Critical Study of Sixty Lights Sample Workbook Page

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1 Critical Study of Sixty Lights Sample Workbook Page T H E V IC T O R IA N ERA Sixty Lights is set in the mid to late 1800s in the period known as the Victorian era. It s important that you know about this time period as it will affect your appreciation of how the elements of the novel work together in integrity. The Victorian period covered more than sixty years when Queen Victoria ruled the British Empire. It has been described as a period of stability and certainty and British citizens felt they were the centre of the world. The key ideas of the period were a mixture of two main world views, which are outlined below. n_victoria 1 Romantic values (Romantics were champions of individuality, freedom of thought, artistic expression and the value of local cultures). 2 The Enlightenment (this was an ideology that even today continues to dominate much of European philosophy, politics, and art). It began in the mid-seventeenth century and emphasised the value of logic, reason, rationality and science. As you might expect Romantics were strong critics of Enlightenment values and believed that a fundamental part of being human was to create (Watson). This mix of values manifested themselves in the Victorian era (especially literature) in several important ways listed below; but as you will see it was Romanticism, with its key idea that a fundamental part of being human was creativity, which dominated culture. Art, as the product of individual creation, was highly valued. Local cultures (including myths and languages), rural life, crafts and pastoral imagery and nature, were common subjects for poetry. Individual achievements were highly prized. This notion applied both to actual people (artists, writers, military heroes, explorers, etc.) and also to fictional characters. This tendency produced the notion of the romantic hero and the Byronic hero. Many Romantic writers, especially the poets, believed all people, regardless of wealth or social class, should be able to appreciate art and literature, and artists should create art or literature accessible to everyone. By this time, the British Empire had expanded significantly and had experienced significant successes and setbacks, the largest of which was the revolt of the thirteen

2 American colonies, which ultimately lead to the creation of the United States. By the nineteenth century however, the British Empire had expanded its colonial presence in many parts of Africa, India, the Middle-East and other parts of Asia. There were many long-term effects, including the dominant use of the English language outside of Europe and well-established trade between Europe and distant regions. As you can imagine, it also created some long-standing resentment in colonised regions. Interestingly, one of the ways the British sought to make claim over the countries it colonised was through the use of photographs. Write down your thoughts on how the British colonisers might make claim over countries by the use of photographs. Use the space below to make some brief notes summarising your ideas. Britain thought nothing of ransacking the cultures of subject peoples. In the image below, note how the female representation of Britain sits on top of the globe representing the world. It shows you how Britain s colonisation impacted on most countries around the world at the time. Notice also how the people, the objects representing culture and customs, and the native animals from the invaded countries are shown as within the control of the Empire.

3 The rule of Queen Victoria, which lasted just longer than 63 years, was longer than any other British monarch at the time. The Victorian era lasted roughly twice as long as the Romantic period, hence the Victorian period includes even more variety. L ITERATURE OF THE V ICTORIAN PERIOD: Below are a few of the noteworthy characteristics. The drive for social advancement frequently appears in literature. This drive may take many forms. It may be primarily financial, as in Charles Dickens Great Expectations. It may involve marrying above one s station, as in Charlotte Bronte s Jane Eyre. It may also be intellectual or education-based. Typically, any such attempt to improve one s social standing must be accompanied by proper behaviour (thus helping to provide the period with its stereotype). The period saw the rise of a highly idealised notion of what is English or what constitutes an Englishman. This notion is obviously tied very closely to the period s models for proper behaviour, and is also tied very closely to England s imperial enterprises. Many colonists and politicians saw it as their political (and sometimes religious) duty to help or civilise native populations in colonised regions. It was thus important to have a model that provides a set of standards and codes of conduct, and the idealised notion of what is English often provided this model. Later Victorian writing saw the seeds of rebellion against such idealised notions and stereotypical codes of conduct. These proper behaviours often served as subjects of satire; Oscar Wilde s plays are an excellent example. The later years of the Victorian period also saw the rise of aestheticism, the art for art s sake movement, which directly contradicted the social and political goals of much earlier Victorian literature. One of the fascinating ways of approaching the Victorian period is to examine the influence of these later developments on the Modernist period, which follows. Later we will look at Victorian literature from Charlotte Bronte and Charles Dickens that is used in Sixty Lights. VICTORIAN IMAGES One way to become more familiar with context of Sixty Lights is to look at photographs from the era. Below is an example of an image from the Victorian era. It is Leadenhall Street in the City of London, an engraving by J. Hopkins after a drawing by Thomas Hosmer Shepherd, published in During the Victorian era, modernism was supreme. The new took over the old. The old was destroyed to make way for the new, rendering much of London a building site during the mid-nineteenth century. London was a busy city with many people. Trades were flourishing. At the same time as modernity was growing, photography was invented. Sixty Lights is set during this busy time. Lucy and Thomas travel during this time from Australia to London. Go to page 81 to 85, when Lucy and Thomas first arrive in London. Look at the image below. It will help you to imagine what it was like for Lucy.

4 Victorian era London streetscape Task 1.7: Exploring Victorian images Time: 30 minutes 1. What do you notice about this image that locates it, time-wise, in the Victorian era? 2. What thoughts and feelings are evoked by this image?

5 3. Find your own Victorian image of a street or person or event or art. Answer the questions below for the image. i. What do you notice about the image that confirms it in the Victorian era? ii. What thoughts and feelings are evoked by this image? iii. Compile a portfolio of 3-4 Victorian texts. Include texts from a variety of text types, such as paintings, photographs, letters, literary texts, music, news reports, etc. For each text explain how it demonstrates the values or qualities of the Victorian era. Use your own paper.