In order for something to be truly
defined as sublime, there must be an element of darkness to it or at least
something a bit unsettling about it’s main subject. Such themes are well
represented in The Tyger, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Ode to a Nightingale, and especially
Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein. All of
these works are filled with awe inspiring images of life, death, and the
supernatural. Given their sometimes volatile nature, one might ask themselves
how such images can be considered beautiful. Most people will not look past the
surface of such things. It is the beauty that shines through the darkness that
draws the reader in and makes them find it beautiful.
William Blake’s The Tyger asks how a God who made
something as innocent and gentle as the lamb could make something as menacing
and violent as the tiger. Blake explores the theme of innocence versus
experience in much of his work. It is very easy to see the beauty in the
simplicity and sweetness of the lamb, but the tiger is not as easy to look at
objectively. Blake even questions how God can possibly feel happy to have
created something so dangerous. Looking at the original engraving that Blake
did for this could give us some insight into what he is trying to say about the
sublime nature of the tiger.
Notice that he has depicted the tiger with a smile
and a friendly look on it’s face and not a fierce scowl. The tiger is just
standing there and not causing anybody harm. If one looks at the contrast
between his Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience engravings on the
Blake Archive,
they see that he usually makes a major contrast between the two subjects. Blake
is trying to say that a tiger is not an evil being, merely strong one. God did
not create the tiger to destroy us all because that would defeat the purpose of
our existence in the first place. He wants us to appreciate it’s majesty and
strength. For the most part, a tiger will not attack a human unless it is
provoked, although approaching one is probably not the best idea in the world.
It is only fierce when in hunting or defense mode. We can admire their strength
as well as their restraint. One can even say that God and the tiger have much
in common. God can be far worse than any tiger when his wrath is incurred, and yet
both He and the tiger can have a calm and loving nature when it comes to their
children. One could even argue that God puts a part of himself into everything
he creates, and therefore everything has an element of the sublime in it. God
made the lamb and the tiger so we could witness two very different sides of the
sublime. It is the heart of the tiger that contains it’s true beauty. Unlike
some of the other works, Blake does not choose to use the supernatural. He
merely uses the natural world around him.
Coleridge’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner has many images of despair portrayed
within it, but also contains a glimmer of hope. The mariner destroys an
albatross, a symbol of good luck, and does not realize it’s true nature and
beauty until it is too late. His perception of the sublime is under developed
and that is a lesson he must learn along the way. It is not until after the storm
and the crew’s death that he is able to see the inner worth in things. His hope
lies in warning others. It is not until he is able to pray after all the supernatural
horror that things begin to get better for him. The scene where the dead crew
comes back to life might be viewed as terrifying to some, but it can be seen as
beautiful because life is being restored to those who did not deserve to die,
even if it was only for a brief period of time. The beauty in the darkness here
is the divine providence granted to the mariner, even if it is a bit macabre. The
moment where he is able to pray again shows that he is beginning to truly
understand the sublime and not simply take it for granted. There is also the
wedding guest to whom the mariner tells his tale. At first he views the mariner
as merely a crazy person and does not want to hear his story at all. However,
towards the end of the ballad, the wedding guest seems to indicate that he
feels wiser for having heard the story. This work is different from the other
works because it uses both the natural and the supernatural to get its point across.
Keats’ Ode to a Nightingale contains many allusions to life and death,
with the nightingale reminding him of both those things. This work is written
by a poet who knows that he is probably going to die young. Keats has also seen
quite a bit of death in his life. As much as he wants to enjoy the same glorious
Spring that the bird is experiencing, he keeps thinking about how he might
never see another Spring again. Keats describes himself at one point in the
poem as being in love with death, and sees the nightingale as a vibrant symbol
of life. This could be his realization that he needs to focus on the moment at
hand rather than the inevitable end. It is the sublime breaking through his
darkness and his preoccupation with death. Yet, he still acknowledges that
these things are beautiful. For the reader, the beauty of the nightingale
remains. It is the beacon of life in the
midst of his worries about death. Unlike
Blake, Keats is finding the darker side of the light. It is up to the reader to
find the beauty in the nightingale that Keats cannot seem to enjoy.
Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein may be the best example of finding the light in the
dark side of the sublime. Before the Creature is brought to life, Victor sees
its beauty and potential. When the Creature is alive, Victor is so repulsed by
it that he cannot even be in the same house with it. However, there is much
beauty and light to be found beyond the Creature’s dark visage. Here is a
picture of one of the most iconic scenes from the film version, where the
Creature befriends a young girl.
When looking at this photo, the viewer hardly
notices the Creature’s looks. They only see a sweet person longing for
friendship. If Victor had seen that the creature was capable of such kindness,
he might have been able to help him and we would have been reading a much
different story. Jonathan Padley’s essay, Frankenstein
and (sublime) Creation, he gives us this take on the Creature: “Everything
about the Creature’s demeanour — its attentive eyes, its incoherent noises, its
uncertain smile, its reaching hand — likens it to a helpless human
baby.”(Padley, 204). Frankenstein’s refusal to take responsibility shows that
he does not have as much of an understanding of the sublime as he would like to
think. He missed out on an amazing and rewarding opportunity by abandoning his
creation. As was discussed in class, Victor was far more in love with the idea
than the reality, and he could not handle it. With the ability to flourish, the
reader could have seen the true nature of the sublime overcome the aesthetic
barrier between the Creature and humanity. Nancy Fredricks states in her essay,
On the Sublime and Beautiful In Shelley’s
Frankenstein, that “…the sublime pushes the limits of form and sensory
perception to suggest a formlessness that cannot be contained within the bounds
of representation.” (1). There are
even some adaptations of the story that tone the Creature’s appearance down,
like the Jason Cobley Graphic Novel version .
In order to find the sublime we must look beyond the visual. Even when the
Creature goes down a bad path of violence and revenge, the audience still feels
badly for him. It is the Creature’s humanity that draws the audience in.
Everyone knows what it is to be lonely and they see that part of themselves in
Frankenstein’s Creature. Unlike the
other works that have been mentioned, Frankenstein
goes to the heart of the human condition to show us the sublime.
The sublime is visible in many
places if we know where to look for it. Sometimes one must look more deeply
than they usually would because the aesthetics can get in the way, as they do
in Frankenstein and The Tyger. The sublime lies not on the
exterior but on the interior. It is the light and beauty that we find even in
the fearful or hideous that causes something to be truly awe inspiring and
worth exploring. It is far more rewarding than taking a brief glance and never
seeing the true worth within.
Works Cited:
Fredricks, Nancy. "On the Sublime and Beautiful in Shelley's Frankenstein." Essays in Literature (1996): 178-89. Print.
Padley, Jonathan. "Frankenstein and (sublime) Creation." Romanticism 9.2 (2003): 196-212. Print.
"The William Blake Archive Homepage." The William Blake Archive Homepage. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.
"Frankenstein:." Google Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.
"Understanding William Blake's "TheTyger"" Understanding William Blake's "TheTyger" N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.
"Bride of the Octopus: May 2010." Bride of the Octopus: May 2010. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.
"The William Blake Archive Homepage." The William Blake Archive Homepage. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.
"Frankenstein:." Google Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.
"Understanding William Blake's "TheTyger"" Understanding William Blake's "TheTyger" N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.
"Bride of the Octopus: May 2010." Bride of the Octopus: May 2010. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.
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