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.

Why is Dracula written in the form of letters and diary entries?

Well, I think its written in letters etc, because it gives a sense of reality, after all it is a book about vampires, werewolves and based around a gothic genre. I mean if you ask me, I don't really believe in that stuff, but the book does however give the reader a sense of suspension of disbelief. This basically means that even though the reader may not believe in what's happening in reality, they suspend this thought and believe it, giving them a sense of adventure. Its almost like watching a James Bond movie, where James Bond literally NEVER DIES, sometimes people like to watch the film and believe that everything that happens is amazing and supercool, whereas some people (like me) think what the hell is going on? He would never survive jumping off a 50 story building after going through a fire blazing car crash? Its like that's just ridiculous. On the other hand, its adventurous and exciting to watch it without these thoughts in your mind.

The invasion of privacy throughout the novel is another thing that makes us want to read further, having the diary entries of two peoples conversation in front of us makes us want to find out more about the secrets, this way we can interpret the characters and the drama from a different aspect, its almost as if the reader is meant to be a third character, this is what makes it exciting, this is what suspends our disbelief!

Sex and Dreams in Chapter 3 (Baby in a bag) WTF?

Can we just establish, this dude, Sigmund Freud is WEIRD! But interesting.. So I read chapter 3 and found that the chapter is full sexual imagery (PORN) to be precise. Anyway Harker sees Dracula slithering 'lizard like' down the wall of the castle, Harker sees this happen twice, then realises he needs to explore Dracula's castle further he visits other rooms similar to his but notices the rooms are furnished in a better way compared to his, after writing the diary entry he falls asleep and sees a dream.... or does he???? Where three vampire brides visit him by the moonlight, the women look similar to Dracula and cast no shadows, one of the brides approaches Harker with her sharp teeth when the Count arrives they are given a 'baby in a bag' and are gone?

So looking at how Sigmund Freud interpreted dreams, and comparing the symbols etc with what we have read so far through Dracula the entire book seems to be one big sexual fantasy? Hmm, it does sound bizarre and far fetched at first, but can be quite interesting if we look further into the meaning and significance of the symbols. For example; Freud states that castles, mansions, entrances and landscapes represent female genitalia, (hollow objects) then things like teeth and playing/moving objects like sliding, slipping and breaking branches are symbols of masturbating. So putting these together represents a crude image in terms of Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis, so the stimuli we get when we are sleeping is what makes us dream right? So then this increases when we wake? After all freud says "If such withdrawal was possible to achieve, the sleeper would risk not to wake up again". So is Freud saying we see these dreams naturally in that the stimuli encourage these thoughts in out mind leading us to dream? CONFUSED.COM!

Moving on... Harker's encounter with the vampire women must be the most sexulised parts of the narrative. His response to their approach brings him humiliation and shame that he is uncertain that his experience may have been more than he imagined.

Christopher Marlowe!

I really enjoyed the group discussion we had today about the whole Christopher Marlowe and Christianity aspect towards "Dr Faustus". I liked filling in the table then talking, and listening to what other people thought about him and the religious side to it. I then also researched him in Wikipedia, and read about his early life and his background, funnily enough he is very similar to Shakespeare! I liked the part on his death and how people believed he faked his death and then discreetly wrote under the name of Shakespeare.
Overall I feel that the first lesson was a success, my favorite part was the group discussion! Now I am looking forward to reading the three texts!

Doctor Faustus

Reading the chorus today really gave an introduction to the play. Reading each line then listening to sir's explanation was informative, as was the reading of the opening scene. So far I'm enjoying Doctor Faustus' character and his qualities which can be debated to an extent, and how he talks in the opening through third person. The language he uses may not be simple to understand, similarly with Shakespeare, but he does however have meaning which links into his character.
Another interesting exercise in todays lesson was when we 'drew' Faustus (to a certain degree) and quoted him along with his qualities and his basic character, again interlinking this with characteristics of a gothic character. Doing this made it clearer to understand his true nature and and why he had made certain decisions. Overall a fun and enjoyable lesson!

English Gothic Architecture!

Looking back at todays lesson, one thing I was inspired to look further into was english gothic architecture. As I am a huge fan of architecture and want to study it, it made sense for me to blog about it.
The earliest buildings are known to be built around 1144, these buildings are still here today, Westminster Abbey, Durham cathedral and Canterbury cathedral. The gothic idea came from France, it was inspired by a building named Basilisque Saint-Denis.
Romanesque buildings usually used round arches, high ceilings, lancet windows and naive isles. These were all made from stone similarly to the Norman style architecture. Windows would be subdivided by closely parallel mullions, these would express as much light and gave a sense of openness along with the dark stone, Interiors of this period often feature tall columns of more slender and elegant form than in previous periods.vaulting became more elaborate, with the use of increasing number of ribs, initially for structural and then aesthetic reasons. Universities and churches started to be built in this style, to this day places like The Divinity School Oxford are still very popular for their unique shapes and sizes.

Mephastophilis

Mephastophilis appears as a devil in the play, he is a worker for Satan. Critics say that he searches the souls of men that are corrupt, Farnham explains, "Nor does Mephistophiles first appear to Faustus as a devil who walks up and down in earth to tempt and corrupt any man encountered. He appears because he senses in Faustus’ magical summons that Faustus is already corrupt, that indeed he is already 'in danger to be damned'.
Critics have viewed the play from a Christian perspective and thought that Marlowe has 'invented' a saints life, complete with the “sinful” early life (a student of divinity), “conversion” (to the Devil), reception into the Church (of Lucifer), “temptation” (by the Good Angel) which is overcome by help (of the Bad Angel).
However, Mephistophilis does warn Faustus of his regret for losing God and the joys of heaven. He wants Faustus’ soul but also may want to save him from the mistake he made. "Christianity speaks of hell for those who cast it aside. But, says he to Mephistopheles as he delivers to him the agreement to surrender his soul at the end of twenty-four years, 'I think hell’s a fable.' 'Ay,' says Mephistopheles, 'think so still, till experience change thy mind
I really enjoy Mephastophilis character because of his humor, even though he is a 'devil', I am puzzled at to see that he is not as evil as he sounds, in fact he is more guiding and cautious, but does he act like this to trick Faustus or is he really built to characterize an evil soul eating devil?

Comedy Scene, Faustus

I like the clowns character in this scene, Wagner meets him in an unnamed place, he offers him food and lavish clothing. The clown then meets the two devils Baliol and Belcher who convince the clown to become Wagners servant, funnily enough by terrifying him, "And so hungry that I know he would give his soul to the devil for a shoulder of mutton though it were blood raw". Humor? but why in such a play thats so dark and serious? Critics believe somebody other than Marlowe wrote this particular scene, its understandable. The clown is a representation of a person who is stupid, possibly something of a bumpkin figure, and apparently also unemployed, ragged and hungry. Even though he is uneducated there is a side to him that helps him in defense against Wagner, he realises his sinister side. So the clowns not so stupid after all? In structure the scene involves striking offer, could this be a representation of when Mephastophilis and Faustus were negotiating terms with his soul? We can see in this scene that the clown is Faustus, he makes decisions based on thoughts and not on reality, furthermore the clowns employment is as Wagners servant, implying a parallel in which Fautus is becoming merely a servent of Lucifer, and the omnipotent master he wants to become.

I like the fact that this play is set to be gothic, dark and macabre, however, it has a comedy scene in the middle of it, could this be a contrast of a dark and lighter scene or could it be something lighter for the audience to view as their could be an even darker scene unveiling?

Overall I feel that the scene works well with the contrast, and I do believe that the clown is a representation of Faustus' character as they share many similarities and the irony of this juxtaposition between the two works well.

The random leg pulling, then the grapes? Really though?

So I just read through Act 4, towards the end there was a bizarre scene where a character called a Horse Courser who is a horse trader and seeks to drive an advantageous bargain. He seems to believe himself more articulate than he really is, getting names wrong and asking inappropriate questions, his sinister tendencies to mistrust are pushed to an extent when pulls off Faustus' (false) leg.

Ambitions are beginning to fall - Faustus has definitely began to fall, his ambitions are definitely heading in the wrong direction, (although this was more in Act 3), as at the stat of the play Faustus' ambitions were set extremely high, he wouldn't settle for second best. "I'll have them fill the public schools with silk" he certainly wanted to be recognized right? It seems to me as though Faustus doesn't want this power, as he wanted at the start, "Of power, of honor, of omnipotence"he just wants to be famous. I do think however Mephastopheles has had an influence on Faustus' sudden change on his mindset, like in Act 3 he was discouraging Faustus' ambitions.

Mephastopheles, THE NEW FAUSTUS! - Lately Meph has been doing everything for Faustus, is he just getting lazy or has he lost his enthusiasm? Well towards the end of Act 4 Meph begins to do everything for good ol' Faustus, like he gets the Duchess her grapes.
I do feel that Faustus is falling, he isn't how he started, is this because of Meph or has Meph taken over Faustus???