E349S February 23: Silence is Golden

SHUT UP!

Alice's encounters with the Duchess as well as the Gryphon and Mock Turtle prove to be testing for Alice. She faces many difficulties, nonsensical in nature, and frustrations from the peculiar characters she meets. From the beginning, she faces irritation from her discussion various figures, but remains calm, keeping her temper to a minimum in order to continue her trials and journey as a whole. The Duchess bombards her with endless morals. After placing "her chin on Alice's shoulder," which is "uncomfortable sharp," Alice refrains from being rude because "she did not like to be rude: so she bore it as well as she could." [1] Alice continues to bottle her emotions and her personal remarks of the Duchess as the Duchess repeatedly lectures her on morality.

Listen Rather Than Tell

Alice's voluntary silence is also seen when the Mock-Turtle and Gryphon chastise Alice, calling her various names including a "simpleton."[2] Alice remains quiet throughout all the nonsensical morals and rude remarks, paralleling the passive nature of Victorian Era children. The same restraint is found in Victorian culture as children are required to listen and learn, rather than to question and speak freely. There was little room for freedom of speech and opinionated thought for the youth.

R.I.P to the Victims of the Deutschland 

Whilst Carroll provides commentary on the restraining means of Victorian society with children, Hopkins's poem The Wreck of the Deutschland provides the reader with a tragic expose on the unfortunate demise of "five Franciscan nuns, exiles by the Falck Laws" who drowned the morning of December 7, 1875. [3] The inner meaning of the poem can be found in Hopkin's letter to his mother, where he discusses "the account of the actual shipwreck." [4] As a devout religious man, he is "writing something on this wreck" because "it made a deep impression on [him], more than any other wreck or accident [he] ever read of." [5] Given the mysterious ways in which God acts, the death of the religious figures is seen as an alerting and tragic event. Regardless of the servitude of the Franciscan nuns, their lives were still taken by God. To further dive into Hopkin's influences, John E. Keating notes Hopkin's father was "professionally engaged in the financial settlements consequent on shipwrecks" and thus, "may have predisposed Hopkins to interest in disasters at sea." [6] The poem depicts the mysterious ways God's divinity works, and the beauty and tragedy of life and subsequent death. It serves as a descriptive take on the attempt to "understand the Deity who operates" throughout our lives, emphasizing the opposition of "the severity and the compassion of God." [7] Hopkins denotes "His mystery must be instressed, stressed," implying his own questioning of God's plan for humanity, especially in regards to the untimely death of innocent Franciscan nuns. [8] The poem, especially stanza five, emphasizes the need to accept god's will and actions as truth God acts with omniscient purpose that mere mortals will never grasp without his heavenly grace. 

Works Cited:

1. Lewis Carroll, The Annotated Alice: The Definitive Edition, (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, 2000), 91-92.

2. Carroll, The Annotated Alice: The Definitive Edition, 98.

3. Gerard Manley Hopkins, The Major Works Including all the Poems and Selected Prose (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002), 110.

4. Hopkins, The Major Works, 226.

5. Hopkins, The Major Works, 227.

6. John E. Keating, The Wreck of the Deutschland: An Essay and Commentary (Ohio: Kent State University, 1963), 12.

7. John E. Keating, The Wreck of the Deutschland: An Essay and Commentary (Ohio: Kent State University, 1963), 23.

 8. Hopkins, The Major Works, 110.