Introduction
Charles Lamb is an English romantic essayist, critic, poet , antiquarian who lived in the 18th century who is famous for his work “Essays of Elia” .”Old China” is a piece of this collection. First published in the London Magazine “old china” is a classical essay which revolves around the love for the “old” things : be it old crockeries or old days which have gone now .
The essay is set in a narrative form, full of vivid imagery and personal elements. The essay resembles the two sides of a coin . The first one is the time of poverty and the latter is of affluence.
Characters
There are alot of characters in Lamb’s “Old China”.
Elia- Charles Lamb ,the narrator himself.
cousin Bridget- Elia’ cousin (Mary Lamb)
Alice- Elia’s beloved
Opening statement
“Old China” opens with the line “I have an almost feminine partiality for the old china”.
Old china in England refers to the vintage Chinese crockery of luxurious porcelain made of ceramic material which is known for its beauty. Basically these porcelain are white in colour and delicate in nature.
Charles Lamb opens up and shows his
fondness for these beautiful traditional crockery.These products are usually liked by women so here Charles Lamb describes that as a woman he also has the “partiality” in liking these products. Unlike the phallocentric thought he shows his desires straightforwardly breaking the barrier of patriarchal mindset. He tells that whenever he visits someone he longs to see the Chinaware. He says that he can recall the moment when he first saw the “exhibition” and “play” but don’t remember the
time when he first saw the Chinaware.
Description of the picture on Chinese crockery
Elia was accompanied by cousin Bridget when they were enjoying Hyson tea. Elia (Charles Lamb) was praising the beauty of Chinaware which they have bought recently. He described the uniqueness of a tea cup with the mysterious images of men with women’s faces. There was a picture of a lady who is going towards the boat which will land in the “flowery-meads”. It also has pictures of some animals like horses, cows, rabbits, and trees. He is overwhelmed with this thought of being
capable of buying these luxurious crockeries. Meanwhile he sees a kind of disagreement in the face of her companion so he inquirers about it . She states that, “I wish the good old times would come again”. She feels those days to be precious enough to recall. Though they were poor, those were golden days .
Beaumont and Fletcher Folio
She tells him that he used to wear a worn out brown suit only because he wanted to save money to buy the Folio of Beaumont and Fletcher. It was bought from Baker’s bookshop on the streets of Covent Garden. In the late night they had rebound the loose pages of the book. She tells with sorrow that though they can afford to buy all the books they desire, the joy of having the books at those days was unforgettable.
Picnic memory
They used to go for picnics where they hesitated to ask for the table clothes from the landlady. They had sometimes a few nice walks to Enfield, and Potters Bar, and Waltham in holidays. At present they don’t give a second thought while going for a fancy inn and dine there without arguing for the expense. In spite of having this lavish outings and “best of dinners” , it lacks the same flavour as we had in past days of childhood. In those days they didn’t receive the warm welcome from hostesses as they receive now. A reference to Isaac Walton has been made in relation to the type of kind and considerate hostess he encountered during his fishing experience. Elia and Bridget desired a similar heartwarming welcome but unfortunately got none of that sort.
One shilling gallery
They are describing the time when they used to go to one shilling gallery three or four times in
a season. Sitting in pit , they watched “the battle of Hexham, and the surrender of Calais, and Bannister and Mrs. Bland in the Children in the Wood” with relish. The pit was the assimilation of the cross section of the whole English society excluding the aristocracy and the highborn because everybody from every profession, majorly representing the commoners, used to sit there to enjoy the play. Elia used to say “that the gallery was the best place of all for enjoying a play socially”. Sitting in the pit sometimes drew a kind of guilt that Elia should haven’t brought her cousin along with. Though it raised a kind of shame but at the same time it added a kind of pleasure in their experience. As She explains in these lines:
“When the curtain drew up, what cared we for our place in the house, or what mattered it where we were sitting, when our thoughts were with Rosalind in Arden, or with Viola at the Court of Illyria?”
Here the narrator (Lamb) gives the reference of Shakespeare’s plays “As you Like it” and
“Twelfth Night”. However, now affluence has transformed her mindset so much that Elia mildly chides her : “You are too proud to see a play anywhere now but in the pit. “
Luxurious food
After remembering the gallery days, they move on to the conversation about the foods which they love to have and which were luxurious for them in past days : strawberries. At this time of affluence, they can afford to have all but still the pleasure is lagging behind.
New Year budget
Before New Year, on 31st of December, they used to arrange a meet up and discuss the expenses. she said to him about his confusing reaction about his accounts. They discussed reducing their expenses. She says that unlike a wealthy person , a poor person can earn a hundred pounds a year and still manage all the costs and be happy. She sums up with this thought of sharing a strong bond between them. She says that in spite of being poor they had a great time together. They had shared a strong bond between them because they suffered together in hardships and helped each other overcome all the impediments. She also realises that they were younger at the time of struggle.
“I wish the good old times would come again,” she said, “when we were not quite so rich. I do not mean, that I want to be poor; but there was a middle state;”
Love for lost youth
Those childhood days were priceless though they were financially not stable at those days but they were much happier. She is wishing to relive those days to relish the pure joys, satisfaction and peace of mind but doesn’t want to be impoverished again. This is because youth invested them with the energy to withstand any kind of adversity and harshness. To speak frankly, there is a kind of emotional attachment to the past days as well as a disinterested attitude towards poverty.
She is desiring to live those moments again when they used to be young and they walk thirty miles a day. Also they had talked of their struggles on the staircases of the gallery when they were pushed and elbowed by the crowd after which she said “Thank God, we are safe”. Elia realises that the wealthy old age Bridget is complaining of is actually an inevitable predicament because it is not in human capacity to subvert the age cycle of nature where old age inadvertently follows youth. Competence or material sufficiency ( having money and comfort) is the only possible substitution for lost youth . Though it compensates by no means the humongous loss of heavenly youth and hence is a bad substitute, it is the only possible substitute because old age doesn’t have the strength and resilience – both physical and psychological – of youth which helped them to tackle all problems in their green years.
“ Competence to age is supplementary youth, a sorry supplement, indeed, but I fear the best that is to be had. We must ride where we formerly walked : live better and lie softer “
Closing imagery of old china and transcendental art symbol :
In last lines of the essay he tells about the picture made in the crockery –
“look at that merry little Chinese waiter holding an umbrella, big enough for a bed-tester, over the head of that pretty insipid half-Madona-ish chit of a lady in that very blue summer-house.”
The picture of Chinese waiter with an umbrella for her mistress closes the essay with the note
of the elegant outlook of Chinese Porcelain. It also symbolises that just like the picture combines ancient memory with present elegance, beauty and comfort, Elia and Bridget also desire to combine the material comfort and financial sufficiency of their old age with the strength, vitality and purity of enjoyment typical of their prime youth. But that is impossible to achieve and they admit that human beings have to accept the passage of time and if they get to replace monetary abundance with youthful strength and happiness, it’s better to do that. If they don’t accept financial stability in their old age, they are going to be old nonetheless because youth is temporary, fundamentally transient. But a work of art is transcendental and can hold eternal youth and beauty. So it is the artwork of beautiful Chinese crockery – the “Old China” which is working as a reminiscent of their lost youth. Old China serves as a souvenir which helps, at least metaphorically, to revisit and relive those angelic moments of youth where struggles bred satisfaction and impediments envisioned achievement.
