Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Shape of Things to Come


Alex Guernica
Shape of Things to Come
            The Romantic period often times focuses on how our emotions are not only initiated and influenced by the environment but also a source of their own agency; that is to say, our emotions actively shape reality as we attempt to idealize our world. It is important to take note that our freedom is non-existent, we cannot pretend there are no boundaries, we cling to the fences while “reasons calls forth one way and passions the other”(Ovid) and finally why we “see of the better and approve yet follow worse things”(Ovid) as recited by the great Ovid. The ancient bards and Romantics both sing of the never-ending struggle of the human race, the restless mind of relentless sensation and tenacious emotions. The most amazing and frightening monster may in fact be a conflict within us, either our lack of power or a call to power although this dichotomy is arbitrary. In fact, I conclude all dichotomies are unnecessary as we approach things on a more metaphysical level. With all being said, the only thing we can speak of and will ever speak of is the strength of the emotions. Every story and every life is a parable; we fatally assume there is something to be learned.
            Fear is an affection of the mind in which we associate the monster to something external.  In the poem “When I Have Fears That I May Cease To Be” by John Keats, the monster is identified as the overwhelming abyss as he describes his virtues, “Love and Fame” sinking down into the abyss. Keats is doomed by his fascination with these already doomed virtues, his mortality cannot be ignored. As Alaric Masons pointed out in their post “Fears and Regrets” Keats may simply be professing all of his fear and regret in its unresolved form because that is truly how the emotions have manifested within him. These negative emotions may have crippled Keats by exhausting his body and filling restless his mind; however, these emotions have become a source of inspiration. Through the tremendous amounts of pain Keats had to struggle with, Keats was able to write accurately of a pain we all know too well. The poem may be about Keats’ emotions or it could be Keats experiencing emotions that are out there, that anyone could host. kmj9127 talks of the commonality of fearing one’s death in their post “Keats and "When I Have Fears..."” however; they claim that Keats is worried more about his missed opportunities rather than death itself. I believe this to be irrelevant because his impending death represents his missed opportunities one and the same. In order to reformat this poem into Ovid’s famous phrase, Keats could be hoping for his demise and ending his pain while simultaneously wanting more out of life and thus evoking dissonance within his very soul. A great source for the connection of Romanticism with the development of psychology can be found here http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/romanticism.html.
            In Rose Thassally’s post “Morality versus Nature”, the poem “Don Juan” by Lord Byron is observed regarding the sources of moral agency. Don Juan appears to be bound by primal emotions of lust and free from social morality. While Don Juan’s reckless behavior does not bring himself much emotional discord, it does however trouble those with moral investment to social norms. I propose that while we are all born with basic instinct (lust), we are also born with a capacity to function in society as human-beings are social creatures. Morality is what makes society possible. It is impossible for someone to be born with an absolute moral code because morality is something that not only the individual learns but also something society is constantly trying to figure out (see human history, war, slavery, etc.). Morality could be seen as a logical device in regards to how one should act, often times to neglect one’s most basic instincts. The emotional conflict that is attributed to human existence also manifest itself in the development of morality, as legislated by society and also as enacted by the individual.
            Human beings are filled with many contradictions. In “Kubla Khan” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge the poet experiences a great sense of euphoria while high on opium. The overwhelming sense of ecstasy is attributed to many vivid sounds and images that he attempts to recall from his brief yet powerful trip. The world that the poet observed during his dream state is unreal; it is filled with emotions that he cannot feel in the natural world. The poet wrongfully endeavors to recall the sights and sounds when in reality they contributed very little to his brief instance of ecstasy. It cannot be ignored that opium augmented his mind and opium primed the mind to see such images. Seeking Kubla Khan is to desire the drug. Rose Thassally’s post “Reaching for More or Humanity is "Never" Satisfied” further shows that Coleridge desires a contradiction, whether he knows it or not. Psychology shows us that we think in contradictions, usually we think something is good because we like it rather than following logical order and liking something that we know it to be good. Coleridge recognizes that he likes the euphoric sensation that was all too brief and he desires it more as he thinks it would be good for him. In reality, the feeling of good becomes very negative and something that could easily cripple someone and possess someone in the same way fear does. The poem further expresses how the line dividing emotions as a lack of power or a call to power to be a very blurred distinction or even non-existent.
            In my post “Tyger, Tyger, Tyger Tyger Tyger!” I describe William Blake as a religious mystic endeavoring to resolve his fears of the Tyger by better understanding God.  As discussed in class, Blake was his own interpreter of God and thus could be considered a religious mystic. In the poem “Tyger, Tyger” by William Blake, the poet asks several questions to the almighty “Did he smile his work to see?” and “Did he who made the lame make thee?” in fact, the majority of the poem is questions. The Tyger is seen as a source of fear but simultaneously as a source of inspiration. The Tyger explains why we act in a certain way; it is the Tyger’s proximity to the human race that defines the Tyger and our fear of the Tyger. Is Blake soon to discover that we can initiate the Tyger within ourselves and inherit its proximity to the rest of the world? The only way to overcome the Tyger is to either be the Tyger or to be the Lamb. The poet’s emotional investment in God challenges the poet to conform his emotions in unconventional ways; however, it can be very useful to be ruled by one’s own principals (religious mysticism). It is important to insert the engraving because it is part of the poetry. Go to http://www.blakearchive.org/blake/main.html to learn more exciting things about William Blake!
File:The Tyger LC 1826.jpg
            WorldWarZDude’s post “Maria and freedom among society” interprets Wollstonecraft’s “Maria” as having a scenario illustrating “the human mind free from the societal expectations”( WorldWarZDude). The insane asylum offers Maria a milieu in which women are not the target of oppression; you are oppressed in so far as you are in there. This scenario is problematic because Women are subjected by inequality and forced into the insane asylum; however, we find the women in the asylum can freely reveal the effects of the oppressive society without the oppressive society oppressing their cries. In my post “William Cowper 'The Negro's Complaint'” I discuss that the source of oppression comes from claiming that a group of people are not “People” because they lack human capacities. Women were/are seen as inferior, emphasizing a psychological inferiority or an emotional inferiority in the case of the insane asylum and hysteria. Our interpretations of other’s emotions shape our understanding of them and shape the manner in which we act upon them.
            Frankenstein’s monster becomes the monster that he was viewed as, he fulfills the judgment that society has cast upon him. Society’s anguish, disgust, and rage becomes the body of the monster, humanities corpses comprise the beast. We create monsters. In David S. Hogsette’s  “Metaphysical Intersections in Frankenstein: Mary Shelley's Theistic Investigation of Scientific Materialism and Transgressive Autonomy” the creation is “what would happen if man created human life without the biologically and relationally necessary woman and with indifference to God?”(Hogestte, 531). Owls are Awesome stated that Frankenstein’s monster “could say he too is good but the world is evil to him” which further expresses our understanding creating and interpreting a monster as separate from ourselves; however, the monster is the product of our vile nature. We create a world where only the monster can thrive. Derrida claim “L’Un se garde de I’ autre pour se faire violence (because it makes itself violence and so as to make itself violence)”(Derrida, 78) is great in interpreting Frankenstein’s monster as a self-fulfilling prophecy of human regression. The conflict society had with Frankenstein’s creation created the violence within the creation. The conception of Frankenstein’s creation lies in Dr. Frankenstein’s life of isolation which “such experiences can never be adequately communicated to ‘normal’ members of society, to those who have not been similarly exposed to the ‘dark truth’; the real horror is to be alone in the knowledge of that truth”( Schmid, 20). The creation of the monster can be a revolt against society,  violence inspired by violent isolation. Emotional rage is clearly a lack of power or) a call to power conjunctively speaking.  
            Conclusive to the aforementioned we find that the Romantics found our emotions to be rather troubling at times. The environment plays a dynamic role in the cultivation of our emotions and how we would then shape the thoughts of others to come. The wisdom of the Romantics is applicable to our very thought process while also representing culture and conflict. It becomes increasingly clear that the poems and stories are imitations of life itself. Something is to be learned, however this may never be achieved in anyone’s lifetime.




Works Cited
1.Black , Joseph. The Broadview Anthology of British Literature: Volume 4: The Age of Romanticism. 4th ed. London: Broadview Press, 2006. Print
2. Derrida, Jacques. Archive Fever: A Freudian Impression. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1998. Print.
3.Ovid, and David Raeburn. Metamorphoses. London: Peguin, 2004. Print.
4.Hogsette, David S. "Metaphysical Intersections In "Frankenstein": Mary Shelley's Theistic Investigation Of Scientific Materialism And Transgressive Autonomy." Christianity & Literature 60.4 (2011): 531-559. Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 May 2013.
5.Schmid, Thomas H. "Addiction And Isolation In Frankenstein: A Case Of Terminal Uniqueness." Gothic Studies 11.2 (2009): 19-29. Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 May 2013.


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