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!
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.
