The Gothic

     Before I begin on the gothic, I would like to explain something on my video. I am happy to say we are up to 23 views so I can see it is well on its way to being a YouTube sensation. I also noticed that for some reason, after I uploaded it to YouTube, the timing is off. As you can notice in one of the interviews, the background switches after the characters do, which is pretty funny, but something I will fix and then re-upload. Just thought I would explain… Anyways, on to the gothic…

     For the last couple of weeks, we have been studying gothic literature and the various aspects of it. I have to say that I have learned a lot from the various presentations and readings that were done in class. I have touched upon gothic literature in a couple of my other classes, but whenever I hear about anything “gothic”, my mind goes back to the high school days in which the “goth” kids would put black makeup all over themselves and listen to Marilyn Manson. I have been enlightened since then, and understand where the term and ideology come from.

     Gothic literature, as I have learned from the class presentations, is essentially a combination of romance in horror. We were first given the assignment to read three short stories, our choice from a list, as an introduction to the concept.

     The first story I read was The Mysterious Spaniard; Or, The Ruins of St. Luke’s Abbey by an Anonymous author. Although the story has a few horror elements, I found that it focused more on the romance aspect. The Spaniard mentioned in the title appears to have fallen in love with a girl that he met at a convent. Other than that, I found the story to be difficult to understand in parts and didn’t find it very interesting. The second story I read was The Midnight Embrace by Matthew Lewis. I also found this novel to focus on the romantic aspect rather than horror. The only part of this story that could be characterized as horror was Albert, the main character, meets Josephine, who has died. The description here of a dead woman embracing the fearful man is pretty creepy. Finally, I read Maddalena by Horace Walpole. This story, to me, seemed to qualify more as a “gothic” than the others. It contained both elements of horror and romance and even from the beginning explains the dark and mysterious setting that the story encompasses.

     To summarize, the stories in which I read as an introduction to gothic literature did not give me the usual picture. What I mean is, when I think of gothic literature, the most famous examples that come to mind are Dracula and Frankenstein. Both of these stories contain romantic elements but focus more upon the horror aspect, opposite of the stories mentioned previously.

     Out of all the discussions we had in class about the gothic, the most intriguing was the relationship between females and the gothic. We have learned that female gothic writers were important to the genre in its early stages. The association can then be made to females today with the example of the Twilight Saga. I assume that females cling to the romance aspect of the gothic due to the fact that female gothic writers were the ones to bring it to light, and why they are so poopular. It is also interesting to see how gothic literature has been able to survive so well. An interesting topic for further study… Well on to the Mysteries of Udolpho…

Orientalism and Rasselas

This past week, Caleb and I presented our project on “Orientalism”. Overall is was a good experience filming and editing the movie, however it took much longer than expected. Although we have done several films before, this was not only our first experience doing an academic project, but it was also our first time using a green screen. This is evident in the film as in some of the parts, you can see the green screen.

Our movie outlines the main points of Orientalism. First, it covers the definition and purpose of Orientalism. Then, we focus on music and art from the period. We also talk to “Edward Said”, who was a foremost scholar on the subject, and contributed the primary source on the subject with his book entitled, “Orientalism”. This video also talks about Orientalist architecture and different Orientalist sites around the world. Lastly, we talk to George Psalmanazar, a British imposter who became famous by telling stories of his journeys to Formosa.

Overall, this film took approximately 20 hours to setup, film, and edit. Hopefully in the next few days, we will upload some of the bloopers and behind the scenes. We hope you enjoy this film, if you have any questions please leave a comment and I will respond as soon as possible.

Anti-Pamela / Shamela

        This  week I am deciding to tackle 2 readings at once, more or less, because they are similar. I have been very busy with the presentation and midterms so tackling these 2 stories at the same time makes sense.

        Let’s start with The Anti-Pamela; or Feign’d Innocence Detected by Eliza Haywood. Anti-Pamela is clearly a satirical response to Richardson’s Pamela and follows a similar character known as Syrena. Syrena, while playing off of many of Pamela’s actions, is much more deceitful and manipulative that Richardson’s character. She is seen by the reader as someone who will do anything to get what she wants including using her own God-given assets to make that happen. At the same time, Haywood appears to be creating a character that she believes is more “real” than Pamela. I say that because, from my readings, it appeared to me that Haywood could in no way believe that a woman of this timeframe could possibly be as “pure” as Pamela. Haywood’s creation of Pamela in Syrena, gives us a more modern and independent woman, sometimes referred to today, as another student put it, a “gold digger”. After making Syrena a character I could better understand, and even relate to girls that I know, it made it a much easier, and more interesting read.

        On the other hand, we have Henry Fielding’s An Apology for the Life of Mrs. Shamela Andrews, which is not only a satirical response, but a direct mocking of Pamela, as well as Richardson’s personal writing style. Fielding does not even create a different character for his story like Haywood but instead uses Pamela herself, and later renames her Shamela. By doing this, Fielding claims that his version involves the “true” events of Richardson’s character, who really has an alternative motive. Like Haywood, Fielding also does not believe Pamela as a “pure” individual and says that her virtue is all an act to seduce her master.

        When I think of satire, I think of television shows like Seinfeld, Family Guy, South Park, etc. which basically poke fun at anything and everything. When I think of this fact, I would consider Shamela to be more satirical than Anti-Pamela. I don’t, however, believe that Shamela could be read as a stand-alone story like Anti-Pamela could. Either way, I believe they are excellent examples of early satirical prose.

Virtue Rewarded

I am finally able to write in my blog after a busy week. My cousin and I started working on our class presentation and excited to see how it turns out. This week’s reading comes from the 1740 published novel, Pamela: or, Virtue Rewarded by Samuel Richardson. I was excited to give this a read after last weeks read and our professor also seemed excited for the class to pick up the book. Although it was a little easier to get through than Fantomina, it did not have the excitement I was looking for.

Pamela is about a young girl of the same name who is innocent and sweet. She works as a servant for Lady and Mr B. From the early points of the story, Mr.B makes advances towards Pamela, but as the title of the novel suggests, Pamela is full of virtue, and resists. Pamela is torn between the idea of returning home to her poor parents, but changes her mind back and forth. Her mind is made up after Mr.B tries to marry her to his chaplain. Pamela starts writing letters to her parents but they are intercepted by Mr.B who makes up a different story for them. Even though these are lies, Pamela becomes a prisoner, and starts writing in a journal.

To make a not so long story, not so longer, Pamela’s story continues and ends with her being married to Mr.B, and as the title suggests, is rewarded and praised for her virtue. I have to say that this story made sence to me more than the other ones that we have read. I try and take each story and examine it as if I were reading it in the timeframe it was released. This, more than the others, appeared to be a modern story. As I pre-mentioned, however, this did not necessarily make the story any more interesting. The characters, such as Mr.B and Mrs. Jewkes, were extremely annoying and frustrating and couldn’t help but think that if I were in Pamela’s place, the rampage that would ensue.

At the same, however, I appreciated the moral that the story portrays, that “good works” are not left unseen. This is a moral that everyone can benefit from. Fantomina used almost the complete opposite methodology as Fantomina made wrong choices until she finally hit the brick wall. Pamela, making good choices throughout the entire story, is rewarded, instead of punished, in the end. This is a story that everyone can learn from.

A Maze of Love

For this week’s assigned reading, we are given the challenge of reading Fantomina; or, Love in a Maze by the great Elizabeth Haywood. I was not totally sure what to think before I started reading but I have to say overall it was a very interesting read. Judging this book by it’s cover, which I usually do, it looked like another Cinderella-esque story about a boring girl that was trying to become the belle of the ball.

It didn’t take too long to figure out that this story was going in a different direction than I had first anticipated. The girl eventually known as Fantomina first tries to win the affection of “Beauplaisir” by pretending to be a protistute. The man rapes the young women, who in turn, falls in love with him. As interesting as this sounds already, the story really starts to pick up and becomes something that can often be found on daytime talk shows. Beauplaisir appears to be bored with Fantomina and starts to travel. Fantomina follows Beauplaisir to his various destinations, pretending to be a different woman each and every time. As beauplaisir continues, Fantomina keeps changing, until the two eventually become bored with each other.

This novel displays many different morals and themes. The first of which can be female independance. It appears that if Fantomina wants something, specifically Beauplaisir, she will not stop at anything to get it. I am not totally sure on how women acted during this time, but the behaviour and attitudes posessed by Fantomina do not seem common to me during this time. Another thing I do not seem to understand is the mentality of Beauplaisir. I couldn’t understand how he didn’t figure out that he was getting played the whole time. I mean, I know she disguised herself, but you can only change so much.

Towards the ending of the book, I really wasn’t feeling these two characters anymore, which why I was somewhat pleased with the ending. The promiscuous activity of Fantomina finally catches up with her when she finds out that she is pregnant. Beauplaisir also hears of the news of how he was played, but does not seem to overly care. In the end, Fantomina ends up in a monasterie, placed there by her mother, for the sins in which she had commited.

I believe Fantomina to be a character, used by Haywood, to demonstrate the consequences of making the wrong choices. She even goes as far to show us that fun can last but will eventually catch up with you. The importance of this story is that the same exact values can be used in today’s society. I can’t count the amount of people who make stupid decisions with no fear of reprecussions. All and all, I enjoyed the story of Fantomina and recommend it to anyone looking for a quick moral story.

Saving Private Robinson…

I finished Robinson Crusoe a few days ago and am now finally finding time to finish my review. Where I left off, Cannibals were starting to make an appearance on the island. Here is where I find that Crusoe uses his intelligence. Although at first, he plans on attacking them for their savage and sinful acts, he changes his mind and makes sure to remove any indication that he lives on the island. This is where we meet “Friday”, who Crusoe rescues from these terrible cannibals. We then get a glimpse into Crusoe’s compassion as he teaches Friday to perform certain chores and rids him of his cannibalistic habits by feeding him goat meat.

Crusoe and Friday’s relationship continues to grow and the two eventually worry about losing each other. The talk about religion, geography, and Fridays home island, to which they plan to sail after the construct a canoe. Before leaving, however, they battle with the cannibals and rescue Friday’s father. Crusoe starts to consider himself a king, and that these people are part of his “kingdom”. More individuals come to the island which Crusoe and his new accomplices attack. They seize their ship and after over 25 years on the island, Crusoe sets sail for England.

The rest of Robinson Crusoe is history. Crusoe stops at a few places before returning home to England. The remaining pages of the book tell us that he has married, then set sail again, and has revisited his island.

Robinson Crusoe has been said one of, if not the, first “novels” ever written. If this is indeed the case, then I have to say that it is an excellent and entertaining story. Thinking of how boring life without technology must have been, Robinson Crusoe is a breath of fresh air. Reading over reviews of some of my class-mates would tell me that the novel was not overly enjoyed, however, looking upon the population when the book was released show me why it is a classic. I would recommend Robinson Crusoe to anyone who enjoys any Cast Away type adventures. Now… to watch Robinson Crusoe on Mars.

Like Robinson Crusoe…

I started reading Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe this week and have almost completed it. I had heard the name Robinson Crusoe before but I never knew the story. When I heard that we were reading it, the song Amish Paradise by Weird Al Yankovic came to mine, more specifically, the line, “Like Robinson Crusoe, it’s as primitive as can be”. I immediately thought that this story would be somehow be related to Amish culture. Of course, it did not take me much time to realize that I was mistaken.

I have to say that Robinson Crusoe is a more entertaining than I had imagined. Although many scenes seem drawn out, as well as repetitive, it gives the reader a better sense of how he is feeling and his mental capacity. I also find it easy to relate with Crusoe because of his actions and attitudes at the beginning of the story. He appears to be independent, judging by the way he disobeys his parents, and sets his own goals and not only lives off of his parents’.

Although Crusoe’s sailing adventures appear to be cut short after his first adventure, he is tempted to set sail again on a merchant ship. Things aren’t as easy for Crusoe as were explained as his ship is destroyed. Crusoe, the survivor, ends up on a lonely island. Most of the novel from here on explains Crusoes fights against hunger, shelter, and the elements. Uh Oh! Cannibals are coming… I better keep reading…

New to the Blog World!

hey what’s up everybody, this is my new and first blog. I have set this up in conjunction with my ENGLISH 3205 course at the University of New Brunswick. Like many of my classmates, I am new to blogs and hope to make this as interesting as possible. I was going to call this blog “Prose before Hoes” but realized it was a bit derogatory, haha. Anyways, over the next few weeks, I will be reading many prose narratives. I will be writting my thoughts, reactions, and reviews to the individual stories. First up is Robinson Crusoe, I will be starting it soon, and letting you know what I think.