Review: Mary Barton

This review of Mary Barton also appeared in John Bull. Does it seem to be an accurate summary of the novel? What does it see as the novel's objective or as its effect upon the reader? Does it perceive what we have defined as the novel's intentions, as they are laid out in the Preface? How does it read the conclusion of the novel and, in particular, John Barton's confession to Mr. Carson? Does it view this conclusion as a "success"?

The Form of Prayer

This article, from the April 22, 1848 issue of John Bull, points to a contradiction in the perceived relationship between government/law/the nation and religion. What is this contradiction, and how does it tie in to the conclusion of Mary Barton? How would readers in 1848 have understood the religious implications of the novel's conclusion, and would they have accepted the religious answer provided by the novel. How might an article like this--and those who espoused its argument--have commented on the novel's conclusion (and, in particular, the final conversation between John Barton and Mr. Carson)?

Henry Mayhew, The Criminal Prisons of London

The following passage appeared in Henry Mayhew's The Criminal Prisons in London. Mayhew, one of the original founders of Punch, is best known for his compilation of sketches on the London poor. This less well-known treatise on criminal prisons first appeared in pieces in periodicals (including the Illustrated London News) and then in volume form in 1862. While readers would not have seen this quotation in 1848, they would have read studies like it. How does this passage relate to our discussion of phrenology/physiognomy last Thursday? How might we relate this passage to Mary Barton and, in particular, to the descriptions of Jem, Mary, and Mr. Carson at the trial?

“When the chapel is filled, it is a most peculiar sight to behold near upon three hundred heads of convicts—and the heads only, the whole of the prisoner’s body being hidden by the front of the stalls…Nor are the heads there assembled such as physiognomical or phrenological prejudice would lead one to anticipate, for now that the mask-caps are off we see features and crania of every possible form and expression—almost from the best type down to the very lowest. True, as we have said, there is scarcely one bald head to be observed, and only two remarkable men with gray, or rather silver, hair—the latter, however, being extraordinary exceptions to the rule, and coming from a very different class from the ordinary convict stock. Nevertheless, the general run of the countenances and skulls assembled in Pentonville Chapel are far from being that of the brutal or semi-idiotic character, such as caricaturists love to picture as connected with the criminal race. Some of the convicts, indeed, have a frank and positively ingenuous look, whilst a few are certainly remarkable for the coarse and rudely-moulded features—the high cheek-bones and prognathous mouths—that are often associated with the hard-bred portion of our people. Still it has been noticed by others, who have had far better opportunities of judging than ourselves, that the old convict head of the last century has disappeared from our prisons and hulks; and certainly, out of the 270 odd faces that one seems assembled at Pentonville chapel, there is hardly one that bears the least resemblance to the vulgar baboon-like types that unobservant artists still depict as representative of the convict character. There are few countenances, be it remarked, that will bear framing in the Old Bailey dock, and few to which the convict garb—despite our study of Lavater and Gall—does not lend what we cannot but imagine, from the irresistible force of association, to be an unmistakably criminal expression. At Pentonville Chapel, however, as we have said, we see only the heads, without any of the convict costume to mislead the mind in its observations, and assuredly, if one were to assemble a like number of individuals from the same ranks of society as those from which most of our criminals come—such as farm-laborers, costermongers, sweeps, cabmen, porters, mechanics, and even clerks—we should find that their cast of countenances differed so little from those seen at the Model Prison, that even the keenest eye for character would be unable to distinguish a photograph of the criminal from the non-criminal congregation” (164)

Central Criminal Court

This description of a criminal case appeared in the John Bull on March 4, 1848. What type of language does it use to describe the case? What information does it see fit to include? Does the trial in Mary Barton contain similar types of information? Why or why not? Can we hypothesize what would have been the public interest in reading accounts of this type (which were often included in weekly newspapers)?

Definitions in Phrenology

How do you interpret this article from the London Pioneer? How is it defining phrenology? To what type of audience might these descriptions appeal? Is this meant to be humorous or not? If so, in what way might they be funny? Alternatively, is this article meant to be useful, parsing and explaining a "scientific" method of character analysis in a way that would be useful for the average person?

Telling the Character to a Hair

What is the argument in this sketch from Punch? What methods of characterization does the person find acceptable/unacceptable? What does the article's opinion (and satire) say about the status of "scientific" characterization in the late 1840s? Why would people want to use phrenology and physiognomy (and other assorted methods of character analysis)? Alternatively, what might people have against such strategies?

The Chartist Folly Has Had its Day

According to The Satirist; Or the Censor of the Times, the Chartist folly quickly ended. What does the article represent as the greatest folly of the Chartists? Why? What type of person would hold such views about the Chartists? Do you think John Barton succumbs to such folly? Does Gaskell represent him and the other Chartists as foolish or naive in any way?

The Song of the Chartists

This song appeared in John Bull in August 1839, the period in which Mary Barton is set. What type of language is being used? Who do you imagine wrote this piece, and to whom it was addressed? Can you imagine John Barton subscribing to the rhetoric used here? Think about the representation of Chartism in this poem as compared to its representation in Mary Barton.

The Manufacturing Poor

This article, which is rather long (and of which only one page is posted here), first appeared in Fraser's Magazine. What type of reader would be interested in this description of Lancashire cities? Is the representation of the poor sympathetic? Does it objectify the poor? What types of elements are emphasized in the description? Compare the language here to that in Mary Barton -- is it the same? Why or why not?

A Slight Sketch of Men and Manners

This article, which appeared in Sharpe's London Magazine, offered to give a "slight sketch" of men and manners in Lancashire. Focus on the section that talks specifically about Manchester. What type of language is used to describe the city and its residents? How does the author address the question of industrialization and factory work? What is the split between barbarism and intellect, and who is characterized by each respective quality? Is this a class division or something altogether different?

The Pauper's Christmas Carol

This poem is from Punch, a journal that we are accustomed to associate with satire. What, if anything, is being satirized here? The pauper himself? His attitudes toward Christmas (and what could, potentially, be seen as reckless spending on that day)? The society that has created the pauper and left him only one day for enjoyment? Does Dickens's portrayal of Bob Cratchit seem similar to that of the figure being represented in the poem?

Christmas

What is the argument made by this article? How does the author feel about Christmas and the way that it is practiced in the present (the piece was published in the London Pioneer on December 30, 1847)? Can we compare the sense of Christmas here to the scenes of Christmas that Scrooge sees in the company of the second spirit? Dickens's novella was published in December 1843 -- would readers have seen it as an "accurate" representation of Christmas at that time, or would they have imagined it to be back-dated (like Jane Eyre and Vanity Fair)? After reading this article, do you imagine a different reception for A Christmas Carol than you did before?

Art Union Review: Vanity Fair

This review of Vanity Fair also appeared in October 1847 (in the Art Union). How does it differ from the review of Jane Eyre, particularly in the questions that it asks and the readership that it assumes? What does it mean to review a novel that is only partially completed? What does the reviewer emphasize and/or leave out? Do you agree with the review? Do you think that the same type of person (of course not the exact same person) could have written this and the review of Jane Eyre?

Our Library Table: Jane Eyre

This review of Jane Eyre appeared in the Athenaeum in early October 1847. What about the novel does it emphasize? What does it leave out? What type of readership does it anticipate? Does it take into consideration a particular audience makeup? Do you agree with the review? How does it define readership and the act of reading?

Lines on a Missionary's Wife

Who, do we imagine, wrote this poem for the Church Missionary Gleaner (published September 1, 1847)? Who is its intended audience? What is its objective? What is the function of poetry as opposed to prose? Does this poem seem to espouse the same religious ideology as St. John Rivers? What beliefs does it teach?

Fighting Missionaries

In this article from Punch, the primary subject is a meeting of the London Missionary Society. What type of language does Punch use to describe this meeting? What connotations does it associate with the missionaries? We are accustomed to thinking of Punch as satirical: what is the subject of satire here? Could St. John be criticized for the same reasons as the missionaries are criticized here?

The Duke of Wellington's Relations

At first glance, this text from the August 14, 1847 issue of Punch seems to be making a basic point: that the Duke of Wellington remains so famous 30 years after the battle of Waterloo that people want to claim relation to him. More interestingly, I think, this article makes reference both to mustaches (much like the one that Jos grows before heading to Belgium) and to sales/business (a point that might be compared to the narrator's assessment of Englishmen as shopkeepers on p. 272). How do we read these seemingly small details? What are the connotations of facial hair? What about the idea of Englishmen as shopkeepers? Is Thackeray criticizing the English or praising them? How do you read the economic and financial language used in his article (coinage, Protectionist, tip, counterfeit, etc)?

The Westminster Hall Exhibition

This Punch article, written by Thackeray under the pseudonym of Professor Byles, appeared on July 10 (one month before the "Waterloo" issue of Vanity Fair). Focus on the paragraph beginning "With respect to the third prize." What is Thackeray criticizing? It this a satirical criticism? How do we read it in comparison with the depiction of the events leading up to the war in his novel? What significance did representations of the battle have for English readers/viewers over thirty years after the fact? How do you read the discussion of race in this article in light of our conversation on Tuesday? How might you analyze the image provided?

The Last of the Ethiopians

What exactly is this article from Punch (June 19, 1847) talking about? What is the article's opinion of the topic? How do we interpret the image of the half-European/half-African man? What sorts of stereotypes and methods of racial analysis does this seem to employ? Is this article satirical and, if so, what is it satirizing? Does it help us to understand representations of race in the period?

Illustration of American Slavery

What image of American slavery is being presented in this series of excerpts, republished in The Anti-Slavery Reporter (June 1, 1847)? We might assume that readers of this text would be already invested in the cause of abolition, since they are reading the periodical, but what in particular would they notice about this text? What aspects of slavery are highlighted in particular? Does there seem to be a conscious decision to underscore particular aspects of slavery in the United States? Do these idea of slavery (and, by correlation, race) resonate with the novels that we are reading or with Carlyle's essay?

Italian Women

What is the "type" presented in this depiction of Italian women? What assumptions does it make about female character or even about the process of or methodology behind characterizing people? Is it positive or negative, something for English women to emulate or reject? Why, as with the essay on marriage, would this be interesting to readers in 1847? (Can you think of a similar type of publication today, a modern-day equivalent to reading a seemingly straightforward description of women in another country?) This article was published in the London Pioneer: a journal that was originally called The Penny Satirist. Is it, in fact, satirical, and if so, to what purpose? (May 6, 1847).

A Marriage at Constantina

How does this article, published in The Lady's Newspaper on May 22, 1847, depict the marriage in Algeria? Is it a positive representative, compared to what we imagine the author's perspective on marriage in England to be? Do we imagine the author to be male or female? Why would a woman in England be interested in reading this article? What would intrigue her either about the representation of "otherness" (race) or about the portrayal of marriage rites?

A Prayer

This prayer is not from Punch but from The Children's Missionary Magazine (published in London from March 1838 through December 1894). What type of religion does it depict? What type of child might be expected to say this prayer? In what type of household would he or she reside? Can you imagine children at Lowood School saying this type of prayer? Why or why not? What are the implications about the British empire in this prayer? What would it mean to have small children thinking about Madagascar, Jerusalem, and Ireland? Why these three places in particular (especially Madagascar and Ireland, since Jerusalem has obvious Biblical implications)? Can you compare the type of religious belief expressed here to that held by Bute Crawley, Mr. Pitt Crawley, Miss Temple, Mr. Brocklehurst, Helen Burns, or Jane herself? (April 1, 1847)

State of the Slave-Market?

Does it seem accurate to suggest that these advertisements are looking for "slaves"? How would people in 1847 have interpreted that language? What do you make of the reference to Turkey (one that came up in the first reading from Jane Eyre)? How might we perceive Becky Sharp and Miss Temple (or the other teachers at Lowood School) responding to these advertisements? What about Jane herself, toward the end of the reading? How might we read the language in this sketch from Punch against the language of slavery used in Bronte's novel? Are they the same? Different? (April 17, 1847)

A Delicate Point

What is the tension between the university and the military expressed here? Why is Prince Albert, as the queen's consort (but, importantly, NOT king), torn between them? What does this tension have to say about social boundaries and the way in which they are drawn? What is Punch's attitude toward these divisions? Can you think of characters in the novels (particularly in Vanity Fair) to whom these divisions might apply? What function do the divisions serve in the novel?

Where Will it End?

What is the conception of the author employed here? Does it apply to either Thackeray or Charlotte Bronte/Currer Bell? Is it different from our common definitions of authorship today? How? What implications does this definition of the "author" have for our reading?

Female Education

Compare the school being represented here to Miss Pinkerton's academy in Vanity Fair. What type of school is this? What tone does Punch use to describe it? What exactly is being mocked, if anything? (February 27, 1847)

The Rising Generation

What is the image of youth being presented here, in a series entitled "The Rising Generation" that continued to appear in Punch throughout 1847? How might you contrast this image to the idea of children presented in the "whipping" article? How can we characterize the Victorian child? (January 16, 1847)

Our Female Supernumeraries

While not from 1847 (it's from 3 years later, in January 1850), this cartoon from Punch broaches similar questions to those raised in "The Weaker Sex." Has the debate changed over the course of 3 years? What are the various sides of the debate? Is it, as people have suggested, either feminist or sexist or both? What stereotypes is it using? Does it point to a legitimate social problem?

Welcome!

Welcome to the sometimes bizarre world of the Victorian periodical! The three blog posts below are all samples of the types of reading material to which Victorians were exposed on a daily basis. One is about gender, one about race/racial stereotypes, and one about whipping children (moral, educational, legal?). The images will get larger if you click on them.

Play around a little, get to know the Victorian sense of humor, and think about what it would have been like to read these three texts within the span of an hour or so as you perused the morning's edition of a magazine. Taken together, what do they make you think about? What types of thinking do they encourage or discourage? To whom are they addressed?

Make a comment below or in one of the other posts, or make multiple comments, addressing these questions. There are no right answers here, so it's just about your reactions.

The Weaker Sex in Alarming Strength

What is this letter (probably false) saying about gender in the Victorian period? Why would he be "in dread of a wife"? How does this alter our standard conceptions of Victorian gender stereotypes?

Who Shall Escape Whipping?

What is the tone of this short article in Punch, the
same journal in which Vanity Fair first appeared?
What is it advocating? Does it seem odd to be writing about whipping children in the newspaper?

Battle of the Amazons

What type of event is being advertised here, in a poster from March 1848? What stereotypes are being employed?