When I was reading Reuben Sachs, I noticed that when Amy Levy described the characters, she focused a lot on their physical appearances. She wrote about what they wore and gave descriptions of their faces with a certain emphasis on their eyes. The first description I noticed this in was that of Mrs. Sachs, Reuben’s mother. She is described as having “a wide, sallow, impassive face, lighted up by the occasional gleams of shrewdness from a pair of half-shut eyes” (4). One of the more jarring descriptions comes when Levy is describing Reuben’s aunt Ada. She says of her face, “and from its haggard gloom looked out two dark, restless, miserable eyes; the eyes of a creature in pain” (15). To me, these descriptions really give a deep sense of the character by revealing parts of them that may not be revealed through dialogue. Finally, Levy describes Judith by saying she possessed, “wonderful, lustrous, mournful eyes, entirely out of keeping with the accepted characteristics of their owner” (21). Eyes have the ability to show emotions and feelings, revealing parts of a character that are unknown to the reader.

All of this interesting descriptive language reminded me of the group who wrote about hands in Great Expectations. The article they chose stated that there were over 450 references to hands in the novel which served to create distinctions between the characters. The group talked about the difference between Pip’s course hands and Miss Havisham’s bejeweled hands. This apparently showcased the class difference between these two characters. I’m not really sure how much these connect with one another, other than a descriptive technique used by the authors, but I just found it interesting that in both works, the human anatomy reveals more about characters than first meets the eye.

There is a character in Reuben Sachs who I believe deserves more attention. From her introduction and unfavorable description, I became interested in Aunt Ada. At this point however, I really only know that she resembles a “creature in pain” and that she does not seem to care for herself very well. Though her personality appears to be very different, I was reminded of Miss Havisham in her perpetual wedding dress relative instability. Both women come from a life of wealth, and yet they are equally miserable. What’s more, they both are depicted as perhaps supernatural. Aunt Ada resembles a corse while Miss Havisham is ghostlike. This can thus further be connected to Catherine, who, after her mental breakdown, also turns into a phantom-type character. Then this seems to be something not uncommon of Victorian literature; a female character who’s mental state is weak or questionable taking on a more spectral role. Bertha Mason in Jane Eyre is a wonderful example of this. Now, the cause Miss Havisham’s, Catherine’s, and Bertha’s mental states are all attributed to the actions of the men in their lives. That makes me curious to see, if we learn more about Aunt Ada, if her story will follow a similar path.

While reading Reuben Sachs I came across one quote in particular that stuck out to me, “This woman, with her beauty, her intelligence, her power of feeling, saw herself merely as one of a vast crowd of girls awaiting their promotion by marriage.” This quote is talking about Judith and though she has much to offer she, like most Victorian women, are simply waiting around to get married and fulfill their duties of becoming a housewife. This quote reminded me of Catherine in Wuthering Heights. In chapter 11 of Wuthering Heights, Catherine tells Nelly that Edgar has asked her to marry him and she has accepted. She goes on to explain that she cannot marry Heathcliff because in her eyes he is beneath her in some way. She goes so far as to say, “It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff.” She knows that Edgar Linton is a proper gentleman and can offer her a life of a typical Victorian woman. Judith and Catherine are very similar in that they feel as though they don’t have complete control over their lives. During the Victorian Era, women were expected to be good wives and mothers so this is what was done. Even though these women might have had ideas of their own about how they might want their lives to end up, the traditions of domestic life were so engrained in the society already.

I swear, it’s almost as if there is some psychic connection linking the two syllabuses of these classes together, because today in my European Revolutions we talked about Antisemitism in the latter part of the 19th century — fitting considering how deeply entrenched in middle-class Jewish values Reuben Sachs seems to be. There has been much made in the works of the day about the seemingly great threat that Judaism posed to Western values. Meanwhile, the novel itself is disappointingly mundane; what is this intimate introspection on families and relationships of the Jewish community in the heart of Victorian London? As progressive as Dickens was in many aspects, Great Expectations is still rife with racially charged language and stereotypes of the Jewish population. Having done a bit of background research on the author of Reuben Sachs, Amy Levy, it is quite telling to compare the two representations of Jews in England, especially when one of them is an Old White Guy and the other an actual member of the community. While I don’t personally care about the plot of the novel, as I find it banal and quite unexciting compared to some of the other things we’ve read, it isn’t trying to set the world on fire. As a portrayal of a way of life, particularly for a marginalized and much oppressed community, its existence is valuable in and of itself.

I can now truly see why “Victorian Connections” is such a fitting title when we want to group together all of the things that we are reading this semester. Sometimes when reading and doing research, you almost get a sense of deja-vu in the context that situations and themes are repeating themselves across many texts. We seem to see a strong and very consistent connection between relationships and social status. There is a specific social status that comes with race and other aspects for each character. This is a connection that we see across many of our texts. We are often doing further research to see the specifics of society when these pieces of literature were written. There seems to be a consistency when it comes to romance as well. We have seen multiple times in Reuben Sachs, Wuthering Heights, and Great Expectations, there always seems to be an obstacle in the way of “love”. Every time this obstacle falls in the category of social class. During this time there was not a lot of people that were mixing social classes at all. We can see this depicted throughout all of the novels, how they describe certain kinds of people makes it evident what their position in society was. This was the reason why all of the romantic connections in the novels were classified in this matter. A light was being shed on the separation between all of the social classes. Your position in society played a major role in how you were portrayed in literature and what rights you had. This is why we frequently see the idea of one side of the romance from an upper level of society and the other side from a lower level of society. The idea of what the role of woman in society also comes up quite frequently as well. They were expected to uphold a certain way of carrying themselves in society and we see this carry out in all the novels written during this time.

After reading the Levy novel Ruben Sachs I could not help but look into the life and inspiration of the author. It is clear she is writing her work from a feminist perspective and commenting on the patriarchal nature of the jewish family structure and community. We watch her character Judith live and deal with these circumstance which reminded me of Pip’s journey to become a gentlemen only Pip did not have to face the discrimination based on religion and gender. Because of this I did not want to make the coming of age comparison, but thought of the inspiration of Wilde’s work. When he writes it is with such passion to be understood and I feel the same sense in Levy’s work as well. The two knew each other and Wilde published Levy’s poems and short stories in his publication Women’s World. I find their relation intriguing and picture the two spending days talking about what it is like to be hated and outcast from society because of something fundamental about their existence. It is interesting to me that during the same time two people who face such different form of oppression knew each other and were helping the other create.I wonder if great art has to come from a lace of pain and outsiderness, or is it this lonely feeling that allows writers to reflect on the world around them?

In Wuthering Heights, we are introduced to Heathcliff who is adopted into the Earnshaw family. Although Catherine Earnshaw was not fond of his presence in the beginning, she did begin to have a hold on Heathcliff and their love for each other became more than sisterly love. Heathcliff is tormented of the life he could have had with Catherine and he destroys anything good or might seem happy in his path in retaliation to how his life turned out after being taken in by a wealthy caucasian family. In Reuben Sachs, we are introduced to Reuben’s familial line. Reuben is a part of a prominent Jewish family in a mainly Jewish community. His uncle by marriage, Israel Leuniger, adopted a girl by the name of Judith Quixano who is Israel’s sister’s daughter. Reuben returns from a six-month journey and visits the Leuniger household and can not keep his eyes off of Judith. This relates back to Wuthering Heights as it displays a courtship between two young lovers and their love for one another despite their familial ties.

One thing, that I didn’t connect to anything lol, in particular that stuck out to me in reading Reuben Sach is the tremendous detail in this novel. The details make the novel so interesting and conveys a sense of realism in the piece to the reader.

On to my connection, throughout Victorian literature, we see how different societal constructs are present. We see themes of race, gender, and romance very frequently. Reuben Sachs portrays race and romance difficulties coupled with societal standards. For instance, the portrayal of class is seen by,  “By his side stood a small, dark, gnomelike creature, apparently entirely overpowered by the rich, untidy garments she was wearing” (Levy 19). In comparison to class in other books we’ve read, we see in Wuthering Heights Heathcliff’s portrayal, “He is a dark-skinned gypsy in aspect, in dress and manners a gentleman, that is, as much a gentleman as many a country squire.” Societal divide is not only seen at the surface level, but at all levels in this time.

In addition, romance is an overarching theme, and coming to rise here. In Ruben Sachs, “He heard and saw nothing but the sound of Leo’s violin, and the face of Judith” (Levy 31). The mere focus on Judiths face, indicates his fascination (romance). This reminds me of particularly the focus on the face in other pieces. I remember a few instances in Wuthering Heights where there was a particular focus on faces. For instance, “a dim reflection from her own enchanting face,” and Heathcliff says, “I meditated this plan—just to have one glimpse of your face, a stare of surprise, perhaps, and pretended pleasure; afterwards settle my score with Hindley; and then prevent the law by doing execution on myself.” Further the attention to detail on the face, “Her pretty face was wan and listless; her hair uncurled: some locks hanging lankly down, and some carelessly twisted round her head” (Bronte 98). The overall fascination and detail of the face is very interesting.
I’m not sure if this is a stretch, but the idea of the focus on faces kind of struck out to me. It will definitely be something I will continue to look out for now that I have made this connection.

When reading Reuben Sachs by Amy Levy for this week, a description that jumped out at me within the first few pages was the physical description of Adelaide and her mother. “She was richly and very fashionably dressed in an unbecoming gown of green shot silk,” Levy writes, “and wore big diamond solitaires in her ears. She and her mother were indeed never seen without such jewels…” Immediately in the book, this shows the keen eye given to women’s physical appearance at the time. This can be seen in other texts that we’ve read, such as with Miss Havisham in Great Expectations. Appearing in an old wedding dress throughout the book, Miss Havisham shows the significance both of appearance and its use in fiction to communicate a deeper meaning (in this case, it’s how her life is defined by the tragedy of her wedding day). As Reuben Sachs moves forward, it becomes more evident the importance of Levy’s physical descriptions in painting visions of her characters. From the detailed showcase of the complexion and air of a Jewish man to the unfolding of Aunt Ada’s appearance just before she is introduced.