Author Bio: Benjamin Disraeli was one of the foremost critics of working conditions in Britain. He was an English novelist and politician that served as Prime Minister from 1867 to 1868 and 1874 to 1880. The excerpt below comes from his most famous work, Sybil, which describes the brutal working and living conditions in the factory towns around the country.
Speaker: See above.
Date/Context: This excerpt was written in 1845, right as the Industrial Revolution in Britain was becoming prominent. During the early seventeenth century, the Industrial Revolution began in Britain. Basically, the increase in manufacturing efficiency allowed urban society in the country to flourish. With that came an influx of workers from rural areas that were taken advantage of by the ruthless industry owners. Until reformers like Disraeli came along, the conditions that these poor workers experienced were atrocious and dangerous. Disraeli's work is a major call for reform from this era.
Summary: The excerpt provides a description of a mine in England. Everyone emerges from the mine covered in soot and coal and dressed in harsh clothing meant for men. The language that the author hears is rough. The long days, which range from 12 to 16 hours in length, contradict the Society of Abolition of Negro Slavery's work. Children emerge last from the mine, and it is revealed that they not have the most strenuous work, but work the longest hours within a state of dark solidarity. Basically, the mine workers are enduring a punishment that was meant for criminals.
Key Quotations:
"See, too, these emerge from the bowels of the earth! Infants of four and five years of age, many of them girls, pretty and still soft and timid; entrusted with the fulfillment of responsible duties..."
Overall, good job, Caroline! First, you provide context and describe Benjamin Disraeli. He was a former prime minister from Britain and tried to appeal to the working class by commiserating with them in their destitution. Secondly, you address the growing problems in Britain during the Industrial Revolution. People were impoverished and lived in horrible conditions, and it was not until people like Disraeli came around that some of these were mitigated. Thirdly, you address the meaning of the excerpt: men, women, and children alike are working dark, damp, and dangerous jobs in order to survive. In terms of recommendation, I have three pieces of advice. First, you could have explained Disraeli's background a bit more by expounding upon his early life, political ideals, other works, etc. Also, you could have mentioned how Disraeli thinks of this work not only as strenuous, but as demeaning as well. He calls the men who work the mines "worthy" and "stalwart" to suggest that they are good men simply coerced into these jobs in order to survive. Lastly, you could have picked another group to add more context to the excerpt: "...troops of youth, alas! of both sexes, though neither their raiment nor their language indicates the difference; all are clad in male attire; and oaths that men might shudder at issue from lips born to breath words of sweetness."
ReplyDeleteAnother important quote: "Their labour is not severe, for that would be impossible, but it is passed in darkness and solitude. They endure the punishment which...has invented for the direct criminals, and which those criminals deem more terrible than the death for which it is substituted."
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