The work/poor houses during Victorian England were terrible. Absolutely disgusting. Seeing those pictures and learning about the working conditions kind of made me think about today’s “poor houses.” Today’s poor houses are known to everyone the projects, which are basically government funded housing. The projects may not have starved or worked children to death but the living conditions are just about parallel. When you pull into the parking lots, the first thing that you’ll notice is how run down everything looks. There’s more than likely trash everywhere too. Upon going inside, you will probably notice that the air conditioning/heating does not work. Next you will see that the wall paper and carpets are peeling. All in all they are advertised as one of the best options to live, just like the Victorian poor houses, however they were not.
There are other fish in the sea
I know everyone is probably going to like the alternate ending where Pip and Estella got together in the end, but I hated it. I did not like the fact that Pip was head of heals in love with someone who could not care less about him. Estella treated Pip like a toy; that is exactly what he was to her. She did not care if she broke his heart or not, because why would she care? I liked the ending in which they did not end up together. At some point, Pip needs to grow up and realize that there are other women out there. Better women. Women who are not capable of destroying the entire male race. Seriously though, Pip was a true idiot. Why would you want to be with someone who flat out said that she was incapable of feeling? Why would you choose someone who chose another guy right in front of you?
Crime & punishment
Victorian crime and punishment is kind of similar to what it is today. I mean if you were an important person of power than your punishment wasn’t as harsh or you went given a punishment at all. I did not really agree with the women part of the reading. How unfair it was that they had to prove that their husbands were abusing them as well as cheating on them. I mean that kind of parallels with today’s society because women are always yreated unfairly in every aspect of the court system. I also did not like the way that they treated children. Noways, when children or young adults steal or get commuting a crime, they usually are not sentenced to death by hanging. I am really upset that you made me read that. It was awful.
I kind of sympathize with Mrs. Havisham. If some idiot conned me into marriage I would be greatly upset. Especially if I felt that I could actually commit to him. I would also really want to get revenge on the entire male species. However, I would not use a little girl to do the dirty work for me. I do not like Estella. Her character really did not make any sense to me. I mean if you love someone, be with them, regardless of what so old hag is telling you to do. Her whole “I won’t feel anything in my heart no matter how much I want to” stance was incredibly annoying. Pip was extremely annoying as well and hypocritical and rude and disrespectful. Pip starts out s nice manner minding kid until he inherits all that money. He let the money and his apperance get the best of him.
Are Pip and Dickens the same person?
In the first chapter of Charles Dickens’ “Great Expectations” the readers get a very close look at Dickens’ childhood through the eyes of Pip. In the first chapter, we find out that Pip is basically an orphan who has been adopted by his sister. In Charles Dickens’ life, however his father was sent to jail very early on and most of his other family were sent away so he was basically an orphan too. Through Pip, Dickens’ sort of let’s the readers in on how he felt as a child who had lost his parents. There are a lot of sutleties in “Great Expectations” that parrell with Charles Dickens’ life and I think he did a great job in keeping them sutle. What is also cool is that Pip’s physical discription kind of matches what Dickens’ looked like in his childhood and also when he got older. I don’t think that was done on accident.
VIctorian Transportation & communication
Railways aided tremendously in the advancements of Victorian communication. Having the London newspaper on the morning’s breakfast table was not a luxury for Londoners anymore. Even Sherlock Holmes could send a letter out at breakfast and receive a reply before he sat down for lunch. Eventually, however, the traffic in Victorian England became chaotic, so naturally they just moved the railway system was taken underground. With all these railroad advances, came along improvements for the telegraph, and they happened fast! A ship called “The Great Eastern” aided in the telegraph’s expansion; as they sailed, they laid thousands of feet of telewire across the ocean floor. Queen Victoria could literally press on button and she could send messages to thousands of people.
The Test
The test was extremely scary! It is terrifying not knowing what exactly is going to be on the first test in a class that I have never taken before. I completely freaked out the entire morning before the test. However, the test was really easy. I did not realize that I had learned so much. I mean, the information was just flowing out of me. The only thing that I wish that could have been different about the test is that I wish we were given more time to take it. I know that that sounds impossible, i just wish that there could be more time! AHHHHHHH so many things to say and so little time to say them in. Although, I think I did do a good job on the test.
One long ramble
What was my favorite thing that we have learned about this semester? Definitely reading those bits and pieces from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. I had no idea that Lewis Carroll was such a twisted freak. Even though he was a freak, he seemed to be a huge advocate for children and their rights (Probably because he was a pedophile). Reading the “Walrus and the Carpenter” and “The Tea Party” in class inspired me to read both Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and let me tell you, there are hidden messages to kids all in it. The number one message being, to warn kids about the dangers of child labor. For example, when Alice eats the little cakes inside the rabbits house and grows to about a thousand feet tall, the rabbit sends the lizard down the chimney to “sweep her out,” but each time he refers to the lizard and does not use his name, he calls him “boy.” And at that time, chimney sweeping was common for children to do. He also made it seem like all the adults were extremely cruel or extremely stupid. Which he could be doing in reference to the children’s overseers.
Schalken’s Painter
Near the end of La Fanu’s “Schalken’s Painter,” Rose starts looking withered and drained of her youth. She looks very terrified and in some cases fearful for her life. She has transformed into a completely different person and begs her uncle and Schalken to not leave her alone with Velderkaust. However at the end of the story, or Rose’s end rather, Rose gets trapped with Velderkaust. She starts screaming and pleading for them to come and save her but no one can break through the door. Then suddenly, the screaming stops and the door opens and Rose is no where to be found. I think one of the messages that La Fanu embedded in this story is one about arranged marriages. Forcing someone to marry another person, whom they clearly do not want to be with, sucks the life out of them. It takes away their youthfulness and their happiness. On another note, I did kind of think that a vampire would be a little bit more attractive looking. I mean it is a vampire. Aren’t they suppose to have eternal life? Could he not have gotten some plastic surgery? or seen some kind of doctor about his hemoglobin deficiency?
The Body Snatcher
FIrst of all, “The Body Snatcher” was so creepy because they were killing people and using them for their medical training. As a reader, I could imagine how scared the people around town were and Stevenson created suspense because at the same time, the readers are hoping that the boys never get caught. Second of all, at the very end of the story, when Macfarlane and Fettes go to rob the grave of a woman that has just been buried, it shocks everyone when they discover that it was Grey’s body (the guy Macfarlane killed and whose body had been dissected). To me, that right there was the scariest and most suspenseful moment in the story because so many questions are left unanswered: How did guy’s body end up in that grave? Where did the woman’s body go? Who put that body there? How long had someone known that Fettes and Macfarlane were killing people?
Dr. Jordan 