The signal-man

Dear all,

Tomorrow´s session will be devoted to discussing the short ghost story "The signal-man" by Dickens.

To help contextualise its writing, it´s useful to know that "The Signal Man" was written after a railway accident which took place in 1865 that had a great impact on Dickens´s life.


On our discussion of the story think of the following:

What does the train represent?
Think of the opposition between isolation and community.
Think of the issue of social responsibility
How is modernity depicted in this ghost story?

See you in class,
Claudia

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1289

Keynotes of the Victorian Age

Before reading Dickens´s stories, please take a look at the following keynotes about the Victorian Age. Discuss the central metaphors in Dickens´s writing. To what extent do you think they depicted the main problems of the Victorian Age?

• Keynotes of the Victorian age: progress, expansion, power and mobility (See Poplawski, P. (2008). English Literature in Context. CUP)


• 1830 Opening of railway lines in Britain: advancement, growth and difussion, awareness of interconnectedness, invention.


• Print culture proliferated and literacy rates increased


• Influence of the Romantic era on Victorian writers: ideas of liberty, individualism, the nature of subjectivity, emphasis on the self, emotion, imagination, relationship between man and the natural world.


• Social responsibility of the artist.


• The Victorian age witnessed the boom of economic expansion, transformation and hope in the first period, while in the second, it witnessed uncertainty and doubt.

Dickens´s fiction central metaphors: Fog, contagion, the prison. These three metaphors were best embodied in the word disease, both literal and figurative (cholera was a common disease at the time and it hit working-class communities very hard in the years 1831, 1848, 1853 and 1866). In Dickens´s writings one finds the idea of disease that spread through modern society and it immobilised it. His desire to represent the social realities of urban life are found in most of his writings. In "Oliver Twist" (1837-1838), the author depicts his own suffering during his childhood. At the age of 12 he starts working in a blacking factory. His family is sent to prison due to debt. He isn´t but this traumatic experience would influence his writing very much. At the age of 15 Dickens starts working as a free-lance writer.

Also, please remember to post your entry about Frankenstein. Deadline Sunday 14. You may use the words listed below (Thank you Carolina!!) which were the result of your own reflection and discussions.

Consequences

Regret

Loneliness

Emptiness

Family

Self-esteem

Hate

Senses

Happiness

Marginalization

Frustration

Mistakes

Maternity

Beliefs

Problems

Feelings

Overwhelming

Rejection

Morality

Discrimination

Injustice

Acceptance

Love

Forgetfulness

Emotions

Lack of satisfaction

Identity

Society

See you in class,

Claudia