Riassunto esame Letteratura inglese, Prof. Castagna Valentina, libro consigliato Storia della letteratura inglese, Bertinetti

English and the American landscapes

The scientific language is diversified but it is also charged with ideological implications as it becomes functional to imperial projects of the motherland. So for example Murchison, in his "The Silurian System", studies the geological conformation of Earth as evidence of the antiquity of England and therefore of its supremacy over the other nations, or again, his anthropological studies underline the actual superiority of the white race. Anthropology allows to develop a new conception of "culture", no longer focused on the western society.

Imperial travelers

Numerous are the testimonies written by male and female travelers in the Victorian age, who explore the borders of the Empire, and beyond. The most emblematic figure of the Victorian traveller is Richard Burton (1821-1890), who besides being an orientalist polyglot and scholar, is also an unscrupulous adventurer, an exuberant and unconventional character, often remembered for

the translation “The Arabian Nights" in the 80s. He visited the city of Mecca, disguised as a Muslim. Much more compliant to the imperial ideology is Henry Morton Stanley (1802-1904), who gains fame by tracing within Africa the Scottish missionary Livingstone. He represents himself in his works (“How I Found Livingstone”; “Trough the Dark Continent”) as a robust and valiant leader, sharing sufferings and successes with his affectionate reader. Much more ironic and self-critical is the story of the adventures of many female writers, who place the emphasis especially on their own otherness of women, in particular when they did not travel with their husband. They were called “spinster” (zitella), and were criticized because of their desire of “competing” against men. Beside Isabelle Bird, who travels tirelessly from Asia to America, and Amelia Edwards, fascinated by the wonders of Egypt, a land where history and modernity mix, there is

Mary Kingsley (1862-1900), niece of Charles Kingsley. To this author we owe the simple account of her trips, made in the central area of West Africa. She investigates on her psychological reaction to the African costumes: she is an androgynous individual and introduces the idea of gender fluidity. "Travels in West Africa" (1897) is the reconstruction of her introspective journey throughout Africa, and wants to be a claim of women rights as regards the colonial debate, open only to men.

Autobiography: The Victorian era is a period of strong inner investigation, that is brought to the public's attention through the genre of autobiography. Victorian autobiographies respond to a precise structure: they start from the decisive moment of youth education, and follow the path that culminates in the moment of commitment and success within the community, after the triumph over some painful trials. Sometimes the autobiography can respond to a precise self-defense intent that is also

the public confession of their own choices (e.g. “Apologia pro vita sua” by Newman, who had converted to Catholicism). The fear of disease and death often creeps into the autobiography: it is the case of Harriet Martineau (1802-1876), actively involved in the struggles for women’s emancipation. In 1855 she wrote her “Autobiography”, where she narrates her life, threatened by the presence of death. Also Charles Darwin wrote his autobiography in 1876, and re-elaborated it until his death. He described the public and private events of his life with a certain detachment and irony. Many artists wrote their own autobiographies: John Ruskin in “Praeterita” tells about his artistic education, but there are also many sensual female figures and the narration of his journeys to Italy, considered as the centre of beauty and spiritual purification. George Moore’s “Confessions” are a model of exhibitionism and extravagance: he rebuilds his

artistic path, in a decadent and nonconformist style.

Aesthetic reflection : Around the half of the 19th century, the reflection of art assumes an anti-industrial and anti-utilitarian function, reaching the definition of "art for art's sake".

John Ruskin (1819-1900) begins his career as an essayist by defending the art of Turner, and published "Modern Painters" and "The seven lamps of Architecture". He wants to recover, through the study of the Gothic, the spiritual dimension of art in the three volumes of "The Stones of Venice". He was also involved in social issues and addressed directly to the proletariat through the publication of 96 letters, collected in "Fors Clavigera". He wrote about many topics: botanic, mineralogy, meteorology. He focused on the conception of art and on the aesthetic experience, according to some precise beauty canons that are close to those of the Pre-Raphaelites.

Walter Pater (1839-1894) refuses

Ruskin's condemnation of Italian Renaissance. His main works are "Studies in the History of the Renaissance" and "Marius the Epicurean", a novel of formation. He refuses Victorian materialism, promoted by Ruskin, but believes Italian Renaissance is a spiritual and harmonic era that could indicate the way to a new modernity, where art and life become one entity. Pater's impressionism, according to which music and art are strictly connected, is an essential moment of a new aesthetic sensibility.

In Oscar Wilde (1856-1900), both the inspirations to an ideal redemption through the art of the individual, enslaved to the machine, and the declarations of full autonomy, not only of the artist but also of the critic, are intertwined. Wilde's most important essays about aesthetics are "The Decay of Lying" and "The critic as artist", that insist on the conception of the supreme moment of human experience, a new religion embodied in the dandy.

Il dialogo, utilizzato in "The Decay of Lying", esalta l'ironia e il paradosso, tipici della prosa di Wilde. "The picture of Dorian Grey" (1891) consente a Wilde di creare un romanzo gotico, ambientato nella Londra contemporanea, ma allo stesso tempo di esprimere la sua visione aristocratica della relazione tra arte e vita e la divisione, la scissione tra letteratura e moralità e la necessità per l'artista di indossare una maschera per esprimere la propria verità. Dorian Grey è un romanzo inquietante, che mostra l'altro volto della società vittoriana, attraverso la logica irresistibile dell'irrazionalità. Cambiamenti letterari: gli anni '90: L'ultima decade del XIX secolo, immersa nell'atmosfera inquietante e apocalittica della fine del secolo, non riconosce più le caratteristiche e i valori del regno della regina Vittoria, ma rappresenta una sorta di continuità. La polarizzazione radicale della cultura è accompagnata anche dalla tensione politica e sociale: l'indipendenza fallita dell'Irlanda, lastruggles for the women's emancipation, the anarchic movement throughout Europe. On the one hand we find the decadent artist, with his motto "art for art's sake", that underlines the uniqueness of the dandy; on the other hand, we find a writer who produces a form of culture for the masses, promoted by newspapers and popular magazines. From the one side, we have the refusal of a society perceived as conformist, hypocrite, ignorant; from the other side, the recovering of the nationalism and patriotism in a popular key. The journal "Stand", published since 1891, addresses to a moderately educated public, and enhances the short story, with an emphasis on the adventure story, that expresses the ideology of the Empire. The Strand gives space to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. 1895 is seen by 20th-century critics as a watershed that separates the most transgressive phase of the 90s from the next five years. Victorian moral, respectability, and the common ideologies are

still defended by Miller in the "Blackwood's Magazine". In his publications, he focuses on the deceitfulness of the aristocracy. The English literary landscape is shaken by the internationalization of the English novel, whose most important proponents are the Polish Conrad and the Indian Kipling, who in "Jungle Books" and "Kim" re-evaluates the child dimension within an imperial context. Meanwhile, the translations of the great Russian novels and the unconditional admiration for French art and culture substantially modify current techniques and narrative languages. By now, the novelist dialogues with a highly differentiated audience. In the same period, a vigorous narrative movement developed: it explored the condition of England in a realistic perspective and that reaffirmed the need for the novelist to remain within the English experience. They were called by Virginia Woolf "Edwardian writers": Arnold Bennett who created important female

character(Anna of the five towns); John Galsworthy who wrote under the pseudonym of John Sinjohn, who will win the NobelPrize thanks to his “Foryste Saga”. Then we have Sarah Grand, of Irish origins, who published in the 90s “TheHeavenly Twins”, which follows the lives of two women, and George Egerton, who wrote two collections of tales aboutpatriarchy. Beyond this fervent narrative scene is placed the “bestseller”, in which we mix current cues, a moralisticallysensationalism and a content that could attract the attention of the lower classes. Among these authors we remember:Grant Allen, author of “The woman who did”; Marie Corelli, author of “The sorrows of Satan”, where the devil visitsLondon. 21TheaterThe culture of the 90s tends to sensationalism, then the theatre becomes the most important expressive instrument, as itis perhaps the only literary means capable to restore the national identity of an audience now

irremediably divided. The theatre of the 19th century is marked by some forms of popular spectacles, such as the melodrama and the music hall, but only at the end of the century it acquired some dignity. Actually, the recovery of the theatre does not concern only England, but also the Irish and Celtic culture: Yeats represented "The Countess Cathleen" and "Land of Heart's desire", both written in blank verse, and along with other Irish intellectuals including Lady Gregory and George Moore, founded the Irish Literary Theatre in 1899, that aimed to recover the rich folk tradition of the Irish countryside, despite the use of the English language. In the latter part of the century, an all-English genre of operetta is said to have its maximum expression in Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. In the meantime, the figure of the actor acquires more social importance, since they were, until then, marginalized. The role of the "new woman" was played by important actresses.

Many important actors revaluate the works of Shakespeare, who has become the national English poet. The rulers of the English scene at the end of the century were Henry Arthur Jones and Arthur Wing Pinero, skilled artisans of the theatre and architects of the so-called "society drama" set in high society. They were highly regarded for their ability to portray the complexities of human nature and the intricacies of social interactions. Their plays often explored themes of love, betrayal, and class struggle, captivating audiences with their compelling storytelling and nuanced characters. In addition to Jones and Pinero, other notable playwrights of the time included Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, and John Galsworthy. These playwrights brought a fresh perspective to the stage, challenging societal norms and pushing the boundaries of traditional theatre. Their works continue to be celebrated and performed today, reminding us of the enduring power of the theatre to provoke thought and inspire emotion.