The French Revolution in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

The French Revolution was a battle that lasted about ten years. This war resulted in the destruction of the monarchy as well as the French Consulate. The three main goals of the French Revolution was to achieve liberty, equality, and fraternity. In Frankenstein, the French Revolution had just ended, and Victor had created his monster during a time that people were still fighting and killing each other as though the revolution's ideals meant absolutely nothing. The creature reflected this behavior, but eventually learned what those ideals really meant and sought them out. 

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, "Rime of the Ancient Mariner"

Coleridge publishes "Rime" in 1798 in the first edition of Lyrical Ballads. The poem was written between 1797-1798. It was revised and republished in 1800, 1802, and 1805 in subsequent editions of Lyrical Ballads. It was revised to add marginal glosses and republished in Coleridge's volume Sybiline Leaves in 1817. The last version of the poem appears in the same year as Coleridge's death: 1834.

First Women's Golf Tournament 1811

Scotland held its very first women's golf tournament in 1811. This events first began to form when Mary Queen of Scots (1542-1567) enjoyed golfing, she even had a golf course built during her reign. Women were not yet allowed to participate unitl the year 1811. The tournament was of a small town of fishermen and their wives. Even after this event challenges for women to golf were strained. They did not recieve the same treatment as men and they had little funding. In some areas the idea was just plain refused but this did not end hope for women here. This events would lead to the first women's golf club formed in1867. 

Shelley, Frankenstein

During the Genevan summer of 1816, Mary Shelley conceived of Frankenstein and began writing it as part of a competition with her husband Percy Shelley, Lord Byron, and Byron's physician Polidori. The novel was published anonymously in 1818. The second edition, published in 1820, bore her name.

John Keats Engagement To Fanny

John Keats was very in love with this lady named Fanny Brawne. In 1819 he ends up getting engaged with her and gives her this beautiful engagement ring. Later, he finds out that he as tuberculosis and that he was not going to be able to live very much longer to be with Fanny which is why he wrote the poem "La Belle Dame Sans Merci".

Ann Radcliffe, "On the Supernatural in Poetry"

Radcliffe publishes her essay in 1826 in New Monthly Magazine (volume 16, number 1). The essay is known for its distinction between terror and horror, and the role of the imagination for the supernatural.

First Opium War

The First Opium War was a series of battles between Britain and the Qing dynasty of China. The war began between the two countries because of China's goal to obtain opium stocks in hopes to permitt the banned opium trades with Britain at Canton. In addition, The Chinese government were also threatening the death penalty to offenders. The British government did not agree with China's plans. The British government believed in the system of free trade and supported the opium trades in Canton. Britain's Royal Navy defeated the Chinese and the Qing dynasty signed the Treaty of Nanking. This treaty granted Britain indemnity and extraterritoriality to British in China, opened five ports to British merchants, and gave Hong Kong Island to the British Empire. 

This event is signicant to the text (Goblin Market) because it shows Britains support for Opium during the Victorian Era. This contradicts Rossetti's view that Opium addiction is a problem during this era.

Seneca Falls Convention

The Seneca Falls Convention on July 19, 1848 was a convention that held a way women to come together and discuss the rights of women. That movement also started a women suffrage movement. This story could reflect to how the society viewed women in the literature and artistic pieces as describing them as bold and also persuasive is well. This can also reflect to the poem La Belle Dame Sans Merci on how women are very persuasive. 

First National Womens Rights Convention

In 1850 around the number of 900 people mainly women but some men attended this convention to hear problems surrounding womens sufferage as well as other social issues. This convention would also touch bases on civil rights issues during the time aswell. At the convention they would disscuss topics such as wages, education, career opertunities, and marriage. The convention would later become a annual meeting where women would discuss these topics to further inform others on the things they deserved. 

This event is signifigant because it was not only one of the first womens conventions but it was the first national womens convention that discussed the rights the women deserved. Conventions like these changed the view that not only women had about themselves but also the way some men felt about women. Once the women had a different perspective on the way they should be treated they gained the confidence to push foward with making change for the future. It could be argued that the knowledge the women gained from these conventions is what led to where we are today with rights of women. 

Christina Rossetti's time at Highgate Penitentiary

During the time of 1859-1870 Christina Rossetti spent time working at the Highgate Penitentiary. Here she did nun-like work and acted as a type of big sister to the women that resided in the penitentiary. Highgate was a place that focused on the reformation of fallen women through repent and prayer. When refering to "fallen women" we are discussing prostitutes or women who had sex outside of their marriage. 

While working here Rossetti was able to see the effects that the patriarchial power men had. She was able to have her eyes opened and gain a better understanding as to how these women became "fallen women" and how society felt about them. Because most of the workers were women Rossetti was also able to see the damage that women could have even on each other. Instead of truley understanding why the fallen women happened they just focused on trying to fix them. 

Pharmacy Act of 1868

The Pharmacy Act of 1868 was one of the first attempts to limit the sale of poisons and dangerous drugs, such as opium, cocaine, and laudanum. Before the passing of this Act, consumers could walk into a chemist shop and freely purchase recreational drugs without a prescription.  This relates to the text (Goblin Market) because drug usage was a concern for Rossetti in her time at the Highgate Penitentiary due to the amount of women who were dealing with addiction. This is a result that the cries to bring awareness to drug addiction were being heard.

Ruddigore (The Witches Curse)

Ruddigore or The Witches Curse is an opera by Arthur Sulivan and W.S Gilbert. The opera itself is revolving around a woman under a family curse to do bad deeds or else she'd be killed, and has tones about generational hauntings which one deals with that drives the story. 

This opera being released about a month prior to "The Canterville Ghost," shows us that this fear of a sort of haunting from the past or from a sort of inheritance (the woman being haunted from a bloodline, the Otis family in Canterville being haunted by a house) was previlant during that time, and many people recognized it and were able to deliver this perception in different forms. I think this also shows us historical themes that Wilde often wished to focus on both in "The Canterville Ghost," and also throughout his explanation for his disliking of America. 

Here I've included a drawing of a scene from Ruddigore, being from the ghost scene where the ancestors step out from their portraits to accuse someone of failing to carry out the requirements of the curse. 

"The American Invasion" Publication

"The American Invasion," was an essay published to The Court and Society Review anonymously but is assumed to be from Oscar Wilde given the time period it was published, and the events he included in the essay. The essay itself includes his general impressions of the country, how he viewed the big cities and the people themselves. Overall the essays makes America out to be fairly boring, filled with failing attempts to seem lively or luxurious but ultimately flat and lacking substance. 

This essay is important in reference to "The Canterville Ghost," as it was published a few weeks prior possibly to get consumers thinking about these ideas prior to reading the story, or helping set the story up for its overall context of America being a lackluster recreation of Europe (he even describes the women as dressing similar to that in Paris, but not the matching attitude). The essay also enlightens us on Wildes's view of the country, which explains why he chooses to portray characters the way he does and the dynamics of the story (the American family being materialistic and the European characters/ the ghost being rooted in the history and culture). 

The photo I've included is a photo of Oscar Wilde himself, one of a series of portraits taken of him during his stay in America. The photographer, Napoleon Sarony, thought he was a great subject matter to photograph and took the majority of his portraits. 

Mew, "May, 1915" and "The Cenotaph"

Mew wrote "May, 1915" as a response to the beginning of World War I, a war that was initially thought to end by Christmas 1914. "The Cenotaph" was written in 1919 for the first anniversary of the Armistice--the first Remembrance Day.

Carol Ann Duffey, Mrs. Lazarus

Duffey wrote this poem, Mrs. Lazarus, with the inspiration of the story of Jesus resurrecting Lazarus in the Bible. The poem was published in a collection of poems she entitled The World's Wife. This poem is written from the point-of-view of Lazarus' wife before Jesus came to bring him back to life. The importance of this poem is to express the dread of greiving for the death of a loved one as well as describe the patriarchy within Christian society. Near the end of the poem, Duffey reveals that raising Lazarus from the dead did not have the reaction that was expected. Instead, this only made her feel worse inside because for a brief period of time, she was grieving, but still capable of making a new life for herself.