Art, Literature, Images and Sounds of the Industrial Revolution Era

1. Art, Literature, Images and Sounds of the Industrial Revolution Era

2. Before beginning this DBQ, skim through the handout on Romanticism and Impressionism.

3. Delacroix “Liberty Leading the People” 1830 Fighting for liberty during the Revolution in France of 1830. Delacroix was a member of the National Guard, and he placed himself into the picture as the man on the left wearing a top-hat. There is a sense of full participation from the artist.

4. JOHN GAST'S "AMERICAN PROGRESS" (1872) America floats westward thru the air with the "star of empire" on her forehead. She’s left the cities and the Mississippi. She carries a school book-- testimonial of the national enlightenment, while with her left she trails the wires of the telegraph that will bind the nation. Fleeing her approach are Native Americans, buffalo, wild horses, & bears, disappearing into the pacific coast.

5. Sir Edward Burne-Jones “The Last Sleep of Arthur in Avalon, 1898 Burne-Jones was hung up on the Arthurian legends (King Arthur, The Knights of the Round Table). It took him 17 years to paint this. Many of his friends were dying in the 1880’s and he “experienced mounting isolation and painful awareness of his own mortality” which is illustrated here. Over time, he identified himself more & more with Arthur and even slept like Arthur. “Arthur became increasingly autobiographical for the artist as he withdrew into himself .”

6. Richard Wagner, “Flight of the Valkyries” as used in the movie Apocalypse Now Listen to the music……watch the film……….. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30QzJKCUekQ Wagner, German 1813-1883, composer, conductor, theater director

7. Pyotr Tchaikovsky 1840-1893, Russian composer, written as a celebration of Russia’s defense of Moscow against Napoleon’s army at the Battle of Borodino Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgOGl_OWOqg Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qW4C2h3lPac Listen to the music…..

8. Reflection #1: Slides 3-7 are examples of Romantic Nationalism. How do all 5 reflect this style?

9. Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (a novel), 1818 London A really short synopsis of Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus: A young Swiss student discovers the secret of animating lifeless matter and, by assembling body parts, creates a monster who vows revenge on his creator after being rejected from society. A detailed summary: An English explorer, Robert Walton, is on an expedition to the North Pole. In letters to his sister Margaret, he keeps his family informed of his situation and tells about the difficult conditions on the ship. One day when the ship is completely surrounded by ice, a man in bad condition is taken aboard: Victor Frankenstein. He tells Walton the story of his life. He grew up in Geneva, Switzerland as the eldest son of a higher class family. He was brought up with an orphan, Elizabeth and also had two younger brothers. His only friend was Henry Clerval. Frankenstein became interested in natural philosophy, electricity, chemistry and mathematics. He was particularly fascinated with the human frame and the principle of life. After four years of fanatic studying, he was able to "bestow animation upon lifeless matter" and created a monster of gigantic proportion from assembled body parts taken from graveyards, slaughterhouses and dissecting rooms. As soon as the creature opened his eyes, however, the beauty of Frankenstein's dream vanished: it became a horrible creature. He realized he made a mistake in creating this monster and fled from his laboratory. ……………..cont’d……………..

10. On his return the next day, the monster had disappeared. A few months later, he received a letter that his youngest brother had been found murdered. He realized that it was his monster who killed his brother. As he arrived home, he was informed that the murderer of his brother had been found. The accused was Justine, a good friend of the family. When Justine has been found guilty and has been hanged, Frankenstein's heart was tortured. He could not stay in the house and started wandering in the Alpine valleys. There, Frankenstein was confronted with his creation who tells him his life story. After leaving Frankenstein's laboratory, he went to the village where he was insulted and attacked by the frightened villagers. He eventually went to the country and found refuge in a hovel next to small house inhabited by a old, blind man and his two children. By observing the family and by reading their books, the monster learned how to speak and read. He felt compassion for the family who had to struggle to get by, and anonymously did chores for them. Longing for some kindness and protection, he decided to meet his hosts. He got into a pleasant conversation with the blind man but his children returned unexpectedly. Horrified by his appearance, they beat him and he fled the house. Completely disillusioned, the monster was filled with rage and decided to find his creator. By chance he met Frankenstein's younger brother in the forest. As soon as he discovered that the boy "belongs to the enemy" he choked him. He also placed a portrait in the lap of a sleeping young girl, Justine, thereby incriminating her with his crime. The monster’s only request from Frankenstein was that he should create another being: a female to accompany him. He promises they’ll stay away from other people. …………..cont’d……………….

11. Frankenstein saw some justice in the monster's arguments and also felt that he has a duty towards his fellow-man, so he agreed to the monster’s request. Victor left for England to finish his work, promising to marry Elizabeth on his return. When the work on his second creation was advanced, he started to question his promise. He was afraid that they might hate each other, or that they might produce a whole race of these creatures. When the monster visits to check on the progress, Frankenstein destroyed his work. The monster swore revenge. The following day a body was found and Frankenstein was accused of murder. He was taken to the body which he identified as Henry Clerval, his friend. He was eventually cleared of all charges and returned to Geneva in a very bad condition. Frankenstein married Elizabeth after promising her to tell her his horrifying secret the following day. The monster however, kills Elizabeth that night. Frankenstein had now lost every sensation except for revenge. He followed the monster everywhere which eventually led him to the Arctic region, where he was taken aboard Walton's ship. After telling Walton his story, Victor asks him to kill the monster if he dies before he can do it himself. Victor's health eventually deteriorates and he dies. Just after his death, Walton finds the monster hanging over Victor's body. The monster speaks of his sufferings. Because of all the murders he has committed, he now hates himself. Since his creator is dead, he decides it is time that he too will rest in death. After stating that he will build a funeral pile for himself, he leaves the ship and disappears on his ice-raft in the darkness.

12. George Gordon, Lord Byron, “The Isles of Greece”, 1821 The isles of Greece, the isles of Greece!Where burning Sappho loved and sung,Where grew the arts of war and peace,Where Delos rose, and Phoebus sprung!Eternal summer gilds them yet,But all, except their sun, is set...The mountains look on Marathon--And Marathon looks on the sea;And musing there an hour alone,I dreamed that Greece might still be free;For standing on the Persians' grave,I could not deem myself a slave.A king sat on the rocky browWhich looks o'er sea-born Salamis;And ships, by thousands, lay below,And men in nations--all were his!He counted them at break of day--And when the sun set, where were they?...........................cont’d Read the information in the notes section of the slide to help you understand the poem

13. And where are they? And where art thou?My country? On thy voiceless shoreThe heroic lay is tuneless now--The heroic bosom beats no more!And must thy lyre, so long divine,Degenerate into hands like mine?'Tis something, in the dearth of fame, Though linked among a fettered race,To feel at least a patriot's shame,Even as I sing, suffuse my face;For what is left the poet here?For Greeks a blush--for Greece a tear....Must we but weep o'er days more blest?Must we but blush?---Our fathers bled.Earth! render back from out thy breastA remnant of our Spartan dead!Of the three hundred grant but three,To make a new Thermopylae. ………cont’d

14. Trust not for freedom to the Franks---They have a king who buys and sells:In native swords and native ranks,The only hope of courage dwells:But Turkish force and Latin fraudWould break your shield, however broad. Place me on Sunium's marbled steep,Where nothing, save the waves and I,May hear our mutual murmurs sweep;There, swanlike, let me sing and die:A land of slaves shall ne'er be mine--Dash down yon cup of Samian wine!

15. Reflection #2: Slides 9 through 14 are examples of literature representative of the Romantic style. For each, how does it reflect a response to one of the powers of nationalism or industrialism?

16. Edgar Degas “At the Races” 1880

17. House of Parliament, London, Sun Breaking through the Fog 1904 The Thames At Westminster, 1871 Claude Monet

18. Monet- Hyde Park 1871 Gare St. Lazare 1877 (Train Station)

19. Reflection #3: Slides 16, 17 and 18 are examples of Impressionist art and reflects a reaction to nationalism, industrialism and the romantic style. For each work, how does it reflect a response to at least one of these powers?

20. 1870’s family in a railroad compartment

21. The Machinery Department at the Crystal Palace Exhibition, London 1851 (World’s Fair)

22. Reflection #4: Look at slides 20 and 21. What attitudes of machinery and railroads are suggested in these images? What is the overall impression of Britain’s technology these images were intended to convey? What marks these people as middle class? Read the poem at the top of the railroad/family image. What does it suggest about “home” in industrial Britain?