|
|
| |
|
| |
| British Romantic Poetry(G11960-1) |
| |
|
|
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, "Christabel" April 21, 2016 1. Gothic -Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror, is a genre of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance. As a genre, it is generally believed to have been invented by the English author Horace Walpole, with his 1764 novel The Castle of Otranto. The effect of Gothic fiction feeds on a pleasing sort of terror, an extension of Romantic literary pleasures that were relatively new at the time of Walpole's novel. Melodrama and parody (including self-parody) were other long-standing features of the Gothic initiated by Walpole. Gothic literature is intimately associated with the Gothic Revival architecture of the same era. In a way similar to the gothic revivalists' rejection of the clarity and rationalism of the neoclassical style of the Enlightened Establishment, the literary Gothic embodies an appreciation of the joys of extreme emotion, the thrills of fearfulness and awe inherent in the sublime, and a quest for atmosphere. The ruins of gothic buildings gave rise to multiple linked emotions by representing the inevitable decay and collapse of human creations—thus the urge to add fake ruins as eyecatchers in English landscape parks. English Gothic writers often associated medieval buildings with what they saw as a dark and terrifying period, characterized by harsh laws enforced by torture, and with mysterious, fantastic, and superstitious rituals. In literature such Anti-Catholicism had a European dimension featuring Roman Catholic excesses such as the Inquisition (in southern European countries such as Italy and Spain). Prominent features of Gothic fiction include terror (both psychological and physical), mystery, the supernatural, ghosts, haunted houses and Gothic architecture, castles, darkness, death, decay, doubles, madness, secrets, and hereditary curses. The stock characters of Gothic fiction include tyrants, villains, bandits, maniacs, Byronic heroes, persecuted maidens, femmes fatales, monks, nuns, madwomen, magicians, vampires, werewolves, monsters, demons, dragons, angels, fallen angels, revenants, ghosts, perambulating skeletons, the Wandering Jew and the Devil himself. -The Social, Political, and Psychological Origins and Mechanisms in Gothic Literature Analysis of the fascination and popularity of Gothic novels in 18th and 19th century England reveals several societal and psychological impetuses responsible for the rise of this genre. It is useful to examine the gothic novel in the context of English society because its themes are representative of certain concerns and fascinations of the public at the time. Before addressing the social condition of the time period Valdine Clemens, in her analysis of Gothic literature The Return of the Repressed, explores the psychological reasons for the success of Gothic literature. She traces the fascination with terror, a staple in Gothic literature, back to the fight or flight response found inherent in humans and animals and people’s desire to experience the thrill of that fear in a passive way without actually risking their lives. Experiencing the fear in that way is, more than that, an alternative to facing the social problems represented in Gothic novels, sort of an escape from fear using fear. The gothic novel can be seen as a response to the political dynamics of English culture and politics of the 18th and 19th century. Gothic literature gained popularity in a time when the cultural ideals in England had undergone drastic change especially in relation to the Enlightenment and the rise of rationalism over religion, the changing role of women in society, the rise of a more materialistic and industrial society, and the influence of the French Revolution. Valdine Clemens, in her analysis of gothic horror, makes the argument that the condemnation of Catholicism in England and the rational influence of the Enlightenment left a void of religious belief and the “Gothic rushed in to fill the resulting vacuum with the daemonic.” [1] Taking her argument further she says that Gothic literature not only fills a void, but also points to the shortcomings of rational thought by revealing that too much rationality can lead one to become blind to the supernatural truth. Characters in Gothic novels that do not consider supernatural evils can be led to their doom as is evidenced by the Gothic novel Vathek when the title character abandons morality in favor of Giaour’s promises of power.[2] Use of the supernatural can also be a source of connection to the past and a new manifestation of the belief in providence that had faded with the Enlightenment. Because God had been replaced with rational thought the horror of ghosts and evil creatures could be the only remaining vestments of a more religious England. Robert Geary makes this claim in The Supernatural in Gothic Fiction when he says that, “Providence, secularized out of existence, leaves only unappeasable terror.” [3] Without God’s moral presence, people were left to fend for themselves in the Gothic world of devilish horror. He cites the Monk by Matthew Lewis as an example of this phenomenon because the Bleeding Nun has a supernatural, evil influence rather than a sacred influence traditionally associated with members of the church.[4] With the changing of society and the Enlightenment, women’s roles were changing as well. One of the first Gothic novels, The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole, is introduced by Clemens as an introduction of a social discussion of the “repressive cultural conditions” for women at the time.[1] This can be seen throughout the novel in the helplessness of the women in exercising control over their fate, particularly Hippolita, who is subservient to her husband even accepting his request for divorce unquestioningly. (Walpole) Clemens connects this to the use of women for transfer of property effectively reducing them to goods to be traded among men.[1] Women were becoming more and more literate and Gothic novels became an outlet for female readers and writers especially the Female Gothic novels. Ellen Moers is credited in the Postfeminist Gothic with saying that the Female Gothic has “given voice to women’s deep-rooted fears about their own powerlessness and imprisonment within patriarchy.” [5] With literature as such a traditionally masculine territory, it was the human experience of men that had been documented throughout time leaving virtually no record of female thought. With Female Gothic literature however, women were able to be accepted into a genre that was not so dominated by men and sometimes used this newfound power to explore their societal status. The most notable author of Female Gothic novels was Ann Radcliffe. Clemens argues that in response to society’s view of women as the paradigm of virtue without impulses of their own, Radcliffe used the Female Gothic to discuss the impulses of women in her female characters without explicitly and openly doing so. She asserts, “In Radcliffe’s Gothic fiction, the repressed element of feminine sexual desire does return, but not completely enough to explicitly articulated.” [1] In this way Gothic literature provided an outlet for women to present a more complete view of male and female interaction and the female thought process. By bringing up these topics in Gothic novels, the lower position of women was highlighted and attention was drawn to the inequalities of society. The political state of England played a large role in the appeal of Gothic literature as well. England was leaving behind a period during which they indisputably possessed more power than any other country. It was also, through the Enlightenment and industrial progress, moving quickly away from cultural ties and traditional way of life that had existed for centuries. Clemens claims that, “Gothic fiction ˇ addresses the cultural rootlessness that characterizes contemporary society.” [1] It does so by using religion and setting to reestablish links to an earlier time. Politically, as England was losing power and France was experiencing a violent, bloody revolution, the English wanted to experience horror through gothic novels as, according to Jack Sullivan, “a masochistic, but relatively safe means of fantasizing the worst.” [1] This dread manifests itself in literature particularly in regards to the French Revolution during which, John Paul Riquelme explains, “terror and total war arguably began to emerge historically.” [6] Gothic literature allowed the public to explore this unprecedented upheaval and terror without addressing it specifically. In these semi-veiled ways societal and political issues were touched upon in Gothic literature. Gothic literature could at times be an outlet for topics that were taboo or not fully able to be addressed in society to be discussed in a safe environment as well as a form of entertainment. Not only did Gothic literature allow the public to explore their fears without facing the real reasons behind them, but it also did so in a way that connected them back to the past and gave them some cultural grounding that they feared they were losing with the progression of society. With the Enlightenment and the Protestant Reformation women had actually lost value in society. Gothic literature allowed them to discuss this loss as well as the patriarchal conditions that had not changed in a socially acceptable way. Gothic literature is sometimes seen as filler for religion that was fading out of public life because it embraced the idea of devilish forces that humans cannot control or understand. In an age where reason was the ultimate truth and human understanding could conquer all aspects of life, the mysticism of Gothic literature held an appealing thrill for people to experience the fear of the unknown that earlier generations had counted as part of their everyday life. 2. Harold Bloom on "Christabel" -Geraldine: "this damsel, Geraldine, is later revealed by the poem to be both sexually ambiguous and a vampire, but she has the only vitality contained in the poem's world. The work of Imagination in Christabel is to transform the crudity of evil into something beautiful, and to present a nightmare as if it were a fulfillment of desire. Nature in Christabel is absent, or depraved, or lacks will. A denial of life has brought a rapacious and disordered sexuality into a world that can neither contain nor effectually combat it. The poem;s vividness and energy belong to Geraldine: Christabel comes to life only in torment or when under the vampire's spell. -On Ending: "to write a poem like Christabel, or unfairly reprove a child, is "to dally with wrong that does no harm," to work off a demonic impulse without resorting to real and ative evil. The aesthetics of profanation are subtly allied to a kind of therapy. At each wild word, whether to the young Hartley, or written about the violation of Christabel, the poet feels "a sweet recoil of love and pity." In a world imperfect, with a fallen consciousness of sin, the ecstasy of such aesthetic emotions as love and pity may result only from rage and pain, as one strong emotion provokes its contrary.
|
|
|
 
|
|
|
|
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, "Christabel" April 21, 2016 1. Gothic -Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror, is a genre of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance. As a genre, it is generally believed to have been invented by the English author Horace Walpole, with his 1764 novel The Castle of Otranto. The effect of Gothic fiction feeds on a pleasing sort of terror, an extension of Romantic literary pleasures that were relatively new at the time of Walpole's novel. Melodrama and parody (including self-parody) were other long-standing features of the Gothic initiated by Walpole. Gothic literature is intimately associated with the Gothic Revival architecture of the same era. In a way similar to the gothic revivalists' rejection of the clarity and rationalism of the neoclassical style of the Enlightened Establishment, the literary Gothic embodies an appreciation of the joys of extreme emotion, the thrills of fearfulness and awe inherent in the sublime, and a quest for atmosphere. The ruins of gothic buildings gave rise to multiple linked emotions by representing the inevitable decay and collapse of human creations—thus the urge to add fake ruins as eyecatchers in English landscape parks. English Gothic writers often associated medieval buildings with what they saw as a dark and terrifying period, characterized by harsh laws enforced by torture, and with mysterious, fantastic, and superstitious rituals. In literature such Anti-Catholicism had a European dimension featuring Roman Catholic excesses such as the Inquisition (in southern European countries such as Italy and Spain). Prominent features of Gothic fiction include terror (both psychological and physical), mystery, the supernatural, ghosts, haunted houses and Gothic architecture, castles, darkness, death, decay, doubles, madness, secrets, and hereditary curses. The stock characters of Gothic fiction include tyrants, villains, bandits, maniacs, Byronic heroes, persecuted maidens, femmes fatales, monks, nuns, madwomen, magicians, vampires, werewolves, monsters, demons, dragons, angels, fallen angels, revenants, ghosts, perambulating skeletons, the Wandering Jew and the Devil himself. -The Social, Political, and Psychological Origins and Mechanisms in Gothic Literature Analysis of the fascination and popularity of Gothic novels in 18th and 19th century England reveals several societal and psychological impetuses responsible for the rise of this genre. It is useful to examine the gothic novel in the context of English society because its themes are representative of certain concerns and fascinations of the public at the time. Before addressing the social condition of the time period Valdine Clemens, in her analysis of Gothic literature The Return of the Repressed, explores the psychological reasons for the success of Gothic literature. She traces the fascination with terror, a staple in Gothic literature, back to the fight or flight response found inherent in humans and animals and people’s desire to experience the thrill of that fear in a passive way without actually risking their lives. Experiencing the fear in that way is, more than that, an alternative to facing the social problems represented in Gothic novels, sort of an escape from fear using fear. The gothic novel can be seen as a response to the political dynamics of English culture and politics of the 18th and 19th century. Gothic literature gained popularity in a time when the cultural ideals in England had undergone drastic change especially in relation to the Enlightenment and the rise of rationalism over religion, the changing role of women in society, the rise of a more materialistic and industrial society, and the influence of the French Revolution. Valdine Clemens, in her analysis of gothic horror, makes the argument that the condemnation of Catholicism in England and the rational influence of the Enlightenment left a void of religious belief and the “Gothic rushed in to fill the resulting vacuum with the daemonic.” [1] Taking her argument further she says that Gothic literature not only fills a void, but also points to the shortcomings of rational thought by revealing that too much rationality can lead one to become blind to the supernatural truth. Characters in Gothic novels that do not consider supernatural evils can be led to their doom as is evidenced by the Gothic novel Vathek when the title character abandons morality in favor of Giaour’s promises of power.[2] Use of the supernatural can also be a source of connection to the past and a new manifestation of the belief in providence that had faded with the Enlightenment. Because God had been replaced with rational thought the horror of ghosts and evil creatures could be the only remaining vestments of a more religious England. Robert Geary makes this claim in The Supernatural in Gothic Fiction when he says that, “Providence, secularized out of existence, leaves only unappeasable terror.” [3] Without God’s moral presence, people were left to fend for themselves in the Gothic world of devilish horror. He cites the Monk by Matthew Lewis as an example of this phenomenon because the Bleeding Nun has a supernatural, evil influence rather than a sacred influence traditionally associated with members of the church.[4] With the changing of society and the Enlightenment, women’s roles were changing as well. One of the first Gothic novels, The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole, is introduced by Clemens as an introduction of a social discussion of the “repressive cultural conditions” for women at the time.[1] This can be seen throughout the novel in the helplessness of the women in exercising control over their fate, particularly Hippolita, who is subservient to her husband even accepting his request for divorce unquestioningly. (Walpole) Clemens connects this to the use of women for transfer of property effectively reducing them to goods to be traded among men.[1] Women were becoming more and more literate and Gothic novels became an outlet for female readers and writers especially the Female Gothic novels. Ellen Moers is credited in the Postfeminist Gothic with saying that the Female Gothic has “given voice to women’s deep-rooted fears about their own powerlessness and imprisonment within patriarchy.” [5] With literature as such a traditionally masculine territory, it was the human experience of men that had been documented throughout time leaving virtually no record of female thought. With Female Gothic literature however, women were able to be accepted into a genre that was not so dominated by men and sometimes used this newfound power to explore their societal status. The most notable author of Female Gothic novels was Ann Radcliffe. Clemens argues that in response to society’s view of women as the paradigm of virtue without impulses of their own, Radcliffe used the Female Gothic to discuss the impulses of women in her female characters without explicitly and openly doing so. She asserts, “In Radcliffe’s Gothic fiction, the repressed element of feminine sexual desire does return, but not completely enough to explicitly articulated.” [1] In this way Gothic literature provided an outlet for women to present a more complete view of male and female interaction and the female thought process. By bringing up these topics in Gothic novels, the lower position of women was highlighted and attention was drawn to the inequalities of society. The political state of England played a large role in the appeal of Gothic literature as well. England was leaving behind a period during which they indisputably possessed more power than any other country. It was also, through the Enlightenment and industrial progress, moving quickly away from cultural ties and traditional way of life that had existed for centuries. Clemens claims that, “Gothic fiction ˇ addresses the cultural rootlessness that characterizes contemporary society.” [1] It does so by using religion and setting to reestablish links to an earlier time. Politically, as England was losing power and France was experiencing a violent, bloody revolution, the English wanted to experience horror through gothic novels as, according to Jack Sullivan, “a masochistic, but relatively safe means of fantasizing the worst.” [1] This dread manifests itself in literature particularly in regards to the French Revolution during which, John Paul Riquelme explains, “terror and total war arguably began to emerge historically.” [6] Gothic literature allowed the public to explore this unprecedented upheaval and terror without addressing it specifically. In these semi-veiled ways societal and political issues were touched upon in Gothic literature. Gothic literature could at times be an outlet for topics that were taboo or not fully able to be addressed in society to be discussed in a safe environment as well as a form of entertainment. Not only did Gothic literature allow the public to explore their fears without facing the real reasons behind them, but it also did so in a way that connected them back to the past and gave them some cultural grounding that they feared they were losing with the progression of society. With the Enlightenment and the Protestant Reformation women had actually lost value in society. Gothic literature allowed them to discuss this loss as well as the patriarchal conditions that had not changed in a socially acceptable way. Gothic literature is sometimes seen as filler for religion that was fading out of public life because it embraced the idea of devilish forces that humans cannot control or understand. In an age where reason was the ultimate truth and human understanding could conquer all aspects of life, the mysticism of Gothic literature held an appealing thrill for people to experience the fear of the unknown that earlier generations had counted as part of their everyday life. 2. Harold Bloom on "Christabel" -Geraldine: "this damsel, Geraldine, is later revealed by the poem to be both sexually ambiguous and a vampire, but she has the only vitality contained in the poem's world. The work of Imagination in Christabel is to transform the crudity of evil into something beautiful, and to present a nightmare as if it were a fulfillment of desire. Nature in Christabel is absent, or depraved, or lacks will. A denial of life has brought a rapacious and disordered sexuality into a world that can neither contain nor effectually combat it. The poem;s vividness and energy belong to Geraldine: Christabel comes to life only in torment or when under the vampire's spell. -On Ending: "to write a poem like Christabel, or unfairly reprove a child, is "to dally with wrong that does no harm," to work off a demonic impulse without resorting to real and ative evil. The aesthetics of profanation are subtly allied to a kind of therapy. At each wild word, whether to the young Hartley, or written about the violation of Christabel, the poet feels "a sweet recoil of love and pity." In a world imperfect, with a fallen consciousness of sin, the ecstasy of such aesthetic emotions as love and pity may result only from rage and pain, as one strong emotion provokes its contrary.
|
|
| |
|
