She and Elinor step out of their limited roles and become responsible for the welfare of many citizens, overcoming their fear with each one’s support. (She knew the liturgies by heart.”Īnna soon becomes one of the most indispensable members of Eyam. Her whole world was restricted to the “wide green prison” and a sense of blind faith. This symbolises, too, her introverted, restricted and confined life and view of the world which is limited to her status as an inexperienced, illiterate, and dependent servant. Initially, Anna Frith’s view of the world is metaphorically represented by the “boundary stone” as a marker of the limits of her social and physical environment. There are of course the opportunistic, fearful and selfish members of the community who exploit the crisis, but the good primarily triumphs.

This is chiefly because heroines such as Anna Frith and Elinor Mompellion rise above their traumatic pasts to fulfil their vision of a life lived well for others. “Change was their norm”.Īs in Albert Camus’ classic novel, The Plague, readers soon discover that there is more to admire than to despise in human behaviour. It is during this Restoration period (King Charles) that ancient certainties related to the monarchy and the Church were challenged. Characters such as the Gowdies and eventually Anna Frith reflect changing times, and aspects of the “dawn of modern medicine and the beginning of the Age of Enlightenment”.

It is a time characterised by the clash of ideas between a religiously conservative and largely puritan-spirited congregation which is in demise in Eyam, and the freerer-spirited and independently-minded thinkers who explore alternative sources of knowledge and faith. This is a time of social and religious change during which “every aspect of life against Oliver Cromwell’s Puritanism” was challenged. The plague in Eyam takes place during the Restoration period (1660-1685 during the reign of King Charles 11 who unified England and Scotland). However, some villagers do find the strength to deal with their fear and ignorance and try to come to terms with their devastating ordeal. As fear spreads, conditions become worse for the villagers. As this close-knit community suffers the effects of isolation arising from their rector’s decision to quarantine the town, many of the villagers are overcome by fear and ignorance. Geraldine Brooks’s Year of Wonders focuses on the lives of the villagers in the plague-stricken town of Eyam in 1665.

Please see Classes This Week for times of essay-writing sessions on Crucible/Year of Wonders.

Essays Made Easy for English Language (VCE Units 3-4)įrom blind faith to scepticism: how one woman’s journey becomes an allegory of the Age of Enlightenment, by Dr Jennifer Minter (English Works Notes).

“Contemporary” language examples and commentators.

Argument Language Analysis Exams Yr 12 VCAA.

Arguments and Persuasive Language (2023).

A year of wonders