For this week’s class we were tasked with analyzing an illustration for a particular Victorian text and looking for research related to the image. Rather than looking at the text itself, our primary focus was strictly on the image. It has been a long time since I have last looked at Goblin Market so I needed to find some information related to the poem to be able to understand the illustration we used. It is important to realize the connection that image, text and context have together because they each influence one another.

For Bleak House, I chose to focus on Dickens' commentary on religion within the novel. I think it is going to be an interesting approach to viewing the writing. As I read, I sense that Dickens is using satire and hyperboles to almost poke fun at religion and those that follow religion. I think it might be a challenging aspect to focus on just because it can be hard to tackle things like religion and how writers comment on that. This week I added to the timeline about the flourishment of Evangelical Protestantism and how Dicken's portrays this movement through Mrs.

In searching for a gallery entry, I found many images and artworks that allowed me to see the context that Dickens has put together in his novel. I've understood the elements that he has included, but I haven't been able to put them together at once, and the images helped me do just that. I find it easier now to picture what the characters look like, what they wore, what worlds the different class systems lived in despite the existence of a dirty reality.

While exploring the history of the illustrations in Christina Rossetti’s The Goblin Market, I was delighted to learn of her collaborative efforts with her brother Dante Gabriel. I am a huge fan of family collaborations whether their parent/child, sibling, or spousal, I think it’s beautiful to have such like-mindedness and shared passion with family members.