The trials of everyone trying to obtain a copy of this book is kind of ironic in that there are such crazy obstacles and adventures within the story! You may find segments of the story to be slow, but I PROMISE, it allows her to tie everything up nicely at the end. So, keep on reading. She builds and builds and builds and then resolves. Her writing style is definitely a true and perfect exhibition of denouement!
Ann Radcliffe is flowery with her descriptions of things, yet this is influenced by other artists she admires. She makes mention of a couple of painters in her story. Looking at their works helps one understand her writing style better. (To view such pieces, search Salvator Rosa, Claude Lorraine, Gaspard Poussin, Domenico Zampieri). By viewing these paintings, you can understand more of the landscape and the mood Radcliffe invokes through her writings.
Like Dracula, there is hope, so you must journey to the "end of the rainbow" to have that satisfaction. Enjoy and keep reading!
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Ann Radcliffe and the Gothic Novel
"Terror and horror are so far opposite, that the first expands the soul, and awakes the faculties to a high degree of life; the other contracts, freezes, and nearly annihilates them. I apprehend that neither Shakespeare nor Milton by their fictions, nor Mr. Burke by his reasoning, anywhere looked to positive horror as a source of the sublime, though they all agree that terror is a very high one; and there lies the great difference between horror and terror, but in uncertainty and obscurity, that accompany the first, respecting the dreader evil." -- Ann Radcliffe
Ann Radcliffe was born on July 9, 1764 in Holborn, London, England to a haberdasher, which gave her entrance into the artistic world due to those with whom her father came in contact. She married a William Radcliffe, an editor of the English Chronicle in 1788. Without children in this marriage, Ann turned to writing to fill her time. Her husband much encouraged this pastime.
Publishing two works anonymously, Ann Radcliffe found acclaim in the genre of Gothic fiction. Although many of the highly educated and upper crust of society found these tales to be nothing more than "sensational women's entertainment" it influenced great writers such as Jane Austen, Sir Walter Scott, the Bronte sisters (esp. Jane Eyre), and Edgar Allen Poe. Still, she received great public acclaim and large compensations for her following two books; The Mysteries of Udolpho (published 1794 and our next reading) making her the most popular novelist in England at the time.
The Gothic genre was, early on, an attempt to meld the fantastic found in medieval literature with the realism in contemporary literature. Dark and dilapidated castles, swooning heroines, the supernatural along with combining both physical and mental horrors captivated readers of Gothic fiction. Radcliffe developed her style in response to trying to explain the supernatural. Demonstrated in her novels is the sense that even supernatural occurrences could be traced back to natural beginnings.
Although still finding favor and audience for her literature, Ann Radcliffe stepped out of the literary scene and was believed deceased in 1816. It was even published that she had died of "terrors." However, it wasn't until 7 February 1823 that she died, probably due to respiratory problems caused by pneumonia, complicated with her asthma. Again, upon her true passing, it was published more fantastically, touting that 'she died in a state of mental desolation not to be described'.
Radcliffe's influence upon the genre popularized the concept and many others copied the style, sacrificing it to an early death due to the unimaginative imitations of such works, leaving it to be mocked and parodied in other literature including Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey.
Ann Radcliffe was born on July 9, 1764 in Holborn, London, England to a haberdasher, which gave her entrance into the artistic world due to those with whom her father came in contact. She married a William Radcliffe, an editor of the English Chronicle in 1788. Without children in this marriage, Ann turned to writing to fill her time. Her husband much encouraged this pastime.
Publishing two works anonymously, Ann Radcliffe found acclaim in the genre of Gothic fiction. Although many of the highly educated and upper crust of society found these tales to be nothing more than "sensational women's entertainment" it influenced great writers such as Jane Austen, Sir Walter Scott, the Bronte sisters (esp. Jane Eyre), and Edgar Allen Poe. Still, she received great public acclaim and large compensations for her following two books; The Mysteries of Udolpho (published 1794 and our next reading) making her the most popular novelist in England at the time.
The Gothic genre was, early on, an attempt to meld the fantastic found in medieval literature with the realism in contemporary literature. Dark and dilapidated castles, swooning heroines, the supernatural along with combining both physical and mental horrors captivated readers of Gothic fiction. Radcliffe developed her style in response to trying to explain the supernatural. Demonstrated in her novels is the sense that even supernatural occurrences could be traced back to natural beginnings.
Although still finding favor and audience for her literature, Ann Radcliffe stepped out of the literary scene and was believed deceased in 1816. It was even published that she had died of "terrors." However, it wasn't until 7 February 1823 that she died, probably due to respiratory problems caused by pneumonia, complicated with her asthma. Again, upon her true passing, it was published more fantastically, touting that 'she died in a state of mental desolation not to be described'.
Radcliffe's influence upon the genre popularized the concept and many others copied the style, sacrificing it to an early death due to the unimaginative imitations of such works, leaving it to be mocked and parodied in other literature including Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Tea Tips
Have you ever had to calculate the appropriate sum for a tip after dining out? Did you know that tips and tea go together?
Tea came into high fashion in England after King Charles II took the throne with his wife Catherine de Braganza. Both growing up in other parts of Europe conditioned them to the taste and tradition of taking tea. As time passed, consumption of the beverage increased greatly (going from 40,000 pounds to 240,000 pounds in a ten year span).
Tea was defined as either "low" (or "afternoon") tea or "high" tea. Ironically, "low" tea was held by the upper class and served around 4:00 pm. This was viewed more as a snack and consisted of only light refreshments(it should be noted that they typically only had two meals previous to this trend, dinner being held at 8:00pm). Whereas the middle and lower classes held the "high" tea at either 5 or 6 in the evening and served with a wide variety of foods. Why the difference in "height" for the teas? It was determined by the table at which teas were offered: the "low" table of a coffee table or the "high" table of the dinner table.
Interestingly enough, tea gardens came upon the scene and boxes were made to hold monetary contributions for a waiter in order to gain faster service as the kitchens were far removed from these gardens. These boxes were marked "T.I.P.S": an abbreviation for "To Insure Prompt Service."
This is just a summary of an article found at The Jane Austen Centre. Poke around through the rest of the site to find interesting tidbits of the era, including fashion and history!
I hope you will join me for a "high tea" (minus the tea) this Tuesday at 7:00pm at Amanda Hall(I know, extremely inventive, isn't it?)
Tea came into high fashion in England after King Charles II took the throne with his wife Catherine de Braganza. Both growing up in other parts of Europe conditioned them to the taste and tradition of taking tea. As time passed, consumption of the beverage increased greatly (going from 40,000 pounds to 240,000 pounds in a ten year span).
Tea was defined as either "low" (or "afternoon") tea or "high" tea. Ironically, "low" tea was held by the upper class and served around 4:00 pm. This was viewed more as a snack and consisted of only light refreshments(it should be noted that they typically only had two meals previous to this trend, dinner being held at 8:00pm). Whereas the middle and lower classes held the "high" tea at either 5 or 6 in the evening and served with a wide variety of foods. Why the difference in "height" for the teas? It was determined by the table at which teas were offered: the "low" table of a coffee table or the "high" table of the dinner table.
Interestingly enough, tea gardens came upon the scene and boxes were made to hold monetary contributions for a waiter in order to gain faster service as the kitchens were far removed from these gardens. These boxes were marked "T.I.P.S": an abbreviation for "To Insure Prompt Service."
This is just a summary of an article found at The Jane Austen Centre. Poke around through the rest of the site to find interesting tidbits of the era, including fashion and history!
I hope you will join me for a "high tea" (minus the tea) this Tuesday at 7:00pm at Amanda Hall(I know, extremely inventive, isn't it?)
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Reminder
I just wanted to remind you that our discussion night is on the 15th (3rd Tuesday of September). Send me a message if you need directions to my house.
If you have finished Persuasion, I would encourage you, if time is available, to pick up another Austen and compare/contrast it to Persuasion.
If you have finished Persuasion, I would encourage you, if time is available, to pick up another Austen and compare/contrast it to Persuasion.
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