Where do we see instances of Austen relating her characters to others?

"To be a character in Austen is to get continually contrasted, juxtaposed, related to others, and, as such, to help build the thematic architecture that critics then discern" (Woloch, 43).

"Oh! She is the most beautiful creature I ever beheld! But there is one of her sisters sitting down just behind you, who is very pretty, and I dare say, very agreeable" (Pride and Prejudice, 50).


Since Elizabeth is the main character of the novel, we must question why Austen includes all of the sisters in her novel. According to Alex Woloch, the other members of the family exist in order to compare and contrast Elizabeth to them. We see an example of this in the scene where Mr. Bingley hosts his first ball; this is the first moment when the Bennet girls meet Mr. Bingley and his company, and he is instantly taken with Jane's beauty. Not only does he dance with her twice, while only dancing with everyone else once, but he claims, "She is the most beautiful creature I ever beheld! But there is one of her sisters sitting down just behind you, who is very pretty, and I dare say, very agreeable" (P&P, 50). Bingley describes Jane in terms of being the "most beautiful," meaning that of all the ladies there, she possesses the most beauty, but only describes Elizabeth as "very pretty" and "very agreeable." This means that while Bingley believes Jane to be the fairest, Elizabeth merely falls under the category of pretty, something that most other women could fall into, which suggests a sort of hierarchy with Jane being at the top.

Happiness, P&P, and paper updates

"The inhuman practice of slavery and the terrible disruptions of war were among the most obvious, but they were of a kind with a whole battery of barbaric customs, prejudices, injustices, and false beliefs that Enlightenment thinkers believed had long prevented the majority of human beings from attaining their natural end. Like those twin evils of religious superstition and fanaticism, accumulated customs and prejudices barred human beings from living as they should. Remove them, and happiness would flourish" (McMahon, Happiness, 215).

"This was praise, of all others most extraordinary, most opposite to her ideas. That he was not a good tempered man, had her firmest opinion. Her keenest attention was awakened; she longed to hear more..." (Pride and Prejudice, 262).

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Paper Update

"That configuration of concerns, or master configuration as it deserves to be called, found expression in and through a wide but quite specific range of subjects whose connection with one another is often not apparent at first glance" (Fried, Primacy of Absorption, 7). 

"But La Porte's commentary makes clear that what he himself found most compelling about the Pere de famille was what he saw as its persuasive representation of a particular state or condition, which each figure in the painting appeared to exemplify in his or her own way, i.e., the state or condition of rapt attention, of being completely occupied or engrossed or (as I prefer to say) absorbed in what he or she is doing, hearing, thinking, feeling" (Fried, 10).

I'm planning on expanding on Fried's idea of absorption by further discussing the "connection with one another [that] is often not apparent at first glance," which will be the differing levels of absorption. In order to be "engrossed," one must first begin "swallowing up or engulfing" something. If a person becomes too "engrossed," it leads to the "disappearance or assimilation" as we see in The Female Quixote. I think I want to bring in Greuze's painting Un Pere Famille (or another similar painting that shows absorption) to show that being engrossed doesn't necessarily have to lead to disappearance (shown through the various children). 

Two quotes & Paper update

"Writers have been using descriptions of their characters' behaviors to inform us about their feelings since time immemorial, and we expect them to do so when we open the book. We all learn, whether consciously or not, that the default interpretation of behavior reflects a character's state of mind, and every fictional story that we read reinforces our tendency to make that kind of interpretation first" (Zunshine, 4).

"'I certainly shall not. You know how I detest it, unless I am particularly acquainted with my partner. At such an assembly as this, it would be insupportable. Your sisters are engaged, and there is not another woman in the room, whom it would not be a punishment to me to stand up with'" (Pride and Prejudice, 50).

Going off of what Zunshine says about relying on descriptions of character's behaviors to inform us about their feelings, I thought back to Darcy and how, at the ball, he was admired for the first half, and then once every realized his character, they all hated him. I thought this was a pretty good example of that moment. We see how rude he is through his language, as well as his pride because he doesn't want to dance with another.
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Lately, I've been having struggling with where exactly I want to take this paper because I can't seem to think of a paper that I'd like to have written. My problem is what exactly to focus on, but I took your suggestion about drawing out the different definitions I have in mind for absorption, and after talking through it a bit it helped me out. I still want to focus on those three definitions and present them as a sort of spectrum or various levels (with "swallow up" being first, "engrossed" being second, and "disappearance" as the ultimate portrayal). My main text is still going to be The Female Quixote, and I'm going to focus a lot more on the language used as her "disappearance" (as opposed to a lot of plot summary I did before). I'm debating drawing in Betsy Thoughtless as a contrast -- one has too little thoughts (Betsy), while the other has too many (Arabella). I'm definitely going to use the quote you gave me ("He found the pensive Fair-one, in a melancholy Posture, her Head reclined upon one of her fair Hands; and though her Eyes were fixed upon a Book she held in the other, yet she did not seem to read, but rather to be wholly buried in Contemplation.") because I think it's a really nice portrayal of Arabella and one of the only moments where we actually see her reading. And in this quote I like how her posture is described -- not only does Lennox say she's in a melancholy posture, she does on to describe exactly what that looks like. It's interesting to note that although she's not looking directly at the book, she is still absorbed in it, which suggests just how absorbed she is. 

I'm still struggling a bit with the definitions and how exactly to go about showing them and explaining them, so I think that'll be my next step in thinking about the paper.

Week 11: Melancholy & Madness

"They inhabit a literary, not a real, madhouse and their function is to illustrate not the state of the insane, or even the thin proximity of madness to sanity, but the follies and delusions of contemporary society" (The Madness of Multitude, 81)

"Falsly the mortal part we blame

Of our depress'd and pond'rous Frame,

Which till the first degrading Sin

Let thee its dull attendant in,

Still with the other did comply;"

("The Spleen," lines 26-30)

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Brainstorming for Final Paper:

Topic:

-Examine three different modes of absorption ("to swallow up or engulf," "to be engrossed," "the disappearance or assimilation into something") and how they are portrayed

-What are the differences between these three modes? Are some more dangerous than others?

-What does the portrayal say about the mode of absorption? Do we find similarities/differences between modes?

Different Modes with Texts:

-"To swallow up or engulf"

1. Laputians --> harmless, humor
2. RED example --> devouring book, harmless?

-"To be engrossed"

1. Laputians? --> eyes pointed inwards, don't pay attention to surroundings unless prompted to do so, starts to get more harmful
2. Greuze painting --> postures & gazes point towards engrossed, seen as good thing in this case, because religious

-"To disappear, be assimilated"

1. The Female Quixote --> Arabella takes on language (provide more evidence and less summary this time), disappearance into the world of romance becomes dangerous

-Texts suggest that based on these three modes, if absorption goes unchecked (or is not for religious purposes) can lead to danger -- i.e. Arabella jumping into lake to prove point. 

-See if can work in The Coquette anywhere

Paper Proposal

   For my final research paper, I want to build on paper two and explore Absorption in a little more detail. In the last paper, I focused on three definitions of absorption, and I'd like to do that again. This time, though, I'd like to specifically focus on the varying ways in which a person can be absorbed and how these ways differ (or are similar) to each other. For example, one of the definitions was "to be engrossed" and another is "disappearance through, or assimilation into." To me, being engrossed means that your attention is completely occupied, whereas disappearance means that nothing else exists but this book and you've slipped into the world of this book. In essence, these different ways are like varying levels, starting with "swallowing up," moving to "being engrossed," and then "disappearing."

   As for texts, I'd like to focus on The Female Quixote a little more. I felt like I did a lot of summary last time, and didn't pull out a lot of evidence, so I'd like to look more at her language while incorporating the idea of modeling her life after these books as a sort of 'script.' I'm also going to explore further what 'levels' of absorption are in the book, because I'm curious to see if I can point out specific moments of each type.

   Like last time, I'd like to draw in the Reading Experience Database and Un Pere de famille (Greuze),  but I think I might pull in another painting that depicts absorption, so that I can show that it's not just novels, but other types of work. I'm also going to look at ECCO. Within each of these specific works, I'm going to look at how the author or artist chooses to portray about the work and what this says about the piece.

Week 11

"...But what has been the result?---a profound conviction that the neglected education of my fellow-creatures is the grand source of the misery I deplore; and that women, in particular, are rendered weak and wretched by a variety of concurring causes, originating from one hasty conclusion" (Vindication, 3).

Let sin, that baneful evil to the soul,
By you be shunn'd, nor once remit your guard;
Suppress the deadly serpent in its egg.
Ye blooming plants of human race divine,
An Ethiop tells you 'tis your greatest foe;
Its transient sweetness turns to endless pain,
And in immense perdition sinks the soul. (Wheatley, 7)

Boredom in Rambler 191

What are some examples of these "incitements" in Rambler 191?

"Boredom, however, includes as a component the "need for intense mental activity," a need that in the bored person cannot find gratification by generating its own impulse but seeks "incitements" from the outside world as a means of decreasing tension" (Reading, Writing, and Bored, 4).

"Those vacancies of time which are to be filled with books, I have never yet obtained; for, consider, Mr. Rambler, I got to bed late, and therefore cannot rise early; as soon as I am up, I dress for the gardens; then walk in the park; then always go to some sale or show, or entertainment at the little theatre; then must be dressed for dinner; then must pay my visits; then walk in the park; then hurry to the play; and from thence to the card-table..." (Rambler 191, 2)

When reading Boredom Chapter 1, I was especially struck by the fact that the word "bored" didn't exist until much later, and that it is a modern construct used to describe this state of mind. I was particularly interested in the descriptions of boredom in Chapter 1; I know what the word bored means -- I have been bored before -- so when I see it written in texts I don't need a further explanation of how the person is acting. The descriptions Spack includes in the chapter came before the word existed, though, so it's not written anywhere in the texts, which leaves one to figure out the tell-tale signs of boredom.
For example, in the description of the Medieval Monk, he "look about anxiously," "sigh," "goes in and out of his cell" and "frequently gazes up at the sun, as if it was too slow in setting." In other words, he keeps looking around to find something to do, sighs because he can't find anything to occupy his mind, starts pacing to pass the time, and frequently looks at the sun to see if time has passed.

In Rambler 191, we see similar "incitements" as those above. The girl has been confined to the house for three months and is not allowed to pass her time in the ways that she used to (mentioned above in the quote). Bellaria feels the need to constantly be busy ('the "need for intense mental activity") but she cannot occupy her mind on her own,  and must look to the outside world to occupy her mind, hence all that she does in her day -- it keeps her away from boredom.

Memory in Tristram Shandy

In what ways do we (or don't we) see memory at work in Tristram Shandy?

"We can manipulate such information in ways that make it possible to bring it together or separate it in a variety of ways, to collate, classify, compose, and sort it in order to create new ideas or deconstruct old ones."

"Digressions, incontestably, are the sunshine;----they are the life, the soul of reading;----take them out of this book for instance,-----you might as well take the book along with them..." (52, Shandy)

When reading Tristram Shandy, it becomes hard to always follow along with what Tristram is discussing, because he goes from one idea to the other so fast. There will be moments when I'm reading  that I'll be following along with, like when he's talking about his father and uncle Toby, and then the next thing I know he's on a totally different train of thought, and I don't even realize that it's happened. We did that exercise in class on Thursday where we wrote down all the thoughts that came to our mind, and that's what the quote from The Book of Memory reminds me off.

As Tristram says, "digressions...are the sunshine;----they are the life, the soul of reading;----take them out of this book for instance,-----you might as well take the book along with them." This is true; if we were to take out all of his distractions from the book, there would be little left, but I think this novel functions like his memory. One minute he'll be writing his story, and then something he's written will make him thing of something else, and he'll go off on this tangent about that thing, and then something else will come about from what he just said, and so on. Then he'll realize he got way off topic and he'll go back to the idea, only to complete the process again. It's a pain to read, and at times a little excessive, but I think it does make it a bit more realistic when looking into his head.

Senses & "A Description of the Morning"

How does Swift use the five senses in "A Description of the Morning" to turn away from romanticizing London?

"The five senses act as the mediators between the outside world and the mind. The senses help people navigate around their environment, and gain a sense of others. However, urban life impacted on the senses of different citizens in diverse ways... Sensing is not only highly individualistic, it is also historically constituted" (The City in Hubbub, 15-6)

"Swift applies a rural descriptive style to matters modern and unpoetic. Sir Richard Steele, the Tatler's editor, heralded the poem as a new experiment in urban realism... He never forms Fields, or Nymphs, or Groves, where they are not, but makes the Incidents just as they really appear" (A Description of the Morning, 74).

As the title suggests, Swift aims to describe the typical morning in London in his poem. Instead of idealizing it or romanticizing it, Swift turns to "urban realism." That is, he describes things as they really are, while relying on the senses. Although he doesn't explicitly spell out the senses within his poem, his use of sensory helps to show how people navigate around their environment.

In the first two lines of the poem, Swift addresses the over-crowdedness of London with his use of "Hackney-Coach." This coach is meant to represent the sun-god Apollo's chariot, while the "Ruddy Morn's Approach" is the sunrise. A chariot is drawn by two horses and is usually meant for one person, while a coach is drawn by two to four horses and is meant to fit six people. The use of "Ruddy Morn" suggests that the sunrise is dull, or gloom. By using these specific words, Swift shows that the typical day in London isn't romantic; there is no sun-god to bring the day about, only the Hackney-coach, and the morning isn't bright, but gloomy. He also suggests it is crowded.

He also goes on to describe the various tasks that workers are doing. For example, "The Slipshod 'Prentice from his Master's Dore / Had par'd the Street, and sprinkl'd round the Floor" (lines 5-6) and "Duns at his Lordship's Gate began to meet" (line 13). These examples not only show the gap between social classes, but also work as 'good' and 'bad' characters within the poem. The "Slipshod 'Prentice" has already scraped dirt from the street and sprinkled sawdust by the time the sun rises. He acts as the moral, hardworking character, as opposed to the Lord. The Lord could be seen as morally corrupt, because he is in debt, but also acts as the higher class within the poem. The melding of these bad characters with the good suggests that the city overlooks the behavior because it is needed for the functioning of it. By being in debt, the Lord creates jobs for the Duns.

In what way does this quote from Samuel Johnson's The Rambler apply to Arabella?

"These books are written chiefly to the young, the ignorant, and the idle, to whom they serve as lectures of conduct, and introductions into life. They are the entertainments of minds unfurnished with ideas, and therefore easily susceptible of impressions; not fixed by principles, and therefore easily following the current of fancy; not informed by experience, and consequently open to every false suggestion and partial account" (The Rambler, 2).

"Yet Fortune was so kind, as to give him the Means of repairing his Fault, and restoring him to some Part of her good Opinion; for, covered with Wounds as he was, and fatigued with fighting, before, yet he undertook, in that Condition, to prevent her Ravishers from carrying her off; and, for several Hours, continued fighting alone with near Two hundred Men, who were not able to overcome him, notwithstanding his extreme Weariness, and the Multitude of Blows which they aimed at him... I can only, like her, wish you may find some Occasion of justifying yourself, from the Crime laid to your Charge" (115).

In Samuel Johnson's The Rambler, he discusses how the novel's role and how authors construct their characters. As seen in the quote above, Johnson believes that author's aim these novels towards the young, uneducated because they are unexperienced in life and are thus susceptible to the displays of characters. While Johnson is speaking about readers of these novels in real life, we too see how this applies to characters in novels that are reading novels, such as Arabella.

Although we never actually see Arabella reading these romantic novels she is so wholly absorbed and obsessed with, we gather from her notions about life and interactions with other characters that she has read them; that is, we see the consequences of her readings. These books act as her "lectures of conduct, and introductions into life." She does not have any ideas of her own, and draws all of her ideas from these books. As seen in the quote above from The Female Quixote, Arabella is speaking to Glanville about the crime he committed against her. She compares him to "the valiant Coriolanus" who, even though he was wounded and tired, continues to fight for Cleopatra. She believes that because Coriolanus does this for Cleopatra, Glanville should do the same for her.

According to Johnson's passage, Arabella is so easily susceptible to these novels and the characters in them because she is so uninformed. She lives in a secluded area, and prior to reading these novels, she only had rare interactions with people outside of her father's service, and any of these interactions were not romantic, so when reading these novels, this was her first impression of what men would and should be like.

Obsessive and Absorption in The Female Quixote

Are there any moments in The Female Quixote where we see Arabella acting as Mondrian did with nature, and if so, what does she do it with?

"This book is about the obsessive strategies people use to keep the arbitrary out of their lives; it is about the fanaticism and intolerance linked to their ideas of perfection and permanence. Mondrian rejected nature because it would never conform to his will or sit still in grid-like immutability" (Introduction, 1).

"Her Ideas, from the Manner of her Life, and the Objects around her, had taken a romantic Turn; and, supposing Romances were real Pictures of Life, from them she drew all her Notions and Expectations" (The Female Quixote, 7).

As stated in the book, "she would have made a great Profiency in all useful Knowledge, had not her whole Time been taken up by another Study" (7). The other study that the story refers to her "Fondness for Reading." It is through these books that Arabella draws "her ideas," "notions," and "expectations." As we see later on in the novel, she uses these stories as a base for her interactions with guys. Mr. Hervey, who after seeing Arabella desires to court her, gets driven away because Arabella believes that he wishes to hurt her; she is suspicious of Edward, and rejects her cousin because he doesn't greet her properly. In another instance, Arabella is thinking of running away, but then realizes "she did not remember to have read of any Heroine that voluntarily left her Father's House, however persecuted she might be" (35). Based on these moments, it could be suggested that Arabella is absorbed in her books, and like Mondrian with nature, rejects her reality and instead draws her experiences and notions from these romantic novels she reads.

Thesis Statement and Outline

Today, many people look at curiosity as a positive virtue. In an age where many products are considered “smart” (smart phone, smart car), it isn’t uncommon to have intelligent people behind these items that were driven by one ambition: to create a better product. This was done by having a curiosity for what our future could be. But, in the past, curiosity was once considered a stigma. As Benedict says, “curiosity has also been depicted as the cause of mankind’s errors” and  that “curious people also become or produce objects of curiosity” (1). In fact, she also goes on to argue “that English culture portrays curiosity as the mark of a threatening ambition, an ambition that takes the form a perceptible violation of species and categories” (2), so it is no surprise to learn that, a novel that addresses female empowerment and female sexual freedom by means of curiosity, would be considered scandalous. Eliza Haywood's short story, “Fantomina” examines the role of women in a patriarchal society; namely, she focuses on how women were forced into limited roles which proved powerless over males. Instead of accepting the patriarchal society as it is, Haywood works against the idea of this society by creating a female protagonist touched with curiosity, and in doing so, not only creates a female identity, but creates one that is considered equal to the male identity.

Haywood starts off her story by describing the main character as “a young lady of distinguished birth, beauty, wit, and spirit” (1). This description lacks any real descriptive qualities (such as hair color, eye color, etc.) that would set this female character apart from others. In fact, Haywood could be describing any one of those “young ladies” of “distinguished birth.” By failing to add other qualities, Haywood therefore fails to add a female identity. She furthers this lack of female identity in her main character by leaving her unnamed in the story. This, along with the restrictions placed on the character -- like not being able to having a meaningful conversation with a male -- are meant to showcase the society as highly patriarchal. Men are allowed to talk to females without any implications (“she perceived several gentlemen extremely pleased themselves with entertaining a woman who sat in a corner of the pit” [1]). In addition, Haywood chooses to name the male protagonist, showing that they are the superior sex. 

Outline:

I. Introduction + Thesis statement

- history of curiosity -- both negative and positive virtue

- society as patriarchal

- women lack identity, power, and sexual freedom

II. Body Paragraphs (3-5)

i. Description of main character as evidence for male society

- doesn't distinguish her from others

- fails to add female identity

- leaves female unnamed, while naming male

- quotes about restrictions

ii. Introduction to curiosity

- starts off as natural curiosity to know what is being restricted

- not dangerous to society yet

- quotes about curiosity

iii. turn of natural curiosity to greed-like

- once realizes potential, turns into something more

- keeps tricking Beauplaisir to be with him - sexual

- moment that crosses line and all restrictions are gone

- now has identities

III. Conclusion

In what way does Haywood portray curiosity in Fantomina, and is there a sense of threatening ambition that accompanies the unnamed female protagonist?

"I argue that English culture portrays curiosity as the mark of a threatening ambition, an ambition that takes the form of a perceptible violation of species and categories" (Introduction, 2)

" But they, either less surprised by being more accustomed to such Sights, than she who had been bred for the most Part in the Country, or not of a Disposition to consider any Thing very deeply, took but little Notice of it. She still thought of it, however; and the longer she reflected on it, the greater was her Wonder, that Men, some of whom she knew were accounted to have Wit, should have Tastes very Depraved -- This excited a Curiosity in her to know in what Manner these Creatures were address'd" (Haywood, 1).

Fantomina follows the story of an unnamed female protagonist, who, because of her high social class isn't allowed to have meaningful conversations with males. She spots Beauplaisir, a man of her own social class, but is unable to speak with him because of her status. The female protagonist has a curiosity to know what it would be like to be addressed by these men, and because of this curiosity, she decides to disguise herself as a prostitute.

As Benedict says in her Introduction (Inspecting and Spectating: Monsters, Rarities, and Investigators), "curiosity has also been depicted as the cause of mankind's errors" (1) and that it is "the stigma of original or cultural corruption" (1).  Haywood uses curiosity in this way to satire social classes; it is only because she is fed up with her restrictions of being in a high social class (and thus curious about what could be) that the female "changes" her social class standing. She continues to disguise herself three more times, all of which allow her to pursue a relationship with Beauplaisir, who doesn't notice. This furthers the satire that as she changes her social standing, her identity changes as well.

Weekly Response 2 -- Wonder and Curiosity in RC

In the Angel reading for this week by Daston, we gain much discussion about curiosity and wonder -- namely the difference and link between the two. To what extent do we find wonder and curiosity -- especially the degrees of wonder (such as astonishment) -- in Robinson Crusoe, and where exactly are these moments?

"... but one of the several contributing causes was that the hidden or secret was the ideal object of admiration and curiosity. The causes of the hidden and the secret, by definition obscure, thereby set in motion the sequence of wonder-curiosity-attention" (Daston, 315).

"It happen'd one Day about Noon going towards my Boat, I was exceedingly surpriz'd with the Print of a Man's naked Foot on the Shore, which was very plain to be seen in the Sand: I stood like one Thunderstruck, or as I had seen an Appartition; I listen'd, I look'd round me, I could hear nothing, nor see any Thing; I went up to a rising Ground to look farther; I went up the Shore and down the Shoe, but it was all one, I could see no other Impression but that one, I went to it again to see if there were any more, and to observe if it might not be my Fancy; but there was no Room for that, for there was exactly the very Print of Foot, Toes, Hell, and every Part of a Foot; how it came thither, I knew not, nor could in the least imagine. But after innumerable fluttering Thoughts, like a Man perfectly confus'd and out of my self, I came Home to my Fortification, not feeling, as we say, the Ground I went on, but terrify'd to the last Degree, looking behind me at every Stump at a distance to be a Man; nor is it possible to describe how many various Shapes affrighted Imagination represented Things to me in, how many wild Ideas were found every Moment in my Fancy, and what strange unaccountable Whimsies came into my Thoughts by the Way" (Crusoe, 112).



In Daston's article, we are told the difference between wonder and curiosity (in this time), which turns out to be that "wonder [catches] the attention; curiosity [rivets] it (311). That is, we are impressed by something (wonder), and then we feel the need to investigate it (curiosity). There were several moments in the reading for this week, that caught my attention in pertaining to Robinson Crusoe.

Wonder and curiosity played with the idea of hidden or secret objects, which struck me as the island in Robinson Crusoe. It is a seemingly uninhabited island, and therefore hidden or secret, and elicits both curiosity from the readers and Crusoe himself. In Crusoe's case, it is because he is the only one to have survived the wreck and now must explore this island in order to find ways to survive; the reader's case is much the same: Crusoe is the only person to survive the wreck, and we are curious to find how he will survive, and to figure out if he is telling the truth. What really struck me in the readings, was the moment where Hooke was examining the fly under the microscope. "In order to rivet the attention up a common fly, Hooke had to transform it into a marvel by means of the microscope. Unmagnified, the fly barely registered in the observer's consciousness." In much the same way, Crusoe had to examine the island under a different light to survive. For example, in the beginning, he had a mental breakdown because he didn't know what to do, but after coming about the situation in a different mind, he was able to find places to live and transform them to create a shelter for himself.

In a broad sense, the paragraphs act as an example of wonder and curiosity, but Daston also wrote of varying degrees of wonder that one could face, one of which was astonishment. The difference between wonder and astonishment is described in these terms: "this serviceable 'Wonder' (admiration) was to be distinguished from a stupefying 'astonishment' (estonnement), which 'makes the whole body remain immobile like a statue, such that one cannot perceive any more of the object beyond the first face present, and therefore cannot acquire any more particular knowledge" (317). In essence, "astonishment is an excess of wonder"(318).

The example above taken from Robsinon Crusoe that examines his reaction to finding the footprint is a particular moment which I thought Crusoe to have an excess of wonder. He is astonished by finding this print, and almost stupefied by it. Although he does manage to run around the island and search for other prints, it is almost in a frenzy that leaves him unable to find more. Because he is so astonished by this print, he can't focus properly, and afterwards keeps imagining stumps in the background to be men, and various shapes continue to frighten him.

In particular, I found this article very helpful when reading Robinson Crusoe. It allowed me to go back to moments (like the scene on page 112) and do a closer reading of them, which in turn allowed me to reach moments of wonder, that, of course, lead to curiosity.