The+Secret+Agent

= **Joseph Conrad, //The Secret Agent// (1907) ** =

The first group project will be on //Mrs Dalloway//, and will be due on May 7, so we will use this page on //The Secret Agent// to practice as a class. Everyone should be able to find some relevant material about this novel on the internet to add to this page by Tue, Apr 21 using the "Edit This Page" link at the top of this page.

Forum Assignment
By Mon, Apr 20, you should have finished the novel and read the introduction, author’s note, and Lodge’s Sense of Place.” By Tue, Apr 21, read Emma Goldman, "Anarchism: What It Really Stands For" (see link below).   __WRITE BY APR 21__  PART A: So much of our interpretation of //The Secret Agent //depends upon Conrad's understanding and representation of anarchism, including its motives, objectives and adherents. Read Emma Goldman's essay on anarchism (see link below), and see how her explanations and justifications affect your interpretation of Conrad's novel and its characters. Write a 300-500 word reflection that compares the two perspectives; include at least one quotation from both Conrad and Goldman.  PART B: Find at least one piece of relevant material on the internet relating to the novel. **Click on the "Edit This Page" link at the top of this page**, and post the material you have found in one of the following categories: Biographical Info, Literary Criticism, Historical & Political Background, Images, Film & Media, or Links. **In addition to a link or an image, also add a brief explanatory note; make sure to click on the "Save" button at the top or bottom of the page when you're done.** Play around as best you can with formatting, so that your contribution on the Wiki fits with the others and some sort of organization emerges! In PART B of your forum posting, indicate which link you added and why you think it's significant. (Both Parts A & B should appear in the same forum posting; respond by Wed, Apr 22). 

Biographical Info
[|Joseph Conrad Biography] Joseph Conrad ([|SOURCE/MORE INFO.]) [] (This is a brief biography about the life of Joseph Conrad.) [|Joseph Conrad (VictorianWeb)] (Biography fairly short, focused on the effects his early life and travels had on him and his opinions of the world and human nature.)

Brief History of Joseph Conrad Józef Teodor Konrad Nalecz Korzeniowski was born in Berdychiv, Ukraine on 3 December 1857, to a patriotic Polish noble family. In 1861, his father, a writer and translator was exiled to Vologda in northern Russia for helping to organise the January uprising. Both his mother and father died in exile, leaving Conrad an orphan aged 11. His uncle then became his guardian and looked after him in Krakow until he was sixteen when he went to sea and sailed on French and British ships. He was made British citizen in 1886 and changed his name to Joseph Conrad. In 1889 Conrad visited the Congo and his experiences there inspired //Heart of Darkness//. In 1894 he published his first novel, //Almayer’s Folly// and went on to write nineteen more as well as many short stories, essays and a memoir. In 1896 he married Jessie George and they later had two sons. Conrad died on 3 August 1924. [] Joseph Conrad 1857 - 1924 * novelist and short story writer, one of the first of the Modernist movement; Polish-born Joseph Conrad, one of the finest writers of English prose, was Polish and only started speaking English when he was 21. Born in Ukraine, his father's political activity caused the family to be exiled to Russia. Conrad's mother died when he was 7, and his father a short time afterwards. Conrad was cared for by his uncle; but ye longed to go to sea. In 1874 he did, embarking on a French vessel, and beginning his career as a sailor which supplied much material for his writing. In 1886 he became a British subject and shortly afterwards a master mariner; he later settled in England and spent his time writing. Conrad's narrative technique employs breaks in time by using a narrator (in several of his texts called Marlow) who also comments on the action. Conrad was one of the leading Modernists; his texts, particularly one of his most famous short novels, //Heart of Darkness//, show an occupation with psychology and the unconscious mind. In many respects, his works preempted literature of the twentieth century.

Polish-born English novelist and short-story writer. In his famous preface to THE NIGGER OF THE 'NARCISSUS' (1897) Conrad crystallized his often quoted goal as a writer: "My task which I am trying to achieve is, by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you fell - it is, above all, to make you see. That - and no more, and it is everything." Among Conrad's most popular works are LORD JIM (1900) and HEART OF DARKNESS (1902). Conrad discouraged interpretation of his sea novels through evidence from his life, but several of his novels drew the material, events, and personalities... (Read more at...http://www.literatureclassics.com/showbiography.asp?IDNo=189&bioID=2 This page is a different spin on the way Joesph Conrad thinks and "The Secret Agent..." []

Literary Criticism
[|www.literaryhistory.com/20thC/Conrad.htm] [] A selective list of online literary criticism for novelist Joseph Conrad, favoring signed articles by recognized scholars, articles published in peer and editor reviewed sources, and web sites that adhere to the MLA guidelines for web sites.
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[] This is basically a site where this woman Lizzy has read the book and is giving her thoughts on it.

Historical & Political Context
[|Emma Goldman, "Anarchism: What It Really Stands For"] Emma Goldman is an important figure in the history of anarchism from the early 20th century. A famous quotation of hers goes something like, "If I can't dance, I don't want to be part of your revolution." This essay offers an impassioned defense of anarchism, and is worth comparing with the various characters in The Secret Agent, along with our overall sense of how Conrad sees anarchism.

"The Secret Agent, a family tragedy set in a political context, was written nearly a century ago, yet it illuminates contemporary conditions. In our time, terrorists have actually forced fearful governments, supported by an anxious population, to become more repressive and to deviate from the rule of law. Conrad wanted to inspire indignation and contempt for the terrorists' ideological pretenses, cowardly nihilism, and absurd cruelty. His novel shows how the rivalry of police organizations compromises their effectiveness; and how policemen, politicians, and diplomats have failed to stop terrorists. He hated repressive governments as much as social disorder. He saw acts of terrorism in terms of individual human lives, of illusions both 'noble and vile' that inspire men and women to kill both themselves and their innocent victims." - Jeffrey Meyers. //The war on terror: the prescience of Joseph Conrad.// **Commonweal** 132.18 (Oct 21, 2005): p10(2). Retrieved 4-21-09 General OneFile Database.

//The Royal Observatory in Greenwich Park, London, was subject to an anarchist bomb attack in 1894: this was possibly the first 'international terrorist' incident in Britain. The incident was//  The Greenwich Park explosion: Siteseers near the scene of the fatality. //immortalised by Joseph Conrad in his novel The Secret Agent. This article draws on manuscript notes of the event made by staff members, held in the Royal Greenwich Observatory Archives, as well as contemporary newspaper accounts.// Working life at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich in the 1890's must have been generally uneventful. An endless series of transit observations were done by duty observers at night, with a team of human 'computers' working through the day on data reduction and predictions. This routine existence was shattered one Thursday afternoon in February 1894 by a totally unexpected event, which put the Observatory into the headlines for days afterwards. In the last two decades of the 19th century, a series of anarchist inspired terrorist attacks hit many European countries. One of the earliest and most spectacular was the bomb assassination of the Russian Tsar Alexander in 1881 which inspired anarchists to many other similar attacks on the rulers and aristocracy. By late 1893 anarchist terrorists were particularly active in France, culminating in the bombing of the Chamber of Deputies in Paris in December. Auguste Vaillant was convicted and executed for this crime in early February 1894, with a particularly futile 'reprisal' for the execution following close after when a bomb exploded in a Paris Cafe on February 12, 1894. Up until then, Britain remained unaffected by the anarchist campaign, although Irish Fenian bomb attacks had occurred in England as early as the 1860's.... [|Click Here for Full Article] //The article discusses about the true Greenwich Bombing. The article is a personal account from one of the observatory’s staff who was working the night the observatory was bombed. The actual bombers were French and this was the first act of domestic terrorism in Britain.//

Images

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Film & Media
There are at least two films that have been made based on The Secret Agent: Sabotage by Hitchcock and The Secret Agent in 1996 by Christoper Hamptom. Look on imdb.com (Internet Movie Database) to learn about these films. You may be able to place images, descriptions or links in this section.

This movie is a further interpretation of the ideas presented in //The Secret Agent// and provides another source of comparison. Visit this link for more information on this particular movie. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_for_Vendetta_(film) [] (Review of the 1996 remake of "The Secret Agent"

Links
[|The full text of The Secret Agent available for viewing or download]