Atonement: Coming of Age as a Writer

This week we went to the British Library and viewed the original Magna Carta, written in 1215. This document inspired reform throughout the millennium. There are several references to the Magna Carta in important documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. The Magna Carta was originally a peace agreement between King John and his barons. The Magna Carta demanded regulated administration of justice, free trade, and imposed limitations on royalty. The Magna Carta was reinterpreted many times over the centuries, and even though it started out being a very narrow document (only for the elite English barons), it has morphed into a document that people from all over the world claim and use to defend their rights.

As we studied Atonement this week, we visited the Imperial War Museum. While the WWII exhibit had many artifacts, this one in particular caught my eye. In Atonement, one of the main characters, Robbie, serves in the war and is injured at the Battle of Dunkirk. Robbie dies waiting for a boat to take him back across the channel to England. This small boat was used to export the soldiers evacuating France. Being in this exhibit really helped me visualize what it might've been like to be in the war––the horrors, as well as the triumphs.

This is the Imperial War Museum. Before it became a museum, this building was Bedlam Insane Asylum. Our professor pointed out that this site choice for the museum might be a commentary on the war. This sentiment was reflected in Atonement. War can be seen as heroic, inspiring, and can bring out the best, and worst, in individuals. However, war is always insane.

At the Florence Nightingale Museum, we saw many books that Florence wrote. She was passionate about nursing and hygiene. Florence wrote about travel, religion, philosophy, and sanitation. She helped start a nursing school at St. Thomas' Hospital––the oldest hospital in England. In Atonement, both Briony and Cee attend the Florence Nightingale school at St. Thomas. They learn the values of selflessness, obedience, and respect. Briony also wrote books during and after her time working as a nurse in WWII. Briony had an imaginative take on her work, compared to Florence's rhetorical writings. Briony and Florence both had a strong desire for order and were obsessed with organization. These traits served them well as battlefield nurses.

This is one of my favorite finds at the Florence Nightingale Museum. This is the nursing uniform that Cee and Briony would've worn while they were nurses at St. Thomas. This uniform was hard-won and the nurses who were allowed to wear them were proud to display their dedication to service.

A Room with a View: Coming of Age as a Traveller

Our first visit this week was to the Soane Museum. This house belonged to the neo-classical, nineteenth century architect, Sir John Soane. Here we discovered the ideas of the Grand Tour: Beauty, Democracy, and History. Privileged young men often went on Grand Tours to network with other men, and to study their own vocation. Soane brought back many artistic and architectural artifacts that he collected on his journey. In A Room with a View, Lucy learns that travel is about more than bringing back souvenirs. Travel is about experiences and culture and about how one's view of the world can be altered.

This is Soane's alabaster sarcophagus––a renowned piece of Egyptian history. Soane had many artifacts from his travels, primarily from: Greece, Rome, Egypt and China. Lucy Honeychurch buys postcards as her "artifacts," but isn't allowed to keep them. Instead of collecting things abroad, Lucy collects ideas.

This is a painting we discovered in the National Gallery by Pollaiuolo titled, Apollo and Daphne. Greek and Roman myths were popular subjects for Florentine decor. The painting depicts Apollo, the sun god, pursuing Daphne, the nymph. Daphne goes to the great length of turning into a tree to preserve her virtue. This was a pointed message to the women of the day.

This is another painting we discussed at the National Gallery––The Combat of Love and Chastity by Gherado di Giovanni del Fora. This painting illustrates Petrarch's poem, The Triumph of Chastity. In the painting, Love's arrow shatters against Chastity's shield. Chastity, portrayed as a woman in white, holds a chain with which she will bind Love. This painting reinforces the idea that a woman's virtue is valued above love. Lucy Honeychurch is shielded by the confines of her society and has to choose to remove the barrier that has been placed in front of her.

This painting from Tate Britain is by J. M. W. Turner. It is titled, The Bay of Baiae, with Apollo and Sibyl. Turner's views of travel and the world seem to fit nicely with Lucy Honeychurch's. The two concentrate on the culture around them instead of simply visiting the area as a tourist. Turner places the viewer in the middle of every scene, trying to evoke emotion. He's more interested in the way a place smells and feels, and the way people interact with the landscape.

Brideshead Revisited: Coming of Age as a Skeptic (and Believer)

This is a monument to the fallen soldiers in WWII from Christ Church at Oxford (this monument was right at the entrance to the cathedral). The beginning and end of Brideshead Revisited is set in the midst of WWII. It was interesting to see the correlation between war and the need for religion. 

This is Christ Church's quadrangle. I loved seeing this place because it really helped me to visualize Charles and Sebastian's world as young students at Oxford. 

This is the cathedral at Christ Church. Even though the church is technically protestant, the architecture and the alter (especially the crucifix in the middle) strongly suggests a Catholic background. This paradox reminds me of the constant struggle in Brideshead between the comparative "ease" of the Church of England and the strong hand of the Catholic church.

This sink belongs to the lady of the house in Eltham Palace. The palace originally belonged to the Tudors. A wealthy couple purchased the estate in the first half of the twentieth century and decided to renovate the palace. The lady of the house claimed the Tudor rose as her own and had it engraved on her faucets. This reminds me of how the Flyte family took the ruins of an ancient castle and built a new estate on the property. A mix of old and new––a constant struggle for identity. 

This is Hampton Court Palace––the home of many royals through the ages. Each dynasty added on to the estate, establishing their own distinct style. On the left is the baroque style: symmetrical, light, and orderly. On the right is a continuation of the same building, but in the Tudor style. This helped me visualize Charles' conversion to the baroque.

A bonus picture I found after class that really explained how the architecture reflected the religion and monarchy of the time. 

Jane Eyre: Coming of Age as a Worker

This shirt is part of the uniform children wore at the Foundling Museum we visited. Embroidered on the necks are phrases that teachers said to the children while they were there. This one struck me in particular because Jane Eyre also faces this accusation as a young orphan.

This wall of "tokens" at the Foundling Museum represents the love of the mothers who had to give up their children due to poverty or illegitimacy. Tokens were sometimes left with the children to allow them to have an item from a loved one. 

This staircase led to the second floor of the Foundling Museum. Next to the stairs was a poem an orphan girl wrote about the spirit of the staircase and all the mothers who had abandoned their children there. While Jane's mother and father were middle class citizens, being an orphan without fortune reduced her to a working class existence. 

At the Geffrye Museum of Interior Design, we explored middle class life through the ages. In Jane Eyre's time, well-bred women were women of leisure. That was the mark of the genteel. However, Jane is never content to just knit stockings or play music. She aspires for greater intellectual pursuits. 

The nineteenth century artwork at the Tate Britain is full of symbolism about the role of women in society. One painting by Emily Osborn (1828-1925) titled Nameless and Friendless depicts a widowed woman attempting to sell her paintings at an art gallery. Instead of appraising the artwork, the men in the background are appraising the lady painter.