhyme scheme. The rhyme scheme used by lake in ‘London’ is ‘abab’. This is a very simple rhyme scheme used in the whole poem. For example:
“Near where the charter’d Thames does flow,
And mark in every face I meet
Marks of weakness, marks of woe.”
With a shape with similar sentence lengths and a simple rhyme scheme, the result is a rhythm of sorrow, despair and gloom. This helps build up the atmosphere in order to gain sympathy from the reader.
Back to ‘Composed’, the rhyme scheme is abbaabba/cdecde. Despite being complex, the writer was able to follow this scheme throughout the poem. This scheme was much harder to spot than ‘London’. For example:
“ The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.”
The rhythm here is also difficult to sense. This is because the beats seem to be unfelt. Instead of feeling a regular beat in each line, the poem seems to flow softly as one delivers it. By using enjambment, Wordsworth is able to build a perfect romantic atmosphere as the idea of having to slowly continue the sentence on another line feels dream- like. This dreamy feeling makes it much easier for the reader to imagine and picture a peaceful countryside with green hills, crystal- clear rivers, pure skies and unpolluted wildlife, for example:
“ Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty.”
After reading both poems over and over again my view of them seem to have changed. The various words/ phrases the poets added in their poems, the presence of a distinctive atmosphere, the contrast in moods, the various rhythms and shapes, the different types of imagery and the difference in settings have all influenced by final judgment of the poems. In ‘Composed’, there is a clear sense of admiration and passion shown by the poet towards London. This sense has affected his mood and the atmosphere, i.e. are clearly romantic. His beautiful description of the city makes the reader eager to visit this unique place.
As for ‘London’, my view is completely different from ‘Composed’. Here Blake does a magnificent job at making us feel sorrow, sad and sympathetic towards the people at that time. His various examples of suffering and the different techniques helped build hatred in the reader’s heart. The reader feels that people are being mistreated and so he demands for justice and an end to this discrimination.
Looking at both poems, I think that Blake’s ‘London’ is more reliable/ accurate as the Industrial Revolution was quite disastrous. However, Wordsworth’s ‘Composed’ clearly contains a lot of hyperboles and boasting. But on the other hand, he may be correct about his view of London as unpolluted nature is the most magnificent sight on Earth.
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Caro
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Yay! OMG great work Tweedle. Are you an English major? I am intimately familiar with the texts you have written about. Thanks for contributing a lengthy edition to my little homework forum here!
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Caro
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At least read my first paragraph..... I'm proud of this rather complex thesis. 
Caroline -------
Dr Bullon-Fernandez
English 325
5-4-04
The Paradox of Chivalric Intent in Chrétien’s Erec and Enide
The discontinuity between women as the origin of chivalric behavior and the absence of autonomous development for major female characters presents a fundamental insight to the romance and to medieval society – namely, that the prime function of woman is devoted service to patriarchal culture (Fries, 60). This could be contradictory, since on the surface, the prime function of a knight seems often to be devotion to his lady. Even in service to her, the knight and the lady reaffirm cultural norms, and the lady does so at the expense of her own character development. This paper will illustrate the above point by use of Chrétien’s Erec and Enide.
The reason for chivalric behavior in aristocratic men is most often attributed to women in Arthurian romance. This claim is supported not only by Chrétien’s narrative, but also by the female protagonist in Lai du Lecheor, another 12th century French text. “Why are knights good? Why do they like to fight in tournaments? On whose account are they genteel and generous? On whose account do they refrain from wrongdoing? Why do they like courting, hugging and kissing? Do you know any reason but one?” (Burns, 21).
Erec and Enide is most demonstrative of women as the origin of chivalry, as well as the absence of genuine independent female character development, and thereby reaffirms the status quo. One would think that the basis or motive for action would be ascribed equal development as the character who performs the action, when that source or reason is also a human character. Yet time and again we see this conflict in Erec and Enide – woman is but an appendage. Her story is not her own; it belongs to Erec and it belongs to men.
In her essay Queen Isolde and Princess Isolde, Ann Marie Rasmussen states that Arthurian romances give different roles to male and female characters. “The Arthurian heroine ensures the continuity of the male line even as she ennobles and enriches it, while remaining without female ancestors or descendants. Her world most often culminates in a relationship with a male hero, be he lover, spouse or son” (Rasmussen, 41). The male characters move the story forwards, while the female characters function only to expand upon the male-oriented story line. She envisions and axis in which “female time intersects and expands a critical moment of male chronology” (Rasmussen, 41). Her illustration implies that the female story lines continue in some vertical space that is unknown to the reader. That Chrétien does not follow any of these feminine story lines is an indication that his concern is entirely with the male narrative, regardless of his inclination to make woman the motive for action, the “center” of the story.
The tale opens with a scene that describes an altercation between Erec and the rude knight Yder, who has disgraced the queen Guinevere. Erec must avenge the disgrace because of devotion to the Queen, because upholding a lady’s honor is the chivalric thing to do. If looked at from a more comprehensive perspective however, Guinevere must be disgraced in order to give Erec something chivalric to do! The queen functions not as an invested character (the focus is not on her), but as a reason for Erec to go on a noble quest. Her status as a reason as opposed to a fully developed character makes her an instrument to the action.
The next scene which involves Guinevere concerns the hunt of the white stag. While this scene seems to indicate that Guinevere is a developed and even powerful character, considering that she counsels her husband and her advice is taken and respected, it must be viewed within the context of the work as a whole, and within the context of medieval society. King Arthur takes her counsel not because he has to, and not because she has any real power of her own. He takes her advice because she has intimate proximity to him. Rasmussen states that this emotional access is the only way that royal women could assert their wishes. Without his favor, she is powerless. Furthermore, her wish, that the reward of the white stag wait until Erec’s return, serves Erec and his storyline; her own it does not serve.
The first trial that Erec encounters, the contest of the sparrow-hawk, illustrates in certain terms the reality of women being the origin of chivalric behavior. Aristocratic men were compelled to fight for a prize, in the name of a woman’s beauty. Erec tells Enide that he is prepared to boldly uphold a battle in her name. After they become wearied from sword-play, Erec reminds his opponent of the reason for their death duel: “For the sake of our ladies, we must renew our efforts with our steel blades” (Chrétien, 48). This plot arrangement and the description of the battle between Erec and Yder takes up a good deal of text – far more than the result of the battle, which honors both Enide and Guinevere.
The narrative names Erec and his father on the very first page, yet Enide is not named until a third of the way through. Chrétien demonstrates Rasmussen’s point about the priority given to male lineage and chronology versus female lineage when he introduces Enide and her mother. Her mother is neither named nor introduced; she and Enide both work at some kind of industry, but it is not important to the story.
Her beauty, the most important virtue of a well bred woman, is described at length. Does a lengthy description of a character’s physical appearance lend validity to that character as a whole? Or is it that her beauty is important to Erec’s story: she intoxicates him and perpetuates the next leg of his adventures. Her beauty is naught but service falling upon the eyes of men. “She was truly made to be looked at” (Chrétien 43). Furthermore, Enide is the reason for the battle which honors Guinevere, who is also the reason for Erec to battle! Both women serve as means for Erec’s violent masculine action, yet neither woman is in possession of her own story.
One could argue that from the moment Erec weds Enide and she is named, it becomes her story as well. Her internal thoughts are revealed, she disobeys her husband and master concerning her right to speak, and takes heroic action against a foe. Maureen Fries’ analysis of the three types of female characters in Arthurian romance is helpful here. She posits that the typical role of heroine is most often fulfilled in Chrétien’s romances, and in Arthurian literature as a whole. The heroine is the exemplary female character, like Enide and like Guinevere, who acts honorably but most importantly stays within her gender-defined role. In this way, she is a reflection of male values. The female hero, by contrast, acts honorably outside of her gender-defined role – as when Enide tricks the count, saves Erec, and carries out action independently. Yet she is not rejecting her place in society and Arthurian literature altogether – that is the role of the female counter-hero, who would have sovereign power, use her sex as a weapon, and generally perpetuate evil. Since her actions still serve her knight, and moreover, her action and narrative dominance is temporary, she reflects male social values as both a heroine and a hero. Even the female counter-hero reflects male values, since her actions are seen as subversive.
Women were necessary to the chivalric cycle, yet the honor and intent accorded to them by Chrétien exceeds the space devoted to their development as characters with their own stories. Fries says that the role of women in Arthurian romance reflects male social values. While this is true, I would also posit that by inversion, the role of women in medieval society reflects the contradiction posed in romance! Women were the lesser in an unequal social relationship, and in need of power and protection. That is why they inspired knights to chivalry, and that is why they could only be portrayed as instruments in the melody of men’s stories.
Works Cited
Burns, Jane E. “Rewriting Men’s Stories: Enide’s Disruptive Mouths”. Arthurian
Women, a Casebook. Ed. Thelma Fenster. New York and London: Garland
Publishing, Inc., 1996. 19 – 40
Fries, Maureen. “Female Heroes, Heroines, and Counter-Heroes: Images of Women in
Arthurian Tradition”. Arthurian Women, a Casebook. Ed. Thelma Fenster. New York and London: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1996. 59 - 77
Rasmussen, Ann Marie. “Ez Ist Ir G’artet Von Mir’: Queen Isolde and Princess Isolde in
Gottfried Von Strassburg’s Tristan and Isolde”. Arthurian Women, a Casebook. Ed. Thelma Fenster. New York and London: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1996. 41 - 58
Caroline -------
Dr Bullon-Fernandez
English 325
5-4-04
The Paradox of Chivalric Intent in Chrétien’s Erec and Enide
The discontinuity between women as the origin of chivalric behavior and the absence of autonomous development for major female characters presents a fundamental insight to the romance and to medieval society – namely, that the prime function of woman is devoted service to patriarchal culture (Fries, 60). This could be contradictory, since on the surface, the prime function of a knight seems often to be devotion to his lady. Even in service to her, the knight and the lady reaffirm cultural norms, and the lady does so at the expense of her own character development. This paper will illustrate the above point by use of Chrétien’s Erec and Enide.
The reason for chivalric behavior in aristocratic men is most often attributed to women in Arthurian romance. This claim is supported not only by Chrétien’s narrative, but also by the female protagonist in Lai du Lecheor, another 12th century French text. “Why are knights good? Why do they like to fight in tournaments? On whose account are they genteel and generous? On whose account do they refrain from wrongdoing? Why do they like courting, hugging and kissing? Do you know any reason but one?” (Burns, 21).
Erec and Enide is most demonstrative of women as the origin of chivalry, as well as the absence of genuine independent female character development, and thereby reaffirms the status quo. One would think that the basis or motive for action would be ascribed equal development as the character who performs the action, when that source or reason is also a human character. Yet time and again we see this conflict in Erec and Enide – woman is but an appendage. Her story is not her own; it belongs to Erec and it belongs to men.
In her essay Queen Isolde and Princess Isolde, Ann Marie Rasmussen states that Arthurian romances give different roles to male and female characters. “The Arthurian heroine ensures the continuity of the male line even as she ennobles and enriches it, while remaining without female ancestors or descendants. Her world most often culminates in a relationship with a male hero, be he lover, spouse or son” (Rasmussen, 41). The male characters move the story forwards, while the female characters function only to expand upon the male-oriented story line. She envisions and axis in which “female time intersects and expands a critical moment of male chronology” (Rasmussen, 41). Her illustration implies that the female story lines continue in some vertical space that is unknown to the reader. That Chrétien does not follow any of these feminine story lines is an indication that his concern is entirely with the male narrative, regardless of his inclination to make woman the motive for action, the “center” of the story.
The tale opens with a scene that describes an altercation between Erec and the rude knight Yder, who has disgraced the queen Guinevere. Erec must avenge the disgrace because of devotion to the Queen, because upholding a lady’s honor is the chivalric thing to do. If looked at from a more comprehensive perspective however, Guinevere must be disgraced in order to give Erec something chivalric to do! The queen functions not as an invested character (the focus is not on her), but as a reason for Erec to go on a noble quest. Her status as a reason as opposed to a fully developed character makes her an instrument to the action.
The next scene which involves Guinevere concerns the hunt of the white stag. While this scene seems to indicate that Guinevere is a developed and even powerful character, considering that she counsels her husband and her advice is taken and respected, it must be viewed within the context of the work as a whole, and within the context of medieval society. King Arthur takes her counsel not because he has to, and not because she has any real power of her own. He takes her advice because she has intimate proximity to him. Rasmussen states that this emotional access is the only way that royal women could assert their wishes. Without his favor, she is powerless. Furthermore, her wish, that the reward of the white stag wait until Erec’s return, serves Erec and his storyline; her own it does not serve.
The first trial that Erec encounters, the contest of the sparrow-hawk, illustrates in certain terms the reality of women being the origin of chivalric behavior. Aristocratic men were compelled to fight for a prize, in the name of a woman’s beauty. Erec tells Enide that he is prepared to boldly uphold a battle in her name. After they become wearied from sword-play, Erec reminds his opponent of the reason for their death duel: “For the sake of our ladies, we must renew our efforts with our steel blades” (Chrétien, 48). This plot arrangement and the description of the battle between Erec and Yder takes up a good deal of text – far more than the result of the battle, which honors both Enide and Guinevere.
The narrative names Erec and his father on the very first page, yet Enide is not named until a third of the way through. Chrétien demonstrates Rasmussen’s point about the priority given to male lineage and chronology versus female lineage when he introduces Enide and her mother. Her mother is neither named nor introduced; she and Enide both work at some kind of industry, but it is not important to the story.
Her beauty, the most important virtue of a well bred woman, is described at length. Does a lengthy description of a character’s physical appearance lend validity to that character as a whole? Or is it that her beauty is important to Erec’s story: she intoxicates him and perpetuates the next leg of his adventures. Her beauty is naught but service falling upon the eyes of men. “She was truly made to be looked at” (Chrétien 43). Furthermore, Enide is the reason for the battle which honors Guinevere, who is also the reason for Erec to battle! Both women serve as means for Erec’s violent masculine action, yet neither woman is in possession of her own story.
One could argue that from the moment Erec weds Enide and she is named, it becomes her story as well. Her internal thoughts are revealed, she disobeys her husband and master concerning her right to speak, and takes heroic action against a foe. Maureen Fries’ analysis of the three types of female characters in Arthurian romance is helpful here. She posits that the typical role of heroine is most often fulfilled in Chrétien’s romances, and in Arthurian literature as a whole. The heroine is the exemplary female character, like Enide and like Guinevere, who acts honorably but most importantly stays within her gender-defined role. In this way, she is a reflection of male values. The female hero, by contrast, acts honorably outside of her gender-defined role – as when Enide tricks the count, saves Erec, and carries out action independently. Yet she is not rejecting her place in society and Arthurian literature altogether – that is the role of the female counter-hero, who would have sovereign power, use her sex as a weapon, and generally perpetuate evil. Since her actions still serve her knight, and moreover, her action and narrative dominance is temporary, she reflects male social values as both a heroine and a hero. Even the female counter-hero reflects male values, since her actions are seen as subversive.
Women were necessary to the chivalric cycle, yet the honor and intent accorded to them by Chrétien exceeds the space devoted to their development as characters with their own stories. Fries says that the role of women in Arthurian romance reflects male social values. While this is true, I would also posit that by inversion, the role of women in medieval society reflects the contradiction posed in romance! Women were the lesser in an unequal social relationship, and in need of power and protection. That is why they inspired knights to chivalry, and that is why they could only be portrayed as instruments in the melody of men’s stories.
Works Cited
Burns, Jane E. “Rewriting Men’s Stories: Enide’s Disruptive Mouths”. Arthurian
Women, a Casebook. Ed. Thelma Fenster. New York and London: Garland
Publishing, Inc., 1996. 19 – 40
Fries, Maureen. “Female Heroes, Heroines, and Counter-Heroes: Images of Women in
Arthurian Tradition”. Arthurian Women, a Casebook. Ed. Thelma Fenster. New York and London: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1996. 59 - 77
Rasmussen, Ann Marie. “Ez Ist Ir G’artet Von Mir’: Queen Isolde and Princess Isolde in
Gottfried Von Strassburg’s Tristan and Isolde”. Arthurian Women, a Casebook. Ed. Thelma Fenster. New York and London: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1996. 41 - 58
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Caro
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And here are my notes for the accompanying speech I have to give today....
Female Heroes, Heroines, and Counter-Heroes
Images of Women in Arthurian Tradition
Explication
“The Prime Function is of Woman is Devoted Service to Patriarchal Culture”
• Male heroic roles fall into well-defined types, drawn from actual male functions in society.
• She says that the purpose of the article is to examine the image of the Arthurian woman.
• There were very few powerful female role-models in the medieval world to base characters on. Women were forbidden to bear arms or enter the priesthood. They were infrequent rulers, and socially inferior to men.
• She introduces the heroine, a character type that is well known to Arthurian literature. The heroine lures, guides, and bids the hero. Her function is entirely in relationship to him. “Her greatest virtue is her beauty. Her most desired end is marriage, the target for which that beauty is poised”. The heroine is an instrument of action and not an agent, for that role belongs to the hero. “Her virtues are those universally recommended to medieval women in real life: beauty, chastity, obedience, and silence”.
• The term “female hero” may seem paradoxical, but the author wanted to make a distinction. A female hero is not the same thing as a heroine. “A heroine is recognizable by her performance of a traditionally identified female sex-role. Any woman who by choice, by circumstance, or even by accident, escapes definition exclusively in terms of such a traditional role is capable of heroism, as opposed to heroinism”. So a female hero would need to assume traditionally masculine roles, such as exploring the unknown beyond her place in society. A female hero would reject the usual female role of preserving order by maintaining her submissive, secondary position. There are many examples of female heroes in literature – she sites Jane Eyre and Alice in Wonderland – but they are pretty scarce in Arthurian literature. There are two types of female heroes that we may encounter: the virginal hero and the wife-hero.
• She then introduces the role of the counter-hero. We say counter-hero instead of counter-heroine when we’re talking about a female character because the main protagonist of Arthurian literature is always male, and therefore any female antagonist characters will always function in relation and opposition to him. She notes that “Marriage is either absent from, or (at most) incidental to the literary career of the counter-hero”. The role of the counter-hero is to violate social norms. “With male counter heroes, such violation usually entails wrongful force; for the female, usually powers of magic”. Although she can also be beautiful, her beauty usually threatens to destroy rather than compliment the hero, and this is due to her refusal of the traditional female role.
• Now that the three character types have been defined, she begins to apply this knowledge to female characters in Arthurian romances.
• She identifies Guinevere as the original and most permanent female heroine in Arthurian tradition. She discusses how Guinevere conforms to her sex-defined role as queen, and even though her virtue and heroinism is diminished by the adulterous scandal. Her penitence restores her as a heroine, in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s version. She says “that Guinevere ends her life as a nun vowed to chastity indicates her conformation to the heroine’s role as reflector of the male hero’s values”.
• In Chrétien’s version of Guinevere’s story, she is still a heroine, though her penitence is absent. The author attends to the contradictory impression that Guinevere is the dominant character, “especially in terms of the doctrine of courtly love which informs the romance”. She sites the instances when Guinevere has such control over Lancelot that gender roles seem to be reversed. This is only a surface impression. She makes the point: “the Romance is a depiction of the warrior class’s idealization of itself, centered upon male heroes and not female love objects. As was consistent with medieval religious, political, and moral theories, men are the agents of the action and women – when they are heroines – are the instruments”. She shows how Guinevere is an instrument to male action, and not a hero herself. Guinevere is a heroine in Chrétien’s tale precisely because she exists for no other reason than to “get into trouble that the hero must get her out of”. Her course is decided by the will and agreement of the men in the tale. She is the incentive to heroic action and at the same time the reward, and by fulfilling that gender-specific role, she is a heroine.
• She then discusses the dual nature of Enide as both hero and heroine. At times, such as when she helps Erec by being the object of a contest against his enemy, she acts as a heroine. But later in the story, she becomes a wife-hero, by acting outside her gender-defined role. She oversteps her boundaries as an obedient, submissive wife by repeating what the knights say about Erec and thereby initiating action; she disobeys Erec by breaking his ordered silence, and finally, most heroically, she takes definite action against a counter-hero. In that scene she is not an instrument to Erec’s action, but an agent of action herself.
• Next she discusses a woman characterized as a counter-hero, Morgan le Fay. She is a villain who refuses male values, refuses to act only in ways which reaffirm the dominant culture. Her actions are selfish and not done for knightly benefit. She says this of female counter-heroes: “They reveal a split tendency. Never completely committed to the knightly ethos which dominates their world, they often act in their own interest instead of the males’ (thus differing from the female heroes). Their actions are bold and often sexual. More than female heroes, they are capable of transforming their environments and doing so for their own benefit. Examined in terms of the prime function of romance as a mirror of the male warrior ideal, these Arthurian women are truly counter-cultural”.
• To sum the article up, all three female types hold up a mirror to male social values. Even the powerful female counter-heroes, whose actions are seen as subversive.
Female Heroes, Heroines, and Counter-Heroes
Images of Women in Arthurian Tradition
Explication
“The Prime Function is of Woman is Devoted Service to Patriarchal Culture”
• Male heroic roles fall into well-defined types, drawn from actual male functions in society.
• She says that the purpose of the article is to examine the image of the Arthurian woman.
• There were very few powerful female role-models in the medieval world to base characters on. Women were forbidden to bear arms or enter the priesthood. They were infrequent rulers, and socially inferior to men.
• She introduces the heroine, a character type that is well known to Arthurian literature. The heroine lures, guides, and bids the hero. Her function is entirely in relationship to him. “Her greatest virtue is her beauty. Her most desired end is marriage, the target for which that beauty is poised”. The heroine is an instrument of action and not an agent, for that role belongs to the hero. “Her virtues are those universally recommended to medieval women in real life: beauty, chastity, obedience, and silence”.
• The term “female hero” may seem paradoxical, but the author wanted to make a distinction. A female hero is not the same thing as a heroine. “A heroine is recognizable by her performance of a traditionally identified female sex-role. Any woman who by choice, by circumstance, or even by accident, escapes definition exclusively in terms of such a traditional role is capable of heroism, as opposed to heroinism”. So a female hero would need to assume traditionally masculine roles, such as exploring the unknown beyond her place in society. A female hero would reject the usual female role of preserving order by maintaining her submissive, secondary position. There are many examples of female heroes in literature – she sites Jane Eyre and Alice in Wonderland – but they are pretty scarce in Arthurian literature. There are two types of female heroes that we may encounter: the virginal hero and the wife-hero.
• She then introduces the role of the counter-hero. We say counter-hero instead of counter-heroine when we’re talking about a female character because the main protagonist of Arthurian literature is always male, and therefore any female antagonist characters will always function in relation and opposition to him. She notes that “Marriage is either absent from, or (at most) incidental to the literary career of the counter-hero”. The role of the counter-hero is to violate social norms. “With male counter heroes, such violation usually entails wrongful force; for the female, usually powers of magic”. Although she can also be beautiful, her beauty usually threatens to destroy rather than compliment the hero, and this is due to her refusal of the traditional female role.
• Now that the three character types have been defined, she begins to apply this knowledge to female characters in Arthurian romances.
• She identifies Guinevere as the original and most permanent female heroine in Arthurian tradition. She discusses how Guinevere conforms to her sex-defined role as queen, and even though her virtue and heroinism is diminished by the adulterous scandal. Her penitence restores her as a heroine, in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s version. She says “that Guinevere ends her life as a nun vowed to chastity indicates her conformation to the heroine’s role as reflector of the male hero’s values”.
• In Chrétien’s version of Guinevere’s story, she is still a heroine, though her penitence is absent. The author attends to the contradictory impression that Guinevere is the dominant character, “especially in terms of the doctrine of courtly love which informs the romance”. She sites the instances when Guinevere has such control over Lancelot that gender roles seem to be reversed. This is only a surface impression. She makes the point: “the Romance is a depiction of the warrior class’s idealization of itself, centered upon male heroes and not female love objects. As was consistent with medieval religious, political, and moral theories, men are the agents of the action and women – when they are heroines – are the instruments”. She shows how Guinevere is an instrument to male action, and not a hero herself. Guinevere is a heroine in Chrétien’s tale precisely because she exists for no other reason than to “get into trouble that the hero must get her out of”. Her course is decided by the will and agreement of the men in the tale. She is the incentive to heroic action and at the same time the reward, and by fulfilling that gender-specific role, she is a heroine.
• She then discusses the dual nature of Enide as both hero and heroine. At times, such as when she helps Erec by being the object of a contest against his enemy, she acts as a heroine. But later in the story, she becomes a wife-hero, by acting outside her gender-defined role. She oversteps her boundaries as an obedient, submissive wife by repeating what the knights say about Erec and thereby initiating action; she disobeys Erec by breaking his ordered silence, and finally, most heroically, she takes definite action against a counter-hero. In that scene she is not an instrument to Erec’s action, but an agent of action herself.
• Next she discusses a woman characterized as a counter-hero, Morgan le Fay. She is a villain who refuses male values, refuses to act only in ways which reaffirm the dominant culture. Her actions are selfish and not done for knightly benefit. She says this of female counter-heroes: “They reveal a split tendency. Never completely committed to the knightly ethos which dominates their world, they often act in their own interest instead of the males’ (thus differing from the female heroes). Their actions are bold and often sexual. More than female heroes, they are capable of transforming their environments and doing so for their own benefit. Examined in terms of the prime function of romance as a mirror of the male warrior ideal, these Arthurian women are truly counter-cultural”.
• To sum the article up, all three female types hold up a mirror to male social values. Even the powerful female counter-heroes, whose actions are seen as subversive.
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