Ok,
So, I checked out the OED, and it turns out that "labyrinthial" is a word, and so is "dyscalculia." So, although we didn't make up new words... we did use some obscure ones. Huzzah.
If you're on campus, you can check out the definitions by clicking here and here.
Labyrinthial's entry is especially uninteresting. Poor adjective.
Also, in regards to Mr. Norrell and Jonathan Strange as a Gothic novel:
Dr. Burke (my 499 professor) always goes on about how the Gothic (the lovechild of Romance and Horror) has to do with secrets and the supernatural. The "secret" theme can come out in the form of secret passage ways/doors (big with the Gothic architecture thing), familial secrets, secret identities, secret hobbies (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde), etc. The supernatural element is usually some sort of undead or creepy superhuman ability, but can certainly (in my opinion) encompass fairies, fantastic creatures, and magic. I mean, if vampires can count...
Right. We also have that lovely element of architecture--where it all began. Throughout N&S, the reader encounters numerous examples of buildings that aren't exactly what they appear to be. I would, in fact, argue that almost every home/building the reader encounters within the novel either has a rather tenuous hold on English soil, or holds any number of secrets. Lady Pole's home, for instance, was probably built on some electromagnetic faerie-indian-burial-ground-pet-cemetery for all the world switching and dead raising that goes on there. Also, Mr. Norrell's homes always contain a number of his vast collections of books (which he keeps locked away from prying eyes--secrets), and the first time we see Mr. Strange perform magic is within a creepy, rotting house known for its "eccentricities." It's everywhere!
We even have that wonderful "sins of the Father" theme that likes to crop up in Southern Gothic (ala Faulkner) with Vinculus's father committing book murder.
AND we have the Gothic "doubles" theme HARDCORE (think Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dorian Grey, etc). The very title of the book gives the reader double magicians, and many of the main characters could be read as doubles of each other. Lady Pole and Arabella could easily be linked together; I would like to link Vinculus and the Gentleman together; the Raven King and King George could probably be linked; etc.
It's good stuff, I tell you!
If I didn't think this would take me a year to write properly... I would climb inside the novel and "make myself a living space" and write this paper... maybe I'll write the smaller version?
Ta-da!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
You're right, Laurie, it is good stuff! Thanks.
All your doubles make immediate sense to me except, at first glance, Vinculus and the gentleman. Could you (or someone) elaborate on that pair, please?
Laurie! I realize that since you've been taking a class on the Gothic you are doubtless more enthroned in its concepts than I. However, since you didn't mention this in your blog, I simply have to point out that Jonathan Strange is almost a perfect Byronic hero. He's self-critical, intelligent, arrogant, suave, and all the other facets of the Byronic hero that I've forgotten about. I mean, this really bolsters the 'Romanticism Vs. Enlightenment' theme in the novel. Jonathan IS the stock Romantic character...and this character just so happens to spill over into Gothic lit. This might be another interesting point to explore.
I haven't been exposed to a lot of Gothic stuff so this is a really interesting take for me. I didn't read the cover or those blurbs from USA Today or whatever before I read the novel but I got a very Jane Austen feel (especially the first 200 or so pages). So once you put out the idea of romance mixed with horror it's totally all there (the 17 Neopolitan corpses- nasty). As for Strange, like Casey said he totally fits the bill.
Post a Comment