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Holiday Drop In Open House
bellamarie:
May you all have a very Happy & Healthy New Year!
BarbStAubrey:
Reminding Everyone - We open the pre-discussion to Cranford this week.
We are trying something new by way of an introduction to our discussion leader for Cranford, Karen.
So let's have some fun learning a bit more about Karen and her love of Victorian Literature.
Barb: Karen how did you become interested in Victorian Literature?
Karen: My mother joined a book club for me when I was eleven years old and each month a new book came for me. I fell in love with Victorian novels through that book club: Black Beauty, Little Lord Fauntleroy, Around the World in 80 Days, Alice in Wonderland, and Little Women.
I loved stories about the rich and the poor, about the "olden days" and about overcoming problems. I also, in those days, loved adventure stories and strange characters. I also loved fairy tales with the lords and the castles, the princesses, and even the wicked witches.
My first assignment in high school was to complete David Copperfield during the first quarter. That was my formal introduction to the Victorian novel. In spite of its being the longest novel I had ever read, I loved it and went on to read poems, essays, and novels from that age as part of my formal education. My love for literature from this period kept growing.
Barb: Looks like you were drawn to the Victorian Period - did you continue this love with scholastic study?
Karen: I taught world history to 9th and 10th graders and had to do much preparation because my undergraduate work had been mostly in speech and English. At the same time the National Endowment for the Humanities offered a summer program in teaching the humanities using an integrated approach:with history as a base, bringing in the literature, art, and the music from the time period.
I went on to be accepted into two NEH six-week workshops: one was on Chaucer and the Medieval World and the second was at Oberlin College and was on 19th century women writers. I developed a medieval unit and a 19th century British history unit, incorporating literature art and music from both the romantic and the Victorian age.
Barb: Ah - So both the Romantic and the Victorian period was on your radar?
Karen: Yes, and at this same time I started a Master of Liberal Studies degree with a focus in Victorian Literature. I actually wanted to design a Victorian Studies elective for my high school students. I took courses in the essay, poetry, and the novel and completed the coursework I needed. However, as school reform kicked into high gear, electives were no longer part of the curriculum, so I never had a chance to put my plan into action. But my interest and love for the time period and the novels from the period led me to agree to lead a discussion here on Cranford as an excellent example of a Victorian novel.
Barb: How special for us. Of course there is an entire discussion in itself about the wisdom of eliminating electives however, we are going to really benefit from your love and study of Victorian Literature. What would you say is special about the Victorian period? Give us a glimpse into the life lived during this time in history.
Karen: The Victorian Age in both history and literature refers to the time that Victoria ruled 1837-1901. In literature it was preceded by romanticism and followed by realism and modernism.
Historically it was a time of peace and prosperity for the upper and middle classes. The population of England doubled during this period and improvements in transportation opened up the rural areas to the urban dwellers. The industrial workers in the cities, in contrast, lived in squalor and poverty. Frequently the whole family had to work with the smallest children chained to the weaving machines pick up bobbins that fell underneath.
During the age, improvements in sanitary conditions, medical treatment, and the coming of electric power and lights improved the quality of life in the cities, but poor houses and orphanages abounded.
Barb: Wow! Although typical of Victorian life, the hardships of so many sound like realism enough doesn't it - Like all difficult life situations, authors can find the goodness beneath the rough veneer. It sounds like the readership was encouraged by reading how various improvements were making change and so they wanted more of this genre. Is this the difference highlighted in a story between earlier and later Literary periods?
Karen: Romanticism grew out French Revolution which sought to cast off the the institutions of the Old Regime: the Church, the aristocracy, the absolute monarchy and put power in the hands of the common man.
Poetry which expressed strong emotion and an awe for nature, broke the forms and the rules of classicism. The poets looked at the world with optimism, espoused strong nationalism and interests in the past and in the bizarre.
In summary, it was a revolt against the rationalism of the classical period.
Barb: Thank you Karen - you have now opened our eyes and hearts to this time in history. Cannot wait to get started with Cranford - So glad you agreed to guide us through this story and now we have historical happenings to look for before we even start our introduction to the characters.
ginny:
Here on the 9th Day of Christmas (quick what was happening in the song, drummers, maids a milking, swans a swimming?) hahahaa I'd like to take the opportunity to thank all of you who dropped by and shared your memories and thoughts with us this holiday season.
I hope it added a little bit of amusement or joy to your holiday.
This discussion is now closed and will be archived.
A very Happy, Prosperous, and Healthy New Year to You!
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