Feral Children

Okay this is quite interesting, a feral child is one who has been isolated froms society from a young age, sometimes by their own parents understandably they don't show sign of human activity meaning they may be scared of humans, they may not understand certain things. In the past behaviour of the children has been influenced by animals they have survived with, real cases of this case have resulted in children being mentally and physically impared along with a lack of human skills to survive because of the long term isolation.

There is little scientific knowledge about feral children. One of the best-known examples, the "detailed diaries" of Reverend Singh who claimed to have discovered Amala and Kamala (two girls who had been "brought up from birth by wolves") in a forest in India, has been proven a fraud to obtain funds for his orphanage. Bruno Bettleheim states that Amala and Kamala were born mentally and physically disabled.

 Children laying ontop of eachother like a pair of wolves. (Amala and Kamala)

Features of The Bloody Chamber

Most significant features of The Bloody Chamber

Yeah, like this blog is not worth reading so DON'T!

1. (The reversal of gender roles). The Mothers character is probebly the most clearest in that Carter has reversed the role of a female. Killing the Marquis using her husbands gun, 'She put a single irreproachable bullet through my husbands head'. Even though the mother kills the Marquis she uses her 'husbands gun' arguably this shows that male powers is still dominent in females. However, the Marquis has a bond with her daughter something they called 'maternal telepathy' and only the women have this ability so this could be a sign of femenine power.

2. The Piano Tuner, As we know he is blind so he doesn't have the 'male gaze' or the sexual desires the Marquis has. In comparison to the Marquis the Piano Tuner is virginic, whereas the Marquis had 3 previous wives. Even though the Marquise has a 'mark of shame' on her forehead the Piano Tuner cannot see it, he appreciates her for who she is, he doesn't take advantage of her sexually as a typical gothic male character would.

3. Aspects of the gothic. So this is probably one of the most important features of the entire book. One of things that comes to mind is the setting, and how its set in a castle in the middle of nowhere, 'That lovely, sad, sea-siren of a place', Also the castle has been given down from ancestors meaning it has a history behind it. Another feature of the gothic is the punishment for sins, and how the Marquis is killed in the end after killing three other women and 'shaming' the Marquis, yet he is punished for his sins in the end, and what tops it off is that he is killed by a WOMAN! Muhahaha!

4. Sex. As we know The Bloody Chamber is full of Sex, only Carter could write such dirty things. The Marquis treats his virginic wife as she is the one to blame for her corruption yet he is the one who treats her as though she is a 'baby' then calls her a 'whore'. Lets face it the Marquis is pretty weird he has no standards!

The Green Man

The green man is usually either a sculpture or a drawing, it consists of a man made from leaves, branches, and vines they usually sprout from the nose, ears and other parts of the face. The sculpture/ drawing is usually used as an architectural ornament it can be carved, drawn or sculpted and found in places such as churches. Primarily the symbol of the green man is a sign of rebirth or renaissance representing the cycle of growth each spring.
The simplest carvings or sculptures depict a man's face peering out. Some may have leaves for hair, perhaps with a leafy beard. Often leaves or leafy shoots are shown growing from his open mouth and sometimes even from the nose and eyes as well. In the most abstract examples, the carving at first glance appears to be merely stylized foliage, with the facial element only becoming apparent on closer examination. The face is almost always male; green women are rare.
Images of the green man are predominantly found in England but they are also found in the rest of Great Britain, Europe and parts of Asia and North Africa. He may date back as far as the third millennium BC, and is still being reproduced in stone, wood, glass, metal, art, song, story and poem today. He may be found in his guise as dusty stone or wood carving looking down from pillars and ceilings in churches, cathedrals abbeys and secular buildings throughout the world. To some he is seen as a mischievous, sometimes dark figure found in Morris dances, or as the traditional Jack-in-the-Green leading or included in May Day processions each year, or bought to life in new and vibrant traditions. To others he is just a dusty stone or wooden figure brought across from the continent by French stonemasons as a personification of sin that would be seen and understood by the illiterate masses.

Commedia dell'Arte, 4 characters

So the Commedia dell'Arte is known to be the first type of theater that came from Italy, it was more of a social/public entertainment concept. The interesting thing about this type of theater is its characters and the way they are portrayed.

The Doctor (Il Dottore)
His character is fat, rich and he thinks he knows everything. He doesn't listen to others in his field and because he is a 'doctor' he thinks he can be a notary (someone who is authorized to perform handling of certified documents) or a lawyer at times, he is a kind of character that people don't often like, he gets in the way by being a bit of a 'know it all'.

Arlecchino (Harlequin)
He is probably one of the well known characters as he is poor yet seems to survive on his creativity, he wears a mask and it's one of the most popular ones, he is also known as 'the clown' one of the characters that provides laughter by performing acrobats and telling jokes. His costume consists of trousers and a jacket both of which have irregular patches of color.

The Innamorati (the lovers)
They are the son and daughter of the Pantalone and the Doctor. To an extent these characters are like Romeo and Juliet, they are both lovers and their fathers don't like each other, they are the ones who are important to the Commedia del'Arte as they both contrast in envy and love, this sets the performance for the more comical characters.

Pantalone
His character is entirely based on money and ego. As he is a father of one of the lovers it is his role to drive them apart. He is portrayed either as a widower or a bachelor, yet makes passes at women throughout the play, but in the end gets rejected. He is the opposite to the Harlequin who is poor but in the end tricks the Pantalone.

The Bloody Chamber. Loneliness and Man Power!

What surprised me the most while reading these few pages is the journey of her turning from a teenage girl into a woman, she still sees herself a giggling schoolgirl, but the emptiness of her husband not being with her makes her realize that she is isolated from human contact, on page 21 she say's that she would be happy to talk to the maid or even the piano tuner as she felt lonely with nobody to comfort her. An interesting point is when she hears the voice of her mother she begins to cry as a child would being homesick, the scary truth is that she knows as a wife that she has to fulfill her duties and hearing the sound of her mothers voice breaks her up inside. Back on page 20 the narrator tells us that she is to visit the piano player (who is blind), and decides to dress in her own chosen clothes rather than any of her new clothes given to her after her marriage. "I pulled on my old serge skirt and flannel blouse, costume of a student, in which I felt far more at ease with myself than in any of my new fine clothes". She clearly feels at comfort when wearing clothes that remind of her independence of being a teenage girl, rather than wearing clothes that have been given to her, to make her feel as though she isn't herself (male- control). On the other hand she could be acting like a child to put on a facade in front of her husband, even though she has slept with him and become a woman, she could well be acting naive, innocent and childlike to attract him. Her childlike mind comes into practice as she is asked what she wants to eat, she has the freedom to choose anything she likes "but surprise me for desert with every single ice-cream in the box", whichever way we interpret the text there is always something signifying the male dominance, and in this case it is the reversal of gender roles and how the male is causing the female character to change for him whether its clothing or jewelery or even the mindset of a female, MEN ARE IN POWER!

Bluebeard in exactly 314 words!

There once lived a very wealthy French man that had a blue beard, this blue beard made him very ugly and unattractive despite all the previous wives he had, he wanted another. To lure a new wife into his palms he asked his neighbour to ask her two daughters if they were to marry him. After having been rejected due to his status and appearance he thought of a better, cunning and tempting plan, this was by giving eight whole days to the two girls, their mother and close friends in his castle, they would fish, hunt and play pranks on each other. However, these eight days made the entire difference and lead one of the sisters to announce that she was to marry Blueeard. After arriving at the castle as his wife, Bluebeard announced that he was to leave the castle for a few week’s, he gave his wife every single key in the castle to her, including a key to a small room that she was forbidden to enter even after her sister warned her not to enter, she did. She opened the door and found the wives of Bluebeard hanging and dripping with blood everywhere, shocked with fear she drooped the entire set of keys on the floor, stained with blood that would not wash off. She told her sister and they decided to run away, however, Bluebeard returned and found that his wife had disobeyed him he decided that he was now to behead her. She was allowed 15 minutes on her own to pray asking her sister to call her two brothers, they arrived just in time and killed Bluebeard, as Bluebeard didn’t have an heirs the wife inherited his vast wealth and gave some in return to her sister and brothers. She married a worthy man whose kind treatment led her to forget about evil Bluebeards cruelty. End.

Second wave feminism Piccys

Aarne–Thompson classification system

So, sir asked to blog on something that we found interesting in the lesson on Tuesday! When he mentioned the Aarne-Thompson classification system I found it quite interesting that such thing existed. So from looking at what I have read so far the system was started by a woman named Antti Aarne, the actual system was published in 1910. Whats so interesting about it is that the system was designed to help folkorists could identify and organize recurring plot patterns and narrative structures so that they could analyze them put together. The classification simply works by dividing tales into sections with an "AT" number for each entry. The names given are typical, but usage varies; the same tale type number may be referred to by its central motif or by one of the variant folktales of that type, which can also vary, especially when used in different countries and cultures. The tale type does not have to be accurate for every folktale. For example, The Cat as Helper (545B) also includes tales where a fox helps the hero.
However, there is difficulty using the system as it is sometimes hard to classify a certain tale, for example, Rapunzel is classified as 310 (as there is a maiden stuck in the tower) but the story opens with a child being demanded in return for stolen food, as does the fairytale Puddocky, but Puddocky is not a maiden in the tower tale like Rapunzel. So the system does have its disadvantages like folklorists can describe two tales to be classed as the same but this eliminates the details in the actual story turning it into something else. This analysis has been criticized for ignoring tone, mood, characters and, indeed, anything that differentiates one fairy tale from another.

Essay (THE WORST ONE IV'E EVER WRITTEN)!

How does the novel Dracula tap into the paranoia and fear of its readers?

Considering the context of reception, the novel provides fear and paranoia to readers when it was written in the eighteenth century all the way through to today. The Victorian audience didn’t receive the novel as well as some would today due to it being a gothic novel, it would have only appealed to some readers.

Stoker uses various different aspects such as religion and psychological ideas to add an understanding of reality to the novel even though it is gothic literature. Stoker outlines the differences between evil and good through his characters, Dracula being a powerful demon serving to the devil, whereas Van Helsing is an avenging servant to the lord, both characters are serving their higher powers in acting out their plans. Religion plays a big role in the novel as its consistent; a good example of this would be the ruined abbey, using gothic architecture to add a sense of fear and paranoia to the novel. Atmospheric ruins that inspire nervous thoughts and spooks, those also seem to occur in Dracula the ruin’s of the abbey are a relic of the thirteenth century, not only does the abbey have its own macabre site but also its legends and haunting supernatural tales, its broken windows and open spaces suggests violence. Another religious part in the novel that I feel ties in well with fear and paranoia is when Jonathon is on his way to the castle and he comes across a religious woman who puts a crucifix around his neck (an English churchman) and tells him to be careful when the clock strikes midnight to be aware that is “the eve of St George’s day”. As readers we realise that Jonathon is not very religious at all, he doesn’t take these things into account until later on when he finds out he actually needs to be aware of these religious aspects. In a way this whole idea of the crucifix has a fearful undertone to it as it is still mentioned later on in the novel. On the topic of religion I feel there is another important part in the novel when paranoia and fear are a constant reminder of what the novel is about. It is when Lucy becomes ill as a bat attacks her, this leads to her being weak and needing blood, this is when the idea of sacrifice comes into place and we start to realise that giving blood from a younger person is seen as pure and kind, so Lucy is given blood form her fiancé Arthur but this doesn’t work as Dracula has already taken it from Lucy so in a way she has lost her virginity to Dracula rather than Arthur. So we see that stoker has used religion in a clever way to tie in with the fear and paranoia in the novel so far.

Furthermore Stoker uses psychological ideas to give the novel an aspect of fear and paranoia he focuses on the fear of sleep and even attacks when people sleep, in other words when people are most vulnerable. This adds a sense of fear throughout the novel, as he could be anywhere as he is a crude shape shifter, he can come when least expected. His physical presence is also a big part of the novel and its what makes the reader feel paranoid as he can be in the form of a bat one minute, and then the next be in the form of mist this highlights his power yet at the same time illustrates how he has turned from a count to a wolf then to a bat, and then finally into the form of mist, this cycle can show to us the downfall of his importance/character.

Overall I believe that Stoker puts paranoia and fear into the novel through aspects like religion and the politics at the time, and how they influenced him to write what he wrote and what effect it had on its readers. The ongoing theme of fear works quite well with Dracula’s character and how he uses certain characteristics to make the readers feel uncomfortable, a prime example of this would be his shape-shifting characteristic to put other people in danger and attack them when they are most vulnerable.