Weeks 7 - 9 The Romantics
1. How is the Romantic notion of the Sublime reflected in the texts under consideration in this Romanticism reader? Discuss one or two examples from Blake's Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience.
2. How do Blake and Rousseau's ideas align and differ (themes to consider are slavery, religion and education)?
2. How do Blake and Rousseau's ideas align and differ (themes to consider are slavery, religion and education)?
3. See what you can find out anything about what really happened at the Villa Diodati that fateful summer in 1816...
4. How many fictional accounts (film and other narrative media) can you find about that? Provide some useful links, including Youtube clips (hint: for a start try Ken Russel Gothic on Youtube).
5. Discuss the links between the Villa Diodati "brat-pack" and the birth of Gothic as a modern genre with reference to specific texts by the authors who gathered there and subsequent texts (e.g. The Vampire >> Dracula, etc).
7. How does Frankenstein a) reference the Bible, b) foreshadow the Death of God and c) juggle genres as well as narrative points of view in its storytelling?
4. How many fictional accounts (film and other narrative media) can you find about that? Provide some useful links, including Youtube clips (hint: for a start try Ken Russel Gothic on Youtube).
5. Discuss the links between the Villa Diodati "brat-pack" and the birth of Gothic as a modern genre with reference to specific texts by the authors who gathered there and subsequent texts (e.g. The Vampire >> Dracula, etc).
7. How does Frankenstein a) reference the Bible, b) foreshadow the Death of God and c) juggle genres as well as narrative points of view in its storytelling?
1. How is the Romantic notion of the Sublime reflected in the texts under consideration in this Romanticism reader? Discuss one or two examples from Blake's Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience.
ReplyDeleteThe notion of the Sublime resists definition due to the contradictory nature of the emotions it can invoke, but in broad terms it can be used to refer to that which is great and terrible – an irrational force which affects the readers in such a way that they are overwrought with emotion. These do not need to be beautiful things which arouse positive emotions within the readers, although they can be, but things which go beyond the bounds of normal reality in their scope and power. “The Sublime does not persuade audiences but rather transports them out of themselves.” (Pseudo-Longinus as cited by Eco, p. 278)
For Pseudo-Longinus, the first to talk of the Sublime in the first century AD “The Sublime is an effect of art (and not a natural phenomenon) whose realisation is determined by a convergence of certain rules and whose end is the procurement of pleasure.” (as cited by Eco, 2004, p. 279) and the Romanticists largely kept to this, although it was also recognized in nature. Paintings portraying nature’s wild beauty or terror became popular for this reason, and artists were celebrated for portraying morbid subjects in artistic ways such as skulls or stormy skies (Eco, 2004, p. 278).
While it may seem contradictory to seek pleasure in things that are terrifying the Philosopher Edmund Burke suggests this comes about because while we are naturally built to “seek pleasure and shun pain” we find pleasure in encountering what scares us within a fictional context or through art, because it allows us to experience it safely or that the pain we experience through it is metaphorical (Burke as cited by Pateman, 2004, p. 17). There is no easy answer for this. In any case it was realized this was not a rational notion and it was not meant to be.
DeleteBlake’s poetry is highly aware of this paradox. In Songs of Innocence and Experience poems are divided between those concerning the time in childhood where they are protected from the fallen world (Innocence) and the period in which they become victim to it (Experience).
In Songs of Innocence we have the poem The Lamb, in which the speaker addresses a lamb and informs them of their maker and his great power. “Little Lamb who made thee/ Dost thou know who made thee… Little Lamb I'll tell thee! He is called by thy name, For he calls himself a Lamb:”
Songs of Experience contains Blake’s famous poem The Tyger, dedicated to describing the burning intense primal power of a the titular animals and its potential for violence. However, this animal too is a creature of God. “When the stars threw down their spears/ And water'd heaven with their tears: / Did he smile his work to see?/Did he who made the Lamb make thee?” These poems act as counterpart to each other and show a concern with inspiring awe and embodying the duality of human experience and nature as a whole rather than trying to highlight one or the other without nuance.
However, I personally think it is Blake’s Auguries of Innocence describes the full grandeur of the Sublime best in its first stanza.
To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour
Throughout the poem Blake uses several examples of earthly symbols, e.g. he goes on to say “A robin red breast in a cage/ Puts all heaven in a rage” which reflect in them a timeless power, so that every day experiences are transformed into cathartic revelations. It is a powerful poetic device and one we can see at work on later writers, such as Bob Dylan, whose song “Every Grain Of Sand” directly echoes this poem and plays on the same themes, although the exact meaning is cryptic and hard to decode (Attwood, 2014) The refrain varies several times but perhaps the most relavant is
“In the fury of the moment/I can see the master’s hand/In every leaf that trembles/In every grain of sand” or “Every hair is numbered/Like every grain of the sand”
This is quite similar Blake’s very personal brand of Christianity, in which God has not placed his power and vested interests with the Church or any other earthly authority but is present in nature, in the Sublime – in life.
References
Attwood, T. (2014). Every grain of sand: the meaning of the music and the lyrics. Retrieved from https://bob-dylan.org.uk/archives/533
Eco, U. (2004). On Beauty. Random House New Zealand
Pateman, T. (2004). ‘The Sublime’ in key concepts: A guide to aesthetics, criticism and the arms in Education. Farmer Press.
7) How does Frankenstein a) reference the bible b) foreshadow the Death of God and c) juggle genres as well as narrative points of view in its storytelling?
ReplyDeleteMary Wollstonecraft Shelley had made multiple biblical references throughout Frankenstein. These references were included in her storytelling by integrating similar phrases and lines into Frankenstein from the bible. Some of these references can be found in Chapter 11 of Shelley’s novel, for example: “Darkness then came over me and troubled me, but hardly had I felt this when, by opening my eyes… the light poured in upon me again.” (pg 123). That phrase is similar to the bible which states that “in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth… and darkness was upon the face of the deep… and God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” (Genesis 1.1). One of the possible reasons Shelley included these references could be because ideologically, Frankenstein portrays the clash between religion and all things natural against the scientific developments that were occurring during the birth of the industrial era. During this revolutionary period, many people were replacing their belief in a godly deity with science and technology. As a Romantic writer, Shelley responded to this industrialization by making a clear distinguishment between “God as an infinite Creator and necessary Being and the human being as a finite creature.” (Hogsette, 2011, pg 533). Therefore, Shelley incorporated biblical references in her novel because she wanted to highlight the concept that humans cannot be god-like creators, and in order to emphasise that point she compared the biblical creation of the earth to Victor Frankenstein’s creation of the monster.
In relation to those biblical references, Shelley foreshadows the death of God in her storytelling by using Victor as a representation of someone with god-like abilities, and by foreshadowing his failure, in extension Shelley is also foreshadowing the death of a God. So, the death of God refers to Victor failing as a god-like creator. For example, in the novel, Victor attempts to play god by reanimating the monster, he views himself as a creator, however, his failure in relation to his creation was foreshadowed early in the novel: “Destiny was too potent, and her immutable laws had decreed my utter and terrible destruction” (Shelley, 2004, pg 50). Victor’s failure as a god also links to Frankenstein’s alternate title, The Modern Prometheus. In Greek mythology, Prometheus was a Titan who had defied the god's will by teaching humans about the human arts and sciences and was punished for his actions of educating humanity to the point where they research and seek knowledge out of their boundaries (Cartwright, 2013). Prometheus was a figure who had attempted to help humans defy their limits and Victor is a figure who used that knowledge to the extreme. Therefore, the whole idea of God and religion dying out symbolically ties in with the above paragraph - it relates to the idea of humans letting go of their humanity in order to pursue scientific developments which have negative outcomes.
Shelley also juggles genres as well as narrative points of views in a very unconventional way. Looking at the narrative point of view first, Frankenstein is not written in chronological order, it is a non-linear text where the different timelines are told from different character perspectives. It begins with letters written by Robert Walton where he recounts his encounter with Victor. Since Robert is recounting the story of the monster, this means that readers are starting at the end of Victor’s storyline. Then Victor takes over the narrative and in the middle of the novel, the monster describes his side of the story before Walton returns in the ending. Additionally, the character's perspective is structurally unique, Robert’s perspective is always in letter format while Victor’s and the monster’s is more consistent with that of a regular novel format. In relation to Shelley dealing with the different genres, arguably there are four genres included in Shelley’s novel: gothic fiction, science fiction, horror and Romantic. Generally, it seems that these genres are all interconnected in some way, making it easier for Shelley to deal with so many genres in one novel. For example, since Shelley was part of the Romantic movement, nature was idealised; in Frankenstein, the character’s emotions are reflected in nature: “I contemplated the lake, the waters were placed all around was calm.” (Shelley, 2004, pg 89). There is also a love for the mysteries in nature and there is aconcern for the darker side of the Romantic ideals which is where the gothic aspect plays a part. Also, related to nature, the isolated settings and dull, gloomy weather contributes to the horror factor in the novel. Not to mention the fact that the science behind Victor’s gruesome experiment was only possible by using nature (lighting/ electricity) to reanimate the monster’s body. So, evidently, Shelley masterfully incorporated multiple genres into her novel, as well as different narrative perspectives, biblical references and symbolism relating to the Death of God and the failure of Victor.
DeleteReferences:
1) Cartwright, M. (2013, April 20). Prometheus. Retrieved May 22, 2020 from
https://www.ancient.eu/Prometheus/
2) Hogsette, D. S. (2011). Metaphysical Intersections in Frankenstein: Mary Shelley’s Theistic Investigation of Scientific Materialism and transgressive Autonomy. Christianity & Literature, 60(4), 531-559. Retrieved May 18, 2020 from
https://eds-a-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.aut.ac.nz/eds/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=22b39808-5a2f-47b8-b5cb-cb7edf856803%40sessionmgr4007&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#AN=edspmu.S2056566611400007&db=edspmu
3) Shelley, M. (2004, 1818). Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus. London: Pan Macmillan.
7. How does Frankenstein a) reference the Bible, b) foreshadow the Death of God and c) juggle genres as well as narrative points of view in its storytelling?
ReplyDeleteThroughout Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein the text references the Bible in several different ways through, these references were incorporated into the storytelling by using similar events that can be closely compared to events that happen in the Bible. The Bible tells the story of God’s creation of the world, of every living creature, and finally Adam and Eve. The monster in Frankenstein can be compared to Adam in the Bible, as they are both new creations unaware of the world they have been born into, which is why the monster views the world with the same innocence as Adam. This also means that Victor himself is comparable to God as they both have the power to create new life, “I collected the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet.” (Shelley, 1818, p. 69). Most of the Biblical references though are not directly taken from the Bible, whereas they are found through the monster’s reading of Milton’s Paradise Lost within the text.
Because Victor can be seen as a god-like being Frankenstein also, in turn, foreshadows the death of God by portraying Victor in this way. This foreshadows his failure in attempting to create a new being which relates to the death of God as Victor’s failure in creating life and attempt at playing the role of god is an analogy to the death of God. This foreshadowing of Victor’s inevitable downfall is heightened through the many references to fate, destiny, and omens which seems to imply that Victor was doom to fail as a god-like creator from the very beginning. “Destiny was too potent, and her immutable laws had decreed my utter and terrible destruction.” (Shelley, 1818, p. 50). After bringing life to the monster Victor also instantly feels revolted after he breathes life into the monster which also furthers the idea that his downfall was inevitable. “But now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.” (Shelley, 1818, p. 70).
Frankenstein is a text which juggles several different genres as well as different narrative points of view in its storytelling, Frankenstein is a mixture of gothic fiction, science fiction, and horror fiction. These genres can all closely relate to one another in various ways which makes their blending in Frankenstein much more natural than it could have been. Unlike a lot of other Gothic literature however, which often had supernatural elements like ghosts and vampires the monster in Frankenstein is distinctly a human creation. The monster’s existence is not a mystery we know where we came from and his creation was possible due to Victor harnessing lighting, which also ties back into the idea that Victor is a god-like being, able to control the elements to create life. Frankenstein also has several different points of view in its storytelling, these perspectives are from Robert Walton, Victor Frankenstein, and the monster himself telling his side of the story. Frankenstein handles these different points of view by structuring them all differently, Robert’s perspective in always told in letter format while Victor’s and the monster’s are more consistent reading like a traditional piece of prose writing.
References
Shelley, Mary. (1985; 1818). Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus, London: Penguin.
2. How do Blake and Rousseau's ideas align and differ (themes to consider are slavery, religion, and education)?
ReplyDeleteRousseau' famous quote:
“Man was born free, and everywhere he is in chains” – The Social Contract
This quote is an oft celebrated introduction to captures the essence of his iconoclastic work.
The scrawling from a mind political philosopher and social scientist of Jean Jacques Rousseau (like many intellectual radicals of the time and in our history) seem unjarringly paradoxical by nature initially so the use of intellectual discernment is necessary.
One such website argues for this paradox exists…
DeleteIndeed, Rousseau has been claimed as the inaugurator of socialism and nationalism on the one hand, and romanticism and existentialism on the other. (https://thegreatthinkers.org/, -)
He is oft described as a republican and a revolutionary at the same time and indeed in some cases (as a writer and backdrop ) inspired the more extreme acts of the reign of terror within the French Revolution.
He was accused early on of inspiring some of the most extreme aspects of the French Revolution and was held up as an authority by Robespierre. (https://thegreatthinkers.org/, -)
A claim which he further agrees upon with his letter to
Rousseau himself was aware of the paradoxical impression his thought made and discusses the issue in his Letter to d’Alembert on the Theatre and other places. (https://thegreatthinkers.org/, -)
One such website argues for this paradox exists…
DeleteIndeed, Rousseau has been claimed as the inaugurator of socialism and nationalism on the one hand, and romanticism and existentialism on the other. (https://thegreatthinkers.org/, -)
He is oft described as a republican and a revolutionary at the same time and indeed in some cases (as a writer and backdrop ) inspired the more extreme acts of the reign of terror within the French Revolution.
He was accused early on of inspiring some of the most extreme aspects of the French Revolution and was held up as an authority by Robespierre. (https://thegreatthinkers.org/, -)
A claim which he further agrees upon with his letter to
Rousseau himself was aware of the paradoxical impression his thought made and discusses the issue in his Letter to d’Alembert on the Theatre and other places. (https://thegreatthinkers.org/, -)
Blake
DeleteWhile Rousseau was seen and more regularly historically agreed as a political philosopher who laid the foundations of the republic (which was then adopted in form for the democratic republicanism used currently within the United States) Blake’s viewpoints were expounded within the medium and usage of poetry founded in the vehicle of anti-enlightenment verve and diatribe.
But in digression onwards to a discussion on some of their ideas and stances
Slavery
Blake – Blake was considered an outspoken critic and a figure who favored for its abolitionist... In his “the little Black Boy” he was seen as an abolitionist of Slavery in general.
“This study will show that Blake specifically responds to slavery, the slave trade, and the abolition debate in his work” (Parker, 2006)
To which Rosseau was in context generally seen agreeing.
He goes on to add that the slavers were inherent that they considered not having the freedom they conceived and self-professed having…
DeleteJean-Jacques Rousseau’s writings abound with references to slavery. There were few things he appears to have enjoyed more than chiding his contemporaries for failing to realize that the freedom to which they laid claim was illusory and that they were little better than slaves.
And were more akin to slaves (in a social sense) themselves.
Religion
Blake was considered as holding an interesting and paradoxical view of Religion Indeed.
While it is difficult to define Blake’s viewpoints in factual record, many historians consider blake’s viewpoints that consider blake has a distinct disdain for religion as an institution and considered “unique” (Gradesaver, 2020)
Blake was deeply religious in the sense that he cared deeply about the faith in his present life to the extent that he was vilified by the status quo.
DeleteBlake was in many considerations by his peers ( and the mainstream orthodox Christian community) his peers as a ”devil worshipper.” (Unkown, 2010)
An argument agreed by off crossref-it.info from songs of innocence.
“Blake rejected formalized religion. He saw the Christianity of his day as being a distortion of the true spiritual life: It changed spirituality into a system of moral laws which bound people in shame or fear of punishment.”
Blake (as a romantic and a peer of the age) not only rejected formalized religion and Christianity of the day being a distortion of “true spiritual life” and bound its adherents to the will of those in control. (https://crossref-it.info/, 2020)
While Blake considered the soul of Christianity is a force of mass social control,
DeleteRosseau conceived of Christianity as The “Civil religion” is a force of “Religious Radicalism” (Hobson, Atheism is an offshoot of deism, 2014) believed Atheism was worse than organized religion “This is because he believes that atheists, having no fear of divine punishment, cannot be trusted by their fellow citizens to obey the law. “ (Bertram, 2017)
His view on Christianity was however conversely different.
Christianity he expounded, and intellectually considered was necessary to be conceived as a “Civil Religion”, (Hobson, Why Christianity was the wrong civil religion for Rousseau, 2014)
which it was not and as the state required a post-religious form of humanism which served the uses of The State.
Education
DeleteAs a figure of English Romanticism, Blake considered formal education as a and advances the theorizes in favor of the experience of The Sublime. Argued by D Reynolds” As a Romantic poet, Blake loved nature and thought that experiencing it was vital to a child's growth and happiness. “ (REYNOLDS, -)
Rosseau (as a figure and an individual of the romantic era) views and the position was somewhat similarly hand believed that The individual must seek their path by unlearning “bad habits” and were corrupted by society.
“He believed that natural education promotes and encourages qualities such as happiness, spontaneity, and the inquisitiveness associated with childhood. He wanted children to be shielded from societal pressures and influences so that the natural tendencies of each child could emerge and grow without any unwarranted corruption.” (-, 2020)
I found Blake’s viewpoints somewhat lackluster and somewhat disgusting when it came to women but overall interesting as an iconoclast of the time,
Blake showed me that the social mirror must (even rarely coming from poetry)always be held up to ensure that bad ideas do not enter society!
1. How is the Romantic notion of the Sublime reflected in the texts under consideration in this Romanticism reader? Discuss one or two examples from Blake's Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience.
ReplyDeleteWithin the expansive intellectual literary conceptualism, the essence of Romanticism exists the notion of The sublime.
Its core referential used in the core of romanticism here in it usage acknowledged as, “The Sublime” an entreated introduction (coming from the Latin “sublimus” meaning of very great excellence or beauty.”) contains within a spark of the divine.
Found here is a subtext of literature (a vestige poetic rebellion to the Enlightenment) within usage direct representation or allegory or grand allusion towards the concept of the rationalistically inconceivable.
The romantic Sublime furthered here into introspective exposition It’s origins to “the term has Latin origins and refers to any literary or artistic form that expresses noble, elevated feelings.”
It is s experimentation and idealistic, supremely and a step of evolutionary progress, noteworthily neo-spiritualistic a volume of radicalism against the prevailing doctrines of The Enlightenment, social-cultural, religious within a contextual of time.
Enter the romantic poetry of the Sublime in Blake:
Delete“For Romantics, the sublime is a meeting of the subjective-internal (emotional) and the objective-external (natural world): we allow our emotions to overwhelm our rationality as we experience the wonder of creation. ... Because the sublime is emotional, it is traditionally considered something one must experience alone.”
Blake in form classically typified this essence of the sublime in his two major works of his Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience.
Song Of Innocence
To embrace the sublime in Blake’s vision was an act of vacuous rebellion: anti-rationalism the anti-establishment of the essence of the enlightenment
The romanticism towards arguing the sublime is reflected in Blake’s poetry as an ornate doorway to the transcendental, the unspoken and the quintessential quality found in transcendentalism the hidden majesties of the experience of hidden majesties
“A feeling associated with the strong emotion we feel in front of intense natural phenomena (storms, hurricanes, waterfalls). It generates fear but also an attraction.”
The romanticism of the world exposits a sensation escaped from the harsh realities of classical and epoch of a changing world.
In William Blake’s poems Song of innocence (published in 1789) Blake seeks the sublime by enduringly questioning by juxtaposes the innocence.
DeleteAnd seeking the “Sublime” forms a into yet universal iconical usage to explore social issues of the current epoch.
The Songs of Experience- “The Little Black Boy”
This sonnet consisting of seven stanzas Is not only well created but a reflection of society.
Within this sonnet the experience of a profoundly racist era is exposited, an epoch/era where Slavery was seen as an acceptable norm is discussed.
Whereas some consider Blake’s contextual in admonishment of regard towards Milton’s existential mythic states in general.
In William Blake’s poems Song of innocence (published in 1789) Blake seeks the sublime by enduringly questioning by juxtaposes the innocence.
And seeking the “Sublime’ it is formed into interpreted usage to explore social issues of the current epoch.
My mother bore me in the southern wild,
And I am black, but O! my soul is white;
White as an angel is the English child:
But I am black as if bereav’d of light.
Blake Discusses from the perspective of the “little black boy” in narration. Here Blake advances the concept that, despite the color of his skin, his soul is pure as white:
Delete“his soul is white (the whiteness, of course, representing purity). His spirit (soul) is as white as an angel.” (Kumar, 2020)
In fact allowing the little black boy attains redemption (despite the color of his skin) in realms of Anglicism, a pitying cry of a time of slavery.
Continuing the reflection of social commentary into the third stanza of the sonnet Blake ( within a conversation of the unnamed little black boy) further considers societal symbolism of purity, God and the color of his skin in a quintessential, clever and well-constructed metaphor and allusion in a loving idealistic manner, pitying the slaves of the time.
My mother taught me underneath a tree
And sitting down before the heat of the day,
She took me on her lap and kissed me,
And pointing to the east began to say.
Look on the rising sun: there God does live
And gives his light and gives his heat away.
And flowers and trees and beasts and men receive
DeleteComfort in morning joy in the noonday.
Here he follows an extended metaphor of ‘God = sun’, which William Blake uses ingeniously, linking it to the dark skin of the little black boy (which has been ‘sunburnt’ by God’s ‘beams of love’), and suggesting that African children find it harder to bear the ‘heat’ or strain of living because they have it so much harder than white children. (Tearle, -)
Here Blake is seen cleverly alluding that the God is the Sun and that his soul being “white” has been loved by God through the Sun so much, that his skin has turned “black”.
The sonnet here relates to the concept of the sublime as the idea of the black boy is experienced through the majesty of the natural setting and the transcendentally of the natural, the divine spiritual, and concepts of experience of this reality of the sublime.
“which present an idealized world, in contrast to the harsh realities of late 18th and early 19th Century life during the time of King George III, known — ironically given the terrible social conditions of the time — as the Romantic Era.” (Unknown, 2020)”
The Lamb
The concept of The lamb is in consideration a response to Christianity, and is another poem were the sublime is in contents thematically considered, and continued to advance.
Herein the concept of the sublime is seen and semiotically typified as experiencing through Christ’s own childlike innocence and attributes:
“William Blake then proceeds to praise Jesus's qualities by commenting on His meek and mild personality. Jesus is portrayed as a giving, loving, peaceful deity throughout the poem and Blake focuses on Christ's innocent attributes.” (Marwaha, 2016)
“The Lamb” is a poem that was written by William Blake. This poem centers on Christianity, having the "Lamb" as the symbol of Jesus as "The Lamb of God".
Delete(Metchelle, 2017)
The Lamb another symbolic imagery of the natural, the transcendent the supreme, the sublime, in direct opposition from the truths expounded by the inception of the Enlightenment.
Herein are some examples from the poem itself:
He became a little child:
I a child & thou a lamb,
The lamb in grand reference here right here is Christ expressing itself containing qualities of childlike imagination a direct exposition of what was considered the essence of the romantic Sublime.
Even though I am not particularly interested in Christianity I found this poem as a means to understand the context of history
The Tyger
DeleteThe Tyger is another popular classicalist romantic poem by William Blake and arguable one of the most famous poems by any poem ever.
From The Songs of Experience, “The Tyger” is another referential stab at witnessing the romantic concept of the sublime.
Blake, being particularly expressive about matters of faith (orthodox Christianity) and the innately spiritual i.e. religion, God the supernal reality and the existence of The Creator, many subsequent authorities consider “The Tyger” as a direct exemplified example and reference to these core system of ideas in terms of language, imagery, and meaning and terms of the sublime.
Also considered is a reverence for the animal in a passage of time recorded where the ferocities of animals were much more palpable than today.
“…Blake’s speaker wondering about the creator responsible for such a fearsome creature as the tiger. The fiery imagery used throughout the poem conjures the tiger’s aura of danger: fire equates to fear. Don’t get too close to the tiger, Blake’s poem seems to say, otherwise, you’ll get burnt.” (-, 2017)
Songs of Experience
“In William Blake’s poems Song of innocence (published in 1789) Blake seeks the sublime by enduringly questioning by juxtaposes the innocence. And seeking the “Sublime’ in a fashion characterized by romanticism here.”
“which present an idealized world, in contrast to the harsh realities of late 18th and early 19th Century life during the time of King George III, known — ironically given the terrible social conditions of the time — as the Romantic Era.” (Unknown, 2020)
Postulates that the notion of the sublime was oppositional rational thinking of the view of currents.
I chose “The Tyger” as it a beautiful poem full of wonderful descriptions and is seen as possibly one of the most popular poems in all English literature.
I also chose the Lamb because it is a simple yet powerful piece and wanted to create a response and form a critique about a poem about a foreign version of something, I generally didn’t know about i.e. Christianity.
I also chose “The Little Black Boy” as a referential to critique as slavery racism is something that we, today, consider unbelievable to have existed in our collective histories – it is abhorrent. and racism something socially unacceptable, in contextuality of time that it was considered acceptable and a social norm by the core of society.
Bibliography
Delete-. (2017, 03 16th). A Short Analysis of William Blake’s ‘The Tyger’. Retrieved from Interesting literature: https://interestingliterature.com/2017/03/a-short-analysis-of-william-blakes-the-tyger/
Kumar, D. (2020, - -). The Little Black Boy by William Blake. Retrieved from Poem analysis: https://poemanalysis.com/william-blake/the-little-black-boy/
Marwaha, Y. (2016, November 21st). WITHOUT CONTRARIES IS NO PROGRESSION: IN VIEW OF BLAKE’S THE LAMB AND THE TYGER. Retrieved from O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!: https://thefablesoup.wordpress.com/2016/11/21/without-contraries-is-no-progression-in-view-of-blakes-the-lamb-and-the-tyger/
Metchelle. (2017, May 27th). What is the main idea in William Blake’s “The Lamb”? Retrieved from Brainly: https://brainly.com/question/3902357
Tearle, O. (-, - -). A Short Analysis of William Blake’s ‘The Little Black Boy’. Retrieved from Interesting Literature: https://interestingliterature.com/2019/03/a-short-analysis-of-william-blakes-the-little-black-boy/
Unknown. (2020, - -). Blake's Song of Innocence. Retrieved from Genius.com: https://genius.com/William-blake-nurses-song-songs-of-innocence-annotated
1. How is the Romantic notion of the Sublime reflected in the texts under consideration in this Romanticism reader? Discuss one or two examples from Blake's Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience.
ReplyDeleteThe notion of the sublime within the Romantic era differed from how it had once been viewed in the past. While previously, the sublime had once been considered the sense of utmost and absolute pleasure, writers within the Romantic era such as William Blake, Lord Byron, and the Shelleys (Mary and Percy) acknowledged that in life and human experience there appeared to be two aspects to the sublime - the pleasurable side, contrasted by the terrible. In order to have great pleasure, one must have great pain or fear as well, and humans could and do extract pleasure from pain. Either way, ‘the sublime’ was that which came with a sense of power that struck an awe into the audience. As put by Patemen in Key Concepts: A Guide to Aesthetics, Criticism and the Arts in Education’, working off Longimus’s work ‘On the Sublime’, the sublime is, ‘ forms of expression which have the power to `entrance' us, to `transport us with wonder', as opposed to merely persuading or pleasing us’, (Pateman, T. 2004, 1991), adding the quote, ‘`a well timed stroke of sublimity scatters everything before it like a thunderbolt, and in a flash reveals the power of the speaker’. (Loginus. n.d.)
An excellent example of the dueling concepts of the sublime in the Romantic era can be found in William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. A particularly interesting example is two companion poems, both titled ‘The Chimney Sweeper’, one found in each collection respectively. Looking at the poems within the context of the Romantic notion of the sublime, the Songs of Innocence version of ‘The Chimney Sweeper’ provides us with the ‘pleasurable’ side of the sublime. It takes the idea of enslaved children working as chimney sweeps - common at the time Blake was writing - and presents it in a pleasurable way to read, that they are doing their God-approved duty, which is emphasized by the final lines of the poem, ‘Tho' the morning was cold, Tom was happy & warm. / So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.’ (Blake, W. 1972, 1794) In spite of their horrific living and working conditions, the children are comforted by each other, by their belief in God and by the promise of salvation (both for themselves and their families) if they do their ‘duty’. This ‘salvation’ is literally represented by an Angel who speaks to one of the boys in a heaven-like dream earlier in the poem, saying, ‘if he'd be a good boy, / He'd have God for his father & never want joy’. (Blake, W. 1972, 1794)
The Songs of Experience version of ‘The Chimney Sweeper’, on the other hand, presents us with the ‘terrible’ or ‘painful’ side of the story. It emphasizes the misery of the children, pointing out that no matter how the children act, their conditions are unacceptable, that the children would truly be happy back home with their parents as children should be, and appearing to condemn them for putting their children into such misery in the name of God. Again, Blake emphasizes this point with the final lines of the poem, ‘And because I am happy, & dance & sing, / They think they have done me no injury: / And are gone to praise God & his Priest & King / Who make up a heaven of our misery.’ (Blake, W. 1972, 1794)
DeleteThese poems are excellent examples of the Romantic notion of the sublime as Blake takes a real-life subject matter and presents it in two distinct ways; the pleasurable, of children doing right in God’s eyes, and the terrible, of children being sold into misery in the name of God. This stark contrasts shines a light on the society Blake lived in at the time, condemning them for living lives so dictated by religion and God to the point of hurting themselves or others (something Blake was heavily critical of in much of his work), and also reflects upon human psychology on a broader scale in a way still relatable to today; how we justify actions, sometimes terrible ones, to ourselves in the name of our beliefs, whether that be religious or on a personal, moral level.
References:
Blake, W. (1972, 1794). Songs of Innocence and Experience with an introduction
and commentary by Sir Geoffrey Keynes, London: Oxford.
Longinus. (n.d.) On the Sublime quoted from Aristotle, ., Dorsch, T. S., Horace, ., & Longinus, C. (1965). Classical literary criticism. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Pateman, T. (2004, 1991) ‘The Sublime’ in Key Concepts: A Guide to Aesthetics, Criticism and the Arts in Education. London: Falmer Press, pp 169 - 171.
Chloe! what a great write up! So detailed and easy to read, I particularly enjoyed reading your part about on 'The chimney Sweeper", It is such a strong poem with emotions and poetic words that emphasise the hope for salvation and misery.
DeleteThanks for sharing!
Week 7-9 (b)
ReplyDelete3. See what you can find out anything about what really happened at the Villa Diodati that fateful summer in 1816.
The Villa Diodati is located in Coligny close to Lake Geneva in Switzerland. A mansion known to have housed Lord Byron, Mary and Percy Shelley, Clare Clairmont and John Polidori during the summer of 1816 (The Cabinet, 2007). “It was a fateful summer in 1816 when a highly distinguished group rented the Villa Diodati near Lake Geneva in Switzerland” (Providentia., 2010). The guests of the mansion were mentioned to have gotten together around the fireplace where they made each other think of their most terrifying nightmares that they had experienced and put it to paper.
It was mentioned in Procidentia that 1816 was known as “the Year without a summer”, due to the Eruption of the Tambora Volcano on 10th April 1815 which caused large amounts of ash that changed the climate of the area as well as other areas of Europe (Volcano Discovery, n.d). Most notable was the effects this had in the year 1816 where it was constantly dark with weather that affected Cologny where the “brat pack” were staying, forcing them to remain indoors for many days and created a mood that was “not exactly genial” (Procidentia, 2010).
That night was the starting point for the gothic genre with the novels The Vampyre, written by John Polidori and the first English novel based on a vampire. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was also produced that night, originally meant as a short story but she was convinced by her husband to write the tale of Frankenstein as a full-length novel (Monstrous.com, n.d). Lord Byron would also be inspired to write his poem Darkness which served as a poetic warning and prediction of humanities fate if it continued the course that it was on (Baldwin, E.)
DeleteAccording to David Ellis the word gothic in literature refers to a genre of fiction that involves supernatural events and refers to an atmosphere linked to spirits. It became a popular genre in England in the late 18th century and the early 19th century (David, 2011).
References
Baldwin, E. Analysis of darkness by Lord Byron. Retrieved from https://poemanalysis.com/lord-byron/darkness/
David,E., (2011). Byron in Geneva that Summer of 1816. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.
Gordon, G. Darkness. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Stephen Greenblatt.
Monstrous.com. (n.d). The Summer of 1816 at Villa Diodoti. Retrieved May 17, 2013 from http://frankenstein.monstrous.com/the_summer_of_1816_at_villa_diodoti.htm
Polidori, J., (1819). The vampyre: a tale. The New Monthly Magazine and Universal Register.
Providentia. (2010). Who Inspired Frankenstein?. Retrieved 10 June from http://drvitelli.typepad.com/providentia/2010/12/inspiring-frankenstein.html
Shelley, Mary. (1985; 1818). Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus. London: Penguin.
The cabinet. (2007). The dark destinations: The Villa Diodati. Retrieved from http://www.thecabinet.com/darkdestinations/location.php? sub_id=dark_destinations&letter=v&location_id=the_villa_diodati
Volcano Discovery. (n.d.). Tambora volcano. Retrieved May 10, 2013 from http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/tambora.html
I found they wrote many great works relate to ghost in there, and read German horror stories. Mary had an idea about her novel there. I think the Villa Diodati is the right place to inspire people who want to write horror stories such as horror or vampire genre.
Delete7. How does Frankenstein a) reference the Bible, b) foreshadow the Death of God and c) juggle genres as well as narrative points of view in its storytelling?
ReplyDeleteMary Shelley’s Frankenstein, horrifying and an authentic works to come from “those nights” at Villa Diodati and the English Romantic movement in general. Shelley made great connections to the biblical creation account in connection to the Book of Genesis. Through Shelly’s ingenious way to portray Frankenstein, to the creation described in the Judeo-Christian Bible uses Words phased in the reading to reveal similarities to the book of Genesis in the Bible. In chapter 5 of Frankenstein Victor Frankenstein the creator of Frankenstein describes his difficult journey in the process and progress of His creation of Frankenstein was to no avail he describes making Frankenstein in his image “ his limbs were in proportion...I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful! Great God!” (Pg. 69) the wording is similar in Genesis 1:1 “ And God said let us make men in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air and over the cattle and over the earth and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth” (Genesis 1:1) the quote from Genesis give importance in achieving comparable likeness to Frankenstein to the creation of earth, and is developed throughout Frankenstein. Frankenstein being born into this world unaware of the dangers needing to learn reveals how Frankenstein is a direct link to the creator and his Journey is connected to the power Victor has in creating a human comparable to God in this nature to create life and the dire outcome of science manipulation on human nature.
Shelley depicts the foreshadowed Death of God in Frankenstein through the character Victor Frankenstein. Victor audaciously plays God in the process of manipulating nature to his own wants, and venture into a world of possibility filled by man’s effort to feat God like attributes in what he hopes to be a harmonious transition into reality with the creation of Frankenstein. “I had worked hard for nearly two years for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body... I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation” (pg. 70) proceeds to dream bigger in depriving himself of sanity and the creation of Frankenstein led Victor to “ but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.”(pg70). The ultimate life sentence regret and the idea he dreamed of with love, become horror. Victor played creator and envelops the notion that from the start he was never going to achieve God like power. The pile of failures is the depiction of Victors defeat to create life. Builds upon the first paragraph in how Adam and Eve took a bite from the apple of Eden ensuing the idea of original sin and humans are born sinners. Victors frustration reveals how Science was bearing on the idea of religion through Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and through the English romantic movement in general.
Shelley’s use of more than one genre and multiple point of Views- Robert Walton starts being empathetic towards Victors Creation of “the monster” Walton introduces the literally style of letter writing format driving the story through the movements of the characters journeys. Walton begins the story at Victors results of Frankenstein. The story developed in written chapter style format the characters perspective of Victor who is the architect to the madness that is to ensue Frankenstein which also plays to collect how both Victor and Frankenstein play into the multiple genres used in Frankenstein were a collaborative sharing of science, horror, gothic fiction . All developed the portrayal of the characters bring unique light to the supernatural factor in gothic literature meshed well with the creation of Frankenstein is a outlier due to its origins coming from man .how science is determined by justifying its practice to legitimate people Belief systems to be conjecture to question religious practices and belies that can hinder technological innovation and on the other slide the fear that comes with science that is been detailed in History with Nuclear bombing.
DeleteReference list Week 7-9
Mountfort, P. (2020). Literature/Desire. Critical Reader. ENGL600 /2020/01 (Literature/Desire(S1,2020). Retrieved from http://blackboard.aut.ac.nz/
Mountfort, P. (2020). Literature/Desire. 7-9b.ppt (PowerPoint slide). ENGL600/2020/01 (Literature/Desire(S1,2020). Retrieved from http://blackboard.aut.ac.nz/.
Shelley, Mary. (1985; 1818). Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus, London: Penguin. - Letter 4, pp. 24-26 - Chapter 5, pp.69-79 - Chapter 11, pp.145-57.
7. How does Frankenstein a) reference the Bible, b) foreshadow the Death of God and c) juggle genres as well as narrative points of view in its storytelling?
ReplyDeleteIn the gothic horror novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, which centres around the creation of a man-creature by a young scientist, the reader sees a parallel between the story that unfolds, and the Biblical creation story found in the Book of Genesis. In Frankenstein, multiple genres and narrative points of view are also juggled whilst something is foreshadowed that is often referred to as the ‘Death of God.’ This blog post will delve into these matters.
Firstly, in Frankenstein we read about Victor Frankenstein, a scientist who creates a creature, referred to as ‘Frankenstein’s Monster.’ Quite simply, this is a creation story where a man is the ‘god’ and creates something in his own image, though it turns out to be an abomination of sorts. Mary Shelley, in her novel Frankenstein, references both the Bible and Paradise Lost, by John Milton, although the stronger allusion is to Milton’s Paradise Lost. In the Bible we read about the creation of man in the Book of Genesis. In Genesis we read: “[26]Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…[27]So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him...’” (Genesis 1:26-27, The New King James Version). Furthermore, in Genesis 2:18 we read: “[18] And the LORD God said, ‘It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” (Genesis 2:18, The New King James Version). Likewise, in Frankenstein we read something similar where Shelley writes in the seventeenth chapter: “"You must create a female for me with whom I can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for my being.”” (Shelley, 1818). Although the creation of this creature and him desiring a companion can be said to be loosely inspired by the Genesis story, this cannot be said to be an accurate mirror to the Bible story, as this quote is said by the monster/creation and not by Victor Frankenstein (the would-be god/creator) wanting the creature to have a companion. This particular quote is a reversal of roles if based on Genesis 2:18 in the Bible, where the creatures desire is for a companion and the creator denies him this, rather than the creator seeing that the creature cannot live alone and creates a companion for him. Also, even though Victor Frankenstein does not give the creature a name in the story, Shelley herself has been known to have called the creature Adam in some performances, seemingly drawing a comparison to the Adam of the biblical creation account. “During a telling of Frankenstein, Shelley referred to the creature as "Adam". Shelley was referring to the first man in the Garden of Eden,” (Wikipedia, n.d.) As the reader can see, many shallow references to biblical scripture are placed throughout Frankenstein.
In having drawn our biblical comparisons, the attention must be drawn to John Milton’s Paradise Lost, a work that is inspired by biblical concepts and ideas itself. In Frankenstein, perhaps a clearer link can be made to Milton’s work, published in 1667. Paradise Lost is an epic poem centred around the Fall of Man found in Genesis, where Adam and Eve are tempted by Satan and then expelled from the Garden of Eden. This aside, the most obvious reference is that the Monster itself reads Paradise Lost within the story of Frankenstein. Victor Frankenstein, as the creator of the Monster, was quite possibly named after a title that Milton gives God within Paradise Lost. In John Milton’s work, he refers to God quite often as ‘the Victor’. “A possible interpretation of the name Victor is derived from Paradise Lost by John Milton…Milton frequently refers to God as "the Victor" in Paradise Lost, and Shelley refers to Victor as playing God by creating life. In addition, Shelley's portrayal of the monster owes much to the character of Satan in Paradise Lost; and, the monster says in the story, after reading the epic poem, that he empathizes with Satan's role.” (Wikipedia, n.d.) Within the story of Paradise Lost itself, we read:
Delete“Thus repulsed, our final hope
Is flat despair: we must exasperate
The Almighty Victor to spend all his rage;” – (Milton, 1667, p.38).
Here we can perhaps draw a tighter connection between Mary Shelley’s work Frankenstein and John Milton’s Paradise Lost. Also, in Frankenstein we read this from the perspective of the monster: “Many times I considered Satan as the fitter emblem of my condition; for often, like him, when I viewed the bliss of my protectors, the bitter gall of envy rose within me.” (Shelley, 1818). Here Shelley not only pays homage through the creators’ name, but the Monster relates through the reading of Paradise Lost.
Secondly, the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley perpetuates the idea of what is known as the ‘Death of God.’ This phrase was popularised by German Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche in 1882. This phrase alludes to the idea that God supposedly cannot exist because humanity had reached a point or age of reason called the Age of Enlightenment. “Nietzsche used the phrase to express his idea that the Enlightenment had eliminated the possibility of the existence of God…The phrase first appeared in Nietzsche's 1882 collection The Gay Science (Die fröhliche Wissenschaft, also translated as "The Joyful Pursuit of Knowledge and Understanding").” (Wikipedia, n.d.). The Age of Enlightenment began in the 17th century and focused on reason and science. Nietzsche was referring to the elimination of God through reason. So how does Mary Shelley perpetuate this concept through Frankenstein? Quite simply, besides the fact that scholars have little reason to believe Shelley was religious, the idea that a scientist has the power to create life somewhat overthrows the need for a creator in Frankenstein. Man is enlightened enough to create life and does so in the novel. Allusions to Victor Frankenstein playing God abound throughout the text. In essence, Victor Frankenstein has become a god, having created a corrupt creature. The ties to Paradise Lost, namely the name Victor as a title, cements this. Frankenstein is a story about what happens when man plays God.
As for how Shelley juggles genres and narrative points of view, the novel is written in a unique way: it is an epistolary novel. This means that it is written in the form of documents, be it either letters, statements, newspaper clippings and more. In Frankenstein we read through the point of view of various characters. We begin with letters of correspondence between Captain Robert Walton and his sister Margaret. This recounts the discovery of Victor Frankenstein in search of his creation. The story then switches perspectives multiple times between Frankenstein, the Monster and Captain Walton. This is unique as the story does not remain in the same narrative voice throughout. Regarding genre, Frankenstein is unique in that it is often said to be the first Science Fiction novel. A writer for History.com writes “The book, by 20-year-old Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, is frequently called the world’s first science fiction novel.” (History.com, n.d.) Besides spawning what would become Science Fiction tropes, Frankenstein can be said to belong to the Gothic Horror genres, given its tone and setting.
DeleteReferences:
Wikipedia. (n.d.) Frankenstein. Retrieved May 28, 2020, from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankenstein#Victor_Frankenstein's_name
Wikipedia. (n.d.) God is dead. Retrieved May 29, 2020, from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_is_dead
History.com. (2009). Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” is published. Retrieved May 29, 2020, from
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/frankenstein-published
Milton, J. (1667). Paradise Lost. England: Samuel Simmons.
Shelley, M. (1818). Frankenstein. London, England: Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor & Jones
Liam, what a great read, I personally didn't know of the difference between Frankenstine and his monster before this class! It was interesting to see the different examples you used in comparison to mine! I really enjoyed reading this! Thanks!
Delete1. How is the Romantic notion of the Sublime reflected in the texts under consideration in this Romanticism reader? Discuss one or two examples from Blake's Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience.
ReplyDeleteSublime express power of “entrance” to “transport us with wonder”. Sublime passages in literature exert an “irresistible” force.
Sublime has changed to different what it has been in the past. “to call the word “sublime” is rather like calling it “divine”. “Subline is a form of expression to connect emotion between poet and readers. Subline in another meaning in literature is an “irresistible” force, which means impossible to refuse, oppose or avoid because it is too pleasant, attractive, or strong (Cambridge dictionary).
The power of sublimity can be achieved by those artists and are possessed by” powerful and inspired emotion”. Combine all the things that are considered there produce the “true sublime”. Burk suggests that Subline has vast dimension, which attempts to connect between emotional and natural world.
Burke defines sublimity as magnitude, unfinished and difficulty. Burke gets all the beautiful as well as the sublime. The observation that relates to nature to the aesthetic is one which divided contemporary aestheticians. In other word: Burke, he is amazed, inspired and astonished by the sublime. The concept of Burke about the sublime, is “lurking paradox”, it is drawn to things which cause us pain, indeed, terror. The pain of the sublime is metaphorical that there is a pleasure in the sublime which we characterize as painful.
An example from Blake’s Songs of experience is Holy Thursday. Blake illustrates in the poem very clearly how the people on this island have to live their everyday life in pain and unhappiness. The poem shows a robust romantic notion of sublime that describe how the real life of these people is in a fruitful land. The connection of people and the poem show readers the romantic notion of the sublime.
The first stanza illustrated the baby who lives in the fruitful land. The baby is misery, poor and unhappiness. It is shown in the poem that:” babes reduces to despair. […]. Is that trembling cry a song? Can it be a song of you? And so many children poor?” it is how weak the babes are. They are living in the land of no shine; it is shown:” and their sun does never shine” which I think the author talks about their future lives in the area that they barely see the sun. The fruitful land is eternal winter there, which make the field are bleak and bare; it is shown that:” their fields are bleak and bare, and their ways are filled with them. It is eternal winter here.”
The poem is a romantic notion of sublime, where the author illustrates the real life of the poor kids lives the fruitful land. The hoping of one day the children will never be hungry there, and they are no poverty there, it is shown:” babe can never hungry there. Nor poverty the mind appal”. This is a real matter of life where they still have a place; the children are poverty, pitiful and has less knowledge. It gives a concept to the readers about the real-life around us. The illustration depicts images, feeling of despair. The sublime connect readers to this poem. Romantic notion always gives readers pictures and connect them with their emotion in deep reverence. Therefore, the romantic idea reflects the poem through natural connect ideologically.
Reference:
IRRESISTIBLY: meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/irresistibly
Burke, E (1757) A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful. Reprint edition, Oxford: Basial Blackwell
Kant, I (1790) The Critique of Judgement trans. J C Meredith. Oxford: Clarendon Press
Longinus On the Sublime quoted from Aristotle, Horace, Longinus Classical Literary Criticism ed. T S Dorsch Harmondsworth Penguin Books 1965
Q: How does Frankenstein a) reference the Bible, b) foreshadow the Death of God and c) juggle genres as well as narrative points of view in its storytelling?
ReplyDeleteReference to the Bible in Frankenstein: There are many references to the Bible in Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, and many of them are to the early chapters of the Book of Genesis. The Book of Genesis tells the story of God’s creation of the world, and then goes on to recount the story of the fall of Adam and Eve, the first man and woman.
Eve succumbs to the temptation of Satan and eats the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. Eve persuades Adam to do the same, and by doing so, they disobey God’s command. As punishment, Adam and Eve are expelled from the Garden of Eden.
Frankenstein references the Bible in the following ways:
• Like Adam, the creature in Frankenstein is a new creation. He is the first of his kind, who at first views the world with a child-like innocence. In this way, he can be identified with Adam.
• When the creature is rejected by his creator, he feels that he has been deprived of paternal love and expelled from a paradisal life, which is how Adam feels when God expels him and Eve from the Garden of Eden.
• The creature can also be indented with Satan. Like Satan, he eventually turns on his creator, waging war against him and all of mankind.
• Adam and Eve were restricted from eating the fruit of knowledge, and Frankenstein was restricted from discovering the secrets of life. In both cases, the pursuit of knowledge and curiosity leads to the demise of both individuals.
• The creature wants to view his creator, Frankenstein, as God portrayed in the Bible, who was kind to Adam and provided him with a loving care. This is crushed when Frankenstein does not serve his duties as ‘God’.
Foreshadowing of the death of God in Frankenstein: The power of giving and taking life is attributed only to God. When Victor Frankenstein gives life to lifeless matter, he has gained ultimate power and tread uncharted territories. He has stepped into the domain of God, and by doing so, he has deprived God of His role. Victor’s troubles begin afterwards, and this can serve as a warning for what can happen when mortals try to play God. Victor Frankenstein foreshadows the tragic events that will follow in lines such as this one: “Destiny was too potent, and her immutable laws had decreed my utter and terrible destruction”
ReplyDeleteForeshadowing of death is also heightened through references to destiny, fate, and omens, which all give the impression that Victor is doomed from the start.
Genre and narrative points of view in Frankenstein: Frankenstein is a Gothic novel. It employs the use of mystery, secrecy, and psychology to tell the story of Frankenstein’s creation. Gothic genre is characterised by mysterious and secretive events and supernatural elements.
ReplyDeleteFrankenstein is narrated in first person by different characters at different points in the novel. These shifts in narration and the alternating points of view are central to the novel’s theme of looking past appearances and reflecting on what lies beneath.
The first point of view the reader is introduced to is Captain Walton’s. He is writing letters to his sister. Then the point of view switches to Victor Frankenstein, who tells Walton about his life. When Victor comes to the point where he describes meeting with his creation, the point of view switches to Victor’s creation. The reader expects the creature to be barbaric, violent, inhuman, but through his point of view, we get to know that he is sensitive, intelligent, capable of feeling human emotions.
As readers, we are introduced directly to the characters through their own words.
By using this narrative structure, Mary Shelley gradually leads the reader towards the central ideas of her novel. If introduced to them suddenly, the reader might dismiss them as being beyond belief. The different narrative viewpoints are also used to highlight the themes of the novel through a number of different perspectives.
References:
My English Pages. Retrieved from:
https://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/literature-frankenstein-themes.php
Frankenstein Summary. Retrieved from:
https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/frankenstein/summary/
Frankenstein God Complex. Retrieved from:
https://frankensteingodcomplex.weebly.com/evidence.html
LIT AND DESIRE BLOGS:
ReplyDelete7. How does Frankenstein a) reference the Bible, b) foreshadow the Death of God and c) juggle genres as well as narrative points of view in its storytelling?
Mary Shelley’s version of Frankenstein is a story about a scientist who through his unorthodox experiments designs and brings to life a hideous yet callow creature. Shelley crafted a story that shares a common theme of events in relation to the bible. The story also foreshadows the death of God and moves between genres and changes the narrative perspective.
The Bible was a well-regarded text in the 1800s and Shelley used it to her advantage to incorporate ideas in her novel to establish Frankenstein. Shelley has many examples where she has referenced Frankenstein to the Bible, most of these instances refer to the earlier chapters of the Bible: The book of Genisis, the first book in the old testament which is an account of the creation of the worlds and origins of Jewish people. The book of Genisis tells the story of how God created Adam, the first human, the first of his kind. We can instantly see a reflection of the theme of creators and creation, Frankenstein displays himself as a man comparable to God and his monster like first of its kind creation identifies as Adam. Frankenstein refers to his creation as ‘beautiful’ whereas God refers to Adam as ‘Good’. Frankenstein had the power to create life just as God did and they both created beings that viewed the world for the first time with a sense of innocence. (The Bible: Creation, n.d.). However, Frankenstein abandons and rejects his creation, this can be referenced to the when God banishes Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden. (Watts, 2019).
Another aspect proving the biblical references that Shelley made is ‘paradise lost’: the novel provides a warning that the pursuit of knowledge, creation of immoral experiments and glory are sinful and will only lead to your own self destruction and doom. Victor loses his figurative paradise which was his family, his friends, his relationship and his sanity which consequently results in his death and him retelling his story to Walton, another man in search of forbidden knowledge. This is a parallel example to when Eve disobediently eats a forbidden fruit from The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and then persuades Adam to do the same. Due to their ignorance and greed they are exiled and banished from their paradise which was the Garden of Eden. (The Bible: Creation, n.d.). One other important contrasting examples Shelley produced was the comparison of Frankenstein and his creation to Satan. Frankenstein’s creation turns against him and shows a sense of evil wanting to wage war on humankind because of the hatred he had for his creator. In the Bible Satan also turns against his creator ‘God’ so in a similar sense, evil creations can be seen as a common theme or idea. We can also compare Frankenstein to Satan as he himself is committing a sin against his creator ‘God’ attempting to be something and attain glory for something he cannot.
DeleteThere are other references you can find in Frankenstein that relate to the Bible but they are not direct from the bible but taken and identified in the monsters reading of Paradise Lost.
Personal Comments:
This was one of the most fascinating and intriguing things I’ve had to write about, reason being I had no knowledge of Frankenstein. I knew the name and thought the Frankenstein was the monster up until I read the reading. I decided to research further and try to get a better understanding of the story and Mary Shelley the Author, so I read a lot of articles and searched through websites and then watched the movies below.
1. I, Frankenstein (2014)
2. Mary Shelley (2017)
3. Victor Frankenstein (2015)
4. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994)
What a great concept for a story, so well written, I thoroughly enjoyed learning about Victor Frankenstein and his monster. The movies were a great way to get a visual of the story and although all the movies differ and have variations of their own take on Frankenstein, the theme and story of Frankenstein stay relatively the same.
References:
Shelley, Mary. (1985; 1818). Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus, London: Penguin.
The Bible: Creation. (n.d.). Retrieved May 26, 2020, from https://crossref-it.info/textguide/frankenstein/7/333
Watts, E. (2019, November 12). The "Genesis" of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Retrieved May 26, 2020, from https://thelehrhaus.com/scholarship/the-genesis-of-mary-shelleys-frankenstein/
1. How is the Romantic notion of the Sublime reflected in the texts under consideration in this Romanticism reader? Discuss one or two examples from Blake's Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience.
ReplyDeleteWilliam Blake was a an outspoken man, someone who was well ahead of his time. Misunderstood by the public as being eccentric yet his words ring true to this day. His work highlighted fallacies with the church and government of its time, scrutinising and questioning morality, humanity and religion that I'm sure most people were thinking, yet never spoke out against it. His writing style is vivid in imagery and is so eloquently written.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the sublime in romatic literature can be defined as: lofty, grand, or exalted in thought, expression, or manner (Merriam-Webster dictionary).The romantic notion of the sublime is ever present in his works, particularly 'Song's of Innocence and of Experience'. In his poem 'The Chimney Sweeper', we see Blake's depiction of the sublime as being that of a bleak and depressing world for children born into families and forced to sweep chimnies, caking their lungs with toxic soot in order to earn some money.
"Where are thy father & mother ? say ?
They are both gone up to the church to pray."(Blake, 1789,1794.)
The sublime in this passage can be interpreted as a distain towards the parents of these children , Going to church to pray and act like good people while their children are literally dying, trying to earn coin for them and the chruch that condones the society at the time to be so cruel towards young children..
"And because I am happy, & dance & sing,
They think they have done me no injury:
And are gone to praise God & his Priest & King
Who make up a heaven of our misery." (Blake, 1789,1794.)
Blake tells us that because children are children, they sing, laugh and dance in sometimes even the most dire of situations. The parents think all is well, justifying the coin and continuing their toxic, church condoned parenthood.
In a corresponding poem in 'Songs of Innocence', the audience gets a further indepth look of Blake's interpretation of the sublime.
"There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head
That curled like a lamb's back, was shaved, so I said,
"Hush, Tom! never mind it, for when your head's bare,
You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair."" (Blake, 1789,1794.)
We can interpret the sublime here as humanity and compassion. The older of the two boys are comforting the younger boy.
"And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark
And got with our bags & our brushes to work.
Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy & warm;
So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm." (Blake, 1789,1794.)
Here we see little Tom's child-like joviality as a vice to distract him from the true nature of waht's actually happening at that moment in time.
Blake's depiction of the sublime is malleable. From poem to poem it can change and mould into different meanings and interpretations. In the 'Chimney Sweeper', we can interpret Blake's meaning as being distainful towards church condoned cruelty and the love of humanity with the two boys comforting each other in dark times.
Sources:
SUBLIME: definition
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sublime
Blake, W. (1789,1794) Song's of Innocence and of Experience
How does Frankenstein a) reference the Bible, b) foreshadow the Death of God and c) juggle genres as well as narrative points of view in its storytelling?
ReplyDeleteMary Shelley’s Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus references the bible throughout the story. Firstly, through Frankenstein’s creation of the monster; Frankenstein creates a replica male human body, in which he aims to grant life (Shelley, 1818). Similarly, the bible explains that the creator, or God, “… created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him” (Genesis 1:27, King James Version). However, when Frankenstein attempts to create a new life replicating his human form, he creates an ugly being which he describes as “the wretch” (Shelley, 1818, p. 45). Secondly, in Genesis 1:2 (King James Version), the bible describes how the earth was created from darkness and nothing, until God declared “… let there be light …” (Genesis 1:3, King James Version). This experience of life when darkness turns to light can also be seen in the way in which Frankenstein’s monster perceives his own creation; arriving into consciousness from darkness into light (Shelley, 1818). Another example is where the monster himself exclaims “I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed” (Shelley, 1818, p. 78) referring to the Bible stories of God initially bringing his creation, Adam, everything that he may desire (Genesis 2:19, King James Version) and God disassociating himself from angels who had sinned (2 Peter 2:4, King James Version).
Moreover, in Frankenstein positioning himself as a God-like creator, he foreshadows the Death of God. The novel was written at a time in which rationalism and science were achieving a more central role in forming knowledge and belief systems. The idea that man could create life, particularly Erasmus Darwin’s experiments, were popular topics of conversation; an overheard conversation between Lord Byron and Percy Shelley was even mentioned in the preface of Frankenstein (Shelley, 1818). Whilst Frankenstein is horrified at his creation and considers his efforts of making a beautiful being to be a failure, the monster could also be considered to a more accurate portrayal of humanity (Sanders, 2017). The potential atrocities science could bring through its unethical practices are portrayed in that by attempting to create man in his own image, Frankenstein’s own image as a scientist is revealed as ugly and imperfect, since a human scientist can never produce such perfection as God himself. Or perhaps Frankenstein’s failure as a God, relates to a common feeling in those times that the Christian God had failed the people; the disappointment in the creator is felt by the monster, as well as the readers of the time (Sanders, 2017).
Whilst Frankenstein is commonly viewed as an example of Romantic literature, due to its centre on emotions and references to the sublime; the coexisting beauty and horror of nature through the storms, snow and mountains, there appear to be the other aspects which could go on to influence other genres, such as science fiction and modern horror. Although science fiction as a genre was not particularly popular or established at this time, many consider Frankenstein to be the beginning of the popularity of the genre. By retaining the horrors and beauty of the sublime and including elements of the emerging science of the time, a genre which remains popular today was born. The story is told not chronologically, but as tales from the perspectives of different characters using first person narration throughout, from the English explorer, to the student; Frankenstein to the monster himself, before coming full circle.
Sanders, E. M. (2017). Genres of doubt: Science fiction, fantasy and the Victorian crisis of faith. McFarland & Company Inc.
Shelley, M. (1869; 1818). Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus. Sever, Francis, & Co.
ReplyDelete7. How does Frankenstein a) reference the bible, b) foreshadow the Death of God, and c) juggle genres as well as narrative points of view in its storytelling?
Frankenstein by Mary Shelly is a story that created an entire genre, the story is literally about death and resurrection, going against the word of God, and creating life. Shelly herself was an atheist and set out to show humanities flaws through Frankenstein and his monster.
One reference to the bible would be how Frankenstein wishes to have a female counterpart to eat berries with, this is a clear reference to Adam and Eve showing that the monster is humanlike, wanting companionship and being with someone. In chapter 4 Frankenstein says, "A new species would bless me as its creator and source … No father could claim the gratitude of his child so completely as I should deserve theirs,". This directly shows how he thinks of himself, believing himself to be God and his monster Adam. This is contrasted with how his monster feels in this line, “remember, that I am thy creature: I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel”. The monster believes the doctor to be his God but views himself as satan, I believe that this is Shelly saying that humans are imperfect beings who have free will, and sometimes what they do with it can be horrible. Also, Frankenstein lost all of his loved ones and those close to him when he tries to play God, showing that for God to be God, they must lose all personal connections, and solely help its creation. This happened to Frankenstein, but since he was a mere human, it backfired spectacularly in his face, showing him the price for trying to play God.
The death of God can be clearly seen just in the premise of the book, as the act of a human creating life, this directly opposes God, as it shows God isn’t needed since humans are capable of creating. Victor says, “Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first breakthrough, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world. A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me”. The death of God can either mean; humans have achieved a greater level of understanding and have achieved enlightenment, therefore knowing that God doesn’t exist, or it can mean, God in the Abrahamic religions is literally dead and humans have killed it, leaving humanity it wallow in its own filth with no salvation or repercussion. I think that Shelly meant it in both ways, as Victor creates life so he achieves some enlightenment, but also his loved ones die and all that is dear to him is gone leaving him with a mob and a monster.
Frankenstein is a mixture of Gothic horror and Science Fiction (What's the Genre of Frankenstein? 2015). It handles merging these two Genres flawlessly as the science fiction isn’t trying to over complicate what it is and the story focuses on humanity and our need for power, control, and domination. Frankenstein wanted to be god, he wanted to be respected and known as the man who created life, but the problem didn’t come from his monster, it came from other people and their mob mentality which caused him to lose everything and everyone even his creation. Shelly used the gothic backdrop and horror to create a story about a monster, but where the real villain was humanity and their insatiable hunger.
3. See what you can find out anything about what really happened at the Villa Diodati that fateful summer in 1816…
DeleteThe summer of 1816 was a very ominous one, not just at the Villa Diodati, it was as if the whole world was going through a dark period, and the perfect set of events gave spark to Shelly’s imagination leading to the creation of one of the most popular genres today; Science Fiction. What happened in that summer, almost read like a gothic horror itself.
First of all, due to Mount Tambor erupting in Indonesia the prior year, volcanic ash had traveled into the atmosphere blocking the sunlight. This leading to crop failures and everlasting dampness as the sun couldn’t evaporate the water. Already we see the setting is eerily similar to one of a horror story, where the people must only exist and try to survive in cold damp almost dystopia, having no choice in this matter. This existential dread will prove to be useful in creating horror stories. 1816 would be known as the year without summer for this reason. (Buzzwell, 2014).
During this period, Mary Shelly (then Mary Goodwin) was traveling with her not yet husband Percy Shelly, their 4-month-old son, and her stepsister. They were going from France to Geneva, which is where she would see barren desolate areas with tall towering trees clumped together, this would end up being an inspiration for where Frankenstein would take place. While this took place, Mary Shelly had been suffering as she had lost her daughter who was born prematurely in 1815.
At the Villa was Mary, her husband, her stepsister, the Lord Byron, and his doctor John Polidori. Inspired by a collection of german horror stories called Fantasmagoriana, Lord Byron suggested that they should write ghost stories. After this suggestion, Mary Shelly had either a nightmare or suffered a night of insomnia (Jackson, 2016),(Buzzwell, 2014), which led to the creation of Frankenstein. Also, Polidori would go on to write The Vampyre, which would become the prelude to the romantic Vampire Genre. Lord Byron’s story would be published as a postscript to “Mazeppa”, a poem written by Byron.
Its amazing to me how brilliant and creative people seem to attract each other, and bring out the potential in each other allowing for better art to be produced.”We owe the two greatest horror tales of the last two centuries to a handful of troubled souls shut up together in an old house one wet summer.”(Jackson, 2016). I also believe pain and suffering can be great fuel for creativity. Good art comes from suffering (sometimes), as people are attracted to the raw nature of expression because we all feel like this, but the artist has made it physical and to many, that is worth looking for and appreciating.
Delete4. How many fictional accounts (film and other narrative media) can you find about that? Provide some useful links, including Youtube clips (hint: for a start try Ken Russel Gothic on Youtube).
There are a few fictional accounts to the Villa Diodati and what happened there. The most recent and popular two are the film, “Gothic” 1986 by Ken Russel. The film directly follows Mary Shelly and Lord Byron in their competition to write a horror story. The story turns when they decide to hold a seance and “something” is unleashed, showing each person a different monster. For Polidori, he was bitten by a vampire, for Claire, her breasts become eyes, and is seen by Percy. This is a reference to real life, as when Byron was reading “Christabel”, a story about a lamia, This sent Percy running out of the room screaming as Byron’s recitation felt too real.
As is shown in the movie “Gothic”, Ken Russel takes real instances from the lives of Mary Shelly and her friends and incorporates it into his film, making it feel a little authentic, as this is the way they would act in a similar situation. (Gothic, 1986)
Another instance of the Villa would be in the doctor who episode; “ The Haunting of Villa Diodati”, where the Doctor travels to the Villa meeting with mary Shelly and her friends as they hunt down a ghost. Doctor Who has many episodes where he meets up with famous historical figures, so it isn’t surprising that Mary Shelly and the Villa would be referenced. (Fullerton, 2020)
I find it nice that we still remember Mary Shelly and her accomplishments 200 years later, and it surprised me more to learn how much she had suffered prior to writing Frankenstein. Even though we don’t have a full account of what she was like as a person or what she had done, it’s good that Pop culture revives old texts and brings new audiences to these figures and their achievements, as it becomes easier and easier to either forget or simply not care, with all this breaking news and media flooding our lives, it’s important to remember where the story came from.
References:
Peters, T. (2018). Playing God with Frankenstein. Theology and Science, 16(2), 145–150. doi: 10.1080/14746700.2018.1455264
Shelley, M. W., & Butler, M. (1994). Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus: The 1818 text. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
What's the Genre of Frankenstein? (2015, November 12). Retrieved from https://study.com/academy/lesson/whats-the-genre-of-frankenstein.html.
Curran, S., Lynch, J., & Choi, S. (Eds.). (n.d.). Villa Diodati. Retrieved May 25, 2020, from http://knarf.english.upenn.edu/Places/diodati.html
Buzzwell, G. (2014, May 15). Mary Shelley, Frankenstein and the Villa Diodati. Retrieved May 25, 2020, from https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/mary-shelley-frankenstein-and-the-villa-diodati
Jackson, K. (2016, May 18). The haunted summer of 1816. Retrieved from https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/arts-and-books/sumer-1816-frankenstein-shelley-byron-villa-diodati
Fullerton, H. (2020, February 16). Doctor Who: the real story of Shelley, Byron, and the Villa Diodati. Retrieved from https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2020-02-16/doctor-who-mary-shelley-byron-real-history/
Gothic, 1986. (2017, November 22). Retrieved from https://www.byrneholics.com/gothic-1986/
5. Discuss the links between the Villa Diodati “Brat-Pack” and the birth of Gothic as a modern genre with reference to specific texts by the authors who gathered there and subsequent texts (e.g. The Vampire >> Dracula)
ReplyDeleteThe Romantic as a literary period was a reaction to the previous era of enlightenment and reason, as is common in the shift of periods, both in literature and art. In the later romantics, we find the birth of the Gothic genre, and the first, and also most iconic, works of this genre was created by the group of young poets known as the “brat-pack”. The brat-pack consisted mainly Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, Mary Shelley, and John Polidori.
What separates the Brat-Pack and other later Romantics from the earlier Romantics is the fascination with darkness and the macabre. While the earlier Romantics, the idyllic and beauty in the world were often highlighted and focused on, with human emotions in centre. The later Romantics, though also with human emotions in centre, focused on the darker side of the human nature, and the dark side of the sublime. The sublime in Romanticism is the tension between what is beautiful and what is terrifying and dark, and this term represent a sort of balance of dark and light. While the early Romantics focus on the light and beautiful side, the brat-pack focused on the dark and terrifying side. They were fascinated by the dangerous and scary, and this fascination is the origin of the Gothic.
The Gothic genre were born a rainy evening, the summer of 1816. The brat-pack were together in Villa Diodati in Switzerland for the summer and passed their days by reading ghost stories. One evening however, they took a different turn. Lord Byron came up with a dare, which has later turned out to be a game-changer in the literary world. The dare was that each person would write a ghost story (Shelley. 1831), and here the Gothic genre were first created.
Several famous works were created as a result of this dare. Lord Byron himself wrote Manfred: a Dramatic Poem, which is inspired by the tale of Faust, a known story of an educated man who sells his soul to the devil with, traditionally, fatal consequences. The most famous works from this challenge though is John Polidori’s The Vampyre, and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
John Polidori’s The Vampyre has become source of inspiration to, one could argue, a whole subgenre of vampire-fiction. Best known of these is Bram Stoker’s Dracula, which is probably the most iconic horror novel about vampires. Today vampires are still huge in popular culture.
However, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is without a doubt the most successful of the stories written as a result of Lord Byron’s dare. Not only is it an impressive literary work, especially considering Shelley’s young age when she wrote it, but it is also representing not only one, but two new genres. As well as being one of the first gothic novels written, it is the first novel written in the genre science fiction, which today is a highly popular and recognised genre.
Reference list:
Shelley, Mary. (1985; 1818). Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus, London: Penguin
3. See what you can find out anything about what really happened at the Villa Diodati that fateful summer in 1816…
ReplyDeleteIt’s interesting to think of the specific set of circumstances that resulted in the birth of a genre. Two eccentric writers, a doctor, and two women, pent up inside a mansion during the “Year without summer” when the sun was obscured, and torrential and freezing temperatures were regular during the summer. From their perspectives I could imagine it seeming like the end times, Lord Byron certainly seemed to think so. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43825/darkness-56d222aeeee1b
In truth, the eruption of Mount Tamboro in Indonesia in April 1815 was the cause of this weather phenomenon, something that took place a year earlier, on the other side of the earth was ultimately what set the scene for what took place at Villa Diodati.
Another thing to consider were the people themselves, the story goes like this. Lord Byron challenges each person present to write a ghost story while at the same time, reading out german stories and poems, allegedly from the ‘Fantasmagoriana’. These stories along with the gloomy backdrop of the mansion during the year without summer supposedly is what put Mary Shelly, Percy Shelly, and Dr. Polidori into the mindspace that led to their creations.
Apparently Percy Shelly, after hearing Lord Byron’s reading of poem ‘Christabel’ ran out of the room screaming in terror and later said that he experienced a ‘sudden mental vision of a woman who had eyes instead of nipples on her breasts’. Mary Shelly says this in her preface for the 1831 version of Frankenstien.
“When I placed my head on my pillow I did not sleep, nor could I be said to think. My imagination, unbidden, possessed and guided me, gifting the successive images that arose in my mind with a vividness far beyond the usual bounds of reverie. I saw – with shut eyes, but acute mental vision – I saw the pale student of the unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together. I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine show signs of life and stir with an uneasy, half-vital motion.”
I only saw it mentioned once, and it was never elaborated on anywhere else, but allegedly some historians believe that the ‘brat-pack’ were taking opioids while they were at Villa Diodati. Who are these ‘historians’? I don’t know, and what was their reasoning for believing this? Try as I might I can’t find any information on this regard, but honestly, I’m sold.
The reason I brought up both Mary and Percy’s accounts of what they experienced is because I personally find them strange. Firstly, Percy’s response to Lord Byron's reading of the poem seems to me like a massive overreaction, and rather than saying that he imagined breasts with eyes he describes it as a “mental vision”, this is precisely how Mary describes her nightmare as well, but she elaborates further, calling it a “vividness far beyond the usual bounds of reverie”. I think that Percy and Mary Shelly might actually be hallucinating. Known side effects of opioids can include hallucinations and delirium. I am also willing to believe that the brat pack had access to opioids. There was little to no regulation on the usage of substances such as opioids
and cocaine back in the early 1800s and Lord Byron was a reasonably wealthy man who was being accompanied by a personal physician.
DeleteIn case you're not getting the full picture of what opioids could potentially do to the minds of some of the brat pack members, I should inform you that heroin is an opioid. Could it be that the genre defining inceptions of both Frankenstien and The Vampyre are actually the result of a drug trip? Is this what really happened at the Villa Diodati that fateful summer in 1816… you be the judge.
References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villa_Diodati#:~:text=The%20weather%20was%20unseasonably%20cold,then%20devising%20their%20own%20tales.
https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/mary-shelley-frankenstein-and-the-villa-diodati
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Shelley#References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opioid#Recreational_use
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43825/darkness-56d222aeeee1b
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5993682/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Byron
I found the part about the 'Christabel' poem to be kind of amusing, though you can really blame him from screaming and running away after having such a vision (tbh I'd run too).
Delete
ReplyDeleteQuestion 3 & 4.
Q3
The summer of 1816 are remembered as “the year without a summer” (UCAR Centre for science education, n.d.) Mount Tamboro in Indonesia erupted the year before and sent clouds of volcanic ashes into the atmosphere. (Buzwell, 2014.) The weather was described as gloomy and cold, there were a lot of rain, storms and snow fell in New England (UCAR Centre for science education, n.d)
In other words, perfect conditions for making up dark and horrifying stories.
During the summer of 1816 Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (soon to be Mary Shelley), Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary’s stepsister Clare Clairmont, George Gordon Byron and his doctor John Polidori spent some time together in the Villa Diodati. The villa was a big house, once occupied by another poet, John Milton. (Buzwell, 2014.)
They spent most of their time talking about their work and reading. One night, after reading German horror stories (Fantasmagoriana), Lord Byron suggested that they should write some themselves. The result of this was Marry Shelly’s Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus and John Polidori’s Vampyre.
Mary Shelly writes in her 1831 edition of Frankenstein that Lord Byron and Shelly had many long conversations that she didn’t get to take part of though kept quiet and listened. They discussed different philosophical doctrines and the principle of life.
Her interest in galvanism (electrical current by chemical action), anatomy and the spark to life took root in her imagination and help give life to Frankenstein. (Buzwell, 2014)
The energy in The Villa Diodati became increasing dark and heavy as time passed. Sexual tension (apparently Polidori became interested in Mary), frustration, unease, morbidity and oppression clouded the air and added to the already gloomy aura created by the bad weather. It became so bad that Percy Shelly ran out of the room, screaming after Lord Byron read the poem ‘Christabel’ by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Apparently, he’d been haunted by a visual image of a woman who had eyes instead of nipples (Buzwell, 2014). This horrifying experience did have a positive outcome though as Polidori used this “fit of fantasy” in his story The Vampyre. (Buzwell, 2014).
Q4.
DeleteWhen it comes to fictional accounts of the night in Villa Diodati I found quite a few interesting things. Firstly, I found a play where the director decided to take the original story of Frankenstein and fuse together with the story of how it was written. Both “the brat pack”, Frankenstein and “the monster” are characters in the play and the story is told in a new and unique way. “The novel's author is at the forefront of the story, making new connections between creation and creator.” (JerseyArtsTV, 2019).
I also found an episode of “Doctor Who” called The Haunting of Villa Diodati which covers the events. The writer Maxine Alderton had the idea to make the episode, she is a fan of Mary Shelly and Byron. She did a lot of research for this episode, looking at diaries, journals, letters and biographies. (Doctor Who, 2020)
Another thing I found was a movie about Mary Shelley herself. The movie focus on the period before the publication of Frankenstein, when Mary is still a teenager. Telling the story of her growing up with a stepmother and stepsister. (Speakeasy News, 2018) The film focuses on Mary and Frankenstein is only mentioned briefly. The movie shows how it was difficult to be recognized as a female writer in 19th century England and judging from the trailer, tells the story of how strong Mary Shelly was.
Last, but not least I found an online game called Frankenstein, Birth of a Myth where you can “Relive The Genesis of Mary Shelley's Masterpiece.” I played through a bit of the game and it takes us through the night where the brat pack started writing their ghost stories. The illustrations are beautiful, and I think it is a very beautifully created game. It definitely provides a different and interesting way to learn about the creation of Mary Shelley’s famous novel. The game is a prequel to the game “The Wanderer: Frankenstein’s Creature. Both games allow the player to write their own version of Shelley’s story and provides a fresh look on the classic tale. (Arte, n.d.)
I think it’s safe to say that Mary Shelley’s classic sci-fi novel is a timeless text that will continue to be reborn with new voices to fit new and different audiences.
Sources:
DeleteAlpha Beta gamer. (2019, April 17). Frankenstein, Birth of a Myth - Relive The Genesis of Mary Shelley's Masterpiece. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5700mYffogY
Arte. (2019, December 10). The Wanderer: Frankenstein’s Creature. https://frankenstein.arte.tv/en/
Buzwell, G. (2014, May 15). Mary Shelley, Frankenstein and the Villa Diodati. https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/mary-shelley-frankenstein-and-the-villa-diodati
Doctor Who. (2020, February 16). Meet Mary Shelley and Lord Byron | The Haunting of Villa Diodati | Doctor Who: Series 12. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QW08L_6joRQ
Free Game Planet. (2020, June 5). Frankenstein, Birth of a Myth – Browser Game. https://www.freegameplanet.com/frankenstein-birth-of-a-myth-browser-game/
JersetArtsTV. (2019, October 22). Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKG0w2QFXME
UCAR Centre For Science Education. (n.d.) Mount Tambora and the Year Without a Summer. https://scied.ucar.edu/shortcontent/mount-tambora-and-year-without-summer
Radio Times. (2020, February 16). Doctor Who: 12 big questions after The Haunting of Villa Diodati. https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2020-02-16/doctor-who-haunting-of-villa-diodati-questions/
Rapid Trailer. 2018, April 12). MARY SHELLEY Official Trailer (2018) Elle Fanning, Maisie Williams Movie HD. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EaDRhPm1DM
Speakeasy News. (2018, July 27). Making Mary Shelley. https://www.speakeasy-news.com/making-mary-shelley/
The Game: https://frankenstein.arte.tv/game.html
How is the romantic notion of the sublime reflected in the texts under consideration? Discuss one or two examples from Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience.
ReplyDeleteTypically when one refers to something as “sublime” they are describing something that is divine, awe inspiring, or wonderful. However, within literature and in the romantics it can have a different meaning. In ‘Key Concepts: A Guide to Aesthetics, Criticism and the Arts in Education’ Pateman discusses how “sublime passages exert an ‘irresistible force’”, and have the power to “entrance us” or “transport us with wonder”. (Pateman, T. 2004, 1991) In literature the sublime is more than something wonderful or divine, it is a sort of paradox that is equal parts wonderful and terrible. With philosopher Edmund Burke suggesting that we are drawn to the sublime despite the painful side of it as we want to witness pain and suffering in fiction and art. This is because we are seeing it from a safe distance so it gives us a chance to explore it, while usually we would be inclined to “seek pleasure and shun pain” (Burke, 1757).
An example of this in William Blake’s work is both of the Chimney Sweeper poems from Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. These poems are seemingly about the same thing, but have two very differing messages. In Songs of Innocence Blake has written about a chimney sweep comforting a young boy who has just joined them. During this period of time the common belief was that a person’s misfortune in life was excusable because as long as they “did their part” and did not complain they would be rewarded in Heaven, “and an Angel told Tom, if he’d be a good boy, he’d have God for a father and never want joy”. This line references the “eternal life” and lack of suffering that is associated with Heaven. This is an expression of the pleasurable side of the sublime, as the idea of an eternity of happiness is a wonderful and hopeful idea.
On the other side of this is Blake’s Chimney Sweeper from Songs of Experience which tells a very different story. In this poem Blake seems to be questioning the notion that one must put up with their suffering and unfortunate social conditions to appease God and be granted access to Heaven. It calls the parents who allow their children to work as chimney sweeps neglectful, but also questions the societal beliefs of prayer and worshipping God taking away from caring your children with the line “Where are thy father and mother? Say? They are both gone up to the church to pray.” This is while their child is walking home from his job as a chimney sweep in the snow. Along with this is the last stanza of the poem “And because I am happy, and dance, and sings, they think they have done me no injury: And are gone to praise God and his Priest and King who make up a heaven of our misery.” This part really emphasises that Blake no longer believes that people should suffer in life for heaven. In fact, he is making it very clear that he knows it is an excuse that the poor folk are given so that the priests and Kings do not need to give them aid. If they are convinced that it is the duty of the poor to suffer in order to reach the kingdom of God then they need not do any charity. In this instance the negative side of the sublime is not only in the suffering of the child, but in the neglect of the church to help those in need.
References:
Blake, W. (1972; 1794). Songs of Innocence and Experience with an introduction and commentary by Sir Geoffrey Keynes, London: Oxford
Burke, E (1757) A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful. Reprint edition, Oxford: Basial Blackwell
Pateman, T. (2004, 1991) ‘The Sublime’ in Key Concepts: A Guide to Aesthetics, Criticism and the Arts in Education.London: Falmer Press
See if you can find anything about what really happened at the Villa Diodati that fateful summer in 1816.
ReplyDeleteThe story of the events that lead Mary Shelley, or then Mary Godwin, to writing the novel that birthed a whole literary genre, that of science fiction, is almost as captivating as the story of ‘Frankenstein’ and his monster themselves. The tale also leads in no small part to the writing of ‘Dracula’, itself just as seminal in Gothic and horror fiction.
When Percy Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, Lord Byron and John Polidori along with Clare Clairmont checked into the Villa Diodati in the summer of 1816 it already had the feeling of a Gothic novel. They had been forced to the Villa after being told by management of their original hotel that they must leave, as they were worried about a scandal.
The summer of 1816 may as well have been winter as they suffered the fall out of the eruption of Mount Tamboro. The ash clouds obscured the sun and the rainfall was far higher than a normal Switzerland summer would warrant.
Tensens in the summer house were already high from the offset. A few of them suffered badly from travel illness, stress induced sickness or pregnancy. It is also believed that “Sexual tensions and frustrations were also on the increase in the Villa, with Polidori becoming amorously interested in Mary who did not reciprocate, while Claire’s fixation with Byron showed no signs of abating” (Buzwell, 2014). This was only agitated by Lord Byron's suggestion that they all write ghost stories once it was established that the group did actually have a lot in common. Not least their passions for writing and the Gothic or occult. Although it was mostly Percy Shelley and Byron who were the main participants.
Mary was sadly sidelined a lot of the time from the conversations, on account of her gender. It is said of the group that “Soon, they (meaning Shelley and Byron) were all but inseparable, and joined in spells of speculative talk from which Mary, to her surprise and dismay, was often excluded” (Jackson, 2016).
Strange things were said to have happened while there. The group were writing their own stories but they also shared tales that others had written. It was reported that one night “Percy Shelly, clearly affected by the claustrophobic environment and the hypnotic power of Byron’s reading of the poem fled the room screaming, apparently horrified, as he recounted later, by the sudden mental vision of a woman who had eyes instead of nipples on her breasts.” (Buzwell, 2014). The group was coming dangerously close to the end of their wits, coped up with emotions high.
Polidori, Byron’s physician, ended up in arguments with both the other men. They came close to a dual, but instead he left and started to write a short novel about a vampire. This would later become an inspiration for Dracula.
And Marry? Well at first she struggled to come up with any ideas. She said nothing was scary enough to tell. But she wrote in her diary that after a night of sleeplessness she read to her compatriots the first lines of prose. This tale would become the first work of Science Fiction, ‘The Modern Prometheus’ or ‘Frankenstein’
Truly a tale worthy of the Gothic and influential works that followed it.
References-
Buzwell, G. (2014) Mary Shelley, Frankenstein and the Villa Diodati. https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/mary-shelley-frankenstein-and-the-villa-diodati
Jackson, K. (2016) The haunted summer of 1816. https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/arts-and-books/sumer-1816-frankenstein-shelley-byron-villa-diodati