I appreciate the picture of the pyramids and the quote about geographical curiosity. It adds another perspective that I had not seen in other common place work as of yet. The picture of Holt and the mysterious being is a common piece in most common place work and I have also seen some things about magic and Egypt and the mysterious. I like your quote from the appendix as it includes some stuff about dreams and religion and so did a lot of quotes about the mysterious from the hypnotism point of view. This ties into my common place work as I included some things about the dream like state of hypnotism.
Hi!
I wanted to start off by mentioning that I love that your Commonplace Book is an actual notebook, and I enjoy that you focused on Egypt. I am glad that you cited the passage you chose for your first quote, as it shows clear correlation between Egypt and the rising interest in spiritualism during the Victorian era. That passage connects to a thought I had in light of another entry I saw, in that due to how Victorians saw what they considered the Orient, it was easy for a writer like Marsh to connect ideas like hypnotism to the figure of the Beetle, who is from Egypt. The “Echoes of the Empire” passage you selected can be extended into how such exploration would cause anxiety within other Victorians, as said fear is expressed within the Beetle (though I will not connect this to a specific passage because that would spoil a plot point found later in the novel.)
I like your first quote from the back of the book because it draws on a different perspective about Egyptian life. In the novel we get the perspective of Egyptians as mysterious and monstrous people who shouldn’t be trusted, but from your quote we see that they were practicing “magic” as a way to practice their religion. I also like your photo of the Egyptian pyramids because it is not something that a lot of other people thought to put in their common place books.
I certainly find the fact that the English were so interested in magical practices despite the technological advancements at the time fascinating. I spoke about this too in my CPB, where I addressed the fact that this interest began with Napoleon bringing back Egyptian artifacts after conquering the nation, which was then taken over by Britain after Napoleon fell. The English were obsessed with decorating their homes Egyptian-style, and even genuinely believed in “mummies’ curses.” I am not as surprised at the exploratory and financial interests in Egypt, as those are very common throughout the history of colonization.
Hey Caitlyn!
Nice job with your entry for this week!
In my commonplace entry for this week, I had also chosen to discuss the Egyptian/colonial cultural contexts of the novel, as well as the context of the Victorian interest in the supernatural/ “magic”. They’re central aspects of the novel that seem to be appearing in nearly everyone’s commonplace entry in some form or another. Going off of what Gina has already said in her comment, I am also struck by the Victorian interest in spirituality/the supernatural, given that the numerous scientific advancements of the 19th century would likely lead us to view the Victorians as being more focused on rationality and natural materiality, as opposed to the irrationality of the supernatural (a common misconception that is discussed in the British Library article that I linked to in my commonplace entry). Given the fast-pace nature of scientific advancement in the 19th century, however, it is reasonable to see how the Victorians would have still clung to a desire to see the world through a supernatural lens, given how quickly England, and the West more broadly, transitioned from a pre-Industrial “faith-based” society to an Industrial “rationality-based” society (which could have made Victorians feel as though they had almost “lost their faith overnight” and thus lead them to be skeptical of what was true/untrue about the world around them, including the “rational” advancements with which they were presented). Further, given that each scientific advancement seemed to provide the Victorians with more questions than answers in regards to explaining the world around them (and increasingly presented the universe as an overwhelmingly complex entity), it is easy to see how spirituality/the supernatural could have persisted into this Industrial, “secular” society, providing the Victorians another reason besides direct colonial involvement in Egypt to acquire an interest in this “mystical” ancient empire.
Hi Caitlyn! Great entry. I continue to admire your use of this physical commonplace book to track your entries. I am interested by the context you provided in terms of the Egyptian culture. There seems to be a strong tie to this within The Beetle. In the novel so far, it has only been alluded to, but I am interested to see how much more is included about the culture. I think it was smart for you to center your entries with this Egyptian focus. As for your other image, I also included this in my entry for this week of Robert Holt looking upon the mysterious creature. The image of this being is not what I expected and pictured in my mind when reading; however, it does fit well with the description in the novel.
You’re getting such great feedback, from so many people, Caitlyn!
7 thoughts on “4/1/2020”
I appreciate the picture of the pyramids and the quote about geographical curiosity. It adds another perspective that I had not seen in other common place work as of yet. The picture of Holt and the mysterious being is a common piece in most common place work and I have also seen some things about magic and Egypt and the mysterious. I like your quote from the appendix as it includes some stuff about dreams and religion and so did a lot of quotes about the mysterious from the hypnotism point of view. This ties into my common place work as I included some things about the dream like state of hypnotism.
Hi!
I wanted to start off by mentioning that I love that your Commonplace Book is an actual notebook, and I enjoy that you focused on Egypt. I am glad that you cited the passage you chose for your first quote, as it shows clear correlation between Egypt and the rising interest in spiritualism during the Victorian era. That passage connects to a thought I had in light of another entry I saw, in that due to how Victorians saw what they considered the Orient, it was easy for a writer like Marsh to connect ideas like hypnotism to the figure of the Beetle, who is from Egypt. The “Echoes of the Empire” passage you selected can be extended into how such exploration would cause anxiety within other Victorians, as said fear is expressed within the Beetle (though I will not connect this to a specific passage because that would spoil a plot point found later in the novel.)
I like your first quote from the back of the book because it draws on a different perspective about Egyptian life. In the novel we get the perspective of Egyptians as mysterious and monstrous people who shouldn’t be trusted, but from your quote we see that they were practicing “magic” as a way to practice their religion. I also like your photo of the Egyptian pyramids because it is not something that a lot of other people thought to put in their common place books.
I certainly find the fact that the English were so interested in magical practices despite the technological advancements at the time fascinating. I spoke about this too in my CPB, where I addressed the fact that this interest began with Napoleon bringing back Egyptian artifacts after conquering the nation, which was then taken over by Britain after Napoleon fell. The English were obsessed with decorating their homes Egyptian-style, and even genuinely believed in “mummies’ curses.” I am not as surprised at the exploratory and financial interests in Egypt, as those are very common throughout the history of colonization.
Hey Caitlyn!
Nice job with your entry for this week!
In my commonplace entry for this week, I had also chosen to discuss the Egyptian/colonial cultural contexts of the novel, as well as the context of the Victorian interest in the supernatural/ “magic”. They’re central aspects of the novel that seem to be appearing in nearly everyone’s commonplace entry in some form or another. Going off of what Gina has already said in her comment, I am also struck by the Victorian interest in spirituality/the supernatural, given that the numerous scientific advancements of the 19th century would likely lead us to view the Victorians as being more focused on rationality and natural materiality, as opposed to the irrationality of the supernatural (a common misconception that is discussed in the British Library article that I linked to in my commonplace entry). Given the fast-pace nature of scientific advancement in the 19th century, however, it is reasonable to see how the Victorians would have still clung to a desire to see the world through a supernatural lens, given how quickly England, and the West more broadly, transitioned from a pre-Industrial “faith-based” society to an Industrial “rationality-based” society (which could have made Victorians feel as though they had almost “lost their faith overnight” and thus lead them to be skeptical of what was true/untrue about the world around them, including the “rational” advancements with which they were presented). Further, given that each scientific advancement seemed to provide the Victorians with more questions than answers in regards to explaining the world around them (and increasingly presented the universe as an overwhelmingly complex entity), it is easy to see how spirituality/the supernatural could have persisted into this Industrial, “secular” society, providing the Victorians another reason besides direct colonial involvement in Egypt to acquire an interest in this “mystical” ancient empire.
Hi Caitlyn! Great entry. I continue to admire your use of this physical commonplace book to track your entries. I am interested by the context you provided in terms of the Egyptian culture. There seems to be a strong tie to this within The Beetle. In the novel so far, it has only been alluded to, but I am interested to see how much more is included about the culture. I think it was smart for you to center your entries with this Egyptian focus. As for your other image, I also included this in my entry for this week of Robert Holt looking upon the mysterious creature. The image of this being is not what I expected and pictured in my mind when reading; however, it does fit well with the description in the novel.
You’re getting such great feedback, from so many people, Caitlyn!
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