Early 19th century English Literature, part 1 Presented by Mike Trial and Patrick McGraw With support from Compass Flower Press In this course we will discuss these authors • Today Friday, October 12 9:30-11:00 – Mary Shelley – Maria Edgeworth – Frances Burney – Jane Austen • Next week Friday, October 19 9:30-11:00 – The Bronte’s – William Thackeray – George Meredith – Wilkie Collins Timelines • Mary Shelley 1797 - 1851 (died age 54) • Frances Burney 1752 - 1840 (died age 88) • Maria Edgeworth 1768 - 1849 (died age 81) • Jane Austen 1775 - 1817 (died age 42) • The Regency Era: 1795-1837 Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelley (1797-1851) Mary Shelley’s book Frankenstein is born during the legendary summer of 1816 • A luxurious villa in Switzerland; an unusually cold and stormy summer • The company of the greatest poet of the age, Lord Byron • Ghost stories read by candlelight • The emotional tensions between Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, Mary Shelley, Clare Claremont and John Polidori • Revolutions, atheism, new science, exile from Britain, divorces, etc. The Regency Era (1795-1837) was chaotic for Britain, but the Victorian Era which followed it was Britain’s finest hour • Industrial revolution (1760 – 1830) • Political revolutions: America, France • The Napoleonic wars (1803 – 1815) • The Victorian Age (1837 - 1901) sees the British Empire become the dominant world power – Britain gains military control of the seas, establishes colonies, and builds a trading empire Events in France dominated British and continental European thinking during the Regency Era Villa Diodati and the legendary An excellent book about that summer, summer of 1816 and the people involved is titled ‘The Monsters’ Lord Byron rented Villa Diodati, Mary and Percy and Clare rented a house nearby The summer of 1816 was extremely cold and rainy due to a volcanic eruption in Indonesia that put volcanic dust in the air. The climate was affected worldwide. 1816 was later called ‘the year without a summer’. That summer, Lord Byron was reading books of the occult, the gothic, and the fantastic William Beckford the author of Vathek, a book Byron read, was himself, a rather Bryonronic character. Matthew Lewis, author of one of the most notorious gothics, visited villa Diodati that summer Lord Byron challenged each of them… “…to write a ghost story…” Of the five (Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, Clare Claremont, Mary Shelley and John Polidori) only Mary Shelley and John Polidori completed their stories: – Mary wrote Frankenstein – John wrote The Vampyre Mary Shelley in 1816 • She is only 18 years old, with no published writing • At 16 she had run away with Percy Shelley who was married • She had given birth to a daughter (by Percy Shelley) who died, and a son, William • She and Percy Shelley and Clare Claremont are in ‘exile’ from England (social disapproval and debt) • She learns that her half sister Fanny Imlay and Percy Shelley’s wife Harriet have committed suicide • She is, like many of her generation, enamored with new sciences like galvanism (and pseudo sciences like phrenology) • She has retained, from her parents and from Percy Shelley, very radical views: anti-church, anti-marriage, anti- monarchy, etc. • She spends the summer of 1816 in close contact with the most famous writer in the world, Lord Byron Frankenstein, the book, is unusual and very powerful An excellent … edition of • Only 70,000 words (very short for a novel of Frankenstein that day) is the Norton • Inside the frame, the story is told first person Critical edition from Victor Frankenstein’s perspective, except chapters 3 thru 8 in volume 2 which are from the monster’s perspective • Multiple, parallel, themes: social acceptance, parental love (and lack of it), defining humanity, the morality of life taking and life making… • The ending is ambiguous • The writing style is excellent – Then he sprang into the ice raft, and was soon borne away by the waves and lost in distance and darkness. John Polidori’s story, The Vampyre, is also memorable One of the first modern Vampire tales, it is a thinly veiled reference to Lord Bryon’s vampirish treatment of Polidori and others. After 1816, Polidori returned to London but was never successful at the variety Of occupations he attempted. He committed suicide at age 41. But his book remains in print, and has redefined the Vampire legend For all time. Other points… • Mary and her step-sister Clare spent much time together but never really got along well • After Frankenstein, Mary wrote five more novels, none of which were particularly successful • Percy Shelley died in a boating accident, age 29 • Lord Byron died of fever, age 37 • Clare died in Florence, Italy, at age 81 having never published anything – though she was the one who brought them all together at Diodati • Mary’s one surviving son married well, received a title, served in parliament, lived a comfortable life – but history has entirely forgotten him. • Many critics believe that Mary’s posthumous editing and promotion of his work is largely responsible for Percy Shelley’s high reputation as a poet today A couple of videos, one depicting the summer of 1816 at Villa Diodati, the other, Mary Shelley’s life Maria Edgeworth (1768-1849) • A financially successful and popular Anglo-Irish writer of novels, non-fiction, and children's literature • During the height of her novel-writing popularity she was rivaled only by Frances Burney • one of the first realist writers of children's literature • Author of non-fiction books such as Practical Education, encouraging progressive schooling for children (especially girls) • She travelled to The Continent in 1802, where received offers of marriage, all of which she declined • She held advanced views on estate management, politics, and education • She co-managed, with her father, the family estate • She became the first writer of ‘regional fiction’ Maria Edgeworth’s novel Belinda • Published in 1801, some critics consider this novel to prefigure Jane Austen’s work in that it features a bright young woman in search of a marriage based on love and respect, not money • When Austen was revising Northanger Abbey, she added a mention of Maria Edgeworth’s novel Belinda ( and Frances Burney’s novels Cecelia and Camilla) The Anglo-Irish: Maria Edgeworth to Elizabeth Bowen • Maria Edgeworth (1768-1849) • Elizabeth Bowen (1899 – 1973) Oliver Cromwell, and the ‘Puritan Revolution’ of 1642 created chaos in England. One result of this was that English adventurers conquered large parts of Ireland and set themselves up as gentry there. They lived there for generations, becoming the Anglo-Irish. Many Anglo-Irish writers have touched on the experience of being outsiders in your ‘own’ land. Some other Anglo-Irish authors Elizabeth Bowen Jonathan Swift Oliver Goldsmith JM Synge WB Yeats Edmund Burke St. Patrick’s cross, often used as a symbol of the George Bernard Shaw Anglo-Irish Samuel Beckett CS Lewis Bram Stoker Cecil Day-Lewis Oscar Wilde Frances Burney (1752-1840) Virginia Woolf called her the mother of English literature An excellent biography of Frances (Fanny) Burney Frances Burney’s life story is just as fascinating as any Regency Era novel Both her first book, Evelina, and her second book, Cecelia, were best-sellers Jane Austen, among many others, read Evelina, first published in 1778, and Evelina is epistolary in Cecelia, style and relatively short. published in Cecelia is a narrative 1782 comedy of manners in 10 volumes (!) And her 3rd book Camilla was also a best-seller • Published in 1796 • First edition sold out quickly, more editions followed • She was paid £1000 for the manuscript, then sold the copyright for another £1000 • With the money, she and her husband Alexandre D’Arblay had ‘Camilla Cottage’ built Camilla Cottage FOR SALE: This seven bedroom house with gardens and gargoyles in Westhumble, Surrey, has been lovingly restored. The house is built on the site of the property where a cottage was built in 1797 by author Frances Burney and her husband Alexndre D’Arblay. Reprints of Burney’s books are in the library of the house and are included with the sale. Frances Burney • Dr. Johnson himself praised her first novel Evelina, published when she was only 26 • Her father, whom Frances admired, embodied the new middle class: self-made, talented, ambitious, well connected, so Frances was introduced early to the best of the London literary world • Frances held a position at King George III’s court for 4 years • She married (at age 41) a French exile; they had a long happy marriage, and only one child, a son, who tragically died at age 40 • Her third book, Camilla, made them a great deal of money • She travelled to France with her husband and was trapped there by the wars for nearly 10 years • Her writing takes the best tradition of Richardson and Fielding, adds social nuance, satire, keen observation, and a large cast of characters to tell compelling stories Jane Austen read Frances Burney’s book Cecelia where she found this passage: “The whole of this unfortunate business,” said Dr. Lyster, “has been the result of pride and prejudice…” Jane liked the sound of that phrase… Jane Austen’s Life • Born in December 1775 • Possibly as early as age 12, starts Juvenilia, experimental writing • 1793, writes Lady Susan, epistolary novel too outrageous to print • 1801-05, Austen lives in Bath, the setting for two of her novels • 1805-09, Austen’s “Lost Years”—abandoned The Watsons • 1809 -17 Lived at Chawton Cottage. Revised and/or wrote the six novels for which she is primarily known