Michele's Humanities Blog

Elizabeth and Robert Brownings’ poetry styles are quite the opposite of each other.  While Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Sonnet 43 tells of an all-encompassing, blinding, childlike devotion to anther.  She describes a love that consumes the individual leaving no room for the individual, only the relationship. 

Robert Browning’s Porphyria’s Lover, on the other hand, tells of a dark possessive love that also consumes the individual.  It shows an ugly possessive greedy kind of love.  That in the end, does not end well for either party.  It’s selfish, and unapologetic about it. 

To be quite honest the fact that Robert and Elizabeth Browning seem to have such opposite views of love really does not surprise me.   You would think that being so polar opposite of each other should be a recipe for disaster.  I think however that the simple fact that they each viewed love in this was was exactly what drew them to each other.  Elizabeth Browning wanted nothing more than to continue to feel that stomach-churning excitement whenever she was near or even thought about Robert Browning, and his intensity and selfish consumption of all of her time, and attention fed right into that.  Who knows perhaps his intense behavior both scared and excited her at the same time.

After looking at multiple images depicting the Lady of Shalott I found one image that truly spoke to me. I believe this image perfectly shows the loneliness, and isolation depicted in Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem. While many of the other images that came up show the end of the poem depict the end of the poem and the Lady’s voyage into the village, and her ultimate death, this image depicts the Lady’s tireless work, and quiet longing for what she sees outside of her window. The muted grays, and dull barren surroundings show how sad and disappointed she was with her lot in life, but the crisp white of her dress also shows us how pure and untainted by the outside world she is at this point. There are not any rich colors depicting life surrounding her. For that matter the reflection that she sees is also pretty flat and lifeless as well, only allowing a tiny glimpse at the life in the world outside her tower. Just enough of a taste to make a person want desperately want to break free and see what truly waits outside.

In most advanced societies today, work conditions have much improved compared to Victorian-era England, however around the globe in many third world countries, there is still much to be desired. In Victorian England, the working-class poor were left to find work by any means necessary even if it meant women working hunched over with nothing more than dim candlelight to see, to sew shirts or sacks. Today in most countries, we have labor laws in place to protect people from conditions such as these, but that does not stop people from profiting unfairly from classes of people who do not have the means to work legally and be afforded those protections. Even in this great nation of ours, there are still pockets of society that continue to be taken advantage of strictly because they have no other choice but to work in whatever conditions offered to survive. So while we like to fancy ourselves so very much advanced, and we are appalled at the thought that women and children both can and are taken advantage of in many countries’ workforces, we have not indeed come as far in our labor practices as we may think.

Who: Sir William Schwenck Gilbert and Arthur A. Sullivan. Victorian era dramatist and musical composer, whose long-running partnership paved the way for today’s modern musical theater. Gilbert was a librettist who wrote all of the lyrics and scripts for their comic operas. He also was an accomplished journalist, and poet. Sullivan was a quite accomplished musical composer who wrote the musical scores for their numerous works.

What: Collaboratively wrote 14 comic operas. Gilbert and Sullivan’s works have enjoyed numerous revivals over the years.  A few of their most famous comic operas are still performed today many by both high school and university theatrical groups.  These include:

• • H.M.S. Pinafore-571 initial performances.
  • The Pirates of Penzance-363 initial performances.
  • The Mikado-672 initial performances.

When: Between 1871 & 1896.  Both Gilbert and Sullivan had lucrative careers prior to their collaboration, they are however most known for their works together.  Their partnership would span nearly 25 years, but would ultimately end because of a quarrel over who should pay to replace carpets in the Savoy Theatre.

Where: Primarily London, England at the Savory Theatre which was specifically built to house their works.  The Savoy Theatre was built by Richard D’Oyly Carte and opened its doors on October 10, 1881.  It was the first public building to be lit entirely by incandescent electric lights.  On June 3, 1929, it was demolished and only a few short months later on October 21, 1929, reopened its doors after having been rebuilt from the ground up.  Unfortunately, disaster would later befall the Savoy when it would burn to the ground on February 12, 1990.  Instead of cutting their losses, and moving on, it was lovingly restored to its 1929 glory reopening its doors on July 19, 1993.  It still remains in operation to this day, featuring at least two productions at any given time, throughout the year.

Why: Gilbert and Sullivan wrote many of their works to bring musical theater to the common man.

https://gsarchive.net/

https://www.thesavoytheatre.com/

One of the most moving images that was presented in our reading this week was that of “the mud-lark”. In today’s society with our prosperity, and how much we prize letting our children be children, it is very difficult for me to imagine young children having no choice, but to trudge through the River Thames looking for anything of value to sell. It is downright heart breaking to think that anyone, child or adult alike could be reduced to such desperate measures. Unfortunately we have not come as far as we may like to think, and there is most likely some modern day form of mud-larking still going on today. Perhaps not to the toxic life threatening extremes that once existed, but a modern twist would be the homeless person who is constantly collecting any aluminum cans that they can find. We see them with their huge trash bags full, and wonder what they plan to do with all of the cans, but if they can ever make it to a scrap metal buyer their hard work may be rewarded. Of course aluminum cans weigh next to nothing, and it would take quite a few to make up even one pound of aluminum, but I guess something is better than nothing, and hey they’re helping the environment too. Maybe one day society as a whole will be able to move past allowing our fellow man to falter and fall on such hard times that they need to resort to such disgusting back breaking activities in order to survive.

I am willing to bet, that if the Victorians could see us today they would actually be quite disappointed in society as a whole. If it were not for the amazing advances in medicine that initially got their start during the Victorian era, our world would not be nearly as wonderful as it is today. While science and technology have advanced by leaps and bounds, civility has taken a severe nosedive. We still have not found a way to help our fellow man, and instead, continue to think that ”someone really should do something” while never actually doing anything. The women who dreamed of better for themselves as well as future generations would be astonished that even though women as a whole have pretty much all that we could possibly ask for, it still is not enough for some. Some women, in the name of activism, spend their days whining and complaining about every little thing instead of actually working to effect change. Then again they might not be too surprised at all, and once they got past the new technologies they would probably feel right at home.

I have to say the most social media etiquette rule that I see broken most often is to act like you would in real life. I guess it is pretty difficult for me to understand why people would feel more empowered when posting on social media. I come from an older generation where social media did not exist, and we were taught growing up not to say things about people behind their backs that we would not dare say to them in person. This rule has carried over into my use of social media, however infrequent that may actually be. Whenever I get ready to post anything on my social media I always take into consideration who may see what I am posting or sharing, and how will that make them feel. I know this may not be as easy for today’s younger generation, but they do need to understand that everything that they post will be there to haunt them long after it is posted. That drunken weekend in college with their buddies, could one day not show them in the best light when they are being looked at for their future job. Unfortunately if we put it all out there for the whole world to see then it is only fair to assume that it will be seen, and maybe there are some things that really should be kept private.

This blog is designed to allow me to explore the Victorians more closely and their influences on modern day society. Even though I have previously used this format in my ENG 102 class, I’m really not sure what to expect from this class. I do however look forward to delving into the seedy, ugly, seldom discussed aspects of the Victorian era society. I feel as if this class was made for me, I absolutely love British Literature but more specifically Victorian Era British Literature, so being able to explore the era more fully, and I can not wait to see what this course holds for me.