In our final class meeting, we were shown a video explaining Steampunk, which I had never before paid much attention to, but found it fascinating. It seems like an expensive culture in which to be involved but the clothing and materials used to build theoretical technology from the Victorian era are all beautiful. The video and discussion made me want to know more about the movement, and even though I would never have the courage to dress in brass buckles and space helmets, I'm interesting in admiring it from afar. Hopefully during the rest of break I can research more about it.
The readings from Caird, Dixon, Shteir, Grand and Eastwood were slightly less interesting, but provided some important concepts as far as the breakdown of traditionalism is concerned. The New Woman, the theme of our unit for the week previous to the last, encompassed a change in how women viewed themselves and subsequently were viewed by society. It seems that, despite all their advances, women were still concerned with their physical appearances and were reluctant to break with tradition. Marriage is called into question, especially in terms of the self-control women lose if they enter into such an arrangement (one of my own personal problems with the institution of marriage). Women were becoming more educated and desired intellecutal men, but were looked down upon if they boasted their knowledge in public social settings. Also, the subjects women were supposed to study did not seem like the hard sciences; for example, textbooks of botany were published specifically for women after the collective belief that women needed a delicate hobby such as gardening surfaced.
Bram Stoker's Dracula, from which we only read excerpts, evinces the ideal New Woman, Mina, who is educated and employed. She also takes it upon herself to take notes like a journalist and investigate when something in her community seems amiss. For all her efforts to raise herself above her birth status, however, Mina gets bitten by the dreaded Dracula (she reminds him of his centuries-dead wife... Creepy). This indicates that her appearance is still important to her, so like the women described by the aforementioned authors, she is truly a New Woman, though not a modern one.
In turning to science-oriented readings such as those by Barrett, Gurney, Myers, and Stead, we found that traditional science was pushed aside for more experimental procedures, particularly those having to do with psychicism, the supernatural, and the spiritual. "Thought-reading" was a popular game toward the end of the Victorian era, one in which players would attempt to impress their thoughts psychically on their companions. But the focus on the supernatural and preternatural seems to be an indication that, among the Victorian community in general, there was a doubt of certain scientific explanations for random phenomena and a desire for an escape from the real world (as if the wealthy didn't have enough of those). Because science explains the how but not the why, Victorians were inclined to discover for themselves the reasoning behind strange occurrences.
Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde represents a burgeoning psychological fascination and the explanations behind it. Dr. Jekyll is the sensible, responsible, boring side of one man who represents the superego, the mental connection with one's consciousness that keeps a person restrained. Mr. Hyde, the man Jekyll turns into when he drinks a mysterious potion, is irresponsible but fun and free. He is the physical manifestation of one's id, the unrestrained, uncontrolled, impulsive part of one's consciousness. Who would you rather be? I couldn't answer that while reading and I still can't now.
The final reading was "A Deal in Ostriches" by H.G. Wells. Having read Wells for my final paper, I know that he is a descriptive writer whose images are vivid but strange. This story of one ostrich out of five who swallowed a very valuable jewel makes absolutely no sense to me, but I suppose it represents the ridiculousness of consumerism. The man from whom the jewel is stolen wants it back, but so do others who assemble for an auction of four out of five of the birds. Desire for valuable, rare objects is a minor theme in Victorianism as a whole, but it still doesn't explain why this story has anything to do with science.
Regardless of my lack of understanding about Wells' incredibly written but nonsensical story, this semester was amazing, thanks to Dr. Milstein. I learned more than I did in my other classes and nearly all the readings were enjoyable. I'm quite sad to leave this semester behind with this final blog post, but I won't forget the invaluable things we learned.
-Elizabeth Vosk
