Appunti Letteratura inglese

The industrial revolution

Britain was the first country to industrialize between 1760 and 1815. A series of favorable conditions allowed this transformation: the British Empire gave access to a worldwide market, the efficient British merchant fleet, and the navy. Britain could import raw materials from colonies and a series of inventions like steam engines introduced the methods of factory production. All these factors had important consequences on the social life and landscape of the country.

The revolution in manufacturing led to a revolution in transport, with roads, canals, bridges, ships, and railways being built in the early 19th century and transformed England from an agricultural to an industrial country. The industrial revolution brought about a deeper social division between the capital class and the working class. Workers migrated to industrial towns and this led to overpopulation, overworking conditions for men, women, and children. Pollution from new machines and lack of sanitation caused health problems to spread quickly.

British political system

The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy with a very old constitution made up of laws, traditions, and practices. The head of state is the monarch who reigns but doesn't rule and only has representative functions such as taking part in ceremonies and visiting countries. The monarch is also the head of the judiciary, supreme governor of the Church of England, and commander in chief of the armed forces. The British Parliament has grown in power over the years, with important acts such as Magna Carta in 1215, the bicameral system in 1341, and The Bills of Rights and the Acts of Settlement in 1689 and 1701 limiting the monarch's rights.

Today, the British Parliament consists of the House of Commons presided over by a speaker, with 650 members who are elected every five years and debate on new laws. The House of Lords, with less power, is made up of 1000 members presided over by the Lord Chancellor and suggests amendments.

The Victorian age

Was called for Queen Victoria who reigned from 1837 to 1901 and it was a period of transformation and advance but also of political stability and social improvement. Because there were social reforms and factory Acts that improved the conditions of life of the working class. The political scene was dominated by two prime ministers, William Gladstone was linked with the Education Act, for providing the Compulsory Elementary Education while Benjamin Disraeli was interested in foreign and Imperial affairs. During the Victorian compromise most citizens, rich and poor were proud of all political and scientific progress, but under the surface of prosperity there was a great part of people who lived in misery and people.

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens was a popular Victorian novelist known for his vivid pictures of London's poorest districts and criticism of social injustice. His characters, though lacking psychological depth, were lively and realistic. His best-known works include Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol, and David Copperfield, which is often seen as his masterpiece. Dickens' novels often focused on social conditions and were written with a reforming purpose.

Coke Town

Coketown is described as a dreary industrial town with red and black brick buildings covered in smoke and ash. The streets are monotonous, inhabited by people who all lead similar lives and do the same work every day. Despite these conditions, the town is part of a Utilitarian society that values productivity over individual identity and creative expression.

The aesthetic movement and Oscar Wilde

The Aesthetic Movement, which began in the 1870s and peaked in the last decade of the 19th century, reflected the signs of decadence and crises of faith and morality. The movement valued the cult of beauty and art independent of moral considerations. Its most important figure was Oscar Wilde, who defended art for art's sake and believed artists should focus on creating beauty rather than instructing others. Wilde faced societal prejudices due to his homosexuality and was even imprisoned for it. Throughout his life, he wrote novels such as "The Picture of Dorian Gray," which became a manifesto for the aesthetic movement. This novel tells the story of a man who remains young through witchcraft while his portrait reflects his inner ugliness. Until Dorian decided to stab it and he himself dies, just at the moment of the death the painting regains the original beauty and the meaning is the triumph of art over life's ugliness.

Modernism

The term refers to James Joyce and Virginia Woolf, who experimented with a new type of writing called the stream of consciousness. This technique presents thoughts and feelings in great detail, often disconnected in the same way as the human mind. An easy example to understand the stream of consciousness is the iceberg of which only the summit is visible while the biggest part is submerged. Stream of Consciousness is concerned with memories in the part of the iceberg that lies below the surface.

Ulysses

Ulysses is a complex work that follows the lives of three individuals in Dublin on June 16, 1904. The first part focuses on Stephen Dedalus, a young man with intellectual ambitions in art. The second part follows Leopold Bloom as he moves around Dublin, encountering adventures similar to those of Ulysses. The third part centers on his wife, Molly Bloom, who is compared to Ulysses' wife Penelope.

To the Lighthouse

To the Lighthouse is divided into three parts. Part 1 introduces the Ramsay family on holiday on the Isle of Skye, with Mrs. Ramsay promising her son James a trip to the lighthouse. Part 2 covers a span of ten years in one dark night, revealing the deaths of Mrs. Ramsay, her daughter Prue, and son Andrew. Part 3 takes place ten years later as the family returns to the house, allowing James to finally take the trip to the lighthouse, though everything has changed except for the lighthouse and the memories of Mrs. Ramsay.

T S Eliot

He is an important avant-garde poet, considered "the most dominant figure in poetry." In 1927 he acquired British citizenship and converted to Anglicanism, finding answers to his own problems. Before the conversion, he published "The Waste Land", it's said to be the most influential poetic work of the 20th century. After the conversion, he published Murder in the Cathedral.

The Waste Land

The main theme is the contrast between past fertility and present sterility, it consists of 5 sections that reflect the fragmented experience of 20th-century sensibility and the lack of values in the modern world. The style of "The Waste Land" was a mixture of different poetic styles, association of ideas because he used quotations from different languages and literary works, the technique of implication and the use of the objective correlative, used to awaken in the reader an emotional response.

Ethical banking

Ethical banking involves considering the social and environmental impacts of financial transactions. Ethical banks have policies in place to ensure that their investments and loans align with their ethical values and do not support harmful industries that contribute to climate change. Instead, they focus on investing in businesses and charities that have a positive environmental impact, such as renewable energy projects and social enterprises.

Poverty

Poverty is most prevalent in Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and Central America. The issues surrounding poverty extend beyond low income levels, health, and education. To address poverty, the United Nations established the Millennium Development Goals in 2000, aiming to eradicate extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity.

Microcredit

Originating with the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh in 1983, microcredit is the practice of providing small loans to individuals who are unable to obtain traditional loans. This helped many people to improve their financial situations. In Europe, microloans are granted to small businesses and individuals looking to start their own businesses.

Deindustrialisation

Refers to a decrease in the importance of industry and manufacturing in the economy and an increase in the importance of the tertiary sector of production.

Production

Is the process of creating goods and services to meet the needs and wants of consumers. Businesses use factors of production, such as capital, labor, enterprise, and land, to produce goods and services. Goods are physical products, while services are non-physical products that help others. Needs are essential for survival, while wants are things that are not necessary for survival but are desired.

Three sectors of production

The three sectors of production are primary, secondary, and tertiary. Primary production involves acquiring raw materials. Secondary production converts these raw materials into finished goods through manufacturing, processing, and construction. Tertiary production provides services that support producers and consumers, such as commercial and financial services. These sectors are interdependent and form the supply chain, involving suppliers and others in the movement of products or services.

Commerce

Commerce involves the distribution and sale of goods through various trade activities and services. This includes home trade which focuses on selling products in the same country to consumers, through the figure of wholesalers and retailers.

E-commerce

The shift to online shopping is causing producers to consider selling directly to customers through the internet, allowing for more control and potentially higher profits and teaming up with e-commerce platforms like Amazon.

International trade

International trade involves the exchange of goods and services between countries. It plays a crucial role in the global economy as it allows countries to access products that they cannot produce domestically, and take advantage of quality and cost differences in production.

Business structures

A sole trader operates his business alone or with the help of his family and he is responsible for all the company’s debts. If there is a partner the capital is major because each partner makes a capital investment in the company, and expansion is easier. Partnership is a type of business formed by a group of minimum of two and maximum of 20 people who share the responsibility of running the business. There are two types of partnership, an ordinary where all the partners take an active role in the running of the business and a limited partnership where the partners only invest in the company, but they do not have an active part in the running of the business and are liable only for the amount of money they invested.

Limited companies

Are less risky than ordinary partnerships and the capital is divided into shares. The company profits are divided in proportion to the number of shares held. The people who invest their money are called shareholders.