Class Task
Working in groups of 2 or 3, identify elements of the following:
Romantic Elements
- natural descriptions affecting emotions or affected by emotions
page 9 : the melancholy gloom of the evening
Page 13: Good God, you surely will not destroy that noble chestnut
Page 15: not to know that for the glow-worm?
Page 123: The pensive hour and scene..disposed her mind to tenderness
Page 169: Haunted in her fancy, she drew pictures of social happiness amidst the grand simplicity of nature…noble piedmontese
- anti authoritarianism
- Flights of imagination
- Page 16: let us hear what vagaries fancy has been playing in your mind. If she has given you one of her spells, you need not envy those of the fairies.
- Passions, poetry
- Natural versus social man
Page 18: the latter was not philosopher enough to restrain his feelings when he received this information.
Page 120: Wither have you been rambling today, Emily.
Page 129. His (V) artless conduct gave her a degree of pleasure
Page 189 Emily felt how infinitely inferior all the splendour of art is to the sublimity of nature.
Page 201 A gleam of moonlight fell upon Morano’s countenance, revealing its strong emotions of his soul.
Page 229. Emily’s mind proceeded to the apprehension of what she might suffer in it, till remembering Valancourt came to her heart…
Neo-Classical 18th Century Elements
- emphasis on order and decorum
- social hierarchy
page 11. Monsier Quesnel..would readily sacrifice his sister’s peace to the gratification of his own ambition…
Page 190. But Montoni..severely disappointed in her (Cheron) comparative poverty.
Page 195: The absolute authorityhe thought himself entitled to exercise in her affairs.
Page 217 I am not to be trifled with….by the right of my will
- social versus natural man
Page 125. He (Valancourt) was always judging persons by their countenances, and was continually deceived.
Page 128. Madam, you surely did not ask such a question
Page 200. Count, this language is ridiculous, this submission is childish.
- Distance from nature
Page 119. How often he had pointed out the necessity of fortitude…and that the faculties of the mind strengthen by exertion, till they finally unnerve affliction.
Page 139: She desired to see her niece marry ambitiously, not because she desired to see her in possession of the happiness which rank and wealth are usually believed to bestow, but because she desired to partake of importance, which such an alliance would give.
Gothic Elements
- as you know them.
Page 209: Emily regarded both with a superstitious dread.
Page 221. Her mind, long harassed by distress, now yielded to imaginary terrors…her disturbed fancy
Page 222. Poem of dark power
Page 226. There is Udolpho…gothic greatness…mouldering…stone…gloomy…sublime…deep…faded…awakens terrific images in her mind.
Page 228 Entered grass grown…wild…desolate…moss, briony, nightshade…towers rose above…gothic hall…horror…gloom of evening…partial gleams…pillars…arches…
Page 231: Annette: I can almost believe in giants again….fairies tripping..until they hear our voice….
Page 232: fit for nothing but ghosts…
Page 233 I have heard there is something dreadful belonging to it
Page 235 She wanted courage to venture into the darkness alone
Questions:
What does the mix of these elements suggest about Radcliffe, her work, her times? Which is dominant, to what end? Which subordinate, to what effect?
How do YOU feel about the characters, and why?