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Unit 2 Marcus Clarke : the Seizure of the Cyprus

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Unit 2 Marcus Clarke : the Seizure of the Cyprus UNIT 2 MARCUS CLARKE : THE SEIZURE OF THE CYPRUS Structure Objectives Introduction Marcus Clarke 2.2.1 From Foreign OfZce to Foreign Shore 2.2.2 Man of Many Talents His Natural Life Themes in Clarke " 2.4.1 Marcus Clarke in the 20&Century The Szimre of the Cyprus- Text 2.5.1 Analysing The Seizure of the Cyprus 2.5.2 Action in The Seizure of the Cyprus 2.5.3 Characterisation 2.5.4 Narrative Technique 2.5.5 Contextualising The Seizure of the Cyprus 2.5.6 Highlights Let us Sum up Questions Suggested Reading 2.0 OBJECTIVES The primary motive behind this unit is to provide you with some of the critical information surrounding the life and works of a great writer like Marcus Clarke. We shall, look into his biographical details, the circumstances related to the birth of his creativity, his position amongst the other short fiction writers of the age, and hs contribution to the development of Australian short fiction. 2.1 INTRODUCTION It is generally believed that the short story in Australia began with the writings of Henry Lawson. For most literary critics writing (of the short story 1 short fiction) before Lawson was not worth much critical attention. H M Green states in his introduction to the short story between 1850 to 1890 that, "the short stories of the period were many in number but poor in quality." He regards most of the short fiction before Lawson as mere 'sketches' in comparison with Lawson's stories. The short story as a genrc gained popularity chiefly on account of it being published regularly in the Sydney Bulletin of the 1890s. In Marcus Clarkes's case however his short stories were published by other papers and not so much the by the Bulletin. The Melbourne Punch, the Austrnlian Monthly magazine, Australasian. Daily Telegraph, Australian Journal, and the Lender published Clarke regularly. Clarke's stories particularly the story we shall be analysing in this unit (The Seizure of the Cyprus) belongs to the convict tradition or what is sometimes also called tales based on historical facts. Needless to mention aIl of us are by now familiar with the hrstory of Australian settlement. Australian was meant to be a penal settlement for England and anyone con\lcted of a crime no matter how petty or heinous was 'transported to Australia in an effort to lower the burden on English prisons. Some of the other writers that dealt with this theme were John Lang, Marcus Clarke, Thomas Walker and William Astley (Prince Warune. It IS however difficult to say how manv of them actmallj sa\%the transportation of consicts to .4ustrzlia for the sysiem was stopped in New South Wales at pxound 1849 and to Tasmania at &out 1855. The only \tinter who could haye seen this sight ~~ouldbc Jsh~! i,zng, thnugh Marcus Clarke may have seen as Cecil Hadgrafi pants out In "The Australiz Short Story before Lawson". ironed con~ictstalking 'dog-sleep in the little fore-castle' or at meals in the prison. and the miserabl~relics iil the asylum. and crippled, sclf-maimed emancipists in the streets of Hobart." He however could in no way have "witnessed chain gangs nor any active bmtahty," (1986. p. 16) But we shall iook into this in more detail as we deal ;vith the stor). for the time bcing suffice it to say that most of thc horrors. dcp:plctcd by the othcr tvritcrs apart from Lang are imaginarq accounls of what might have occurred then. Let us now take a qulck look at the hfe of Marcus Clarke, for Re know that in ordcr to understand a writer and lus work we need to havc some ~lnderstandingof the arcurnstances that shaped his life - 2.2 MARCUS CLARKE 2.2.1 From Foreign Offices to Foreign Shores . _,. .. - -. Marcus Andrew Hisiop Clark. was boni at 11 Leonard Place in the London borough of Kensington on 24 April 1846. He was an only chiid and his mother died of tuberculosis when he was still an infant. He studied at tlie Cholmelcy Grammar School at Highgate and befriendad two young boys there who were to remain his fiicnds for life. Thesc two young boys wcrc thc poet GTXUMdey Hopkins and his brother C-y-ril. Clarke was howegr closer to Cqaii. When Clarke was sixteen his father fell ill and had to be put into an asylum for the mentaililly disttubcd. With the in~tit~iionalisationofhis farher: Clarke watched his dreams of going to Fiance, and learnmg French crushed under the existing circumstances. This was bccause his father's financial affairs were in complete disarray and Clarke realised that the brillimt career he had plalmed for kixnsclf ncver to be fuEllcd. He did not see any hture prospects and decided to go to Australia where his family still had comections, He sailed from Fljmcn'th on 16 March 1863 while his father \vas still ill in hospitd. His father lingered on end was to die eventually on Decre~nberlthat same year. Clarke arrived in Melbourne iii June that yem isattd on 10 November 1863 his first humorous piece "The PuRConclusia~e",appeared in the JfeIitoz;/ns Punch. 2.2.2 Man sf Many Talents Marcus Clarke as mentioned ear5s.r is, better lu~o~nfix his aovd desiing with convict life. HiasNcltzir~l LjSe than fbr his other writings. His novel has been replinted and re-edited several times. has been driramatised. filmed and triinslated into many languages like Dutch, German, Russian and Swedish. Mark Twain the American . novelist and popu!ar creator of 'Hu~kFinn' comments :"I nsay iell you thar we think a deal more of Marcus Clarkc in our own countrq- than 1 am sorry to think you do here." (7ret;ltorj quotation to' Clarke's ,4ustralian Tales, Melbourne: 1836. ~potcaiin "3,farcus Clarkev by M Wilding, p 3) Marcus Clarke's fame rests largely on His ~lirrttrrci!5zk. bull he was also a short story writer, a journalist. a reviewer. and an editor. His other earl) publication was The Lady of the Lake 'one of those items concluding the evening's show in a Melbourne theatre'. Marcus Clarke had however already made hspresence felt on the literary scene of Australia. particularly in Melbourne. In 1867, he began writing for the Argus, a daily that published a weekend magazine of literary interest, where Clarke wrote reviews and theatre criticism. One of the earliest pieces he wrote for the Australian was an essay on Balzac. Balzac was a literary pioneer and revolutionary whom Clarke greatly admired and identified with. According to Michael Wilding. Clarke's portrayal of both the Melbourne Bohemia and the bourgeoisie was greatly influenced by Balzac. The same year he began writing a column for the Australasian, called, "The Peripatetic Philosopher" whch proved to be instantly successll and later formed part of his first book. The topic closest to his heart was that of expatriation or the behaviour of the 'new' migrants to the question of and relationship to 'home'. He wrote prolifically during this period mixing in a world of similar literary and journalistic talent. In 1868, Clarke along with his associates formed the Bohemian Yorick Club. The other writers of the age who were co-founders of the club were: Adam Lindsay, Heniy Kendall, G G McCrae, F W Haddon, and JJ Shillinglaw. Another important feature of nineteencenhuy bohernia was theatre and Clarke showed marked interest in this genre. He proved to be a prolific playwright, he wrote several plays, adapted, translated and collaborated with several other playwrights as well. Apart fiom his column "The Peripatectic Scholar" in the Australasian, he also started writing a series of articles in 1869 entitled "Lower Bohemia". This series is considered to be one of hsmost successful and sustained journalistic projects. It is written in the manner of expose journalism and Clarke wrote on subjects like the 'Immigrants' Home, the cheap lodging houses. the bars and eatin~places.and on the plight of the absolutely homeless.' (M Wilding. p 8). He is of course better known for his novel, His Natttral Life than for his short stories however as his fame rests on this novel it would be a good idea to take a quick look at his novel. 2.3 HIS NA TURAL LIFE Mmus Clarke serialised His Natural Life. Though hsbook was planned for twelve installments he took twentyeight months to complete it. For those who had never been to Australia then and had envisaged it as another Eden. Clarke's writings managed to shatter that illusion. From a historical and social point of view Clarke's His Natural Life is a record of society bereft of the civilising constraints of Victorian England and can be considered as a vision of human nature at large. His Natural Life then does not merely stand for the specific terms of the prisoner's sentence but for the natural life of man in a new environment totally devoid of any humane constraints. This freedom fiom constraints does not indicate a positive attitude but that of a reversal of all human faculties. We see men in all their brutality. degradation and despair within this convict system. According to Wilding 'the cumulative effect of the specific evils of the convict system is a vision of the futility, the hopelessness, the meaninglessness of human life,' (Marcus Clarke p 18). The Natural World - the barren bush, the violent sea- is depicted throughout the novel as basically indifferent and hostile to man's plight. But in this novel it is not nature alone that does this even men lose all sensibility and are little more than beasts - as they mistreat and practice cruelties of various types on their fellow human beings.
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