Christina Rossetti on the Radio!

From listening to the radio programme, I found the discussion of Goblin Market interesting. Lizzie and Laura were suggested as in fact representing Rossetti and her sister, with Lizzie being Christina herself, who she herself believed to be less devout than her sibling, while Laura represented her sister. Christina apparently tried strawberries when she was young that her sister warned her against, resulting in Christina getting canker sores. I found the fact that the poem could be representing herself and her own faults, such as giving in to temptations, very interesting.

Marie Antoinette PLAYA

Holla bro. Marie Antoinette was Queen of France an' of Navarre an' was also Archduchess of Austria so she was rich and got lotsa da bling bling, innit. She was Queen durin' da time the French were like 'Ooooh no man, we don't want no royalty' so she got her head chopped off. She wasn't very popular cos she was too friendly to the enemy, such as Austrians, cos she was one. Da French also thought she liked to sleep around, AKA SHE WAS A PLAYA! THUG LIFE.

Da world in which she lived in was a fast changin' one. People were like 'yay books, we like to read' an' this thing which made books easier to make was made, called da 'printin' press'. Loadsa people now had books which were full of new ideas. Everyone was lovin' all dis new shizzle. It was like when 2pac released 'All Eyez on Me', his fifth album, loadsa new shizzle was on dat, everyone was lovin' his fresh rhymes, ya get me fam? So much betta than fiddy cent. He's a pretenda.

Back to da topic. There was a scientific revolution going on, people could spread their ideas across da continent, so an uprisin' began. FIGHT DA POWA. People weren't standin' for just doin' what dey were told, dey could now share thoughts wiv fellow intellectuals an' overthrow previous ideas.So yeh, unlucky Marie, you got yo head chopped off, da French didn't like da idea of monarchs.

How does Austen created her characters in chapter 11?

Austen creates characters in a variety of ways. For example, she mixes the narrator's and Elizabeth's opinions together. Because of this, we can learn Elizabeth's thoughts and feeling through the narrator and therefore learn about her and how she thinks, allowing us to make a judgement on her character.

Another way Austen creates her characters is by quickly changing subject from Mrs Hurst and Miss Bingley to Darcy when he enters the room. This shows the impressiveness of Darcy and his ability to shift attention to him when he enters a room, due to attention of the narrative shifting to him as soon as arrives.

Contrast is also used, with 'but' highlighting differences between Darcy, Mr Hurst and Bingley. 'But diffuseness and warmth remained for Bingley's salutation' shows that Bingley is warmer and friendlier than the other two men. This suggests that there isn't warmth in the other two men's greetings, and therefore that they are possibly putting on a fake personality for public gatherings, due to their greetings lacking warmth and therefore seeming ungenuine.

The omniscient, all knowing narrator tells us character's thoughts and motives that we would not usually know, gives us extra insight into their character. For example, 'Miss Bingley's attention was quite as much engaged in watching Mr Darcy's progress through his book, as in reading her own'. Without this information, we would presume she was just reading a book, just like Darcy. However, we learn that she is interested much more in Darcy and in trying to learn about him to try and form a relationship with him than actually reading the book she has in her hands.

Character interaction also contributes to the creation of characters. For example, when Darcy and Elizabeth are talking towards the end of the chapter, it doesn't say 'said' followed by the character's name who is speaking. This suggests the two characters are extremely engaged in their conversation and are close, therefore that there is intimacy between them and a relationship may soon blossom. A lack of replies in a conversation involving Miss Bingley, shown by 'no one made a reply', is another character interaction. This shows that the conversation lacks any interest from the participants, therefore suggesting that their topic conversation is not something that interests them and that they are putting on a false character in an attempt to impress someone, such as Miss Bingley trying to impress Darcy.

Self realisation from characters, namely Darcy, also creates character. Darcy 'began to feel the danger of paying Elizabeth too much attention' shows he has realised that he has feelings for Elizabeth, furthering his character and the story's progression. This way of creating character is combined with the omniscient narrator being able to get into character's heads and tell us what they are thinking.

Character in Maude Clare

Character is written about in Maude Clare in a variety of ways. For me, the three most important ways are the following:

1. The fact the poem is called Maude Clare and ends with the words 'Maude Clare'. She is mentioned both at the very start and the very end, causing the reader to focus upon her at the end of the poem, not any of the other characters. As a result, it creates the impression that she is an impressive and dominant character.
2. Through speech, a lot is revealed about each character. For example, Thomas, the only male of the poem struggles to speak, indicated by the hyphens when he talks. This makes the reader think of him as weak and also shameful, due to the fact he is embarrassed as he also 'hid his face'. Speech shows a lot about each character.
3. Comparisons also effectively describes the characters. Maude Clare is called a 'queen', whereas Nell, the 'bride' merely looks like a 'village maid' in comparison despite it being her wedding day. This could indicate class or status, showing Maude Clare has high class while Nell has low class. It also shows that Maude Clare is striking and often the centre of attention.

Significance of Places

We opened the lesson by discussing how the place a person lives affects what our view of what they will be like is. For example, a clean and tidy house will give you a different impression of the inhabitants than a messy, dirty house.

Following this, we discussed the importance of places in Pride and Prejudice and what they represented. Netherfield, for example, is linked to Bingley. As it is rented, it means he will only be around a short time, so anyone with the intent of marrying him will have to be quick, so adds a time constraint to the novel. It is also nearby Longbourn, so shows that wealth is almost in reach for the Bennetts.

We then planned an answer to an essay which was 'write about the significance of the ways the two writers you have studied used places in their narrative', in which I focused upon Jessie Cameron and Cousin Kate along with the use of Pemberley in Pride and Prejudice.

Jessie Cameron Could Be Seen Simply As A Murder Mystery. Agree or Disagree?

In this lesson, we wrote a detailed plan for whether we agree or disagree with the idea that Jessie Cameron could be seen simply as a murder mystery.

Agree

We're told the two definitely die, due to people searching for their 'bodies', not them, insinuating death. However, we do not know how they died. The omniscient, all knowing narrator doesn't even know how they died. This adds mystery, furthering the idea that the poem is a murder mystery.

Jessie and the neighbour's son have an argument or disagreement, which escalates throughout the poem - 'and louder waxed his urgent speech'. This could have escalated to violence with neither standing down. 'The sea crept' - the rising sea symbolises increasing confrontation. 'Moaning' of the sea foreshadows something bad, possibly one of the character's murder?

The stanza starting with 'some say' shows their is mystery surrounding the two, adding to mystery.

Disagree

It is a ghost story, not a murder mystery due to the supernatural descriptions such as 'sobs and screams, but not a word'.

It is a feminist poem over a murder mystery. Jessie is named, unlike the man, giving an identity to the woman. Jessie declines the man's offer -'I'm no mate for you' - shows a woman standing up for herself and being strong. Men are not controlling women.

It is about the awesome power of the sea instead. The sea is personified as 'moaning', giving the sea an importance and relevance in the poem. The 'moaning' shows that the sea knows something bad is going to happen yet there is nothing the pair can do to escape it. The sea is powerful and humans cannot escape it.

The Way Jessie Cameron Is Told

This lesson, we started by converting Jessie Cameron into a ten lined short play. This was to bring up the coursework in which we will have to add an extra scene into a piece of literature or change a piece into a different style.

We then discussed ways Rossetti tells the story of Jessie Cameron, deciding that the text was laid out ballad form, due to aspects such as:

• It begins with something climatic.
• It has a swift opening.
• Uses everyday language.
• The narrator tells the story.
• It uses imagery over description.

We then discussed the text, deciding upon our idea of the purpose in which we decided it was about 'fate and the power of the sea'. This is due to both Jessie and the neighbour's son having negative aspects to their personality, such as 'pride' in Jessie and stubbornness in the neighbour's son due to his constant asking of the unknown question of the poem. Their deaths may be an inescapable punishment which is an act of fate. The sea seems to know such an act is about to happen, as it is 'moaning', foreshadowing a bad event. It also 'crept' closer, suggesting it could possibly be the sea which caused Jessie's and the neighbour's son's deaths.

The Significance of Setting in Jessie Cameron

In this lesson, we were introduced to the poem Jessie Cameron by Christina Rossetti. We went through the poem, picking out important phrases or words and explaining and exploring them. Once we did this with the whole poem, we discussed the definitions of:

foreshadowing - bringing up an idea that will happen later

pathetic fallacy - when weather reflects emotions

symbolism - when one thing represents another

metaphor - when one thing is described as another

We then found examples of when setting was linked to one of these four words, such as 'dimness overtook the light' being an example of foreshadowing, as 'light' represents purity and goodness, yet dark or 'dimness' represents evil. Evil overtaking good in represented in this sentence, and foreshadows a bad event taking place later in the poem.

Introducing Bingley and Darcy & Points of View in Chapter 6

In this lesson, we discussed techniques in small groups used by Austen in Pride and Prejudice. One thing we discussed was how Austen introduces Bingley and Darcy in Chapter 3, many ideas were put forward, such as:

• The reader is given opinions, not descriptions of Mr Bingley, meaning we can't form our own opinions.
• Mr Darcy's final point in his description is that he makes '10 thousand a year', showing the attraction of wealth in the novel.
• When speaking, Bingley is positive and Darcy is negative. Juxtaposition between the two emphasises the difference between them.
• Others opinions are influenced by Elizabeth telling her friends he thought she was average looking.
• The final sentence is a negative point on Darcy, a point Austen would have wanted the reader to dwell on, causing us to believe he is not a nice person.

From this we wrote a quick essay answer in class, organising and explaining our ideas in more detail.

We also discussed how different points of view were presented by Austen in Chapter 6. Some ideas were that:

• Charlotte and Elizabeth have contrasting ideas. When they talk together, their opinions juxtapose each other, emphasising them.
• Charlotte has a plan to get married and would puts marriage over love - 'When she is secure of him there will be leisure for falling in love as much as she chooses'.
• Elizabeth believes you should get to know them and 'understand' their 'character' and therefore enjoy their company.
• Conflicting views are established through conversation.
• Darcy is 'mortified' he is falling in love with Elizabeth. He doesn't want to fall in love with people below him. This view is told through the omniscient narrator.

We also gathered our ideas and then wrote an essay on how points of view are presented in chapter 6.

I will catch up on the rest of my blogs tomorrow! For now, I must revise for my chemistry test tomorrow!

Elizabeth Interpretations

From reading the text, there are a few interpretations I've made of Elizabeth. One is that she can be a gossip, shown when tells everyone that Darcy said she is 'not handsome enough to tempt me', with the narrator saying 'she told the story however with great spirit among her friends'. Darcy was new in town so she immediately gave everyone a biased view on him by telling them this, not letting them form their own opinions, with her gossiping being the possible reason for Darcy being thought of as 'disagreeable' and 'horrid' by people such as Mrs Bennett.

Elizabeth it seems is interested in love more than marriage. Love for her is important, shown when she says to Charlotte 'if I were determined to get a rich husband, or any husband, I dare say I should adopt it', referring to Charlotte's plan on getting married, showing that just getting a husband is not important to her, it is love that she wants.

She also seems quite sarcastic, shown when she answers that she began to love Darcy from 'first seeing his beautiful grounds at Pemberley', when we in fact know that Elizabeth does not wish to marry for money, but for love, shown in the previous paragraph. Earlier in the novel, when she believes Mr Darcy to be rude that 'Mr Darcy is all politeness', again showing her sarcastic side.

Jane Austen

Austen was socially quite well connected among the 'middling rich'. She would likely have had a similar status to the Bennett family within Pride and Prejudice. Austen herself nor her sister ever married, and this could influence how Mrs Bennett in Pride and Prejudice was tremendously pushy to get her daughters married, as her own mother may have been like that.

Austen also had irregular teaching at school, so was often taught at home, at times by herself from books. Such heavy reading may have possibly influenced her aspirations of becoming an author.

Austen frequently attended social gatherings, which often meant dancing either at someone's home after dinner or organised dances at assembly rooms in the town hall. Such events have clearly affected her work. In Pride and Prejudice, much of the socialising and meeting new people was done at arranged dances.

Rossetti and Pride and Prejudice Plan - Points of View

Last lesson, we created an essay plan to discuss Points of View in Rossetti's work as well as in Pride and Prejudice.

In Rossetti's work, we came up with a few ideas for Points of View. In Cousin Kate, one idea was 'Society's View', which were represented by 'the neighbours', who call the narrator an 'outcast' for having sex out of wedlock, yet call Kate 'good and pure', event though she has done no different to the narrator except get married before having sex.

Another view was Rossetti's view, which could have been represented through the narrator, which could be shown through the fact that it is written in first person. The narrator believes there is nothing wrong with sex out of marriage, because as a result of it, she has her son, who is her 'pride'. She goes against the classic fallen woman idea.

There is also a feminist view, found in Pride and Prejudice, Goblin Market and Cousin Kate. In Cousin Kate, the man ruins the narrator's reputation, while he has no negative consequences. The narrator was merely his 'plaything', which he could 'cast aside' as he pleases, making her an unclean thing. In Goblin Market, 'Goblin Men' are the only men in the whole poem, so are representative of all men. The Goblin Men break up the women, who are close and slept 'cheek to cheek'. They make Laura a fallen woman, her hair 'grew grey' and she grows old. In Pride and Prejudice, men have ownership over women. However, women can resist, unlike in Rossetti's work, as marriage proposals are declined by women.

Pride and Prejudice Major Event Timeline

'Are Women Heroic...' Essay Plan and The Convent Threshold

Over the last few lessons various things have been discussed. One was the idea of whether the women in Cousin Kate are heroic. Our task was to write a plan for the essay question 'To What Extent Do You Agree That the Women in Cousin Kate Are Heroic?'. I was not there during that lesson, however, I have read other people's plans and copied up people's work so I do have some ideas.

Agree

• The narrator faces injustice from society yet comes out on top as she has her 'pride', which is her son, someone who will look after her. She stays strong and is not the traditional 'fallen woman'.
• Kate makes something of herself by marrying a Lord. She is a social climber and shows that poorer people can make something of themselves.
• The narrator recognises her wrongdoing and feels regret - 'shameful life'.
• Cousin Kate has moral high ground as she did not have sex before marriage, unlike the narrator.

Disagree

• Cousin Kate has material desires, abandoning her family for riches and property of the Lord.
• The narrator is fooled into sex.
• The narrator is bitter towards Cousin Kate.

The Convent Threshold was another Rossetti poem we looked at. After reading through, we were asked 'How Does Rossetti Tell the Story in the Convent Threshold?'. The poem is extremely confusing and hard to interpret but a few ideas did come out of our group's discussion.

The idea of heaven and earth was important. The imagery of heaven in lines 25 and 26 is unpleasant, with lines such as 'wrenched limb from limb', whereas the earthly imagery is beautiful, with phrases such as 'milk-white' showing purity, and 'golden windy hair' showing youth. Earth may seem so beautiful due to the narrator's lover being there and since he is not in heaven, heaven becomes the narrator's hell.

The narrator's conflict between religion and man is also noticeable. The narrator says 'my lips still turn to you', raising connotations of love and making the reader expect her to kiss the man, however, the next line is 'my livid lips that cry, Repent!', showing that she instead wishes him to repent his sins so he can be in heaven with her. She is struggling between him and religion.

Fallen Woman and Cousin Kate

I'm just going to start by saying I signed into YouTube and for some reason it also signed onto blogger with that account so when I published my post I wasn't logged on so it didn't save. I'm now completely re-writing this, and I'm irritated, so please excuse any spelling mistakes this may cause.

In our last lesson, we began by discussing the idea of a fallen women. Our ideas seemed to focus on the idea of a 'fallen woman' being a woman taken out of her prime, usually by a man. He would seduce her, resulting in her being cast out of society or negatively viewed. This led onto a discussion that women had many derogatory terms for sleeping around, such as 'whore' and 'slag', yet men have very few, if any. It may even be seen as a positive for a man to sleep around, and he may be praised for it.

With this idea fresh in our mind, we began to read the poem 'Cousin Kate'. It discussed a 'fallen woman', the narrator, who had been cast out by society due to having sex before marriage. The man she had sex with, however, had no consequences for his actions. He went on to marry the narrator's Cousin Kate. The narrator and Kate were in the exact same position with the man, except Kate got married before having sex. As a result, Kate was seen as 'good and pure' and the narrator was an 'outcast'. However, the narrator believes her love 'was true', whereas Kate's was merely 'writ in sand', only temporary, yet the narrator is still the one negatively seen by society, showing the unfair views of the time.

Despite the narrator seeming like the average 'fallen woman', we learn in the final few stanzas that she is in fact stronger than that. This is due her having a son from her pre-marital sex. This has resulted in her being an outcast and her son is her 'shame', yet he is also her 'pride'. Because of him, she has someone to look after her and someone who makes her proud. This is something Kate doesn't have. Maybe Kate can't have children, as the narrator says that she has 'little doubt you fret', referring to having a child. This shows that despite being an outcast, she has something as a result of it, a child who makes her proud and makes her stronger than the average 'fallen woman'.

Discussing Ideas in Goblin Market

In our lesson, each of the five groups discussed an idea associated with Goblin Market. They were eroticism, feminism, marxism, retribution and moral. Some ideas were stronger than others, and I personally believed feminism to be the strongest. There are many sections in the poem backing feminist ideas. On the poem as a whole, you could use the fact that the hero is a woman and that women triumph over men to support feminism ideas. You could also delve deeper and notice facts that even though the two women are both married at the end of the poem, men are never once mentioned, possibly showing that men are not deemed necessary and not needed in love. The love between the two sisters, the two women, is broken up by the Goblin Men, showing that men actually ruin love, not partake in it.

Even though I believe feminism to be the strongest idea in Goblin Market, other ideas discussed also had some interesting points. Moral was often linked to religion which I thought added to the argument for moral, as Christina Rossetti was very religious. There is a part in the poem where the Goblin Men beat and abuse Lizzie as she fights for her sister and her sister's well being. This has similarities to Jesus' crucifixion, as he put pain upon himself for the good of others and linked to the moral idea that your actions could directly cause negative reactions to other people.

I thought marxism and retribution to be weaker ideas, however eroticism seemed to have strong arguments for its case. When Laura cut her hair and gave it as payment to the Goblin Men for fruit, she was literally selling herself, maybe a reference to prostitution. This reference is made stronger by the fact that Rossetti volunteered at a 'house of charity', a refuge for former prostitutes. The section where the Goblin Men attack Lizzie uses phrases such as 'Held her hands and squeezed their fruits against her mouth to make her eat'. This line sees the Goblin Men trying to force something of theirs inside Lizzie, which is a possible sexual and erotic reference.

Feminism in Goblin Market

There are many references to feminism in Goblin Market. The two protagonists of the poem, Lizzie and Laura are both female, whereas the antagonists are the evil Goblin Men. There is strong emphasis on women prevailing over men and sisterly love, particularly when Lizzie succeeds in resisting the Goblin Men, resulting in her saving her sister Laura.

However, what I find particularly interesting is how, despite all these prominent feminism ideas, Rossetti repeats 'Men sell not such in any town', referencing the fruit the Goblins sell. This fruit is what makes Laura ill, what Lizzie has to resist the Goblin Men for and what tempt women of their purity. By saying 'Men sell not such in any town', it seems as if Rossetti is saying the poem isn't pro feminist and it is not 'men' who are evil, but Goblin Men, who are inhumane and animal like.

Christina Rossetti

Christina Rossetti's work predominantly focused on themes of death, unhappy love and premature resignation. These can be linked to poems such as Goblin Market, where Laura, who was tempted by the Goblin Men, nearly reached death by quickly aging and getting ill. The unhappy love aspect can be linked to her sister, Lizzie, who faces the Goblin Men later in the poem and may possibly have been subject to sexual contact, against her will. Premature resignation can be linked back to Laura, who it could be said prematurely resigned from life due to her eating of the Goblin Men's fruit and succumbing to temptation.

Rossetti was deeply religious which also affected her writing, with much of her work having references to her views. She is said to have been diagnosed with a 'religious mania', showing her devotion to religion. Many people have identified feminist ideas in her works too. Though her popularity did not match a few other female poets in her lifetime, her works have lived on and continued to be studied, showing her popularity remained high after her death.

Symbolism in Goblin Market

The Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti features a large amount of symbolism. For example, swans are mentioned, which are white, often a symbol of purity and goodness. They also have long necks which are exposed. This could represent danger. Swans are as a simile to describe Laura, and swans are often linked to stories of losing purity and virginity. This shows the Goblin Men may take her purity from her.

Fruit is also used, which could represent temptation, going back to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Adam was tempted by the Forbidden Fruit, which, nowadays is often linked to temptation in sexuality. This again can be linked to the Goblin Men tempting the two girls and taking away their purity or virginity.

The golden hair could reference youth, as colourful hair shows youth, yet greying hair shows age. When Laura gives her hair to the Goblin Men, she may be giving away her youth and with that her health, as she gets ill and aged after eating their fruit.

Destination in Novels.

The destination of a novel can often be apparent from an early point of the book, or even the first chapter, such as in Pride and Prejudice. The opening sentence, the famous line 'It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.' instantly gives an insight into the novel's destination and themes, showing that a main focus may be on marriage. This opening sentence is also in its own paragraph, which makes it stand out even more to the reader and increase its impact.

The second paragraph discusses another idea, that such men entering a town are instantly spoken about as if they belong to a family's daughter. This idea is again in a standalone paragraph, increasing its effect to stay in the reader's mind. It also strengthens the idea that marriage and relationships may be prevalent in the novel.

Much of the rest of this opening chapter is devoted to conversation between Mr and Mrs Bennett, who are discussing marriage, and also a man who has just moved into the town, much like the kind of man described in the first two chapters. This makes the reader think that he will be part of a marriage, due to him linking with the first two chapters, further showing that marriage will be a significant part of the book, due to almost the whole first chapter discussing it.

The chapter ends with a very short description of Mr and Mrs Bennett, putting focus on the conversation between them rather than their physical attributes. This puts the reader's mind on the conversation of marriage, which, coupled with the final sentence 'The business of her life was to get her daughter's married; its solace was visiting and news' just strengthens the reader's idea that the destination of the book will be to do with marriage.

Paper on the Floor.

The inclusion of paper being on the floor is important because the writer has specifically chosen to place this in their piece of writing. It would not be included if it was not important or did not have a relevance, as writing needs to be kept engaging and interesting, so unnecessary information is removed to keep the reader's attention.