Courtney's Class Summary Essay

Class Summary of February 1, 2011

We started off class with a short celebration of the 200th birthday of H.H. that so conveniently coincided with our reading of “In Memoriam”. Unfortunately, it was not much of a party because there were no presents, i.e. no rewards quiz, and no snow day, as hoped for.

Through the class period we discussed the intersecting topic of Religion and Science, paired with a smattering of Victorian Ladies and Gentleman as read in the Early Victorian texts of Felicia Hemans’ “Epitaph on Mr. W--” and Alfred Tennyson’s “In Memoriam”. We explored the ways in which these authors subtly, and at times, blatantly, show the Victorian social climate in which so many new scientific discoveries brought about doubt in religion, questioning faith in the face of science and their attempts to reconcile these ideas.

We began discussion in a large group. Foss briefly glossed some helpful background information on Felicia Hemans’ (or “He-man” as Byron branded her) on pages 19 and 20 in Victorian Women Poets that gave insight to her writing as a very popular female poet (more popular than Byron) and how her poems, once thought to be overly simplistic in her often family value focused poems from a seemly conservative point of view, can be read between the lines as subtle criticism. Foss gave a stirring rendition of “Mr. Dub-yah” after which we went through the poem, analyzing whether Hemans meant this poem to be just playful teasing of scientific earnest and male scientific pretension, or if it could be found to have a more subtle questioning of religion, greater than science. Although the playful nature of the poem, poking fun at Mr. W, was obvious, we read the poem as more deeply containing a critique on science and religion. Hemans makes seeming comparisons between science, religion, and ancient Druid myths (Foss had us consider other similar folklore, such as Paul Bunyan) for explanations of the world and natural disasters (lines 8-10), comparing science and religion to fantasy and ancient myths, potentially implying the Christian narrative being no different from ancient explanations. Hemans goes further to mock Mr. W’s death and choice of burial as being pagan materialism (see footnotes for lines 17-22) with his choice of treasure, “favourite stones” (line 19) and perhaps gives the suggestion that even Mr. W will not be relevant in 100 years, as myths lose their relevance over time. Hemans also repeatedly characterizes the “hostile” (line 35) nature of his science, comparing it as a tool of knowledge to be that of a destructive “hammer” (line 19), that was amore potent in Hemans’ companion poem “The Hammer”, which Foss orated exuberantly, with the personification of Mr. W as a hammer, perhaps ultimately suggesting his work as useless.

After a brief biography of Tennyson and his failed woodchucking schemes, we then divided into 6 small groups, each given a section of “In Memoriam”, to attempt to conquer Tennyson’s monumental poem and characterize the speaker’s fluctuating view of religion, doubt, and faith in different parts of the poem, and then work together in a large group to put the pieces together. Group 1 reported on the chunk containing the introduction to section 8, characterizing this piece of the poem as being “faithy” (new word), doubtful, and questioning, with the narrator comparing God’s omnipotence to blind Sorrow, and no longer finding comfort in the afterlife, questioning the possibility of being triumphant over death. Group 2 reported on sections 9-24, seeming to idolize A.H.H. and make him “half -divine” (section 14, line 10), questioning resurrection, and the view of paradise on earth. The group concluded that in this section the speaker is trying to be hopeful, but God’s paradise on earth and the promise of an afterlife is seen as little consolation. Group 3 reported on sections 27-59 as being an “emotional nadir” (as in the words of the editors) in the poem, being the most obviously doubtful. They found section 50 to be able to be read as prayerful not to God, but to A.H.H., and sections 54-55 characterizing the struggle between a loving God and harsh nature, questioning God’s omnipotence over death and if there can really be a reason for everything, even death. Group 4 presented sections 67-94 as being characterized by a change of capital “Doubt” versus lowercase “doubt”, and a more hopeful tone with section 80 where the narrator is able to be comforted by God’s peace. Group 5, in charge of sections 95-107 showed much more hope in the narrator with his ability to embrace doubt as a good thing that strengthened his faith once he overcame it. Group 6, bestowed with sections 108 through the Epilogue, concluded the narrator’s journey of renewal of faith, moving from a focus on death to the celebration of a marriage and new life.

Although we did not have time to finish our discussion on “In Memoriam”, or have an update on Wiki material that had to be delayed until next class period, we were still able to find many instances of changing and complex views of doubt and religion in Victorian literature that reflected the changing mood of the times. We could not conclude with a concrete stance on religion as it was it was shaken by science, but found instances of both more permanent doubt, and also some ways in which, as Tennyson’s narrator of “In Memoriam” suggests, that this age was possibly able to strengthen faith through doubting.