Esther Racah Writer & Literary Blogger

Tag: british literature

The Enchanted April Book

The Enchanted April book is a 1922 fictional novel by Elizabeth Von Arnim. It takes place in 1920 between England and Italy. The main characters are four different English women who organise a holiday in Italy because they want to have a break from their dull life. Elizabeth was a British novelist who was born in Sidney, Australia. This book is the tenth novel in my second list of books.

The Enchanted April Book

In the Enchanted April book, the main characters are four English ladies: Mrs Lotty Wilkins, Mrs Rose Arbuthnot, Lady Caroline “Scrap” Dester and Mrs Fisher. All four ladies lived a dull life in the “rainy” Hampstead, and they decided to flee from their families and friends for a period. In particular, Lotty and Rose didn’t enjoy their arid, monotone and cold marital relations. Mrs Wilkins had found an advertisement about a holiday in Castello Brown, an Italian 16th-century castle in Liguria. Lotty was fascinated by the advertising with the following captivating description: “to those who appreciate wisteria and sunshine in a small medieval Italian castle on the shores of the Mediterranean”. Shortly, Lotty Wilkins met Rose in the Woman’s Club in London. In the following days, Lotty and Rose arranged their journey. And they involved two other ladies in sharing the expenses because of their precarious financial situation.

The Beginning Of The Italian Journey

The owner of the mediaeval castle is an Englishman, Mr Briggs, who was living in London. Lady Caroline Dester and Mrs Fisher join the Italian trip. Indeed, both of them are determined in their desire to break for a month away from their families and friends. Caroline is a single beautiful and enchanting socialite, and Mrs Fisher was an elderly widow with memories from the Victorian era. The beginning of this trip to Italy was not as they expected because of the weather. It rained, but the rain was Italian, after all! Indeed the Italian straight rain was far better than the British one! San Salvatore was on the top of a hill. April was the best month to enjoy the Italian weather, and the ladies started their journey among delightful landscapes and nature. Indeed, in the book, there are many descriptions of this beautiful place.

The Castle’s Life

San Salvatore beauty relied even on the small details such as small gardens on different levels. The ladies were attractive and pretty in their bright clothes. Each one of them was pretty different and in particular, Caroline was the most independent one. Scrap spent as much time as she could by herself. She used to seek solitude lying senseless in the sun because she intended to be somewhere away from her family and friends, forgetting everything. Caroline was committed to meeting the other ladies only on the occasion of the meals. In the beginning, Rose and Lotty enjoy the absence of their husbands. However, with the time they sent invitations to their spouses. Scrap feels the future invasion of those men as a potential danger for her peaceful stay, and she cannot understand the feelings of affection and love. Indeed, during all the journey, she gets more acquainted with Lotty Wilkins whose kindness and goodness is contagious.

Love And Enchantments

The ladies are not indifferent to this magical place’s effect, and since the first day, their temper and disposition change. Lotty misses her husband, and she pushes Rose to invite her husband as well. The two men don’t miss this occasion, and they accept the invitations of their wives. The amiability and harmony permeate the group of visitors. Mrs Fisher changes her temper and inclination becoming amiable and sweet. Caroline is the last person to surrender to love being used to reject every admirer who fell in love with her. Lady Dester learns to open herself to the emotions and lose her fears of loving and being loved. She finally stops “getting rid of things”. The splendour and the exquisiteness of nature overwhelmed the “blank emptiness” of Caroline’s heart.

The Scent Of The Acacias

The Enchanted April book has a happy ending with the scent of the acacias. The tones of this novel are sweet as the fragrance of the garden flowers which saturated the castle. It is full of beauty and descriptions of the beauty of nature. Flowers and gardens influence human feelings with their beauty and fragrances. In this novel, nature casts a spell on everybody. And everyone is powerless in front of such enchantment. “Indeed, the whole garden dressed gradually towards the end in white pinks and white banksia roses, and the syringe and the Jessamine, and at last the crowing fragrance of the acacias. When, on the first of May, everybody went away, even after they had got to the bottom of the hill and passed through the iron gates out into the village they still could smell the acacias”. This book is a virtual voyage to an enchanting Italy. I’ve read this digital version of the Enchanted April book.

December 31, 2020
The Life Of Effie Gray Millais

Effie Gray Millais’s life is the main subject of the book “Effie: The Passionate Lives of Effie Gray, John Ruskin and John Everett Millais” by Dr Suzanne Fagence Cooper. It is the ninth book in my second list of readings.

The Life of Effie Gray and John Ruskin

This book is not a novel but a reconstruction of the life of Euphemia Chalmers Gray. The book starts on the cold morning of Tuesday, 25 April 1854, when Effie escapes her abusive marriage with the art critic John Ruskin. John reserved all his attention on art, not people. He was excessively attached to his parents’ house and his books. Nevertheless, John became a celebrity because of the book Modern Painters. Charlotte Brönte and Elizabeth Barrett Browning were very fond of his book. Effie ran away from an exhausting and unnatural relationship where her husband believed she was inadequate as a future mother. The Ruskin family thought that Effie was a wicked and reckless woman. Until 1857, only the Parliament could grant a divorce in Victorian England. As an ambitious wife, Effie wished to promote her husband’s career.

The New Life of Effie

Effie’s life was challenging because of the oppressive social traditions and her loveless marriage with Mr Ruskin. Sadly, in the Victorian era, women could not vote, own properties, or take legal action against someone. Moreover, a wife had no ownership of her clothes and jewelry. Most women could not leave their marital house even when mistreated and abused, mainly because of the lack of financial support. In case a woman was leaving her husband, he could take her home against her will and might rape her with impunity. After six years of a distressing relationship, the Ecclesiastical Courts decided to annul the marriage because Effie and Mr Ruskin never consummate their relationship. After resting in her parent’s house, Effie married the painter John Everett Millais.

A Portrait of Effie Gray

Effie was a beautiful Scottish girl with auburn hair, entertaining and elegant, with many admirers even after her marriage to John Ruskin. Mr Ruskin was not concerned, having lost interest in his wife. Since her youth, Euphemia was attentive to her clothes, taking care of every detail. Effie was a determined woman with an independent spirit. She wrote several letters to her parents with rapid handwriting, giving a glimpse of sixteen years of Victorian life. Effie had witnessed events, but this woman changed the idea of Victorian femininity. She regained control of her life, refusing to bear a physically and emotionally abusive relationship. Euphemia did not fit in the Victorian standard of a fragile woman. Indeed, as a well-educated girl, she was fluent in French, a quick learner, and a piano player. She enjoyed riding and dancing and was far from the delicate Victorian femininity.

A Portrait Of John Ruskin

When John met Effie for the first time, she was twelve, and he was fond of her. As she grew up, he appreciated her wit and beauty. Before meeting Effie, John had been fascinated with a young girl “fresh from convent school.” Mr. Ruskin generally loved innocent young girls “on the verge of womanhood.” This side of John could be why he could not consummate his marriage with Effie because she was nineteen then. He found that Effie aging had lost her original good look and considered her too old to be desirable. John Ruskin was a “damaged genius” who elicited admiration from many notorious personages. John captivated Effie’s attention because he was improving her mind with books and pictures. However, during their engagement, John demands Effie learn how to be disciplined, fulfill all his desires, and please him. He asked her to improve her French and study Italian and botany to help him with his research. However, John Ruskin was sensible and passionate about arts, nature, and beauty, even though he ignored Effie’s needs.

A Portrait Of John Everett Millais

Everett Millais started his studies at the Royal Academy when he was eleven. He became part of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, which aimed to return to the Quattrocento Italian art. They were not interested in the conventional beauty of Renaissance art, such as the one portrayed in Raphael’s paintings. They wanted to connect to nature; natural details were not missing in Millais’s paintings. He portrayed Effie, focusing on her character strength, determination, and emotional struggle rather than her beauty. In that period, he fell in love with Effie, even though she was still John Ruskin’s wife. Everett knew the secret behind her marriage with Mr Ruskin.

Effie And Everett Millais

In 1855, Effie and Everett married, and they had several children living a happy marriage. Starting in 1870, Everett became one of Victorian England’s most prominent and wealthy painters, and Effie managed the social relationships. She supported and encouraged his career, organizing parties where patrons commissioned portraits. Effie was excellent in social life, meeting a lot of actors, nobility, painters, and artists. Nevertheless, her first marriage damaged her reputation. Indeed, even the Queen refused to receive her at Court because most people unfairly considered Effie as the wife of another man still living or a divorced woman. Effie and Everett had eight children. Everett Millais, who belonged to the Pre-Raphaelite artistic group, adopted a looser and hazy brushwork years after marriage. Unlike the other painters, he looked more like a well-dressed and handsome businessman.

The Busy Life Of Effie And Everett

During her marriage with Mr Ruskin, Effie had to pretend the fiction of a “normal” marriage. While she was arranging teas, she was exhausted. On the contrary, she could fulfill her dream of a happily married mother after marrying Everett Millais. Euphemia managed the household, being a brilliant hostess of crowded evenings with international celebrities. She gave birth to eight children, who followed different paths. Even if Everett’s works were in great demand, the Pre-Raphaelites distanced themselves from his art as soon as he married Effie. He became the wealthiest painter, and his art portrayed moods and characters. Unlike the other artists, “Everett did not conform to the image of an artistic rebel.” His acquaintances and friends described him as a “boyish, jolly, straightforward and true Anglosaxon.”

The Social Life Of Effie And Family Travels

Effie had good social communication skills and knew how to negotiate with patrons. In 1877, the Millais family moved to a mansion in Palace Gate, where Everett’s big studio was always full of patrons, friends, nobility, and celebrities. Now, the guests could enjoy his paintings cozily. Behind this beautiful facade, Effie suffered because of her past marriage with Mr Ruskin. Indeed, many people called her “the wife of two men”; hence, Queen Victoria refused to receive her because of Palace protocols. Since Effie was John Ruskin’s wife, she visited Paris and Venice. Furthermore, even after her marriage to Everett, she continued to travel with her children in Europe. Since the mid-1860s, her brothers George and John emigrated to Australia, and her son Evie also went to Australia. Later, one of Effie’s daughters, Mary Millais, sailed for Australia and New Zealand. During her visit to Sidney, Mary could admire one of his father’s paintings, The Captive. Mary’s next trip was to Melbourne, where part of Everett’s family lived.

Effie And the Suffragism

While some of Effie’s children were abroad (Mary in Australia, Geoffroy in Wyoming, and Evie in Paris), she continued to divide her time between her household and Everett’s studio’s management. Meanwhile, her youngest daughter, Tottie, was influenced by Louise Jopling, a great advocate for women’s education. In 1887, Louise founded her art school for girls and signed a petition to let women vote. Suffragists advocated for equal electoral rights to elect a Member of Parliament who would represent their interests. In 1885, the foundation of a ladies’ wing of the Primrose League was established. Moreover, after Everett’s baronetcy, Effie became Dame of the League. Tottie Millais followed the New Women’s movement, a group of young women with high education who lived independently, smoking and wearing masculine clothes. These “Manly Women” with short hair strolled with their dog and a walking stick. Victorian society considered this behavior as transgressive sexuality. However, even after the Matrimonial Causes Act’s approval in 1857, men kept their power in conjugal life.

The Last Period Of Everett and Effie’s Lives

Everett used his motto, “Ars Longa, Vita Brevis,” mostly after the death of their son George and their granddaughter Phyllis. Effie had the merit to contribute to transforming a bigot Victorian society. She stood against the conventions, refusing an abusive marriage. She showed how a woman could be in control of her life. Nevertheless, slander and false rumors were against her. Another tragedy happened in their life of Effie the death of her younger sister, Sophie Gray. Several times, Sophie modeled for Everett because of her extraordinary beauty and her patience while modeling. A controversial painting is her 1857 portrait, where Everett emphasized her sensuality and beauty. She died of anorexia and depression. It is not clear what her relationship with Everett Millais was; it could be that Sophie was in love with him. At the age of sixty-six, Effie lost her mother, Sophia Gray, and with age, she became blind with general soreness.

The Deaths Of Everett and Effie Millais

In 1885, Everett became a baronet; in 1896, he became President of the Royal Academy. Sadly, he had throat cancer, and while he was dying, the Queen finally received Effie as Lady Millais. After Everett’s death, Effie retired with her brother George at Bowerswell, at her late parents’ house. After her eldest son, Evie, died from pneumonia at the age of sixty-nine, in 1897, Lady Effie Millais died of bowel cancer. “Effie: The Passionate Lives of Effie Gray, John Ruskin, and John Everett Millais” is a beautiful book that gives a perspective of the Victorian era from an artistic and social perspective. I have read the digital edition of this book, and you can also find the audiobook.

December 17, 2020
Cranford By Elizabeth Gaskell

Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell is an 1853 British novel, and it is the most renowned of this British author. This book consists of sixteen chapters, and it is the sixth novel in my second list of books. Between 1851 and 1853 Elizabeth Gaskell published the story in eight issues in the magazine Household Words. Charles Dickens was the editor in chief of this English magazine, besides being an extraordinary writer. Dickens was also a reporter and an editor. (If you are curious about Charles Dickens, I wrote three articles about the first, the second and the third book of his extraordinary novel A Tale of Two Cities). The plot of Cranford takes place in a small town in Victorian England.

The Book Of Cranford By Elizabeth Gaskell

Cranford is a small town where a group of women leads a quiet life. They know all about each other’s lives, although they don’t pay too much attention to others’ opinions. Each woman keeps her individuality or eccentricity, nevertheless in this little town “good-will reign among them”. Time to time, there is some altercation, but all return to a natural peace and calm. They wear ordinary and suitable dresses, not caring about fashion rules. Regulations rule all the visits and calls, which the ladies sometimes organise. Most of the Cranford families’ standard of living is lowly, and it is forbidden to talk about poverty and money. The people of Cranford try to ignore all the life flaws due to their poverty. Expensive food and drinks are considered vulgar and ostentatious. Frugal and inexpensive lifestyle is an elegant way of living, which satisfies this quiet and humble community.

A Pretty Quiet Novel

This novel is not a real romance or poetry. There are no heroes, and everything is pretty quiet. No rich and wicked people are present in the book. And the poor is no extraordinary at all since the crowd of Cranford includes ordinary and regular persons. Cranford is a small country town with a torporific ambience. The main characters are old “gentlewomen of limited incomes”. Among them, there is Matilda Matty Jenkyns, who is the daughter of a deceased rector. The mise en scene is indoor, where the gentlewomen organise meetings to take the tea and talk about everything. It is a book about ordinary people experiencing common circumstances in their life. The realism of Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell is evident in the homely details of those ladies’ daily lives.

A Country-Town Life

In Cranford, there is a particular art of telling a story. Although neither poetry nor passions are present in this household novel, humour and fun don’t miss. In the beginning, the picturesque chronicles of a “country-town life” were under Household Words. It is the humoristic description of life sketches in a small country town. Madame George Sand expressed her opinion regarding Elizabeth Gaskell, claiming that “Mrs Gaskell has done what other female writers nor I in France can accomplish – she has written novels which excite the deepest interest in men of the world, and which every girl will be the better for reading.” Elizabeth was a hearted and kind person, and she was familiar with her poorer neighbours. Her interactions with the poor gave her an inside vision of the lower, middle and working classes, which influenced her writings. I suggest you read this book to get a different perspective on British literature. I’ve read this edition of Cranford on Apple Books.

October 6, 2020
Animal Farm By George Orwell

Animal Farm by George Orwell is a 1945 short allegorical novel. It is about the rebellion of a group of animals on a farm. They want to rebel because of the oppression and abuses perpetrated by their farmers.

The Unusual Animal Farm by George Orwell

Animal Farm by George Orwell is the fourth novel of my second list of books. It is a fiction and phantasmagoric novel, which starts with a nocturnal meeting of all the animals on a farm in England. They organise a rebellion against their farmers, Mr and Mrs Jones. Once they succeed, they happily celebrate. Now the farm goes under the name “Animal Farm”, and they fought against the only creature, the man, who consumes without producing. Once the animals remove their real enemy, they organise their “society” following Animalism’s principles. Their leader is Napoleon, a large and fat Berkshire pig. Napoleon is an allegory of Joseph Stalin, and he stands out for his “reputation for getting his way”. It is the only farm in England to be managed by animals.

Getting Worse And Worse

In Animal Farm by George Orwell, the pigs lead the farm, and the other animals are simple workers, which work very hard in extreme conditions and eating a small amount of food. Indeed, the best food is owned by the pigs, which do not work physically with the excuse to be “responsible” of the organisation of the farm. Soon Napoleon becomes the cruel dictator of Animal Farm, and he makes sure that every subordinate animal works hard without complaining. All-day and every day, all the other animals work for the pigs surrounded by their frightening dogs. While the pigs can read and write correctly, the other animals cannot get further than the letter A. The animal prole is exploited by the pigs, which dominate over the other animals to raise the farm production and sell the products to human farmers.

Human Pigs

Napoleon loves to strike fear and eliminate rebel animals, like a good dictator. At the end of the book, he and his piggy squad start walking on their hind legs, wearing human clothes, smoking, and drinking alcohol. They humanise themselves, adopting the bad habits and customs of the human race. All animals are not equal anymore because “some of them are more equal than others”. The lower animals are more frightened by the pigs rather than human visitors. “Animal Farm” becomes “The Manor Farm” and the pigs become prosperous and powerful. In fact, Napoleon and his pig subalterns planned to replace the previous tyrant’s role from the beginning. The pig dictatorship is more cruel and oppressive than the previous human one.

Moral Of The Story of Animal Farm by George Orwell

This novel precedes Nineteen Eighty-Four, where there is a similar thematic. They are allegorical novels about dictatorship, abuse of power, exploitation of humans and animals, and mass slaughter. The ends justify the means. The suppression of free thought and free speech, and the constant intimidation, are the only ways to create an ignorant and docile prole. Indeed, this is how a dictator overuses his power and exploit the population. Animal Farm might be an allegory of Stalinism. The inspiration of the subject comes from the Stalinist purges in Barcelona. During that period George Orwell and his wife risked perishing. Different American publishers rejected Animal Farm, finding it too English and too anti-Soviet. Nevertheless, it was published in August 1945, and it became a great success.

Thoughts

After 75 years, the reality of Animal Farm is still actual and accurate. Everyone should read this book. Unfortunately, even nowadays, there are still fifty dictatorships around the world. There are countries where freedom is replaced by tyranny, terror, genocide, complete control of the mass. Human rights and every form of liberty are abolished. Usually, the rate of unemployed and impoverished people is very high. Persecutions of people because of their religion and ethnicity are typical of dictatorships and the organisation of concentration camps. It is sad and scary that today the young generation is not aware of past crimes and massacres such as the holocaust. Being Jewish, it hurts so much to read that there is a lack of holocaust knowledge among American millennials and Gen Z. To make this planet a better place, there should be a historical awareness. Hence study history is essential for cognitive moral development.

September 18, 2020
My Second List Of Books
My second list of books includes twelve novels that I sorted by title. These novels belong to American, British, and German literature.
1. 1. 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff 84, Charing Cross Road is a 1970 epistolary book and is the first in my second list of books. This novel is about books and English literature and about twenty years of correspondence between the writer Helene, who lived in New York, and her friend Frank Doel from London. Their shared love for books and literature connected them in a long time close friendship.
  2. 1984 by George Orwell 1984 is a satirical, futuristic, dystopian novel about totalitarianism depriving individuality and freedom. It is the second novel in my second list of books. The year of publication is 1949, and it takes place in a province of the superstate Oceania in the year 1984. The main character is Winston Smith, who dreams about a revolution against the totalitarian Party.
  3. The Aeronauts: Travels in the Air By James Glaisher
    The third novel in my second list of books is The Aeronauts book about extraordinary flights and discoveries. The main character is the scientist James Glaisher, who explored the skies like no one before and the book’s author. A meteorologist and photographer with a passion for hot balloons and sky exploration. A book of discoveries during incredible travels in the air.
  4. Animal Farm by George Orwell
    The fourth book on my list is Animal Farm, which is an allegorical story. It is a dystopian novel by the English author George Orwell, who published it in 1945. The plot is about a group of farm animals, which organises a revolution against irresponsible human farmers. The animals dream about equality, freedom and happiness.
  5. The Blue Castle by L.M. MontgomeryThe Blue Castle is the fifth novel in my second list of books, and it is a 1926 novel by the Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery. This romance takes place in Canada before the First World War, and the protagonist is Valancy Stirling. She is a single woman who lives unhappily with her distressful family. She escapes from reality, dreaming about a blue castle.
  6. Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
    The sixth novel in my second list of books is Cranford, which is a well-known novel. Elizabeth Gaskell published it between 1851 and 1853. The background of this novel is a small English town in the mid-nineteenth century. The protagonists are the two spinster sisters Miss Matty and Miss Deborah, and it is a portrait of a small society of women.
  7. The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton The seventh book on my list is The Custom of the Country, a 1913 novel and a literary masterwork by the American author Edith Wharton. It is the story of Undine Spragg, a beautiful and ambitious girl. She is a fortune seeker who uses her beauty and charm only to marry a rich man.
  8. The Diary of a Nobody by George Grossmith
    The Diary of a Nobody is an 1892 English comic novel, which describes Charles Pooter’s chronicles daily in a narrow-minded society. It is the eighth novel in my second list of books, and it is a daily diary, which collects the memories of his ordinary middle-class life.
  9. Effie: The Passionate Lives of Effie Gray, John Ruskin and John Everett Millais by Suzanne Fagence Cooper The ninth book is Effie, which is about the beautiful and intelligent Effie Gray’s adventures a young Scottish socialite living in the Victorian era. She was an extraordinary woman who supported her husband’s career, the Pre-Raphaelite painter John Everett Millais.
  10. The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim The Enchanted April is the tenth book in my second list of books. It is a 1922 novel about four women living in England and going to Portofino to spend a holiday in an Italian castle. In Italy, they enjoy an unforgettable period in an enchanting and beautiful place.
  11. Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
    
    In my second list of books, the eleventh novel is Far from the Madding Crowd, an 1874 book, the fourth novel of Thomas Hardy and his first success. It takes place in rural Wessex in the 1860s, and the protagonist is Bathsheba Everdene, a farmer. She has an independent and fearless personality. This novel is full of turmoils, tragedies and heartbreak.
  12. Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
    
    Faust is a classic German legend about the successful historian Johann Georg Faust, who finds discontent in his life. He makes a deal with the devil, exchanging his soul for indefinite knowledge and enjoyment. In the end, Faust will find destruction and redemption. It is the twelfth novel on my list.
August 9, 2020
Mrs Dalloway By Virginia Woolf

Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf is her fourth novel and the publication year is 1925. It is a parallel portrayal of this book’s two main characters: Clarissa Dalloway and Septimus Warren Smith.

Virginia Woolf and Mrs Dalloway

Clarissa Dalloway is a rich woman in her fifties, and Septimus Warren Smith is a war veteran. While Septimus struggles to recover from his post-traumatic stress disorder, Clarissa is organising a party, recalling old memories. The happening of the party of Clarissa is simultaneous with the decline of Septimus’s mental conditions. Virginia Woolf expresses a subtle critic of the medical profession and society classism. There is a correlation between the personal experience of the author and the characters of this fictional book. Indeed, Woolf had bipolar disorder, and the suicide theme appears in the novel as anticipation of Virginia’s life end. And of course, the thematic of feminism is present with the contrast between rich and working women. Clarissa is a rich and gracious woman in her fifties who is married. And she recalls memories of herself falling in love with her girlfriend, Sally Seton. Sally is a girl of French descent and with a peculiar personality. Miss Seton is unconventional with a bit of egotism, and she doesn’t follow society’s rules. Clarissa and Sally have a platonic relationship even though both of them married later on. The personality of the writer is split into the characters of Clarissa and Septimus. Indeed, they embody two different aspects of Mrs Woolf’s personality.

The torments of Virginia

Unquestionably this book reflects some personal aspects of Virginia’s life with all the emotional implications. Virginia Woolf was in a long relationship with the writer Vita Sackville-West starting from 1922. Virginia found generous support in Vita during her struggles with depression. Mrs Woolf had nervous breakdowns during her life, and her depression was getting worse as she was ageing. Depression that culminated in her suicide when she was 59 years old. In the last letter to her husband Leonard, Virginia, was describing her mental issues. She started to hear voices, and she was feeling powerless in front of her terrible disease (as she describes it). And so she decided to stop spoiling her husband life, with this extreme and improper decision. She wrote to her husband that even though he tried to make her happy, her illness prevented her from enjoying her marital life with him. In the character of Septimus, Virginia describes her mental conditions, such as his hallucinations and hearing voices, in particular, the one of Evans, who died during the war.

Image by WikiImages from Pixabay

A hypocrite society

In this novel, the society is hypocrite, superficial and insensitive. It is clear when Septimus is under the “cares” of doctor Holmes, who underestimates the gravity of his mental conditions. On the contrary, the doctor puts under pressure the poor Mr Smith, with his daily intrusions in the patient’s house against Mrs Reza Smith’s will, the wife of Septimus. The disillusion in human nature, the feelings of loneliness, desertion, and condemnation from a society that only judge and isolate without helping, fuel the despair of Septimus Smith. He gives up since he cannot bear the judgement of people who, in his believes, wants him dead for social wellbeing. The specialist doctor Bradshaw, well known for mental breakdown cases, prescribes merely a period of rest in a nursing home. The anguish of Septimus was the same as Virginia’s one when she decided that she couldn’t bear living her life anymore. This novel is a subtle accusation against the medical circle described as arrogant, superficial and inhumane. The same superficiality allows Clarissa Dalloway to live in her fake world made of parties and unnamed friends. Indeed, she got to know the suicide of a young man while enjoying her party. In her opinion death were defiance and an attempt to communicate, not feeling any compassion for him.

Image by F. Muhammad from Pixabay

Impressions

The unusual features of Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf are a reflection of the writer’s polyhedric personality. She was a feminist and a bisexual when bisexuality was unusual and considered a transgression. After the year 1970, her books were an inspiration for the group of feminists. The main themes of this fictional-and-not novel are life, death, love, and mental health. The contrast between the lightness and frivolity of the rich Clarissa and the dramatic struggle of Septimus is the metaphor of Virginia’s two sides. Unusual book but also very tragic, it is a masterwork of English literature.

July 7, 2020
A Tale Of Two Cities Book 2 – The Golden Thread

A Tale of Two Cities Book 2 – The Golden Thread is the second book by Charles Dickens in A Tale of Two Cities. The title refers to the golden Lucie Manette, the gold strand, because she connects some of this book’s characters, brightening their life.

The Golden Thread

The golden thread refers to Lucie Manette, the only daughter of Dr Manette. Her father spent eighteen years in the prison of La Bastille. She has golden blond hair, and she is beautiful. Miss Manette is sweet and kind, and she cares about her father very much. Lucie marries Charles Darnay, the nephew of the cruel and cynic aristocratic Monsieur Evrémonde. She represents a precious girl, as she is very compassionate and full of love for others. Her golden soul is brimful of virtues and far from vicious sins. The Golden Thread is the second book of A Tale of Two Cities and the continuation of the first book – Recalled to Life.

Knitting And Revolutionary Women

In Paris, revolutionary people recognized the couple Defarge as leaders. In particular, Madame Therese Defarge supported this movement to remove the Crown from France. The plan includes the execution of all the nobility and aristocracy. In the same way as Lady Macbeth, in Shakespeare’s tragedy, Madame Defarge is cruel and plans which person must die. Furthermore, at the same time, she is the head of a group of women who knit mostly during the executions. They have a cold, detached, and ruthless mind. The knitting recalls the Greek myth of the Moirae, the three Fates who ruled each human’s life. Indeed, knitting is a metaphor for human fate and destiny, which unexpectedly ends up.

Women In The Golden Thread

In The Golden Thread, women have a central role, and they are not mere passive figures. Lucie Manette and Madame Defarge differ in appearance, manners, and spirit. Lucie is beautiful, delicate, feminine, and flawless. The wine shop owner, Madame Defarge, is a woman who seeks revenge. In the novel, she is burly, cold-minded, and pitiless.

We could think she is a human monster, but we understand her behavior when we proceed to the end of the third book, The Track of a Storm. After the rape of her sister and the murder of her brother, she is hurt and full of grief. The Marquis St. Evrémonde was the man who committed such ferocious acts when he was young. He is the uncle of Charles Darnay, the husband of Lucie Manette, and he is also guilty of the murder of a child.

As ingenious as she is, Lucie does not know all these past events that connect Therese Defarge and her husband, Charles. Nonetheless, her innocence does not move Madame Defarge because she is determined to exterminate all the Evrémonde family, including Charles Darnay. Madame Defarge never stops knitting and never ceases to plan and organize her vengeance against those aristocrats, including their descendants.

Family And Loyalty

In The Tale of Two Cities, the family is essential in every type of society, among ordinary people and aristocracy. Some families have a strong connection and love, such as between Lucie and her father. Nevertheless, sometimes the family links are unwelcomed and rejected, like in Charles Darnay’s case with his noble uncle, the cruel and abusive Marquis St. Evrémonde.

Loyalty and family do not always walk together; there is no connection between some families’ components. For example, Charles burns all the bridges with his aristocratic and wealthy family. He cannot bear the atrocities that stained his family; hence, he builds a new life in England, renouncing all the privileges coming from his birth and changing his surname. Lucie and Charles married and had a child, little Lucie.

The French peasants formed a secret society, which created a big family where people shared the same principles and helped each other with equality. Moreover, they were loyal to their common doctrine of liberty, equality, and fraternity, leading the French Revolution.

I cannot avoid recommending this book because it is an authentic masterpiece in its style and content. It is rare to find all these qualities in a novel, and I must confess that it is one of my favorite books.

March 23, 2020
A Tale Of Two Cities By Charles Dickens – First Part

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is a brilliant historical novel, which finds its roots in “The French Revolution: A History” by Thomas Carlyle. Dickens published this book in 1859 and his analysis during his travels to Paris had a significant impact in this masterwork.

The three books inside the book

A Tale of Two Cities consists of three books: “Book the First: Recalled to Life”, “Book the Second: The Golden Thread” and “Book the Third: The Track of a Storm”. This historical novel takes place in London and Paris, during the French Revolution and the Terror. The main characters are the French doctor Alexandre Manette, his compassionate daughter Lucie, the arrogant Sydney Carton, the revolutionary Madame Defarge, the businessman Jarvis Lorry and, the French aristocrat Charles Darnay. In this novel, the brightness and obscurity represent the virtue and sin personified by the different characters.

The peculiarity of A Tale of Two Cities

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is a peculiar novel where, at the same time, the reader travels in London and Paris. We find the chronicles of the historical events, which simultaneously occur in these two cities and the personal circumstances of each character’s life. It is the tale of human tragedies inside the grand picture of historical dramas such as the French Revolution. The struggle of each character is a reflection of the tragedies of Dickens’s life in that period. He shows a life’s vision, where humans are victims of misfortunes. In this novel, the villains of this tragedy are the poor and the oppressed ones. Their violence and cruelty is a reaction to all the abuses they had to suffer.

Part I – Recalled to Life

I’m currently reading the first book. I find exciting and unique how Dickens narrates all the life occurrences of the characters such as Jerry Cruncher, who works as a bank employee and brings a message for Jarvis Loris, a bank manager. This message concerns a man, Alexandre Manette, a French doctor, who was finally set free from the Bastille prison. Lorry helps the daughter of Manette, Lucie, to meet her father in France. One of my favourite parts is at the beginning of Chapter Three. Indeed in this section, every human creature is described as a profound secret and mystery. Every house and room enclose secrets, and subsequently, each heart is a secret itself.

I’m in the last chapter of this first book, Chapter VI, The Shoemaker. I find fascinating the ambience of this book, a microcosm inside a historical macrocosm. We can consider how fragile and dainty is life mostly when terrible and uncontrolled occurrences happen. And as James Joyce wrote in the Ulysses, “To learn one must be humble. But life is a great teacher”.

March 5, 2020
The lifestyle Of Emma

The lifestyle of Emma Woodhouse consists of several social gatherings. She divides her time between dinners, social meetings and parties with friends and acquaintances. Nowadays, she could be the perfect influencer with a large number of followers. Indeed, she fulfils the role of a mentor efficiently since she never refrains from providing advice and guidance; mostly to young women such as Harriet Smith.

The character of Emma Woodhouse

Emma Woodhouse has a polyhedric personality. Undeniably, at the same time, she is a sophisticated and charming young lady. Sometimes Emma shows an immature and naive nature. Indeed, sometimes Emma misjudges her acquaintances, and her glamorous lifestyle includes the time she spends with her father and Mr Knightley, her closest friend.

Busy and cheerful as Miss Woodhouse is, she has an engaged life. This beautiful, brilliant, and smart girl (besides being very wealthy) is determined not to get married. She takes care of her father, Mr Woodhouse, who prefers an indoor and reserved life. Emma is a blend between a matchmaker and a life coach, following her excellent intuitive sense, which sometimes fails.

Emma is influenced by a society where marriage and economical-social status are essentials. Indeed, she thinks it is essential to classify people because of their financial and social situation. Most of the novel, Emma Woodhouse has a narrow-minded point of view of society. Only, in the end, she realises that she was wrong in her social evaluations.

A modern heroine

I find Emma character and this novel very modern. Nowadays, society did not change so much in the evaluation of persons. The glamorous lifestyle of Emma Woodhouse is not related to her historical period. Undoubtedly, she is a modern heroine because she could be the perfect influencer with a million followers, a well-known matchmaker, and a life coach as well.

She is an independent woman, and she always keeps herself busy without taking care so much about the other’s opinion. This young lady is relentless and doesn’t need a man in her life. Emma has all that she needs. Indeed, she is wealthy, and she doesn’t need a profession. Nevertheless, Miss Woodhouse spends her time helping friends and neighbours find their soulmates and giving them the right advice to live a better life.

Emma is a winner even when she is wrong in some matchmakings and misjudgments of some friends. She controls her emotions, elegantly, and charmingly. She also has style when she falls into her mistakes and is an unconventional and modern heroine. Occasionally Emma can contradict herself and be naive.

She never gives up, and she keeps going even without any moral support nor aid. When Mr Knightley tries to correct occasionally her behaviour, she explains her reasons kindly and firmly. She grew up without her mother, with the assistance of her governess and her father. Emma is used to be in solitude, although she is very social.

We recognise a woman of our time in all her aspects; indeed, Emma is not strictly related to her Regency period. Miss Woodhouse is feminine but never submissive because she knows her price, and she is proud of herself. Even if Emma Woodhouse is very young, she is conscious that she doesn’t need any man to improve her life and status. Her independence is impressive for a woman who lives during the Regency era.

The boundless imagination of Emma

Emma lives in two parallel worlds. She interacts with the real world, and she lives in an inner world, which is in her mind. Her imagination is endless and boundless, and it gives her a pulse to defends her ideas and points of view because, in the end, there is a balance between her inner world and reality. Her strong temper meets a naivety, which is due to her young age.

Sometimes Emma’s imagination collides against the harsh reality. In other occasions, she employs her creativity in her matchmaking, and, in this way, Emma tries to improve the society surrounding her. In that period, it was essential for a woman to marry. Mostly when the lady in question wasn’t so rich, it was more respectful for her and her family to find a husband.

I’ve just finished reading the novel, Emma by Jane Austen, and I’ve found that it is a fantastic book, which everyone should read. I identified myself with this heroine, who uses her imagination to escape in another reality and comfort herself from pains until she finds her love.

March 3, 2020
The Book Of Emma By Jane Austen

The book of Emma by Jane Austen is a unique masterwork of British literature. Indeed, it is one of the most read books in history and a marvellous novel. Emma is the second book on my first list of books.

Emma in a few lines

The main character of this book is Emma, who is a twenty-one years old girl. She is a charming, smart, and rich young lady. However, she doesn’t enjoy to study, and she categorises people because of their social-economical status. Nevertheless, she is merciful with the poor, and she loves to match people around her. In the beginning, she is determined to enjoy her life as a single woman because she doesn’t intend to marry.

On the other side, Mr Knightley is a wealthy close friend who sometimes disapproves Emma’s behaviour, even though he is a kindhearted and benevolent man. Besides Emma and Mr Knightley, the other characters of the novel are Mr and Mrs Weston, Emma’s closest family, the wealthy and jolly Frank Churchill, the selfish and bad-mannered Mr and Mrs Elton, the well-educated and beautiful Jane Fairfax, the beautiful and naive Harriet Smith, and Emma’s father, Mr Woodhouse.

The marvellous novel of Emma

I started reading this fabulous novel, which is a book of fifty-five chapters. In the first chapter, there is a description of Emma as the youngest of two daughters living happily in a comfortable house. I use the term marvellous to define this novel because of the book’s happy and cheerful atmosphere.

The main character is a woman like in Macbeth (check my first and second blog post about Macbeth). Of course, there is a considerable difference since lady Macbeth is a wicked and deceitful woman. Instead, Emma is a good-hearted girl who sometimes can commit some mistakes like every human. They are similar because of their strong personality and leadership. They influence people surrounding them, and they are tenacious in their purposes.

One of my favourite books

Emma is one of my favourite books, and I’m delighted to reread it. Indeed the first time I’ve read Emma was during my adolescence. And I confess that I love Emma Woodhouse’s character because I see in her some traits of my personality. She is a modern heroine, after all, since I can imagine her in today’s society. Although the publication year happened to be 1815, the book of Emma by Jane Austen is a modern romance without any doubt.

This novel is the most special one among Jane Austen’s books. The independent and outstanding personality of Emma makes her a real modern heroine. Indeed, she relies on her wisdom, which she uses to instruct and guide people around her. She has gracious manners and intelligence; hence she is well considered by most of all her friends. She is a tutor of a girl who must learn how to dive into society because she is still very naive.

Even though Emma can appear as snobby and judgemental, she is not selfish because she takes care of the others. Matching couples, and advising with guidelines to her closest friends, in particular women. From time to time, she commits mistakes unintentionally; indeed, Emma is not a wicked woman. Surely, she devotes herself to improve other’s life. She has high self-esteem, which she uses most of the time. I will continue to read this beautiful book. And I will write more in the next blog posts.

February 19, 2020

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