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SECTION A
Choose ONE of the following three extracts from the three set prose works
(Bleak House, Villette, Adventures of Mary Seacole in Many Lands), and
undertake a close reading of it, briefly contextualizing it within the work as
a whole, and then relating it stylistically and thematically either to other
parts of that work, and/or to any other text(s) from the module. You may
not write on an extract from any text you have substantively focused
on in your essay. Similarly, if you compare the extract to another
text(s) on the module, that text cannot be any text you have
substantively focused on in your essay. Your discussion may focus on
dissimilarity as well as (or instead of) similarity. You will be credited for
depth and range of knowledge.
EXTRACT 1
1. From Charlotte Bront , Villette
Few worshippers were assembled, and, the salut over, half of them
departed. I discovered soon that those left remained to confess. I did not stir.
Carefully every door of the church was shut; a holy quiet sank upon, and a solemn
shade gathered about us. After a space, breathless and spent in prayer, a penitent
approached the confessional. I watched. She whispered her avowal; her shrift
was whispered back; she returned consoled. Another went, and another. A pale
lady, kneeling near me, said in a low, kind voice:—“Go you now, I am not quite
prepared.”
Mechanically obedient, I rose and went. I knew what I was about; my mind
had run over the intent with lightning-speed. To take this step could not make me
more wretched than I was; it might soothe me.
The priest within the confessional never turned his eyes to regard me; he
only quietly inclined his ear to my lips. He might be a good man, but this duty had
become to him a sort of form: he went through it with the phlegm of custom. I
hesitated; of the formula of confession I was ignorant: instead of commencing,
then, with the prelude usual, I said:—“Mon père, je suis Protestante.”
He directly turned. He was not a native priest: of that class, the cast of
physiognomy is, almost invariably, grovelling: I saw by his profile and brow he was
a Frenchman; though grey and advanced in years, he did not, I think, lack feeling
or intelligence. He inquired, not unkindly, why, being a Protestant, I came to him
I said I was perishing for a word of advice or an accent of comfort. I had been
living for some weeks quite alone; I had been ill; I had a pressure of affliction on
my mind of which it would hardly any longer endure the weight.
“Was it a sin, a crime ” he inquired, somewhat startled. I reassured him on
this point, and, as well as I could, I showed him the mere outline of my experience.
Module Code: ENGL243 Page 3 of 9 Continued
He looked thoughtful, surprised, puzzled. “You take me unawares,” said he. “I
have not had such a case as yours before: ordinarily we know our routine, and
are prepared; but this makes a great break in the common course of confession.
I am hardly furnished with counsel fitting the circumstances.”
Of course, I had not expected he would be; but the mere relief of
communication in an ear which was human and sentient, yet consecrated—the
mere pouring out of some portion of long accumulating, long pent-up pain into a
vessel whence it could not be again diffused—had done me good. I was already
solaced.
EXTRACT 2
2. From Mary Seacole, Wonderful Adventures in Many Lands
The chief object of all the travellers seemed to be dinner or supper; I do not know
what term they gave it. Down the entire length of the Independent Hotel ran a
table covered with a green oilskin cloth, and at proper intervals were placed
knives and forks, plates, and cups and saucers turned down; and when a new comer received his ticket, and wished to secure his place for the coming repast,
he would turn his plate, cup, and saucer up; which mode of reserving seats
seemed respected by the rest. And as the evening wore on, the shouting and
quarrelling at the doorway in Yankee twang increased momentarily; while some
seated themselves at the table, and hammering upon it with the handles of their
knives […] Amidst all this confusion, my brother was quietly selling shirts, boots,
trousers, etc., to the travellers; while above all the din could be heard the
screaming voices of his touters without, drawing attention to the good cheer of
the Independent Hotel. Over and over again, while I cowered in my snug corner,
wishing to avoid the notice of all, did I wish myself safe back in my pleasant home
in Kingston; but it was too late to find out my mistake now.
At last the table was nearly filled with a motley assemblage of men and
women, and the slapjack, hot and steaming, was carried in by the black cooks.
The hungry diners welcomed its advent with a shout of delight; and yet it did not
seem particularly tempting. But beyond all doubt it was a capital pièce de
résistance for great eaters; and before the dinner was over, I saw ample reasons
to induce any hotel-keeper to give it his patronage. In truth, it was a thick
substantial pancake of flour, salt, and water—eggs were far too expensive to be
used in its composition; and by the time the supply had disappeared, I thought
the largest appetites must have been stayed. But it was followed by pork, strips
of beef stewed with hard dumplings, hams, great dishes of rice, jugs of molasses
and treacle for sauce; the whole being washed down with an abundance of tea
and coffee. Chickens and eggs were provided for those who were prepared to pay
for these luxuries of Panama life. But, so scarce and expensive were they, that, as
I afterwards discovered, those hotel-keepers whose larders were so stocked
would hang out a chicken upon their signposts, as a sure attraction for the richer
Module Code: ENGL243 Page 4 of 9 Continued
and more reckless diggers; while the touter’s cry of “Eggs and chickens here” was
a very telling one. Wine and spirits were also obtainable, but were seldom taken
by the Americans, who are abstemious abroad as well as at home.
After dinner the store soon cleared. Gambling was a great attraction; but my
brother, dreading its consequences with these hot-brained armed men, allowed
none to take place in his hotel. So some lounged away to the faro and monte
tables, which were doing a busy trade; others loitered in the verandah, smoking,
and looking at the native women, who sang and danced fandangos before them.
The whole of the dirty, woe-begone place, which had looked so wretched by the
light of day, was brilliantly illuminated now. Night would bring no rest to Cruces,
while the crowds were there to be fed, cheated, or amused.
EXTRACT 3
3. From Dickens, Bleak House
The trooper stands in the doorway, still and silent. Phil has stopped in a low
clinking noise, with his little hammer in his hand. Mr. Woodcourt looks round with
that grave professional interest and attention on his face, and glancing
significantly at the trooper, signs to Phil to carry his table out. When the little
hammer is next used, there will be a speck of rust upon it.
“Well, Jo! What is the matter Don’t be frightened.”
“I thought,” says Jo, who has started and is looking round, “I thought I was
in Tom-all-Alone’s agin. Ain’t there nobody here but you, Mr. Woodcot ”
“Nobody.”
“And I ain’t took back to Tom-all-Alone’s. Am I, sir ”
“No.” Jo closes his eyes, muttering, “I’m wery thankful.”
After watching him closely a little while, Allan puts his mouth very near his
ear and says to him in a low, distinct voice, “Jo! Did you ever know a prayer ”
“Never knowd nothink, sir.”
“Not so much as one short prayer ”
“No, sir. Nothink at all. Mr. Chadbands he wos a-prayin wunst at Mr.
Sangsby’s and I heerd him, but he sounded as if he wos a-speakin’ to hisself, and
not to me. He prayed a lot, but I couldn’t make out nothink on it. Different times
there was other genlmen come down Tom-all-Alone’s a-prayin, but they all
mostly sed as the t’other ’wuns prayed wrong, and all mostly sounded to be a talking to theirselves, or a-passing blame on the t’others, and not a-talkin to us.
WE never knowd nothink. I never knowd what it wos all about.”
It takes him a long time to say this, and few but an experienced and attentive
listener could hear, or, hearing, understand him. After a short relapse into sleep
or stupor, he makes, of a sudden, a strong effort to get out of bed.
“Stay, Jo! What now ”
“It’s time for me to go to that there berryin ground, sir,” he returns with a
wild look.
Module Code: ENGL243 Page 5 of 9 Continued
“Lie down, and tell me. What burying ground, Jo ”
“Where they laid him as wos wery good to me, wery good to me indeed,
he wos. It’s time fur me to go down to that there berryin ground, sir, and ask to
be put along with him. I wants to go there and be berried. He used fur to say to
me, ‘I am as poor as you to-day, Jo,’ he ses. I wants to tell him that I am as poor
as him now and have come there to be laid along with him.”
“By and by, Jo. By and by.”
“Ah! P’raps they wouldn’t do it if I wos to go myself. But will you promise
to have me took there, sir, and laid along with him ”
“I will, indeed.”
“Thankee, sir. Thankee, sir. They’ll have to get the key of the gate afore
they can take me in, for it’s allus locked. And there’s a step there, as I used for to
clean with my broom. It’s turned wery dark, sir. Is there any light a-comin ”
“It is coming fast, Jo.”
Fast. The cart is shaken all to pieces, and the rugged road is very near its
end.
“Jo, my poor fellow!”
“I hear you, sir, in the dark, but I’m a-gropin—a-gropin—let me catch hold
of your hand.”
“Jo, can you say what I say ”
“I’ll say anythink as you say, sir, for I knows it’s good.”
“Our Father.”
“Our Father! Yes, that’s wery good, sir.”
“Which art in heaven.”
“Art in heaven—is the light a-comin, sir ”
“It is close at hand. Hallowed be thy name!”
“Hallowed be—thy—”
The light is come upon the dark benighted way. Dead!
Dead, your Majesty. Dead, my lords and gentlemen. Dead, right reverends
and wrong reverends of every order. Dead, men and women, born with heavenly
compassion in your hearts. And dying thus around us every day.
Module Code: ENGL243 Page 6 of 9 Continued
SECTION B
Choose one of the following unseen passages from works of the period and
undertake a close reading of it, relating it stylistically and thematically to a
text(s) from the module (but have not written on in either your essay or
your Section A answer). Give equal weight to the given passage and the
chosen author. The discussion may focus on dissimilarity as well as (or
instead of) similarity.
NOTE: Italicized sections between the title and text and footnotes provide
details to help you understand the passage, but are not part of the passages
themselves. Footnotes are provided to give context or definitions where
necessary.
EXTRACT 1
From Friedrich Engels, The Condition of the Working-Class in England (1844-
5)
‘The Great Towns’
A town, such as London, where a man may wander for hours together without reaching the
beginning of the end, without meeting the slightest hint which could lead to the inference
that there is open country within reach, is a strange thing. This colossal centralisation, this
heaping together of two and a half millions of human beings at one point, has multiplied the
power of this two and a half millions a hundredfold; has raised London to the commercial
capital of the world, created the giant docks and assembled the thousand vessels that
continually cover the Thames. I know nothing more imposing than the view which the Thames
offers during the ascent from the sea to London Bridge. The masses of buildings, the wharves
on both sides, especially from Woolwich upwards, the countless ships along both shores,
crowding ever closer and closer together, until, at last, only a narrow passage remains in the
middle of the river, a passage through which hundreds of steamers shoot by one another; all
this is so vast, so impressive, that a man cannot collect himself, but is lost in the marvel of
England’s greatness before he sets foot upon English soil.
But the sacrifices which all this has cost become apparent later. After roaming the streets of
the capital a day or two, making headway with difficulty through the human turmoil and the
endless lines of vehicles, after visiting the slums of the metropolis, one realises for the first
time that these Londoners have been forced to sacrifice the best qualities of their human
nature, to bring to pass all the marvels of civilisation which crowd their city; that a hundred
powers which slumbered within them have remained inactive, have been suppressed in order
that a few might be developed more fully and multiply through union with those of others.
Module Code: ENGL243 Page 7 of 9 Continued
The very turmoil of the streets has something repulsive, something against which human
nature rebels. The hundreds of thousands of all classes and ranks crowding past each other,
are they not all human beings with the same qualities and powers, and with the same interest
in being happy And have they not, in the end, to seek happiness in the same way, by the
same means And still they crowd by one another as though they had nothing in common,
nothing to do with one another, and their only agreement is the tacit one, that each keep to
his own side of the pavement, so as not to delay the opposing streams of the crowd, while it
occurs to no man to honour another with so much as a glance. The brutal indifference, the
unfeeling isolation of each in his private interest, becomes the more repellent and offensive,
the more these individuals are crowded together, within a limited space. And, however much
one may be aware that this isolation of the individual, this narrow selfseeking, is the
fundamental principle of our society everywhere, it is nowhere so shamelessly barefaced, so
self-conscious as just here in the crowding of the great city. The dissolution of mankind into
monads,1 of which each one has a separate principle, the world of atoms, is here carried out
to its utmost extreme.
[…]
What is true of London, is true of Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, is true of all great towns.
Everywhere barbarous indifference, hard egotism on one hand, and nameless misery on the
other, everywhere social warfare, every man’s house in a state of siege, everywhere
reciprocal plundering under the protection of the law, and all so shameless, so openly avowed
that one shrinks before the consequences of our social state as they manifest themselves here
undisguised, and can only wonder that the whole crazy fabric still hangs together.
EXTRACT 2
‘Michael Field’, ‘La Gioconda’ (1892)
‘Michael Field’ was the pseudonym for two female writers, Katharine Bradley and her niece
and ward, Edith Cooper. The poem describes Leonardo De Vinci’s painting of the Mona Lisa.
The title refers to the presumed subject of the painting, the noblewoman Lisa del Giocondo.
Historic, side-long, implicating eyes;
A smile of velvet’s lustre on the cheek;
Calm lips the smile leads upward; hand that lies
Glowing and soft, the patience in its rest
Of cruelty that waits and does not seek
For prey; a dusky forehead and a breast
Where twilight touches ripeness amorously:
Behind her, crystal rocks, a sea and skies
Of evanescent blue on cloud and creek;
1 A Greek term meaning an individual or separate unit.
Module Code: ENGL243 Page 8 of 9 Continued
Landscape that shines suppressive of its zest
For those vicissitudes2 by which men die.
EXTRACT 3
From Wilkie Collins, The Moonstone (1868).
The following extract is the opening of the novel.
I address these lines—written in India—to my relatives in England.
My object is to explain the motive which has induced me to refuse the right hand of friendship
to my cousin, John Herncastle. The reserve which I have hitherto maintained in this matter
has been misinterpreted by members of my family whose good opinion I cannot consent to
forfeit. I request them to suspend their decision until they have read my narrative. And I
declare, on my word of honour, that what I am now about to write is, strictly and literally, the
truth.
The private difference between my cousin and me took its rise in a great public event in which
we were both concerned—the storming of Seringapatam, under General Baird, on the 4th of
May, 1799.3
In order that the circumstances may be clearly understood, I must revert for a moment to the
period before the assault, and to the stories current in our camp of the treasure in jewels and
gold stored up in the Palace of Seringapatam.
One of the wildest of these stories related to a Yellow Diamond—a famous gem in the native
annals of India.
The earliest known traditions describe the stone as having been set in the forehead of the
four-handed Indian god who typifies the Moon. Partly from its peculiar colour, partly from a
superstition which represented it as feeling the influence of the deity whom it adorned, and
growing and lessening in lustre with the waxing and waning of the moon, it first gained the
name by which it continues to be known in India to this day—the name of THE MOONSTONE.
A similar superstition was once prevalent, as I have heard, in ancient Greece and Rome; not
applying, however (as in India), to a diamond devoted to the service of a god, but to a semi transparent stone of the inferior order of gems, supposed to be affected by the lunar
influences—the moon, in this latter case also, giving the name by which the stone is still
known to collectors in our own time.