Bridges Volume1 Issue1 - 2016

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Literature SIG Bridges. Volume 1, Issue 1. February 2016

Contents From the Editors ........................................................................................................................ 3

Race and religion in The Jew of Malta and The Merchant of Venice ........................................ 4 Eduardo Lima

Othello as a Tragic Hero .......................................................................................................... 12 Maria Georgiou

Dealing with war trauma: Robert Graves and Siegfried Sassoon ............................................ 17 Lara Geelen

Latin American Magic Realism ............................................................................................... 21 Mario De Glera Hernando Symbolism and imagery in Coleridge‘s Rime of the Ancient Mariner .................................... 29 Magdalena Engels Victorian moral values in Dickens‘ Oliver Twist .................................................................... 33 Vincent Bucheler Foster‘s A Passage to India ...................................................................................................... 40 Alison Stark

Cover photo: The picture of the bridges on the cover was made by Carel Burghout in

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beautiful Brisbane in February 2015.

Literature SIG Bridges. Volume 1, Issue 1. February 2016

From the Editors

From Carel If I remember well it was about 7 months ago that Chris Lima and I came up with the idea of publishing a digital Newsletter to supplement the paper issues we send out to IATEFL LitSIG members. The new digital publication would have to be distinguishable from the paper issue which led to the idea of have (excellent) student work as its contents. For me, this meant going back to students who graduated in the past three years, as I left my College in October 2014 to become a free-lance writer and troubleshooter. Two students were willing to submit work which I remembered as excellent, and the first paper, by Alison Stark, is featured in this issue. I hope this initiative is received well and that LitSIG members will send us more excellent student work to publish in next issues.

Carel Burghout, LitSIG webmaster From Chris I always thought it was a shame that so much effort, thought, and scholarship some students put into their assignments are usually lost forever in the submission files at university computers. Their essays and dissertations hardly ever see the light of day. This publication is a small contribution to address this issue. We aim to publish here good quality papers produced by students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels on topics that fall into the remit of our SIG. We hope our SIG members feel motivated to find such quality work among their own learners and consider this publication as a vehicle for sharing their students‘ writing.

This first issue starts with two papers on Shakespeare, who is the focus of almost all our attention in 2016. These are followed by a series of short papers produced by some of my current and former Erasmus students at the University of Leicester. This edition then closes with the longer piece mentioned by Carel above. Happy reading!

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Chris Lima, LitSIG Coordinator

Literature SIG Bridges. Volume 1, Issue 1. February 2016

Race and religion in The Jew of Malta and The Merchant of Venice Eduardo Lima PhD Student, Brunel University London*

*This paper is a version of the work originally submitted as an assignment for the BA in English at the University of St Mark and St John, Plymouth, UK in 2010.

Avoiding the religious and racial themes running through Marlowe‘s The Jew of Malta and Shakespeare‘s The Merchant of Venice is a very difficult, if not an impossible task. Both plays have at their core a concern for inter-religious and racial relationships, mainly between Jews and Christians. In terms of their racial and religious aspects, most critical readings of the texts could perhaps be divided into those concluding that the plays are products of some prejudiced authorial stance borne from an anti-Semitic Elizabethan society and those that argue that they are in fact works that pronounce the rights of Jews in a time that did nothing but berate and condemn them (Maus, 2008, p.1111). In this paper, I shall take a closer look at how key characters are presented, paying close attention to the historical context as well as the ironies and discrepancies between representations of not only each religion and race, but also within characters of same faith and ethnicity.

Elizabethan England had not seen many legal Jew residents since their expulsion in 1290 (British Library, 2016), some three hundred years before the first appearance of a Jew in both plays. That does not mean, however, that anti-Jewish feelings were out of the ordinary for Elizabethans, as Jews were common villains in most medieval and renaissance dramas (Strickland, 2003). Their ancient sin against Christ, which mostly sprouted such feelings, was only but one of the resentment held against them, along with the associated practice of usury, which is lending money at an interest. Such anti-Jewish sentiment, coupled with the growing fear of the ever menacing Ottoman Empire, made for a society permeated by anti-foreign sentiment (Bate & Thornton, 2012). Both Jews and Turks could easily be discerned by their distinguishing appearance, their different attire and some distinctive physical features, such as usually larger noses; the Ottomans were typically singled out by their darker skin. These easily identifiable aliens, however, were not the only ones towards which the English

the Protestant Queen Elizabeth. Among those specially disliked were the Spanish, for their Literature SIG Bridges. Volume 1, Issue 1. February 2016

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Catholics who had, by the time the plays were on stage in London, already excommunicated

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harboured enmity. The same can be said of the rather more physically similar European

attempt at invasion with the Armada in 1588, and the Italians, for their practice of money lending at an interest in the mostly Jew free England (O‘Rourke, 2003, p.376).

In order to better explore relationships between such varied peoples Marlowe and Shakespeare need plausible locations in which the different religions could be found in coexistence. For Marlowe such a location is the island of Malta, a veritable nexus of different cultures facing the Ottoman Empire (Sullivan, 2006, p.234). As for Shakespeare, he finds his setting in the mercantile city of Venice, famous for its multicultural population. Therefore, it is important to notice that, although referred to constantly as Christians, the Christians in both plays are in fact Roman Catholics. Not only Catholics, but Spanish and Italians respectively, a fact that gives both writers distance to criticise them more freely without being at risk of being prosecuted as heretics. This is especially true to the already infamously controversial Marlowe‘s quasi monstrous (Lupton, 2006, p.154), allegedly Machiavellian, infinitely energetic, and magniloquent Jewish protagonist Barabas, as he counts his money: Fie; what a trouble 'tis to count this trash. (...)

And of a carat of this quantity, May serve in peril of calamity To ransom great kings from captivity. (...)

And as their wealth increaseth, so inclose Infinite riches in a little room. (JM, I.i.7-37)

Barabas‘ immense wealth, however, as we are told in this soliloquy, was not acquired through usury, as an Elizabethan audience would expect, but by trade, much like the way in which Shakespeare‘s Christian merchant Antonio has acquired his. Right from the beginning Shylock‘s very existence is associated with money, which is associated with his happiness and holding nearly equal value to his own daughter (MV, II.i.48-55). Barabas, in turn, associates the acquisition of money with his supposedly ‗scattered nation‘ (JM, I.i.120), holding wealth as their superiority over the Christians, who subjugate the Jews through the rather more, as he thinks, brutish and unreliable political powers: ‗Give us a peaceful rule;

Ferneze, in order to pay ten years impending taxation to the Turks, on the simple account of Literature SIG Bridges. Volume 1, Issue 1. February 2016

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his wealth taken away from him through this very political power by the Christian governor

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make Christians kings, / That thirst so much for principality‘(JM, I.i.133-4). Upon having all

him being an ‗infidel‘, Barabas then turns towards not only reacquiring part of his wealth but, more importantly, to revenge in the pursuit of which he spares no expense and finds no sacrifice too high, not even his own daughter.

As he is fixated in having his vengeance, Barabas seems to lose his own magniloquence, his grand soliloquies on bags of ‗fiery opals‘ and ‗Agamemnon and Iphigen‘ are exchanged for shorter and much darker lines and crass comical asides. His own personality seems to degrade into the conventional stereotype of the evil Jew, as can be seen upon his purchase and following interaction with the Turkish slave Ithamore, First, be thou void of these affections, Compassion, love, vain hope, and heartless fear; Be mov'd at nothing, see thou pity none, But to thyself smile when the Christians moan. (II.iii.171-4) He goes on to make several exaggerated boasts of his crimes against the Christians, such as poisoning wells, making money of wars, and being an usurer, all in a rather flippant manner.

He even claims to have obtained his wealth through the latter, something that actually contradicts his earlier statement of having acquired his wealth through trading and his repudiation of violent means, ‗... and nothing violent, / Oft have I heard tell, can be permanent.‘ (I.i.131-2). As Simkin (2001, p.66) points out in his analysis of this section of the play, although one wishes to take this moment when Barabas self-portrays himself to be the very epitome of the Elizabethan Jewish stereotype, it is also possible to take it as an ironic statement. It is also interesting to note that almost every single plot which Barabas concocts is a response to something which has aggravated him (Greenblatt, 1999, p.147). He kills the nuns and Abigail for the latter‘s conversion and, therefore, damnation in the eyes of his religion. He kills the Friars for blackmailing him, and Ferneze‘s son for the father‘s injustice towards him; the arguable exception being his final stratagem, which leads to his demise in his own trap.

That is not to say, however, that audiences of the time would have sympathised with Barabas. His character is, after all, an amalgam of different stereotypes, such as The Vice from morality plays. He is also often particularly linked with the sinful Machiavellian figure

audience of the time wholeheartedly siding with him. It is interesting to note that this, Literature SIG Bridges. Volume 1, Issue 1. February 2016

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audience through his opening soliloquies and his constant asides, it is difficult to see the

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of renaissance theatre (Simkin, 2001, p.67). Therefore, despite his close connection to the

however, is true to Barabas alone and does not apply to all the Jews in the play. The three nameless Jews from the beginning are far more compliant to Ferneze‘s demands and quietly vanish from sight, while Barabas‘ daughter, Abigail dies a converted Christian, more pious then the Friar to which she confesses (III.vi.37-43).

Marlowe‘s play being the first of the two to be staged in the early 1590s precedes the renewal of anti-Semitist hatred that came to be with the case of Roderigo Lopez, a Portuguese Jewish convert that was executed for an alleged assassination attempt on the Queen (Maus, 2008, p.1111). It was most probably this particular episode that the first audiences had in mind upon going to see Shakespeare‘s The Merchant of Venice, otherwise called The Jew of Venice, and its most famous character Shylock, the Jew. Shylock owes much of his existence to Barabas (Dobson & Wells, 2009, p.288). He, like his inspiration source, has a daughter which abandons and betrays him, and is consumed by thoughts of revenge. He, also resembling Barabas, seeks revenge mercilessly, despite being offered money to spare the object of his revenge, Antonio, far beyond that which his victim owes him. Thirst for retribution conquers greed, and in this he and Marlowe‘s Jew are the same. The Old Law concept of an eye for an eye is at the core of the Old Testament and, therefore, of the Jewish religion. In this aspect both Barabas and Shylock can be seen as ardent believers, since they crave, as Shylock puts it, for ‗the Law‘ and just retribution for the injustices carried out upon them on account of their faith. It is interesting to note also that both characters hatred for Christians is of reactionary nature, being brought over the edge by a final grand injustice brought upon them. The elopement of Jessica with Lorenzo puts Shylock in a mad rage and into a frenzy to exert his revenge (MV, III.i.96-7) for the insults already previously committed upon him (MV, I.iii.102-132).

He is, however, quite a different character from Marlowe‘s villainous Jew. His fixation with money is more ambiguous. He wishes his daughter to be dead and the jewels in her ear or the money on her coffin rather than having her squandering away the stolen money with her Christian eloper. One must remember that to convert to Christianity not only granted her eternal damnation, but also is considered a betrayal of her father, a deadly sin. Shylock also places value on the ring he received from his late wife above of its monetary value (MV, III.i). However, unlike Barabas, Shylock is most surely a usurer, thus confirming one of the

shown in constant contrast to his Christian antagonist Antonio, is but one among the many Literature SIG Bridges. Volume 1, Issue 1. February 2016

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Barabas constantly dominates The Jew of Malta and wreaks havoc upon Malta, Shylock,

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stereotypes expected. Another key difference between the two characters is that while

characters in the play; he has few lines and ultimately does no harm, being completely neutralised by Portia in the trial scene.

Jessica, Shylock‘s daughter, is another character that differs from her Marlowe‘s counterpart though she, like Abigail, converts to Christianity. Jessica does so through marriage instead of entrance into a nunnery and is by far nowhere near as pious or good hearted as Abigail, who in her dying breath still cared for her father‘s life. Jessica‘s first action at the prospect of becoming a Christian is to steal her father‘s money and elope with Lorenzo. Later she does her best to disassociate herself from her bonds with Shylock (MV, III.ii.283-6) in order to receive the acceptance of her husband‘s friends, some of whom, such as Graziano, still consider her an infidel due to her Jewish blood (Adelman, 2003:7), transforming the religious prejudice into a racial one.

The idea of Jews being inherently cursed - ‗His blood be on us, and on our children‘ (Matt. 27: 25) – comes from the choice that the populace makes to save Barabbas over Christ, and the idea of their damnation is intrinsically connected to their race instead of religion (White, 2006, p. 77), This is something that Shakespeare‘s Merchant of Venice touches upon more than once, as when Lancelot‘s taunts Jessica (MV, III.v.1-30) and although Shylock‘s final fate is to be converted into a Christian as a sign of Antonio‘s mercy, it is hard to envisage him being henceforward accepted as an equal citizen by the Venetian Christian society. Another theme that is at the core of The Merchant of Venice is the juxtaposition of Old Law versus New Law, Revenge versus Love, Justice versus Mercy (Greenblatt, 1999, p.142), or, in other words, the Old Testament versus the New Testament. Although this can also be seen in Marlowe‘s Jew of Malta, his Christians are not nearly as considerate, at least at first glance.

Ferneze, Barabas‘ enemy and governor of Malta, is one of, if not the, main representative of the Christian religion in Marlowe‘s play. He uses religion as his excuse for taking Barabas‘ money, even though Barabas pleads him to take but half his money, and not take his property and leave him penniless. Ferneze shows no mercy, a quality expected of a good Christian but excused, in this case, when dealing with a heretic. He even tries to convince Barabas‘ that he is doing him a favour by taking his money, saying that ‗Excess of wealth is cause of covetousness: / And covetousness, oh 'tis a monstrous sin‘ (JM, I.ii.124-5).

hardness of Ferneze‘s heart (JM, I.ii.141-4) resembles that of Antonio towards Shylock‘s Literature SIG Bridges. Volume 1, Issue 1. February 2016

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Ferneze never answers, but transforms the Jew‘s house into a nunnery. Baraba‘s outcry at the

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To which Barabas replies, ‗Ay, but theft is worse: tush, take not from me then,‘ (JM, I.ii.126).

unrelenting pursuit of his bond (MV, IV.i.78-9). Barabas‘ money, we find later, is never paid to the Turks but kept by Ferneze, by suggestion of the Spanish Admiral Del Bosco, who comes to Malta to sell slaves. It is a suggestion eagerly accepted by the governor, ‗Claim tribute where thou wilt, we are resolved, / Honour is bought with blood and not gold.‘(JM, II.ii.55-6) Greed, then, is a driving force to both Christians and Jews alike in The Jew of Malta (Simkin, 2001, p.40) perhaps even more to the Christians, as can be seen with the Friars who compete to be the ones to convert Barabas when he promises to do so, and donate his wealth, in order to keep them silent about his crimes (JM, IV.i). The friars‘ lust for money causes their demise and so does Barabas‘ lust for money and retribution, which doom him to his death. Ferneze‘s lust for political power, however, is what leads him to outwit Barabas and come out victorious in the end. Shakespeare‘s Christians, however, stand in stark contrast to their Jew foe. Where Shylock claims profit, they call for charity; where he shouts revenge, they yell mercy; where he is alone, they are many. Yet, they are not entirely without fault.

Antonio, the proclaimed paragon of Christian virtue in the play, has insulted and assaulted Shylock under no provocation, over the simple account of the latter being a Jew (MV, I.iii.102-32) and engaged in usury, an activity deemed legal by the city. Mercy, which Portia claims to be the finest of qualities (MV, IV.i.179-99) and a decidedly Christian concept, is then denied by both herself (MV, IV.i.316-7) and Graziano (MV, IV.i.374) and only comes at the cost of the forfeiture of half of Shylock‘s wealth and his conversion to Catholicism. This ‗mercy‘ can thus be viewed as profoundly ironic since for Shylock it means damnation in the eyes of his faith, continued damnation in the eyes of the Protestant Elizabethan audience, and a life between not being fully accepted as a Christian, due to his Jewish blood and being spurned by his former fellow Jews due to his new religion.

The pursuit of influence is markedly a Christian characteristic in both plays. Barabas and Shylock seek wealth for wealth‘s sake. When Barabas finds himself in a position of political power he hurries to be rid of it and seeks to be in a position in which he can profit safely (JM, V.ii.29-123). His lack of political power, however, is his undoing. He is easily betrayed by Ferneze, for Barabas has no influence and, therefore, none to back and protect him. Shylock, on the other hand, seeks influence over Antonio in the form of a legal bond for

annulling his bond, but reverting it against him. Christian ‗mercy‘ prevails.

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undoing, as the whole court stands united against him and eventually finds a way of not only

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the sole purpose of revenge. Once again lack of political influence turns out to be the Jew‘s

Ferneze and Antonio use wealth quite differently from their Jew counterparts. For them, wealth is a tool to acquire power over others. For Ferneze it is but a stepping stone for political power; for Antonio, it is a tool to acquire Bassanio‘s friendship (MV, I.i.135-9), and also obtain good reputation by lending money at no interest. Portia also uses wealth to ensure her hold over her husband, such hold being threatened by Antonio‘s influence over him. She is thus forced to resort to the form of a moral debt, which materializes in the ploy of the rings (MV,V.i.141-306) and the saving of Antonio (MV, IV.i.162-404) to acquire her influence. She is then able to hold sway over her husband, break Antonio‘s claim on him, and still maintain a degree of control over her estate.

Thus, we can conclude that while the Jews in both plays are not the most appealing of figures, they are not innately complete monsters. Yet, they are transformed into monsters by the discrimination and crimes committed against them in the account of their faith, thus making them come to embody the very prejudice held against them (Greenblatt, 1999, p.142).

The Christians, for their part, receive a very different treatment from both playwrights.

Marlowe is as full of contempt and irony against them as he is against any of the other religion/races depicted in his play. As for Shakespeare, his Christians may be depicted as superior, for better or worse, but yet not necessarily the embodiment of virtue that they claim to be.

REFERENCES Adelman, J. (2003) Her Father's Blood: Race, Conversion, and Nation in The Merchant of Venice. Representations, No. 81, (Winter, 2003), pp. 4-30.

Bate, J., and Thornton, D. (2012) Shakespeare: Staging the World. London: British Museum Press.

British Library, 2016. Expulsion of Jews. [online] Available at: <http://www.bl.uk/learning/timeline/item103483.html> [Accessed 25 Feb. 2016].

Greenblatt, S. (1999) Marlowe, Marx, and Anti-Semitism. In Wilson, R. (ed.) Longman Critical Readers: Christopher Marlowe. New York, NY: Addison Wesley Longman.

Lupton, J. (2004) The Jew of Malta. In Cheney, P. (ed) The Cambridge Companion to Christopher Marlowe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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Maus, K. (2008) The Merchant of Venice. In Greenblatt, S.(ed.) The Norton Shakespeare. 2nd Edition. New York, NY: W.W. Norton.

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Marlowe, C. (1994) The Jew of Malta. 2nd Edition. London: A & C Black.

O'Rourke, J. (2003) Racism and Homophobia in The Merchant of Venice. ELH, Vol. 70(2), pp. 375-397.

Shakespeare, W. (2008) The Merchant of Venice. In Greenblatt, S.(ed.) The Norton Shakespeare. 2nd Edition. New York, NY: W.W. Norton.

Simkin, S. (2001) Marlowe, The Plays. Basingstoke: Palgrave.

Strickland, D.H. (2003) Saracens, Demons, & Jews: Making Monsters in Medieval Art. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Sullivan, G. Jr. (2004) Geography and Identity in Marlowe. In Cheney, P. (ed) The Cambridge Companion to Christopher Marlowe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Wells, S.W. and Dobson, M. eds., 2009. The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

White, P. (2004) Marlowe and the politics of religion. In Cheney, P. (ed) The Cambridge Companion to Christopher Marlowe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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Public Domain

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Charles and Mary Lamb, Tales from Shakespeare (Philadelphia: Henry Altemus Company, 1901)

Literature SIG Bridges. Volume 1, Issue 1. February 2016

Othello as a Tragic Hero Maria Georgiou BA Student, University of Leicester

Othello was written by William Shakespeare in approximately 1603 and ever since the play was first published, the protagonist has been analysed extensively and is most often described as a tragic hero. This paper will seek to analyse and determine the extent to which Othello is a tragic hero. It will do so by firstly giving the definition of the tragic hero, and by extension the definition of tragedy as a whole, and then analyse the extent to which the way the story unfolds makes him one.

To begin with, the concept of the tragic hero was first introduced by Aristotle in his Poetics.According to the ancient Greek philosopher a tragic hero is ―a man not pre-eminently virtuous and just‖ who due to some error in his judgement has found that his luck has changed, and this change needs to be from fortune to misfortune, and not the other way around (Reeves, 1952, p.173). In addition, he defined tragedy, as ―a mimēsis of a high, complete action ... in speech pleasurably enhanced ... in dramatic, not narrative form, effecting through pity and fear the catharsis of such emotions‖ (Burrow, 2013, p.1). It is important that we keep in mind the above definitions as we move on and try to analyse Othello, in order to be able to understand whether both the play, as well as its protagonist correspond to them.

To start with, Othello, the protagonist, at the beginning of the play keeps true to Aristotle‘s definition of a tragic hero, a man of noble stature and a high position in society.

He is a general of the Venetian army who has just eloped with Desdemona, the woman he loves. In addition he is entrusted to defend the island of Cyprus by the invading Turks which shows the trust his superiors have in his abilities, and by extent to him. As a result of the above one could argue that, at least at the beginning of the play, he has everything he could ever want. He has a good position in society, is respected and trusted by both his superiors, as well as his fellow citizens and is married to the woman he loves.

However, in the course of the play this changes and he starts to question his good

need to look at two different aspects throughout the play. The first, and most important, is Literature SIG Bridges. Volume 1, Issue 1. February 2016

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completely and in order to understand why Othello reacts to Iago‘s words the way he does we

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fortune. The instant Iago starts insinuating that Desdemona has been unfaithful he changes

who Othello is and where he stands in society, and the second aspect, which relates to the first one, is his relationship with Desdemona.

Firstly in the play, Othello is described as a moor, which according to Honigmann (2003 p.14) means that audiences of the time would have expected to see a black ‗Barbarian‘.

In this aspect, Othello is the opposite of the rest of the characters who are fair skinned, Venetian citizens. Although he is a moor he holds a high position, that of a General, in the Venetian army, and is respected by his peers, although he is not completely accepted by them as an equal. This is evident when Iago goes to Desdemona‘s father to tell him that his daughter has eloped with Othello. His exact words are ‗an old black ram is tupping your white ewe‘ (Othello, lines 89 -89), which shows that the relationship between Othello and Desdemona is frowned upon by their society. He is presented as a very talented man in many different disciplines (he is a general in the army, a war hero, and a good story teller), but he is by no means perfect. Because of the insecurities he has, relating to his heritage and role in Venetian society, he loses faith in himself and becomes extremely insecure.

At this point it would be useful to look more into the relationship between Desdemona and Othello at the beginning and how it changes throughout the play, because it is the basis for the transformation of Othello‘s character. At first, he loves Desdemona deeply despite their age and racial differences and he truly believes that she is in love with him too. She fell in love with him because of the stories he used to tell about his past as a soldier. However, as Hollindale (1989, p.49) says in his paper ―deep inside he fears that she has fallen in love with what he is (a soldier) and not who (a middle – aged black man.‖ This small trace of doubting for her true feelings is one of the things that will lead to him losing his faith in her, and finally it will result in his fall. As mentioned above, as Burke puts it, ‗Othello's suspicions, […], arise from within‘ (Burke, 1951). He has always felt that Desdemona is more fascinated by his achievements rather than who he is as a person.

The insecurities that Othello has, relating to both his position in society, as well as about his relationship with Desdemona is what leads him to extreme jealousy, ‗a condition, like a fatal disease, grows on the hero and destroys him until the recovery of dignity and sanity at the tragic end‘(Bell, 2002, p.80). It is this weakness of his character, his tragic flaw

(Balding 1990). Iago may have manipulated and misled him, but in the end if he had not let his jealousy get the better of him, he would not have committed hubris.

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Poetics to designate the false step that leads the protagonist in a tragedy to his or her downfall

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that makes him kill Desdemona, and thus commit hamartia, the term, used by Aristotle in his

His act then brings about peripeteia, which is the ―sudden reversal of a character's circumstances and fortunes, usually involving the downfall of the protagonist in a tragedy‖ (Balding, 1990). By allowing himself to be misled by Iago and kill Desdemona, he himself brings about his own downfall. Based on the above we can say that Othello is a tragic hero according to Aristotle‘s definition, because his downfall is brought on him by a flaw in his character.

In addition, it could be said that the tragic irony in the play is another thing that makes Othello a tragic hero. Tragic irony is defined by Balding (1990) as when ‗the audience knows more about a character's situation than the character does, foreseeing an outcome contrary to the character's expectations, and thus ascribing a sharply different sense to some of the character's own statements‘. In the play the audience knows that Iago is misleading Othello for his reasons, but the protagonist does not know this, and this is the reason his commits hamartia.

According to Aristotle‘s definition in the end of a tragedy there needs to be the catharsis (purification). In Othello this is achieved by the protagonist‘s suicide at the end, after he realises that he had been misled, and that Desdemona really was faithful all along.

This ending of the play draws it together and resolves the calamity and ―strikes the balance between gravity and peace‖ (Fu 2010, p.51). Based on the analysis of the concepts mentioned above, this essay concludes that Othello truly is a tragic hero. At the beginning of the play he is a person of noble statute, despite the fact that he is not completely accepted as an equal by society and this creates some insecurity in him. In addition, he commits hamartia due to a character flaw which results in the reversal of his fortune (peripeteia), until the end, when he commits suicide and order is restored again. What is more is that Othello is blind to Iago‘s true intentions, while we, the audience know from the start that he is trying to destroy him.

Drawing from the above we can conclude that Othello is a tragedy, and the protagonist stays true to Aristotle‘s definition.

REFERENCES

Clarendon Press.

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Baldick C. (1990) The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. Oxford:

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Aristotle, and Heath M. (1996) Poetics. London: Penguin Books.

Bell M. (2013) Shakespeare's tragic scepticism. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Burke K. (1951) Othello: An Essay to Illustrate a Method. Hudson Review, 4, p.165.

Fu, L. (2010).Tragic Pleasure in Shakespeare's King Lear and Othello. CMC Senior Theses. Paper 57. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/57 Hazlitt, W. (1817). Characters in Shakespeareâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s Plays [online] University of Toronto English Library. Available at: http://www.library.utoronto.ca/utel/criticism/hazlittw_charsp/charsp_ch4.html Accessed on 9/12/2015 Hollindale P. (1989) Othello and Desdemona. Critical Survey, 1(1), pp.43-52.

Reeves, C.H. (1952) The Aristotelian Concept of the Tragic Hero. The American Journal of Philology, 73(2), pp.172-88.

Shakespeare ,W. & Honigmann, E.A. J. (2003) Othello. London: Arden Shakespeare.

Shakespeare, W. & Watts, C. (2001) Othello. London: Wordsworth Classics.

Shakespeare, W. & Neill M. (2006) Othello, The Moor of Venice. Oxford & New York, NY: Clarendon Press.

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Literature SIG Bridges. Volume 1, Issue 1. February 2016

Dealing with war trauma: Robert Graves and Siegfried Sassoon Lara Geelen Erasmus BA Student. University of Leicester/ Université Catholique de Louvain

Never in its great and tumultuous history has Britain faced a more dreadful and costly conflict than The Great War. Indeed, with nearly a million losses, the nation ranks among those who suffered the hardest blow from one of the deadliest conflicts in human history (Ellis and Cox, 2001, p.144). On the eve of the war, soldiers on all fronts naïvely clung to the belief that they would return home in time to celebrate Christmas (Fussell, 2003, p.3). A mere five months later, however, ‗sensitive people perceived that the war […] was going to extend itself to hitherto unimagined reaches of suffering and irony‘ (p.3). Essentially, the First World War was one of all superlatives: if technically unprecedented, deeply traumatic and exceptionally deadly, it was also more importantly, highly literary. Quite naturally, the British Government soon took advantage of the propagandistic potential of literature by putting eminent authors such as Arthur Conan Doyle or Rudyard Kipling at the heart of Wellington House, Britain‘s very own ‗War Propaganda Bureau‘ (Bogacz, 1986, p.658). It comes as no surprise, then, that early war poetry such as Jessie Pope‘s 1915 ‗The Call‘ was heavily jingoistic. However, the soldier-poets‘ idealism gradually gave way to disillusionment, and poetic expressions swiftly shifted from ‗pro-‘ to ‗anti-‘ war. Ultimately, the alleged ‗Great‘ War, which seemed to have been deliberately and unnecessarily prolonged by people who wished nothing but personal gain and glory, resulted in an immeasurable amount of physical and psychological damage. In this essay, I will endeavour to ask whether fictional accounts of the war may have helped in the process of dealing with the trauma of the conflict by contrasting the healing patterns of two of Britain‘s most iconic shell-shocked writers, namely Robert Graves and Siegfried Sassoon.

While Sassoon‘s style might now seem more closely linked to Wilfred Owen‘s, Graves‘ influence on the young Kentish poet cannot be underestimated. As Quinn (1988, p.1) points out, the two men were ‗linked together as fellow officers and friends, and flushed with the promise of greater poetic achievement ahead‘. When he first met Graves, back in 1915,

later, however, life in the trenches had already taken a heavy toll on Sassoon:

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expression of a reckless young mind, still convinced of the nobility of the war. A few months

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Sassoon had not yet endured the atrocities of actual warfare, and his poetry was the

The more I saw of the war the less noble-minded I felt about it. This gradual process began, in the first months of 1916, with a few genuine trench poems […], [which] could at least claim to be the first of their kind‘ (Sassoon, 1945, p.17).

Consequently, his poetry was thenceforth irrevocably transformed into the accusatory and satirical verse that eventually became the trademark of poems such as his famous ‗They‘.

Whereas this aspect of Sassoon‘s poetry has been discussed at length, his equally compelling recovery from shell-shock, however, has not. This long and painful process began in the course of the year 1917, when the poet was badly injured in battle: surging with anger and disdain towards the war, he issued his renowned ‗A Soldier‘s Declaration‘, for which he would have been severely punished, had Graves not succeeded in having him declared neurasthenic and sent to Craiglockhart, a War Hospital in Edinburgh (Fussell, 2003, p.91). As Presley (2010, p.275) recounts, Craiglockhart was Britain‘s ‗most well-known facility for treating shellshock, [and had been] set up for dealing with increased numbers of psychological casualties after the Somme‘.

Albeit brief – a little over four months – Sassoon‘s stay at Craiglockhart greatly facilitated his psychological recovery. His doctor, William Halse Rivers, an eminent neurologist whose talking cure recommended that his patients should discuss and write about the cause of their trauma, was convinced that this modern catharsis would help exorcise the memories of the Front. Hence Sassoon‘s Sherston Trilogy (1936), which undoubtedly remains the most significant account of his convalescence: while fictional, it strikingly resembles the poet‘s autobiography. The three works, also known as The Memoirs of George Sherston (Sassoon, 1972), deal with the hero‘s life from approximately 1895 to 1918; Sherston‘s Progress (Sassoon, 1936), the last volume of the trilogy, recounts the hero‘s experience at ‗Slateford War Hospital‘ or, in other words, Sassoon‘s own stay at Craiglockhart. The first chapter of the novel is entirely devoted to Rivers, whose name is the only one not to have been altered by Sassoon. Much like Sassoon himself, Sherston fervently admired his doctor, ‗obviously some sort of great man‘ (Sassoon, 1936, p.8), whose treatment he deemed himself lucky to have received. In the novel, Sherston‘s stay at Slateford eventually allows him to make ‗a definite approach to mental maturity‘ (p.37), and Rivers‘

shell-shock by allowing him to find solace through literature.

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at Craiglockhart and the writing of the Sherston Trilogy seemed to have helped alleviate his

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‗talking cure‘ relieves him from his ‗anti-war complex‘ (p.10). Similarly, Sassoon‘s treatment

For Graves, however, coping with the trauma of the conflict took an entirely different turn. Having enlisted almost instantly in the summer of 1914, ‗he had by 1916 seen all the details […] that he wrote about in his memoir, and he himself had begun to feel suicidal‘ (Presley, 2010, p.271). During the Battle of the Somme, Graves was severely injured, and erroneously declared dead. Quite naturally, the young poet‘s miraculous recovery took a heavy toll on his morale and profoundly scarred him, as depicted in his 1916 ‗Escape‘, to which he added the following note: ‗August 6, 1916. - Officer previously reported died of wounds, now reported wounded: Graves, Captain R., Royal Welch Fusiliers‘ (Graves, 1917, p.80). The poem introduces a soldier, his alter-ego, who is experiencing the first symptoms of shell-shock, also known as neurasthenia, which is manifest through feelings of anxiety and dread, with words such as ‗buzzing‘, ‗breathless‘, ‗leaping‘, ‗clattered‘, and ‗grapple‘. Eventually, much like the poet himself, the soldier miracu- lously escapes death, thanks to ‗some morphia‘ that he had ‗bought on leave‘ (Graves, 1917, p.80).

As would be expected, Graves never fully overcame this traumatic event, and his physical and mental health gradually deteriorated. Surprisingly enough, he was not assigned to Craiglockhart like other neurasthen- ic officers. Nevertheless, the poet was well-acquainted with Rivers, and applied his theories in an attempt to cure himself through his writing. This is precisely why, Presley argues, ‗Graves decided […] to create a poetry of detachment‘ (Presley, 2010, p.298). The most striking example of this ‗detachment‘ is his 1921 The PierGlass (Graves, 1921, p.146), where he implicitly projects his own trauma onto his fictional characters. In the eponymous poem, the readers are faced with ‗a ghost, while yet in woman‘s flesh and blood‘, who is compelled to ‗walk continually‘ in a room to which she is ‗drawn by a thread of time-sunk memory‘.

Naturally, these lines echo the poet‘s own situation, as he is also ceaselessly borne back into his Western Front memories. If his later poetry was characterised by detachment, so was his prose, which might explain why falsity was necessary for an accurate representation of the trenches in Good-bye to All That (Fussell, 2003, p.207). Indeed, if we consider falsity to be a mere form of detachment from reality, we understand that Graves‘ use of ‗phrases such as ‗they say‘ or ‗was said to have‘ or ‗is alleged to have‘ to make himself seem a

alternate reality that might have allowed him to cope with the trauma of the conflict.

However, as the writing of Good-bye to All That (Graves, 1929, p.381) appeared as a Literature SIG Bridges. Volume 1, Issue 1. February 2016

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disseminating unlikely anecdotes and falsities into his narrative, Graves thus fashioned an

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reliable narrator of the factual is simply literary device‘ (Presley, 2010, p.301). By blatantly

potential cure for his neurasthenia, the poet came to a bitter conclusion: ‗somehow I thought that the power of writing poetry […] would disappear if I allowed myself to get cured‘.

Rather than desperately trying to cure his neurasthenia, Graves embraced it instead, seeing as ‗it seemed less important to be well than to be a good poet‘ (p.381).

Throughout this essay, I have endeavoured to discuss how Siegfried Sassoon and Robert Graves respectively chose to deal with the trauma of the Great War in their lives and through their writing. In doing so, and through close reading of some of their works, I have argued that the former chose the path of introspection, while the latter decided on that of detachment. If both convalescences initially seemed promis- ing, I also noted that Sassoon was the only one to apparently ‗heal‘, since Graves feared that his recovery would annihilate his ability to write poetry. Ultimately, and although fictional accounts of the war have indeed facilitated the process of dealing with what we now call ‗post-traumatic stress disorder‘, Graves‘ case suffices in proving once more that war is –and always will remain– a trauma no one fully recovers from.

REFERENCES Bogacz, T. (1986) A Tyranny of Words: Language, Poetry, and Antimodernism in England in the First World War. The Journal of Modern History, No. 58.

Ellis, J. and COX, M. (2001) The World War I Databook. London: Aurum Press.

Fussell, P. (2003) The Great War and Modern Memory. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Graves, R. (1917), Fairies and Fusiliers. London: Heinemann.

— (1921) The Pier-Glass. London: Martin Secker.

— (1929) Good-bye to All That. London: Cape.

Presley, J. W. (2010) Neurasthenia and the Cure of Literature: Robert Graves, Siegfried Sassoon, Andy Collins. Journal of Advanced Composition, Vol. 30, No. ½.

Quinn, P. (1988) Robert Graves and Siegfried Sassoon: from early poetry to autobiography.

PhD Thesis, Unpublished Manuscript, Warwick: University of Warwick.

Sassoon, S. (1936) Sherston’s Progress. London: Faber and Faber.

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— (1972) The Complete Memoirs of George Sherston. London: Faber and Faber.

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— (1945) Siegfried’s Journey. London: Faber and Faber.

Literature SIG Bridges. Volume 1, Issue 1. February 2016

Latin American Magic Realism Mario De Glera Hermando MA in Filmmaking at Middlesex University

Magic has always played an important role in the lives of humankind. From the creational myths that led to the various religions, to fairy tales and other forms of art and culture, magic has always been present in the mind of people. As defined, magic is ‗an attempt to understand, experience and influence the world using rituals, symbols, actions, gestures and language‘ (Hutton, 1991:289). In ancient times magic was seen as something common, usually executed by gods or magicians, the few entities that knew how to use it. However, as time passed by, the explanation of the world through magical reasons shifted towards a more rational and empiric way to understand life. By the 17th century, thanks to the Age of Enlightenment and its rational taste, magic was almost discarded and relegated to a marginal status. Nowadays, ‗magic is often viewed with suspicion by the wider community, and is sometimes practiced in isolation and secrecy‘ (Mauss, 1972:24). In spite of its notoriety in society these days, magic is still present in several ways throughout the diverse cultural forms, literature being one of those forms in which magic can be perceived. Magical Realism (MR) is one of those genres in which magic fits because it mixes magic and reality, what MR offers ‗is a way to discuss alternative approaches to reality to that of western philosophy, expressed in many postcolonial and non- western works of contemporary fiction‘ (Bower, 2004: 1).

A brief explanation of what magical realism is and consists of together with its origins will be given, and, alongside examples taken from the works of major figures such as Gabriel García Márquez (1927-2014) and his A Hundred Years of Solitude (1967) or Isabel Allende´s The House of Spirits (1987), will serve as evidence for the main characteristics of MR. In addition, a discussion on why this particular genre is so popular in Latin America, and a reflection of my own influences and feelings as Spanish writer towards it, are also going to be carried out.

loss of WWI in Germany created a sense of confusion, sorrow and restraint. These feelings were not only the reflections of the common people of Germany, but also of the artistic minds Literature SIG Bridges. Volume 1, Issue 1. February 2016

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America. The political, economic and social turmoil between 1919-1923 precipitated by the

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Contrary to popular belief Magical Realism began in Europe rather than Latin

reacting to the sudden dramatic events that surrounded the country. Germany was divided due to political violence and its people were suffering the consequences of the severe economic sanctions imposed by the winners of the war. Furthermore, German democratic ideas were far distant from those in the remainder of Europe. Thus, all these factors generated a mood of escapism and evasion from the cruel reality, consequently giving way to magic into the real world. As accurately portrayed by Michalski (1994: 13), MR was a ‗mix between a desire and simultaneous fear for modernity and sober objective residues of Expressionist rationality‘.

Contrary to the belief that literature has always been the flagship of MR, in its beginning MR started as a genre in painting. The definition and term ‗Magischer Realismus‘ were firstly coined in 1925, by Franz Roh in his book Magical Realism. Post-Expressionism: Problems of the most recent European painting. Roh believed that ‗the autonomy of the objective world around us was once more to be enjoyed; the wonder of matter that could crystallize into objects was to be seen anew‘ (Zamora & Faris, 1995:24). Accordingly, he stated a new critical way to look into painting that derived from the term of the genre. It can be said that MR is quite similar to Surrealism, another artistic stream of the 20th century, and that statement may not necessarily be totally wrong. Both movements have in common the introduction of fantasy and magical elements, mixed with elements that are portrayed according to reality.

However, the distinction between both of them relies on MR‘s ‗focus on the material object and the actual existence of things in the world, as opposed to the more cerebral and psychological reality explored by surrealists‘ (Bower, 2004: 12). Therefore, Surrealism falls into a deeper false state of oneiric universe, while MR deals with reality but introduces magical elements within it, as if they in fact belonged to the real world. Somehow, due to its realistic way of expressing magical events, it forces the observer to accept something otherwise impossible, as something common.

The second most significant stage for MR comes during mid-twentieth century. In 1927 Fernando Vela carried out the translation of Roh‘s works into Spanish, and published them in the Spanish magazine, Magazine of the West, founded in 1923 by the philosopher

awareness, and was not only published in Spain but also in Latin America. Magazine of the West was widely read in Latin America, having famous authors amongst its readers such as Literature SIG Bridges. Volume 1, Issue 1. February 2016

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were the basis of the spread of MR‘s influence, as the magazine dealt with academic

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José Ortega y Gasset (1883-1955). The publications of such works in Magazine of the West¸

Rubén Darío (1867-1916) or Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986). ‗It is acknowledged to have had a far-reaching influence, particularly as it provided many first translations of important European texts for the Latin American readership‘ (Menton 1998: 214).

Cuban writer and diplomat, Alejo Carpentier (1904-1980), is said to be the Latin American figure in charge of transforming MR from painting to literature. Despite the fact that he was born in Switzerland, he grew up in Cuba and always identified himself as Cuban.

Though extremely patriotic, he went into exile to France due to Cuban political instability in 1928 and remained there until 1939, when he returned to the island following the outbreak of WWII. Thanks to the years spent in France, he came in contact with European artistic movements, something which was almost unknown in Latin America at the time. Thus, upon his return home, ‗he instigated a distinctly Latin American form of Magical Realism, coining the phrase ―Marvellous Realism‖ (González Echevarría & Pupo-Walker, 1977:97). In the prologue of his masterpiece The Kingdom of this World (1949), he stated that marvellous realism was ‗the heritage of all America‘ (Zamora & Faris, 1995:87), claiming MR as a result of the colonization of Latin America by European Cultures. As Hernán Cortés did in the past, he was now the bearer of the European contemporary culture and it was his duty to spread it in Latin America. For Carpentier, the ‗improbable juxtapositions and marvellous mixtures exist by virtue of Latin America‘s varied history, geography, demography, and politics – not by manifesto‘ (Zamora & Faris, 1995: 75). The significance of this sentence, is that Alejo claimed Latin America as a land that already had the taste for mystical and magical things. It was something proper of the native cultures or inherited from the Europeans, not something consciously crafted and stated.

Following MR´s evolution, in 1955 an essay called ‗Magical Realism in Spanish American Fiction‘ by the critic Angel Flores granted importance to the new-born movement in Latin America. In this paper Flores claims that ‗magical realism is a continuation of the romantic realist tradition of Spanish language literature and its European counterparts‘ (Bower, 1994: 16). His position is one of literary continuity more than one of local spontaneity and property. Therefore, he stands in the same storyline as Carpentier, although Flores does not acknowledge him as the first Latin American magical realistic writer. Instead,

In Borges he sees the union and the heritage of European literature brought to Latin America. Curiously, although Borges is often considered the father of Modernism in Latin Literature SIG Bridges. Volume 1, Issue 1. February 2016

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writing‘ (Flores 1995: 113).

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he points out Jorge Luis Borges as ‗the first example of Latin American magical realist

America, he is only considered a precursor of Magical Realism by most critics except Flores (Bower 1994: 17). Due to his stays in Europe, Borges was certainly greatly influenced by European literature, such as Spanish experimental Modernism or Kafka among others, it being probable that he also had knowledge of Roh´s ideas. Consequent- ly, along with Carpentier, Borges brought European thinking to the Latin American continent. As ‗the mixture of cultural influences has remained a key aspect of magical realist writing‘(Bower 1994: 18), it is fair to consider Borges as one of the first figures who brought the material for Magical Realism to spread throughout Latin America.

After the Cuban revolution in 1959, ‗there was a cultural wave of creativity and in particular a ―Boom‖ of writing‘ (Connel 1998: 98), which portrayed Latin America as the soil were the literary fiction now occurred. Many writers such as Gabriel García Márquez or Julio Cortázar (1914-1984), set their novels in their own continent adapting them to the people, folklore and culture they were surrounded by. The ―Boom‖ was so significant and so important that it led Magical Realism to a state of permanent establishment. What previously was something foreign, now became settled in the land. Magical Realism was not only praised in Latin America, but the authors of the 1960´s ―Boom‖ obtained a quick and massive international recognition. Such recognition led to the ‗misconceived assumption that it is specifically Latin American (…) ignoring the connections with European art‘ (Bowers 1994: 18). After the 1960´s ―Boom‖, another wave of creativity and literary production happened in the 1980´s, known as the ―Post-Boom‖. ‗The post-Boom is distinct from the Boom in various respects, most notably in the presence of female authors such as Isabel Allende or Luisa Valenzuela‘ (Shaw, 1998: 18). Although some critics deny ―Post-Boom‖ - seeing it as a continuation of pre-established MR literature- there is a notable progression very well described by Philip Swanson (Hart, 2010:161): From roughly the late sixties/early seventies, the Latin American novel began to experience a shift away from complex, even tortuous narrative forms towards more popular forms, often more directly political. The re-evaluation of popular culture, meaning broadly speaking mass culture rather than a form of indigenism, […] brought a wind of change.

Among the most famous authors of the ―Post-Boom‖, it can be said that Isabel Allende is a

Allende´s ‗way to ‗‗provide a word for those who suffer and are silent in our land‘‘ that is, to push the marginal and turn it into mainstream‘ (Shaw, 1998:147).

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style and going back to realism‘ (Shaw, 1998:16). Her novel, The House of Spirits, is

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top figure ‗challenging the perceived elitism of the Boom using a simpler, more readable

As its name reveals, the most prominent and obvious characteristic of this literary genre is the interwoven use of magical and realist elements. What makes it special to MR is the fact that these magical elements are treated as if they were real. Sometimes the real is uncommon and the uncommon is something taken for granted. In order to convey this, ‗magical realist writers write the ordinary as miraculous and the miraculous as ordinary‘ (Holland Rogers, 2002, p.3). A great example of something ordinary taken as a miracle can be appreciated in García Márquez ´s novel, in the episode where the ice is firstly presented to José Arcadio Buendía and his sons. Something as simple as ice is presented as ‗the great invention of our time‘ (Bell-Villada & García Márquez, 2002:18). Consequently, the common object acquires a superior power that makes it stand as supernatural.

On the other hand, proper magical elements appear, such as ghosts. These ghosts are the souls of past people that return to this world in order to help or haunt the main protagonists. Often they curse characters or fulfil a duty of foreshadowers. Thanks to these magical appearances, the future is somehow sealed by these characters, ‗I set my curse on you, Esteban! (…) You will always be alone!‘ (Allende, 1985:132).This combination of the real and magical clearly makes it different from simple fantasy or myth. It does not read as something fantastic, it reads as a peculiar reality, but reality after all.

Time and setting are quintessential to the development of a MR novel. Time is perceived in its framework as cyclic or distorted, so that present can be repeated or at least similar to past. However, these novels do also play with future revealing some incidents that are to happen or giving clear evidences of what is to come. ‗The distant past is present in every moment, and the future has already happened‘ (Holland Rogers, 2002:1). Clear evidence of it are the beginning and the ending of A Hundred Years of Solitude. This narrative starts in an event that has not yet occurred, ‗Many years later as he faced the firing squad‘ (1). On the other hand, its ending reveals how everything was already written in a book, and the mere fact of reading it provokes life to happen – common into miraculous again – ‗Aureliano skipped eleven pages so as not to lose time with facts he knew only too well, and he began to decipher the instant that he was living‘ (302). Furthermore, certain events keep on repeating throughout the novel in a circular movement and keep on haunting

As for the setting, it is often related to the Latin American reality, usually portraying the poverty and social marginalization of the time. It plays out in two different ways: the Literature SIG Bridges. Volume 1, Issue 1. February 2016

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were not a line but a renewing circle.

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the offspring of the family. This provokes in the reader a certain sense of recurrence, as if life

particular and the general. In the particular sense, the setting focuses on a specific place, often a property that belongs to the same family where the most important events take place. In House of Spirits it is illustrated using the old Spanish villa of Tres Marías. Not only it evokes the old colonial times and ancestors, as Esteban´s family belonged to the Spanish crown in past times, but it is also proof of the power and money which diminished, ‗the place was full of dust and spider-webs, and look thoroughly abandoned‘ (50). However, these places that are poor in the beginning often develop through effort and hard work and become the most important and dazzling buildings of the novel. In García Márquez´s, the Buendía´s home becomes ‗the greatest of the houses of Macondo‘ (187), so it does Tres Marías.

The general aspect of setting regards the reality of a place. In a more general way it usually portrays the situation of a determined Latin American country, in the case of Allende´s novel, it shows the social, political and economic reality – more real and proper of the Post Boom – of Chile. Here, she accurately describes how the country was in those times, the way the ‗Trueba‘ and ‗Del Valle‘ families evolved, the government and the repression, the clash between the different classes of citizens, the poor and the marginal- ized, as well as the discrimination towards women. Common themes are the family affairs, life and death and afterlife, from rags to riches and political and economic instability. All of them mingled, resulting in complicated plots with a great number of characters, which end up producing quite large novels covering several generations of the same family in the same place. All elements interact and work as a puzzle that needs to be resolved to find the ultimate truth; ‗if I ever managed to complete it, the separate parts would each have meaning and the whole would be harmonious. Each piece has a reason for being the way it is‘ (432).

Another major characteristic in MR is the appearance of the authoritarian figure. In almost every MR novel there is at least one of them, but usually there is a male and a female dominant figure. These figures stand as the personification of power, terror and authority, ‗I´m the patron here now, the party´s over‘ (53). They are usually the male and female heads of the family that control and lead the destiny. Quite commonly they not only have power at home among their people, but they are also important figures in the community. For example, José Arcadio Buendía is the founder of Macondo, but Úrsula is the one who governs at home.

the country and afterwards a lead politician too. Male and female have separated spheres of

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action, but they become the most important figures in each of them.

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While Clara remains as the governess of the villa, Esteban becomes an economic pioneer in

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As previously stated in this paper, the popular belief exists that MR is a distinctly Latin American genre. This is due to the great popularity and number of writers from the ‗Boom‘ and the ‗Post-Boom‘ generations. However, if the main characteristics of MR are taken into consideration, it can be appreciated that all of them are themes and topics quite interesting for Latin American culture and its writers: family, political and economic instability, marginalization, a sense of rooting for the past. Magical elements are also something common and accepted by Latin American society, as it can be appreciated on the ‗Day of the Dead‘. The theme of breaking the rules and the barriers is also something that interests them as a conquered people. Apart from that, this genre allows women to stand a step higher from reality. Matriarchies are portrayed opposed to patriarchies in MR novels, and the voice of women is usually heard and taken into deep consideration, quite contrary to the reality of Latin America. Thus, this genre allows people to escape from the world they live in and to believe in magic, providing a ground where they can freely speak and criticize what they do not like from reality.

As a Spanish writer, I must admit I love this particular genre. Since I was a child I grew up reading stories of fantasy where magic was the main theme. When I grew up and matured, I started developing an interest towards the surrounding reality but I kept on reading fantasy books and still do nowadays. What attracts me to MR, is the fact that magic is taken for granted and it is something incorporated unquestioned in reality. Another quite attractive theme is the circular sense that almost all these novels present. The fact that life is a cycle and certain things keep on coming back, is something I cannot help but feel myself every day.

Despite the fact that I love the genre, I am not entirely sure if it has influenced me in my writing. I feel that in my writings there are some magical elements but I would define them more as metaphysical doubts than magic itself. Those events, although on occasions may look magical, I simply feel them as existential doubts of that magical thing we call Life.

To conclude, it can be appreciated how despite the fact that MR is often considered as a Latin American label, its roots come from Europe and it is a worldwide phenomenon nowadays. MR is a genre that mutated and adapted from early 20th century painting to literature, being literature the most common way to find it in the current minds of the people.

‗Post-Boom‘. However, what usually leads to the misconception of MR being something proper for Latin America is that its main themes are themes that highly interest the Latin Literature SIG Bridges. Volume 1, Issue 1. February 2016

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consolidated as such in the 1960´s and in the following years thanks to the ‗Boom‘ and the

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Due to great authors such as Gabriel García Márquez or Isabel Allende, the genre was

American audiences, therefore, it is considered as its homeland. Finally, although I do enjoy MR novels and they are appealing to me, I have to say that I do not consider them as a source of inspiration and influence for me, as my writing turns to more metaphysical and existential shores not using magic as its vehicle.

REFERENCES Allende, I. (1985). The House of the Spirits. New York: A.A. Knopf, pp.50, 53, 132, 432.

Bell-Villada, G. (2002) and Gabriel García Márquez. One Hundred Years of Solitude. New York: Oxford University Press, pp.1, 18, 187, 302.

Bowers, M. (2004). Magic(al) Realism. The New Critical Idiom. New York: Routledge, pp.1, 12, 16.

Connel, L. (1998). Discarding Magic Realism: Modernism, Anthropology, and Critical Practice.

ARIEL, Vol 29 (2), pp.95-110.

González Echevarría, R. and Pupo-Walker, E. (2008). The Cambridge History of Latin American Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p.97.

Holland Rogers, B. (2002). What Is Magical Realism, Really? Speculations, Vo1 1 (1), pp.1-3.

Hutton, R. (1991). The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles. Oxford, UK: B. Blackwell, pp 289.

Mauss, M, Brain, R. and Pocock, D. (2001). A General Theory of Magic. London: Routledge, p.14.

Menton, S. (1998). Magic Realism Rediscovered, 1918–1981. Philadelphia: Associated University Presses, p.214.

Michalsky, S. (1994). New Objectivity: Painting, Graphic Art and Photography in Weimar Germany, 1919–1933. Cologne: Benedikt Taschen, p.13.

Shaw, D. (1998). The Post-Boom in Spanish American fiction. Saratoga Springs: State University of New York Press, pp.16, 18, 147.

Swanson, P. (1987). Donoso and the Post-Boom: Simplicity and Subversion, Contemporary Literature. Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, p.161.

Zamora, L. and Faris, W. (1995). Magical Realism. Theory, History, Community. Durham, N.C.:

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Duke University Press, pp.24, 75, 87.

Literature SIG Bridges. Volume 1, Issue 1. February 2016

Symbolism and imagery in Coleridge’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner Magdalena Engels Erasmus BA Student, University of Leicester/ Universität Leipzig

When William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge published a collection of poems called Lyrical Ballads in 1798, Wordsworth implied that the ―supernatural strangeness‖ of one poem might harm the reputation and conception of the Lyrical Ballads as a whole (Modiano, 1985, p.35). He was specifically referring to Coleridge‘s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, which describes a mariner‘s psychological and physical voyage into fault, estrangement and Life-in-Death (Newlyn, 2002, p.49-51). Its archaic language, Christian references and ballad stanzas contribute to an anachronistic surrounding (Dilworth, 2007, p.503). Sanders points out that the poem owes its simplicity in metre to the fact that it is written in the medieval form of a traditional ballad (2004, p.369). The poem‘s typical fourline stanzas rhyme a b c b with an internal rhyme that usually occurs within the third line (Reed, 1983, p.157). His poem caused a lot of controversy due to its hallucinatory world and supernatural elements and a wide range of different interpretations has been applied to it since its publication (Burwick, 2009, p.382). Analyses of the poem usually focus on the symbols, imagery and nature that Coleridge applies and how they are significantly interwoven with each other. Adoration of nature is undoubtedly what Coleridge and Wordsworth shared and what played a major role in their poetry and romantic literature in general (Watson, 1970, p.108). The poem is set on the sea for the most part and the mariners are exposed to nature and weather to a remarkable extent. Reed (1983, p.151) describes it as ―a poem of the elements. Its real protagonists are Earth, Air, Fire, and Water, in their multiform balefulness and beauty‖. It could be interpreted how Coleridge makes use of nature in order to convey meaning. However, for the purpose of this essay, I will have a closer look at the symbols and imagery utilized by Coleridge by analysing an example of each.

Before looking at Coleridge‘s use of symbol in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, his definition and perception of symbols has to be considered first. It is important to note that Coleridge differentiated between an allegory and a symbol. Burwick (2009, p.351-352) points

defined a symbol as something that ―always partakes of the reality which it renders intelligible; and while it enunciates the whole, abides itself as a living part in that unity, of Literature SIG Bridges. Volume 1, Issue 1. February 2016

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symbol bears something bigger than itself because of what it is itself. Coleridge himself

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out that Coleridge defined an allegory as being a substitute for an abstract idea whereas a

which it is the representative‖ (Barth, 1977, p.4). In other words, a symbol is a fragment of what it denotes (Burwick, 2009, p.347). It requires one‘s own interpretation rather than having things being pointed out to oneself (Barth, 1977, p.55-56). It could be argued that the albatross is the most prominent symbol in the poem. The albatross is a bird that is commonly referred to in the literature about voyages, as Gardner points out (1965, p.49). The presupposition of sailors being superstitious is widespread. This can be seen in the fact that the sailors believe the albatross to be the reason for the ―good south wind‖ that comes with it (l.71). The albatross personifies positive as well as negative signs for a ship‘s crew (Gardner, 1965, p.49). This is true for the appearance of the albatross in The Ancient Mariner. Its first sighting is after the ship has been drawn south due to a storm. The ship is surrounded by ice and loses track until the albatross appears: ―At length did cross an albatross, thorough the fog it came; as if it had been a Christian soul, we hailed it in God‘s name‖ (l.63-64). The sailors welcome and feed the bird as it leads them through the splitting ice. This positive connotation does not last very long since the mariner shoots the albatross for no plausible reason at first sight (l.82). He does it on the spur of the moment and it affects his life and the lives of his fellow shipmen tremendously. His comrades condemn him in the first place for having killed the bird ―that made the breeze to blow‖ (l.94). However, the reader learns in line 101 that the sailors now agree on the fact that the mariner has done the right thing: ―‘Twas right, said they, such birds to slay,that bring the fog and mist‖. The mariner‘s spontaneous action symbolizes human beings often committing evil deeds and sins without having a reasonable cause. Since Jesus died on the cross for our sins according to the Bible, the albatross clearly is a sign for Jesus Christ. The mariner has to carry the albatross as heavy weight around his neck, punishing him and causing him to uninterruptedly think of his action: ‗Instead of the cross, the albatross about my neck was hung‘ (l.143). This is alluding to the symbol of the cross, which encapsulates Christianity and it is thus indubitable that Coleridge implies an allusion to Christ. However, it does not fully coincide, since the cross embodies the fact that a believer is forgiven and no longer a slave to sin in the Christian point of view (Romans. 6:6) whereas The Ancient Mariner has to carry the albatross around his neck as a constant reminder of his failure. It is only after blessing the water snakes ―unaware‖ (l.297) later in the poem that the mariner is released from the albatross. The fact that the mariner keeps on

because being forgiven means truly being free for Christians whereas the mariner is not free although the albatross fell of his neck supposedly as a symbol of forgiveness.

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also be perceived as a contradiction to a Christian interpretation of The Ancient Mariner

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wandering the earth telling his story hints at a punishment that he still has to endure. This can

Coleridge‘s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is not only loaded with symbols that have been elucidated to a huge extent by numerous critics already. It is furthermore the author‘s brilliant imaginative language that is focus of many interpretations. According to Curran (2013, p.79) it was a Romantic poet‘s obligation to offer his readers a possibility of escape to society‘s rejection of imagination and creativeness. Samuel Taylor Coleridge is definitely able to present this opportunity to his readers and paints vivid images in his reader‘s mind through the stylistic devices and words he uses. One example for this can be seen at a point when the mariner has already shot the albatross, the ship is near the equator and the crew suffers from terrible thirst. During the night they observe a sinister occurrence: About, about, in reel and rout The death-fires danced at night; The water, like a witch‘s oil, Burnt green, and blue and white. (The Rime, 127-130)

The image created in the reader‘s mind in these lines is like a ―vehicle for the sublime‖, as Curran points out (2013, p.217). The juxtaposition of ‗reel‘, referring to a lively dance, and ‗rout‘, most likely denoting a disorganized state describes the light that the sailors observe in a drastic way (Gardner, 1968, p.56). Coleridge‘s uses personification when relating to the ‗death-fires‘ in combination with the verb ―danced‖. This evokes the feeling of a supernatural happening and increases the reader‘s power of imagination. The binary opposites ‗fire‘ and ‗water‘ expresses the paradoxical circumstances of this scene in particular since water and fire are extremes that usually exclude each other. Describing the water by using the enumeration of green, blue and white (l.130) approaches the reader‘s mental range of colours and paints a picturesque and disturbing image. Instead of just using one colour Coleridge decided to name three different colours in order to stimulate the reader‘s creativity. Coleridge uses colours throughout The Ancient Mariner in pursuance of strengthening the plot‘s description. The contrast between ‗night‘ and ‗white‘ due to the predominant rhyme scheme a b c b is extremely powerful. It strengthens the depiction of the situation‘s absurdity since the night is usually connoted with darkness. Combining ‗night‘ with the colour ‗white‘ in this contrastive way therefore evokes opposing frightening and fascinating feelings within the

reader‘s creative mind to draw meaning out of his imagery.

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of imagery supported by stylistic devices to evoke various connotations and enable the

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readers. These four lines can be taken as an exemplary proof of Coleridge‘s excellent usage

There is no universally accepted interpretation of what Coleridge intended to convey through symbols and imagery in his poem. It is our task as readers to make up our own minds in order to interpret the imagery, symbolism and nature that are applied by the author. The number of interpretations proves how different individuals perceive Coleridge‘s symbolism and imagery. He combined narrating a story and at the same time expressing emotional and personal experience in this poem. Therefore, the Lyrical Ballads have truly been enriched by The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

REFERENCES Barth, J. R., 1977. The Symbolic Imagination. Coleridge and the Romantic Tradition. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Burwick, F. ed., 2009. The Oxford Handbook of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Chandler, J. and McLane, M.N., 2008. The Cambridge Companion to British Romantic Poetry.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Curran, S., 2010. The Cambridge Companion to British Romanticism. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Dilworth, T., 2007. Symbolic Spatial Form in ―The Rime of the Ancient Mariner‖ and the Problem of God. The Review of English Studies, [e-journal] 58(236).Available through: University of Leicester Library website < http://www2.le.ac.uk/library> [Accessed 07 December 2015] Garner, M. and Doré, G., 1965. The Annotated Ancient Mariner. London: Anthony Blond.

Modiano, R., 1985. Coleridge and the Concept of Nature. Basingstoke, The MacMillan Press.

Newlyn, L. ed., 2002. The Cambridge Companion to Coleridge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Reed, A., 1983. Romantic Weather. The Climates of Coleridge and Baudelaire. London: University Press of New England.

Sanders, A., 2004. Short Oxford History of English Literature. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

The Bible: Good News Bible. Today‘s English Version, 1976. Glasgow: HarperCollins.

Watson, J.R., 1970. Picturesque Landscape and English Romantic poetry. London: Hutchinson

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Educational LTD.

Literature SIG Bridges. Volume 1, Issue 1. February 2016

Victorian moral values in Dickens’ Oliver Twist Vincent Bucheler Erasmus BA Student, University of Leicester

Ardent reformer and moralist, Victorian novelist Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was an advocate for the unprivileged in society (Eagleton, 2005, pp. 155-62). His second novel, Oliver Twist, published in 1838, is the perfect example of the Social problem novel for his work is full of social criticism during the Industrial Revolution that took place under Queen Victoria‘s reign (1837-1901). This paper will address the following moral values: social justice, gender equality and sexual liberty and finally philanthropy and education observed in Dickens‘ Oliver Twist and contrast them with their representation during the Victorian era.

First of all, being a victim of child labour in the workhouse and in his undertaker‘s place as well as a thief in a gang in London, Oliver Twist is undoubtedly a destitute child who has known misery and harshness all his life (Makati, 2008, p. 11). This social inequality is a direct consequence of the Victorian Industrial Revolution because, not only was the change economic ¯ with an economy based on trade and manufacturing but also social, for it involved mass immigration to industrial towns, with the hope of a better life despite low wages and extreme long hours of work (Norton, 2014, online). Under Queen Victoria, the hierarchical society was composed of the upper class on top, followed by the middle, the working and the under classes and inequalities between classes in terms of working and living conditions, wealth and education were undeniable (Wohl, 2012, online). In fact, in contrast to the middle and upper classes‘ grandeur and greed, the working class lived in ―small overcrowded houses‖ administrated by upper class landlords and as a result of the latter‘s total absence of preoccupation for poor sanitation, fatal diseases and infections were present (Makati, 2008, p.22). Moreover, in spite of their hard work, ―members of the lower class were perceived as irrational, immature, superstitious, brutal, excessively sexual and filthy‖ (Wohl, ibid). In 1834, in an attempt to reduce flagrant poverty among the poorer classes, the Poor Law Amendment Act was passed. Yet, instead of helping them, the act drastically reduced financial help and ―made the impoverished suffer even more‖ (Warnick,

clothes. But conditions were ―cruel‖ and ―unchristian‖ and the workhouses quickly became synonymous of ―prisons for the poor‖ (BBC, 2014, online). Cruelty can be found in: Literature SIG Bridges. Volume 1, Issue 1. February 2016

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2014, online). In exchange for 18 hours of manual labour daily, the poor were fed and given

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2014, online). As a result, the paupers‘ unique relief became the workhouse (Higginbotham,

―[…] Oliver Twist and his companions suffered the tortures of slow starvation for three months; at last they got so voracious and wild with hunger, that one boy, […] hinted darkly to his companions that unless he had another basin of gruel per diem, he was afraid he should some night eat the boy who slept next to him, who happened to be a weakly youth of tender age.‖ (11)

This excerpt clearly highlights the starvation endured by children that urged young Oliver to defy authority asking for more food: ―Please, sir, I want some more. ‗What!‘ said the master at length, in a faint voice. ‗Please, sir,‘ replied Oliver, ‗I want some more.‘ […]. Horror was depicted on every countenance. ‗For MORE!‘ said Mr. Limbkins. […] Do I understand that he asked for more, after he had eaten the supper allotted by the dietary?‘ ‗He did, sir,‘ replied Bumble. ‗That boy will be hung,‘ said the gentleman in the white waistcoat. ‗I know that boy will be hung.‘‖ (11)

In this passage, bravery is stressed and its presence can be explained by the Victorian attitude towards courage. Valiant people were awarded ‗The Victorian Cross‘ medal, which is ―the first British medal to be created for bravery‖ (British Monarchy, 2014, online). Victorian society highly valued gallantry among its inhabitants for it showed their recognition for the national status of the government (Great War, 2014, online). In Oliver Twist, Dickens not only emphasises the ―shocking social effects of poverty in Victorian England‖ (Warnick, 2014, online) but also advocates bravery in society, which can lead to positive changes in terms of poverty and child exploitation (Daly, 2012, online).

Secondly, the feminist analysis of Dickens‘ second novel reveals the presence of ―the ideologies surrounding gender issues […] in a patriarchal society that [rejects] ‗fallen‘ women ¯ prostitutes after the loss of purity through sexual transgression ¯ and [champions] domestic, gentle and respectable women‖ (Makati, 2008, p.4). Indeed, during the Victorian era, women were financially dependent on and socially submissive to men and they were forced to conform to societal norms (Abrams, 2001, online). Their place was in the home and their refusal led to exclusion from the respected society and left them to be prey to prostitution (Makati, ibid, p.35). Prostitution was considered ―the great social evil‖ of the time (Wiley, 1997, online). In fact, according to Victorian standards, femininity was not

Victorians believed ¯ freely chose to prostitute themselves and enjoyed having affairs

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act was merely considered to be a duty (Greene, 2014, online). By contrast, prostitutes ¯ as

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defined by sexual pleasure during sexual intercourse between a wife and her husband, for the

(Greene, ibid). Yet, they are presented as victims in Oliver Twist because prostitution is their unique survival in a growing individualist and impersonal urbanised society (Wiley, ibid).

Nonetheless, despite the sympathy expressed towards them, Makati (ibid, p.57) asserts that ―Dickens [conforms] to the Victorian ideology that women‘s place is only in the domestic sphere‖. As a matter of fact, witnessing the rise of feminist‘s claims in terms of economic, political and social emancipation in the British society (Makati, ibid, p.50) and responding to the threat against patriarchy, the author repaired and set firmly in place patriarchy as a social norm (Hall, 1997, online). Indeed, Oliver Twist condemns transgressive women as portrayed in Nancy‘s deliberate refusal to abandon her life of crime and prostitution: 'You would serve me best, lady,' replied the girl, wringing her hands, 'if you could take my life at once; for I have felt more grief to think of what I am, to-night, than I ever did before, and it would be something not to die in the hell in which I have lived.

God bless you, sweet lady, and send as much happiness on your head as I have brought shame on mine!' (Chapter XL, p. 275)

This excerpt clearly shows the impossibility of a ‗fallen‘ woman to come back into the respectable Victorian society after refusing her established place in the sexual hierarchy and her role of ―helpmeet and domestic manager‖ (Abrams, 2001, online). All in all, notwithstanding the sympathy towards the oppressed and exploited women found in Oliver Twist, Dickens not only disapproves of the Victorian women‘s attempt to emancipate themselves from domesticity in order to gain equal rights and recognition in the public sphere dominated by men (Makati, 2008, p.54) but also, and therefore, reaffirms the women‘s status of ―wife, mother and domestic manager‖ (Abrams, 2001, online) and the hegemony of men in society (Hall, 1997, online).

Finally, in order to end his novel on a positive note ¯ the contrary being judged subversive and inacceptable by the Victorians (Eagleton, 2005, p.156) ¯ Dickens employs the Christmas figure. Reinforcing patriarchy, the Christmas figure is a paternalist character ―with a smile on his lips, a tear in his eyes and a purse in his proffered fist‖ who is a ―fairy-tale solution to the problems of a society in crisis‖ (Eagleton, ibid). Offering Oliver a steady home in the countryside away from the corrupt London , and educating him, Mr. Brownlow

to necessary skills (Makati, ibid, p. 96). However, given the expensive fees and the lower class‘s belief that it was dispensable for school earned them nothing not every child went. As Literature SIG Bridges. Volume 1, Issue 1. February 2016

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England, education was considered essential to any future employment because it gave access

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impersonates that philanthropic morale in Oliver Twist (Makati, 2008, p.54). In Victorian

a consequence, the lack of formal education and literacy led to crime and prostitution, as evidenced by Fagin‘s gang (Muntamah, 2012, p.15).

If Christianson (2012, online) affirms that it is undeniable that the author advocates charity in Oliver Twist, however, those who, for vanity, style themselves as philanthropists are criticised (Pfeffer, 2012, online). The novel‘s con-philanthropists are notably the administrators of the workhouse who serve themselves rather than the poor. Describing them as ―ten fat gentlemen‖, of whom among them, one is ―particularly fat with a very round, red face‖ (8), Dickens stresses the unchristian and hypocritical behaviour of the middle class for showing no scruple in seeing the children being starved (Christianson, ibid). Moreover, as stated by Makati (ibid, p.102), Oliver Twist seems to suggest that the only solution to eradicate poverty, illiteracy and criminality among the lower classes is through the help of the middle class, for one of their duties is to educate the poor. Indeed, the adoption of lower class‘s orphans by middle class members offers a better life to the children, overcomes the frontier between poor and rich and provides them with a ―complete family unit [filled] with warm hearts‖ (Makati, 2008, p. 134). It is therefore argued that Dickens lays emphasis not only on the necessity of formal education for all and on the saving function of the charitable middle class whose duty is to take care of the ones in need but also on the hypocritical generosity of some aristocrats, middle class members and representatives of the clergy.

To conclude, Dickens was a radical moralist whose works criticise the hostile and destructive capitalist society under Queen Victoria that led to a discrepancy between the harsh living condition of the lower classes and the lavish living of the middle and upper classes. The author also condemns the misanthropy of some Christian middle class members who, driven by greed, neglect their responsibility to take care of the needy and to provide them with formal education. Lastly, notwithstanding his sympathetic social novel truthfully portraying misery, crime and prostitution, Dickens subtly reaffirms the patriarchal hierarchy of Victorian Society and ostracises women to domesticity.

REFRENCES

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BBC., 2014. History. People and poverty. [online] Available at: <http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/shp/britishsociety/thepoorrev1.shtml> [Accessed: 16 November 2014].

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Abrams, L., 2001. Ideals of Womanhood in Victorian Britain, BBC. [online] Available at: <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/trail/victorian_britain/women_home/ideals_womanhood_01.shtml> [Accessed: 29 November 2014].

British Library, 2014. Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist. 1837. [online] Available at: <http://www.bl.uk/learning/timeline/item126777.html> [Accessed: 15 November 2014].

British Monarchy (the), 2014. Military Honours and Awards. [online] Available at: <http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchUK/Honours/MilitaryHonoursandAwards/MilitaryHonoursandAwards.aspx > [Accessed: 23 November 2014].

Butt, J. and Tillotson, K. eds., 1966. Oliver Twist. Oxford: The Clarendon Press.

Canning, A., S., G., 1880. Philosophy of Charles Dickens. London: Smith, Elder, & Co. Chilton, M., 2012. Charles Dickens - the 'abuser' of women? The Telegraph, [online]. Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/charles-dickens/9055188/Charles-Dickens-the-abuser-of-women.html> [Accessed: 21 November 2014].

Christianson, F., 2012. Charity in the Novels of Charles Dickens. Voluntary Action History Society. [online].

Available at: <http://www.vahs.org.uk/2012/10/dickens-christianson/> [Accessed: 29 November 2014].

Daly, T., 2012. Charles Dickens: the social justice campaigner. [online] Available at: <http://www.developmenteducation.ie/blog/2012/02/charles-dickens-the-social-justice-campaigner/> [Accessed: 13 November 2014].

Daily Mail Reporter, 2011. ‗I thought I was going to die… So I tried to kill as many as I could‘: Hero Gurha receives bravery medal from the Queen. Daily Mail, [online]. Available at: <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1393355/Hero-Gurkha-handed-bravery-medal-Queen-said-I-thoughtI-going-die--I-tried-kill-I-could.html> [Accessed: 23 November 2014].

Dickens, C., 2000. Oliver Twist. Great Britain: Wordsworth Classic.

Eagleton, T., 2005. The English Novel. An introduction. Oxford: Blackwell.

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2014. Social problem novel. Encyclopaedia Britannica, [online] London: Encyclopedia Britannica (UK). Available through: <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/664323/social-problem-novel> [Accessed 15 November 2014].

Englander, D., 2012. Victorian Values; & Late Victorian Britain 1875-1901. [online] Available at: <http://www.historytoday.com/david-englander/victorian-values-late-victorian-britain-1875-1901> [Accessed: 16 November 2014].

Evans, E., 2011. Overview: Victorian Britain, 1837-1901. [online] Available at: <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/overview_victorians_01.shtml> [Accessed: 16 November 2014].

Gane, S., 2014. Dickens and Women. [online] Available at: <http://www.dickens-and-london.com/Women.htm> [Accessed: 21 November 2014] Gold, J., 1972. Charles Dickens: Radical Moralist. Minneapolis (Minnesota): University of Minnesota Press.

Great War (The), 2014. A Guide to British Awards for Gallantry or Meritorious Service in WW1. [online] Available at: <http://www.greatwar.co.uk/medals/ww1-gallantry-awards.htm> [Accessed: 22 November 2014].

Greene, A., 2014. Fallen Women. [online] Available at: <http://cai.ucdavis.edu/waterssites/prostitution/FallenWomen.htm> [Accessed: 21 November 2014].

Hall, D., 1997. Fixing Patriarchy: Feminism and Mid-Victorian Male Novelists. [online] New York: New York University Press. Available at: <http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=1275> [Accessed: 21 November 2014].

Higginbotham, P., 2014. The New Poor Law. [online] Available at: <http://www.workhouses.org.uk/poorlaws/newpoorlaw.shtml> [Accessed: 16 November 2014].

Little, G., 1970. Approach to Literature: an Introduction to Critical Study of Content and Method in writing.

Sydney: Science Press.

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Jackson, L., 2006.What were real Victorian values? BBC NEWS, [online]. Available at: <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6175437.stm> [Accessed: 15 November 2014].

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History Learning, 2014. History Learning Site. The Victorian Cross. [online] Available at: <http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/victoria_cross.htm> [Accessed: 23 November 2014].

Makati, P., 2008. A Critical Study of Charles Dickens’ Representation of the Socially Disadvantaged. Master thesis. University of Fort Hare (East London Campus). Available at: <http://ufh.netd.ac.za/bitstream/10353/173/1/Makati%20thesis.pdf> [Accessed: 12 November 2014].

Muntamah., 2012. Analysis of Moral Values as Seen on Charles Dickens’s Novel Oliver Twist. Graduating Paper. State Islamic Studies Institute (STAIN). Available at: <http://eprints.stainsalatiga.ac.id/350/1/AN%20ANALYSIS%20OF%20MORAL%20VALUES%20AS%20SE EN%20ON%20CHARLES%20-%20STAIN%20SALATIGA.pdf> [Accessed: 10 November 2014].

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Norton (the) Anthology of English Literature., 2014. The Victorian Age: Topics. Introduction. [online] Available at: <http://www.wwnorton.com/college/english/nael/victorian/welcome.htm> [Accessed: 16 November 2014].

O‘Hara, M., 2010. Why Britain's battle to bring down social inequality has failed, The Guardian. [online] Available at: <http://www.theguardian.com/society/2010/apr/21/danny-dorling-charles-dickens-socialinequality> [Accessed: 21 November 2014].

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Wohl, A. S., 2012. Race and Class Overview: Parallels in Racism and Class Prejudice. [online] Available at: <http://www.victorianweb.org/history/race/rcov.html> [Accessed: 16 November 2014].

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Foster’s A Passage to India Alison Stark This paper was submitted an MEd dissertation at Fontys College of Education, Fontys University of Applied Science, in Tilburg, Netherlands.

Despite India gaining its independence from Great Britain in 1947, the link, or rather fascination, between the two countries remains strong: on a recent flight I took, the in-flight movie was The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, a modern film about a group of British retirees who head off to spend their twilight years in India. Back in England, the salesmen working for the retirement home depict India as being bright, cheerful, exotic, and much cheaper than living in Britain. Once the pensioners arrive, they are disappointed with the standard of living and the group becomes divided into those who love India, and those who hate it. In her review of the film, Laura Barnett of The Guardian newspaper wittingly calls this the ―Marmite effect‖. How- ever, it´s not too far off the mark, and this `love it or hate it´ relationship between the British and India can not only be traced back through historical documents, but also through the Arts through various films and novels. In this paper, I will be taking a detailed look into one of these novels, E.M. Forster´s A Passage to India, and I will attempt to answer the question that is asked by the main Indian characters at the beginning of the book: ―is it possible (for an Indian) to be friends with an Englishman?‖ To this end, I will concentrate on two major events in the narrative whose aim is to bring East and West closer together (the Bridge Party and Fielding‘s tea party), as well as three other events I have selected as being important in bridging the cultural gap.

Forster published A Passage to India in 1924 and one of the first reviews was by Clarence Gaines in the North American Review. He wrote that ―it is a curious fact that Mr Forster could scarcely have written so effectively (and so impartially) about the futility of attempts at social rapprochement between English people and natives of India, if he had not had as the background of his thought the possible futility of all life.‖ What is it that made Gaines describe Forster‘s attempts to bridge the gap between Indians and British as ―futile‖?

In order to answer this question, it is necessary to take a look at Indian history, particularly

As European interest grew, so did the demand for strong trade links to develop between Literature SIG Bridges. Volume 1, Issue 1. February 2016

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India is a country which has a rich trading history, particularly in spices and textiles.

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that of the relationship between India and Great Britain.

European countries and India. By the end of the sixteenth century, the Netherlands, Portugal, France and England had established East Indian Companies to get a foothold in the increasingly lucrative spice markets. In 1600, the British East India Company obtained a Royal Charter from Elizabeth I, which basically meant that the Company would represent British interests in India, and the government was not officially involved. Competition between the European countries was fierce and through a series of shrewd moves, the British East Indian Company gradually edged out its competitors until it had won sole trading rights by the middle of the seventeenth century. It is important to note that not only did European businesses boom, but also that large profits were made by local Indian businesses and banks.

As its trade increased, the British East Indian Company saw the need to defend its interests and had its own private army, which was comprised of British citizens as well as Indian native soldiers – the sepoy. British businessmen, investors and civilians went out to settle in India and an ―Anglo-Indian‖ community emerged, where British traditions, customs, legal systems and other social structures were introduced to, or rather imposed on, India.

The British East India Company‘s control in India grew, something that was not familiar to the local population: India was a country that had no central government or rulers.

It was a fragmented ―country‖ with many different races, religions and more than two hundred languages spoken. India was not used to having one ruler (though it is important to note that the British East India Company did not control the whole country). Communities that formerly had their own way of life often found themselves having to adhere to new sets of western rules. This imposition of English traditions and rules was not appreciated and resentment grew among the Indian community, particularly among the sepoy: as the British East India Company gained increasing control in India and the sepoy were forced to fight against their own values, beliefs, and people, the resentment grew ever stronger until it reached its zenith in the Indian Mutiny of 1857.

The sepoy uprisings, mainly in the North of the country, varied in size and violence.

Their aim was to restore power to the local landlords, the Nawabs. The mutiny climaxed in Delhi, where the sepoy massacred all the British in the town. Interestingly, however, the British East India Company‘s army in Northern India was assisted in quashing the revolts by

in which India was ruled changed. The British government became involved, dismantled the British East India Company in 1858 and power was transferred to the British crown, which Literature SIG Bridges. Volume 1, Issue 1. February 2016

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moderate (and satisfied) sepoy. The main consequence of the Indian Mutiny was that the way

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branches of the Company‘s army from other parts of the country, which included more

made it clear that India was now officially part of the British Empire and was ruled from London.

The Empress, Queen Victoria, immediately tried to maintain peace by declaring that any agreements be- tween the British East India Company and local businessmen would remain in force. However, being part of the British Empire meant following British rule, and British government officials went out to India in their droves to formalise the basic judicial and social systems that had been put in place by the British East India Company. A lesson that had been learned from the Indian Mutiny was that the Indians wanted more control over their own affairs. Gradually, therefore, educated middle- and upper-class Indians were able to enter local government service, and all Indians were able to join the army (although this process was very slow to develop).

The British Raj controlled approximately half of the country. The other half remained under the control of a great number of local princes. British expats formed communities which were separated from the local Indi- an population. They had their own schools, social clubs, sports grounds – just like back in England. Interestingly, the local Indian communities also began social divisions (unrelated to the Indian caste system) whereby the divide between rich and poor increased dramatically as the rich wanted to stay rich by maintaining trading links with the British. As a result of this, there was also an emergence of an Indian educated mid- dle-class who served both their richer countrymen and the social leaders of the British Raj. This is the world which E.M. Forster witnessed during his time in India and which forms the background for his novel, A Pas- sage to India.

The novel is set at the beginning of the 20th century in the town of Chandrapore in the north-east of the country. Mrs Moore sets sail from England to go to visit her son Ronny, who is the City Magistrate. She is joined on her journey by Miss Adela Quested, who is going out to India to formalise her engagement to Ronny. Adela is taken to the Club and watches a performance of a play, while Mrs Moore goes out for a walk. This is the moment when Forster starts to take us on (what would at the time have been) an unexpected journey, where friendships start to be forged between the English and the Indian people. Mrs Moore meets Aziz, a local Muslim doctor, when she wanders into a mosque. Though he disapproves

already fed-up with the play - announcing that she wants ―to see the real India‖ (p.18). This tells us that she is not like the other Brits who go out to India: it implies she does not want to Literature SIG Bridges. Volume 1, Issue 1. February 2016

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their short conversation, Mrs Moore re- turns to the Club, where she sees Adela - who is

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at first, Aziz warms to her when he sees that Mrs Moore respects both him and his faith. After

live the life of a Anglo-Indian, but rather wants to get to know the locals and experience some aspects of Indian life. Forster sets up his idyllic protagonist for a fall. In just one short chapter, the author succeeds in describing the innate curiosity of Indians, who wonder whether they can be friends with the English, and in presenting two curious British female characters, who seem to want to forge friend- ships with Indians. Forster‘s thought at the time must have been to hold a mirror up to his readers – he is almost mocking the traditional Victorian and Edwardian mentalities of seeing women as the silly, busybody and inferior race (we should remember that the right to vote was not granted to all women in the United Kingdom until 1928) The English Club, where Adela saw the play, is the hub of all social contact for the British in Chandrapore. Such English clubs were present at every Civil Station (areas reserved for British expatriates) in the British Raj. The very term ―Civil Station‖ presents a division in itself: between the civilized British and the – as the British saw it – uncivilized native Indians. Although the segregation between British and Indian was rather standard, there were still those, such as Adela, who wanted to bridge the gap. Behaving in true gentlemanly fashion as was expected in the early 20th century, the Collector decided to comply to Adela‘s request. As he saw it, the way for Adela to meet ―real‖ India, was to arrange a garden party. This, however, is a British tradition and not part of the Indian traditions and so the very notion of the ―Bridging Party‖ doesn‘t quite hit the target. This isn‘t the only area where the Collector fails. He invites ―Indian gentlemen ... and any ladies of their families who were out of purdah‖ to come to the Club. There are a few remarks to be made here. Firstly, as a reader (and I believe that this is what Forster intended readers to see) I am more struck by who is excluded, rather than who is included. The ―Indian gentleman‖ referred to here would be the Indian man in the upper echelons of the caste system, such as a Nawab. This is a minority of the population and there- fore would not give Adela a real impression of the ―real India‖. The Collector tries to be considerate by inviting women out of purdah, but if he had really understood Indian culture, then he would have known that being in purdah was a fundamental part of the Hindu and Muslim belief system in India. Most women would be kept out of public view and so the number of women actually able to attend the party was mini- mal. On the other hand, this could have been the Collector‘s intention

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considered as being a representative view of the real India. Secondly, the location of the

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from the start and showing Adela the lack of women at the party could also have been

Civil Station. No contact with the real Indian atmosphere, no view of a real Indian house or garden. As previously mentioned, the Club is a place of gathering for British expats, and it was the norm for Indians not to be allowed to enter the premises, no matter their social rank.

All of this is just based on the invitations being sent out, the party still has to take place.

Forster opens his chapter about the party with ―the Bridge Party was not a success – at least it was not what Mrs Moore and Miss Quested were accustomed to consider a successful party‖. Why would this be? First of all, Ronny – Adela‘s potential future husband – sees the party as a bit of a joke. He says ―you wanted something not picturesque and we‘ve provided it‖. Ronny‘s short and snide comment indicates several things: firstly that he sees the mixing of natives and Anglo-Indians as something that is ugly and undesirable; secondly that he still sees Adela and his mother as outsiders (―you‖) and not belonging to the Club (yet); thirdly that he places himself in with the group of Anglo-Indians (―we‖) and fourthly that they have done their duty by answering to their guests‘ request. Ronny goes on to say that ―no-one who‘s here matters; those who matter don‘t come‖, meaning that the educated Indians who are present at the party wouldn‘t support the British if there were a problem between the British Raj and India (and so they are not important), whereas those who would potentially support the British Raj in the event of a dispute (in Ronny‘s view) would be the artisans and tradesmen, who were not invited as they were not the social elite of India. Excellent point.

Secondly, Mrs Turton, the Collector‘s wife, felt most uncomfortable as her husband had not arrived, yet all the guests were present. In ―Indian Tales of the Raj‖, a book about the Raj written from the Indian perspective, Zareer Masani writes that ―the British memsahib, or wife, with her ignorance and suspicion of all things Indian, was the person most commonly blamed for the breakdown in relations between the races. Bound hand and foot by the social and sexual conventions of male Anglo-India, most memsahibs certainly had neither the opportunity nor the curiosity to explore the real India.‖ Mrs Turton had no idea how to interact with ―those purdah women‖. She first thought that the women should make the effort to come over to her, and indeed this shows the ignorance that Masani mentioned. Being in purdah means separating yourself from public attention, so they would never be the first to cross over and make contact, especially with someone who was so far removed from their own culture. Mrs Turton is convinced by her husband to make the first move, but does so

imperative mood of verbs – from barking her orders to her Indian servants. Adela wants to Literature SIG Bridges. Volume 1, Issue 1. February 2016

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the Indian women, and in fact of everyone in India. She speaks a little Urdu, but only the

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with reluctance. She is keen to point out to the new ladies at the Club that they are superior to

converse with the Indian women (Forster interestingly uses the word ―ladies‖, a much more refined and polite term, almost in apology to make up for Mrs Turton‘s opinions). Mrs Turton is asked to translate, but the Indian ladies surprise the Anglo-Indian memsahib by answering in English. It is important to note that the children of the wealthier Indian classes were often sent to be educated in England and so it was not uncommon for the upper echelons of society to speak English and to be aware of western culture. These are the people who were invited to the party, so Mrs Turton should not have been too surprised, but she stopped being so aggressively patronising once she realised that these women were able to judge her realistically, using their own experiences from being in England, whereas Mrs Turton was only able to use her stereotypes and ignorance to judge the Indians present at the party.

The next main exchange between the ladies from East and West is when Mrs Moore tries to arrange a fur- ther meeting with Mrs Battacharya. Mrs Moore asks whether they could call on the family and what be- comes clear is the novelty of the request: Mrs Battacharya has never received such interest from an English lady wanting to visit her home. Subsequently, she is unsure of how to act, and tells Mrs Moore she is welcome any time, despite preexisting plans to visit Calcutta. The conversation becomes rather bungled, much to the satisfaction of the onlooking Mrs Turton, who has seen her prejudices concerning the inaptitude of Indians restored. It is at this point that Forster introduces a new character into the narrative, Mr Fielding, the Principal of the local government college. Immediately, his willingness to mix with the local Indian population is excused by the fact that he ―knew little of the District and less against the inhabitants, so he was in a less cynical state of mind.‖ He doesn‘t have to deal with the Indians on a day-to-day basis, he cannot be corrupted by them, or indeed see how corruptible they are (as the District officers such as Mr Turton or Ron- ny did on a daily basis). This meant that Fielding was open and did not hold any prejudices against the local Indians.

With the arrival of Adela and Mrs Moore, Fielding finally no

longer felt alone in his wanting to mix with the locals. He was so pleased with how they had interacted with the local gentry at the Bridge Party that he invited the ladies to meet some more Indians at his own home, not at the Club.

In his book, Mesani writes that Indians had ―no desire‖ (p.52) to enter the Clubs. He

foreign rulers and affected precisely those Indians who were most westernised and had the strongest aspirations to equality ... There was something particularly galling about a system Literature SIG Bridges. Volume 1, Issue 1. February 2016

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system) but that ―what made Anglo- Indian racism unacceptable was that it was practised by

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goes on to say that segregation was normal within Indian society (referencing the caste

which allowed in the most humble white, but excluded the most aristocratic Indi- an‖. One of these well-to-do Indians was Aziz, the local Doctor. Aziz had not attended the Bridge Party, not because he wasn‘t invited, but because he was mourning the anniversary of his wife‘s death. He had missed the awkwardness of the Bridge Party, he hadn‘t felt the unease of the bungled conversations between the English and the Indians, or the discomfort in choosing whether to stay on his own side of the lawn, or cross the cultural abyss to the English side.

However, Aziz is genuinely thrilled at being invited to Fielding‘s tea party. He had previously been invited to tea, but Fielding had forgotten about it. This time, however, Fielding had remembered. Going to a tea party was on a much smaller scale than a big Bridge Party at the club. The English and the Indians would now look at each other across a coffee table, rather than across the tennis lawns of the Club; the gulf between the two cultures would be diminished. It was, for a time, at least for the duration of the tea party. The informality of the meeting was like a breath of fresh air for the two visiting British ladies. Finally they would get somewhere. However, what Forster did was show that there was not only racism between the Anglo-Indians and the Indians, but also within Indian society it- self: Aziz is a muslim and he is quick to point out that Hindus are ―slack‖, ―unsanitary‖, and have ―no idea of society‖. The antagonism between Indian Hindus and Muslims is something that has always existed in India, for reasons explained earlier. The fragmented state of the country means that the communities can co- exist, but not intermingle. Forster astutely picked-up on this concept and parallels it to the segregation be- tween the Anglo-Indians and the general Indian population. Focussing once more on Aziz and his innate wish to please everyone, he felt he needed to rectify the wrong-doing of the Hindu Battacharyas for not picking up Adela and Mrs Moore: he invited them to visit his house but then changed his mind and proposed a trip to the Marabar Caves once he had thought out what a visit to his poor bungalow would mean to the la- dies. Aziz was delighted with his western afternoon, with English people taking a genuine interest in his country and culture and with him being able to talk enthusiastically about any questions asked to him. This was until the Hindu professor Godbole arrived, and Forster tells us that Aziz is ―quietened‖ by his presence. This is an indication that Aziz is unsure of how to act with a Hindu, which mirrors the interaction between the Indian ladies at the Bridge Party and Mrs Turton. In this case, however, the two

narrative can move forward, to an interruption:

the arrival of Ronny, all in a fluster,

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Hindu and Muslim cultures are used to co-existing in India and the action in Forster‘s

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begin to converse – though somewhat enigmatically – and there is no real confusion. The

had already been subdued by the presence of a Hindu Brahman, and did not want to lose even more face to an English official. The line had been crossed: Aziz felt at home in Fielding‘s house and did not stand when Ronny entered – something he would normally have done, given his social status. Aziz even invited Ronny to sit down with them. His heart was ruling his mind. Ronny refused and asked Fielding why he had left Adela alone with two Indians.

Interestingly here, Forster shows us the social strata and misunderstanding once more: Ronny (or any other Anglo-Indian) does not distinguish between Hindu and Muslim, grouping them together as Indians, whereas this distinction is so important in Indian culture.

The Bridge Party and Fielding‘s Tea Party are the two main events in Forster‘s novel which have the sole aim of closing the gap between the Anglo-Indian and Indian communities. There are many other instances of smaller examples where rapprochement is attempted between the two groups, but the answer to the question of whether friendships can ever be forged remains elusive to the reader. I will now discuss three examples where Forster teases the reader with a potential answer.

Firstly, chapter nine, which details the moment when Aziz fell ill. He contracts man ‗flu – a mild fever but makes it out to be worse than it is. He is visited by his Muslim friends, and then by some Hindu colleagues who want to know how bad Aziz is, on behalf of his superior Major Callendar. As Forster has shown us be- fore, and as is typical of Indian culture, this meeting of Hindu and Muslim will lead to a (minor) conflict. Forster‘s solution is to have Fielding arrive, the Englishman, and the two native cultures stop bickering.

Surprisingly, Fielding is sucked into the discussion about the existence of Providence and this ends up being about whether the English have any right to rule India. Fielding replies that he is only in India because he needed a job and that he has no interest in the subject. This is a typically British answer: never talk about religion, sex or politics to people you don‘t know.

However, his answer must have shocked Forster‘s audience because the expected answer would have been Yes, or at least Fielding would have been expected to toe the Empire‘s line.

The reader is left to interpret Fielding‘s character as weak, an outsider, or a very fine example of an Englishman who plays his cards close to his chest. Further on, in chapter eleven, we read that Fielding is called back to Aziz once the others have left. Once his friends have left,

Why had he not done this in the presence of his friends? Whether they were Muslim or

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Hindu, they would have seen it as betrayal and as fraternising with the enemy. However, this

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Aziz dares to offer a hint of friendship to Fielding and shows him a photo of his late wife.

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way that Aziz opens up to Fielding is a clear indication of the intention that they should be friends.

Secondly, the balancing act that Aziz undertakes on his expedition to the Marabar Caves. The second part of Forster‘s book details this trip and is in actual fact the central part of the narrative. What is interesting in the context of the trip attempting to bridge the gap is that we see the Muslim man wanting to impress his English guests by making up for the mistake of a Hindu. Aziz is determined to show how welcoming and respectful Muslims are, yet he chooses to do this in a situation in which he has to accommodate the various races and religions which make up the expedition party. On the journey, we get a peek into Adela‘s mind, who admits to herself that her engagement to Ronny means she accepts to ―endure‖(pg 120) Anglo-Indian life. She had wanted to see the ―real India‖ but looking out of the train window, she finds herself longing for her more ―manageable‖ (p.122) Grasmere in England.

This contrasts to the India she sees – rough and un- tamed. Adela cannot master the Indian landscape, and she cannot fathom the Indian people. She has developed opinions and is ―vexed rather than appalled‖(p.135) when she realises that her marriage, much like Aziz‘s, is an arranged marriage. Adela is surprised when she becomes conscious of the fact that she does not love Ronny – much as someone from the Indian culture does not love the person they are to marry. She continues along this trail of thought and is rather offensive and condescending to Aziz when she asks him how many wives he had as ―Mohammedans always insist on their full four, according to Mrs Turton‖ (p.135). By just asking the question, Adela has clearly, though subconsciously, taken on the attitudes of the Anglo- Indian towards the natives. It is here that we start to see Adela in another light, showing us that she perhaps cannot be ―friends‖ with the natives after all. This escalates further in the Caves section of the book and even leads to an allegation of rape by Aziz, which destroys all possibility of friendship between East and West. Forster cleverly mirrors this breakdown in communication by having Fielding attempt to save his friend Aziz, to the point of resigning from the Club over the whole affair. It is possible that Forster took his inspiration from this part from an event at the Royal Bombay Yacht Club, which allowed no Indians, and the rebellious action

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He invited four or five Maharajas to the Yacht Club for dinner. When their cars drew up, they were not allowed to enter; so they were all outside. Lord Willingdon came down and said: ―Where are my guests? It‘s now coming on for nine o‘clock.‖ And they said: ―Indians are not allowed.‖ So he came out and said ―I‘m sorry‖. And he then and there wrote his resignation from the Yacht Club. He collected what food he could – he was Governor after all – and they went to Government House and had

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the Governor of Bombay, Lord Willingdon, subsequently took:

dinner. And that day they sat down and decided to form a club. Lord Willingdon said: ―Yes, for Indians only.‖ And all the Maharajas, who gave a lot of money, said: ―No, we‘re not vindictive. It‘s for everybody.‖ And that‘s how it was called the Willingdon Club. It was the first club that Indians and Europeans could go and mix.

It was possible to take a stance against the discrimination against Indians. The example above shows a positive outcome for relations between the British and the Indians, but Forster‘s chapters on the events at the Caves show us that both sides are actually equally to blame for the racial tensions between East and West: Aziz set-up the expedition at great cost to himself and it was only really done to make up for a Hindu‘s mistake; Adela was condescending towards Aziz and also realised that she didn‘t really love Ronny; the guide that went up with Aziz and Adela was unreliable; Godbole and Fielding missed going on the expedition at all; Adela admits that she made a mistake in bringing charges against Aziz. This balancing of blame seems to be poignantly realistic in the quest for an answer to the question as whether the English and Indians could ever be friends.

Thirdly, the final chapters of the book see Fielding try to restore order and a kind of entente cordiale between East and West, which represents Forster‘s answer to the question as to whether it is possible for an Indian to be friends with an Englishman. The trial has not only caused upset between the Indians and the British, but it has also caused tension between the Hindus and the Muslims. There is an attempt at rapprochement between the two sides when the Hindu trial judge asks Aziz to write a poem, but Aziz finds he cannot do this as his (new) values are too traditional for the modern audience. The attempt to bring the Hindus and Muslims closer together fails somewhat as Das and Aziz realise that even their dislike of the British Raj doesn‘t provide enough common ground for them to sort out a minor issue.

Fielding requests Aziz to drop his claim for compensation from Adela for fear it would ruin her if she would pay out. Forster doesn‘t say whether the having to provide the money would ruin her, or whether admitting to an Indian she was wrong would ruin her – he leaves that up to the reader to interpret. Aziz is however angry at all things British for the way he has been treated. He does not react in the expected gentlemanly way and this puts strain on the relationship between Fielding and Aziz. What Fielding doesn‘t consider is that Indian men are not gentle- manly towards women, at least not in the way Western men are. In the end,

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gets the wrong end of the stick and believes that Fielding is having a relationship with Adela

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however, Aziz does concede to Fielding‘s request but regrets it as, in usual Aziz fashion, he

and leaves Chandrapore, as does Fielding. Two years later, the two meet again when Fielding returns (married to Ronny‘s sister, not Adela) on official business as an education inspector.

Aziz avoids him like the plague at first, but eventually the two reconcile. Interestingly, Forster chose to have Aziz read the previously unopened letters from Fielding during the Gokul Ashtami festival, which is a Hindu festival. Hinduism clears up the Muslim mind, one could say in this case.

Aziz is now open to Fielding and their relationship is almost

rekindled. They joke, and Fielding almost even makes fun of Aziz‘s dream of India becoming a harmonious nation, uniting the Hindu and Muslim faith. Though Aziz now works in a Hindu state and is surrounded by Hindus, he still does not understand them. Aziz is quick to retort to Fielding‘s mocking with ―we may hate each other, but we hate you most‖ (pg 288), and the very last lines of the novel provide the Forster‘s answer to the big question on friendship between Indians and English ―no, not yet‖ (p.288).

Given the history between England (later Great Britain) and India as detailed in the first part of this essay, I can conclude that Forster‘s take on the issue of social rapprochement of the two people is realistic. He shows willingness on both sides to bridge the gap, yet he also details a deep misunderstanding of each other‘s cultures, values and belief systems that can only mean a bringing together of these people is doomed to fail. However, he does hold out hope: by ending with the word ―yet‖, he implies that it is not possible now, but it may be in the future. Much as Aziz dreams of a harmonious India, Forster seems to dream of an acceptance between people and nations.

REFERENCES Dolin, K. (1994) Freedom, Uncertainty, and Diversity: A Passage to India as a Critique of Imperialist Law. Texas Studies in Literature and Language, 36 (3).

Forster, E. M. (1998) A Passage to India. London: Penguin.

Gaines, C. H. (1924) Some Philosophers in Fiction. North American Review, 220.825 376 Hawkins, H. (1983) Forster's Critique of Imperialism in A Passage to India. South Atlantic Review 48.1 54-65. London: Abacus, 2011.

Masani, Z. (1988) Indian Tales of the Raj. Berkeley, CA: University of California.

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Uden, G. (1989) Longman Illustrated Encyclopedia of World History. London: Ivy Leaf.

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Stein, B. (1998) A History of India. Oxford : Blackwell.

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