The Situation in Barchester

After the gloomy portrayal of life from Dickens, we move to the pleasant country life of Trollope. Based on volume 1 of the novel (what you read for this week--so please don't give away anything in the next volume for those reading ahead), what do you make of the narrator? Who is the narrator and how does he (or she??) feel about the various characters? Is the narrator a Proudieite or a Grantleyite? Also, how are the class differences that you wrote of so well in your discussion of Dickens addressed in this novel?

Literature as Social Commentary

Dickens and the poetry we have been reading all take a stand in protesting some aspect of Victorian culture and society. What issues and motifs do you see repeated in these works? What connections can you see between them?

Yep. Think about your essays here. Use this space to discuss your ideas and each other.

Aw a Muddle

Philosophers have been engaged in the debate of reason v passion since debate began. It seems that Dickens also enters the debate with Hard Times. Does Dickens create characters and the classes they represent that line up against one another in this debate? How so, and how effective is his portrayal? What consequence does he show in "Reaping," and does he suggest a solution?


Excuse, again, the late post. I haven't had access to a computer until now. Amazing, isn't it??

Giving Voice to the Silent

The anthology states that Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poetry deals with the "silenced," those with no voice. It seems that Charles Dickens also gives voice to those marginalized (the Hands, specifically). How effective is he, especially in comparison to EBB? And, how are Dickens and EBB's works different from those of Clough and the Rossettis in commenting on the industrialized 19th century?