Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Written by Himself

Reading Journal – Session 9 - 20/12/2016

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas

I remember I had to read an extract of the Narrative of Frederick Douglass a few years ago for a Proseminar about the Puritans. It is the most famous narrative of slavery written by a slave that became a free man and it is a really striking text. Douglass’s rhetoric is really impressive, the way in which he can describe the most cruel and gruesome scenes so matter of fact, depicting just how these actions were considered by both the slave owners and the slaves, often only adding the really strong adjectives when describing the people themselves, but not the actions with which they treated the slaves.

The beginning itself already hits many emotional notes on a very basic level, with Douglass stating that he does not even know how old he is because it is not an information deemed necessary for the slaves to know. It goes on to depict his early separation from his mother, a woman he has never seen in the light, and the cruel treatment black children have to suffer at the hands of their white fathers and brothers. Especially because of this matter of fact tone does the treatment seem as horrible as it is, because the readers have to judge for themselves. At least nowadays it is generally received that way, during the time of slavery, it was probably received as entirely normal and Douglass was probably heavily criticized for even daring to voice this treatment.

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Gilbert and Gubar - The Madwoman in the Attic

Reading Journal – Session 7 – 6/12/2016

Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar – The Madwoman in the Attic: A Dialogue of Self and Soul: Plain Jane’s Progress

·         Matthew Arnold: Charlotte Bronte’s mind contains nothing but “hunger, rebellion and rage”

·         “alarming revolution” following the “invasion of Jane Eyre”

·         contemporary critics shocked by “anti-Christian” refusal to accept the forms, customs, and standards of society = rebellious feminism

·         Jane’s anger perceived as horrifying: a heroine who wishes to escape society’s conventions far more dangerous to the audience than one interested in sexuality (as was another point of critique)

·         example for female Bildungsroman: problems encountered by the protagonist as she struggles from the imprisonment of her childhood toward an almost unthinkable goal of mature freedom are symptomatic of difficulties Everywoman in patriarchal society must meet and overcome:

o   oppression (Gateshead)

o   starvation (Lowood)

o   madness (Thornfield)

o   coldness (Marsh End)

·         Jane’s encounter with Bertha is the books central confrontation, it is an encounter not with her own sexuality but with her own “imprisoned hunger, rebellion and rage”, a secret dialogue with self and soul

·         metaphor of fire and ice to represent Jane’s experiences

·         escape through flight or escape through starvation, or escape through madness

·         deliberate allusions to pilgrimage

·         both Miss Temple and Helen Burns are something like mothers to Jane, feeding her, embracing her, counseling her

·         Adèle Varens, Blanche Ingram, Grace Pool all serve as negative role models for her

·         Jane and Rochester set up as spiritual equals

·         Rochester with secret of masculine potency and male sexual guilt and through this is her superior instead of her equal

·         Bertha as the most threatening avatar of Jane, doing what Jane wants to do, being her truest and darkest double

o   not only acts for, but also like her

·         “true” relatives with names from the Bible

·         Rochester’s proposal as fire of passion, St. John’s as ice

·         only through Rochester’s injuries can they shed society’s restraints on their different ranks and finally see each other as equal

This text certainly raises important points concerning Jane’s journey throughout the text, the important stations she has to live through as well as the meaning and purpose of the people she encounters in these symbolic settings. Analysis of the prominent metaphors of fire and ice, prophetic dreams and female sexuality and yearning for freedom are interwoven with the prominent position of Bertha Rochester as Jane’s darker evil double, living out the secret desires that Jane has to suppress. The text gives a comprehensive account of the most important aspects of the book. I especially like the interpretation of the function of Bertha Rochester. While the book itself subjects her to the most cruel treatment, physically, mentally and verbally, reducing her in a way that can only be done because she is a racial other, her role seems more profound through this interpretation, as a representation of Jane’s deepest and darkest desires.

Susan Sniader Lanser – Jane Eyre’s Legacy: The Powers and Dangers of Singularity

 

Reading Journal - Session 6 - 29/11/2016

Susan Sniader Lanser – Jane Eyre’s Legacy: The Powers and Dangers of Singularity
 

·         novel only not a failure because it was promoted as autobiography with a strong narrative voice, impersonal narrator wouldn’t have had the same effect

·         female personal voice took form in the early 19^th cent. by merging two different genres: courtship novel and spiritual autobiography

·         governess novels preceding Jane Eyre: retrospectively told by a woman who has been a wife for some time, with the goal being instruction

o   silence a condition for the position of the governess, as well as an expectation of womanhood

o   restlessness with their own submissive and pious femininity

·         Jane Eyre exposing earlier governess narrators as only fictively female and singular, occupying the ideological positions of men

·         most crucial to the development of Jane’s character is the preservation of her right to speak

·         proceeds as though she must not only have a voice, but be the voice

o   vanquishing the verbal authority of men

o   becomes her own spiritual authority, instead of accepting the assumed connection btw. God’s authority and man’s

·         addressing the reader directly as form of public epistolarity

·         to tell is to exist

·         Jane Eyre as a starting point for a tradition of fictional autobiography by women

·         but in order to be so effective, Jane must silence all other voices (especially Bertha Mason Rochester, Jane’s silenced double), subjugation the Victorian Empire demands

o   racialized other, defeminized, dehumanized, assures Jane’s own femininity

o   compared to Bertha’s uncontrollable voice, Jane’s outspokenness is ultimately safe and unthreatening to social order

·         just as Romantic narrative constructed authority as essentially masculine, Jane Eyre legitimates female authority as essentially white

This essay raises interesting points concerning the narrative voice in Jane Eyre that made the novel so different and successful in the history of English literature. It explains how it becomes the starting point of fictional autobiography of female voices and the importance of Jane’s outspokenness throughout the whole piece. But it also takes into account that for Jane to be as outspoken as she is, everyone else has to be silenced, the men she interacts with as well as other women who threaten her position. While Jane Eyre is an important work of fiction in the context of feminism by making her voice equal to men in the narrative, it is also important to consider the unequal notions by silencing all the other women. In a racial context, this becomes even more severe in the person of Bertha Mason Rochester who is silenced, dehumanized and killed to further Jane’s own narrative. It is no wonder that she received so much attention later on through the “Mad Woman in the Attic” as well as the prequel of the book Wide Sargasso Sea for “The Empire Writes B(l)ack” that deals with Bertha’s story. It is an instance that very well shows that feminism for white women and feminism for black women mean very different things and need to be considered differently to reach some kind of equality.

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Charlotte Bronte - Jane Eyre

Reading Journal - Session 6 - 29/11/2016

Charlotte Bronte – Jane Eyre

As I already stated, I haven’t read the text before, but I already knew quite a bit due to different sources, so I was prepared for Mr. Rochester and the mad woman in the attic who sets everything on fire, as well as the proposal from a missionary who wants Jane to go to the West Indies with her.

Therefore, I expected the story to start with Mr. Rochester, not with her early childhood and the systematic abuse she had to suffer because of her inferior standing. I did not expect to like the part of Jane being in school to like the most and find more interesting than anything that followed. While it was also not a completely happy part of her life, it was nice to see people treat Jane kindly, giving her the benefit of the doubt. While servant Bessie was also nice to Jane most of the time, she also helped restrain her and took an active part in her abuse. But Miss Temple was really the first completely positive role model she had. Helen Burns was another character that was really interesting to get to know, with her unyielding trust in any of the adults, admitting to “terrible character traits” that she deserved to be punished for. While it was not easy to read about the treatment of the teachers, it was at least a good contrast to see a character so at peace with her situation and her suffering, even though Jane is much more relatable in her desire for fairness and a right to fight against mistreatment, no matter her social standing.

The class system was also a prevailing theme in the novel. One scene that stuck with me after reading was during a chapter in which Mr. Rochester entertained some higher class guests who talked dismissively about Jane, her occupation, her looks and her being present in general and went on to fondly reminiscent about how much they mistreated their own governesses, how they enjoyed it and how much their employees deserved it, wither their biggest crimes being that they actually obey the parent’s wishes to teach their children. And the parents join in at the party and even praise their children for the thoughtless actions. It really drives home the careless regard from the upper classes to the lower classes who deserve being looked down upon even though they are actually the ones who work hard so the lives of the upper classes are easier. While it becomes very obvious in this novel, especially because it is presented from Jane’s point of view, it is still a common issue that people still naturally take part in without being aware of it.

Generally, it was an interesting and enjoyable book and I wonder how much more of an impact it had when people still perceived it to be an autobiography. Did it change the view of the upper classes on the lower classes? Did it validate their existence because Jane joined their ranks after her inheritance? I haven’t read many other Victorian novels, but I remember Oliver Twist turning out to be upper class as well, after the character suffered throughout the novel from being poor. Was it perceived in a similar manner?

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