Origins: The Picaresque

Focuses on a rascal, who lives by his wits (reaction to idealized, romantic plots/characters)

*characters virtually unchanged throughout adventures

*episodic in structure

Ian Watt, Rise of the Novel, Main Argument

Why did the novel rise in the 18th Century?

Watt's thesis: 

Developing concurrently with a new emphasis on individual knowledge and perception (e.g., Locke, Decartes) as the source of knowledge and experience (e.g., the modern self), the 18th century novel, according to Watt, “purports to be an authentic account of the actual experiences of individuals” as they live out their lives in realistic settings (The Rise of the Novel 27). 

Cathy Davidson helpfully sums up Watt's accounts of what comprises this shift; for Watt, the realism of novels “operates on numerous levels: linguistic (characters sound as if they are talking to one another); situational (. . .within the time and space of fiction); and personal (characters are viewed as individuals not types” (Davidson 52)  

Ian Watt and Moll Flanders

"Defoe and Richardson are the first great writers in our literature who did not take their plots from mythology, history, legend or previous literature. In this they differ from Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare and Milton, for instance, who, like the writers of Greece and Rome, habitually used traditional plots;" (3)

Watt argues that new philosophies (by Decartes and Locke), which argued that particular individual perception and experience shape what and how individuals know themselves and the world. This, in turn, opens up new avenues for storytelling. Thus, according to Watt, "the actors in the plot and the scene of their actions had to be placed in a new literary perspective: the plot had to be acted out by particular people in particular circumstances, rather than, as had been common in the past, by general human types against a background primarily determined by the appropriate literary convention. This literary change was analogous to the rejection of universals and the emphasis on particulars which characterises philosophic realism. Aristotle might have agreed with Locke’s primary assumption, that it was the senses which ‘at first let in particular ideas, and furnish the empty cabinet’ of the mind. [5]

Testing out Watt's theories: 

"Ethelinde" by Charlotte Smith

The novel Ethelinde (1789), by Charlotte Smith is one of the first novels to be considered to include elements of the Gothic genre. Though Smith was known throughout her career for poetry, she began writing novels later in life in order to make money for herself and her family. She, much like Susannah Gunning, had much strife with her family and economic stability, which served as inspiration for her writing of Ethelinde. An article by Lisa Ottum about Smith’s work suggests that the setting in which she places her novels allude to a gothic style: “[i]n her fiction, Smith invests topography with a sense of depth that challenges other Romantic representations of nature, especially those that celebrate the panoramic view and its putative comprehensiveness,” (250). Smith centers Ethelinde in an abbey much like Austen and Gunning. In her illustration of the abbey as setting, she insinuates a mysterious melancholy that contributes to a romantically gothic style. This novel exemplifies the genre of abbey fiction, while also illustrating the overlap of gothic genre and the romantic period.  

Ottum, Lisa. “‘Shallow’ Estates and the ‘Deep’ Wild: The Landscapes of Charlotte Smith's Fiction.” Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature, vol. 34, no. 2, 2015, pp. 249–272. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/44784589. Accessed 4 Apr. 2021.

Racism and Social Class Structure in The Woman of Colour

1. Racism also acts as a hindrance throughout the text by using it as a justification of different social classes. Because of Olivia being a woman of color she is very set in her social class, that is why it was impertinent that she get married to Augustus so she can secure her future. "Almost all colonial schemes begin with an assumption of native backwardness and general inadequacy to be independent, “equal”, and fit” (Said 80). This part of the essay is significant because it addresses the relationship between the English and the natives that lived on the land they colonized. The Woman of Colour takes place in a world that is in the middle of colonization and its reliance on slave labor. This was justified because many colored people were seen as lesser than whites, and not being seen as equal they were put into a lower class. Olivia is part of both classes because of her white father and Black mother and that makes her odd, almost in a class of her own. 
2. The English empire relied on the exploitation of many people of color, and those who weren't living in the colonies lived on the presumption that they were better than those who lived in the colonies, and other people of color. “A novel based in an England relying on the maintenance of its style on a Carribean island...a lesser work holds its historical affiliation more plainly” (Said 96). The author seems to argue that we must look at the biases of the author of the text to determine why it was written in the way it is. The Woman of Colour is unique because it focuses on Olivia’s experience and how she reacts to racism and the class system that England thrives on. She is upper class in the fact that she will acquire wealth,but her color is what makes her seen as the lower class. 19th Century Social Class
3. Oivia discusses her thoughts on class structure, "I trust, to pray for the extermination of this disgraceful practice...likewise impel me to be anxious for the emancipation of my more immediate brethren" (81). There is an emphasis on my because Olivia has closer bood relation to slaves than the Merton's but yet she is still in a class above them. She acknowledges the difference in their status but because of her privilege (which comes from her class) she is able to advocate effectively. The only way to ensure that the colonies and plantations ran smoothly was to instill these classes. And of course to profit off the labor, racism was used to keep the people of color in the lower class. 

The Woman of Colour and Said: The Impact of Imperialism

The Woman of Colour cover page

When looking at the impact that Western imperialism had on cultures, one word comes to mind: all-encompassing. Throughout history, we can see this idea of western expansion or journeys into "unoccupied" territories and these often come at the cost of dehumanizing those that are being overtaken by this expansion. Said points this out within his article when he states:  “But positive ideas of this sort do more than validate “our” world. They also tend to devalue other worlds and, perhaps more significantly from a more retrospective point of view, they do not prevent or inhibit or give resistance to horrendously unattractive imperialist practices” (Said 81). For those who believed in these Western ideas pertaining to expansion and superiority, beliefs that other people could have a culture or a life that matched the importance of their own (white) one was impossible. 

Seeing these ideas of imperialist effects through a first-hand perspective provides an interesting view into how widespread these beliefs are.  For Olivia, she is immediately introduced to this belief. When meeting Mrs. Merton for the first time, she states "I believe I held out my hand... but I fancy its colour disgusted her, for she recoiled a few paces with a blended curtesy and shrug, and simpering, threw herself on a sofa" (71-72). For Mr. Merton, there was no hesitation to approach and embrace Olivia. There is a multitude of reasons that Mrs. Merton could hold this belief against Olivia. Said's argument helps the reader contextualize reasons that Mrs. Merton may have acted like this.

The Woman of Colour and Said: Widespread Imperialism

Map of British Colonies (1800s)

It is no secret that imperialistic ideas swept through the United Kingdom. Soon, these ideas were spread throughout the world as the U.K. expanded towards what is now the U.S., Canada, the eastern coast of Africa, Australia, and more (see map). When thinking of this time period, it is easy to get lost in the politics of it all but Said points out just how much support these Western beliefs had. Said states “We can sense how ideas about dependent races and territories were held both by foreign-office executives, colonial bureaucrats, and military strategists and by intelligent novel-readers by educating themselves in the fine points of moral evaluation, literary balance, and stylistic finish” (Said 95). It is important to note that while the political/expansion decisions were made by higher-ups in society, there was widespread support from across the country.

Within The Woman of Colour, we can see Augustus commenting on these prejudices and imperialist beliefs. Augustus writes “Prejudices imbibed in the nursery are frequently attached to the being of ripened years” (80). Augustus points out that from birth, children are exposed to their parents' beliefs and if their parents strongly support an idea, they will too. 

Fall River

• History meets Fiction

• “Historians tell their stories as much as do novelists - and through much  as the same means- by what they bring in and what they leave out, by how they structure their material, and to what end. One story (history) seeking to explain another (fiction) can only extend or circumnutate it” (Davidson 70)

The major contribution of this essay is that it shows how the author, or in this case the editor, took a real place (Fall River) and added a little bit of fiction without taking the history out of the novel.  The story is being enhanced instead of changed. Patricia Caldwell even put the real letters that S.M C wrote into the novel. This helps readers understand the reality of what had happened in Fall River which helps build a connection between reader and author. Additionally, Catherine Williams recreated an incident that has already happened in Fall River, therefore, readers can also get a sense of the historical context of this town.  

•  Women readership/ how women readership changed the novels

• “Female readership became a significant literary and sociology phenomenon. It should also be noted that women, in particular, flocked to the new lending libraries...The clear gender differentiation in the case of Fisher’s self-help book highlights the complex case of fiction- and the ambiguous status of women as implied women of early American fiction” (Davidson 65).

The major contribution in this quote shows the status that women had, not only in society but even in novels. For instance, in Fall River many people blamed the pregnant woman for her own death and even said that she deserved it. We also see the inferiority of women in Moll Flanders when she believes that she needs a husband to strive. Even female characters are more prevalent, it seems as if something bad always happened to them in novels during this time. This mistreatment of females in novels can be shadowed by what is happening in society during this time. 

Context of the Reader

“My problem, of course, is that my readers have been dead for almost two hundred years, so one can hardly interview them to reconstruct an early American interpretive community.” (Davidson 62)

In her essay, Davidson speculates on the role of the reader in the historical context a book was written in. “It is simply too easy to perpetuate assumptions about the reader that neglect the inescapable fact that readers, as much as texts, operate within historical contexts,” she writes (Davidson 61). Our readings of Fall River come from a modern perspective where the role of Avery as a preacher is not so drastically consequential; we have heard tales like this before (many of us may have read The Scarlet Letter, for instance.) This complicates our current reading, as it removes some of the shock and social complication, and it removes the implications made when Cornell’s character is questioned during the trial. (In my reading, questioning the character of the victim seemed completely unreasonable, but evidently this would have held enough merit at the time to be permitted.)

Image citation: Mount, William Sidney. The Herald in the Country. 1853.

Religious Communities in Fall River

“Although religion remained a potent force in many individual lives, the structure of religious authority changed demonstrably with revivalism; with the emergence of new denominations, sects, and even religious cults” (Davidson 71).

“‘No,’ he answered, ‘she was not a leading member there, that she had been set aside for impudence, and imprudence of conduct,’ or something like that, when the fact was that this same woman had been considered as a leading member in that society for more than twenty years, that she had been of great service in the cause of methodism in Providence particularly, and it is believed by many has done more towards building up the Methodist society in that town than any three persons who could be named” (Williams 47). 

Connecting Davidson’s point about the changing structure in religious communities to the novel, it is clear that Williams was heavily influenced by this cultural context while writing Fall River. Not only is this religious shift seen in the plot of the story, but it is also seen influencing Williams and her view of religious authorities (especially in the Methodist community). 

Altick & Dickens in Conversation (Bianca)

• “Yellow-back”/Railway Novels → Creativity and Curiosity in Hard Times

In Altick’s article, he mentions how books were not as accessible as they are today. However, there were books that were considered “Yellow-back”/Railway novels so those who couldn’t afford to buy a novel could still read. Altick states that it wasn’t just the poor people that would read them but “it was said, in fact, that people went to railway stations for the books they were ashamed to seek at respectable shops” ( 301). This demonstrates that even those who could afford books may have also gone out to read these types of novels because of the stigma there might be about them at shops. Altick brings this point about because it demonstrates the positive part about having books accessible to others. Altick writes, “No longer was it possible for people to avoid reading matter” (301). This goes to show that the opportunity to read was starting to become more accessible and if people wanted to read they had the opportunity to do so. This can be tied back to the main theme of creativity and curiosity in Hard Times by Dickens because when Mr.Gradgrind catches Louisa and Tom looking at the circus, he is furious and wants them to have nothing to do with it. He even goes on to say, “Thomas, though I have the fact before me, I find it difficult to believe that you, with your education and resources, should have brought your sister to a scene like this” (Book I, Chapter III). Mr. Gradgrind exemplifies how others would have reacted if they see someone of a higher class reading a “Yellow-back” novel. However, Louisa and Tom exemplify how if someone wants to enact on their creative side, they are going to find a way to do so, just like those who found a way read even if it was through “Yellow-back” novels. In both instances, it shows how if someone is wanting to do something whether it is reading or going “against” their education and being creativity and curious, they will find a way to do so.

Discussion Questions

• How do you think this novel affected the market for books during this time? Would the thought of reading only facts, as shown in Hard Times, drive up the desire for people to read more fiction?
• What genre would you consider this novel to be? A cautionary tale? A dysphoria story? 
• Watching from the outside, how do you think those in the circus perceived the lives of those involved with the Gradgrinds?
• Was this the most effective way of telling the story? How would the story have changed if it had been told from a different perspective? From Louisa’s or Tom’s point of view?

The Book Trade- Altick's Main Ideas (Rebecca)

Books began to spread outside libraries as well, alongside the demand for reprints at lower prices. In 1855, “yellow-back” or railway novels became common occurrences in railroad stations. As train rides became longer, and their riders required entertainment, novels were provided to ensure their demands were met. W. H. Smith & Son was said to have monopolized this industry, establishing enticing book “concession stands” in almost every station across the country. These concession stands were said to draw in travelers with their illustrative advertisements and their varied reading materials, including books, newspapers, pamphlets, etc. Altick acknowledges the increased accessibility of books as a result of the development of book concession stands in saying, “No longer was it possible for people to avoid reading matter….” (301). 

Fiction was not all that was being circulated in the early 1850s. John Cassell became the first individual to begin circulating educational materials in the same way novels were dispersed: in cheaper, divided parts. His most famous work, Popular Educator, which was released in 1852 proved to be a detrimental piece of educational material for many recognizable individuals at the time. Furthermore, Cassell introduced the idea that lower classes could gain access to information and education in a more casual, and ultimately cheaper, way. Illustrated, informational texts soon began to emerge, including examples like The Bible and The History of England. 

Altick & Dickens in Conversation (Anne)

Cheaper books allowed for more access to more classes of people. However, Altick mentions a contrast between certain bodies who read. One side fancied sensational literature whereas others preferred the “high culture” of classics or nonfiction. Altick writes, “The enduring popularity of literature of adventure and crime disheartened many who had welcomed the . . . dawn of an era of improved public taste. A more hopeful sign was the increased demand for cheap books of an altogether higher level “ (308). The comparison and presumed superiority of one over the other way of thinking is quite like the split between facts and imagination in Hard Times. Dickens makes the argument that life devoted solely to objectivity and facts will lead to misery. As her father calls fairytales and the like “destructive nonsense,” Louisa’s emotional development is greatly hindered (Book I, Ch. VII). She says, “In this strife I have almost repulsed and crushed my better angel into a demon. What I have learned has left me doubting, misbelieving, despising, regretting, what I have not learned; and my dismal resource has been to think that life would soon go by, and that nothing in it could be worth the pain and trouble of a contest” (Book II, Ch. XI). Once Louisa’s heart is awoken by James, she has no idea how to deal with these new feelings as she becomes “repulsed” and “crushed.” She was raised her whole life to look to facts and figures to solve problems, and those don’t apply to emotions. Whereas people like Gradgrind think some books are of a “higher level,” others would claim that too much exposure of one side is harmful. Dickens, through Louisa’s example, is arguing for a balance between sensational literature/imagination and high culture literature/facts.

This image is Sissy and Louisa, presumably as children.

Avis is Contemporary and Progressive(Alyssa T.)

Bakhtin highlights three characteristics that he believes constitutes the unique genre of the novel. One of these says that, “From the very beginning the novel was structured not in the distanced image of the absolute past but in the zone of direct contact with inconclusive present-day reality. At its core lay personal experience and free creative imagination” (38). I believe that Avis’ character is a perfect example of this, since we follow her contemporary and progressive personal experience throughout the story. And specifically since it was written in the mid to late 19th century, her personal experiences we read about would have been very unconventional for the time. Even as a teenager, she pushed back on the expectation that women should take care of things around the house, when she told her father, “”Aunt Chloe says it’s unladylike to hate … if it is, then I’d rather not be a lady. There are other people in the world than ladies. And I hate to make my bed; and I hate, hate, to sew chemises and I hate, hate, hate to go cooking round the kitchen” (50). The fact that she was so sure of herself and what she believed in at a younger age is so telling of how contemporary her experience is. 

Foreshadowing Through Epigraphs (Hailey H.)

Amongst all the little quotes at the beginning of each chapter, all of them have one thing in common; they are all either poems or written by poets or someone in the artistic world from plenty of different time periods. They could mean a plethora of different things, since we will never know the author's true intent of those little excerpts, but I believe they are a sort of foreshadowing device or something similar. For example, chapter one's excerpt is about a bird flying above someone and they can only see the shadow of that bird, “And all I saw on the sunny ground, The flying shadow of an unseen bird” (7). Avis could be that bird, flying above everybody so high that they can only see her shadow. She may be unseen, but others can still see her shadow and follow her influence if you look hard enough, “Avis Dobell, sitting in the shadowed corner of the presidents parlor that night” (13). You have to look hard enough to find the true meaning in any work, real or not. If you just take one glance around the room, you’ll miss the true wonder in the shadows and you won’t get to explore the possibilities that lie within.

Humanity V. Nature

Tea Cake and Janie in the aftermath of the hurricane.

A major theme present in the novel is humanity versus nature. As the title suggests, in the novel we see that no human desires, whether for money or love, can win against God or any forces of nature.

“Naw it ain’t, it’s nature, cause nature makes caution. It’s de strongest thing dat God ever made, now. Fact is it’s de onliest thing God every made. He made nature and nature made everything else.” Sam, Chapter 6

Focusing on the hurricane that Janie and Tea Cake experience, we see where the title comes from. In this scene, we see a hurricane, which is controlled by nature, not man, wreck havoc on Janie and Tea Cake. Its title echoes the theme of humanity's struggle against the natural world as Janie and Tea Cake struggle through the hurricane’s destruction. As Janie and Tea Cake are tasked with surviving, there is another reminder that the natural world and humans struggle together. 

“The wind came back with triple fury, and put out the light for the last time. They sat in company with the others in other shanties, their eyes straining against crude walls and their souls asking if He meant to measure their puny might against His. They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God.” Chapter 18

In Walker’s second essay, “In Search of Our Mothers’ Garden”, Walker represents nature and women as more harmonious compared to Hurston. She writes, “I notice that it is only when my mother is working in her flowers that she is radiant, almost to the point of being invisible-except as Creator, hand and eye.” (Walker, 241) In Walker’s essay, nature represents courage, strength, and fearlessness.

Love, Marriage, and Independence in Their Eyes Were Watching God (Skye)

Love and marriage were structured to be the peak in women's lives within society for ages, as fairytale endings, the expectations of motherhood, and female roles have been instilled. In Janie's story, this deems true as she puts love and happiness within the same regard, depicted in the statement, “There are years that ask questions and years that answer. Janie had had no chance to know things, so she had to ask. Did marriage end the cosmic loneliness of the umated? Did marriage compel love, love the sun the day” (Hurston, 53). Janie's understanding of love changes as does her understanding of herself and her own identity in Their Eyes Were Watching God. Beginning the novel with an innocent, romantic, yet potentially inordinate value and need for love and marriage, Janie's own path to independence and her sense of self is informed by her experiences that stray from this initial expectation of love. Loneliness and a lack of that sense of powerful love that Janie envisioned within her marriages with Jody and Logan consumed Janie, making it complicated for her to find her own independent power. This is directly symbolized in Jody's treatment of Janie, as he is possessive and abusive. As a black woman especially, social expectation placed significant boundaries on Janie's autonomy to speak and be heard, thus affecting her view of herself and her happiness. Walker assesses this throughout her essays, especially in analyzing the representation of black women in texts and society. Walker writes "Black women are called, in the folklore that so aptly identifies one's status in society, 'the mule of the world,' because we have been handed the burdens that everyone else...refused to carry," (237). In this, Walker points out the image that black women are given in society, that in turn affects their image of self and their happiness. Walker continues to address the way in which black women's character is distorted, ignored, and disregarded in saying "When we asked for love, we have been given children...our labors of fidelity and love, have been knocked down our throats," (237). It is not until Janie realizes there is more to her life and her identity than love in her marriage with Tea Cake, where she finds her voice and her worth not as a wife, but as Janie. Though Janie's race is not as frequently addressed in this text as other novels we've read, these readings of Walker's work are still valuable as Zora and Janie, both, are both black women.

Bakhtin on the Epic and The Novel (Kyle B.)

Throughout Bakhtin’s essay, we see him distinguish the novel from the literature of its past. One of his main suggestions for the novel is that we cannot see it as a fully formed genre, given the fact that it has not died off. Since the novel is still a literary form that we still frequent, Bakhtin claims we cannot fully identify all of its features, as it is still evolving and experimenting and molding itself in different and varied ways. Bakhtin states, “The generic skeleton of the novel is still far from having hardened, and we cannot foresee all its plastic possibilities,” (Bakhtin 1). However, Bakhtin suggests that the epic is the inverse of this, as he states, “ We encounter the epic as a genre that has not only long since completed its development, but one that is already antiquated. With certain reservations we can say the same for the other major genres, even for tragedy,” (Bakhtin 1). Bakhtin suggests that the epic is one genre that has lived its entire lifespan and now can be analyzed for all its attributes. He suggests that the epic is focused on the past, and centers itself around the ideas of tradition. These diametrically opposed genres, while both very different, also provide a connection between the way that literature has evolved, and show us how the novel differs from its formal predecessors in genre.

Alice Walker's, In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens

Toni Morrison and Alice Walker, 1974. (Photo taken by Jill Krementz)

“We are a people. A people do not throw their geniuses away. And if they are thrown away, it is our duty as artists and as witnesses for the future to collect them again for the sake of our children, and, if necessary, bone by bone”  (Walker 92).

Alice Walker begins the first chapter of her book, In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens by mentioning her encounter with racist anthropologists in the late 1970s while researching material on voodoo practices for her book. She claims that her disappointment with the material she found from these anthropologists and folklorists stemmed from their idea that black people were “inferior, peculiar, and comic”. This account at the beginning of the chapter can be seen as a rhetorical move from Walker because it sets up a lens for the reader to view the rest of her chapter/book with.

The first chapter that we read from Walker touches on the fight against censorship and silencing of black people, particularly black women artists, along with the importance of legacy, survival, and generational storytelling. Through Walker’s praise of Zora Neale Hurston, she touches on the importance of authentic portrayals of the lives and cultures of black Americans giving an example of how her relatives, who grew up in the South but moved to New York, reacted when they read Hurston’s Mules and Men. Walker states that this book worked in bringing back “all the stories they had forgotten or of which they had grown ashamed of” and in turn showing them how valuable and priceless those stories really were (85). This example is important for the understanding of this chapter because it touches on Walker’s idea of racial health where we would see and have “a sense of black people as complete, complex, undiminished human beings” within the way they are portrayed by society, something that she feels is lacking in black writing and literature.

Walker also makes a point to mention that most contemporary black Americans believed at some point that their “blackness was something wrong with them” (86). Walker connects this to her point about a lack of racial health because as she says with the white racist anthropologists, perceptions of black culture and people, in general, were that they were inferior, peculiar, and comic in relation to white people. This effect of this perception being the only narrative readily available and persistent in society led to many black Americans eventually believing it to be true, losing part of their agency, self-respect, and forgetting the beauty and value of their own culture.

Walker states that “America does not support or honor black people as human beings let alone black, women, and artists so they have to take the assistance they can in order to secure that their cultural heritage would survive and their writing would be preserved“ (91). This was said in response to her mention that even Zora, the self-respecting author, became timid in her writing and her words became false due to her financial reliance on “white folks” but as the quote says Zora sacrificed part of her own integrity so that she would be able to preserve her writing and secure her cultural heritage (91).

 -----------------

“Guided by my heritage of a love of beauty and respect for strength- in search of my mother’s garden, I found my own”  (Walker 243).

Walker begins this chapter by talking about how poet, Jean Toomer saw black women in the Post Reconstruction South as women who had been so consistently abused, sexualized, and dimmed. Walker states that all of that abuse is believed to have made them so confused they began to believe that they were unworthy of hoping for anything more/better and in turn pushed down all of the things that made them unique, beautiful, and genius (233).

This chapter really takes a close look at the history and lineage of how black woman artists got to be artists despite the extreme abuse and hardship that their mothers and grandmothers endured. Walker asks “What did it mean for a black woman to be an artist in our grandmother's time?” a question that she swiftly follows up with accounts of abuse and hardship of being kept as a slave, working for ignorant people who weren’t able to see how valuable and beautiful these black lives were. This account of the abuse then leads her to ask about how, even through all of that, the creativity of black women could stay alive?

Walker states that she turned to her own mother to try and answer this question and she found that even though her mother was working all of the time and rarely had a moment to be alone with her thoughts, she expressed her creativity through the materials and mediums that society presented to her, whether that was through the oral stories that Walker’s mother told her at bedtime or the garden that she tended to. Walker says that these mothers and grandmothers, despite the hardship and abuse they endured, found ways to pass on the creative spark that they couldn’t quite see actualized themselves but that they knew had value to be passed down.