Sensibilities and Hypocrisy in Victorian Fiction Essay Example

Sensibilities and Hypocrisy in Victorian Fiction Essay Example Sensibilities and Hypocrisy in Victorian Fiction Essay Sensibilities and Hypocrisy in Victorian Fiction Essay Essay Topic: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde The Victorian era was one of strict sensibilities.   Religiosity prevailed, if only for form’s sake, and good manners were held in great esteemeven if they were only used as a public front.   Victorian hypocrisy was such that pianos were draped so that their legs would not show and while men might admire a woman’s breasts, the breast of the chicken was known only as â€Å"the white meat.†Ã‚   Many Victorians themselves were aware of this hypocrisy.   The two pieces of fiction that this paper will be used two examine reflect the hypocrisy as seen through the authors’ eyes.   Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story The Minister’s Black Veil and Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde both demonstrate their authors’ awareness of how the exterior presentation of Victorian sensibilities mask the truth of the people who hide behind them. The Minister’s Black Veil The minister in Hawthorne’s story is outwardly a good and godly man.   He separates himself, however, behind a black crape veil.   The veil makes its first appearance shortly before a sermon on the subject of secret sin, and those sad mysteries which we hid from our nearest and dearest, and would fain conceal from our own consciousness (Hawthorne 27).   Hawthorne’s minister preaches about they hypocrisy of maintaining a hidden inner life and yet he hides his own inner thoughts behind his veil.   He is a hypocrite himself because he is supposed to provide his clergy with comfort, yet his veil not only [throw] its influence over his whole person, and [make] him ghost-like from head to foot (Hawthorne 28), it hangs between him and the congregation and keeping him from his job of providing them guidance and comfort.   Rather than providing them with comfort, he causes deeper gloom at a funeral and makes a wedding â€Å"dismal† (Hawthorne 30).   The revere nd can hardly be the man he wants purports himself to bea man of God and a servant to his congregationwhen he indulges himself in such a peculiar fashion.   The minister, then, represents the Victorian propensity to say the apparently proper thing and hiding a perhaps ugly truth behind an innocuous veneer. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Stevenson, however, shows another side of hypocrisy.   While Hawthorne shows a bland and quiet hypocrisy that is dangerous for its ability to leave doubt about the truth, Stevenson shows the danger that comes when that hidden hypocrisy is allowed to force its way to the forefront.   Jekyll is like the minister’s veil.   He is bland and quiet, â€Å"smooth-faced,† yet with a â€Å"slyish cast† (Stevenson 12).   Jekyll is a perfect hiding place for the menacing nature that is Hyde who is that dark secret that the veil hid, the basic instinctive nature of humankind.   Hyde is truly hidden by Jekyll’s hypocrisy in his failure to acknowledge his inner demon and by Utterson’s failure to speak up when he discovers Jekyll’s secret.   Instead, he chooses to do what a proper Victorian gentleman would do in his position: he hides the unpleasantness that emanates from Jekyll’s situation in order to preserve the status quo at the cost o f the truth. Hyde is not only hidden by these men, he is also hidden by â€Å"an ivory-faced and silvery-haired old woman† whose evil face was â€Å"smoothed by hypocrisy† that is nevertheless veiled by â€Å"excellent manners† (Stevenson 16).   This woman is the truth of Victorian society unveiled.   She and Hyde are the male and female aspects of the brutal force of instinct, perversions of the bland and caring natures that Victorian society usually painted on housekeepers and doctors. Both of these stories reveal the hypocrisy of Victorian society.   Hawthorne’s minister shows the danger of hiding secrets, while Stevenson’s Hyde shows the danger of those secrets revealed.   Both, however, examine how the brutal inner force of truth can be hidden by the bland veil of deception. Hawthorne, Nathaniel.   Twice-Told Tales, Rosemary Mahoney (ed.).   New York: Random House, 2001. Stevenson, Robert Louis.   The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.   New York: Dover Thrift, 1991. nbsp;

Top 6 Key Questions to Ask at Your Next Job Interview

Top 6 Key Questions to Ask at Your Next Job Interview You got the interview!  Things are going well. You’ve smoothly discussed your performance points, you’ve glossed over That Incident We’d All Like to Leave Behind, and you’ve been making eye contact like a pro. Suddenly, the interviewer asks you if you have any questions. â€Å"Oh ho,† you think. â€Å"The interviewee has become the interviewer!† But in the moment, you start to feel a bit of inward panic. You’ve focused so fully on answering any question that could possibly be thrown your way, and now you’re drawing a bit of a blank. The best way to avoid that deer-in-headlights moment in an interview is to be prepared. Ahead of the interview, think of a set of questions to have on hand no matter how the discussion shakes out. If possible, work them in organically during the interview (without seeming too Barbara Walters about it). If they don’t really fit with the flow of the conversation, hold them until the end when y ou might well have an open floor.1. â€Å"How has this position evolved?†This one can give you a sense of how the company sees this role- and, potentially, you. If this is a role that has expanded or updated with each person that has held it, that’s a good indicator that it is a growth position. If it has stayed more or less the same over time, it could be that there is not much room for you to a) make it your own or b) advance beyond a certain point. Not necessarily a dealbreaker, depending on your perspective, but definitely something to be aware of as you go into it.RELATED:  Crush your Next Job Interview with These 12 Questions2. â€Å"In the first year, what is the highest priority for this position?†Five-year plans (a common interview and career subject) are all well and good, but the first year in a position could make or break it for you. Knowing the immediate plans for this role can tell you whether this is where you really want to be. After all, the company’s goals for the position will become your goals if you end up taking the job, so it would be helpful to know as early as possible whether the initial priorities are ones that seem manageable to you and likely to be a challenge.3. â€Å"In this position, how would I be working with my manager?†Speaking of things that can make or break your new job, your boss might be the most important one. We all have management styles to which we respond well- and ones that make us want to run screaming for the nearest exit. The answer to this question can let you know whether you’ll be working shoulder-to-shoulder with your manager, or if he or she expects you to take a ball and run with it, with minimal input or hand-holding.4. â€Å"What are the biggest challenges in this role?†Just like you present the best parts of yourself in your resume and the interview, the employer wants to present the best parts of this job to prospective employees. There is likely mor e to the job than the bare-bones job description, and now is your chance to get some of that extra context if the interviewer hasn’t already offered that information.5. â€Å"What is a typical day like in this role?†If you’ll be spending most of your day on particular tasks, this question can help you figure out whether that will work for you. For example, if you hate fielding phone calls, but it turns out that 75% of this job is working the phones, this is crucial information to have. This can also help you figure out what the priorities will be for the position and help you shape any subsequent answers around that information to show that you would be a good fit for that daily routine.6. â€Å"Is there anything else I can provide to help you make this decision?†This is a good grand finale question once the interview is winding down. It shows you’re proactive and keenly interested in the position, for starters and also gives you a chance to clarif y any vagueness or confusion on the interviewer’s part.Asking questions in your interview is key. It demonstrates that you’re paying attention and are engaged in the process. And by asking smart ones on the spot, tailored specifically to the job description and your pre-interview research on the company, you show the interviewer that you’re a better-prepared candidate than someone who either doesn’t speak up or who ignores the useful opportunity to ask counter-questions.