Charles Dickens  Victorian

Rudyard Kipling  Victorian

Info

- British writer most highly regarded during last decade of Victoria's reign (Horton 682)

- overvalued in his time (682)

- last British writer of fiction and poetry to appeal to all levels of society (682)

Works

- The Jungle Book

- "If"

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

A. E. Housman  Victorian

Info

- one of the most gifted of late-Victorian and early modern poets; a leading classical scholar (Horton 677)

- caustic perfectionism (677)

- theme - carpe diem ("seize the day"), edged with late-Victorian cynicism (677)

Works

- "To an Athlete Dying Young"

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Journal Entry (Please grade)

Lewis Carroll

Info

- aka Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Horton 647)

- reserved academic professional whose personality came to life when telling stories to children (647)

- poems in books are almost all parodies of Victorian parlor songs and didactic verses (647)

Analysis - "The Walrus and the Carpenter"

This poem, whose humorous tone is meant for children, leaves a cynical aftertaste.  The Walrus and the Carpenter lure a crowd of young, fat oysters away from the safety of the sea in order to eat them.  Carroll uses foreshadowing several times to hint at this outcome.  In lines 37 through 42, the eldest Oyster refuses to follow the Walrus and the Carpenter (Horton 653).  Age is often associated with wisdom, making the young oysters' eagerness seem foolish.  In line 79, the Walrus wants to begin eating, to which the oysters reply, "But not on us!" (Horton 654).  This puts into the audience's mind the notion that the Walrus and the Carpenter wish to eat the oysters.  The two tricksters then conveniently ignore the oysters' cries, talking between themselves, until "they'd eaten every one" (Horton 655).

Application

Since Carroll wrote much of his work for children and humor, this poem probably doesn't have an intended philosophical purpose or a deeper meaning.  But the suddenness of the young oysters' fate still shocks me.  It reminds me of how certain sins can seem harmless at first.  We, as young, unwise human beings, often blindly follow after them, away from the ocean of God's love and protection into a pit of suffering.  The Walrus and the Carpenter ignore the oysters' cries; like Satan, they don't care about the ones they trick.  The eldest Oyster's reasons for staying behind are unknown, but I can follow his example and remember to think my decisions through carefully.

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson  Victorian

Info

- sought anchorage for himself and his age in directions marked out by Carlyle (Horton 613)

- strove to be poet-mystic, modeling himself on Carlyle's "hero as Poet" (613)

- exquisite ear for sounds of language; gift for which his poetry is especially noted today (614)

- synthesis of Christian and Carlylean doctrine satisfied only those who understood it least (615)

- yields insights into the Victorian mind (615)

Works

- In Memoriam - most ambitious work

- "The Lady of Shalott"

- Idylls of the King

- "The Poet"

- Morte d'Arthur

- "Ulysses"

- "Crossing the Bar" - images death as return to sea; keeping with evolutionary theory (614-635)

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Thomas Hardy  Victorian

Info

- mission to disillusion the world (Horton 656)

- Anglican => agnostic (656)

- pessimistic novels and poems show eroding effect of Victorian rationalism on religious faith (656)

Works

- Far from the Madding Crowd - first successful novel

- The Return of the Native

- The Mayor of Casterbridge

- Tess of the D'Urbervilles

- Jude the Obscure

- "The Darkling Thrush" - lingering pain of rejecting Christianity

- "The Respectable Burgher" - identifies major cause of his religious unbelief and indifference: skepticism within the church

- The Three Strangers - belief in blind circumstance and conviction of higher morality of the natural conscience than of institutional law (656-659)

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Lewis Carroll  Victorian

Info

- aka Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Horton 647)

- reserved academic professional whose personality came to life when he was telling stories to children (647)

- poems in Alice books are almost all parodies of Victorian parlor songs and didactic verses (647)

Works

- Alice in Wonderland

- "The Mad Hatter's Song"

- "The Mock Turtle's Song"

- "Alice's Recitation to Herself"

- Through the Looking Glass

- "The White Knight's Song"

- "The White Queen's Riddle"

- "The Walrus and the Carpenter"

- "Child of the Pure Unclouded Brow" (648-655)

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.