Derek Bond

Derek Bond

I am interested in literature and languages, primarily Italian but also French. I have done courses before in these subjects at the OU, CityLit, FL among others.

Location London

Activity

  • The idea of a more formal research plan is good, as I have certainly scanned through some parish registers page by page, more than once. However I guess that even with a research plan some revisits may be necessary, after discovering new information elsewhere or coming to new conclusions.

  • Derek Bond made a comment

    I am interested in how to solve brick walls - mine is an ancestor whose birth appears to be 1769 based on ages given on his death certificate and census in a village he lived most of his life. The only baptism in that year for his name, in another town, includes a note saying he was aged 5, so there is some discrepancy. There are possible siblings and parents...

  • Well the course has presented many ideas for study that I need to digest. As I am in semi-retirement I have been following various further study ideas. I would love to do the online MA, but I am not sure that I would have the time - I will need to give it further consideration

  • Derek Bond made a comment

    This was a really well-designed and informative course. Thank you to all the team at Sheffield who created it and presented it.

    I have a lot I still have to read from the links given in the course.

  • I have been to many National Trust houses and was planning to choose one of them, but instead I will choose an Italian house - Il Vittoriale Degli Italiani, which is the house of the writer and controversial political figure D'Annunzio(http://www.italymagazine.com/featured-story/dannunzio-and-il-vittoriale-degli-italiani-poets-fantasy) . The house is set in a...

  • I think of the various crime writers such as Agatha Christie, Conan Doyle who continued to write about Sherlock Holmes into the 20th century and H. C. McNeile who wrote about Bulldog Drummond. In a way these tales have some elements of the gothic within them – horrific events with plenty of suspense, but like Canterville generally ending in a resolution.

    In...

  • I think the ideas of ritual and entrapment brought out in the video are interesting. I think it is something that Oscar Wilde himself felt personally, but that many of us encounter in our daily lives. The world of work often takes on this form. We are trapped by the daily commute and having to follow office rules and timscales etc. We conform to the office...

  • Bunbury is an invented character, whose purpose is to provide convenient excuses for Algernon to avoid fulfilling his family duties and to be elsewhere with Bunbury.

    In the first act, some family terms are also examples of Bunbry. Jack has invented a younger “brother” for the same purpose – to have an excuse to attend elsewhere. “Aunts” are shown in the...

  • A brilliant scene - you just want to squirm about on your chair !!

  • The tensions between country and city are expressed by two characters representing those places. They are trying to score points off each other by expressing a number of stereotypic points of view, yet also twisting them on their heads. So the country has good views “five counties”, yet it is given the attribute normally associated with the city “hate crowds”....

  • An interesting analysis - it's almost Freudian - a construction of different versions of the self. The word "Earnest" is often paired with "Truth" and here we are seeing the disasters which can befall us when these concepts are not. In this sense I would disagree with the point in the video " He stresses the importance of making up reality as you want it to...

  • In the opening passage Otis is business-like, talking about the property’s valuation and he is also mocking Lord Canterville about the existence of the ghost., comparing its appearance with that of the doctor each time death happens, and also mocking British aristocracy’s reluctance to accept scientific fact.

    In this episode Otis and his family express fear...

  • I think Oscar Wilde saw America as a new light shining on the repressed society in which he himself felt constrained.

  • Hiram is a biblical Hebrew name. It also sounds like “hire them”, so perhaps associates itself with work. In addition Otis was the name of the man who invented the safety elevator in 1852, which was exhibited in the 1854 New York fair, and was to be incorporated in the Eifel tower built from 1887 to 89. Canterville Ghost was published 1887. So Otis was...

  • I think the video reflects the changing nature of the modern world at the time. Two great powers existed in the old world, with British rule, power and centuries of establishing their identity, as opposed to the new American power based on a new form of industrial revolution and its new influence around the world. There is a clash of cultures as the old world...

  • Derek Bond made a comment

    It proves to be an interesting final week. Rich Americans buying into country estates reflects what we saw in earlier weeks where marriages of convenience were made. The real difference is that this time it was the richer woman buying into a marriage with a title and land but no wealth, whereas earlier it was a poorer woman entering a marriage with with a...

  • Very good week - but lots of things I have to follow up in the future

  • The vision of Miss Havisham’s body hanging in the brew house makes the reader think that she has committed suicide. In fact this is not a physical act, but a mental act. She might as well have done so, because she was no longer present in society and no longer running her country estate. The vision appeared to be trying to call Pip.

    Maybe it was her final...

  • Pip is unfamiliar with the ways of the world. He describes the furniture as “of forms and uses then quite unknown” to him. This is confirmed by that fact that he questions whether he could recognise a dressing table without a “fine lady sitting at it”.

    He shows he has little experience of things out of the ordinary remarking that Miss Havisham is the...

  • The discussion of the two Pips is an interesting one, which we experience in daily life. Our present consciousness drifts apart from our remembered past as we gain other experiences and are able to analyse our past, perhaps, more objectively. There are two Pips, but there do not appear to be two Miss Havishams - she is frozen in time, unable to move forward....

  • Derek Bond made a comment

    The older Pip is able to stand aside and produce a logical and reasoned analysis of Miss Havisham's state of mind. He can see that she should not have isolated herself and that, if she had taken a different course, she would have undergone a healing process and probably be happily married by now. He now feels pity for her. By talking about "vanities" that have...

  • I would choose the 1862 ending, because the last sentence suggests a reconcilation between Pip and Estella and also reminds us that there were earlier partings because of the use of the word “another”. Also this ending (as well as the 1861 serialisation ending) takes place at Satis House, which had an important role in the novel and evokes greater emotion in...

  • The video is a very interesting analysis of the juxtaposition between time standing still and inevitable change. I was also struck by the fact that Miss Haversham is one of those famous literary figures which represent the British eccentric, so often associated with country houses. Ordinary working people perhaps had less time to exhibit eccentricity. When...

  • It's nice to get away from melancholy and gloom to a roaring log fire.Let us not forget that the portal for the imagination, may simply be that - imagination. The fire reminds me that the physical reality may be very different to the machinations of the character's mind. Certainly Catherine Moreland learns eventually not to let her imagination run wild.

  • The grammatical devices used create a sense of contrast. On the one hand we have a “stronger image of grandeur” and “sloping rays” of “yellow”, which “streamed in full spendour” , such that we have “the splendour of these illumined objects”.
    However Radcliffe turns the viewer’s attention to the “contrasted shade” at which point we see the name Udolpho for the...

  • The nameless deed is clearly nasty “dark”, “frowns” and “sullen”. It involves another woman because of the use of “her voice…tells”. It clearly has tragic or life-changing consequences – “fate”.

    The image of the “portals open to receive me” makes one think of some monster about to consume the heroine.

    It is not clear what the actual deed will be, but...

  • I was interested in the personification of the castle, but also could not help thinking that the castle acted as the physical manifestation of the fears and anxieties of a young woman at that time. Perhaps being persuaded into a marriage that she did not desire, riding up to the physical castle embued it with the darkness, uncertainty and the fears she had for...

  • In the Radcliffe passage the father guided the reading of his daughter in a logical sequence to ensure she covered a range of topics such as science, literature and latin. He did not allow her to wander aimlessly having a “vacant mind” , because of the “temptations of the world without”.

    In consequence Catherine was left to her own devices by her...

  • I don't think we need laugh at Catherine Moreland's reading habits. We should merely be aware that she was doing what any young woman might do now with music, TV shows etc - follow the latest cultural trends. This just sets the scene for her naivety and inventive mind, which would mature as she became more adapt in society by her exposure in Bath and elsewhere.

  • Derek Bond made a comment

    I am looking forward to looking at the Mysteries of Udolpho, ever since I came across the title whilst reading Northanger Abbey. Of course the dark country house has been adopted as a setting right up to the present day, especially with Agatha Christie and Conan Doyle. It represents an isolated microcosm of the human race in an apparently idyllic setting with...

  • At the end of the week, it is much clearer why the epistolary novel was chosen to start the week and I can see the importance of the letter in Austen's works. Lot's to think about.

  • An interesting week in the analysis of Free Indirect Discourse. It just makes you admire Jane Austen's craft even more. The discussion about the importance of the trip, was something I will look out for. Some posts have mentioned the relationship between free indirect discourse and stream of consciousness. I think that the latter is a subset of the former....

  • In the earlier chapter, the discourse is largely the narrator listing the factual events and also describing Elizabeth’s reactions in the same way, with clear analysis. “In spite of her deeply-rooted dislike, she could not be insensible to the compliment of such a man’s affection” – is a sentence which shows what she was thinking but makes it quite explicit...

  • narrator’s point of view in the third person. “She certainly did not hate him”. However it is punctuated by words or thoughts which appear to jump directly from her mouth or mind: “No;” – is the response she makes to the previous sentence and we see it physically punctionated by a semi-colon. Then it immediately drops back to her analysis of hatred given in...

  • This use of free indirect discourse is pure genius. As the points of view change and interweave we are subtly unaware of it most of the time as readers. Whether this is because we have grown up with this style of writing or whether it represents the way in which our minds actually think is not clear. I take the view that it is the latter - in our heads (or is...

  • The first extract is written in the form of personal letters between the writer and the supposedly single reader. In it we hear the voice and see the thoughts of Elizabeth directly.

    The second one is written as a narrative, in which the thoughts and feelings of Elizabeth are described to the reader in an analytical way.

    Both extracts leave work for the...

  • This video really demonstrates how the country house itself can become a "character" in the novel, reflecting in part Darcy's character and changing Elizabeth's views of him because of its beauty and possessions. Elizabeth does not meet Darcy in person on this occasion, but she meets him in spirit. The house is 'large, handsome......standing well' and 'first...

  • It will be interesting to see what is meant by "free indirect discourse". It strikes me that in this modern era an analysis of stylistics could lend itself to computer automation, noteably artificial intelligence, used to analyse patterns of words and phrases. This type of approach has been applied to other textual fields such as advertising and, in recent...

  • Harriet conveys her feelings in a chatty manner as if this were a personal letter to a close friend. She mixes the narrative with direct quotes “I come! Lord of my heart! I attend you!”, which express her love and admiration for Sir Charles. She pours praises on him “His seat, spirit, courage,,,” and is clearly impresionable..

    However underlying this we...

  • It is something that never really struck me before – life before the novel, so it is interesting to hear about these pioneers in the literary field. Technological advances are clearly an important factor in the growth of the novel. Although technology has today changed the way we can access fiction e.g. Kindle, it has not in my opinion fundamentally changed...

  • Derek Bond made a comment

    “I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of any thing than of a book! -- When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.”

  • An enjoyable week - with a lot of material to go back through after the course is finished. There were some interesting insights into the meaning and changes of the term polite. There seems to be some generally agreed definitions in the 18th century. I am not sure this is the case now. I think nowadays there are sets of different "social norms", which express...

  • I did like the idea of the 18th century "onesie"

  • Sir William is a gambler who is more concerned with satisfying his own vices than with taking responsibility for his estate and marriage. This is clearly seen in his desire to keep his rapacious creditors sweet rather than pay off the industrious tradesmen who provided food for his table.

    Although hiding behind a mask of gentility whereby following the...

  • There are many instants of aristocratic gamblers who wiped out large parts of their family fortunes. Whilst we marvel at the wonderful country houses, clearly for many of their occupants they represented a rustic boredom, which was only overcome by the bright lights of so-called polite society in London and other cities.

  • Julia uses the term “would to heaven I could tell you”, which implies that there is a lot more troubling her than she writes about. . She clearly cannot see an end to this “Good God! how is this to end?” and appears to be undergoing a state of depression “gloomy reflections” and “see no point in time” when it will be over.

    Although Julia despises the...

  • Positive words are used to describe the ‘modish’ people . These include “great Revolution”, “Good Breeding”, “polite Part of Mankind”, “Complaisance”, “Civilities”, “openness of Behaviour” and “agreeable Negligence”. This combination of words shows that their behaviour has positive values yet at the same time is not shackled into a formal code.

    Indeed the...

  • An interesting analysis of Addison's text. I get the impression that he was trying to appear impartial and factual, but his disapproval of the behaviour of some of the city dwellers was clear. He also appears to be warning the country dwellers to be wary of blindly following latest fashion.

  • He contrasts the rigidity of court/city life with a more natural, free-style rustic life. He implies that the latter has found favour amongst those in the city because in their former regulated live there was “too great a constraint”.

    However he contrasts this to the country squire who tries to ape his city counterparts with little success by being overly...

  • As an optimist, with my coffee cup half full, I prefer Addison’s dream. Certainly looking at the 21st century coffee house, whenever I go into one and see them crowded with students on their lap-tops I see them as a place of learning. However the major difference now is that the coffee shop inhabitant is often a solitary figure, not engaging in conversation...

  • Print saturated early 18th century society just as now everyone has a ready access to news, culture and political views via the internet.
    The lifting of the licensing act removed press censorship and created an explosion of print. Nowadays there is a lot of discussion about press freedoms, yet there are also criticisms of it and how propaganda and false news...

  • This week looks challenging. Of course it will be more difficult for those in the modern age who are not steeped in the references to latin and Greek texts. It is clear on my trips around country houses looking at the artwork, these sources were well-known and the allegories and little jokes or political satire they provoked were readily appreciated in those...

  • "it was a whole system of behaviour. And the centre of that system of behaviour was the ability to make people feel at ease in a variety of social situations." - it seems to be that a "system" would not be compatible with putting someone at "ease". I wonder if it was just an excuse by those in superior positions of power and status to defend their positions,...

  • Derek Bond made a comment

    Should be interesting . I am only aware of coffee houses being the forerunners of the London business exchanges because men gathered in them to transact business. I would not have imagined them as being particularly polite. Although I think of the 18th century as being the epitome of politeness, I have no idea how that really manifested itself and how people...

  • An interesting week and the end video about the differences between forms of writing brought out some useful comparisons. When thinking about this I thought about how lucky we are in the 21st century to have such verifiable sources to confirm what we read in literary texts. However the words "fake news" suddenly sprang to mind and I wonder how different we...

  • The main difference between the literary letter and a poem or play is that the language is more natural and often the third person is used, because the letter writer is discussing other people. In a play this is generally achieved by showing the third person as another character and seeing them act out the incident. In a poem the language too is highly...

  • The story is serious to the extent that it is illustrating how hosts should conduct themselves properly, not letting their emotions cloud their judgements and control their actions.

    It is well executed using humour as the vehicle for the lesson.

    The word choices that attract my attention are those that indicate in the first story the admirable qualities...

  • I think letters can be regarded as literature, when they are intended as such by the author. So a letter which was primarily intended for business or legal purposes would fall into the category of a historical document, but letters between friends and acquaintances would often have a literary element, because they express emotion, passion and artistic subject...

  • Imagine the scene – family, friends and servants gathered in the great hall for the celebration of the birthday of Thomas Egerton. We know that the poen was written by another Thomas because of the line “for my little namesake”.

    The poem clearly expresses the sentiments of the crowd for wishing him “weath & wisdom” and also a longer life “death’s tribute...

  • There were so many interesting aspects in this video. The references to secretary and Italian hand, the joys of chance literary encounters during academic research and the methods used in transcribing.

  • I was struck by the lack of evidence of Hamlet being performed at Hardwicke. I assume this was the case at other great houses otherwise Tom Rutter would have mentioned it. We are used to reading detailed diaries in the 18th century in country houses and we think of Jane Austen's works for example. Was it the case that such detailed diaries were not written...

  • Hamlet shows the actors respect and dignity, by asking Polonius to ensure they are looked after/well paid (“well bestowed” and “well used”). He warns Polonius that they are not looked after then he will not be regarded well after he dies.

    The modern English equivalent of Polonius's reply would I suppose be “they will get their just deserts”, so this...

  • An interesting analysis - I think it is highly likely that actors would have toured (as actors and singers do today), because it publicises their work and brings in a larger audience than they might have if they repeated the same work in town. Also I would assume that they would receive more pay in country houses from the nobility, even though the line in...

  • They are actor’s who play tragedy in the city and the last lines of Hamlet suggest that they are profitable and comfortable working there. “Cote” appears to be a small cottage, so I assume they were given lodgings along the way, perhaps as an incentive to come and perform.

    Hamlet appears to enjoy entertainment as he says that whatever part the actors play...

  • Hardwicke Hall is a wonderful location. I am just imagining wagons full of the actors and their props bumping along the muddy roads to arrive in such warm and plush surroundings, and enjoying something from the estate brewery !!

  • I prefer the First Folio version, partly because it contains the expanded version of the marriage denouncement and partly because the language seems more familiar than that of the First Quarto.

  • The second quarto and first folio are very similar, with the main difference being the 4th line where “seal” is changed to “self” as mentioned by Tom Rutter.

    The real difference is between the first quarto and the other two versions, which are much longer.

    In the first quarto, the 3 lines starting on line 3 “Globe of heaven….” are missing from the later...

  • I think it is part of the parallel thread within the course, which examines how to read, analyse and interpret literature. In this case it is looking at the challenges arising from historical documents. Tom Rutter also mentioned how country houses were used as places to perform drama.

  • This reminded me of the discussions last week about "meaning" and what was intended by the author and what is created by us as a reader. This is exacerbated by the existence of multiple historic texts and editors' decisions, which insert another level of interpretation between author and reader.

  • Derek Bond made a comment

    It should be an interesting week. We are lucky, in the digital age, to be able to examine original documents which would have been difficult to see because of their location or fragility. The only thing missing is that particular scent you get in a historic property and from historic papers. I think the comparison between the thoughts and ideas of those in the...

  • A great start to the course and I look forward to moving through the centuries of the country house and its literature.

  • he poem represents the inhabitants of Penshurt and its lord as one large family, sharing everything. It does this in a physical sense “Where the same beer and bread, and self-same wine, This is his lordship’s shall be also mine”. It does so in the sense of belonging and shared ownership: “all is there, As if thou then wert mine, or I reigned here:”

    It also...

  • This is a really enjoyable video, which really brings home how the literary devices support the utopian depiction of the Penshurst estate. Despite the embracing lines of the poem, I feel an undercurrent of the hypocrisy lying just below the surface, like a pike about to resort to its natural tendencies.

  • The estate is portrayed as productive and fertile, with everyone being thankful to the lord and lady. It is a place of nurture and without anyone suffering or seeming to have to work too hard.
    The details are realistic to a certain extent. I am sure there was an abundance of food, but I doubt if it was devoid of “man’s groan” or that all the workers felt that...

  • This was an interesting look at the early material. In many was, even with hard copies but more especially with digital formats, we have lost this connection with the physical book and these finer considerations of publication, dedication and patronage.

  • An interesting discussion on how the country house should be part of the land, and how its owners could divorce themselves from it in favour of the social climbing present at the Court. The mention of the toil of the workers who constructed it or worked on the estate still resonates today. We see construction workers around the world losing their lives in...

  • A fascinating insight into Title Pages - something we normally just turn over without much thought, and also an interesting examination of the Utopian concept

  • I thought it was clever how the lawyer used his knowledge of law, words and legal reasoning to trick the rich farmer into a kind of confession of his activities. He turns the tables by accusing him of an "accusation....against this poor man" and that in so doing, he "already condemned yourself ". He then equates "taketh away the sustenance of a man’s life"...

  • He describes them, sometimes though allusion, as “devourers”, “so wild” , “consume, destroy and devour”, “covetous and insatiable”, “plague” , “pernicious abominations”. These are all very negative images.

    He depicts the effect of their decisions as being a sense of real loss: “you lost no small quantity…”, “the husbandmen be thrust out of their own..”....

  • I think the poen is a homage to the Duke of Newcastle for his Royalist support during the Civil War.

    I found the religious imagery which likened the Last Supper of the king , Charles I, given by the Duke, to that of Christ interesting. The use of the words “Lord”, “host” , “blood” and “preludium” might look forward to the coming death of the King, but also...

  • For my close reading feature I would like to consider the possible religious allusions. These are contained in the words/phrases “thy Lord’s”, “an host” and “spare his blood”.

    These remind me of a Christian mass with reference to the Lord God, the host being the bread and the blood being the wine. This harks back to the Last Supper of Christ, which was also...

  • It is a third person narrator that is not the Duke of Newcastle, nor the King. It could be a friend or servant, but definitely an admirer.

    The piece appears to be addressed to the general population, perhaps friends or workers of the Duke or event those who might be his critics

    The register appears fairly normal and conversational, albeit a little...

  • For me: "natural reading" (is there an antonym for close reading ?) is what you can do in your local cafe surrounded by chattering groups and students on their laptops, whereas "close reading" needs to be done at home.

    It requires a greater level of concentration.

    Particularly difficult is close reading of foreign texts, which I do for some italian...

  • This introduces an interesting concept. Does a text have a life outside that of the author. I think it does. As soon as an author has created it and allowed others to read it, then it takes on new meaning, whether the author intended it or not. It seems that there could be 3 levels of meaning - the one consciously intended by the author, those meanings...

  • Two things strike me - first the remarkable state of the documents presented considering their age and -second the way that digital copies have helped preserve documents by reducing physical handling, but also by creating copies for posterity. These digital copies also allow any of us, anywhere, examine them

  • I am a member of the National Trust, so have visited many country houses in England. I have also visited chateaux in France and palazzi in Italy. There is a wide range of styles from grand formal ones to more informal comfortable settings. The one thing they all have in common, which I think is their reason for success at being a literary setting, is that they...

  • This should prove to be a fascinating course - country houses conjure up images ranging from conspiracies, crimes, amorous affairs, rigid social customs and through to cosy and relaxed conversation. It will be interesting to see how all these different facets will be treated.

  • I am Derek from the UK. I have done other literature courses with Futurelearn and the Open University and also language courses (French and Italian). I go to an Italian literature group each week. I think this course will add new ideas and sources to my wish to learn more about European culture.

  • Derek Bond made a comment

    An excellent course - thanks to all the lecturers and the Jerwood Centre.

    But only one person can have the last say "

    “Life is divided into three terms - that which was, which is, and which will be. Let us learn from the past to profit by the present, and from the present to live better in the future.”

  • He changes “laughing” to “jocund”, which means cheerful and light-hearted whereas laughing could also mean mocking, so there is a slight change in emphasis.

    The texts from the siblings have different roles. Dorothy narrates events to recall the thoughts, events and descriptions they have encountered, whereas William attachs to these events, images and...

  • William chooses to include the beauty of the daffodils from Dorothy’s account, but he excludes the explanation of how the seeds were carried. He emphasises the postive effect they have on his emotions, so excludes the more negative “rested their heads upon these stones as a pillow for weariness”. Instead he reinforces the positive effect they generated...

  • William’s use of I reflects the poem’s theme of loneliness and personal thought, which contrasts the thousands of daffodils “Ten thosand saw I at a glance”, which might be associated with the throng of mankind. Whilst Dorothy also uses I, when she is recounting her personal thoughts she uses “we” to show how this was a shared experience with brother and...

  • Well with this great poem to praise them I suppose Daffodils can afford to be Narcissistic !!

  • Dorothy finds the daffodils by chance and does not expect them, because she describes how the “lake had floated the seeds ashore & that the little colony had so sprung up”. This gives the impression that their bright yellow colour must have made a sudden impact on her. As is her wont , she embues nature with personality “some rested their heads upon these...

  • The journey is written in a variety of styles. We have plain narration of events “Mrs Clarkson went a short way with us but turned back.”. There are detailed descriptive passages , of nature and events or people. “The hawthorns are black & green, the birches here & there greenish but there is yet more of purple to be seen on the Twigs£ (nature), “the Landlady...

  • Comment moved to 4.19

  • Comment moved to 4.19

  • I liked Dorothy's description of the land-lady of the pub " the Landlady looked sour but is her way.". We have all probably been served by someone like that, who shouldn't really work in the hospitality business.

    What a contrast between her countenance and the bright yellow daffodils "danced & seemed as if they verily laughed with the wind "

    Each evening...

  • Derek Bond made a comment

    Dorothy gives precise descriptions of the weather “dirty snow, rough & rather slippery”, news about friends “he had been very ill” (Coleridge) , the natural world “a little bird with a salmon coloured breast…”, clothing “three Bell-shaped patches of darker blue behind where the Buttons had been…” and concern for others “She was formerly a very nice tidy...

  • Derek Bond made a comment

    Dorothy is clearly in tune with the natural world describing it in great detail. She exhibits knowledge of the weather, the different types of trees and the landscape around her. She lays possession to them “our favourite Birch tree”.

    She is impelled to go to see Peggy because she appears to have made a comment about men being ungrateful and Dorothy opposes...