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Old English period:
→ ANGLO SAXON BELIEFS
The Anglo-Saxon culture considered protection of its people and its allies very important. This culture focused on having great warriors
that were loyal to their king, heritage, people, and country. Beowulf illustrates the beliefs of the Anglo-Saxons in many aspects.
Protection of their country was demonstrated in the story when Beowulf left even in his old age to fight a dragon that was terrorizing his
people. Beowulf was ready for anything despite his age. He protected his people no matter what.
The second most important thing to the Anglo-Saxons was loyalty. Loyalty comes from a love of something. Beowulf fights the dragon to
protect his people because he loves and cares for the Geats. He defends and fights for them because of his loyalty to the people. Loyalty is
what made a warrior great. The warriors were not very loyal to Beowulf in return and abandoned their king in his time of need. This story
teaches the importance of loyalty and the repercussions of not being loyal to your word. These men suffered the death of their king as a
consequence of their actions. The importance of loyalty is highlighted, it was like a blood bound, to the king and tour fellow warrior and to
your kindred.
Wyrd: The Role of Fate: The concept of active Fate (destiny) is known to the Anglo-Saxons as Wyrd. Wyrd is the ancestor of the more
modern weird, which before it meant odd or unusual (supernatural).
The Wyrd or destiny can be changed according to the path you choose in life and it represents the role of fate.
→ SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS
In the Anglo-Saxon community there were different levels of freedom and all the classes could prosper, even slaves.
The Anglo-Saxon community in England was basically a rural one, where primarily all classes of society lived from the land. At the top of
the social system was the royal house. This consisted of the king and princes (æðelings), who claimed a common ancestry with the king;
they had special privileges and responsibilities which included military service and command in the field.
Below the king were the aldermen, the ruling nobility. The alderman was the king's 'viceroy' (someone who represents a king or queen and
rules for him or her in another country) in a shire, responsible for administration and justice, for calling out the fyrd and leading its forces
in the field.The next class down the social ladder was the ðegn (thane) Ðegns formed the backbone of the Anglo-Saxon army. Most ðegns
were the 'king's ðegns'. They held their lands from the king and could lose them (and sometimes their lives) if they did not answer the
king's summons. Ðegns were primarily warriors whose duty was to carry out the 'common burdens' of service in the fyrd, overseeing
fortress work and bridge building.
The ðegns were a numerous class, there were approximately two thousand landowners of the thegnly class in Wessex and Mercia. In
Anglo-Saxon England, a thegn was a lord who held his land directly from the king in return for military service in time of war. Thegns
could earn their titles and lands or inherit them. Initially, the thegn ranked below all other Anglo-Saxon nobility; however, with the
proliferation of thegns came a subdivision of the class.
Below the ðegns were the ceorls or peasants, freemen, farmers and independent landed householders who formed the mainstay of the
Saxon kingdom, based as it was on a rural economy. The term free in an Anglo-Saxon context can be misleading, since there were many
degrees of freedom. Ceorls were 'folcfry' (folk-free), that is, free in the eyes of the community. First were the geneatas, the peasant
aristocracy who paid rent to their overlord. geneat originally meant companion, implying that the class originated from the lord's
household, often receiving land as a gift.
Second were the kotsetla, who paid no rent but had to perform numerous duties for their overlords.
'The kotselas’ duty depends on what is determined for the estate. In some he must work for his lord each Monday throughout the year, or
three days each week at harvest-time. He need not pay ground rent. He ought to have five acres; more if it be the custom on the estate; and
if it is ever less, it will be too little, because his labour must always be available.
Third were the gebur, who were totally dependant on their lord. The gebur's life was dominated by the labour services owed to his lord. It
is probable that the gebur class started out by giving their land to a ðegn in return for protection from raiding parties. (A gebur was
between a slave and a peasant. He owed a third of his labor to his master, but he was not regarded as a slave he had the right to own
property and could own arms)
Below the gebur were the ðeow - slaves or bondsmen. Although ðeow were slaves they did have many rights and there were rules set down
for what they should be provided with:
'One slave ought to have as provisions: twelve pounds of good corn and the carcasses of two sheep and one good cow for eating and the
right of cutting wood according to the custom of the estate. For a female slave: eight pounds of corn for food, one sheep or threepence for
winter supplies, one sester of beans for Lenten supplies, whey in summer or one penny. All slaves ought to have Christmas supplies and
Easter supplies, an acre for the plough and a 'handful of the harvest', in addition to their necessary rights.'
Ðeow were allowed to own property and could earn money in their spare time. If they earned enough they could even buy their freedom,
although slaves were sometimes freed by their owners 'for the good of their souls,'
→ THE RUNIC ALPHABET
Traditionally known as futhark. In Old Norse the word rune means 'letter', 'text' or 'inscription'. The word also means 'mystery' or 'secret'
in Old Germanic languages and runes had a important role in ritual and magic.
→ BEOWULF
Beowulf is an Old English epic poem. It is possibly the oldest surviving long poem in Old English and is commonly cited as one of the
most important works of Old English literature. It was written in England sometime between the 8th and the early 11th century. The
author was an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet, referred to by scholars as the "Beowulf poet".
The poem is set in Scandinavia. Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, comes to help Hrothgar, the king of the Danes, whose mead-hall (sala de
hidromiel) in Heorot has been under attack by a monster known as Grendel. After Beowulf kills him, Grendel's mother attacks the hall and
is then also defeated. Victorious, Beowulf goes home to Geatland and later becomes king of the Geats. After fifty years has passed, Beowulf
defeats a dragon, but is fatally wounded in the battle. After his death, his attendants bury him in Geatland. The full poem survives in the
British Library. It has no title in the original manuscript, but it has become known by the name of the story's protagonist (Beowulf). It’s
also anonymous since no author has signed it.
Genealogy → “The man of the War Geats”.
“Was not afraid of the fight” → L itotes (meaning he was really brave).
The enemy is a monster.
Repetition → “The strongest of warriors, of foot-soldiers, stumbed so that he fell” is referring to beowulf.
A compound (a k enning) → “The hall-guest” (referring to Grendel’s mother).
“She would avenge her child, her only son” → Theme of revenge.
“Then the son of Ecgtheow” → Genealogy.
“He is under water” → shows the supernatural powers of the hero.
There is a presence of God, It’s God’s will to give beowulf victory. They would address God as if he were the king (The ruler of heavens).
“An old sword made by the giants” → a pagan element. “The work of giants” R epetition.
“The bone rings” → Kenning (meaning vertebrae).
“The doomed body” → the theme of fate.
Every cultural production would show the values of that culture.
→ GLOSSARY
• Kenning: A form of compounding in Old English, Old Norse, and Germanic poetry. In this poetic device, the poet creates a new
compound word or phrase to describe an object or activity. Specifically, this compound uses mixed imagery (catachresis) to describe the
properties of the object in indirect, imaginative, or enigmatic ways. The resulting word is somewhat like a riddle since the reader must
stop and think for a minute to determine what the object is. Kennings may involve conjoining two types of dissimilar imagery, extended
metaphors, or mixed metaphors. Kennings were particularly common in Old English literature and Viking poetry. The most famous
example is hron-rade or hwal-rade ("whale-road") as a poetic reference to the sea. Other examples include Thor-Weapon as a reference to a
smith's hammer, battle-flame as a reference to the way light shines on swords, gore-cradle for a battlefield filled with motionless bodies,
and word-hoard for a person's eloquence. In Njal's Saga we find Old Norse kennings like shield-tester for warrior, or prayer-smithy for a
man's heart, or head-anvil for the skull. In Beowulf, we also find Anglo-Saxon banhus ("bone-house") for body, goldwine gumena
("gold-friend of warriors") for a generous prince, beadoleoma ("flashing light") for sword, and beaga-gifa ("ring-giver") for a lord.
Kennings are less common in Modern English than in earlier centuries, but some common modern examples include "beer-goggles" (to
describe the way one's judgment of appearances becomes hazy while intoxicated) and "surfing the web" (which mixes the imagery of
skillful motion through large amounts of liquid, amorphous material with the imagery of an interconnected net linked by strands or
cables), "rug-rats" (to describe children), "tramp-stamps" (to describe trashy tattoos), or "bible-thumpers" (to describe loud preachers or
intolerant Christians). See also compounding and neologism.
• Litotes (pronounced lee-TOE-tays): A form of meiosis using a negative statement. A form of ironical understatement in which the
affirmative is expressed by the negation of the opposite: eg.: No novice was the earl. (meaning he was experienced).
• Meiosis: Understatement, the opposite of exaggeration: "I was somewhat worried when the psychopath ran toward me with a chainsaw."
(i.e., I was terrified).
→ GENRE
• GENRE: A French term for a kind, a literary type or class. The major classical genres were: epic, lyric, tragedy, comedy and satire, to
which would now be added novel and short story.
• EPIC: A long, narrative poem about the deeds of warriors and heroes. It is a “heroic” story incorporating myth, legend, folktale and
history. Epics are often of national significance. There are two kinds of epic: primary (oral or primitive) and secondary (literary). The first
belongs to the oral tradition and is thus composed orally and recited; only much later, in some cases, is it written down. The second is
written down at the start.
• LYRIC: The Greeks defined a lyric as a song to be sung to the accompaniment of a lyre. We use the term loosely to describe a particular
kind of poem in order to distinguish it from narrative or dramatic verse of any kind. It is usually short and it usually expresses the feelings
and thoughts of a single speaker in a personal and
subjective fashion.
From class:
In games of thrones we have many characteristics coming from this old english period. But it also has some mixtures of the medieval
period. Also, in The lord of The Rings and in The Hobbit we see traces of the Old English period, the presence of dragons, fairies and
dwarfs that live under the mountain.
The A-S believed in many gods, after which we have the names of the week. Loyalty was very important as they functioned as a very strong
organization, as a whole family → kindred (family). Revenge was also present.
When an allied kingdom was being attacked, the other kingdom should be helped, as in Beowulf. Usually the enemies were monsters like:
dragons, wolves, serpents → A dragon looking after a treasure.
Fate - the Wyrd: they believed that destiny was already written down, that is why they are a fatalistic, gloomy and pessimistic culture.
They believed that their kingdom and culture would die one day. Their opportunity to go to the paradise (Valhalla) was to die in battle, so if
warriors died in battle they would go to the Valhalla. They wanted to die in battle so that they would go there. There they could find the
Valkyries.
Nationalism - die and fight for the kingdom. The AS were deeply nationalists.
Epic poem: the narration of the deeds of the warriors.The warriors also represented the values of the nation. Within this genre we find epic
tales, heroic narrations which described the warriors. Beowulf is a written poem. This warrior is the hero, and because of that he is loyal,
strong, he’s ready to take revenge, he trusted in his destiny, he died in battle, which means that he went to Valhalla. He died as a hero, but
his kingdom ended bcs his attendants didn’t support him. Having weak and afraid warriors meant the end of the king.
The supernatural powers and elements are always present. This songs and stories were transmitted orally. The enemies in mythology were
monsters, like wolves or dragons.
After battle all the warriors met together and they sang about their victories. They would drink and eat, too. If there was a defeat they
would sing more lyrical poems or ellegies. The battle of maldon is more sad, melancholic.
Everything in their writings is colourless, grey, gloomy. The only color we can find is red, which is related to blood.
In Beowulf we can find a mixture of mythological ideas as well as christianity, bcs as they invaded england during this time they were
christianized. There is a mixture of both beliefs and coexistence of both religions. Monks wrote the records of tradition so they included
their religion in those stories.
“Beowulf was Cain’s descendant”, Cain killed his brother (Abel) → fratricide: was the worst crime, bcs of loyalty. That’s why the monster
(Grendel) is Cain’s descendant and it is the first monster Beowulf kills. Also, it was impossible for them to take revenge bc it would be the
same crime.
For example, St. George may be Beowulf, that’s why he can be seen killing a dragon (en una estampita).
Although we are talking about ancient times, the peasants had some rights, for example; they could own lands, even the slaves could work
the lands and pay for their freedom. This was also true for women, they were allowed to own land. The old English tradition considered
that women had an important role in society. They could decide on their own property, on their land, they were consulted for advice, the
queen was also respected, they were considered to be the perfect hostesses. But in epic poems they were not mentioned bcs epic poems are
related with war and war was an activity performed by men. As regards battles, warriors fought in foot, this will change when we get to the
middle ages. Middle ages→ the invasions of the normans and they will take horses to England. Now the hero changes, he becomes a knight:
fighting in a horse.
Language - Germanic
How did they achieved rhythm and musicality while singing?
Old English was germanic, more connected to German. We have few vowels and a lot of consonants. Rhyme was not possible, so they
achieved rhythm and musicality through ALLITERATION, the number of stresses in a line, caesura. There was NO rhyme and they used
consonant clusters.
Caesura is a pause in the middle of the line → For example, “the wolves of wa r advanced, the viking troop.” Where we have the comma
there was an instrument played (the lyre), there was some pause there. The line was divided in two.
Rhetorical devices used in their compositions:
- Kenning: Wolves of war → refers to the warriors, it is an instance of kenning. In Beowulf: “..then weary-hearted, the strongest of
warriors, of foot-soldiers…”
- Litotes: “No novice was the earl”, el adjetivo tiene que mostrar lo contrario a lo que quiero decir. In beowulf: “.. was not afraid of
the fight”
- Meiosis: means understatement. “Don't worry, it’s such a scratch” pero se esta muriendo, he needs to be the hero until the last
minute.
- Repetition: “The wolves of war advanced, the viking troop”. Se repite la misma idea.
- Genealogy: “El hijo de…. o el nieto de….”. To show they were proud of being relatives of another person. E.g. in Beowulf: “the man
on the War-Geats” or “the hero of the Geats”.
Why poetry is the main cultural production here?
Bcs it was easier to remember as there were no written records. Poetry was recited and transmitted orally as the forms of songs.
In the AS period poetry was divided between:
-Secular poetry (not religious). We will find:
- Epic poems ( like “The Battle of Maldon” or “Beowulf”).
- Lyrics (poems about the feelings of the narrator, like “Deor’s Lament”)
-Riddles (adivinanzas) these were composed and sang among the popular classes. These were connected with a double meaning.
-Religious poetry: the most famous one is “The dream of the Rood”, “Rood” means “cross” in AS, the technique used in this poem is
innovative because the cross speaks, and tells the story from when it was a tree until it was turned into a cross.
We also have prose in the Old English period → King Alfred was the king of Wessex. He is considered the father of the English prose. He
wanted to have a record of the history of the different communities, so he started the AS chronicles. He translated many latin books in
West Saxon, the translations were in prose and that’s why he is the father of English prose.
We are only going to discuss epic poetry:
- “The battle of Maldon”
- From the photocopy: the poem has been called the greatest battle poem in English. It’s an AS (Old English) poem by an unknown poet. It
describes a battle between the English and Viking warriors at Maldon, in Essex. The Danish invaders are on the island of Northey waiting
for the tide to go out. Byrhtnoth, the earl of Essex, is at the head of the English warriors. A messenger from the Danes offers peace if they
pay a sum of money. Byrhtnoth rejects the offer. Then the tide begins to go out and Byrhtnoth is tricked into letting the enemy cross to the
mainland.
He dies and many of his men run away. A brave few continue the fight until they too are defeated. The second half of the poem is an
expression of their loyalty to avenge their leader’s death.
The original manuscript of the “Battle of Maldon” was destroyed in a fire, nowadays, the poem is often thought as a traditional piece of
heroic propaganda in praise of ancient standards of military conduct and courage.
- From class: here we have a poem of the AS being invaded by the Vikings. This is an epic poem because it is based in a battle, we also have
the deeds of the hero. There is a defeat, so this is an epic ellegiac poem, bcs the hero of the A-S dies at the end (Byrhtnoth) (it mourns the
death of a character).
En la traducción se pierde la alliteration.
→ It has an o minous atmosphere.
→ Fate is mentioned at least five times. The believed in destiny, they were fated to die. This is a pagan element. Why are they fated men?
Because they would go to war and they will want to die so that they could go to Valhalla, they were willing to die.
→ Why are the ravens mentioned? Because of Odin, the God of death. This birds were announcing death. They are birds of carrion, they eat
dead flesh.
→ Wulfmar, Byrhtnoth sister’s son (an instance of genealogy).
→ Revenge, important for the AS tradition. If one of your warriors is killed the other warriors should take revenge.
→ “Restraining not the stroke”, is a litotes: “Lo atacó no sin darse fuerzas” “Sin piedad”.
→ “No novice was the earl” litotes, meaning he was an expert.
→ Another theme that is always present: fame and glory. They knew their names were going to be alive in their traditions if they died in
battle.
→ The hero is wounded but before he dies he takes revenge.
You can see in there all the values of a culture (fate, revenge, etc).
Middle English Period.
Presentation: “Middle English Period”
It started with the Norman conquest in England. The middle ages had started a long time before in Europe, but in the British Isles it was
introduced when it was invaded by the Normans.
- New cultures emerged.
- The event that marked the transition from Old english to Middle english was the Norman conquest. The language became
Anglo-Norman (a mixture), Latin was used mainly in written texts and it was just spoken by the intellectuals and the nobility.
- The lower class continued to use Old English, but higher classes considered Old English as a vulgar language, so they used
“Middle-English” (by the end of the middle ages this language was used) → which used romances and lyrics.
- French was spoken among the nobility and the aristocracy while Old English was spoken by the lower class. “Norman-French” was
brought. Now it was a god-centered society.
- French has a lot of vowels, as opposed to Old English. So that’s when rhyme, foot and meter are introduced in poetry. French, as well as
Spanish, is a syllabic language, which enables you to count the syllables in a line.
- Romances (octosyllabic couplets). Meaning that there were 8 syllables in a line and two lines repeating the same rhyme (A-A, B-B, C-C).
- French words were introduced into the language.
→ Summary of the social organization: they introduced a feudal system. There had been many plagues, such as the Black Death, which
caused shortages of food. The thinkers were more interested in the existence of God and the individuals, while in the Old English period
they were more interested in nature. The philosophy of the middle ages was God-centered. The society was organized in a pyramid.
→ Knights
Teacher’s words: The knight would be the hero of the middle ages because he is going to be a protector. The hero will have all the values of
a nation, in these case, the values would be: the knight should be christian, brave, loyal to God, to the King, to the Pope. If there was a
traitor he should see for this loyalty to
God first, he will have to fight heretics. The knight is important bcs it will become part of all the fairy tales that will arise later. Here the
warrior wanted to die so that he would go to heaven, so that’s why before any battle he would have to confess.
From the presentation (Eli): The hero of the middle ages is the knight. The kings got the divine right (they were appointed by God). The
role of the church was a very dominant role, it had a very strong influence and served as a form of government. In the middle ages we see
many innovations: new public could now read, there was a cultural and economical revival, the gothic style is present (the environment of
the buildings was dark and cold).
The knights: they were mounted on horses, which were brought by the Normans after the invasion. The knights had to be christians, they
learnt how to ride a horse, how to hunt, etc. He was knighted in a religious ceremony. Norman knights wore chain mails which were then
replaced by plate armor, they also used kite shields (escudo puntiagudo). A knight was expected to have the skills to fight in battle and the
strength to fight. The concept of a chivalry behaviour was introduced: courtesy, religion, bravery, defend the weak and women, never to
refuse a challenge form an equal.
There was a Code of Chivalry which they had to follow. The Middle Age myths of Arthurian Legends featuring King Arthur, Camelot and
the Knights of the Round Table further strengthen the idea of a Knights Code of Chivalry.
→ Romances:
The principal form of secular literature and new literary productions in which all these elements mentioned above are present.They are
long narrations about the deeds of the knights and they can be poems or prose narratives.
The romances reinforced the ideas of chivalry, how to behave to maintain the social order. They are tales of adventure, for example:
religious crusades, the rescue of a lady, etc.
It idealizes chivalry, we can find the elements of love, the setting tends to be imaginary and undefined, the identity of the knight is
unknown and we can find the repetition of the mystical number 3.
Epic poems continued to exist but the romances appeared within this period.
The territory was not important bcs there was an idealization of the middle ages. So in the romances we won't find a very detailed
description of the setting. They fought for God and the Pope, but it didn’t matter where. The main theme is the theme of quest (the search
for something) (to rescue someone). He needs to prove himself he is the ideal knight. The final quest he will seek for is the holy grail (el
santo grial) → the holy grail is the cup where Jesus drunk during the last supper.
A new theme introduced is the lady and the theme of love. Why? Because now women became part of the audience (they were included
among the audience, hearing the stories). As they are part of the audience now, the narrations are not so bloody.
Games of Thrones:
Fantasy fiction:
It contains elements that are not realistic:
- Talking animals. (not in Got)
- Magical powers. (mentioned above)
- Often set in a medieval universe. (yes!)
- Possibly involving mythical beings. (there are dragons and giants)
-Magic is present and it is a key element. Fairy tales, myths and legends are part of the fantasy genre. Through fantasy fiction readers are
allowed to visit a world they never would have been able to otherwise. Magic is essential but not the same as it appears in fairytales, in
fairytales it’s assumed. In fantasy fiction it’s there and it’s a serious element, sth that can bring sth bad. It’s not a normal thing. So, we can
say that magic can have both sides, It can have serious consequences depending whom is manipulating magic.
-It is usually confused with science fiction (but the later is more concerned with technology and science, more futuristic). The difference
with SciFi is that this genre is connected to space/time travel and fantasy fiction not.
-The conflict is of good versus evil appears. Usually, the protagonist and supporting characters set out to conquer this evil, although this is
often played out through a series of books, rather than just one.
-The setting and all the things the author tries to show are very detailed. Most fantasy fiction also features great details, with settings,
creatures, words and names that are often created by the author. The main aim is to transport you to a whole new world.
-The characters: should be able to perform some sort of magic. The hero has a very strong power that doesn't know he has or doesn't has
at the beginning of the story but he would develop it towards the end.
-A love interest exists in order to pull at the heart strings of readers. It’s used to provoke feelings in the readers, to stir the emotions of the
reader. Usually the love interest of the main character is unattainable. It helps if they are not of the same genetic make-up (i.e. Human and
Vampire, Human and Elf, Werewolf and Vampire, etc.).
In GoT this happens with Jon Snow, he falls in love with a Wilding (folk people living beyond the Wall). So not only it is wrong that he falls
in love in the first place, because the members of the Night Watch cannot have a love life or families, but he loves someone who is in the
“enemy” side. At the end the real enemy are the White Walkers.
-The villain must be extraordinary and impossible to defeat, he/she is often not revealed in person until the end of the story, in order to
create more impact. In Got we see the WW from the beginning but they are almost impossible to kill. Without an epic battle in which the
hero is nearly defeated, ultimate victory would not be so sweet. There are tons of moments like this in the saga.
-The Weapon: Harry Potter has his wand, for example. Whatever the weapon, it has to be special in not only its capabilities, but also in the
reason behind its existence. Again, dragons in GOT.
-The Setting: the setting is another character in the story. It is the unique quality of the landscape that allows for most of the events in the
story to take place. One of the main plots of the saga is that of several people wanting to rule Westeros so, without the setting this wouldn’t
make any sense. And the Wall is the other important landscape.
-Language: Whether it’s a fabricated language or it’s the manipulation of how an existing language is spoken, common vernacular won’t
do. The inclusion of a fantasy language heightens the reader’s ability to transport themselves into a different world. In Got we have tons of
different languages for the different tribes or free cities of Essos. But in Westeros they talk the Common Tongue (English).
A song of ice and fire:
A series of novel written by George Martin. The story takes place in a fictional place (Westeros, Essos) and the point of view of each
chapter would be the limited perspective of each character that grow from 9 up to 31 towards the fifth novel.
There are 3 main stories. One is about a struggle between the main houses (the biggest ones, the most important ones) in order to control
Westeros. The other one is the raising threat of a supernatural army (The army of the dead, White Walkers, The Others) and the other one
is the ambition of Daenerys to assume the iron throne. The whole saga is about claiming the throne and who has the legitimacy.
Before the events of the first novel the seven kingdoms were united under the rules of the Targaryen dynasty and they established the
military supremacy by the control of dragons. At the beginning of the 1st novel 15 peaceful years have passed since the rebellion
overarathium (Robert Baratheon) who killed the Mad King (Aerys Targaryen). He was proclaimed king of the seventh kingdom.
Moreover, there is similarity btw Westeros and the time of the War of the Roses.
Eddard “Ned” Stark is the Lord of Winterfell, a city or region that is in the North of Westeros. He travelled South to King’s Landing (it’s
like the capital because the King lives there) because the King asked him to be his Hand (the Hand of the King is the one who took care of
things of the realm for the King) due to the fact that the person who had that job before had died (or was murderer). Ned goes to King’s
Landing along with his two daughters. While they live there Ned stars to investigate why the former Hand died and he finds out that the
Prince Joffrey is a bastard because he is not the son of the King and Queen but of the Queen and her brother (Cersei and Jaime Lannister).
The King Robert dies and Joffrey takes the Iron Throne. Ned tells Cersei that he knows about her secret, so he is accused of treason. The
King doesn’t show mercy and has Ned’s head cut off.
The 2nd part of this saga is in the far North of Westeros were an ice Wall protects the seven kingdoms from the supernatural creatures
known was the others or the white walkers. This wall is said to be inspired by Hadrian’s Wall separating Scotland from England. This part
of the story is told by Jon Snow, Ned Stark’s bastard. He has that surname because he is a bastard of the north. A bastard of the south for
example would be called Sand. Jon Snow joins the Night Watch, a group of men who swear to protect the seven kingdoms from the White
Walkers. These men swear not to take any wives or bare children- once they take the oath they live, work, fight and die for the Watch. Men
can willingly join this group but most of them are criminals who after they are found guilty are given the choice to join it or to die. This
choice wasn’t given to Ned Stark. And his bastard son Jon chose to go there because he thought he would have no future as a bastard.
Women are not allowed to join them.
The map of westeros was written on top of an inverted island. (The British isles)
Also the description of the places are connected to the weather in Britain, for example.
The 3rd part is about Daenerys Targaryen, who is the daughter of Aerys Targaryen (the mad king). She was born in Westeros when her
family was ruling but they were attacked by Robert Baratheon’s army and she an her brother were sent across the Narrow Sea to Essos.
When Dani grows older (13) she is forced by her brother, Viserys, to marry a very powerful warrior because he will provide them with
troops to take the Iron Throne back. But Viserys is killed by Drogo (Dani’s husband). So, she starts to fall in love with Drogo and learns the
customs of his people. But then he dies, leaving the tribe to her. She says to the people that they are free to join her or not. Along the ones
who stayed with her, she becomes powerful, independent and a very good ruler. At the end of the first book, she burns Drogo’s body, three
dragon eggs and herself in a pire. But neither she nor the dragons die in that fire. She walks out holding her babies, she is the Mother of
Dragons, the Unburnt, the rightful heir of the Iron Throne. Those dragons are a key element because they would help her to conquer
the place. The dragons game her the legitimacy to claim the throne as the rightful heir. Her right to the throne is connected to magic as it
was the case of King Arthur. In the past, her house ruled the world with the dragons, as they treated the dragons as slaves (imprisoned
them and so they grew smaller, this is symbolic of saying that they lost power) and so they became extinct.
→ Introductory analysis:
The seven kingdoms and the idea of uniting them is connected with the Heptarchy. The whole saga is about power, ambition to conquer
land and claiming territory. The person who sits on the Iron Throne rules the 7 kingdoms (Westeros). This is set in this imaginary lands of
Westeros and Essos, the later has its own rules. They are divided by the narrow sea.
This is a postmodern production. It was written in 1991, published in 1996.
There’s a blending of different genres: there are some elements of the dystopian literature, elements of realism, elements of magic,
historical elements, medievalism, elements of the romance (knights). There are the elements of medievalism: the weapons, the clothes.
Martin tried to show that the middle ages were not as the books about the romances (connect with the romances) described, it was not the
pure knight coming in the horse, saving the lady that was in danger. In real life the middle ages were quite cruel and brutal. Women were
raped as we saw in the wife of bath’s tale. When the tribes conquered new land, many people were killed, raped or taken as slaves.
Everything is in a pre industrialized era, i.e. the Middle Ages.
We also see elements of magic, naturalism (selling people for ex), history and romance (they have knights for example).
The author creates a whole world with a specific language, this takes so long, so that is why there are more than one book.
Key topics:
Politics→Kingship of the seven kingdoms is hereditary. But when the rumours about Joffrey being a bastard spread out, several Lords put
their claims out to be the new King. So we see how they raise their army, plan battles, make alliances, etc.
Science→ is used to create weapons like wildfire (Wildfire is a flammable liquid which is created and controlled by the Alchemists' Guild,
Wildfire is a highly volatile material; when ignited, it can explode with tremendous force and the resulting fire burns so hot that water
cannot extinguish it) and to enrich the field of medicine.
Society→ it’s a medieval one. There are Kings, Lords, Ladies, workers, warriors, knights. They are very loyal to the house they were born in
or to the one their family had plead “homage” to. The Lord-Vassal relations were very respected.
It deals with feminism, the author presents a lot of female characters that have the same desires, power. (Dani, Cersei Lannister, Ned
Stark’s wife and daughters wanting to get revenge against the ones that killed him). There’s also a little girl who is the Lady of her house
and she says: “I may be small. I may be a girl, but I won’t be knitting by the fire while I have men fight for me.”
This saga presents the idea of moral ambiguity, i.e. at the beginning of the story you may consider one character as evil but towards the
end you may change your mind bc of his actions or intentions.
Magic is essential but is not the same as the presence of magic in the fairy tales. In fantasy fiction magic is present but is a serious
element, something that can bring about positive consequences if we think of Daenerys when she burns her dead husband. Magic was not
a natural element. She burns herself as well along with three dragons eggs and she doesn't die.
Magic can have a positive side (when noble hearts manipulate magic), or negative (if that magic is manipulated by the evil).
Another element is the object that legitimizes the claim to the throne. This magical element together with the object gives the right to his
claim to the throne and legitimizes his claim (king Arthur and the sword). In the case of Frodo, the ring is the object that legitimizes his
power. In games of thrones, we have Daenerys, who is the hero, her dragons legitimize her claim to the throne. She lost her throne when
the dragons extinguished (because they treated them as slaves). Her brother Viserys sold her to a Dothraki warrior (Drogo) so she is a salve.
The elements of magic are connected with these tribes living beyond the wall. Connected with the Hadrian’s Wall. The actual wall was
built to keep the Picts and Scots way. And the Wall in Game of Thrones protects Westeros from the White Walkers, the army of the dead.
They are like zombies that can only be killed by fire, an especial glass which is not easily found (Dragonglass) or a weapon made of
Valyrian Steel. To go beyond the wall is basically a suicide, so only a group of the Night Watch go on expeditions once in a while to keep
everything in order.
However, there are some people living beyond the wall, and those are called Wildings. They describe themselves as free folk, not bound by
the oaths and loyalties of the Seven Kingdoms. They are considered savages by the rest of Westeros, due to their barbaric lifestyles and
worship of the Old Gods of the Forest. Some of them are born with a special power, and they are called Wargs. Another kind of especial
person, (but more rare) are the Greenseers, they can perceive future, past or distant events in dreams. Bran Stark, the youngest of Ned’s
kids has both of this powers.
→ There is use of Kenning: the blood riders (the ones who accompanied her, her husband’s tribe) or chainbreaker.
Religion is present also. There are two religions.
The Old Gods
The Old Gods of the children of the forest (first inhabitants of the North) are nameless deities of stone and earth and tree, which were
named so by the followers of the Seven ("New Gods") that replaced them in all but North of Westeros, where it's still practiced strongly by
Northmen, and Free Folk (Wildings) from Beyond the wall.
The old gods seem like a sort of animistic religion. The greenseers of the children, were said to be able to talk with all beasts and birds, and
to see through the eyes of their carved weirwoods and posses strong magic. There are no priests, no holy texts, no songs of worship, and
practically no rites that go with the worship of the old gods. It’s a folk-religion, passed from generation to generation. The closest thing to
a ritual we’ve seen is prayer before the heart tree in a godswood, holy groves contained within castles throughout the Seven Kingdoms.
Weirwood trees with faces carved into them, called heart trees, are considered sacred. Prayer, oaths, and marriages are often performed in
the presence of a heart tree. The faces were carved into the weirwoods by the children of the forest, but their meaning or purpose is not
completely understood by humans.
Faith of the Seven (New Gods)
And the families from the center and south believe in the new gods
The Faith of the Seven is the dominant religion of the Seven Kingdoms, and is often simply referred to as "the Faith". The only parts of
Westeros where the Faith is not widespread is in the North and the Iron Islands, where the practice of the Old Gods and the Drowned God
are still strong.
The Faith of the Seven is the official religion of the Seven Kingdoms and is heavily integrated into its laws and culture. The Faith has a
great many moral teachings. It frowns on gambling, preaches against bastardy, and curses things like incest and kinslaying (and the royal
family are guilty of having bastards, incest and kinslaying).
The Faith worships the Seven, a single deity with seven aspects or faces, each representing a different virtue. Worshipers pray to specific
aspects of the Seven for help and guidance depending on their need. (Father, mother, warrior, maiden, smith, crone and stranger)
-Martin's saga: he concentrates on human beings, not so much in the supernatural creatures. He wants to show that we are all humans,
that we are ambitious, that we are always ready to submit the other to get what we want. That's why none of the characters is purely good
or totally bad. Martin wanted to create human-like characters, that can have this inner dilemma between good and evil.
There’s no one main villain, they all have different rivals that they overcome throughout the saga, the ones that win get to live, the others
tend to be killed off. But you may be in favour of some character at the beginning and you are happy they won but then you hate them
because you support their new rival. And many times you love both sides and you can’t choose between any of them so you end up
brokenhearted.
“When you play the Game of Thrones you win or you die, there’s no middle ground.”- Cersei Lannister to Ned Stark.
2 heros:
Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen. (A song of Ice and Fire, Jon es ice y ella es fire) To present a woman as the to heir to the throne is a new
element connected with postmodernism. At the very beginning of the saga she was submissive, then she became stronger, she could
survive out of the ashes. She burnt herself and she was born again, a stronger and new woman. That magical element turns her into a
Queen because many people saw her burning alive and how she survived, so they chose her as a queen. (Khaleesi para la tribu)
Jon Snow is the conventional hero and we can associate his character with Arthur, bcs he doesn't know anything about his past, he is
looking for his identity. As he is a bastard, he doesn't know who his mother is, his father never told him and now he is dead. He is the
outcast of the family, he was a bastard. His name is also significant because they are all called Stak, but he was called Snow. As he was
bastard he was given that surname, not the true surname of the family. He is the bastard of ned stark so he is named snow because he is the
bastard of the north. In his search for identity he needed to find an element that would legitimize his claim, so he finds a little white wolf,
his wolf is better than the rest of them (there was a pack of puppies and each Stark kid got to keep one). All of the wolves were dark but
Jon’s was white, it was different from his brothers just like Jon. His name is Ghost. He and the stark children each have a wolf, which is the
animal of the house. A wolf appears in their banners and seals.
Chapter of GOT “Daenerys” - analysis:
She is the protagonist and the heroine of the whole saga. She is claiming the right to her throne. The name of the saga is games of thrones
because there are many people fighting to get the iron throne. We have to discover throughout the story who the rightful heir to the throne
is. SHE is the rightful heir to the throne (up until the last episode yet where we find out there’s another heir but they don’t know).
The hero or heroine has to prove himself/herself through different acts and supernatural elements. In the case of arthur we mentioned the
sword. Daenerys’ elements are the dragons. She was sold by her brother in order to buy an army, so he sold her to another tribe. She
married the man who was the leader of that tribe she was sold to. When he dies she becomes the queen. People didn’t accept her to be on
the throne bcs she was a woman and she was from another culture. When she survives the fire, three dragons were born. These dragons are
daenerys’ elements.
Genealogy appears in this chapter → to prove she is the rightful heir to the throne. “My blood is the blood of Aegon the Conqueror, and of
an old Valyria before him,” (Valyria is an old city in Essos).
The whole chapter shows you the act in which she is buying an army to fight and regain the Iron Throne. This army in an unconventional
one, it’s not made of soldiers. They are soldiers but they are not considered men because they are eunuchs (they had their sexual organs cut
off). The unsullied means the unspoiled, these soldiers underwent a very hard training to become soldiers. They are controlled → mind
controlled, body controlled and brainwashed. T hese elements are also present in 1984.
These soldiers don't feel pain, they can be stabbed, they can be told what to do and they will do it. They are strong and obedient. Once you
wash their brains and eliminate any kind of temptation they become totally obedient. In 1984 when a couple got married, if there was some
hint that they loved each other, it was forbidden. They were meant to procreate, not to love each other.
The unsullied are alienated, they don't even have names and they change their names everyday → they don't have an identity.
Characteristics of fantasy fiction present on this chapter:
- Detailed descriptions of the setting: At the very beginning we have the description of “the plaza of pride” and later on we have the
description of “the plaza of punishment”. In this case, the plaza of punishment or the plaza of pride are literal, representing the customs of
the tribe.
- Depending on the tribe there are different dialogues and languages.
- We can see how she is treated because she is a woman. She is called names by the slaver who thinks she doesn’t understand him.
He underestimates her.
- Reasons why the unsullied are castrated: the idea was to be one conscious entity, there were not individuals. They were castrated
because they shouldn’t feel temptation.
- The wine of courage: a potion that made them fearless in battle. The wine of courage can be compared with the Victory Gin in
1984.
- Castration in GoT was related to the removal of feelings and emotions on 1984.
Obedience → in both cases (1984 and GOT) if you don’t obey you will be killed or brainwashed again. In 1984 you can also be vaporized (you
disappear from the records, you didn’t exist). The unsullied had no thoughts, they do what they are told without questioning, while in 1984
they tried to remove any kind of thought (thoughtcrime). To remove thought they tried to reduce the language so as to take out the most
important concepts like “revolution”, for example. There were no names, no proper names in the case of the unsullied, they were named
after names of insects. This obedience was related to a cause → in 1984 it was directed to the cause of the party, in the case of the unsullied
to the cause of the owner of the army.
Relation to 1984.
-The question of mind control found in 1984 is connected with some elements of mind control applied to the Unsullied (the slave army
Daenerys is buying). In 1984 the idea of life and sex was abolished for a purpose, if they got married it was just for procreation, if they loved
each other they were separated. The element of sexual desire was against the objectives of the party. The unsullied were mentally
controlled, and they had their sexual organs cut out. In that way, they were not damaged by emotions. Sully = to damage and unsullied =
not damaged by emotions, consciousness.
There’s an element of naturalism in the chapter → when the unsullied are tortured to show her how strong they are. There is a part in
which they talk about violence (page 41, last paragraph) At the beginning for their training, the Unsullied are given a puppy and they have
to look after it for a year before they are required to strangle it. And then, to finish their training they have to kill a newborn in front of its
mother’s eyes → the ones that are savage are the ones in charge, i.e. the owners of the unsullied. She was surprised about this, but one of
her counselors told her that her own people also did that. There is a savage in every man.
Presentation: “The wife of bath”
→ Literary background: During the middle english period the Norman invasion took place. French was introduced, which brought two
literary traditions: the teutonic and the romance traditions. Towards the end of the middle ages there was a growing feeling that feudalism
and the church were not so appropriate. The man was able to discover things in the world without the help of religion, the catholic church
begins to be criticized (Chaucer will criticize the church and the corruptions it was involved with. He believed in christianity but he
recognized the corruption of the church).
→ Historical background: Economy was based on feudalism. There great great famines.
→ Characteristic of medieval literature:
- Impersonality: anonymous writings. Literature was anonymous. People was more interested in the poem than in the author. To
sign your production was seen as a sin.
- Courtly love: (amor cortes) a code of behaviour defining the relationship between aristocratic lovers.
- Religious writings: religion occupied an important role in medieval literature.
- Rather to entertain, they wanted to teach a moral message connected with religion.
- Literature was meant to be listened rather than to be read.
- Chivalry and the knights (the prominent feature in medieval literature).
- Romances.
- Pilgrimages were important during this time. So as to entertain the pilgrims during these pilgrimages different tales were told by
themselves. The best story teller was given a supper (as in the wife of bath).
-
→ Geoffrey Chaucer wrote the canterbury tales (1387). He was a page to Elizabeth. He was captured by the French. He was elected member
of parliament of Kent. He made the vernacular (common) language of the people popular among his writings.
In Italy he learnt about “the cameron”. He copied the wife of bath’s genre from the Cameron.
→ The canterbury tales are a collection of fictional stories told by multiple storytellers from various occupations and social classes. The tales
offer a unique insight into the 14th century culture. The tales reflected the corruption of the church. As regards the prologue, the main
purpose is to set the scene, introducing 30 pilgrims.
- Setting: a day in april in the late 1300 at the Tabard Inn.
- Theme: camaraderie, adventure, atonement.
It is said in the prologue that a knight started this competition to tell the stories among the pilgrims. He used a more sophisticated
language, he will tell a romance. According to the character he chooses to tell the tale, the story will be characterized by the teller’s
characteristics.Each character will tell his tale with an appropriate language (different styles, different genres, different languages).
Summary of the General Prologue: The narrator opens the General Prologue with a description of the return of spring. Around this time
of year, the narrator says, people begin to feel the desire to go on a pilgrimage. Many devout English pilgrims set off to visit shrines in
distant holy lands, but even more choose to travel to Canterbury, where they thank the martyr for having helped them when they were in
need. The narrator tells us that as he prepared to go on such a pilgrimage, staying at a tavern in Southwark called the Tabard Inn, a great
company of twenty-nine travelers entered. The travelers were a diverse group who, like the narrator, were on their way to Canterbury. They
happily agreed to let him join them. That night, the group slept at the Tabard, and woke up early the next morning to set off on their
journey. Before continuing the tale, the narrator declares his intent to list and describe each of the members of the group.
→ The structure of the tale (the wife of bath): it is linear. The prologue doesn't introduce the story, but the people who tells the story. The
tales are mostly in verse, and some patterns are written in prose.
In the general prologue the wife of bath is introduced as a deaf woman of around 50 years old with a handsome face. She was good at
making cloth, she has a very strong personality. She was from Bath (which meant she was a rich woman), the poem suggests that she was a
prostitute. The prologue of the wife of bath talks about vices, the negative parts of marriage, but at the same time she is defending
marriage (it is the best status for a woman to have). About her 5 husbands, that’s why she was considered a prostitute. But as she was a
widow, this was allowed. She was considered a prostitute because she has been married many times, because she was good in bed, because
she was interested in sex and not in procreating. The point of view is 1st person, and in some parts she includes “you” bcs she addresses
the audience (which are all the pilgrims), she wants to teach them and tell them what did she do. The prologue is autobiographical.
The prologue has a purpose: to acquaint the reader with the earth and outspoken wife of bath. And to make a description of the society.
Theme→ marriage was considered important for a woman.
Summary of the The Wife of Bath prologue:
The Wife of Bath begins the Prologue to her tale by establishing herself as an authority on marriage, due to her extensive personal
experience with the institution. Since her first marriage at the tender age of twelve, she has had five husbands. She says that many people
have criticized her for her numerous marriages. The Wife of Bath has her own views of Scripture and God’s plan. She says that men can
only guess and interpret what Jesus meant when he told a Samaritan woman that her fifth husband was not her husband. With or without
this bit of Scripture, no man has ever been able to give her an exact reply when she asks to know how many husbands a woman may have in
her lifetime. “WEDDING’S NO SIN” says Alice. Because as she got married after their husbands died, that meant she was a widow. So
according to the Bible that was not a sin.
She admits that many great Fathers of the Church have proclaimed the importance of virginity, such as the Apostle Paul. But, she reasons,
even if virginity is important, someone must be procreating so that virgins can be created. Leave virginity to the perfect, she says, and let
the rest of us use our gifts as best we may—and her gift, doubtless, is her sexual power. She uses this power as an “instrument” to control
her husbands.
Alice → had been married five times. To have a husband was a right and to be his master was her desire. The first 3 husbands were good
but the last ones were not.
The first 3 were good because they were old (the marriage was shorter) and rich, but difficult to fulfill many duties. She manipulated them
by lying, persuading them and she was also good in bed. The 4th husband was a cheater, but she made him jealous and angry until he died.
The 5th husband was 20 winters old. He was ill tempered. She gained mastery over him and his possessions. They lived a peaceful life and
never argued.
She was young and pretty when she first married but when she married her last husband she was 40 years old. He was younger than her. He
married her because she was rich, bcs of her money. AT 1ST SHE MARRIED THE OTHER HUSBANDS BCS OF THEIR MONEY, NOW
THE SITUATION IS REVERSED. She said she was truly in love with him. Her last husband strucked her once, which means she is deaf
bcs of these strikes she received. She admits he was her worst husband but he was the one she loved the most (because that’s what really
happens in real life with love). She met Johnny before her fourth husband died. She married her 5th husband one month after the death of
her 4th husband. In the end they ended well together, he gave her the riddle over to her hand → According to the wife of bath what most
women desired was sovereignty over men.
She’s sometimes considered THE 1ST FEMINIST CHARACTER IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. BUT IS SHE REALLY FEMINIST???
Don’t think so...bcs she doesn't talk about being free of men, she just says you have to manipulate them. She doesn’t account for feminist
purposes. If a man told her she was cheating on him, she manipulated him to believe HE was cheating on her. She will revert the gossips.
She will compare herself with other women so that they bought them the same things the other women had. She is very careful as to not
show her personality until after marriage. She wants to be treated well, to be praised.
She accepts the fact that a wife destroys her husband, she accepted she had manipulated and destroyed them and he would then feel guilty
and give her what she wanted.
.“Lies, tears and spinning (referring to the reversing of the gossips) are the things God gives by nature to a woman” → She wants to rule her
husband and the situation in marriage. She admits proudly to using her verbal and sexual power to bring her husbands to total submission.
All of this, the Wife of Bath tells the rest of the pilgrims, was a pack of lies—her husbands never held these opinions, but she made these
claims to give them grief.
The fifth husband had a “book of wicked wives” she recalls. One evening, out of frustration, the Wife tears three pages out of the book and
punches Jankyn in the face. Jankyn repays her by striking her on the head, which is the reason, she explains in line 636, that she is now
deaf in one ear.
Her tale of her marriages finished, the Wife announces that she will tell her story
“I would teach you how to be successful in marriage. I will teach you what a woman wants”. She is teaching and entertaining the pilgrims
at the same time.
→ Themes of the prologue: marriage, sex, wealth, old age, the role of religion in marriage, the role of the bible.
→ Tone: critical towards the church, critical towards the interpretations of the bible, critical towards society; lively, didactic, humorous.
The tone is also authoritative (bcs she speaks from her experience, so she has the authority to say that), the tone is patronizing.
The wife of Bath tale:
→ Setting of the tale: Set in Britain, in ancient days (when king Arthur ruled), it is definite and in a far away past. The story takes place in
ancient Britain, in the woods (where the knight raped a lady).
This tale is a romance bcs it is the deed of a knight. It is set in the theme of the arthurian romances. Arthur was T HE hero for Britain.
→ Foot and meter:
“When good king Arthur ruled in ancient days A
A king that every briton loves to praise”. A
-IAMBIC - pentameter/ or decasyllabic (5) rhyming in couplets (unstressed, stressed, unstressed, stressed).
- A - A - B - B - C -C (heroic couplets).
Elves and fairies were mentioned in the tale, this comes from Celtic mythology. We can see elements of the fairy tales as well as elements
of the romance (the deed of the knight, to show he is a good medieval knight).
→ Line 38: With the coming of christianity the monks and the friars have purged the air. Which means that fairies are not present any
more as they were pagan elements (considered heresy). That’s the reason why there are no fairies any more.
→ Line 52: There’s a criticism to the church: “now that all the pagan elements are not present, women can go freely in the woods bcs there
are no dangers”. But there is no other “incubus” (male demon who seduces and rapes women) but he (the knight). Everything has been
purged e xcept the church from punishing men from raping women.
This knight instead of saving and rescuing ladies, rapes them. He broke the code the code of chivalry. So he was taken to the court, there
we have King Arthur and the Queen Genever. The King was to kill this man, but the Queen decides something different (the king allows
her to intervene, that means she rules). The queen decides that the knight should find the answer to a question (search of a quest) = “what
women really want?”.
He gets many answers, but not the correct one. Until he finds an old lady (who might be considered a witch). This old witch comes with an
answer but for her to give it to him he needs to do what she wants. The answer was that a woman wants sovereignty over her husband and
she wants to master him. HE SAVES HIS LIFE, AS THIS WAS THE CORRECT ANSWER.
The old woman asks for her reward, she wants to marry him. He doesn't want to bcs she is ugly, poor and old. He is asking what he
couldn't grant in the woods→ “dont touch my body, take all my goods”. He is forced to marry bcs he needs to be faithful to his word. They
got married in private and all the community accompanied them to their wedding bed. But he didn’t want to have sex with her, so she
started criticizing him bcs of that.
The important thing here is towards the end, when we come to the resolution: she asks: “you have 2 choices: to have me old and ugly but
still loyal to you or would you preferred I am pretty but unfaithful”. He thought long and he said: “I’d leave it up to you” → he let her to
decide. After they kissed she is converted into a young pretty woman→ NOW SHE RULES THE MARRIAGE and they lived happily ever
after.
This tale has a feminist reading (we are free to choose and take decisions) and an anti-feminist reading (he has raped a woman but instead of
being punished, at the end he is rewarded with a pretty young lady). THIS COULD BE DUE TO THE FACT THAT THE AUTHOR IS A
MAN AND BCS THESE TALES ALWAYS HAVE A HAPPY ENDING. He didn’t learn the lesson bcs he was rewarded after all.
Summary of the Wife of bath tale:
“In the days of King Arthur, the Wife of Bath begins, the isle of Britain was full of fairies and elves. Now, those creatures are gone because
their spots have been taken by the friars and other mendicants And though the friars rape women, just as the incubi did in the days of the
fairies, the friars only cause women dishonor—the incubi always got them pregnant.
In Arthur’s court, however, a young, lusty knight comes across a beautiful young maiden one day. Overcome by lust and his sense of his
own power, he rapes her. The court is scandalized by the crime and decrees that the knight should be put to death by decapitation.
However, Arthur’s queen and other ladies of the court intercede on his behalf and ask the king to give him one chance to save his own life.
The queen presents the knight with the following challenge: if, within one year, he can discover what women want most in the world and
report his findings back to the court, he will keep his life. If he cannot find the answer to the queen’s question, or if his answer is wrong, he
will lose his head.
The knight sets forth in sorrow. To the knight’s dismay, nearly every one of them answers differently. Some claim that women love money
best, some honor, some jolliness, some looks, some sex, some remarriage, some flattery, and some say that women most want to be free to
do as they wish. Finally, says the Wife, some say that women most want to be considered discrete and secretive, although she argues that
such an answer is clearly untrue, since no woman can keep a secret.
When his day of judgment draws near, the knight sorrowfully heads for home. As he rides near a forest, he sees a large group of women
dancing and decides to approach them to ask his question. But as he approaches, the group vanishes, and all he can see is an ugly old
woman. The woman asks if she can be of help, and the knight explains his predicament and promises to reward her if she can help him.
The woman tells the knight that he must pledge himself to her in return for her help, and the knight, having no options left, gladly
consents. She then guarantees that his life will be saved.
The knight tells the queen the answer with which the old woman supplied him: what women most desire is to be in charge of their
husbands and lovers. The women agree resoundingly that this is the answer, and the queen spares the knight’s life. The old lady comes
forth and publicly asks the knight to marry her. The knight cries out in horror. He begs her to take his material possessions rather than his
body, but she refuses to yield, and in the end he is forced to consent. The two are married in a small, private wedding and go to bed
together the same night. Throughout the entire ordeal, the knight remains miserable.
While in bed, the witch asks the knight why he is so sad. He replies that he could hardly bear the shame of having such an ugly, lowborn
wife. She offers the knight a choice: either he can have her be ugly but loyal and good, or he can have her young and fair but also coquettish
and unfaithful. The knight ponders in silence. Finally, he replies that he would rather trust her judgment, and he asks her to choose
whatever she thinks best. Because the knight’s answer gave the woman what she most desired, the authority to choose for herself, she
becomes both beautiful and good. The two have a long, happy marriage, and the woman becomes completely obedient to her husband. The
Wife of Bath concludes with a plea that Jesus Christ send all women husbands who are young, meek, and fresh in bed, and the grace to
outlive their husbands”.
The renaissance:
The previous period was god-centered, now it turned to be more man-centered. The new paradigm was that now man was capable of
controlling and discovering the world. Man was powerful now. The renaissance had a great impact. It enabled people to have a better
understanding of the earth and the universe. It helped modern culture to develop. In Italy we can mention Davinci, he concentrated in
realism on his paintings.
Is one of the most influential periods in Europe. It is considered to be a cultural link from the middle ages to the modern period. There was
interest in science and art. It implied a cultural and intellectual movement. The influence of the renaissance was seen in literature,
philosophy, religion, and politics. This began in Florence, Italy. The black death triggered renaissance, scholars concentrated more on the
theme of death and they stopped talking about the afterlife and spirituality.
Many of the contributions of renaissance are art, architecture (went back to greek and roman architecture), science (the invention of the
telescope, printing), music (invention of new instruments, the opera was originated), the rise of protestantism, the growth of a capitalist
market system which replaced feudalism, the discovernment of a new world (Columbus).
→ The renaissance literature: focused on human behaviours and characteristics. The dominant literary forms were the poems and drama.
Poetry: elegy, tragedy, pastoral and lyric. Conventions played a large part in how particular poetic styles were manifested. Music was
intended to accompany the poem. The main aim of the English renaissance verse was to encapsulate beauty and the truth in words.
→ As regards literature: there was a revival of Greek and Roman mythology. In greek drama the most important genre was poetry and
drama. The importance was on the man rather than on religion.
Feudalism had fallen, There was a new social organization now → connected with the concept of capitalism. A new trade was established
bcs of the new discoveries and the new sea routes among the different countries. This new system was connected with trade and merchants
(bringing things from other countries).
POETRY: The sonnet:
“Whoso List to Hunt, I Know where is an Hind” - B y Sir Thomas Wyatt
Whoso list t o h unt, I know w here is an hind, A
But a s for me, hélas, I may no more. B
The vain travail hath wearied me so sore, B
I am of them that farthest cometh behind. A
Yet may I by no means my wearied mind A
Draw from the deer, but as she fleeth afore B
Fainting I follow. I leave off therefore, B
Sithens in a net I seek to hold the wind. A
Who list her hunt, I put him out of doubt, C
As well as I may spend his time in vain. D
And graven with diamonds in letters plain D
There is written, her fair neck round about: C
Noli me tangere, for Caesar's I am, D
And wild for to hold, though I seem tame. D
It is said he was in love with Anne Boleyn → “Who’s list to hunt” (who is ready to hunt?):a female deer. The hind and the hunt is symbolic:
the hind → a woman, the hunt → connected with courting a woman. He is saying he is giving up with this courting bcs he realized this
hunting is like holding the wind in a net. “Who wants to hunt her I doubt if any man can hunt her” → For any other man it will be in vain
as for me, bcs now Anne Boleyn belongs to the king, she has been married to the king. She used to be wild but now she was taimed
(domesticada).
Pun: a play with words used in his writings.
Stresses in the 1st and 2nd line (foot and meter): IAMBIC Pentameter. It achieves musicality (stressed, unstressed, stressed, unstressed).
1st line: unstressed. List, hunt, know, is, hind.
2nd line: stressed. As, me, hélas, may, more.
The rhyme scheme: A B B A A B B A (an octet)/ C D D C D D (a sestet).
→ Poetry: sophisticated language, the purpose of the English sonnet was concerned with showing beauty through language, while the
italian sonnet was about love. Rhetorical devices that were used: metaphors. The whole poem is a metaphor → an extended metaphor or
sustained metaphor. Alliteration. Caesura (a long pause in the middle of a line for the sake of rhythm). On the 3rd line: vein - travail (would
be rhyme in the middle of the line → called a ssonance.
The 1st line has a comma, and the idea of the sentence finishes there. This is called; “end-stop line”. “Run-on line” you have to keep on
reading the next lines to finish the idea.
After the octet we have a volter→ he is explaining why he is giving up the hunting. He is expressing his feelings.
Sonnet 130: “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun” - By William Shakespeare
My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask’d, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
The sonnet is unique among poetic forms. It derived from the Italian word sonetto, meaning “a little sound or song". It reached its highest
expression in the 14th century in the poems of Petrarch. His Canzoniere—a sequence of poems including 317 sonnets, addressed to his
idealized beloved, Laura—established and perfected the Petrarchan (or Italian) sonnet, which remains one of the two principal sonnet forms.
The other major form is t he English (or Shakespearean) sonnet.
- The Petrarchan sonnet treats its theme in two parts. The first eight lines, the octet, state a problem, ask a question, or express an
emotional tension. The last six lines, the sestet, resolve the problem, answer the question, or relieve the tension (en total 14 lines). The
octave is rhymed A B B A A B B A. The rhyme scheme of the sestet varies; it may be C D E C D E, C D C C D C, or C D E C D E. The
Petrarchan sonnet became a major influence on European poetry. The italian sonnet was mainly concerned with love.
- The sonnet was introduced to England by Sir Thomas Wyatt in the 16th century. In the course of adapting the Italian form to a language
less rich in rhymes, the Elizabethans gradually arrived at the distinctive English sonnet, which is composed of three quatrains, each having
an independent rhyme scheme, and is ended with a rhymed couplet.
English sonnets share these characteristics:
• All sonnets have 14 lines, which can be broken down into four sections called quatrains.
• A strict rhyme scheme: The rhyme scheme of a Shakespearean sonnet, for example, is ABAB / CDCD / EFEF / GG (note the four
distinct sections in the rhyme scheme).
• Written in iambic pentameter: a poetic meter with 10 beats per line made up of alternating unstressed and stressed syllables.
A sonnet can be broken into four sections called quatrains. The first three quatrains contain four lines each and use an alternating rhyme
scheme. The final quatrain consists of just two lines, which both rhyme. Each quatrain should progress the poem as follows:
1. First quatrain: This should establish the subject of the sonnet.
Number of lines: four; rhyme scheme: ABAB
2. Second quatrain: This should develop the sonnet’s theme.
Number of lines: four; rhyme scheme: CDCD
3. Third quatrain: This should round off the sonnet’s theme.
Number of lines: four; rhyme scheme: EFEF
4. The couplet: This should act as a conclusion to the sonnet.
Number of lines: two; rhyme scheme: GG
→ The Shakespearean Sonnet: these sonnets cover such themes as love, jealousy, beauty, infidelity, the passage of time, and death. The first
126 sonnets are addressed to a young man while the last 28 are addressed to a woman.
The sonnets are constructed with three quatrains (four-line stanzas) and one couplet (two lines) in the meter of iambic pentameter (like his
plays). By the third couplet, the sonnets usually take a turn, and the poet comes to some kind of epiphany or teaches the reader a lesson of
some sort.
His poems were not only about love, in some of the poems he addressed a young man and in others a woman. That woman was a dark lady,
of dark complexion. To be tanned meant you were a peasant, as you work in the land under the sun. The way he treated the subject-matter
was also unusual → he describes the woman as a REAL woman. It’s not true that her skin is white as snow. She was not a goddess, she was
a true woman, a human being. Her hair is not perfect, her cheeks are not rosy.
Sonnet 18: A Summer's Day
"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st;
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee."
This sonnet best exemplifies the three-quatrain-and-one-couplet model, as well as the iambic pentameter meter. While many people
assumed Shakespeare was addressing a woman, he is, in fact, addressing the Fair Youth. He compares the young man to the beauty of a
summer's day, and just as the day and seasons change, so to do humans, and while the Fair Youth will eventually age and die, his beauty
will be remembered forever in this sonnet.
Rhetorical devices in “A summer’s day”:
Thee → “you” in the objective form
Thou → “you” in the subjective form
Thy → “your”
Thyne → “your” + a vowel e.g. “Thyne eye”
- “Thee” here stands for a young man or youth. Addressed to an absent person, the whole poem is like talking to him, but he is not
there. So the whole poem is an apostrophe, bcs it simulates a dialogue with an absent person.
- You are more lively and warmer than a summer day. Youth is like that. Positive characteristics of being young.
- He said the summer period is short, as youth is short.
- “The eye of heaven” → meaning “the sun”. Instance of kenning.
- Although you are hot bcs you are in a young age, that heat would deem (it fades away) when you get older. When you become
older you skin becomes deteriorated.
- The eternal summer (the eternal idea of youth), you are not going to lose the possessions you own.
- Not even death is going to finish with this idea of youth. The idea of youth is going to be eternal bcs it is going to be written in
these lines, in this poems.
- I am mentioning you in this poem, so although you die you will be eternal. I will give you life through these lines.
An example is Shakespeare’s Sonnet CXVI:
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
Oh, no! it is an ever-fixéd mark,
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
Sonnet sequence:
The typical Elizabethan use of the sonnet was in a sequence of love poems in the manner of Petrarch. Although each sonnet was an
independent poem, partly conventional in content and partly self-revelatory, the sequence had the added interest of providing something
of a narrative development.
Perhaps the greatest of all sonnet sequences is Shakespeare’s, addressed to a young man and a “dark lady.” In these sonnets the supposed
love story is of less interest than the underlying reflections on time and art, growth and decay, and fame and fortune.
Sonnet 151: Dark Lady (the object of the poet's desire, and is more overtly sexual)
"Love is too young to know what conscience is;
Yet who knows not, conscience is born of love?
Then, gentle cheater, urge not my amiss,
Lest guilty of my faults thy sweet self prove.
For thou betraying me, I do betray
My nobler part to my gross body's treason;
My soul doth tell my body that he may
Triumph in love; flesh stays no farther reason,
But rising at thy name, doth point out thee
As his triumphant prize. Proud of this pride,
He is contented thy poor drudge to be,
To stand in thy affairs, fall by thy side.
No want of conscience hold it that I call
Her 'love,' for whose dear love I rise and fall."
In this sonnet, Shakespeare first asks the Dark Lady to not admonish him for his sin, as she is also "sinning" with him and the Fair Youth.
He then speaks to how he feels betrayed by his own body because he is merely following his base instincts, which have enslaved him to
Dark Lady.
In its subsequent development the sonnet was to depart even further from themes of love. By the time John Donne wrote his religious
sonnets (c. 1610) and Milton wrote sonnets on political and religious subjects or on personal themes such as his blindness (i.e., “When I
consider how my light is spent”), the sonnet had been extended to embrace nearly all the subjects of poetry. It is the virtue of this short
form that it can range from “light conceits of lovers” to considerations of life, time, death, and eternity, without doing injustice to any of
them.
Presentation: Modernism, post-modernism and the dystopian novel
Modernism and postmodernism are similar movements.
Modernism started at the beginning of the 20th century until the end of WWII. WWI influenced modernism. It is the expression of the
modern era. There was a disbelief in obsolution.
With the new notions introduced by Froyd, Kant, etc. modernism included the idea that the truth of reality was relative (it depended on the
subject’s perception). It depended on a subjective perspective.
That’s why in literature the inner thought and the experiences of the characters were important. Subjectivity was important. This is
connected with the use of the stream of consciousness. External reality was there only to trigger memories and inner feelings. What we
learn from the character is the character’s truth, not ‘the’ truth.
- Influences: Charles Darwin, Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud.
Modernism can be characterized by a break with the traditional styles of poetry and verse. Devices used: literature language with multiple
meanings, non-linear narratives.
→ Themes: exploring the reality and experiences of the characters, experimenting and knowing what the character is thinking, the sock
and brutality of WWI.
- Individualism: the individual is more interesting than society.
- Experimentation: more free verse, the inner world or consciousness become important.
- Symbolism was also used. Symbolic elements were part of the inner consciousness. These symbols were important, were part of
the character. You need to read the story to understand the symbols.
Postmodernism introduces an interpretation of art, architecture, culture and philosophy.
After WWII, postmodernism started. We are still living postmodernism. It started when the world realized there were other cultures,
minorities. These cultures were not inferior to the western culture. So the movements of modernism continued but new ideas were
introduced.
Here the text was a combination of different styles/ genres, it was the idea that everything was fragmented (there were different
fragments/elements of different cultures in their writings). In GOT we have elements of medievalism, historical elements, etc. The world
after WWII was divided between capitalism and communism, there was an awareness of the different social statues, most of the writings of
these periods included the criticisms to these systems. Their productions will include different elements of different genres, as we can see
in GOT.
The breaking of linearity appeared. Authors broke with the chronological order. So we will find f lashbacks, f lashsides o r flashforwards.
Postmodernism will include popular productions and writings, not just the productions of the elite. The inclusion of minorities was made
to take into account the different cultures. This is consistent with the idea that reality is subjective and that depends on the different
perspectives we may have.
Characteristics:
- Irony, playfulness, humour, intertextuality (use of different techniques and styles), metafiction (writing about fiction), fabulation,
temporal distortion (fragmentation and nonlinear narratives), maximalism (more is more) and minimalism (less is more), fragmentation of
language, characters, plot.
Dystopian novel
Utopia → fictional writing that describes an ideal way of life that is non-existent.
Dystopia → a bad place, a non ideal world in which life is unpleasant. The main aim is to project a disastrous future.
Many authors based their writings on this perfect world, all the patterns of society were ideal. After the different wars the distopyc
movement started to take place.
Themes: identity, balance, science and technology, religion, politics and economics. Dystopian novels were like a political warning.
Features present: propaganda is used to control the society, information is forbidden, the citizens of the society are uniform, differences
are seen as something negative, the protagonist often feels trapped and feels that needs to escape, from his perspective we can see which
are the features of his reality.
Presentation: Dystopian novels
Examples of dystopian novels: 1984, Animal Farm.
GEORGE ORWELL
George Orwell was born in India. Then, he went to live to London, there he lived in the streets. He was poor and he tried to work as a
teacher. He hated British imperialism, which is important to understand his writings. In the novel (1984) he tried to express his hate for
imperialism.
1984
- After WWII, WWIII broke out. If there is constantly people dying, you get people to work.
- Winston is secretly hating the party. He knew that he was going to get caught. He tried to look for the truth.
- There are different ministries that control everything. The ministry of truth changes the past: they control the past. It takes care
of erasing history and rewriting it.
- Totalitarianism → a government that has control over society and doesn't accept parties with different opinions. If you were
against the party you were sent to the ministry of love (it was a place where you were tortured until you love the party again). The ministry
of plenty.
- Joycamps are related to the Jewish concentration camps.
- The thought police is related to the Gestapo and to Stalin’s secret police.
- The use of propaganda, related with the Nazi and Stalin’s propaganda.
- Goldstein (a jewish surname) opposed to the party → related to history: the jews were the nazi’s “oponents”.
Brave new world
- People are no longer born, everyone are clones. It’s a utopia, you can be whoever you want.
- Warfare and poverty have been eliminated and everyone is happy.
- All of these things have been achieved by eliminating family, cultural diversity, art, literature, science, religion and philosophy.
- The main character has a problem. He was born short and he feels weird, he feels unfulfilled. He falls in love with a woman, he
wants to be with her. But as there’s no family, he can't be with her.
- There’s no God in “brave new world”. Everyone is happy here. They give too much importance to work → work was everything.
- As there is no family, there is no personality. They try to make you comfortable, bcs as long as you are comfortable you don’t have
to think. If you feel uncomfortable, you start thinking.
- The book explores the fears of both Soviet communism and American capitalism.
1984 vs. Brave new world
In 1984 you are controlled all the time by the thought police and spies, in the other book the society is not controlled in the same way as in
1984, they are controlled by technological interventions.
Fahrenheit 451
- The story takes place in a world in which books are banned. The penalty for owing banned books was one’s house and books
burnt by “firemen”.
- This might be connected with the Nazi burning of books, and Stalin’s suppression of books and authors. Also related to the
explosion of a nuclear weapon.
- It concerns about censorship at the expense of personal expression.
- Books that were banned: The Bible, To the Lighthouse, Moby Dick.
- Language was also controlled, asi it happened in 1984. They used icons to communicate.
Teacher’s words → these books are like warnings. They present imaginary worlds but they take into account facts related to the real past.
Related to historical facts. Technology and scientific progresses were used to control society (in these imaginary worlds).
This breaking of the family bonds is present in the chapter of Daenerys → creating an army, brainwashing. In 1984 we have the breaking of
family bonds, we have this neighbour whose sons told the members of the party that their father was conspiring against it. Your own
children can spy on you. This is connected with love, the role of sex is just to procreate in 1984. On the other hand, in “brave new world”
you only have the element of pleasure, but love was NOT present. If bonds were created you could betray the party, so that’s why it was
forbidden. If you were against the party but on your own, it was easier for the party to get you.
In the 1st chapter, Winston buys a diary to write to the future, to persons from the future. “This is done to remain human”. At the end he
realises that he was not able to remain human, the system is victorious at the end. But he tried to keep memory of what he was, by writing
in his diary, in order to remain human.
Presentation - The well-made play
It is a play constructed under several strict principles.
Characteristics:
- There’s a variety of genres: drama, horror,etc.
- The emphasis would be on the typical rather than on the exceptional.
- There has to be an illusion of the events that are going to take place, and then these events will take place.
- The play starts with an event that precipitated a crisis and this engages the audience and arises their interest.
- The action of the well-made play is made of a chance to overcome a series of obstacles. These obstacles have to be arranged in an
order of difficulty. The hero will face these obstacles. You have an obstacle and a reversal → (obstacles: events that will distract the
attention of the hero). Then the resolution takes place. The action also includes a confrontation between the protagonist and the
antagonist.
- They are highly dramatic and are made to entertain and satisfy the audience.
The structure:
- There is one single character, but there might be others.
- Each scene should be linked to the next one.
- There should be two or three characters per stage.
- One character would dominate each act, but not the whole acts.
- Most of the plays have one sub-plot which is linked to the next plot. It is at the same level of the plot. Sometimes they can start
anywhere and they can end anywhere.
- The resolution takes place in the last scene and there are different ways to get to it. It usually comes when all hopes seem to be
lost.
- The author tries to focus these plays to the general public, rather than to the elite. He wanted to entertain and not to instruct and
correct his audience.
- The final surprise should be logical and complete. The ending is what the audience should come to desire.
- Non-essentials should be eliminated, he focused on the important things. The fewer possible characters should be used.
Quid pro quo: has to do with the distractions. They can be initiated by a letter, by a message or by any misinterpretation. Everything is
solved in the resolution. In the mouse trap we have bus tickets as distractions. Misleading evidences that makes you confuse and to doubt
and mistrust everyone.
Presentation - Crime fiction
Oedipus, was a man who killed his father and married his mother. This man is the son of the king and the queen. He was supposed to kill
his father, because there was a prophecy that said that. Then, he took his eyes off. This play is seen as the 1st detective story in the western
literature. He was the investigator as well as the murderer of the story. This is how crime fiction was born.
The golden age took place between the two WWs. There was a lot of mystery and the stories represented personal and social unease.
These contradicted the name of the golden age. One genre of crime fiction was called the clue- puzzle:
- It had murder as in central theme.
- The setting took the setting of a british novel, that was an isolated country house. The setting was enclosed and isolated.
- The story is social inclosed. There were no social classes and professional criminals.
- The victim could be a man or a woman of social importance.
- The detection is rational rather than intuitional.
- There is psychology but not a deep analysis of the characters’ mind. Only to know the motives of the killer.
- The writing style is plain and expresses social conformity.
- The rage of suspects: everyone seems guilty, there is a wide range of suspects. They are all equipped with motives to commit the
crime.
- It is rare for romance to appear.
- The resolution, which is at the end of the story and when the criminal is identified. The murderer is revealed. Execution is rare to
occur, we can have suicide or some kind of accident.
- The fair play: the reader is told every clue that the detective finds. You have an active role while reading. The gender of the
audience were mainly female.
Agatha Christie:
She was born in the south of England. She was brought up by her mother and sister. And she was a nurse in WWI. She had no formal
education. Her younger sister challenged her to write a novel. During WWII she worked in a pharmacy, which enabled her to have
knowledge of the murder methods that she could use in her stories.
Her novels:
She made several changes to the genre:
- The themes were mainly social classes and behaviour stereotypes. She presents the characters with the stereotypes of something.
Never the lower classes are presented in her stories.
- The plot is elevated as the most important thing in the novels. We have a beginning, which varies. Then, we have the body of the
story and the end, when the resolution takes place.
- The description: inclusion of the reader. We know every detail, we have an active role, we are engaged in solving the puzzle.
- The cast: she spread equal attention to the cast. So that we get confused.
- The criminals are traitors. They are always within the intimate circle of the victim → related to personal betrayal.
- The motives of the murders: money, sexual jealousy.
- Denouement: the resolution, the criminal reject the social normality.
- There are two main detectives:
- Hercule Poirot: he was a Belgian refugee, he is seen as a strange → related to otherness. He is challenging the masculinity of a
hero because of his correctness. He relies on facts and the evidence that can be seen, no detail is ignored. He believes that everyone has a
kind of personality and every murder is being created a by certain kind of personality. His is always tidy and he is shown as funny.
- Miss Jane Marple: she is a civilian, she is from England. She was not married and she created this
breaking of the stereotype of the elderly woman that cannot think an do anything. She is an old woman. She relied on gossip rather than in
facts and is presented with less humour. She is underestimated bcs she has not been married. She believed that some people are
predisposed to commit a murder.
Beresford thrillers:
They question gender configurations. Plots are less descriptive.
The mousetrap:
7 characters. The play starts with the murder of Maureen Lyon. When a whistle was heard, something bad was going to happen. The
setting is in a manor: The great hall of Monkswell, and they are trapped there because of the snow. Molly Ranston is married to Jules
Ranston and they are the owners of the house. They receive the guests. Miss Boyle is an old woman who complains about everything. Then,
we have a mayor who arrives with Misses Boyle in a taxi, he was a military. Casewell is a woman who is interested in reading, the person
described on the radio was wearing a black overcoat and a hat, so anyone can be a suspect. Mr Paravicini, he is the last guest to arrive, he is
not well received bcs he hadn't booked for a room. Christopher is a young man who arrived first, and he is weird bcs when the murder
happened, he starts laughing. Finally he have the detective whish is Trotter. He got into the house by skiing. There will be two more
deaths.
The bus tickets → molly and giles had been to the place and neither of them had told the deteves where had they been when the murder
took place.
GUIDELINES TO THE ANALYSIS OF GEORGE ORWELL’S 1984
General considerations
1. George Orwell’s biography
In 1936 he took part in the Spanish civil war. He was a supporter of socialism. He supported the republicans there, with these ideas of the
lower social classes being against totalitarianism. In war he was wounded and disappointed on how the system was put into practice: he
realized that the methods of totalitarianism were similar. When he went back to England he was labelled as pro-fascist and he was put
aside from many jobs → he was labelled as a pro-fascist because he supported the Spanish at the civil war. He worked for the BBC as a
journalist and as a news reporter, which could be connected with Winston’s job, because he saw in his own job that he was asked to limit
and change the information about the events of WWII, and about reality. He considered he was lying to the public.
2. Author’s political ideas
His political ideas followed democratic socialism. He was against totalitarianism.
3. Orwell’s aim at writing 1984
As he was labelled as a pro-fascist he wanted to show the public he was against any kind of totalitarianism, so he wrote 1984. He was
against every party, he was not in favor of any side. He was criticizing every kind of control, also his own country. In the book the world is
divided in three super states. Eastasia (China, Japan and other satellite countries around the area. They were communist countries), Eurasia
(Russia and the countries invaded by the USSR) and Oceania (The countries of Europe that were part of the Allies - France, Britain, Africa,
Australia and the USA. We have within Oceania: Air Strip (England) → and Air Strip 1 (London). This was how the world was divided after
the Cold War. That world was created as a kind of warning about the future.
4. Genre: characteristics of the dystopian novel.
Futuristic, it can be a total new world or land, there are realistic elements with other names. 1984 → DYSTOPIAN NOVEL WITH
ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL CRITICISM AND SCIENCE FICTION. Technology used to control.
5. Themes discussed in the novel
Oppression, rebellion, control, the need to escape from that oppression, the role of war (you need war to create an enemy. This enemy, and
to fight against this enemy creates a feeling of nationalism. War was used to maintain the economy and to justify the poor condition of the
people → it’s the enemy’s fault that there are poor people), mutability/change of the past (they were constantly changing events), repressed
sexuality, media manipulation through propaganda, destruction of memory, destruction of family bonds, reduction of the language (if you
don’t have the words you cannot think), loyalty vs. betrayal, the role of technology to control.
This is a novel of character → we see and feel everything from Winston’s perspective.
6. Setting and main characters
The setting was created for the people to be reminded that they were on a war (destroyed houses) and also to trigger the reader’s memory →
the readers were experiencing the consequences of the wars. Winston had a ulcer (he says his nervous system is going to betray him).
PART 1
1. Discuss the following:
a) Atmosphere portrayed in Chapter 1
When the character is introduced the author set a specific atmosphere, which remains the same throughout the whole story. It is an
atmosphere of oppression.The character is fatalistic, pessimistic because from the very beginning he knows he’s gonna get caught. The
atmosphere created in the description of the surrounding is fatalistic, connected with doublethink, it is also ironic. The mansion is called
the victory mansion → quite ironic (it’s not a mansion nor victorious). Everything looks like cold. The atmosphere might also be considered
depressing, gloomy.
b) Political system (outer / inner parties)
Social organization of Air Strip → Three social classes:
- The Inner party: they were dressed elegant and in black. They made up the 2% of the population. OBrien.
- The Outer party: made up the 18% of the population and they wore blue overalls. Winston.
- The Paroles: the 80% of the population, they were the proletariats. These people worked in factories and in the field. This would be
the lower class. They were considered to be savage and wild. They were controlled differently from the Inner party → they didn’t even
realize they were being controlled, that’s why they were not dangerous to the party. This is connected with one of the slogans→ “Ignorance
is strength.” They are not persecuted because they are ignorants, they don’t realize they are being controlled. If you are ignorant you don't
need to worry of being persecuted.
If they believed that everyone should have the same social class, this is a contradiction bcs they actually have different classes. The ideal
concept was to have a classless society for Marxism, but this is a contradiction because there were different classes. A classless society is
impossible.
The party in 1984 created the idea they they had saved the country from Capitalism.
Slogans:
- “War is peace” → when you create a state of war you are creating an enemy outside the country. You are creating an ideological
enemy. By creating this state of war, you create a sense of unity among the people. This war creates peace inside the nation. All the blame
for their state is on Goldstein, on the other side, it’s not Big Brother’s blame. The economic system which is established upon the state of
war: all the factories were devoted to build the army, manufacturing armaments. The economic system was built upon the system of war.
- “Ignorance is strength” → If you don’t think, if you are ignorant, you cannot reveal against the party.
- “Freedom is slavery” this is connected with having the concept of freedom, they are shortening the words in the dictionary. You are
slave to the concept of freedom. If you don't have the concept you are not slave to your thoughts. If you don’t have thoughts, you are not
slave to them. If there’s no word for freedom, you don’t know what it means, so you are not likely to want freedom. If you have ideals, you
pursuit them, you want to reach them. For the party you’re a slave to your thoughts. The slavery of Party members equals freedom for Party
leaders.
- “If there’s hope it remains in the proles” → 80% of the population belongs to the proles, so they outnumber the party. If they
realized they they were controlled, if they organized against the party they could start a revolution. The proles are controlled somehow →
they are entertained, they have access to films, porn, they are allowed to have sex. They are kept entertained so that they are not able to
think (they have all their needs covered). Because if they have time to think they become a threat.
c) The figure of Big Brother
He is a mixture of Stalin’s resemblance and Hitler’s. Orwell is blending both extremes to show that they have the same methods of
controlling. Is he real? We suppose he is not. He probably was a creation of the party, he is a symbol of power, fear and control.
d) Winston’s diary
All the things from the past could be found in the black market. It was runned by the proles. There he goes and buys some stuff, and also
he buys a diary and a pen. He says the pen was obsolete because no one wrote. When he starts writing in the diary, he was not used to, he
had forgotten how to write. From the very beginning he knows they will find his diary, this is thoughtcrime. The party has even got into
their minds, they are afraid even of thinking, bcs the nervous system would betray them. The diary is a a symbol, bcs it’s a way to keep his
humanity, and language is part of humanity.
He works in the ministry of truth, and from his mansion he could see the ministry of truth → it’s symbolic: the landmark of the system, like
the Eiffel Tower.