IGNOU MEG-3 British Novel Cheat sheet

MEG-3 British Novel Cheat sheet

Block-1 Henry Fielding: Tom Jones in 1749

Characters

• Mr. Squire Allworthy

• Bridgit (sister)

• Debra (housemaid)

• Jenny Jones (Mother of Tom the Foundling)

• Thomas = Tom Jones (Protagonist)

• Dr. Bilfil brother to Cpt Bilfil, who wants to marry Bridgit

• Black George (servant) has a daughter Molly(fake pregnant by Tom)

• Squire Western (neighbour) has a daughter Sophia (Tom is Lover)

• Square & Thwackum - Tutors who hate Tom and love Bilfil

People Tom meets After getting kicked out of the house-

• Benjamin (Surgeon/teacher/barber)

• Partridge (Suggested father/friend)

• Mrs. Waters (Tom rescues her from getting robbed)

• Mr. Fitzpatrick (Mrs. Water’s husband gets killed by Tom)

• Mrs. Miller (Tom lives with her & her daughters)

• Nightingale (also a tenant at Mrs. millers)

• Lady Bellaston (sophia’s relative)

Tom had a relationship with -

• Molly ( servant’s daughter)

• Sophia ( neighbour)

• Mrs. Water (Mother)

• Nancy ( Miller’s)

• Bellaston (Sophia's House owner)

Points-

• Comic Novel

• Bildungsroman & Picaresque - episodic style adventures

• Dishonest but appealing hero

• Imaginative novel in realistic form

• Dedicated to George Lyttlton

• Bestseller with 4 edition in 1st year

• 18 books

Block-2 Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice in 1813

Mr & Mrs. Bennet’s 5 daughters-

1. Jane

2. Elizabeth

3. Mary

4. Kitty

5. Lydia

• Charles Bingley (marries Jane)

• Darcy (marries Elizabeth)

• Collin (wants to marry elizabeth but marries her friend charlotte)

• Wickhem (soldier marries Lydia)

• Lady Catherine de Burgh (Collin’s Patron & Darcy’s Aunt)

• Georgine Darcy (Darcy’s Sister)

• Mr & Mrs Gardener (brother of Mrs Bennet)

• Title of the novel

• Love & marriage

• Position of women

• Inheritance

• Gender

• Narrative technique-sentimental & comedy along with wit & irony

Block-3 Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte in 1847

Setting in 1801 England in flashback

Lockwood- Tenant

Heathcliff

Catherine

Nelly & Dean - Servants

Earnshaw & his Wife - 

• Hindley - son

• Catherine - daughter

• Heathcliff - adopted son

Another house from the cliff has two kids-

• Edgar - son

• Isabelle - daughter

Catherine & Edgar Marry and have a daughter - Cathay

Hindley marries and has a son - Hareton

Heathcliff marries Issabella and has a son - Linto

Important points-

• Writing style - Chinese whisper box - Stories inside stories.

• Multiple narrations from servants, reading diary, lockwood.

• Byronic Hero - Heathcliff -  Gift of God

• Marriage in Victorian society

Block-4 Charles Dickens: Great Expectations in 1860-62

• Pip - Protagonist

• Mr. Joe - Pip’s brother in law & companion’

• Mrs. Joe - Pip’s sister

• Miss Havisham - Crazy rich lady

• Estella - Havisham’s adopted daughter

• Abel Magwitch - Escaped prisoner

• Biddy - Pip’s friend

• Pumblechook - Pip’s uncle who bullies him

• Oreleg - Joe’s apprentice

• Mr. Jaggers - Lawyer

• Wemmick - Jagger’s assistant

• Molly - Estella’s birth mother and Jagger’s maid

• Mr. Pocket - Pip stays in their house in London

• Mrs. Pocket - wanna be noble woman who doesn’t take care of her kids or house

• Herbert - Son of Mr. Pocket and Pip’s friend

• Claira - Herbert’s wife

• Drummle - Estella’s husband

• Startop - Drummle’s friend

• Compeyson - Partner of magwitch who cheated Miss Havisham and tips police to catch Magwitch

Bildungsroman - One’s formative years of spiritual education

The situations are organised not with intentions of affirming the hero’s growth but of testing it. 

Great expectation as a fairytale

Block-5 George Eliot: Middlemarch - 1869-71

• George Elliot is the pseudonym her real name is Mary Anne Evans(1818-1880)

• Complete name of the novel - Middlemarch- Study of Provincial life. Printed in instalments from 1871-72.

• Setting is in a fictional town of Middlemarch from 1829-32.

• Point of view is 3rd person.

• 
  

• Story 1-

• Dorothea - 19 years old orphan.

• Celia - Dorothea’s sister

• Brook - Dorothea’s uncle

• Sir James Chettam- Proposed to Dorothea but she refused so he married Celia.

• Edward Casaubon - 45years old man who worked in research. Later marries Dorothea. 

• Ladislaw- Edward’s brother who marries Dorothea after Edward’ death.

• Story 2-

• Town mayor has 2 kids - Rosamund and Fred.

• Rosamund- Selfish woman marries Lydgate for money and fame

• Dr. Tertius Lydgate - A doctor who wants to bring medical reforms in Middlemarch.

• Fred - A good for nothing failure waiting for his uncle to die to inherit his property.

• Featherstone - Rich uncle who leaves his property to his illegitimate son - Joshua.

• Bulstrode Nicholas - an ex-middlemarch resident came back to help people of his town but has some dark secrets for which he is blackmailed.

• Mr. Raffles - Blackmailer

• Mary - Marries Fred; moves in Bulstrode’s House

Life of Dorothea

Career of Tertius Lydgate

Courtship of Mary Garth

Disgrace of Nicholas Bulstrode.

Criticism & admiration 

Feminism

Structure of novel to complexity of issues

Themes- 

Theme of Vocatio -Failed intellectualism.

Marital compatibility

Birth rank & class

Politics, science, religion, egotism

Block-6 Joseph Conrad: heart of darkness 1898-99

Themes-

• Racism

• Greed & imperialism

• Hypocrisy & indifference

• Civilization & barbarism

Marlow

Marlow’s Aunt

Kurtz

Kurtz’s Mistress

General Manager

Brickmaker

Kurtz’s intended

Freselven- The man in Marlow's position who was killed before.

Character list - https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/heart-of-darkness/characters/

Block-7 James Joyce: A Portrait of The Artist As A Young Man in 1916

• Modernist writer

• Strong autobiographical presence

• Stream of consciousness technique

• At least dual consciousness 1 of Stephen’s another pf Maturer consciousness which runs parallel to stephen’s point of view.

• Ironic/Aesthetic Autobiography

• Bildungsroman

• Kunstlerroman - Artist novel

• 5 Chapters of 19 sections

3 principles of theory of aesthetics-

1. Art is stasis brought by formal rhythm of beauty

2. Art of beauty of good and evil

3. 3 stages of apprehension in Aquinas:

• Integritas(wholeness)

• Consonatia(harmony)

• Claritas(radiance)

Women & stephen -

• Mother

• Dantee

• Mercedees-from movie

• Woman in brothel

• Eileen - First crush

• Emma - Never gets over her

Block-8 Edward Morgan Forester: A Passage to India in 1912-14

Published in 1924

History & Psychology

3rd person point of view

Setting in early 20th century in India in Chandrapur village

Dr.Aziz

Adela - Young british girl; Ronny’s fiance

Mrs. Moore - Ronny’s mother

Ronny - British administrator in India

Mr. Turton - At his party everyone meets

Cyril Fielding- Noble British man principle in Indian school

Professor Godbole - Aziz’s Professor

Block-9 Muriel Spark: The prime of Miss Jean Brodie

Miss Jean Brodie and Her  group of 5-

1. Sandy Stranger

2. Rose Stanley

3. Mary Macgregor

4. Jenny Gray

5. Eunice Gardiner

• Mr. Teddy Lloyd

• Mr. Gordon Lowther

• Miss Mackay

• Miss Lockhart

• Joyce Emily Hammond

• Miss Ellen and Alison Kerr

• Miss Gaunt

• Hugh

Link for character analysis - https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-prime-of-miss-jean-brodie/characters

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