Victorian Era

Queen Victoria

Brenna Miller Rocky Hiller School Honors English 10 Snyman May 30, 2013

Table of Contents

Preface

2

Overview: Ask Why Not?

3

Novel: Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights

5

Short Story: Charles Dickens’ The Trial for Murder

7

Play: Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest

9

Poem: Lord Alfred Tennyson’s Mariana

10

Bibliography

13

1

Preface

Mark Twain once said, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowline. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” This was the exact spirit of the people of the era, who were willing to try new things and defy previous social norms. The Industrial Revolution brought many countrymen to the city, where they had to adjust to new lives that were not always ideal. Women wanted to have more freedom and not be just the puppets that society deemed them to be. The lower and middle classes despised the privileged upper class and tried to change the construct of the castes that their income had put them in. Charles Dickens, a famous Victorian author, began one of his works, A Tale of Two Cities, with a now canonical line which embodies the changing of life during the Victorian Era. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we has everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”

Most of the attempted changes that the Victorians brought were not welcomed by those who wanted to stay with the old habits and structures of life. Many of the wealthy believed that they deserved the privileges they had and that the poor were all criminals, an attitude which is demonstrated throughout Dickens’ novel Oliver Twist. The character Algernon in Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest carries the belief that women are all the same and are inferior to men, while the character of Lady Bracknell thinks that the old ways of society are the way to go and will not support a marriage between two people of different classes.

These characters personify the attitudes of the Victorians.

I chose to delve into the literature of the Victorian era because some of the works have worked their way into the literary canon and are considered classics by many. Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Oliver Twist, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and Great Expectations are simply a few of these pieces which remain popular today. Their authors remain known throughout the world; nearly everybody recognizes Emily, Charlotte and Anne Brontë, Oscar Wilde, Charles Dickens, Lewis Carroll, George Eliot, and Lord Alfred Tennyson. The eras preceding and following the Victorian era fascinated me as well. The Romantic period is known for its imaginative and symbolic stories like Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and for its gothic novels such as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The Edwardian age, which I find especially intriguing, took place just before World War I and was the birth period of science fiction. H.G. Wells is known for being the “father of science fiction,” as he is the author of The Time Machine, War of the Worlds, and The Invisible Man. Now that I know more about the era the preceded the Edwardian, I can advance my knowledge about the age of science fiction and delve deeper into the social structure which paved the way for such works to be written and accepted.

2

Ask Why Not? – The Victorian Era “You see things; and you say ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were and I say ‘Why not?’” George Bernard Shaw’s words could not have applied to the Victorian era any better. This age was named after Queen Victoria and was the period of her reign, which lasted from 1837 to 1901. It was a time of advancement for Great Britain. Four major aspects of the Victorian Era were the Industrial Revolution, growing class tensions, Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, and the struggle to gain equality for women. The people of the Victorian Era were very focused on making life easier and improving conditions for the underprivileged.

In order for an industrial revolution to take place, the population has to have a positive attitude toward working. The people have to be willing to move around in order to maintain their employment. If jobs are only available in cities, then the country folk must be prepared to relocate. Methods of distributing news must also be available. The population has to be aware of what is happening and how it can contribute. These conditions existed during the Victorian Era, so the Industrial Revolution commenced. This revolution was split into three phases: improved textile production, the development of railroads, and the technological revolution. Arguably the most important phase was the second, which involved railroads, steam, and steel. The first selfpropelling steam engine could pull fifteen tons at a rate of around five miles per hour. Though this seems very slow in modern times, this was a huge improvement compared to many previous forms of transit such as water transportation. The steam engine allowed Britain to transport goods faster and more efficiently. The Industrial Revolution was not all beneficial, however.

Child labor became popular because the wages were inexpensive and the product was acceptable.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poem The Cry of the Children described the harsh conditions in which small children were expected to work. These children were commonly of the lower class and needed to work in order to provide a minimal income for their struggling families. Children of the upper class were never expected to work in factories. This was one distinction between the upper and lower classes.

Labels on different social classes became popular early in the nineteenth century.

“Working Class”, “Middle Class”, and the “Upper Class” were three of the prominent titles.

Though the lines defining the middle class can be questionable, the classes could be distinguished by their wealth, living conditions, occupations, and the length and depth of their education. The people of the working class were laborers, farmers, and other professionals that were required to perform manual labor. The professions of the middle class included bankers, merchants, and engineers. The upper class focused on education; the children of the upper class were instructed thoroughly, went to college, and often earned high-paying academic or government jobs. Oscar Wilde’s play The Importance of Being Earnest describes the trivial social customs of the Victorian Era. Those in the upper class controlled politics and stymied the working class and the middle class from having voices when it came to matters involving the people as a whole. As the Industrial Revolution continued, the working class became exasperated with the entitled upper class. Because they had no say in political matters, there was not much that the working class could do to amend their situation. They accepted life as it was and did not attempt to really mitigate their lives. The people of the middle class, however, were extremely conscious of the tensions developing between the privileged and those not as fortunate.

Distinguishing the middle class from the lower and upper could be difficult. One person may have said that the separation of the classes was based completely on incomes. Another may have 3

believed that the deciding factor was the occupations of the member of the family. Below aristocracy and above manual laborers would be considered the middle class. Some were convinced that there was no middle class, just upper and lower classes. Due to the diversity of the families of Victorian Era England, a perfect definition of the middle class was impossible to determine. The middle class, in this case those of average income and moderate influence, was resolved on raising their social standings. Charles Dickens’s short story The Poor Man and His Beer is a reflection on the responsibilities of the middle class to aid in to redefine the social classes. The determination to transition from a society based on social rank to a society based on the idea that hard work can help one achieve economic and social prosperity was what the middle class endeavored to do in order to ameliorate the agitation between the classes. The Reform Act of 1832, which increased the number of eligible voters, and the abolition of the Corn Laws in 1846, which decreased food prices so that proper nourishment was easier to attain, were indications of how successful the Middle Class would be in their goal of eliminating the distinction between the lower and upper classes.

Another discovery that led to tension among the people of the Victorian Era was caused by one man in particular: Charles Darwin. His theory of evolution emphasized “survival of the fittest.” According to his theory, human beings were most well-equipped for life on Earth which is why they were and are the superior beings on Earth. Darwin’s theory caused tension because it contradicted the teachings of the Catholic Church. The Church believed that evolution was ludicrous and that human beings were placed on Earth and were superior because that’s how God wanted them to be. Though there was doubt concerning the validity of both Catholicism and the evolutionary theory, this major question of the beginnings of life showed the Victorians’ desire to know more and improve their lives through knowledge.

Women also sought to progress through equality. They were expected to procreate babies and run the household, but many yearned to do more with their lives. One woman who did just that was Florence Nightingale. At a young age, Nightingale became interested in helping the ill.

She became the head nurse at a military hospital at Scutari, Turkey, which was filthy with infection before she came to work there. When she was ready to retire, the hospital’s condition had greatly improved. Though there were many restraints on the possibilities of what women could do, Nightingale managed to become a well-known nurse and the first female member of the Royal Statistical Society. Other women began to feel empowered. Before the Victorian Era, education was not a true option for women. Some universities offered lectures that women could attend, but most classes were predominately male. The University of London, for example, did not begin truly welcoming women until about 1848. Many women authors began to become popular and speak out against the repression of females. The Brontë sisters were two of these authors. Their works such as Wuthering Heights, written by Emily Brontë, and Jane Eyre, written by Charlotte Brontë, remain popular today. The sisters and their works were able to bring the inequality to the attention of others of their time.

The people of the Victorian Era sought to improve the conditions of life. The Industrial Revolution made transporting goods faster and more efficient. Tensions between social classes were resolved by the Middle Class. Though it sparked anger among religious leaders, Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution proved the population’s desire to improve themselves with knowledge. Oppressed women sought equality and greatly advanced their status. Advancement was the main idea in most Victorians’ minds.

4

Wuthering Heights: A Reflection of Victorian Social Evolvement “Whatever our souls are made of – his and mine are the same.” –

Wuthering Heights A time of great social change: these words represent the Victorian Era. They also apply to Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. Social class tensions, feminism, and changing views all contribute to the complex characteristics of the novel. Wuthering Heights represents the evolving social conditions of the Victorian Era. One aspect of the Victorian Era was the tensions between the social classes. Heathcliff embodies the lower working class whereas the remaining characters, namely Catherine Earnshaw, symbolize the wealthy upper class. Heathcliff is adopted from Liverpool, an area in which during the Victorian Era the lower class lived in such terrible conditions that the upper classes feared revolts. Heathcliff is immediately disliked and cast as an outsider. His adopted brother, sister, and mother hate him. “Cathy, when she learned the mast had lost her whip in attending on the stranger, showed her humour by grinning and spitting at the stupid little thing...and the mistress never put in a word on his behalf when she saw him wronged.” (pages 37 and 38) The roles played by the servants of Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights also demonstrate the differences in class. “I saw a servant-girl on her knees surrounded by brushes and coal-scuttles, and raising an infernal dust as she extinguished the flames with heaps of cinders. This spectacle drove me back immediately…” (page 10) Heathcliff is treated as a servant when he is a boy. When he grows older and falls in love with his adopted sister Catherine Earnshaw, his social position prevents the matrimony from occurring. This causes deep-seated resentment for those above him financially. Through manipulation, Heathcliff manages to inherit the property and ends up as the master of his love Catherine Earnshaw’s daughter, Catherine Linton. He treats the younger Catherine as a servant, assaulting her verbally. “’ There you are, at your idle tricks again! The rest of them do earn their bread – you live on my charity! Put your trash away, and find something to do. You shall pay me for the plague of having you eternally in my sight – do you hear, damnable jade?” (page 31) Though Catherine Earnshaw may not have been willing to fight for what she believed in, her daughter is. “’I’ll put my trash away, because you can make me if I refuse,’ answered the young lady, closing her book, and throwing it on a chair. ‘But I’ll not do anything, though you should swear your tongue out, except what I please!” (page 31) The young Catherine is rebellious and personifies the feminism movements during the Victorian Era. Catherine Earnshaw, the original Catherine, was not willing to take on the social downgrade that accompanied marrying her true love, the outcast Heathcliff. “It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now; so he shall never know how I love him: and that, not because he’s handsome, Nelly, but because he’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same; and Linton’s is as different as a moonbeam from lightning, or frost from fire.” (page 80) Though she admits her true love for Heathcliff to her servant, she still married Edgar Linton, the father of the younger Catherine. Driving the lovers apart further was distance; the houses in which the two lived were separated by two miles of land. Catherine Earnshaw gives up her love in order to maintain her social standing. The young Catherine is unlike her mother; she is ambitious and rebellious. When her father asks her to not see her cousin Linton, she visits him and writes to him anyways. Young Catherine is also hot-tempered. When Linton states that Catherine Earnshaw did not love Edgar but instead loved Heathcliff, his father, 5

Catherine throws a fit. “Cathy, beside herself, gave the chair a violent push, and caused him to fall against one arm.” (page 233) This behavior is inappropriate for a lady, yet she does not care.

Where her mother may have quietly disagrees, she stands up for what she believes to be the truth. She represents the change from quiet, obedient women to women with voices that occurred during the Victorian Era. This was not the only change in behavior.

Nelly, a servant of Wuthering Heights, appears innocent while narrating the story. She obeys commands without argument and does not seem to be as cruel as some of the other characters. She does make mistakes though, and follows through on actions that she is aware are not morally correct. When Heathcliff originally comes to Thrushcross Grange, she despises him like the rest of the family. “…Hindley hated him: and to say the truth I did the same; and we plagued and went on with him shamefully: for I wasn’t reasonable enough to feel my injustice.” (page 38) Later, when she is charged with bringing Heathcliff’s son Linton to his father, she lies to the boy about his father’s disposition, saying he was a kind and reasonable man. “He complained so seldom, indeed, of such stirs as these, that I really thought of him not vindictive: I was deceived completely…” (page 40) When Linton discovers that his father is not he man Nelly described him to be, he begs her not to leave him. She, however, sneaks away, abandoning the boy with his vengeful and angry father. Heathcliff had seemed so innocent when he was a boy, as Nelly was describing, but he turned into a spiteful man. He is cruel to his own son, manipulating him to marry the young Catherine so that he shall inherit Thrushcross Grange. He scolds the young Catherine continuously, and is cold to his guest Mr. Lockwood. The personality changes that occur for Nelly and Heathcliff represent the changing views of the Victorian Era, a time of improvement in all aspects of life.

Wuthering Heights represents the evolving social conditions of the Victorian Era. The forbidden love between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw epitomize the tension between the social classes. The rebellious personality of the younger Catherine embodies the feministic movements that the women of the Victorian Era were striving for. The evolving personalities of Nelly and Heathcliff show the ever-changing views of life during the Victorian Era, the period in which the Industrial Revolution changed the ways of life. Wuthering Heights as a whole exemplifies the ideals of the Victorian Era.

6

Not Your Average Ghost Story: An Analysis of Charles Dickens’ “The Trial for Murder” A ghost story seems like it could represent absolutely nothing, as it is just a work of fiction and tells of the supernatural. However, Charles Dickens’ “The Trial for Murder” is a ghost story that reflects the flaws of Victorian society, such as the response to the Enlightenment and the lack of guilt felt by not assisting those in need of aid.

When many people began to accept the ideas of the Enlightenment, previous beliefs came into question. People were agitated and distraught because their faith in God was called into question by Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. The existence of a higher power was now debatable, but nobody quite wanted to release all they had known and blindly trust logic. When faith gives way, people still search for something to believe in. If their faith was not to be put in God or the logic of evolution, then they needed to turn to something else. For some people, this “something else” was the supernatural. Some may not have verbalized it, the reason which Dickens explains in “The Trial for Murder.” “Almost all men are afraid that what they could relate in such wise would find no parallel or response in a listener’s internal life, and might be suspected or laughed at.” (1) So, when the protagonist sees two men suspiciously walking one day, and then discovers that one has been found dead, he does not want to admit to himself that he may be a key witness. The protagonist in this story sees the ghost of a murdered man in his room but tries to deny, even to himself, that he has laid eyes upon it, even though his peers admit to seeing it as well. He is called to be on a jury, and discovers that the very man whose fate he is deciding is the man he saw walking with the murdered man.

“I THINK that, until I was conducted by officers into the Old Court and saw its crowded state, I did not know that the Murderer was to be tried that day. I THINK that, until I was so helped into the Old Court with considerable difficulty, I did not know into which of the two Courts sitting my summons would take me. But this must not be received as a positive assertion, for I am not completely satisfied in my mind on either point.” (4)

If that were not bad enough, the prisoner on trial recognizes him as well. “‘AT ALL HAZARDS, CHALLENGE THAT MAN!’ But that, as he would give no reason for it, admitted that he had not even known my name until he heard it called and I appeared, it was not done.” (5) He does not want to believe that he has seen a ghost, but when his fellow jurors exclaim that they have as well, he changes his mind and realizes that the ghost is real. This relates to the Enlightenment because when the protagonist has nothing else to believe, and no other explanation seems plausible, he is forced to believe in the existence of a ghost.

The protagonist, had he not been called to be a juror and elected Foreman of the Jury, may not have thought twice about the two suspicious men he had seen shortly before one was discovered dead. He would have felt no guilt for not stopping them as they travelled; if he had maybe the dead man may have remained alive. The case of the murdered man would not have been personal. However, as he was called to be a juror and was elected Foreman of the Jury, he is obligated to face the ghost of the murdered man. The ghost ensures that he pays attention to the case. When the defense suggests that the deceased may have cut his own throat, the ghost 7

demonstrates to the jury that such a wound would be impossible to inflict on oneself. Actions like these guarantee the attention of the protagonist, thereby causing him to feel remorse for not stopping the murder before it occurred. This relates to the Victorian Era’s lack of accountability.

The poor struggled and were emaciated all because those above them in social standing were greedy and shunned them. Children suffered and died because the upper class refused to take responsibility for oppressing those below them. This is a common theme in Dickens’ writing, as it appears prolifically in his novel Oliver Twist. If one was liable for ones actions, suffering would have been decreased tenfold. Therefore, though on the surface it may appear to be a simple ghost story, Dickens’ The Trial for Murder is actually a representation of and commentary on the issues of the Victorian Era.

A Victorian Courtroom

8

Old-Fashioned Sarcasm and the Irrationality of the Upper Class: A Review of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest “In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity, is the vital thing.” -

The Importance of Being Earnest The Importance of Being Earnest, by Oscar Wilde, tells the tale of two young couples in the Victorian Era of Great Britain. Jack Worthing and Gwendolen Fairfax are to be married, as are Algernon Moncrieff and Cecily Cardew, as long as Lady Bracknell approves. This play is intended to bring the ridiculousness of the upper class to the attention of the populace. As a comedy, it mocks the pretentious attitudes of the wealthy.

Jack falls in love with Gwendolen and she agrees to marry him, but there is a dilemma; she believes his name is Earnest, and Gwendolen admits that she will only marry a man named Earnest. In order to escape his daily life and visit his friend Algernon, Jack created a fake person.

Now his deception could cost him his engagement. Algernon is aware that Jack is living a lie and is curious about his other life, so he decides to visit Jack’s residence in the country and meet his ward, Cecily Cardew. When meeting her, he claims to be Jack’s brother Earnest. Immediately the two fall in love, even though Algernon is lying about his identity. He intends to tell the truth until Cecily declares that she will also only marry a man named Earnest. As if this dilemma was not enough for both couples, Gwendolen’s mother and Algernon’s aunt, Lady Bracknell, needs to be convinced that the marriages should commence.

Wilde intends to show the public how the upper class can be irrational and ludicrous. He does so with a sarcastic and humorous tone. Gwendolen and Cecily declare that they shall only marry men named Earnest simply because they are fond of the name. Jack and Algernon find it necessary to create alternate personalities in order to escape their normal lives. Lady Bracknell thinks it obligatory to interrogate Jack and Cecily before they become betrothed to her relatives.

Each character of the play is wealthy and of the upper class, so by each displaying an absurd behavior, Wilde is able to prove his point that the upper class is ridiculous.

I found the play enjoyable. The plot moved along quickly and kept my interest. The theme remains relevant today as social classes are still present and those in the public spotlight and seen as extremely wealthy are often seen as irrational and their choices illogical. It would have been more enjoyable if the humor had been more modern. It was easy to tell where the audience would have laughed, yet the effect is not the same in modern times. The play suggests that young adults married just after meeting and based their love entirely on first impressions, which differs greatly from today. It does not breach the topic of the middle and lower classes, so it only embodies one section of the people of the Victorian Era. Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest fulfills its purpose of informing the populace of the ludicrousness of the upper class. Through humor and sarcasm it proves its point.

The characters are witty, especially Algernon, and though the effect of the humor does not resonate as well today as it would have in the Victorian Era, it was still amusing.

9

“He cometh not”: An analysis of Lord Alfred Tennyson’s Mariana

‘Mariana in the moated grange.’ –Measure for Measure Lord Alfred Tennyson was born on August 6, 1809 in Lincolnshire, England, to Reverend George and Elizabeth Tennyson. 1809 was twenty years after the beginning of the French Revolution. Tennyson was the fourth of twelve children. His father was an alcoholic, which caused the Reverend to suffer from mental breakdowns. This caused Tennyson to desire an escape from home, which he found at Trinity College in Cambridge. One of his favorite authors was William Shakespeare. One of his poems, Mariana, is even written from a line of one of Shakespeare’s plays, Measure for Measure. After joining a literary club known as the “Apostles,” he became best friends with Arthur Hallam. When Hallam died of fever in 1833, Tennyson was devastated. His grief showed through in his poems, one of which was titled In Memoriam. His poetry also displayed the concerns of the Victorian era in which he was a part of.

Growing up in a religious household, his poetry reflected spiritual aspects. During this time period, however, rumors of evolution countered the strict beliefs of the church and caused many to doubt a higher being. In 1859, Charles Darwin published Origin of Species and doubt grew about the truth behind religion. Tennyson still believed in the Church, and this permeates through his writing. One piece titled Crossing the Bar has clear religious references. Tennyson died in 1892 and was buried along with many other successful writers in Westminster Abbey.

10

With blackest moss the flower-plots

For leagues no other tree did mark

Were thickly crusted, one and all:

The level waste, the rounding gray.

She only said, ‘My life is dreary,

The rusted nails fell from the knots

He cometh not,’ she said;

That held the pear to the gable-wall.

The broken sheds look’d sad and strange:

She said, ‘I am aweary, aweary, I would that I were dead!’

Unlifted was the clinking latch; Weeded and worn the ancient thatch

And ever when the moon was low,

Upon the lonely moated grange.

And the shrill winds were up and away,

She only said, ‘My life is dreary,

In the white curtain, to and fro,

He cometh not,’ she said;

She saw the gusty shadow sway.

She said, ‘I am aweary, aweary,

But when the moon was very low,

I would that I were dead!’

And wild winds bound within their cell,

Her tears fell with the dews at even;

The shadow of the poplar fell

Her tears fell ere the dews were dried;

Upon her bed, across her brow.

She only said, ‘The night is dreary,

She could not look on the sweet heaven,

He cometh not,’ she said;

Either at morn or eventide.

She said, ‘I am aweary, aweary,

After the flitting of the bats,

I would that I were dead!’

When thickest dark did trance the sky, She drew her casement-curtain by,

All day within the dreamy house, The doors upon their hinges creak’d;

And glanced athwart the glooming flats.

She only said, ‘The night is dreary,

The blue fly sung in the pane; the mouse

He cometh not,’ she said;

Behind the mouldering wainscot shriek’d,

She said, ‘I am aweary, aweary,

Or from the crevice peer’d about.

I would that I were dead!’

Old faces glimmer’d thro’ the doors,

Upon the middle of the night,

Old footsteps trod the upper floors,

Waking she heard the night-fowl crow:

Old voices called her from without.

She only said, ‘My life is dreary,

The cock sung out an hour ere light: From the dark fen the oxen’s low

He cometh not,’ she said; She said, ‘I am aweary, aweary,

Came to her: without hope of change, In sleep she seem’d to walk forlorn,

I would that I were dead!’

The sparrow’s chirrup on the roof,

Till cold winds woke the gray-eyed morn About the lonely moated grange.

The slow clock ticking, and the sound

She only said, ‘The day is dreary,

Which to the wooing wind aloof

He cometh not,’ she said;

The poplar made, did all confound

She said, ‘I am aweary, aweary,

Her sense; but most she loathed the hour

I would that I were dead!’

When the thick-moted sunbeam lay

About a stone-cast from the wall

Athwart the chambers, and the day

A sluice with blacken’d waters slept,

Was sloping toward his western bower.

And o’er it many, round and small,

Then, said she, ‘I am very dreary,

The cluster’d marish-mosses crept.

He will not come,’ she said; She wept, ‘I am aweary, aweary,

Hard by a poplar shook alway,

Oh God, that I were dead!’

All silver-green with gnarled bark:

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Mariana is written in seven twelve-line stanzas. Each stanza has a rhyming pattern of ABAB CDDC EFEF. All of the lines are in iambic tetrameter, excluding the trimester of the tenth and twelfth lines in each stanza. The last four lines of each stanza, the ones with the rhyming pattern of EFEF, are repeated through each stanza, which causes a chant-like refrain to appear. The very last stanza alters the chant slightly. The first stanzas end with “She only said, ‘My life is dreary, he cometh not,’ she said; She said, ‘I am aweary, aweary, I would that I were dead!’” The final stanza ends with “Then, she said, ‘I am very dreary, He will not come,’ she said; She wept, ‘I am aweary, aweary, Oh God, that I were dead!’” In previous stanzas these lines had alternated between “My life is dreary” and “The night is dreary” and “The day is dreary.” This alteration in the last stanza serves to emphasize the chant and the emotion that the woman, presumably Mariana, is feeling when she acknowledges that “he” is not coming.

The opening stanza serves to display the setting of the poem, describing it as dilapidated farmhouse that looks “sad and strange.” A woman standing nearby says that her life is sad and “He” will not come. “He” could refer to her love or could be a reference to God. During the Victorian era in which the existence of God was called into question due to the theory of evolution. The woman could be saying that with no proof of a higher power, her life lacks meaning and is therefore “dreary.” She wishes for death, in which she could see for herself if God exists. In the second stanza, the woman proceeds to cry. The first and second lines mirror each other. The first says “Her tears fell with the dews…” and the second states that “Her tears fell ere the dews…” The repetition serves to accentuate the idea of a woman crying because of the lack of God. “She could not look on the sweet heaven, either at morn or eventide.” This line says that the woman could not bear to look at the heavens or contemplate the afterlife because her beliefs have been called into question. She repeats her chant, this time saying the night is dreary, and about how He will not come. The third stanza tells of the woman at night and the noises of the wildlife she hears. The woman is still struggling with the idea of no God. “Without hope of change, in sleep she seem’d to walk forlorn.” She does not sleep well and awakes depressed. The fourth stanza elaborates on the setting, this time focusing on a poplar tree. The tree provides the only change in the flat landscape, as described by “For leagues no other tree did mark The level waste.” The woman repeats her chant, again saying her life is dreary and wishing for death. The fifth stanza elaborates on the figure of the poplar and says that as the woman looks out her window at night when the moon is low, she observes the poplar sway in the wind. The shadow of the tree falls across her face and bed. She chants that the night is dreary, and because He will not come she desires death. The sixth stanza describes the farmhouse, with the doors that creak and the mouse scurrying about. The sixth, seventh, and eighth lines begin similarly, with “Old faces...” “Old footsteps…” and “”Old voices…” This serves to highlight the change between the old and the new. In the old times, the woman could believe in God without a doubt in her mind. In the new times, she cannot help but wonder if evolution is true. Her God will not come and prove his existence, so she struggles with her beliefs. Again she chants, still desiring death. The seventh and final stanza describes the day ending. The clock ticks slowly, and the wind blows strong. Again the poem references the poplar, which “confound[s] her sense.” This is representative of her confusion relating to the validity of the existence of God. The changing from day to night signifies her changing opinion of God. She cannot decide if He is real or not and does not know what to believe. She hates this constant change, so she also hates the hour in which day turns to night. “But most she loathed the hour When the thick-moted

12

sunbeam lay Athwart the chambers, and the day Was sloping toward his western bower.� The woman becomes desperate for answers and declares that she is dreary and knows that He will not come. She weeps and prays to God that she were dead.

Lord Alfred Tennyson, author of Mariana

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