Letteratura inglese II
INFORMAZIONI UTILI
L’esame si può fare in Italiano o Inglese. Se si fa in Inglese con risposte molto eloquenti il cap è 30 e
lode.
Materiale analizzato
A selection of poems and other short texts that will be made available in Aulaweb
One novel chosen between: Jane Austen, Persuasion, and Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
(TESTO DEL 1818). MEGLIO IN ITALIANO;
--------------COMPITINO---------------
One novel chosen between Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, and Elizabeth Gaskell, North and
South. MEGLIO IN ITALIANO;
One selection of short stories written by women writers in the fin de siècle;
Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest (Play, su Youtube c’è)
Materiale secondario
Students will have to read critical materials relating to the two novels they choose to read
and to the short stories.
Esame scritto di 4 ore. Domande aperte e commento guidato di testi letterari (Poems extracts of
plays, novels). Nell’ultimo è essenziale descrivere le caratteristiche principali di testi specifici, e di
connetterli al contesto storico e culturale in cui si trova.
Appunti Ottobre
Vedi Nineteenth Century Timeline.
There are also historical events to understand the historical and social characteristics of the period,
the conditions in which writers wrote and how they reacted to them.
Of course, the Victorian period does not start when Queen Victoria comes to the throne or ends
when she dies.
English Romanticism is not associated with a specific group of poets with the same characteristics
(There were no Romantic schools in England): sometimes they collaborated, sometimes not.
Although, they all felt they were living in an age of violent and constant transformation: it was a
time of change. In fact, this period is also known as “The age of revolution”.
The Age of Revolution
Late 18th – Early 19th: The first novelty that ignites a large political debate is the American
revolution / American war of independence.
The American colonies had quite an impact on what was happening in the 19th century.
All the aspects connected with imperialism, Africa and England no longer being interested in
America, since they wanted to consolidate their world position in other continents, have favoured
1
,the revolution’s outbreak.
The main issue that started the war was that the British colonies of North America had to pay
taxation but had no right to elect members of parliament=> Their money were administered by
England. Therefore, they said they weren’t going to pay taxes unless they were represented in
parliament.
The whole debate around the American world of independence was lively in England, because
there were British people that actually agreed with the colonies.
In the early 1780s much of the cultural production (Books, poems) talked about this and the
principles behind this revolution.
Then there’s the French revolution: The prospect of it influenced and terrorized the entire Europe.
In fact, in this period the ancient regime and its ideal of a social hierarchy based on status/blood is
destroyed to be substituted by anarchical administration (Plus, Romanticism thinks that all
individuals are equal in terms of rights).
The British were scared of this revolution because they already had a bloody one in the 17 th
century, when the king got beheaded.
During that period there was also economic decline and an increase in poorness, therefore
repression. They surely didn’t want it again.
There was the Irish rebellion as well.
1803 – 1815: Napoleonic wars. They were a consequence of the French Revolution.
1809 – 1820s: Latin American revolutions. The Spanish empires crumbled and many new republics
are formed in central and south America.
This revolution was also an encouragement to investments: there were mines in south America,
and the British and the USA invested.
In 1840s many revolutions took place in Europe. The British almost had a revolution, but managed
to keep things quite by making a reform (1842).
Repression
At first the French Revolution generated much enthusiasm, at least in some part of the British
intelligentia, about the idea of freedom and equality. It was considered the achievement of
paradise on earth, able to put an end to corruption and injustice.
Instead, the upper classes feared that something terrible might happen in England too.
Because of this, Suspension of Habeas Corpus (1794) and Combination Acts (1799) were
established to repress criticism of the government and to prevent people (Who had nothing to lose
and were poor) from joining forces together to fight against the established order (Tipo sindacati).
To specify:
2
,1794 – Suspension of Habeas Corpus: It’s a traditional rite of British citizens done from the middle
ages.
If authorities arrested someone, they had to take this person to a judge and say why they were
arresting him, it was a citizens’ right. It wasn’t always the case, though.
With this measure, this right got suspended: the State could have arrested anyone even without
evidence and accusation. This was done because the States felt threatened: it’s a common
procedure, they try to repress traditional liberties (It was even used in Italy during the “Anni di
piombo”).
Citizens became restless, and protests increased.
A famous public process took place in Manchester: it was a massive pacific gathering, but it got
repressed with force by authorities.
Again, writers wrote about it, they were indignant.
Progressive measures
Not everything was going bad, there were also positive changes, like:
Public opinion movements.
1807 – Abolition of the slave trade: It was so profitable at the time for British economy to trade in
slaves (Therefore, ships weren’t allowed to ship slaves. They could still be used).
It has been a source of prosperity for England and certain areas of Britain for decades, especially
for the west coast of Britain (Bristol, Liverpool. They had great ports): the slaves came from Africa
and were shipped to America.
It got stopped by public opinion to preserve the slaves’ dignity. In fact, slave owners physically,
mentally or even sexually abused slaves.
Even before 1807 there were activist groups against slavery, mainly Christians (Because of the
equality of all individuals).
The problem was economical: since entrepreneurs actually bought slaves, the government
couldn’t simply tell them to release the slaves, so they paid them to release the slaves (Slaves must
go to the authorities, tell them they were slaves, and the authority would pay them for their “lost”
years).
This was a first step, but slaves were still used and abused until late 1833.
In England there were other issue: There weren’t civil rights for British people: Some groups of
people could not vote, if not in the upper classes.
1829 – Roman Catholic Emancipation: it was a law with which Catholics were emancipated, they
were allowed to vote if they were in certain groups.
In 1832 the Reform Act changed the rules for political representation.
But why was religion so important in England? In there it was known that the king is the head of
State and also of church. Therefore, patriotic or religious reasons made it questionable that people
who weren’t Anglican should be able to vote.
3
, For example, Catholics obey the Pope (A foreign authority) => they weren’t trusted citizens
because they didn’t obey the king as the head of the church, only as the political authority (They
couldn’t become a member of Parliament, study at Oxford or Cambridge or work for the State
neither). It changed, as already stated, after 1829.
After 1829 religious discrimination (Towards Catholics and Protestants) were abolished, but there
were still discrimination towards the Jews.
Benjamin Disraeli became of the most important prime minister of the Victorian Age. His family
was of Italian origins and Jews: His father decided to convert their children to Christianity to allow
him to have a carrier.
Political revolutions had an important impact on Britain as well.
Britain was the first country to industrialize thanks to the industrial revolution.
Some technological devices were invented, like:
1781: Steam engine and rotative motion.
Steam was already used to produce energy, but there weren’t proper machines to use that
energy.
Thanks to the steam engine new machines could be fuelled. Soon, steam-powered
factories developed.
1804: First steam locomotive and first railway journey.
This was a direct consequence of the steam engine.
1825: Stockton-Darlington railway.
It was the first public railway.
1830: Liverpool-Manchester railway.
This was the first important railway in terms of passengers.
Liverpool was the biggest port of the western coast of Britain, through which cotton came
from colonies. Manchester was the hearth of the industrial revolution.
Some other countries started developing these technologies. In Italy, for example, the first public
railway was Napoli-Portici, a short one.
Industrial Revolution
Phase 1 (1780s – 1840s).
It happened in Britain at first.
The leading sector that got mechanized was the cotton industry.
Britain is a humid place, it’s not great to cultivate cotton => The cotton industries were in the
countryside.
It was cultivated in the southern belt of North America and Caribbean Island by slaves then
brought to Britain. Then it was exported.
Note: India was the greatest competitor because cotton could be cultivated there and they had a
lot of domestic industries.
4
INFORMAZIONI UTILI
L’esame si può fare in Italiano o Inglese. Se si fa in Inglese con risposte molto eloquenti il cap è 30 e
lode.
Materiale analizzato
A selection of poems and other short texts that will be made available in Aulaweb
One novel chosen between: Jane Austen, Persuasion, and Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
(TESTO DEL 1818). MEGLIO IN ITALIANO;
--------------COMPITINO---------------
One novel chosen between Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, and Elizabeth Gaskell, North and
South. MEGLIO IN ITALIANO;
One selection of short stories written by women writers in the fin de siècle;
Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest (Play, su Youtube c’è)
Materiale secondario
Students will have to read critical materials relating to the two novels they choose to read
and to the short stories.
Esame scritto di 4 ore. Domande aperte e commento guidato di testi letterari (Poems extracts of
plays, novels). Nell’ultimo è essenziale descrivere le caratteristiche principali di testi specifici, e di
connetterli al contesto storico e culturale in cui si trova.
Appunti Ottobre
Vedi Nineteenth Century Timeline.
There are also historical events to understand the historical and social characteristics of the period,
the conditions in which writers wrote and how they reacted to them.
Of course, the Victorian period does not start when Queen Victoria comes to the throne or ends
when she dies.
English Romanticism is not associated with a specific group of poets with the same characteristics
(There were no Romantic schools in England): sometimes they collaborated, sometimes not.
Although, they all felt they were living in an age of violent and constant transformation: it was a
time of change. In fact, this period is also known as “The age of revolution”.
The Age of Revolution
Late 18th – Early 19th: The first novelty that ignites a large political debate is the American
revolution / American war of independence.
The American colonies had quite an impact on what was happening in the 19th century.
All the aspects connected with imperialism, Africa and England no longer being interested in
America, since they wanted to consolidate their world position in other continents, have favoured
1
,the revolution’s outbreak.
The main issue that started the war was that the British colonies of North America had to pay
taxation but had no right to elect members of parliament=> Their money were administered by
England. Therefore, they said they weren’t going to pay taxes unless they were represented in
parliament.
The whole debate around the American world of independence was lively in England, because
there were British people that actually agreed with the colonies.
In the early 1780s much of the cultural production (Books, poems) talked about this and the
principles behind this revolution.
Then there’s the French revolution: The prospect of it influenced and terrorized the entire Europe.
In fact, in this period the ancient regime and its ideal of a social hierarchy based on status/blood is
destroyed to be substituted by anarchical administration (Plus, Romanticism thinks that all
individuals are equal in terms of rights).
The British were scared of this revolution because they already had a bloody one in the 17 th
century, when the king got beheaded.
During that period there was also economic decline and an increase in poorness, therefore
repression. They surely didn’t want it again.
There was the Irish rebellion as well.
1803 – 1815: Napoleonic wars. They were a consequence of the French Revolution.
1809 – 1820s: Latin American revolutions. The Spanish empires crumbled and many new republics
are formed in central and south America.
This revolution was also an encouragement to investments: there were mines in south America,
and the British and the USA invested.
In 1840s many revolutions took place in Europe. The British almost had a revolution, but managed
to keep things quite by making a reform (1842).
Repression
At first the French Revolution generated much enthusiasm, at least in some part of the British
intelligentia, about the idea of freedom and equality. It was considered the achievement of
paradise on earth, able to put an end to corruption and injustice.
Instead, the upper classes feared that something terrible might happen in England too.
Because of this, Suspension of Habeas Corpus (1794) and Combination Acts (1799) were
established to repress criticism of the government and to prevent people (Who had nothing to lose
and were poor) from joining forces together to fight against the established order (Tipo sindacati).
To specify:
2
,1794 – Suspension of Habeas Corpus: It’s a traditional rite of British citizens done from the middle
ages.
If authorities arrested someone, they had to take this person to a judge and say why they were
arresting him, it was a citizens’ right. It wasn’t always the case, though.
With this measure, this right got suspended: the State could have arrested anyone even without
evidence and accusation. This was done because the States felt threatened: it’s a common
procedure, they try to repress traditional liberties (It was even used in Italy during the “Anni di
piombo”).
Citizens became restless, and protests increased.
A famous public process took place in Manchester: it was a massive pacific gathering, but it got
repressed with force by authorities.
Again, writers wrote about it, they were indignant.
Progressive measures
Not everything was going bad, there were also positive changes, like:
Public opinion movements.
1807 – Abolition of the slave trade: It was so profitable at the time for British economy to trade in
slaves (Therefore, ships weren’t allowed to ship slaves. They could still be used).
It has been a source of prosperity for England and certain areas of Britain for decades, especially
for the west coast of Britain (Bristol, Liverpool. They had great ports): the slaves came from Africa
and were shipped to America.
It got stopped by public opinion to preserve the slaves’ dignity. In fact, slave owners physically,
mentally or even sexually abused slaves.
Even before 1807 there were activist groups against slavery, mainly Christians (Because of the
equality of all individuals).
The problem was economical: since entrepreneurs actually bought slaves, the government
couldn’t simply tell them to release the slaves, so they paid them to release the slaves (Slaves must
go to the authorities, tell them they were slaves, and the authority would pay them for their “lost”
years).
This was a first step, but slaves were still used and abused until late 1833.
In England there were other issue: There weren’t civil rights for British people: Some groups of
people could not vote, if not in the upper classes.
1829 – Roman Catholic Emancipation: it was a law with which Catholics were emancipated, they
were allowed to vote if they were in certain groups.
In 1832 the Reform Act changed the rules for political representation.
But why was religion so important in England? In there it was known that the king is the head of
State and also of church. Therefore, patriotic or religious reasons made it questionable that people
who weren’t Anglican should be able to vote.
3
, For example, Catholics obey the Pope (A foreign authority) => they weren’t trusted citizens
because they didn’t obey the king as the head of the church, only as the political authority (They
couldn’t become a member of Parliament, study at Oxford or Cambridge or work for the State
neither). It changed, as already stated, after 1829.
After 1829 religious discrimination (Towards Catholics and Protestants) were abolished, but there
were still discrimination towards the Jews.
Benjamin Disraeli became of the most important prime minister of the Victorian Age. His family
was of Italian origins and Jews: His father decided to convert their children to Christianity to allow
him to have a carrier.
Political revolutions had an important impact on Britain as well.
Britain was the first country to industrialize thanks to the industrial revolution.
Some technological devices were invented, like:
1781: Steam engine and rotative motion.
Steam was already used to produce energy, but there weren’t proper machines to use that
energy.
Thanks to the steam engine new machines could be fuelled. Soon, steam-powered
factories developed.
1804: First steam locomotive and first railway journey.
This was a direct consequence of the steam engine.
1825: Stockton-Darlington railway.
It was the first public railway.
1830: Liverpool-Manchester railway.
This was the first important railway in terms of passengers.
Liverpool was the biggest port of the western coast of Britain, through which cotton came
from colonies. Manchester was the hearth of the industrial revolution.
Some other countries started developing these technologies. In Italy, for example, the first public
railway was Napoli-Portici, a short one.
Industrial Revolution
Phase 1 (1780s – 1840s).
It happened in Britain at first.
The leading sector that got mechanized was the cotton industry.
Britain is a humid place, it’s not great to cultivate cotton => The cotton industries were in the
countryside.
It was cultivated in the southern belt of North America and Caribbean Island by slaves then
brought to Britain. Then it was exported.
Note: India was the greatest competitor because cotton could be cultivated there and they had a
lot of domestic industries.
4
