sir walter's bath, roman bath, eastern illinois's bath

We traveled to Bath to view the world of Austen's Persuasion, a world heritage site. We arrived, it was sunny, and so we decided to do a walking tour first, and to save the older, Roman Baths for the second day.

• Bath was, of course, baths (the King's and Queen's Baths, the Helte Pump Room) in every age.
• It was also one of development in Austen's time. The Pulteney Bridge from the mid-18th century is a beautiful version of the Ponte Vecchio with shops on both sides. But it also allowed a high-class development of the area across the river.
• Queen Square by John Wood Sr. and the Royal Crescent by John Wood Jr. were also high-class housing developments, in the early and mid-to-late 18th century respectively. (The latter is also a photo op. for the Eastern gang.)
• 
  

blog query week three

Gradgrind at Bath? Mary Musgrove in Coketown? Take one character from Persuasion and place him or her in Hard Times. Or one from Hard Times and place in Persuasion. How would that person react to the other situation? How would the other characters react to yours? Discuss how your person fits into the other society portrayed generally, but give specifics of setting and at least one quote from your character and suggest how it might affect the other novel. Is it a different time? A different place? A different class?

blog query week two

(posted Monday, due Thursday, by 8 am)

We have discussed Moll (1722) and begun to discuss Anne and the others of Persuasion (1816). In the world of Jane Austen, circa 1800, why do people visit Bath (health, love, society [what does that mean?], finances)? Find two reasons for going to Bath which represent two characters' distinct rationale for visiting or living at Bath. Give a quote each which shows this rationale and discuss. How are these reasons different from or similar to Moll's rationale?

(Rather than retype quotes you may find it easier once you know which quotes you want to go this e-text of Persuasion (html by chapters) or that e-text of Persuasion (all one text file.)