Name: Vũ Hạnh Trang

Troy ID: 1605136

Class: ENG2206 – IVAB
Session 5
Baudelaire
1. What themes did Baudelaire usually present in his poetry that have
made him get criticized for a long time? How are these themes
presented in his quoted poems?
For a long time, Baudelaire's literary image was dominated by his reputation as a
scandalous writer whose overt eroticism and open fascination with evil infuriated
everyone who thought rationally. In 1857, both he and Flaubert were charged with
"offenses against public and religious morals" — Flaubert for Madame Bovary,
and Baudelaire for his newly published poetry collection Les Fleurs du Mal (The
Flowers of Evil). Some of this reputation is justified; the poet intended to shock,
and he depicted his own spiritual and sensual suffering in gruesome detail. He
examined his personal flaws as well as the hypocrisy and sins he discovered in
society, haunted by a religiously defined vision of human nature as fallen and
corrupt. Lust, hatred, laziness, a crippling self-awareness that ironized all
emotions, a fear of death and decay, and, finally, the indifference of a lost Eden, an
ideal state of being. Perfection could only be found in the distance: in erotic love
scenes, faraway voyages, or artistic beauty derived frequently from ugliness and
crude reality.
2. What ability does Baudelaire possess that makes him a representative of
modern poetry?
Baudelaire's ability to depict realistic detail within larger symbolic vistas, his
consistent use of imagery and suggestion, and his impeccable craftsmanship, as
well as the deep musicality of his verse, established him as a precursor of
Symbolism and "the greatest exemplar in modern poetry in any language,"
according to T. S. Eliot.
3. What makes Baudelaire contrary with the Romantics?
Unlike the Romantics, who adored nature and pastoral scenes, Baudelaire was a
city poet enthralled by the variety and excitement of modern urban life. He
collaborated with other writers in Paris and published poems, translations, and
criticism in various journals.
4. Who was Baudelaire’s favorite American author? Why?
Edgar Allan Poe is Baudelaire's favorite American author. When he first read it, he
was struck by how similar their ideas were: Poe's devotion to beauty, his
fascination with bizarre images and death, and, above all, his emphasis on
craftsmanship and perfectly controlled art.
Dostoevsky
1. What are the main themes in Dostoevsky’s works?
The formation of modern sensibility is one of Dostoevsky's main themes in his
works. He formulated in fictional terms, in dramatic and even sensational scenes,
some of our time's central predicaments: the choices between God and atheism,
good and evil, freedom and tyranny; the recognition of humanity's limits and even
fall against the belief in progress, revolution, and utopia. Most importantly, he
eloquently captured the enormous contradictions to which our common human
nature is capable and torn.
2. What event made him get exiled to Siberia?
Dostoevsky get exiled to Siberia as he was involved in the Petrashevsky circle – a
secret society of antigovernment and socialist tendencies.

3. Who was the philosopher whose ideas Dostoevsky ever admired when
he was young and then loathed afterward?
Charles Fourier, the French socialist whose ideas Dostoevsky had come to despise
with a vengeance, is the philosopher whose ideas Dostoevsky once admired and
then despised.

Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground

4. How old is the narrator at the time he narrates his story? What city
does he live in?
The narrator is forty years old at the time he narrates his story, he lives in St.
Petersburg.

5. In what sentence does the narrator talk about his symptom of sadism?
How does this detail conflict with what he narrates later? How does this
conflict afflict him?
The narrator (The underground man) used to work for the government. But he gets
a kick out of frightening people when they come to him. The sentence that said,
“When petitioners used to approach my deck for information, I’d gnash my teeth
and feel undending pleasure if I succeeded in causing someone distress.” However,
this detail conflict with what the narrator later that he felt shameful, shy even
bitter. He gnashed his teeth out of shame and then could not sleep for a few months
later. This conflict makes him become confused, and wonder if he deserved to spit
or do good things.

6. According to the narrator, what status of a man’s mental life could be a

kind of disease? What is his revision of this idea afterward?
He believes that being overly conscious is a disease. He claims that all forms of
consciousness are diseases. But then he thinks that everything is a disease, not just
being overly conscious.
7. In what moments (write particular sentences and pages) does the
narrator talk about his symptom of masochism?
The narrator talks about his symptoms of masochism on page 1310 when he was
explained his pleasure. “For example, I’m extremely proud. I’m as mistrustful and
as sensitive as a hunchback of a dwarf; but, in truth, I’ve experienced some
moments when, if someone had slapped my face, I might even have been grateful
for it. I’m being serious. I probably would have been able to derive a peculiar sort
of pleasure from it - the pleasure of despair, naturally, but the most intense
pleasure occurs in despair, especially when you’re very acutely aware of the
hopelessness of your own predicament. As for a slap in the face – why, here the
consciousness of being beaten to a pulp would overwhelm you. And inwardly,
secretly, nagging away, consuming myself until finally the bitterness turned into
some kind of shameful, accursed sweetness and at last into genuine, earnest
pleasure!”

8. How does the narrator compare a man with a mouse?

Because of his inherent ignorance, the latter views his vengeance as pure and
simple justice, but the mouse, because of his keen consciousness, does not believe
in its justice. Finally, we come to the crime, the act of vengeance. Aside from the
one fundamental nastiness, the unlucky mouse succeeds in creating so many other
nastinesses in the form of doubts and questions, and adds so many unresolved
questionnaires to only one question, that there inevitably works up around it a sort
of fatal brew, a stinking mess, made up of its doubts, emotions, and the contempt
spat upon it by the direct men of action who stand solemnly around it as judges. In
its filthy, stinky, subterranean home, our humiliated, crushed, and mocked mouse
quickly becomes engrossed in frigid, malicious, and, above all, perpetual spite.

Chekhov
1. What makes Chekhov differ from his two Russian predecessors, Tolstoy
and Dostoevsky?
Chekhov has a smaller role than his two Russian forefathers, Tolstoy and
Dostoevsky. Chekhov's self is from a different moral and spiritual milieu. Chekhov
portrays Russia with a gentle heart. He dramatizes emotions with a profound
humanity that transcends his time. In his stories, he explores the philosophy of
compassion and humanity, the love of beauty, and the sense of inexplicable
mystery in life, particularly extreme loneliness. The end of an individual in the
universe, or the horror of it in another universe. Chekhov's Russia appeared later
than that of his two predecessors. Chekhov sees Russia as a forerunner of tragedy.
In Chekhov's opinion, society had no hope other than the gradual spread of
enlightenment; Chekhov, like Tolstoy, was skeptical of the revolution.
2. What are the main topics in Chekhov’s stories?
The main theme of Chekhov's story is the image of Russia in the early twentieth
century with its benevolence and tenderness. With a heart that has remained
unchanged over the years, Chekhov has catalyzed timeless universal emotions.
Chekhov's stories explore small but significant events in everyday life,
highlighting the hidden depths of interpersonal relationships. “Whether it is a
cabdriver’s frustrated attempt to tell his fares about his son’s recent death (Misery),
a widow’s final happiness in caring for another woman’s child (The Darling), a
retired clerk’s delight in his gooseberry bushes (Gooseberries), or the aftermath of
a businessman’s brief affair at a resort (The Laday with the Dog), the author
focuses on his characters’ inner lives.”

Chekhov’s “The Lady with the Dog”

3. What is the color of the lady’s dog?
The lady’s dog is a white Pomeranian.

4. How does Gurov’s wife think of herself? How is this differ from his
thinking of her?
Gurov’s wife thinks of herself, as a “thinker”. She is a nice reader. She is tall with
dark eyebrows, erect, dignified, and imposing.
But he thinks her shallow, narrow-minded, and dowdy. Therefore, he began
deceiving her long ago and was unfaithful to her, even though he spoke slightingly
of women, called the lower race.
While she considers herself to be very smart, diligent, and outstanding, Gurov
thinks that she is rather affected, unintelligent, and lacks real feelings.

5. What is Gurov’s plan to the “lady with the dog”? How does he proceed
with that plan?
He passed her in the park several times a day, and she was always alone, so he
reasoned that "if she's here without her spouse and without any acquaintances, it
wouldn't be a bad idea to make her acquaintance." Gurov intends to approach her
and engage her in conversation. "When he met an attractive woman, he forgot
everything...interesting." One evening while he was dining at the park restaurant,
the lady strolled over and took a seat at an adjacent table. As the dog approached,
he snapped his finger and shook his finger. They then begin chatting with one
another. They left the restaurant together after dinner, and the conversation became
more intimate as they exchanged information. After a week of getting to know
each other, Gurov kept returning to the outside café for fruit drinks and ices to
present Anna Sergeyevna. "Then, one evening, while he was dining at the
restaurant..."
6. In what city the story takes place? Where is the lady from? What is her
name? What is the color of her eyes? What is the name of the lady’s
husband? Where is Gurov from?
The story takes place in Yalta.
The lady from Petersburg.
Her name is Anna Sergeyevna.
She has a fine gray color.
The name of the lady’s husband is Von Diederitz
Gurov comes from Moscow.

7. Why does the lady have to leave the city where she meets and have an
affair with Gurov?
Anna is forced to leave Yalta, where she meets and has an affair with Gurov,
due to a letter from her husband. Her husband wrote that his eyes were
bothering him and begged her to come home as soon as possible. Then she
kissed Gurov's love goodbye and left in regret.
8. What are Gurov’s feelings when he comes back to live in Moscow?
What does he decide to do afterward?
Gurov remembered Anna when he returned to Moscow. He assumed it would be
just a vague memory, and that she, like everyone else before her, would only
appear in dreams every now and then. But a month later, in the dead of winter, he
felt as if he'd just broken up with Anna yesterday. His memories became harsher
and more pronounced. He smiled at his memory, but then the memories became
dreams, and what happened became muddled in his imagination. Anna appears to
follow him around like a shadow. He closed his eyes and saw Anna standing in
front of him, lovely, gentle, and young. He looked around the street for her image,
for the silhouette of a woman who resembled her. He yearned to tell someone
about his memories. He became dissatisfied with life in Moscow and the people
around him one day after playing cards with a club official. Conventions and
pointless conversations consumed everyone's time, trapping Gurov in a
meaningless existence. He couldn't sleep that night and was awake the next night
thinking. When Christmas arrived, he packed his belongings and decided to travel
to Petersburg, to the town of S. He hoped Anna would appear and speak with him.
9. In what situation does Gurov meet up again with the lady? How does
she respond to him? What will they do after that meeting?
Gurov decided to see the play The Geisha at the local theater, hoping that Anna
would join him. Gurov discovers Anna in the third row during the game. Gurov
felt she was the most important person in the world to him when he looked at her.
She was horrified to see him—not because she didn't love him, but because she
was afraid to see him with her husband in public. She tells him to go and promises
to pay him a visit in Moscow.
Anna began traveling to Moscow every few months to see a doctor there. Gurov
and she met at the Slavyanski Bazaar hotel. They kissed passionately and slowly.
Then Anna sobbed, upset by the secret and the deception. Gurov sipped tea while
waiting for her to cry. He knew their love would last forever; they were too
attached to each other. He came to support her, but as he did so, he noticed his
reflection in the mirror and was struck by how much older he looked. All the
women he'd been with in the past didn't truly love him for himself. He had finally
found love, but his hair had turned gray.
Anna sobbed as they both bemoaned their predicament: falling in love but
marrying someone else. They argue and discuss how they can stay together despite
the circumstances. They discuss how they can live openly. They are confident that
they will find a solution, embarking on the path of strong love without hiding it.
They are aware that the journey will be difficult, and that the hardest part is yet to
come.