"We Never do Work when we're Ruined": Country Girl to Fallen Woman

 

 

 If you looked upon a farm during the Victorian Era, you would most likely see similar labor as to what is being done now. Men and women mainly of lower and middle class worked sun up till sun down tending to their crops and animals. Clearly, this is a laborious job that requires hard work and dedication.

Upon looking at the poem “The Ruined Maid” by Thomas Hardy (1901), we can see a farm girl, given the named Melia, transform into a fallen woman. An unnamed friend of hers, who also worked on a farm, spots her in town and notices her transformation. She now has “gay bracelets and bright feathers three” (7) and dresses in “fair garments” (4).

Significantly, the friend of Melia’s wishes to be like her because she believes that prostitution represents freedom and an easy life.  She has seen her friend become a fallen woman, and notices that she is dressed well and has a completely new body. He hands “were like paws then, [her] face [was] blue and / bleak,” but now, he friend is “bewitched by [her] delicate cheek” (13-15) (my italics).

We also see, in the last stanza of the poem, that Melia’s friend is envious of her new life. She now wishes that she “feathers, a fine sweeping gown / and a delicate face and could strut around Town” (21-22). 

One can see that women believed that prostitution provided and escape from physical labor. This escape from labor is then replaced with paid sex and several other advantages. Fallen women get leisure time, nice clothing, better food, jewelry, a much nicer home, and no physical labor.

For more information on fallen women during the Victorian period visit:

http://www.victorianweb.org/gender/fallen.html

Within the Mind of Porphyria's Lover

          “Porphyria’s Lover” by Robert Browning is a poem in which the tables are turned on a woman by her demented lover. Our view of Porphyria and the situation is through the eyes of her lover and in his mind we are treated to his thoughts and his twisted logic. The beginning of the poem tells us a lot about how the speaker is feeling since he projects his feelings into describing the nature around him.

The rain set early in tonight

The sullen wind was soon awake,

It tore the elm tops down for spite,

And did its worst to vex the lake,

                                                                      (1-4)

            By his personification of nature, we can tell that the rain is meant to symbolize Porphyria and how her early arrival wakes up the “sullen” wind. The way she tears the “elm tops down for spite” could indicate the emasculating effect she has on him. Elm tops could be seen as a phallic symbol and the speaker sees her as tearing it down to spite him. The “rain” also vexes the lake, indicating how the man is annoyed by her actions.

And, last, she sat down by my side

And called me. When no voice replied,

She put my arm about her waist,

And made her smooth white shoulder bare,

And all her yellow hair displaced,

And, stooping, made my cheek lie there,

And spread, o’er all, her yellow hair,

Murmuring how she loved me-she

Too weak, for all her heart’s endeavor

To set its stuggling passion free

From pride, and vainer ties dissever,

And give herself to me forever.

                                                                                                            (14-25)

            In these lines, we continue to see his perception of her daring nature. She initiates the actions by first sitting by him and calling him to her. When he doesn’t respond to her, she takes his arm and places it on her waist and also places his cheeks on her. She begins to seduce him by showing her “smooth white shoulder bare (17). Her hair is free and flowing, indicating the freedom she possesses. She murmurs “how she loved” him, yet because of her “pride, and vainer ties” she cannot give herself to him forever. She is the initiator in their relationship, she goes to him, controls his actions and by the end of it, she is able to leave and he cannot posses her. Such actions by a woman of this time period can be emasculating to a man.

            In his twisted mind he comes to imagine that since she had “come through wind and rain” (30), that “Porphyria worshipped me:” (33). He makes it justifiable in his mind that since she has gone through all that trouble, she must truly love him with a deep passion. With his mind set on this idea, he devises a way so that they could be together forever. His insanity is highlighted as he sets his plan to motion.

A thing to do, and all her hair

In one long yellow string I wound

Three times her little throat around,

And strangled her. No pain felt she;

I am quite sure she felt no pain.

                                                                                                            (38-42)

            Irony strikes poor Porphyria as the very symbol of her freedom leads to her downfall. Her free-flowing hair is used as a weapon to take her life. In her lover’s twisted mind, he comforts himself by stating that he is “quite sure she felt no pain.” (42) In this, he believes that Porphyria wanted to be murdered and that she even enjoyed the pain that he has inflicted upon her.

            Once her life is gone, he now takes control of her and the tables are turned as it is he who moves her limbs. He “oped her lids” (44) so that he could look into her eyes and that in her eyes, he is the only man being reflected on them. He “…propped her head up as before,/Only this time my shoulder bore/Her head…”(49-51).  He untangles her hair from her neck and kisses her, in his mind he imagines that she “Blushed bright beneath my burning kiss:” (48) He imagines that his kiss alone still makes her blush, though in reality her flushed appearance is due to being strangled.

            His delusion goes further in that he sees her “…smiling rosy little head,/So glad it has its utmost will,” (52-53). In reality, Porphyria is dead, no longer have any will to defy him or to leave him. In his mind, he sees that she chose him and that “Her darling one wish would be heard.” (57); for them to be together. He rationalizes that his murder of her is justifiable since “God has not said a word!” (60) In his mind, he believes that God condones his actions because nothing bad has happened to them as they “sit together now/And all night long” (58-59).  

A Theory of Personality: Analyzing the Characters of Oscar Wilde’s Picture of Dorian Gray using Freud’s Perspective

A Theory of Personality: Analyzing the Characters of Oscar Wilde’s Picture of Dorian Gray using Freud’s Perspective

 

Oscar Wilde’s literary masterpiece the Picture of Dorian Gray is not only a good read but holds many different interpretations which allow you to learn from it. Once given the chance to study the theories of Sigmund Freud, I had come to realize a connection between his personality theory and the three main characters of the novel: Basil, Henry, and Dorian. Looking at the characters through this perspective has helped me understand their motives in the story and it makes it easier to understand how and why their characters developed as they did.

 In order to understand this theory, it is first important to know the three characters analyzed. Dorian Gray is a young handsome man who seems in the beginning of the book to be pleasant, beautiful, and follows Henry's aunt's lead on taking part in her charitable endeavors. It is clear when Dorian is so upset by Henry Wotton's remark of how he will have nothing once his beauty has been taken by age shows that Dorian knows nothing about his own self. Living under the rules and moralities of his aristocratic society has not allowed him to find or express who he wants to be in life, which has diminished the opportunity for him to create his own moral code to live from. Dorian in a sense is a blank canvas, waiting to be molded into anything desired. Just as his portrait first appears, Dorian seems innocent and pure. Looking at Dorian’s childhood history proves that he has lived through strife and has experienced the darker sides of life. It’s impossible to believe that none of his past experiences put any psychological damage on him. Dorian keeps all of his terrors inside, not confiding in anyone. On the outside he seems to be a pure and beautiful being, which could be nothing but perfect. On the inside he fights to find an identity for himself while needing to cope with everything he has been through, this takes a toll on his mind, making him even more vulnerable to be manipulated by others. 

In Freud’s theory of personality, Dorian’s character identifies deeply with the ID. The ID is a component of personality that is completely unconscious. It is driven by pleasure, and wishes to satisfy any need that we want. This could range from basic needs like eating, sleeping, and drinking. The range also goes as far as unrealistic pleasures, or pleasures that are defined as immoral by society. The ID has no mortality, if every person was controlled merely by the ID; we’d all live lives like Dorian. The ID has no personal identity just like Dorian. It is manipulated by the pleasures that we desire, not caring weather these pleasures are good or bad for us. Dorian’s character is the ID of the three main characters; he lives a life of pleasure and becomes obsessed with living his life without moralities or worries.

Henry Wotton a witty intellect that preaches unconventional theories and the right ways of living, in which he doesn’t necessarily follow himself. Henry believes everyone should live a life of pleasure, as well as be themselves. We should not be ruled by what other people think is right. Eventually Henry’s words sink into Dorian and change him completely. Henry is the influence of change in Dorian. In a sense Henry becomes Dorian’s Superego. Although the superego is usually defined as a good thing, in this story, it is not so good. The superego deals with our own moral codes and what we believe is right and wrong. It allows is to make judgments based on what we feel is right in connection with our conscious and what he know is right by society. In Henry’s case, he doesn’t believe what society preaches is right, and a life of pleasure is the only real way to live. As the ID Dorian originally has no morals so Henry’s theories of living life by being yourself and indulging in your own pleasures becomes his moral. What Henry did not know is that he gave Dorian free reign to live by his ID. With no help to define what is right or wrong by his superego, Dorian felt he could do anything, including murder.

Basil Hallward is the talented painter who fell in love with Dorian’s beauty. Throughout the book, he attempts to keep Dorian as pure as he is in his painting. Basil urges Dorian to not believe anything Henry says, hoping to protect his soul from being tainted. Although Basil’s attempts are futile, his character resembles the ego. The ego’s job is to mediate the superego and ID to shape the pleasure or idea met into a realistic manner. The ego shapes our actions so that they are appropriate in means of societal rules. On countless occasions Basil tries to keep Dorian in check and to diminish Henry’s theories as something Dorian shouldn’t take wholeheartedly. Even when Basil realizes that their friendship has completely dissolved he still tries to save him.

Sucking the Life out of England: Problem with Authority, in Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “England in 1819”

Very often in poetry, the assumptions and opinions of the poet show through. In the case of “England in 1819” Shelley’s opinions are seen throughout. Percy, who was against authority in more ways than one, has written a poem expressing those views in isolated incidents.

           

 [4] Rulers who neither see, nor feel, nor know,

[5] But leech-like cling to their fainting country cling,

[6] Till they drop, blind in blood, without a blow –

In these first few lines of Shelley’s poem, he expresses the lack of caring by the ruler’s of the time period. Those “who neither see, nor feel, nor know” expresses that the authority does not understand or see how their actions are affecting the people. England, which was under the rule of King George III at the time, was in a dark state.

In this poem, especially these few lines, the reader can envision a country that is falling apart. There is no unity and England is a “fainting country”. The antagonistic views of authority, the rebellious nature of the people against their government in the rest of the poem suggests that Shelley’s voice is being written down and expressed wholeheartedly.

He leaves very little room, for improvement in the authority of England. Calling the rulers “leech-like” suggests that these rulers are sucking the blood and life out of their country.  The rulers, or leeches of society rely on others to maintain their rule for them. Leeches were very common during this time, used to help pull out bacteria and illnesses through the leeches’ sucking of blood. However, the overuse of the insects was known to cause death and even more illness. Instead of maintaining a healthy limit on what happened and what was done in society, the rulers clung to society and “sucked” out the resources, the supply and the hope. This is shown to be very crippling on society, as England is seen as “fainting” from a metaphorical loss of blood and life.

In line six of this poem, Shelley exposes the role the ruler truly has. He expresses that the leech is then full of blood, and then merely drops off, no longer able to hold on, due to reaching its capacity. However the last part of that line suggests the “without a blow” the leeches release their prey. Shelley suggests that no one is swatting these predators away. No one is successfully rising against the authorities that have been “sucking” everything out of society. These leeches receive many attempts to stop their domination over the society however, as Shelley explains later in the poem, the armies that are under the thumbs of the rulers/leeches put down the rebellious society. 

Through this comparison of the rulers to the leeches, Shelley tries to explain how terrible the authorities are, and how difficult society is during this time. Shelley shows the reader that leeches will come and go, and they will take what they want or need and then come back whenever there is a need for more. This pulling of resources, and suppression of society’s strength will soon show to be England’s downfall, and that the amount of power that the monarch or ruler is too large. Due to this fact, the people of England have very little success going against the government of their country.

Shelley gives the reader a very matter-of-fact view of the government. It sounds at some points in the poem that he is speaking in an informative way, giving facts and explanations. However, the poem also suggests Shelley’s frustration with authority. As touched upon earlier, Shelley had many problems with authority and control during his life. He was never without radical views. This poem however shows that his views had logical basis and that there was cruelty and despair in England, and that the rulers of the country were the ones causing the destruction, of the country around them.