Notesale: Turn your study into money

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Why are cities so often used as a backdrop in writing after 1830 for the debate of modernity’s
mixed blessings?
As stated by Edward
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J, p
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The city is a location which has featured prominently in postVictorian literature, and as such there have been numerous different depictions of both city life, as
well as the societal implications of mass urbanisation
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As stated by Deborah Parsons, “a city should be analysed demographically, economically and
architecturally” (Parsons
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12) and perhaps it is on these criteria that one should analyse literary
representations of city life also in order to glean the most accurate representation
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I looked at
the passengers in masses, and thought of them in their aggregate relations
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From his position in the café the narrator is afforded a window into sees the ebb and flow of life in
microcosm whilst surveying the crowds the narrator paints the city in almost primal fashion a food
chain like hierarchy, based upon social standing seems to emerge
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Below the effluent
gentry men are the older tribe of “steady, old clerks” the cast off graces of the gentry”, though they
themselves are facing competition from “flashier, younger clerks” encroaching on their territory, and
beneath these are the gamblers, peddlers and vagrants
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The narrator’s description of the intricacies of city life show that despite a high population, the
city is at something of a cultural dead end, with the hierchal status of each individual firmly
established, with the wealthy firmly on top and the less wealthy firmly below
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The trend suggested by Poe, that urbanisation leads to a kind of cultural and spiritual
dehumanisation is also seen in Charles Dickens novel, “Bleak House”, and is most prominently
displayed in the character of Jo
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Dickens
summarises Jo’s desperation and aimlessness thusly “ it must be a strange state to be like Jo! To
shuffle through the streets, unfamiliar with the shapes, and in utter darkness as to the meaning, of
those mysterious symbols, so abundant over the shops, and at the corners of streets, and on the
doors, and in the windows!” (Dickens, C, Bleak House, p
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Dickens highlights the almost

subhuman nature of Jo even further by comparing him to a herding dog, “A thoroughly vagabond
dog, accustomed to low company and public- houses; a terrific dog to sheep, ready at a whistle to
scamper over their backs and tear out mouthfuls of their wool; but an educated, improved,
developed dog who has been taught his duties and knows how to discharge them” (Dickens, Bleak
House,
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The comparison implies that even a simple beast of burden has more to offer to
society, and consequently may even be more “educated” than Jo is
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The death of Jo is the death of a person who was essentially nothing, left powerless and condemned
by actions left far beyond his control, the actions of his parents, Jo’s station in life was simply to toil
and ultimately be forgotten, and Dickens highlights the tragedy of others like Jo, condemned by a
uncaring and superficial society to struggle on the fringes of society, and at the bottom of the
pecking order, “ Dead, men and women, born with Heavenly compassion in your hearts
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4000)
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Dickens seems to go further in highlighting this folly through the character of Esther
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Dickens seems to try to highlight the issues of defining one’s identities
based upon inheritance and social standing, as despite the fact Esther was never raised by, and has
spent the majority of the novel longing for her real mother, Lady Deadlock, when she finally
embraces her mother it brings little tenderness to Esther and is a fleeting moment at best
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Similarly, Poe does not seem averse to the idea that cities, despite their encouragement of
monotony and strict social code do have the ability to change the current norms of society
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p4)
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The man does not seem to conform to any social category,
he is clad in beautiful fabrics as extravagant as the gentries, yet they are filthy and tarnished, the
man is described and elderly and “feeble”, yet he moves swiftly, and for a moment, the narrator
thinks he glimpses a dagger and a ruby under his robe
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Keen to follow the man the narrator finds his path even more perplexing
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The man’s gait and posture changes throughout the journey, transitioning from confident, too
cautious to panicked, the only consistency seems to be the man’s desire to lose himself in the crowd
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The fact
that man of the crowd leads the narrator right back to the hotel where he was first observed also
carries meaning, it symbolizes a paradigm shift for the narrator, that there is much more to the city,
and perhaps even life itself, than what he originally perceived, the narrator acknowledges this,
stating, “It will be in vain to follow; for I shall learn no more of him, nor of his deeds
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5)
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Overall, it is clear that why the cityscape was so prominent a backdrop for writing after 1830
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Now life was moving at a more rapid pace, the steel
and asphalt of industry was replacing the mundane quaintness and tranquil civilities of everyday
living, people were more closely connected and intertwined than ever before

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