A Summary and Analysis of Gillian Beer's Critical Essay, "Descent and Sexual Selection: Women in Narrative"

Summary:

In Gillian Beer’s essay “Descent and Sexual Selection: Women in Narrative, she calls forth a Darwinian idea that has been overlooked by many critics focusing on Darwin and his influence on Hardy, and that is the idea of ‘sexual selection’ and the role of women. She discusses Darwin’s idea that, in contrast with most species, humanistic tendency is for the man to hold the power of selection. In addition, she discusses that men place great emphasis on beauty. She claims, “The emphasis on beauty in the concept of sexual selection opened the debate into the domain of aesthetics as well” (447). Further on in her article she sums up the effect of all these ideas in terms of Hardy. She writes, “For George Eliot subtly, and for Thomas Hardy more frankly, the contradictions, social and psychological, and biological in the man/woman relationship and its identification with genetic succession became crucial to their re-reading of traditional fictional topics,” and she says, “Both George Eliot and Hardy emphasize the discordance between woman’s individuality and her progenerative role” (449).

Analysis:

I think focusing on Darwin’s effect on Hardy really helps give a better understanding of the novel. It helped me see why Hardy places so much emphasis on Tess’s beauty. Beer says, “The social emphasis on virginity, Hardy suggests, cannot be naturalized: ‘she had been made to break an accepted social law, but no law known in the environment in which she fancied herself such an anomaly” (449). I think Tess was a victim of social convention and that although her fate may have led her down this path; it did not have to end with death.

A Summary and Analysis of Gillian Beer's Critical Essay, "Descent and Sexual Selection: Women in Narrative"

Summary:

In Gillian Beer’s essay “Descent and Sexual Selection: Women in Narrative, she calls forth a Darwinian idea that has been overlooked by many critics focusing on Darwin and his influence on Hardy, and that is the idea of ‘sexual selection’ and the role of women. She discusses Darwin’s idea that, in contrast with most species, humanistic tendency is for the man to hold the power of selection. In addition, she discusses that men place great emphasis on beauty. She claims, “The emphasis on beauty in the concept of sexual selection opened the debate into the domain of aesthetics as well” (447). Further on in her article she sums up the effect of all these ideas in terms of Hardy. She writes, “For George Eliot subtly, and for Thomas Hardy more frankly, the contradictions, social and psychological, and biological in the man/woman relationship and its identification with genetic succession became crucial to their re-reading of traditional fictional topics,” and she says, “Both George Eliot and Hardy emphasize the discordance between woman’s individuality and her progenerative role” (449).

Analysis:

I think focusing on Darwin’s effect on Hardy really helps give a better understanding of the novel. It helped me see why Hardy places so much emphasis on Tess’s beauty. Beer says, “The social emphasis on virginity, Hardy suggests, cannot be naturalized: ‘she had been made to break an accepted social law, but no law known in the environment in which she fancied herself such an anomaly” (449). I think Tess was a victim of social convention and that although her fate may have led her down this path; it did not have to end with death.

A Summary and Analysis of Contemporary Reviews Regarding Thomas Hardy’s Novel Tess of the D’Urbervilles

A Summary and Analysis of Contemporary Reviews Regarding Thomas Hardy’s Novel Tess of the D’Urbervilles

Summary:

Many of the contemporary criticisms touched on overlapping issues within Thomas Hardy’s novel Tess of the D’Urbervilles, such as: an uncontrollable fate, morality, purity, representation of woman, and other observations as well. However, one contemporary review in particular really brought up an interesting argument. In the contemporary review from The Illustrated London News, the author first claims that Tess of the D’Urbervilles is by far Hardy’s best work he had produced up until that point. The article then defends against criticism saying that, “ The conventional reader wishes to be excited, but not to be disturbed” and that the conventional reader, “… detests an open challenge of that traditional pattern…” (383). Hardy challenges the usual reader and the article says he should be praised for that. In addition to challenging readers, the article also says that he portrays the kind of ‘womanly nature’ that often leads to downfall. “It is the unsuspicious and fundamentally pure-minded girl in whom lie the noblest possibilities of womanhood, who is the easiest victim and who has to fight the hardest fight” (383). It compares Hardy’s novel the story of Diana of the Crossways. In the final section of the review the author also comments on Hardy’s inclusion of not only dark settings, but also of the ‘wholesome’ country life and how these inclusions connect the reader to the characters experience. Finally the article sums up Hardy’s novel by saying, “[The books] essence lies in the perception that a woman’s moral worth is measurable not by any one deed, but by the whole aim and tendency of her life and nature” (383).

Analysis:

After discussing the book in class, I felt like the Naturalist lens really helped me understand the novel better. I feel like Tess was a victim of fate and that is why I connected to this review the most. Looking further into Naturalism, a somewhat broad equation says that heredity plus environment plus chance equals determinism. I think the article makes it clear that Tess’s fate of being a woman and a pure woman at that almost destines her to a downfall. Naturalism can envelop a sort of brutal reality, and I think Tess is a victim of this. Also I really like that article called forth this idea of social convention that forces women like Tess to be caught up in a snag that society will never let her come back from. Hardy’s comments on Victorian society aren’t necessarily as evident as some of the other authors we have read but I think his points are just as important.

Blog #4: A Summary and Analysis of Contemporary Reviews of Middlemarch

In this blog I will be summarizing a contemporary review of George Eliot's novel Middlemarch by Henry James titled "George Eliot's Middlemarch."

Summary:

Henry James's review both praises and ridicules Eliot's novel. He opens up his article stating, "Middlemarch is at once one of the strongest and one of the weakest of English novels." In terms of praise James focuses on Eliot's ability to include an abundance of detail and historical accuracy about rural life but he calls the book 'an indifferent whole.' He then goes on the praise Eliot's character Dorthea. He calls Dorthea the greatest achievement of the book but then goes on to say her character is wasted. His claim is that the fate of Dorthea is anti-climatic and he feels the novel spends to too much time building her up, only to let her fizzle away. But in a final praise of Middlemarch Henry James writes, "The author has desired to be strictly real and to adhere to the facts of the common lot, and she has given us a powerful version of that typical human drama, the struggles of an ambitious soul with sordid disappointments and vulgar embarrassments.

Analysis:

I chose this review to focus on because I had a really hard time agreeing with it. I kept asking myself, "does a novel have to build up to one climatic event for it to be successful?" I admit at times I wished Dorthea would leave Causabon and run away with Will but if she had, then Eliot's best quality would be lost. Her portrayal of real life and historical details are what make her novel great. Social class was how people thrived and marriage was very serious. I do agree with James when he says that life is full of sordid disappointments because it is true. Even though Dorthea is a wonderful character, reality would dictate that life is often full of disappointments.

A Summary and Analysis of a Background to George Eliot and Middlemarch

Summary:

The first two letters I looked at in the background to George Eliot and Middlemarch titled “From The Natural History of German Life” and “From Amos Barton Chapter V” shared a common sentiment. They both praised the ideas of a truthful portrayal of human life. The first article focused on the idea that an artist is capable of creating an “extension of our sympathies,” and how through art we are able to relate to our “fellow man” (520). In addition, the articles stress that the importance of knowing people is crucial; knowing people’s habits and ideas connects us. The second article takes this idea further and describes the importance of even the plainest character. The article says, “Yet these commonplace people—many of them—bear a conscious, and have felt the sublime prompting to do the painful right; they have their unspoken sorrows, and their sacred joys, their hearts have perhaps gone out towards their first-born, and they have mourned over the irreclaimable dead” (522). This idea of sharing universal human experience resonates through the two articles. In a similar direction the other letter I examined was one written by Eliot to Charles Bray. She expresses the sadness it causes her to see others ignore human realities. She understands that people want to see the ‘lovely,’ but she believes unless art can “enlarge men’s sympathies, it does nothing morally”(526).

Analysis:

One of the first things I found interesting was the connection these letters had to Mary Barton by Susan Gaskell, for she was also praised for her attention to truth. I think Eliot was successful in detailing human traits and morals. This attention to detail has made her work relatable to readers. If we focused only on the flowery aspects of life and ignored the realities of life, society could not progress. The idea of extending or sympathies I think is very important. When you can feel the same sorrows as the characters Eliot writes about, a special bond is created. The common human experiences such as love, death, sorrow, hardship, happiness, and illness connect people. Not everyone is a hero or obtains some characteristic that makes them special; the common man is often plain.  

Blog #1 Contemporary Reviews Summary and Analysis of Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell

Blog #1 Contemporary Reviews Summary and Analysis of Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell

Summary:

In the review, Anthenaeum  writer Henry Fothergill Chorly gives a very positive opinion about the novel Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell. He focuses on the realness of the text in terms of character and ‘life-like’ dialogue. Chorly also describes Gaskell’s use of ‘Agitation’ and the success at which she achieves a portrait of truth. Similarly the Manchester Literary Times review praises Mary Barton for its truthful nature. In this review the unsigned author says, “Everything is plain, simple, and truthful, both in its descriptive passages, and those of passion—its sunlight or its storm.” The focus on truth and sincerity is also discussed in the reviews towards the portrayal of the lower class. We read in the review Examiner by John Forster that the novel is achieves greatness by the way the good and bad are depicted. He writes, “the book is an ungilded and sorrowful picture of the life of the class of the workpeople,” and that portrayal of real people struggling to survive against all odds is relatable and valid. In contrast to the reviews that offer mostly praise, other examinations explored the novels shortcomings. In the unsigned review in the British Quarterly the author argues that Gaskell did not have a complete understanding of the relationships between the factory workers and the mill owners. The discussion of her work as being one-sided is explored further. Her portrayal of so many deaths is also questioned.

Analysis:

I really enjoyed this novel and I shared the opinions of most of the contemporary reviews when it came to realness of the unmasked darkness of the working class. I think the gritty authenticity we see in Mary Barton allows us as readers to connect to the characters. We all share the common human experiences of loss, struggle, and heartbreak. I understood that some critics did not agree with her unsympathetic view of mill owners and upper class people but I think that was her purpose. The characters in her novel never saw the other class’s side, so it makes sense that Gaskell doesn’t include their strife. I also didn’t think that Gaskell could have forgone the death of the twins, as one reviewer said would have been preferred. Leaving out unpleasant realities would be contradicting her entire purpose of chronicling the truth and unfaltering realities of life.