This false adage has persisted throughout literary and human history. The misogynistic belief that men know what women want, and that rejection is an invitation to continue pursuing a woman is prevalent here, and is commonly accepted today. The second half of Charles Chesnutt's The House Behind the Cedars is motivated by two men's pursuit of a woman who has repeatedly rejected them both, and that novel was written 100 years after Pride and Prejudice. In both novels, the men willfully misunderstand the women's desires (or lack thereof), and practically force throw themselves at them. While this seems like a harmless societal trend, it fuels the persistence of sexual violence against women. Not to be a downer, but it is this casual integration of deeply misogynistic practices that subconsciously teaches women to accept mistreatment, and even expect to be mistreated, and allows men to do whatever they want to women, regardless of whether their desires align with theirs. This is the foundation of the "she was asking for it" argument.

The phrase "violence of my affections" made me question Mr. Collins's motives and wonder what kind of man describes his love for a woman as violent. Then I remembered "These violent delights have violent ends" from Romeo and Juliet, and took this moment as a, perhaps very subtle, moment of foreshadowing a (probably metaphorically) violent end to their relationship.

YES!

Woman: both the most dependable and most overlooked. This is an extremely moving depiction of this heartbreaking dual reality of existing in a female body. She is vital to the persistence of humanity, and is recognized for this, but this only. It is not woman herself that is valued and celebrated, but the female body and its physical functions. Schreiner illustrates the burdens women bear with no recognition. In these Dreams, the narrator encounters a world in which woman searches liberation from such burdens, but often falls victim to the pressures of oppression. Misogyny envelopes the woman headed towards freedom and keeps her from reaching a space of equality. Like the cord that tethers Man to the Woman in the sand, men mask their oppression of women by the guise of protection and safety in their arms. In reality, as Schreiner depicts in this Dream, this protection, sometimes even called partnership, puts women into a state of paralysis and stagnancy. Schreiner shows, however, the capabilities of woman and her right to freedom and growth.

This headnote is so beautiful I am crying before even starting the story wow you knocked my damn socks off

What an ironic line! In a time of innovation, industrialization, and the age of virtual reality, it is laughable that Mr. Podgers claims "comfort is the only thing our civilization can give us," as I am sure Wilde intends it to be. In the Victorian Era, humans asked for more excitement and more thrill; comfort was of the least concern. This is a satirical comment about humanity's obsession with production that results in the disintegration of human interaction. This 'comfort' can be understood in either a physical or emotional context, though I believe the intended irony applies to the emotional aspect of comfort. Victorians tired so desperately to improve technologically that they ignored human needs. For example, workplace conditions were extremely dangerous, which in itself is ridiculous because if the production of an object or experience hurts the audience/consumers of that product, then what is the point? Of course, the working class most likely could not afford to use the products they assembled at work, but they are part of the human population to which these products are geared towards. Humanity harms humanity in pursuit of human perfection. (tangent: and THAT'S what Brave New World is about, which is why it is so good. Read that book.)

James makes an interesting choice in speaking to the reader rather than narrating through first or third person. This makes the reader feel they are a part of the story; the narrator regards them as present in the conversation that ensues between characters. This makes the story more real, and possibly, scarier. Including the reader in the story is a tool of immersion and has the same goals as virtual reality. James's goal is for his audience to get as close to the story as possible, for it to be as real as it can be, and the best way to do that without accompanying illustrations is making readers aware of their presence.

My, this is loaded

It usually is!

She so badly wants to be a part of this world that she begins to imagine it in the window

Notice how she just said she likes this word better!

The girl makes multiple remarks about this strange portion of a day, one in which there is both daylight and no daylight at the same time. This occurrence, in the way she describes it, seems to be outside of time and reality. She is enamored by the sky's ability to have two identities at once--day and night. Although there is an absence of sun, there is not an absence of light. She mentions before that nothing worthwhile is discovered in the daylight, which clearly connects to this coexistence of night and day. Might she walk a line between two realities? She sees another world through the window across the way, yet there are times when she snaps out of her reverie and sees a wall, just like most everybody else. Perhaps she can see light similar to that in the evening sky in the window across the way, which is why she is so beguiled by it.

Very intentional (and sad) word choice

This example of dramatic irony sets the tone for the rest of the story. Edith worries about Anna's infatuation with a man she hardly knows, but in just a few paragraphs it is revealed that she, too, has developed an attachment to Raye. While attempting to distract Anna from her affections towards Raye, her own only grow stronger and harder to stifle. Edith, similarly to Ella Marchmill, lives a double life: there is the domestic Edith, whose goal is to help Anna strengthen her relationship with the man she met at a carnival, and her imitation of Anna, who is madly in love with someone who she has only encountered once. Edith sees Anna as a mirror of her younger, freer self; Anna is vivacious, eager, and has the privilege of pursuing this brief, yet all-encompassing love. These are luxuries unavailable to Edith due to her age and marriage, so she lives vicariously through Anna, but ultimately becomes entrapped by the facade and replaces Anna's feelings with her own, as it is reflected in her letters. Edith is playing a game in which there can be no winner.

What a bleak reality! It is striking that a) such a haggard figure once studied philosophy, and b) that Dickens touches on such a sad fate and does not revisit it later. Although this is a ghost story, perhaps this is a tactic Dickens is using to make the story and its characters more believable. It is important to note that "natural philosophy" is not what we study in philosophy courses today; it is the predecessor of the term "natural science." The signalman likely studied the physical world and sought to find "a speculative unity of nature and spirit" (wikipedia). Dickens may include this information about the signalman to explain the deep and overwhelming effect his encounters with the mysterious figure had on him. It is apparent that he was skilled in the field of natural philosophy, or at least showed potential, due to the mentioning that he "had run wild, misused his opportunities, gone down, and never risen again." Might the signalman have learned enough to frighten him away from the field? This was a time when humanity was much more in the dark about the physical world and its properties than we are now, and it would not come as a surprise if some who explored the science of the natural world got scared off. After all, Christianity shaped the minds of the people of this time. Learning that maybe God isn't the secret to the Universe can, understandably, be horrifying. He does not regret his choice to veer off the path of natural philosophy, and it may very be because he was afraid of what he might discover. However, after his encounters with the apparition, perhaps he regretted ending his quest for answers about the relationship between the natural and the spiritual world. It seems the spiritual world came back to discover him.

One of the most frustrating parts of reading any literature that is not contemporary is the sexism running rampant throughout so many pieces. Bessy is not allowed to be an impressive and accomplished woman on her own; as soon as her aunt and uncle recognize greatness in her, they wish to pair her off with their son. While it is honorable that Bessy is sought after, it cannot be denied that it is demeaning to expect a "good" woman to only be worth anything if she submits to a husband. Maybe the language of this text--and this sentence specifically--are not intending to be sexist, but because sexism was so ingrained in the minds of those in the 19th Century (and all previous centuries...and all future centuries, by the look of it), those themes remain at the forefront of one's mind when coming across themes of a woman's worth or capabilities. In the eyes of her aunt and uncle, Bessy is a prize to be won and possessed by Benjamin rather than an accomplished woman on her own. The choice here is to cart her off to a husband and not recognize her individually for her personality and presence in the house.

This is an interesting anecdote because there have been multiple occasions throughout old texts in which the illustrations on the page did not correlate to the text on the page. Archivists found that this was due to publishing companies' ignorance of format and frivolity in getting texts to the printing press rather than taking the time to organize a text. However, Rossetti seems to intentionally use images that apply to more than just the text she supplies with them. The choice to include illustrations that apply to grander ideas than solely the ones she is writing about on that specific page broadens the scope of her work and makes it all the more intriguing.

Christina Rossetti: Italian Pre-Raphaelite poet. Her father was a political exile and she wrote about female agency and gender roles.