George Gordon, Lord Byron

When a man hath no freedom to fight for at home

 

When a man hath no freedom to fight for at home,

Let him combat for that of his neighbours;

Let him think of the glories of Greece and of Rome,

And get knock'd on the head for his labours,

To do good to mankind is the chivalrous plan,

And is always as nobly requited;

Then battle for freedom wherever you can,

And, if not shot or hang'd, you'll get knighted.

 

Don Juan. The plot

Don Juan, a young gentleman of Seville, is sent abroad by his mother at the age of 16, in disgrace after an intrigue. His ship is wrecked and the passengers take to the long boat. After many tribulations, in the course of which first Juan’s spaniel and then his tutor are eaten by the crew, Juan is cast up on a Greek island. He is restored to life by Haidee, the daughter of a Greek pirate, and the pair fall in love. The father, who is supposed dead, returns, finds the lovers together, and captures the fighting Juan, who is put in chains on one of the pirate’s ships. He is then sold as a slave in Constantinople to a sultana who has fallen in love with him. He arouses her jealousy and is threatened with death, but escapes to the Russian army, which is besieging Ismail. Because of his gallant conduct he is sent with dispatches to St Petersburg, where he attracts the favour of the Empress Catherine, who sends him on a political mission to England. The last cantos (the “English cantos”) of the unfinished work are taken up with a satirical description of social conditions in England and with the love affairs of Juan.

Charlotte Bronte

Emily Bronte

“Wuthering Heights”

THE STORY

Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange are neighboring houses on a wild and windswept moor: The Grange is owned by the Lintons while the Heights is owned by the Eamshaws. Much of the story is narrated by Nelly Dean.

Heathcliff is found on the streets of Liverpool as a child by Eamshaw, who brings him home and raises him as his own child. He is mistreated by Eamshaw's son, Hindley, who takes over the property on his father's death, but he forges an almost incestuously tight bond with Hindiey's sister, Catherine. Catherine, however, decides to marry Edgar Linton. Heathcliff disappears for a number of years, but returns bent on getting revenge on those who mistreated him and on wresting Catherine from Edgar. He marries Edgar's sister Isabella and becomes master of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange.

Catherine dies shortly afterwards and, although he manages to make the lives of those who live in both houses a misery, Heathcliff can, never forget his childhood love. Tired of hating those around him he looks forward to death, which will reunite him with Catherine

I am Heathcliff

Nelly is singing quietly while Heathcliff is sitting and maybe sleeping in a darkened part of the room where he cannot be seen. Nelly is very angry because Catherine has recently insulted both herself and Edgar Linton. Catherine comes in and wants to talk to her.

“Jane Eyer”

The story

Jane is a poor orphan who lives with her aunt, the authoritarian and unfeeling Mrs Reed. Mrs Reed accuses her of lying and as a punishment sends her to Lowood Institution. After an unhappy adolescence there, she becomes a teacher and finds a job as governess to Adele, the illegitimate daughter of Mr Rochester.

Jane and Rochester fall in love, but on their wedding day she discovers that the mysterious mad woman who lives in total seclusion in Rochester's house is really his wife. Despite his desperate pleas Jane run away and is cared for by the Rivers family. She leams that she and the Rivers are cousins and that she has inherited a considerable sum of money. When she is on the point of marrying Reverend St John Rivers and emigrating to India, she telepathically hears Rochester's voice asking her to help him. She goes to Rochester Hall and finds it burnt down. Although Rochester has been blinded, she marries him and his sight is partially restored.

Extract from “Jane Eyre”

‘A careless girl!' said Mr. Brock­lehurst, and immediately after — ‘It is the new pupil I perceive. ’ And before I could draw breath, ‘I must not forget I have a word to say re­specting her. ’ Then aloud: how loud it seemed to me! ‘Let the child who broke her slate come forward!’ Of my own accord I could not have stirred; I was paralysed: but the two great girls who sat on each side of me, set me on my legs and pushed me towards the dread judge, and then Miss Temple gen­tly assisted me to his very feet, and I caught her whispered counsel: ‘Don’t be afraid, Jane, I saw it was an accident; you shall not be punished’.

Another minute, and she will de­spise me for a hypocrite’, thought I; and an impulse of fury against Reed, Brocklehurst, and Co., bounded in my pulses at the conviction. I was no Helen Burns.

‘Fetch that stool’, said Mr. Brock­lehurst, pointing to a very high one from which a monitor had just risen: it was brought.

‘Place the child upon it’.

And I was placed there, by whom I don’t know: I was in no conditions to note particulars; I was only aware that they had hoisted me up to the height of Mr. Brocklehurst’s nose, that he was within a yard of me, and that a spread of shot orange and purple silk pelisses and a cloud of silvery plumage extended and waved below me.

Mr. Brocklehurst hemmed. ‘Ladies’, said he, turning to his family. ‘Miss Temple, teachers, and children, you all see this girl?’

 Of course, they did; for I felt their eyes directed like burning -glasses against my scorched skin. ’You see she is yet young; you observe she possesses the ordinary form of child­hood; God has graciously given her the shape that He has given to all of us;

No signal deformity points her out as a marked character. Who would you think that the Evil One had al­ready found a servant and agent in her? Yet such, I grieve to say, is the case. ’

A pause - in which I began to steady the palsy of my nerves, and to feel that the Rubicon was passed; and that the trial, no longer to be shirked, must be firmly sustained.

‘My dear children’, pursued the black marble clergyman, with pa­thos, ‘this is a sad, a melancholy occasion; for it becomes my duty to warn you, that this girl, who might be one of God’s own lambs, is a little castaway: not a member of the true flock, but evidently an interlop­er and an alien. You must be on your guard against her; you must shun her example; if necessary, avoid her company, exclude her from your sports, and shut her out from your on verse. Teachers you must watch keep your eyes on her move­ments, weigh well her words, scrutinize her actions, punish her body save her soul: if, indeed, such salvation be possible, for (my tongue falters while I tell it) this girl, s child, the native of a Christian land, worse than many a little heathen  who says its prayers to Braham kneels before Juggernaut this girl is - liar!’

Charles Dickens

From “David Copperfield”

Plot

Following the death of his father, David’s mother, Clara, remarries. She ides soon after, so David is left in the care of his cruel and tyrannical stepfather, Mr Murdstone, and his just as unpleasant sister, Miss Murdstone.

David runs away and starts to build a life for himself. He continues his studies in Canterbury and finds a job as a clerk in London. He does not like his job but he has a wide range of contacts and friends, among whom the most memorable are the impecunious but lovable Mr Micawber, and the conniving, greedy Uriah Heep.

He marries Dora, a pretty but silly girl, and launches out on a new career as a writer. When Dora dies, he marries his lifelong friend, Agnes, and becomes a successful writer.