"The Moonstone": Colonialism and Metafiction

• The narrator breaks the boundary between author and reader, drawing the reader into the story.
• "The Moonstone" was inspired by a real diamond gifted to a queen.
• Collins critiques colonialism by returning the diamond to its homeland, drawing parallels between stealing, gifting, bribery for war, and capitulation.
• The novel employs historical metafiction.

Imperialism and Colonialism

• Imperialism involves a country extending its power over another for economic and political gain, acquiring resources through exploitation and force, and subjugating others.
• The diamond symbolizes a resource taken from India by Herncastle, representing British exploitation.
• Godfrey's missionary work, seemingly philanthropic, is implicated in imperialistic endeavors.
• Collins sympathizes with Indian victims of British imperialism, which is why the diamond ultimately returns to the statue of the moon god in the Somnath temple.
• The Moonstone's theft and return to India serves as a metaphor for British plunder of India.
• Collins depicts the English as cruel and brutal in seizing, plundering, and engaging in war, taking joy in murdering Indians and looting.
• Herncastle is referred to as "the honorable John," a common term for the British East India Company.
• The British treat the curse as a mythical legend for Indians, while it is a practical attempt to undo plunder.
• Collins' characters often view Indians through European stereotypes as exotic, backwards, and savage, which is used to justify colonization.
• However, Collins also portrays Indians as intelligent and sophisticated, with Bruff astonished by their excellent English and their ability to outsmart the British.
• Collins critiques colonialism by highlighting its defects, referencing works like Robinson Crusoe to expose its cruel practices.
• The diamond is a product of colonial acquisition, with its theft mirroring the actions of the British East India Company.
• The Siege of Seringapatam, led by John Herncastle, exemplifies British colonial aggression.

British Presence in India

• The concept of the "White Man's Burden" aimed to impose Western civilization on the East.
• Collins critiques this mission of white people.

Detective Story Characteristics

• Obstacles are created.
• New deaths add suspense.
• An easy target is created.
• Events are resolved with logic.
• Stereotypical obsessions of detectives, like Sergeant's love for noses.
• Detectives are skilled at observation and deduction.
• Police officers are shallow and rude.
• Detectives' morals and ethics surpass societal norms.
• Sergeant does not blame Rosanna despite the evidence against her.

East India Company

• The East India Company was formed for exploration and trade, it became involved in politics and acted as an agent of British imperialism.
• Assimilation involved sending English men to colonize country to educate and convert.

Education and Language

• Betteredge's loyalty to the Kinder family stems from their provision of shelter and education.
• An the Indian traveler acts as a bridge between Indian and English society but speaks on behalf of the British due to his education.
• Collins attempts to dismantle the system, by showcasing the ridiculous actions of ladies and gentlemen.
• Characters defy expectations: lower class individuals are more virtuous than upper class, the Christian hero is a fraud, Rachel experiences hysteria, Franklin struggles with addiction, Rosanna sacrifices.
• Bruff sees Blake as vulgar and inferior to the Indians.
• Civilization and politeness stem from individuals, not origin.

Metafictional Writing and Narrator

• Metafictional writing enhances realism and credibility.
• Betteredge addresses the reader directly.
• There is an awareness of the audience.
• Unreliable narrators offer multiple perspectives, like Franklin viewed differently by Betteredge and Drusilla.
• Betteredge keeps failing.

Postmodernism

• Betteredge consults Robinson Crusoe, preferring a fictional world over reality.
• Cluck's narrative is filled with prejudice, framed by religious dogma.
• The novel deconstructs genre conventions, blending detective and mystery with sensation fiction.
• Themes include imperialism, fragmentation, and uncertainty.
• Fragmented narrative
• Franklin's amnesia.

Binary Oppositions

• Edward Said's concept divides the world into binary groups: India (mysterious, exotic, dangerous, irrational) and England (rational, civilized, modern, scientific).
• The West defines itself positively by creating a negative counterpart in the East.

Orientalism

• The West perceives the East in romanticized, stereotypical ways.
• It is based on negative images, reflecting Western fears and fantasies more than reality.
• The East is treated as "other," positioned as inferior.
• The concept of "backwardness" justifies efforts to "civilize" the East.
• Brahmins are portrayed as religious fanatics.
• There is an exoticizing of Eastern characteristics, emphasizing foreignness.
• Mr. Muntz frequently explains Indian customs.

Dreams and Consciousness

• Ezra's opium dreams induce visions, revealing the crime.
• Opium allows for insights beyond rational thought.
• Franklin experiences a dream state.

Rosanna's Fantasies and Desires

• Rosanna desires Franklin.
• Suicidal consequence of desire.

Fantasies and Desires

• Rachel desires Franklin.
• Rosanna desires Franklin.
• Drusilla desires Godfrey.
• Betteredge is fixated on Robinson Crusoe.

Girls among flowers

• Rachel is pure; Rosanna ordinary.
• Franklin conjures a rose, Rosanna changes it.
• Rachel rejects Godfrey, giving a rose to Franklin.

Sensation Novel

• Sensation novels deal with crime.
• The sensational novel keeps the reader in suspense by delaying the revelation of the murder.
• Theft is a central theme in sensation novels.
• Collins innovates by using multiple narrators and delaying information to build suspense.
• It combines Victorian domesticity and elements of crime.
• Burglars, drug use, theft, and hidden identities are introduced.
• The genre explores hidden desires and psychology, such as Franklin's opium use.
• Sensation novels played a crucial role in shaping modern detective fiction.

Sensation novels defined in 3 ways

• Historical: Influenced by gothic and realistic novels, melodramatic plays, and sensational news stories.
• Structurally: Narrative feels unreliable and uncertain.
• Psychologically: Analyzed using psychoanalysis.
• They bridges romanticism and realism, gothic mysteries and modern mysteries, pop culture and high culture.
• Unlike gothic novels, sensation novels present mysteries as a result of human actions rather than supernatural causes.
• Sensation novels secularize mysteries by removing religious and supernatural elements.
• They blend romance and realism.
• Real-life events reported in newspapers.
• Sensation novels reveal hidden evil behind respectability.
• Evil can exist in peaceful settings.
• Strict narrators are unavoidable.
• They mark a point in the story telling that creates suspense.

3 definitions

• Mix of romanticism, realism, bridge gap between gothic mysteries and modern detective stories.
• First true mystery/detective novel.
• Like melodrama, sensation novels feature exciting action, surprising coincidences, and stereotypical characters.