Research Questions - Group 6 - Ezra Jennings from The Moonstone

 

 

1. What is the plot of The Moonstone? Who is Ezra Jennings and what role does he play in the story?

2. It is clear that Ezra Jennings has an opium addiction. Was this common in the Victorian era? What was opium usually used for? Did it have the same social stigma that drug use has in modern society?

3. Ezra Jennings is not entirely English. He is called a gypsy. Were gypsies common at this time? How did the general public feel about gypsies, stereotypically? 

4. In addition to being referred to as a gypsy, the text emphasizes that Ezra is foreign. Do the English have prejudices against foreigners? Provide several examples of common British prejudices at this time.

5. Why is Jennings concerned that he might be sent to Australia? Is this a justified fear? What was the extent of the British Empire in 1890?

6. Jennings has a variety of newspaper clippings about the Afghan Wars in his rooms. What were the Afghan wars?

7. Jennings is a doctor. Was medicine then similar to contemporary medicine and doctoring? How was it different?

8. Jennings has a variety of artifacts in his room from places like India and Japan. He seems to classify them all as “Oriental.”  What is Orientalism? What kind of forms did Orientalism take in the Victorian period?