Guilt as a Motivation for Change

            Historically, authors and poets have been a driving force for informing the masses and encouraging ethical changes in society.  Though these literary activists used many tools to achieves their ends, one such tool was to invoke a feeling of guilt upon the reader in order to either call them to action or encourage the reader to consider altering their mindset on various issues due to new information.  Guilt as a literary device can be a powerful motivator when attempting to sway a person's actions or opinions regarding certain ethical subjects.  A normal, empathetic human being could not possibly turn a blind eye to a great injustice once brought to their attention, especially if their own actions had been unknowingly supporting a heinously unethical activity.  The reader may not be spurred to act upon the new information, but their outlook would have been forever changed for the better.  The theme of guilt as a motivation for change can be prominently seen throughout a large portion of the literature we have experienced this semester.  Whether the ethical subject be racism, sexism, or child labor, guilt has been a weapon at the disposal of many authors throughout the various eras of literature discussed in class.  

            For Elizabeth Barrett Browning, one of the most noble issues she discussed in her works was the injustice of child labor.  During the British Industrial Revolution, factories sprang up and demanded more and more unskilled workers to keep them running.  Women and children were sought after as a cheap resource to fill in the gaps in the workforce.  However, conditions were horrid, and factories were an unsanitary and a highly dangerous environment for anyone, especially children, to work in.  In Browning's poem, "The Cry of the Children," the author paints the harsh realities of child labor as well as the impacts it might have on the child psyche.  Children are represented as having their childhoods stripped from them and being forced to work and act as adults well before their time.  The crying children were even depicted as going so far as to wish for an early death, as a form of release from the harsh conditions that dominated their childhood.  Sure such a mindset was meant to instill pity into the readers' hearts, but even more so, instill guilt into their hearts of the parents who sent their children to work as well as the employers to did little to improve their working conditions.  

            This type of depiction mirrored The Tone of the Times as though the industrial revolution brought about great technological advancements, living conditions plummeted and the discrepancy between classes became much more evident.  In poverty, hunger, and dirt did the working class live their lives as represented in Hood's poem, "Song of the Shirt."  This poem depicts the labor conditions women suffered as well as the oppressive mindset forced upon them.  Similarly to "The Cry of the Children." women are shown to have a damaged psychological mindset due to the monotonous factory work they had to endure.  There is no time to even daydream for an instant.  The working woman must continuously sew, stitch, and work constantly, and without repose.  In class, we discussed the repetitious use of the phrase "stitch! stitch! stitch!" in the poem as it furthers the conveyance of the monotonous lifestyle the working class lead.  Due to the monotony of even the content of the poem, the result is that the piece is not pleasant to read.   The reader is put in a sour mood reading it as well as compelled to feel bad for the women depicted.  This feeling extends to guild when the reader begins to realize that the products they enjoy as well as the lifestyle they lead are reliant on the dehumanization of the workforce, especially the women and children.  

            This type of dehumanization can also be seen via Charlie Chaplin's film, "Modern Times."  Though this film embraces comedy to express discontent rather than guilt, the provided clip does illustrate the dehumanization of the workforce to some extent. 

            William Cowper's "The Negro's Complaint" took on the serious issue of slavery as well as the task of informing the masses about the potential mindset of the subjugated race.  Cowper wrote the piece from the perspective of a slave as he illustrated the confusion a logical black man is faced with in a world where slavery exists.  Rather than show the dehumanization of the subject as the previous two works did, this endeavors to illuminate the humanization of those that many felt to be inferior.  It compels the readers to think of slaves in the same way they would another person they might pass on the street.  In addition,  the poem served to be A religious Appeal to Christians who did not speak out against slavery.  The piece argued that no religion was just for one race, and that if we believed that a religion extended certain rights to human beings, then those rights could not be hindered by the color of a person's skin.  Cowper's Complaint was that those back in Britain who enjoyed the benefits of slavery were guilty of encouraging it.  In that sense, this issue was similar to child labor as well as the harsh working conditions during the industrial revolution.  Those that embraced ignorance and inaction were made to feel guilty upon being educated.  In class, we discussed how these types of anti-slavery poems were targeted at and became popular with housewives and women.  Knowing that, I ask who could possibly be better to guilt trip the advocates of slavery than the women behind them.

            Robert Southey's "The Sailor Who Served in the Slave Trade" continues the fight against slavery with the depiction of a sailor who is forced to flog a female slave, which results in the man being overcome by his own Self Loathing in Bristol.  The poem follows the man as he falls deeper and deeper into anguish and guilt as he is overcome by the revelation that the woman he flogged had died the day after.  The man represents the reader, as a normal human being, being forced to commit such a travesty and feeling exactly what a normal person would.  The poem serves to not only inform the readers of the realities of the events which happen on a daily basis due to the slave trade, but also to disgust the readers, make them feel guilty for their country having any part of the slave trade.  From that guilt, readers are called to action against slavery, and it is because of poems such that these that public perception and opinion swayed so severely that the slave trade was eventually done away with in Britain. 

            Finally, Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess" utilizes another character driven by guilt over an atrocity he had committed.  The poem features a Duke speaking to a representative of the family whose daughter he will potentially marry.  The Duke shows a painting of his previous wife to the representative and begins to tell the story of the painting as well as well as the woman it is of, his previous wife.  Throughout the explanation, the Duke's guilt overcomes him and he indirectly confesses that he was the one who had her killed after she failed to meet his expectations of her.  He wanted her to practically worship him and only pay attention to him and ignore all others.  His wife was a human being, though, and could not disregard her basic human rights.  This poem illustrates the lower standing of women at the time and how they were supposed to act.  Wives were supposed to be domesticated and be completely loyal to their husbands.  In that sense, they were expected to be less than human as they seemed to have fewer human rights married than single.  However, society was set so that women had fewer legal rights single than married.  This poem attacked that mindset, likening the lesser status of women married to the act of killing them outright.  In a sense, the Duke represents all men, and killing his wife would be the act of marriage itself.  Courtship would be similar to a game show when regarding marriage, And Behind Curtain #1.... Poison!

            Other works such as Rossetti's "Goblin Market," Coleride's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner," and Arnold's "The Forsaken Merman" utilize guilt to establish a point or a need for change, but with only these few, a pattern can be established which shows the reliance of this emotion through these literary eras.  This technique, however, relies on the subject to be undeniably, morally wrong in order to provoke the necessary feeling of guilt in the reader.  As such, the majority of the pieces that utilize this technique are doing so in order to right a great injustice on humanity.  Slavery, child labor, and the subjugation of women are but a few of these subjects, but no one can deny the ethical importance they have had in history.

Burden of Blood

During class today, the story of Bluebeard was recited to us, which was the basis for Carter's "The Bloody Chamber."  Though each piece shared the almost exact plot of the other save for the ending, I found that the stories differed greatly in the morals presented.

In the fairy tale, I got the sense that the woman would have been find if she had obeyed Bluebeard.  Perhaps she would even have gone on to find happiness with him.  When she opens the room and discovers the fate of her predecessors, though, we understand that she has fallen into the same trap as they had in her inability to follow the set guidelines of her captor, the authority figure.  The reason Bluebeard makes such a big deal of leaving the key in plain sight to tempt her in order to set up the moral of the story.  I feel that this fairy tale is trying to teach children to respect authority, but also teach little girls to obey their husbands to avoid trouble.

"The Bloody Chamber" flips this around and presents the story in a more feminist light.  The author goes to great lengths to paint an otherworldly setting and give the reader the sense that something is off, both in the setting and with the husband.  The woman is described as corruptible, but as a converse, we are also told that she is not corrupted by that point.  There's nothing wrong with the woman, and her innocence is assured.  Whereas the fairy tale points out the faults in its female character, in this story, she is portrayed as more human.  With that humanity comes a natural curiosity.  Even though she disobeys her husband and opens the room, the woman remains innocent in that curiosity is a natural human trait.  The woman remains blameless, and thus no moral of obedience can be determined.  This only serves to further exemplify the faults of the husband and how he is the one corrupt instead of the woman.

As a feminist statement, this fairy tale needed to be rewritten as women are not and should not be beholden to the commands of their husbands as described in Bluebeard.  The husband in "The Bloody Chamber" serves to prevent his wives from becoming actual people rather than possessions.  This is why he is the villain and why the story goes to such lengths to portray him as such rather than focus on the disobedience of the wife. 

An Outpost Lacking in Morality

I feel as if An Outpost of Progress represents the mentality most people in Britain who were agents of Imperialism have about British Imperialism in Africa as well as Slavery in general.  After having their workers sold into slavery, the remaining three at the outpost sat that "slavery is a horrible thing."  They take a hollow moral stance against it, even though it was one of them who sold their workers in the first place.  It is as if as long as it is not happening by their hand, it can just be overlooked.  It does not matter that they have trampled on the lives of their fellow man.  What matters in the end is that the company has prospered.  In the story, the company gains the quality ivory in exchange for their workers.  Although the three who remain claim that slavery is wrong, they do nothing about it aside from sit around and be angry about it.  Their inaction does not make them any less guilty, even if action would be futile.

I think this sort of "say one thing and do another" attitude represents British Imperialism fairly well.  They are supposedly spreading civilization as well as claiming new territory for the empire.  However, they consistently neglect to care about the peoples they trample over and established civilizations they have to crush to achieve this goal.  They may take a false high ground and speak out against slavery and other atrocities, but at the same time, what they're doing isn't really better. 

The Lake Isle of "Ijustwannabefree"

I believe that Yeats's "The lake Isle of Innisfree" condemns the chaos found in industrialized cities and instead advocates a return to nature.  Something has been lost by the culture of humanity due to rapid industrialization, and Yeats clearly believes that the answer can be found away from it all.  He claims to intend to move to a small island, as disconnected from industrialization as a person could likely get at that time.  There is nothing negative to be said about the island he intends to move to, as even the bee-infested glades inspire serenity in Yeats as he longs to be away from the city.

The cities themselves barely receive a mention in the poem.  The roadways of the city are briefly mentioned, and even when they are, they are described as grey and almost boring.  With all of the praise Yeats gives seclusion, it is hard to imagine grey roads leading anywhere but an unhappy place.  Even before this time period, nature had long been in the process of being forgotten.  Then, people were more concerned with material things rather than appreciate what was around them.  Yeats, however, reminds us that humans were intended to live alongside nature, and that we should never allow it to escape our grasp. 

East vs. West

I find it interesting that in the poems East London and West London, both pain bleak pictures, yet East London comes with a ray of hope in the preacher's outlook despite himself being ill and overworked.  What is more interesting is that East London was the working-class area of the city whereas West London was the wealthy end of the city.  The working-class, a people who had it rougher than the wealthy, are shown to have a brighter outlook due in part to their faith in religion.  One would think that the wealthy portion of the city would be home to the most uplifted attitudes and cheery outlooks considering how much they have over the working-class.  However, their lives seem much more bleak in comparison.  It would seem as if whatever gains the wealthy achieved came at the price of their souls, considering the lack of a religious figure shown.  In fact, the only person shown is a prostitute, a sinner.  If anything, there's an absence of religion in West London.   

From class, we know that around this time, people are starting to question religion with logic.  What does it say about the working-class to cling to religion at this point in time?  It seems to give them happiness and hope.  On the other side of the city, however, the wealthy don't seem to have anything to cling to for their happiness.  Are they even happy at all?  Both sections of the city are depicted in equally bleak means, yet the working class have religion but the wealthy aren't shown to have anything.  If we are questioning religion using logic, then isn't ignorance bliss if it helps you get through the day?  Should we question it at all?  I have no idea.  I'm just throwing ideas out there at this point because this comparison is fairly interesting. 

The Spectrum of Human Nature

                When I read Songs of Innocence and Experience, I immediately identify the common themes occurring in both books.  However, the two books broach these subjects from two completely different perspectives.  It is for that reason that The Lamb and The Tyger stand out the most. 

                These two poems seem to break the tradition of  common poems detailing a similar, if not the same, situation or thing.  It is difficult to imagine a Tiger and a Lamb being on in the same unless we are prepared to throw biology completely out of the window.  In a sense, though, they are one in the same.  It's just that the poems aren't about the animals at all.

                The poems themselves invoke a religious reading considering how they both observe and question God's creation of the "animals."  That much is obvious, but I feel like the poems are deeper than that.  If we consider the teachings of Christianity, we see that Jesus often preached a message of love, tolerance, and acceptance.  In that sense, a true Christian would be like a lamb in that they should be a fairly peaceful person.  Moreover, that is how Christianity believes humans should be.

                People, however, are inherently flawed.  We oftentimes fall short of our goals or compromise on our morals.  We have the capacity for love and tolerance, but oftentimes excel at hate and destruction.  We hunt, kill, and wage war on our fellow man.  In that sense, humans share common ground with bestial predators like the tiger. 

                Thus, I believe the common themes of Songs of Innocence and Experience hold true for The Lamb and The Tyger, and that the common theme is the nature of humanity itself. 

Puck, the Devil!

It is always entertaining when the Devil is depicted as Burns has done so in his Address to the De'il.  In many traditional interpretations of the Lord of Darkness, he generally falls short of such a title.  In the Bible, the Devil personally appears a mere handful of times with his various demons doing most of his bidding throughout the rest.  The few times the Devil does make an appearance, though, he is generally all business.  Such is not the case with Burns's De'il.  

In the very first few lines "Thou, whatever title suit thee!/ Auld Hornie, Satan, Nick, or Clootie," (99) Burns expresses a familiarity with the Devil, as if it had been reoccurring part of his life over the years.  These titles also suggest that Burns's experience with the entity has not been entirely negative as the connotations of such titles as "Aud Hornie" and "Clootie" seem to be rather positive.  From the very first lines, Burns paints the Devil as something who has  fun and finds glee in his mischievousness, rather than simply seeking to bring damnation to humanity.  

From this, it comes as no surprise that Burns even suggests hope for the Devil in the final stanza.  "But fare you weel, ault Nickie-ben!/ O wad ye tak a thought an' men'!/ Ye aiblins might—I dinna ken—/ Still hae a stake/ I'm wae to think upo' yon den,/ Ev'n for your sake." (100)  Burns's depiction of a Devil is one who is just enjoying itself and may or may not damning humanity on purpose.  For his Devil, redemption is still possible, which is a radical belief which contradicts its depiction by Christian theologians at the time.  To Burns, however, the Devil as a character can be entirely separate from the Devil as a religious figure.