HOW USEFUL IS A TEXT WHEN TRYING TO RECONSTRUCT THE CONDITIONS AND CONVENTIONS OF ELIZABETHAN AND/OR JACOBEAN PERFORMANCE

In deciding the usefulness of a play’s text when trying to reconstruct the conventions and conditions of the stage in order to stage a performance, a close reading of that text is required. Other than undertaking this close examination of a text, in many cases there is no direct proof of the way that actors behaved on the stage in the Elizabethan era, and so this reading gives the analyst the main evidence as to how the play would have been performed in its original state. Conducting such a scrutiny of the text would include looking for examples of such things as embedded stage directions and spoken clues to inform the way that the actors would behave on stage.

Evidence of metadramatic features to show the way that the theatre company’s business would take place off-stage and the way that a play might be learnt would also be found using this method, and clues within the texts could be found which would illuminate aspects of the stage, such as how the discovery space and the trap door might be used could also be learned from the text. Further, the speech of the characters, and the way the words were created by the playwright, would inform the analyst of the uses of gesture within the plays and of the way that the lines would be delivered to the audience within the original performance. The choice of text used when aiming to reconstruct the conventions and conditions of the time is an important factor when approaching this problem; choosing a text that contains a large number of these clues would be vital for the success of the reconstruction. A play such as Hamlet, (Shakespeare, 1993 - All further references involving act, scene and line will refer to this text unless otherwise stated) would be ideal for the reconstruction of an original performance as it contains many of the conventions of the Shakespearean stage within its lines.

It is known that in Elizabethan theatre the stage is a place bare of both scenery and props and that the speeches of the characters convey important information such as the time of the year and the setting of scenes in order that the audience is made aware of these facts. Similarly, the words of the characters can convey a mass of information that the analyst will find useful in trying to re-enact an original performance in the Elizabethan theatre. In seeking to reconstruct how gesture, for example, was used in the original rendition of the plays, the words used in dialogue can show the modern performer, as well as the analyst how gesture could be used in performance - although this is to some extent supposition as there are no physical renditions of Elizabethan performance available for reference. Gesture on the stage allows the viewer of the plays to be able to understand what the performer might be saying, even if the actual words are not heard, or there are no words spoken, as in the case of the ghost at the beginning of Hamlet.

When considering the ghost’s first appearance on the stage, the way that character is to behave can be found in the gestural cues within the words of the other characters. As John Astington states in his paper, Gesture in their Very language: Shakespeare’s Actors and the Body, the ghost ‘…is read entirely through its movement and facial expression…’ (Astington, 2004) This is informed by the words of other characters. Barnado gives the reconstructor the initial clue as to the ghost behaviour in the line

‘It would be spoken to’ (I, i, 48)

This embedded stage direction allows the actor playing the part of the ghost to infer the way that he should behave at this point. Even the way that the ghost departs the stage can be seen within the dialogue of the other characters taking place at that point in the scene, with the line

‘It is offended.

See, it stalks away’ (I, i, 53)

This line shows the way that the ghost could go about leaving the stage, which is reinforced by having two characters showing the behaviour pattern being shown at that point. Following this line, certain actions would be expected of the character referred to, in the way that it moves and indeed the facial expressions used by the actor; an offended ghost would not be smiling, for example.

Understanding embedded stage directions for the actors to follow within the text is an important aspect in the reconstruction of an original performance of Hamlet; however, there are more subtle ways that the words spoken in the play can be used to inform the actor’s behaviour on the stage. For example, using the famous speech of Act III, scene i, ‘To be, or not to be’ (III, i, 56-90) there are a number of examples of the way that the lines spoken can reveal the way that the character could behave on the stage. Simple things like the line

‘Must give us pause – there’s the respect’ (III, i, 68)

allows the actor to literally pause, if he had been walking around the stage. The words give the direction for the actor to follow. According to Patrick Tucker, as a result of his experimental reconstruction of the original way of performing Shakespeare’s plays

‘A pause…is usually a pause for business not just a cessation of talking. Do something…’ (Tucker, 2002, p259)

Therefore, it is clear also that the punctuation, which creates the pause, in the speeches of the actors is important in the delivery of the lines.

Throughout the soliloquy in Hamlet, the way that the actor moves around the stage is affected by the way that the lines are delivered, with the aforementioned pause, and also agitation, until the end of the speech. At this point the speech is directed by the playwright, with an example of caesura:

‘And lose the name of action. Soft you now’ (III, i, 88)

This has the effect of literally stopping the way that the actor is delivering the lines and allowing a pause in the speech. The next lines are important in this also, as the word ‘soft’ within the line allows the actor to begin to speak again, with a different vocal temperament. The soliloquy ends with Hamlet’s speech becoming calm again, ready for his interaction with another character.

Again, taking the ‘To be…’speech, the actor can be informed of aspects of the way to act for a length of time. The way that the playwright constructs the monologue in this case allows an actor to control the tempo of his soliloquy and the temperament of the delivery of that speech. In the beginning of the speech,

‘To be, or not to be, that is the question:’ (III, i, 56)

The punctuation at this point indicates that the way that the lines are spoken is calm, in that there are plenty of opportunities for breathing. However, during this speech, the tempo of the lines speeds up and lends an air of agitation to the words and so the way that the actor moves and the temperament of the delivery of the lines could be affected by this. The punctuation within the lines is important in the way that the speech is delivered. As James Michael Thomas says in Script Analysis for Actors, Directors and Designers ‘Period, commas, exclamation and question marks ellipses and single and double dashing all have distinctive meanings…’ (Thomas, 1999, p.128) Within the soliloquy in question, the placing of the punctuation allows the tempo of the speech to become faster and the character appear more agitated as can be seen at this point:

‘No more; and by a sleep to say we end

The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks

That flesh is heir to...’ (III, i, 61-63)

There is a break in the speech at the end of the word ‘more’ in line 61 and then there is no punctuation until after ‘…is heir to:’ intimating that this is to be said without pause creating the speed in the speech at this point.

When studying the text of a play in order to recreate an original staging of a performance, then it is vitally important to get the correct text. The original spellings, punctuation and indeed entrances and exits for the characters can vary between editions of the texts, and the nearest that the actor will get to the original playwrights scripting of the play is the First Folio version. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that the analyst studies this version of the text, as well as the modern to understand the way that the play was originally performed. According to the actor Ian Richardson in a discussion with Patrick Tucker, ‘Whenever I have a problem with a speech, I go back to the First Folio, for that is an actor’s punctuation…’ (Tucker, 2002) This illustrates the importance of the punctuation in the written text, but also highlights the way that the said text changes throughout the years since its original inception.

The changes that are made to the text of the play by the editors reflect the way that they see it being performed for an audience, but can change according to subsequent performances. Whilst the changes to the script may be sensible to the editor, they are, nevertheless changes that the playwright did not intend. In modern texts, changes to the original directions are shown in the text as being part of the text, and ‘modern’ changes are shown in box brackets. Again, looking at the play, Hamlet the use of box brackets can be seen at the end of Act 1, scene V with the stage directions

[They Swear] (I, i, 163, 169, 189)

This is not in the Quarto 1 version of the play (Shakespeare, 2009), which was written in 1603, and so is contemporary with the playwright. These directions are an editor’s later addition to the play and so are surrounded by box brackets to signify this. Equally, the way that the editor omits things in later productions of a play are visible in the differences between a modern text of a play and the earlier versions. This can be seen in Hamlet by comparing the two texts. The quarto 1 version of the play contains the direction

‘Hamlet leapes in

After Laertes’ (Shakespeare, 2009)

At the equivalent point to Act V, scene I, line 245. In the modern text used for this piece, this stage direction is missing completely, and so perusal of the earliest written text allows these instructions to be rediscovered, just as the way that the punctuation in the earliest texts are a means to see the original way that the playwright intended the speeches to be spoken.

The examples cited here are a very small portion of the way that looking at the text of a play can be used in the recreation of the original conventions and conditions of the Elizabethan theatre. However, the written words of the playwright themselves provide the actor and the reconstructor with the main evidence of how Shakespeare intended the play to be acted. By closely analyzing the text; the sentences, the words and even the punctuation a great deal of information that was written into the plays can be seen, as has been demonstrated herein. Comparing the modern text to the original allows the actor to consider the way that the performance differs to his own modern approach to the role being played, and to change it accordingly. This comparison also allows the stage directions to be modified as needed to allow the action taking place on the stage to closely follow that of the original performers when the play was first performed. In understanding the changes made to the different editions of the play, then the analyst can reconstruct the different aspects of the staging of that play, and so a subsequent reproduction of the play can be successful in showing the way that the original performances would be conducted.

Bibliography

Astington, J; (2004) “Language in their very gesture”: Shakespeare’s Actors and the Body [Online] Available at: http://www.semioticon.com/virtuals/gestures/astingtongesture.pdf Last Accessed 6 December 2009

Longstaffe, S; (2009) Lectures on Shakespeareand Performance; [Lectures to Ba English Students year 3]; September – December 2009

Shakespeare, W; (1993) The Arden Shakespeare: Hamlet; London: Routledge

Shakespeare, W; (2009) Hamlet (Quarto 1, 1603) [Online] Available at: http://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/Annex/Texts/Ham/Q1/Scene Last Accessed 9 December 2009

Thomas, J M; (1999) Script Analysis for Actors Directors and Designers; Oxford: Focal Press

Tucker, P; (2002) Secrets of Acting Shakespeare; London: Routledge

Let Me Begin With the Facts: Stokers Use of the Epistolary Technique in Dracula

How these papers have been placed in sequence will be made manifest in the reading of them. All needless matters have been eliminated, so that a history almost at variance with the possibilities of latter-day belief may stand forth as simple fact. There is throughout no statement of past things wherein memory may err, for all the records chosen are exactly contemporary, given from the stand-points and within the range of knowledge of those who made them. (Stoker, 2000, p2)

The preamble on the previous page is also found at the beginning of the novel Dracula, (Stoker, 2000) and establishes the nature of the narrative as being epistolary. This novel, constructed through different texts including letters, diary entries and newspaper articles, allows the point of view to be that of a number of characters, without the need to provide an omniscient narrator and these documents are woven together in chronological order to form a cohesive narrative. Using this technique in Dracula allows Bram Stoker, the author, to show both public and private documents, placing the reader in a voyeuristic position, almost akin to looking over the shoulder of someone transcribing their private thoughts, this assists in establishing the novel as being precise and trustworthy, with specific facts being reported, regardless of their seeming pedantry, something which Harker’s journal at the beginning of the novel shows very well, with its detailed descriptions of events at Castle Dracula.

The epistolary method of narration in Dracula is significant in that, as well as providing different perspectives, it also allows the inclusion of technology into the novel, through the ways each document is created, this permits the author to comment on contemporary society and the significant happenings of the time, including modern writing methods, such as shorthand or the stenograph which are used to make the original diary entries later transcribed by Mina Harker, the female protagonist of the novel. The film, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, so called because of its supposed adherence to the original text, attempts to recreate the main aspects of the novel (with the significant addition of the love story between Dracula and Mina) and has met mixed reviews when compared to the original text. However, as well trying to follow the narrative technique used by Stoker, the film also aims to recreate the use of technology found in the novel, showcasing late Nineteenth Century advancements throughout the film, some of which are very obvious, like the cinematograph, but others references to modernity in the film are more subtle being visually represented in scenes in the film.

The narrative of the novel Dracula, comprised of a variety of documents, encompasses the full story of the fight against Count Dracula when placed in chronological order. These documents almost resemble evidence with the primary texts corroborated by newspaper clippings and other secondary evidence, drawing the reader into the illusion that what they are reading is based in fact. Stoker, in the 1901 translation of the text into Icelandic (Stoker & Klinger(ed), 2008, p5) writes, ‘I am quite convinced that there is no doubt whatsoever that the events described here really took place…’ (Stoker & Klinger (ed), 2008, p5) and suggests that he is a friend of the real ‘Harker;’ Stoker also makes a tenuous link between Dracula and Jack the Ripper in this preface blurring the distinction between reality and fiction even more. The suggestion of the story as evidential is made explicit in the film adaptation, Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) with Professor Van Helsing, commenting as he joins the narrative

‘For the record, I do attest that, at this point, I Abraham Van Helsing became personally involved with these strange events.’ (Bram Stoker’s Dracula, 1992)

According to David Rogers in the preface to the Wordsworth Classics edition of Dracula; to the Victorians, ‘…reality conforms to that which we observe and then faithfully and meticulously record…’ (Rogers, 2000, pxvi) and this collection of documents, with the attention to detail found within and the way they (mostly) substantiate each other, support the premise of the documents having their basis in reality. Separately, these documents are, as Jonathon Harker says ‘…nothing but a mass of type-writing…’ (Stoker, 2000, p315) especially with the destruction of the originals by Dracula; but these documents nevertheless, when taken together provide the only proof of the Vampire’s existence. This admittance and acceptance, along with the confidential nature of documents such as journals and letters, underpins the whole narrative and helps with the levels of realism that Stoker constructs with his epistolary method of narration.

Stoker promotes the view of the documents being authentic in the way that the journal entries, until Mina begins to transcribe them at least, are the private thoughts of a character; Harker’s journal is explicitly shown to be a private document, with the events in Transylvania ‘…wrapped…up in white paper and tied… with a little bit of pale blue ribbon…and sealed…’ (Stoker, 2000, p88) in order to ensure their not being read. Similarly, Dr Seward admits his potential addiction to Chloral Hydrate to his phonograph, something which a professional doctor would not want to be a matter of public record. Letters are similarly shown as being the private correspondence between confidantes, something Lucy makes explicit in her letter to Mina, ‘P.S. – I need not tell you this is a secret’ (Stoker, 2000, p48). The film adaptation, Bram Stokers Dracula attempts to show this by having Mina disposes of her journal entries to the sea on her voyage to marry Harker; the intimation, after the words ‘Jonathon must never know…’ (Bram Stoker’s Dracula) is that her private documents are to remain as such, despite the bond she is about to make, although the viewer, placed in the same voyeuristic role as in the novel has been privy to this information. However, the confidential nature of the other documents, such as the journals or letters, is not evident in the film adaptation in the way it is in the novel.

Jonathon’s journal, making up the first portion of the novel also establishes the preoccupation with facts that is evident throughout the entire text. From the opening journal page, Jonathon is shown as being preoccupied with facts and specifics, an intrinsic part of his career as a solicitor; describing his journey to Dracula’s castle in minute detail as shown in the opening sentence. ‘3 May. Bistritz. Left Munich at 8.35 p.m. on 1^st May, arriving at Vienna early next morning; should have arrived at 6.46, but train was an hour late.’ (Stoker, 2000, p3) In this entry, Harker gives the first indication of the implicit solidity of documents, using ‘…books and maps in the library…’ (Stoker, 2000, p3) to find out about the Count’s home; this is something revisited in conversation between Harker and Dracula in the castle, when Dracula admits his knowledge of ‘…your great England…’ (Stoker, 2000, p18) is through the pages of the books in his library, which will later aid his being able to integrate with English society. The preoccupation with facts is frequently referred to throughout Harker’s journal, with his being ‘…glad [he] went into detail from the first…’ (Stoker, 2000, p23) on 8^th May and his opening sentence of the 12^th May ‘Let me begin with facts – bare meagre facts, verified…’ (Stoker, 2000, p27) This allows the recognition that the information being presented is fantastic, and indeed that the narrator himself understands this, saying ‘…who reads them may fancy that I dined too well…’ (Stoker, 2000, p6) but that he is ‘…prosaic so far as facts can be...' (Stoker, 2000, p23) and that in reporting these facts, it helps his imagination to ‘…not run riot...' (Stoker, 2000, p23) Here the author is creating a foundation for the way that the documents comprising the novel are thought of. In reiterating throughout the journal of the solicitor, Jonathon Harker, that the events he is reporting are factual and not the fantasy they appear to be; by extension, all the other documents after this should be of the same calibre.

Francis Ford Coppola’s adaptation of the novel, Bram Stoker’s Dracula also attempts to portray the use of documents throughout the film in a similar way to the original text, reflecting the epistolary facets of the written narrative; as discussed, Mina destroys the journal evidence of her secret trysts with Dracula whilst Harker is locked up in his castle, but there are many other instances of text being used within the film. Jacqueline LeBlanc, author of It is not good to note this down maintains that ‘Coppola attempts an accurate rendering of Stoker’s narrative production process…’ (LeBlanc, 1997, p261)and indeed the film does show the various characters producing the documents that make up the novel; Harker is shown writing his journal, Seward speaks to his phonograph and Mina types her diary. The film also shows the use of the telegram and letters with both being physically present and referred to throughout. There is also evidence of the fascination with modernity that Stoker shows through the novel in the use of the technology that constructs these documents, with the characters methods of production being visually represented. But the film also shows how the presence of text does not mean that a thing is fact. In the opening sequence, a cinematic addition to the story featured in the novel, Dracula’s wife, Elizabeta is given false news of her husband’s death via a letter sent in revenge by the Turks causing her to commit suicide; it is this which sets off the chain of events make up both the film and the novel.

After the events at the beginning of both the novel and the film, the so-called ‘Crew of Light’ begins a battle against Dracula;

‘…a battle only one side can win, with representatives of modernity, including scientists, lawyers and technocrats use the tools of Nineteenth Century science and technology and finally conquer the forces of the primitive past.’ (Senf, 1997)

Stoker, in creating Dracula, filled pages of his novel with the technologies of the modern age even down to the way the various texts are constructed in both the novel and the film with technology shown to be a key factor in the defeat of the primitive and evil Count. Bram Stoker, author of Dracula, was a man who ‘…embraced technology…’ (Dawidziak, 2008) and there is evidence of this throughout the novel. The various documents which make up the narrative are created using a variety of modern techniques, which are the result of advances in technology; these include Harkers use of shorthand, Seward using the phonograph to record his journal and the use of telegrams to send messages between the characters. There is even evidence within a journal entry of a telephone being used. At the beginning of the novel, Harker’s journal is ‘…kept in shorthand…’ (Stoker, 2000, p3) and the letter he attempts to smuggle to Mina is written in this medium so ‘…the Count shall not yet know [his] secret…’ Whilst shorthand in itself was not a new invention when the novel was published, having been in use since the dawn of writing (Ager, 2010), Harkers use of this medium is ‘…nineteenth century up-to-date with a vengeance…’ (Davison, 1997) Equally, the scientific Dr Seward uses a phonograph to record his journal, again an up to date piece of equipment; (Machine-History.com, ND) this is a method of recording information he prefers, bemoaning ‘How I miss my phonograph! To write diary with a pen is irksome to me…’ (Stoker, 2000, p279) on the final journey to destroy Dracula. Even Van Helsing makes use of this piece of technology, dictating a letter to Harker through the phonograph on 4^th October. Along with this, the characters make frequent use of the telegram, sending communications back and forth, although this is shown a fallible method when a telegram from Van Helsing to Seward goes astray due to insufficient recipient information resulting in Lucy’s death. Stoker, in doing this‘…places modernity in the foreground, while at the same time, showing us its disturbing limitations…’ (Anderson, 1997, p328) However, technology is not restricted to communication, and is shown to be fundamental in the destruction of Dracula. Mina collates the documents, using her typewriter and manifold to make more than one copy of each document. Manifold, thin sheets of paper which are interleaved with carbon paper was invented early in the century, but became popular with the advent of the typewriter, and this particular aspect of modernity allows there to be a remaining copy when Dracula destroys all the original evidence of his existence, but further allows Mina to piece together from the documents the means by which they can destroy Dracula. When these technologies are added to the epistolary technique they construct, the result is to show a ‘…modern age…conceived as exact, civilised, rational and efficient’ (Senf, 1997, p79) which contrasts directly to the image of Dracula that is shown in the text. He lives in a country which is not mapped, there being ‘…no maps of this country as yet to compare with our own Ordnance Survey maps…’ (Stoker, 2000, p3) (again a reflection of the importance of documents which runs through the novel) which was once ruled by Attila the Hun, and populated by people Harker thinks of as ‘…barbarian…’(Stoker, 2000, p4) The man himself is proud of his long heritage and is glad that his new home of Carfax is an old building, telling Jonathon ‘I am glad that it is big and old… to live in a new house would kill me…’ (Stoker, 2000, p21) This is directly opposite to the modern England of the novel and the characters who eventually destroy him.

Modernity is a significant factor in the 1992 film adaptation of Dracula. In this, Coppola uses technology to show the relative modernity of the late Nineteenth Century, with visual references to a variety of technologies of the time. As already stated, there is reference to telegrams in the film and Mina is shown working at her type-writer; but there are ways in which Coppola inserts technology into the film including the cinematograph. Whilst this does not appear in the novel, the film shows Mina and Dracula visiting this ‘…Wonder of the modern world…’ (Bram Stoker's Dracula) an invention from 1895, which makes it very contemporary to the writing of Dracula. However, there are other more subtle ways in which the modernity of the late Nineteenth Century is shown. For example, Dr Seward uses gas lamps in his quarters within the hospital and Van Helsing admits that the process of blood transfusion is experimental when attempting to save Lucy’s life. Whilst the cinematograph in the film is used as a metaphor, according to LeBlanc, for ‘…the Count’s foreplay… [and]…remind[s] us of the monstrous threat of unregulated technology…’ (LeBlanc, 1997, p261/262) nevertheless the use of this and other technology in the film is reminiscent of the technologies found in the pages of the novel, reflecting the modernity of an England able to defeat the ancient evil which is Dracula.

The epistolary narration method of the novel Dracula is a matter which can withstand a great amount of analysis, covering subjects as diverse as the battle between modernity and antiquated society, or the relationship between the written word and fact. However this method of narration, within the context of the novel, can also be seen to represent a host of other issues relevant to the time in which the novel was written, such as the ‘New Woman’ question which was becoming prevalent at this time, which has not been mentioned here. The narration method also shows aspects of English society which the author himself was sensitive to, as with modernity and the emergence of new technologies; the way the documents are constructed and reassembled shows this fascination without the need for the author to bring explicit attention to them. Both the representation of modernity and the use of documents as the foundation for the narrative are attempted in the film adaptation by Francis Ford Coppola, even down to using excerpts from the novel as the basis for parts of the script, showing the characters constructing some of the documents which the novel is made of from the technologies of the late Victorian era and obliquely making reference to a variety of other modern equipment. Whilst it is true, as the preamble states that the novel contains ‘…a history almost at variance with the possibilities of latter-day belief…’ (Stoker, 2000, p2) the basis of both the novel and the film being a variety of texts allows the narrative to be thought of as potentially factual and the characters who make up this story, along with the secondary texts which are used to corroborate the journals, telegrams and letters create a story which could almost be considered as evidence of the existence, and destruction, of the Vampire, Count Dracula.

Bibliography

Ager, S (2010) Shorthand [Online] Available at: http://www.omniglot.com/writing/shorthand.htm Last Accessed 20 April 2010

Anderson, R (1997) Dracula, Monsters and the Apprehensions of Modernity in in Davison, C M (1997) Bram Stoker’s Dracula: Sucking Through the Century, 1897-1997; Headington: Durdon Press

Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) Directed by Francis Ford Coppola [Blue-Ray] London: Sony

Davison, C (1997) Blood Brothers: Dracula and Jack the Ripper in in Davison, C M (1997) Bram Stoker’s Dracula: Sucking Through the Century, 1897-1997; Headington: Durdon Press

Dawidziak, M (2008) The Bedside, Bathtub & Armchair Companion to Dracula; London: The Continuum International Publishing Group

Griswell, J (2008) Dracula: Bram Stoker Meets Francis Ford Coppola [Online} Available at: http://dc.cod.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1065&context=essai Last Accessed 20 April 2010

Hughes, W (2009) Bram Stoker’s Dracula: A Readers Guide to Essential Criticism; Basingstoke: Macmillan

LeBlanc, J (nd) It is Not Good to Note This Down in Davison, C M (1997) Bram Stoker’s Dracula: Sucking Through the Century, 1897-1997; Headington: Durdon Press

Machine-History.com (nd) The Phonograph, 1877 thru 1896 [Online] Available at: http://www.machine-history.com/The%20Phonograph.%201877%20thru%201896 Last Accessed 20 April 2010

Marsden, S (2010) Lectures on Film and Literature; [Lectures to Ba English Students year 3]; January – February 2010

Rogers, D (2000) Introduction to Dracula in Stoker, B (2000) Dracula; Ware: Wordsworth Editions

Stoker, B (2000) Dracula; Ware: Wordsworth Editions

Stoker,B & Klinger L (ed) (2008) The New Annotated Dracula; New York: Norton

THE CONTINUING ROLE OF CHRISTIANITY IN POPULAR CHILDRENS LITERATURE

Until relatively recently, the United Kingdom has been a predominantly Christian country, following the precepts of the Bible, with all aspects of life being influenced by the teachings of the Christian faith and the underlying assumptions concerning good and evil and this has included literature; as recently as the 1950’s and the publication of CS Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia, religious imagery and allegories, such as the apple, the serpent and the rainbow, being easily recognisable to the reader. However, in the years since the Narnia series was published, English society has become increasingly multi-cultural and the dominance of Christianity has declined, in favour of other religious views and the acceptance of these ideologies over traditional Christianity. In the words of religious academic Edward Cahill,
Christianity has moved through its history from a position of almost absolute dominance in the determination of cultural, social and economic patterns to its present precarious position as a vestigial institution on the periphery of our civilization. (Cahill, 1974) The result of this ideological shift is that specifically Christian symbols which were recognisable to the majority of readers in the early post war period, are no longer as evident to the modern reader, as illustrated by Francis Bridger in A Charmed Life: The Spirituality of Potterworld, (2002) when he says ‘…the blatantly allegorical elements are generally lost on its millions of young readers.’ (p22-23) This was reinforced by a recent informal poll amongst University of Cumbria English students, who after reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Lewis, 2001) were asked about the presence of Christianity within this novel, and only a minority understood the religious episode alluded to in the text. (Bradshaw, 2010)

Despite this apparent move into what is being posited by critics as a Post-Christian culture, the fiction being produced contains many of the same allegories and biblical references as previous works using Christian interpretations of good and evil; but latter day novels are not being understood as having Christian significance due to the multicultural nature of society in modern Britain. An example of a misunderstood text containing specific Christian allegories is Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone by JK Rowling (2000); when this text was published it was denounced for its ‘…tone of death, hate, lack of respect and sheer evil’ (Usborne, 1999) and The Pope, before his ordination to the papacy, condemned the series as containing ‘…subtle seductions, which act unnoticed and by this deeply distort Christianity in the soul, before it can grow properly.’ (Blakely, 2005) This interpretation of the text, however, does not account for some of the explicit Christian imagery found within the pages of the series, imagery which is accepted as being fundamentally Christian in older works such as The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, or the way the text highlights the triumph of good over evil, despite the minor transgressions of the characters.

According to the Bible, when God created humankind, he endowed them with free will as highlighted in the final verses of the book of Revelations; that is, they were given the ability to choose for themselves whether to live by the rules He provided, or to give in to temptation and choose to follow the Devil, as Eve did in the Garden of Eden, when she ate the fruit of the ‘…tree of the knowledge of good and evil’ (Genesis, 2:17) known to Christians as the Fall from Grace. Eve was not acting out of evil intentions when she ate the fruit, but rather was tempted by the serpent telling her she would ‘…be like God, knowing both good and evil.’ (Genesis, 3:5) In itself, this is a worthy aspiration for all Christians; however, the way that Eve achieved her objective was through disobedience, having been specifically forbidden this fruit, and as a result both she and Adam were cast out of the Garden of Eden. (Some Christian groups believe that this resulted in all humans to be born with the predetermined tendency to evil, known as the Original Sin.) Fortunately, God sent his Son as an ambassador (known as the Incarnation) and Christ offered a man chance to live according to Gods laws and to be forgiven all their sins, and he was crucified at Calvary in order to heal the rift between man and God created by Eve in the Garden of Eden (The Atonement.) This central Christian message is evident in some of the most famous children’s fiction published in the Twentieth Century, including The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, with the notion of free will and temptation being explored in various ways throughout both of the texts and the parallels with the Bible are clearly evident.

In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the character of Aslan the Lion, accepted by many critics as representative of Christ forgives Edmund Pevensie for betraying his siblings, and Aslan himself, to the White Witch, he also allows himself to be killed on the Stone Table in Edmunds stead, clearly echoing the story of the Crucifixion in the Bible. As with Eve in the Garden of Eden, Edmund is not acting in a deliberately evil manner; he is tempted by the White Witch who, like the serpent in the Garden of Eden, offers Edmund the thing he most desires, which is, in his view, to be treated better, just as Eve wished to be more like God. This is not an evil desire, but a selfish one nevertheless, especially as his treatment is not very harsh, or undeserved, but Edmund ‘…suffers as a result…’ (Ringrose, 2006) and is punished through his subsequent treatment at the hands of the witch, until rescued by Aslan’s followers and forgiven his sin. In this, Edmund represents humanity and Lewis condenses the Fall, the Incarnation and the Atonement into the events of one child.

In the Harry Potter series of novels, JK Rowling is able to show her characters as able to exercise free will, and also to resist (or give in to) the temptation for selfish desires. Arriving at Hogwarts school and undergoing the sorting, Harry does not want to join the Slytherin house, although this would allow him ‘…help…on the way to greatness, no doubt about that…’ (Rowling, 2000, p91) and this is taken into account by the Sorting Hat. Connie Neal, in The Gospel According to Harry Potter, (2002) says that ‘Harry resisted evil, and was sorted into Gryffindor…and did not yield to the hat’s suggestion…’ Harry is also able to exercise the will to overcome temptation at the climax of the novel, in that when he is looking for the Philosophers Stone, it is not for the sake of any desire, such as the eternal life or riches promised the holder of the stone; instead he is able to ‘…find the stone and not use it…’ (Rowling, 2000, p217) understanding that this is the only way to stop Professor Quirell and by extension the evil Lord Voldemort gaining the power contained in the stone. Hagrid, in this novel is shown as a comparison to Harry, in that he allows himself to be tempted by the disguised Professor Quirrell and the promise of an illegal Dragons egg, divulging vital information which allows Lord Voldemort to gain access to the Mirror of Erised. Here is another direct analogy to Eve’s temptation in the Garden of Eden; as with Edmund, Hagrid is not acting with evil intentions, but his desire results in the betrayal and subsequent danger of his friends.
Through the entire Harry Potter series, one of the major motifs in the texts is that of the Ultimate Sacrifice. Repeatedly, Rowling makes it known that Harry’s mother Lily sacrificed her own life in order to save Harry, and this sacrifice acts as a sheild; it is this that allows her son to be ‘Harry Potter – the boy who lived’ (Rowling, 2000, p18) and the residual protection of this helps to keep Professor Quirrell from the Philosophers Stone. As Dumbledore explains to Harry at the end of the first novel,

…love as powerful as your mother’s for you leaves its own mark…to have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection for ever. It is in your very skin.’ (Rowling, 2000, p216)

This is an explicitly religious message couched in the metaphor of Harry’s mother. The Bible teaches that ‘God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only son…’ (John 3:16) Jesus Christ to be crucified at Golgotha in Calvary, making the largest sacrifice he could to ensure the continued survival of mankind. The parallels between this and the sacrifice of Lily Potter are striking; Lily Potter made the greatest sacrifice she could in order to ensure the survival of her son, freely forfeiting her own life to protect her him and this, as with God’s sacrifice, allows Harry to ‘…not perish but have…life.’ (John 3:16) In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, this is one of the most famous and recognisable allegories, with Aslan the Lion allowing himself to be killed in order to save the life of one of the ‘sons of Adam.’ (Lewis, 2001, p40) Explicitly echoing the story of The Crucifixion and The Atonement, Aslan is ridiculed and humiliated before being killed, watched by Susan and Lucy, just as Jesus was at his death in Matthew Chapter 27; he is then resurrected, heralding a new era in Narnia. As with Lily Potter, Aslan makes the ultimate sacrifice when he allows himself to be killed in order for Edmund to live. Both Aslan and Lily Potter, like God, make this sacrifice not for selfish reasons, but in the name of love. This is a concept that evil cannot comprehend; the White Witch calls Aslan a fool for his willingness to die for Edmund and Lord Voldemort equally cannot understand why Harry survived the killing curse or the power behind Lily’s sacrifice.

In the Bible, Christ died knowing that he would be restored to ‘…drink wine again…with you in my Father’s Kingdom.’ (Matthew 26:29) This aspect of the Crucifixion is explicitly analogised in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as Aslan goes to his death willingly in order to save Edmunds life; Aslan, like Christ, knows that he will be resurrected as he is ‘…a willing victim who had committed no treachery…’ (Lewis, 2001, p176) just as Jesus was free from sin and so would be reunited with his apostles after his crucifixion. Following Aslan’s death he is restored to life through the power of the deeper magic, which allowed ‘…death itself [to] start working backwards,’ (Lewis, 2001, p176) just as the power of God allowed Christ to be crucified at Calvary and subsequently resurrected and furthermore to allow his followers to enjoy eternal life. Evidence of The Resurrection can also be found in the pages of Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, although not as explicitly as in the pages of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, or even in the final novel of the Harry Potter series. At the end of the first novel Harry, according to John Granger‘…dies a figurative death’ and is ‘…saved by love…in [Philosophers] Stone.’ (Granger, 2006, p27) Love, in this novel is comparable to the deeper magic found in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and indeed the love of God for mankind which enables Christians to survive death and ‘…inherit the Kingdom prepared…’ (Matthew, 26:34) and ‘…go into eternal life.’(Matthew, 26:46) It is also, as already discussed, a concept which the evil characters such as Lord Voldemort or the White Witch, cannot understand or overcome.

Whilst these examples of the contents of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone underscore specific Biblical episodes, there is a fundamental message in the both of the novels which highlights the basic principle of good triumphing over evil. One of the basic ways this is shown in Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone is in the construction of the Hogwarts houses. Harry and his friends are in Gryffindor House, with its badge of the Red Lion, and his nemesis Draco Malfoy belongs to Slytherin House, represented by the Serpent. In using the Lion and the Serpent as the symbols of the houses, Rowling employs some of the most established literary images which allow her to represent good and evil; these symbols have been used throughout literature, with the Red Lion similar to that found on Peter’s shield in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and its ‘…allu[sion] to the biblical Lion of Judah. (Wood, 2001) and the serpent appearing as Satan’s representative in the Garden of Eden and traditionally being associated with this evil; the Book of Revelations calls Satan ‘…the ancient serpent…the one deceiving the whole world…’ (Revelations 12:9) The battle under the school at the end of Harry Potter is clearly defined as having Harry as a ‘good’ character and Professor Quirrell and Lord Voldemort as the ‘bad’ characters, and Harry himself understands ‘…that this was a matter of life and death, good versus evil.’ (Neal, 2002, p33) The characters in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe are also clearly defined as being either good or evil, with bad characters recognisable by their ugliness and described as’...monstrous...evil... and poisonous...’ (Lewis, 2001, p163)

In an interview after the publication of the final novel in the Harry Potter series, author JK Rowling said that she thought the religious parallels were obvious, but that she ‘…thought it might show people who just wanted the story where [it was] going." (Adler, 2007) and so had refused to be drawn to discuss the religious significance of the novels. However, it is clear upon a close reading that the religious symbolism running throughout the Harry Potter novels is as evident as that found in the Chronicles of Narnia, including the representations of sacrifice and resurrection, both of which are deeply religious symbols. There is also a clear attempt to portray the religious idea of free will, and to show that everyone has the ability to choose their own path, as with Edmund in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Harry in Philosophers Stone. Furthermore, as with other children’s fiction, the depiction of good and evil within the novels is clear and easily identified, but complicated by the free will man is endowed with and the repercussions of giving in to temptation.


Bibliography

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Blakely, R (2005); Pope Criticises Harry Potter [Online] Available at: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article543521.ece Last Accessed 29 March 2010
Bradshaw, P (2010) Lectures on 20th Century British Children’s Fiction [Lectures to Ba English Students year 3] January 2010 – April 2010
Brennan, M (2010); The Lion, the Witch and the Allegory: An Analysis of Selected Narnia Chronicles [Online] Available at: http://cslewis.drzeus.net/papers/lionwitchallegory.html Last Accessed: 29 March 2010
Bridger, F (2002); A Charmed Life: The Spirituality of Potterworld; London: Darton, Longman & Todd
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Granger, J (2006) Looking for God in Harry Potter; Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers
Lewis, CS (2001) The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; London: HarperCollins
Neal, C (2002); The Gospel According to Harry Potter; Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press
Ringrose, C (2006) Lying in Children’s Fiction: Morality and the Imagination [Online] Available at: https://gateway.cumbria.ac.uk/content/r252j328kn7x7052/,DanaInfo=.awxyCwuxpvpo2xv1zPt65+fulltext.pdf Last Accessed: 5 April 2010
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Is studying an English Degree an easy option?

During the last three years upon mentioning I am studying an English degree, the response has generally been ‘English? How hard is it to read a few books?’ delivered in a sneering tone; leaving me feeling that people perceive this subject as being an easy, or ‘soft option’. The literal answer to this question is that it is not hard to read a book; but that is not the reason I have spent my time and money studying an English degree. I was already able to read; indeed I have read extensively throughout my life so far. I wanted, instead, to be able to see past what is written to what is meant in a text, something that is a lot harder than reading. I returned to education after a long break and although reading has always been my favourite pastime, being called ‘bookish’ in school reports, automatically given library duties as a prefect and amassing a collection of over 1300 books, the standards needed at degree level took me by complete surprise. Studying this ‘easy’ degree has changed so much more than my reading, including the way I think and even the way I watch TV (not that there is any time for such a frivolous activity!) Gone are the lazy days of believing the word on the page or images on the screen, replaced instead by an inquisitiveness to understand deeper meanings, a quality that has been painstakingly cultivated through lectures and seminars, exercising my mind in a way similar to that of athletes training for competitions and no one says that is easy!

When I began the degree course, I was a voracious reader, reading a novel within a day or two; taking at face value the words written on the page - easy reading in other words, and although I still read widely, the way I do this has changed dramatically. Now, instead of greedily consuming a text and moving on to the next one, I read slowly, which allows the words to sink into my head and to understand better what is being said, which I don’t always want to do, especially if I am reading something that does not stand much analysis, like the ‘formulaic’ and ‘generic’ adventure fiction of Clive Cussler. Evenings filled with playing on the Xbox, or taking long leisurely baths seem like a distant memory, replaced by a necessity for (as it is known in the trade) close reading. I find that I need to read some books two or even three times through, each time discovering a new motif which needs careful consideration. So much for easy reading!

One of the things I was unprepared for when I began studying was the amount of other disciplines I would need get to grips with in order to gain a full understanding of a piece of literature, as with the poetry of Seamus Heaney which I studied in the first year. During the first lecture on the Irish poet I listened incredulously as I was told this poem directly correlated to the Troubles in Northern Ireland; I felt my heart sink and wondered how on earth I would manage to graduate if I did not even understand this obviously basic interpretation of poetry. However, perseverance, the study of Irish history and an open mind enabled me to understand his writing, and also led me to appreciate how important the context and the background around a piece of literature are when trying to understand it. This degree also required a sound grasp of sociology, which like history I had never significantly considered before; but it was quickly evident that it was essential to the successful study of English Literature, resulting in long nights revisiting my partner’s A-level sociology notes and textbooks in order to know what is meant by the terms ‘post-modernism’ or ‘Marxism’.

As a ‘mature’ student, I had to make a large number of changes in my life as a result of studying; I have, in effect, put life on hold in order to complete this degree. I have missed friend’s birthdays and my children’s school plays in order to be at lectures; I have spent evenings at home, when others have been out carousing and having a good time, so I can have an essay finished early - although I have saved a fortune in babysitting costs! Joking aside though, this degree has not been an easy option by any means; apart from the studying itself, there have been times when I have thought the cost too great, that I have neglected aspects of life that are important, like school events and friends. So to those people who consider that an English degree to be a soft option let me say this.

Studying an English degree is more than reading; it is learning to understand the words written by another person and knowing what they are saying, over the span of centuries in some cases. It is being able to articulate what that author is saying underneath the words, even when the author does not realise it. Being an English student is regretfully looking at the pile of Christmas present novels sitting in the corner and knowing that they will not be read, because the pile next to the bed are needed for the next essay that is due in and then there will be the one after that; it is having to get to grips with a theoretical perspective such as Marxism or Feminism so that you can discuss it in the next seminar and know what you are talking about. An English degree is about studying history and sociology as well as English literature and giving up leisure time to understand what is being studied by re-reading things over and over again; But, studying an English degree is also about learning to understand the world around you in a new way, listening to the opinions of other people, and accepting their interpretations; it is also about personal development and learning to ask for advice rather than struggling on and accepting that I am not superwoman who can do everything alone. So, while it may be easy to read a book there is so much more to an English degree that that, and while I have sometimes struggled and had to push myself to finish a piece of work, it has been worth every late night and unread Christmas present; I can now not only read that book, but I can understand it too!