Value of Reading a Novel

I agree with Jane Austen that novels can be good as long as you don't get too lost in the idea. You have to keep in mind when reading a novel that it isn't real life even though it might deal with real life situations. I think that novels are a way for people speak out and state their opinions. If we didn't hear other people's opinions we might not have fully explored our opinion of a certain topic. I have learned a lot in class from just reading these novels, about what happened in society at that particular time period or what political ideas were being thrown about. I'm not sure that a novel today would change our society just because I feel like no one reads anymore but word of mouth could elevate that novels ideas. When I read novels I see if the moral of the story applies to me and see how I feel about it. When I read the series "Left Behind" I started to think about if I had been living my life right. Even though I am a Christian, did I really follow God's ways? This novel also scared me still to this day about the end of Earth as we know it. Sometimes I let my imagination get the best of me and think oh no, this is the end but have to reign myself back to not think about it. I think that you can learn a lot from a novel and it can teach us a great deal about society whether it be slavery, political ideas, manners, morals, or simply ideas.

Dr. Jekyle and Mr. Hyde

I think that J&H definitely served as a precursor to the detective-type books. As soon as Mr. Utterson heard the news of Mr. Hyde running into the little girl and paying with a check from Dr. Jekyll he began investigating Mr. Hyde. Mr. Utterson stayed out on the street watching the door where Mr. Hyde had been seen just to get a glimpse of him. When the letter Dr. Jekyll gave to Mr. Utterson, that was suppose to be from Mr. Hyde, he got Mr. guest to look at the handwriting in which was determined that it was the same as Dr. Jekyll just slanted the other way. Then at the end when Mr. Poole came and told Mr. Utterson about the strange person in the laboratory he busted down the door to see what was going on. Mr. Utterson would have eventually found out what happened by the letters written to him but his curiosity just couldn't wait and he had to figure it out. Mr. Utterson seemed as if he almost had terror about the thought of Dr. Jekyll giving all of his things to Mr. Hyde and he had to figure out a reasonable explanation as to why. Mr. Utterson couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that this ugly man would get all of Dr. Jekyll's inheritance and reasoned that it was because he was black mailing him. Thinking about the sublime I think Mr. Utterson saw Mr. Hyde as sublime, he thought he was grotesque but yet wanted to know everything about him and wanted to look him in the face. 

Stevenson used the laboratory of Dr. Jekyll for the kind of castle feeling i thought there was almost a feeling of terror about the laboratory. When the book talked about where Mr. Hyde lived it was "like a district of some city in a nightmare" (28), it was foggy and very dark and windy but when  it talked about Dr. Jekyll's house it was handsome and "wore a great air of wealth and comfort" (18). I think Stevenson drew the setting of the book from his home of Edinburgh where one side was old, dark and "the bad" side of town and the other was the new, bright and cheery side of town. I can see where Darwinism plays a role in the story where Dr. Jekyll turns into Mr. Hyde this almost animal creature. It says to me like everybody still has an animal in them, people try to hide it but eventually it comes out. I think Stevenson believed in evolution and almost tried to say that it's impossible to be good just like Dr. Jekyll eventually couldn't go back to being himself. I don't see science as good in this book thought it seems evil because it turned Dr. Jekyll bad and he couldn't go back. Dr. Jekyll started out trying to find a potion to take away his bad side and eventually became worse than he was so in my opinion science was very bad for Dr. Jekyll.

Castle of Otranto

The female characters in the book didn't have very many options, the men in their lives chose who they were going to marry and what they were going to do with their lives. Walpole also made women out to be very angelic, he called them saintly and that they would leave the castle and spend the rest of their lives in the convent. It seems as though Walpole thought of women as a possession than a human being because men could do whatever they wanted to the women. Manfred was a tyrant to everybody around and yet Hippolita and Matilda didn't seem to notice and had such a respect for him. I don't really think the book promotes chilvalry very well in Manfred he doesn't seem to really meet the qualifications because he is so disrespectful and even wants to commit incest with Isabella. There are a lot of circumstances where the women show a romantic side like fainting on the drop of a hat and just being smitten with Theodore after just meeting him. I think Walpole definitely believed in unquestioned alliance between king and country/ kid. Manfred didn't take no for an answer whether it be the friar or his kids. Even after stabbing Matilda she immediately forgave him and didn't even bat an eye at Manfred. His own wife didn't seem moved by Manfred's suggestion of divorce. I think the moral theme might be veracity it was mentioned many times and it seemed that in the conclusion Theodore became prince because his family was honest and didn't fake a will to come into power. 

Introduction

 

My name is Rachel, I'm from Burleson, Texas and recently got married in May. I'm a senior at TCU in the nursing program. I hope to learn what gothic literature is all about and read some good books in the process. I'm not much of a reader but only because I don't usually have a lot of time to sit down and read. I don't know what gothic literature is about but I've already read Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and it was pretty good. Most of the books we have to read look pretty interesting. I've read and agree with everything stated in the syllabus and I'm ready to start the class.