The Norton Anthropology of English Literature - Essay Example

LITERARY ANALYSIS Confessions Jean-Jacques Rousseau relied on the ability of his imagination to shape his experiences of nature (Rousseau 21). Without the power to rely on one’s imagination, he believes that cannot refine and alter his experiences. As such, he proposes that he has to “dispose of nature in its entirety as its lord and master”. This gives him freedom, and boldness to explore his inner thoughts and speak them out without restrain. As he writes, “All this sets my soul free, gives me greater boldness of thought, and throws me, so to speak, into the immensity of things… without fear of constraint”. He also believes that confessions are crucial since the human self is the basis of creating the truth (Greenblatt 23). The similar idea of disposing of nature is similar to works by other poets. William Wordsworth sees the mind as “a mansion for all lovely forms”. He also views poetry as “emotion recollected in tranquility” which leads to the formation of a new emotion in one's mind. Similarly, Keats believes that truth is fundamentally subjective as he says, “Beauty is truth… / Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know”. He stresses that a poet should take the negative capability by ignoring the logical disturbances. This gives the poet a chance of focusing on the mystery that comes from that subjective feeling (Pirandello 110). Faust Faust, a play by John Wolfgang, begins with a dedicatory poem after which the real plot starts with a prologue between the Lord and Mephistopheles (Goethe 12). The Lord believes that the Devil cannot lead Dr. Faust who he considers, as his favorite scholar cannot be led astray by the devil. Therefore, he challenges him to this task. The next scene takes place in Faust’s study where his attempts to gain knowledge about the universe and nature using magic are failing him. He feels distressed about this, and this compels him to commit suicide just as he tells the Devil, “sweet familiar note / drew me from my fearful bog / and deceived the remnants of my childlike faith / with allusions to a gladder day”. However, he feels that he will never see such a glad day, and this causes him to sink into a depression. He is acutely resentful and starts cursing all aspects off faith and life especially patience (Wolfgang 43). Moreover, he feels that he seeks for God and rest but finds neither of them and all these impel him to commit suicide. Faust lays it basis on two supernatural beings – God and Mephistopheles. The two set up the conflict in the entire play depending on their view of the world below. God’s angels show him that his creation is perfect and beautiful by painting scenes showing how powerful and magnificent his creation is. The angels represent cyclic processes of the earth: day and night, calm and power of weather and the sun. This indicates God’s completeness and that of his creation. The Devil, on the other hand, views the world and sees humankind’s misery as he says, He tells The Lord, “I waste no words on suns and planets; I only see how men torment themselves.” The importance of using the divine powers in the play is to show that the supernatural powers are in the end responsible for the damnation or salvation of human souls. Besides, it shows that beyond God's omniscient and omnipotent nature is some humanity since he has to have some faith in humans before accepting the challenge with Mephistopheles (Pirandello 113). Introduction to Songs of Innocence The Introduction to Songs of Innocence by Blake presents him as a piper on one hand and as and old bard who asks the sinful earth to go back to God. Following the Introduction is a complex song, Earth’s Answer. The song is most probably a representation of experiences in the real world. The Introduction advocates for us to remain free While Earth’s Answer suggests the jealousy found in this world of darkness has imprisoned us (Pirandello 117). Blake view’s nature as being a reflection of the creator. For instance, in Tiger he compares the beautiful nature of the tiger to its violence. The question this leaves is, why would God allow so much evil in a beautiful world? He suggests that nature represents the power of God that is beyond what humans can comprehend. This is so since the existence of evil in a beautiful world cannot be accidental. Similarly, the tiger’s beauty and violence is not accidental. Blake also vies nature as a representation of the human life (Wolfgang 49). He portrays this in The Echoing Green where the children play from the rising of the sun to its descent. This natural phenomenon represents the life cycle that begins at birth and ends in death. Night is utterly responsible for darkness and drear of the world. Blake sees that most violent actions done to people happen in the night when there is no light. At this time, fear looms all over, and one cannot find delight. Blake views established religion as being the cause of destruction to the, original and peaceful, co-existence with God that existed naturally. He sees religion as an institution imposing many restrictions and rules thus destroying the natural relationship with God. In The Garden of Love he says, "the gates of the chapel were shut / and 'Thou Shalt Not' writ over the door". Further he continues to see religion and its leaders as being too strict thus denying him of his desires when he says, “Priests in black gowns were walking their rounds / And binding with briars my joys and desires" (Wolfgang 54). Metamorphoses Humans are dependent creatures. They are dependent on finances, social status, and the environment. Any change to these factors will require them to change, as well. Metamorphosis by Frank Kafka captures this idea fully. The transformation of Gregor makes the whole family to change. There exists an antithetical relationship between the family and Gregor. His family totally alienates him. His commitment to providing for his family makes him spend most of his time in his unpleasant job. His family views him as financial machine hence blinding them from seeing him as a person with soul and heart. He remains entrapped in his alienation, isolation, and silence. To do away with this isolation he cuts out a picture of a woman to keep him company in his office (Greenblatt 29). He frames it in gold to symbolize his desires for a loving relationship that he cannot have; he has to work for the family. Gregor’s relationship with his father is quite unsatisfactory. For instance, following his transformation into an insect, his father reacts by slamming the door and shutting him outside. “…when from behind his father gave him a strong push which was literally deliverance and he flew far into the room…the door was slammed behind him with the stick, and then at last there was silence” Later on, we find his father hitting him with an apple which sticks in his back. Moreover, no one in the family is ready to take out the apple and thus it remains stuck in his back. Gregor transforms to an insect and he becomes unable to work. As such, he cannot meet the needs of his family and consequently his family is forced to change. They gain independence from him and this forces them to function without him (Wolfgang 131). His father starts working beginning from his financial position, "...Gregor's father explained the family's financial position and prospects to both his mother and his sister”. The family work to earn money for their basic needs and this time Gregor is the one dependent on them. HeddaGabler In the play HeddaGabler by Henrik Ibsen, Hedda decides to commit suicide for a number of reasons. First, she cannot bear the thought of the judge overpowering her. “No, I can’t bear the thought of it! Never!” Besides, she has learnt of her pregnancy, lost her aesthetic value, and she feels she has nothing more to live for. Overall, her life has becoming boring, and she is quite unhappy about it (Greenblatt 51). Just before she commits suicide, she decides to play frenzied dance on her piano. Hedda plays this dance since she lays strong emphasis on having a “beautiful” death. This act manifests her inner fury and frustration to the outside world. Considering that Lovborg and Aunt Rina had just died, the dance can also be seen as a manifestation of her uncaring side. After finishing the frenzied dance, Hedda shoots herself on the temple. Tesman says, “Oh now she’s playing with those pistols again…. Shot her in the temple”. Hedda’s act of committing suicide can be seen as a heroic and beautiful act. This shows her courage to take a strong action against her own scandalous actions (Wolfgang 117). By committing suicide, she frees herself from Victorian values and maintains her aesthetic ideals. This proves that a noble death is a better option than to live vicariously. Since Brack loses the chance to have sex with the woman he lusts for while George loses his wife, Hedda comes out as victorious. Wordsworth William Wordsworth grew up to romanticize his childhood. This does not particularly reflect his childhood. His was rather an unhappy one. He lost his mother when he was eight years old. His father was a lawyer well known for being notoriously corrupt. The local people had even nicknamed his father “Wicked Jimmy”. He later died in 1783 when William was thirteen. He was left to stay with his mother’s clan. William Wordsworth was rather unhappy living in Penrith. His relationship with his mother’s family was not cordial. To keep himself occupied rather than stay at home, he took long walks. He would walk through the hills of London. The beautiful and rugged terrain of the hills amazed him and he started appreciating nature (Wolfgang 62). Since then, nature became his source of comfort and inspiration throughout his life. In His works, Tintern Abbey and Immortality, he reflects this, “Poetry is the image of man and nature”. Eventually, he as sent to a school in Lake District. Picturesque landscapes surrounded Lake District, and Wordsworth would settle here for the largest part of his life. Many critics of Wordsworth work described his poems as childish and silly. They were distinguished from poems by other poets by their inanity of thought and mean language. However, their influence on the youth was significant. The youth admired them since they advocated for opposition in an intense manner (Wolfgang 79). They also had a religious touch that the youth could identify with. Later on, other poets would imitate this style of opposition. Mary Shelley was one poet who was significantly influenced by the work of Wordsworth in her poems. Six Characters in search of an Author So many ties relate theater and real life that at times it is difficult to separate the two. Theater is similar to real life since an audience of people is watching and is aware of it. The actors actually know that they are acting and someone else is watching. However, theater is different from real life since the participants are not are not are of their participation. This creates the difference between what is real and illusion. These two aspects are well portrayed in Six Characters in Search of an Author (Pirandello 111). In the beginning of the play, the characters enter the stage and approach the actors and director as real human beings. The “real” actors are portrayed as buffoons since they assume that they know everything about theater. Since they think that they are “acting” they make fun of their respective characters and condescend them throughout the play. On the other hand, the characters portrayed are shown as sufferers and scapegoats ho keep bombarding in the entire play. This confusion for both the actors and audience challenges the audiences’ perception of illusion and reality. The play is preposterous and realistic at the same time. In Act III we find the Father asking the Director, “Can you tell me who you are?” this question seems ambiguous and he answers by saying, “What? Who I am? I’m me!” This achieves to distinguish the common belief or illusion that one has a distinct character that does not change. In reality, the character of a person changes continuously. At the end of the play the Director exclaims, “Make believe! Reality! Oh, go to hell the lot of you!” Pirandello creates this intentionally since in the entire play no one is able to distinguish between reality and illusion (Pirandello 119). The reality in this play is that reality is relative, if it exists at all. In essence, reality is our own making. We are always in constant search of our reality. To achieve this we create illusions that will bring us closer to the reality. Works cited Greenblatt, Stephen. The Norton Anthropology of English Literature. NewYork: W.W. Norton & Company, 2006. Print. Pirandello, Luigi. Six Characters in Search of ana Author. London: Nick Hern Books, 2003. Print. Wolfgang, Goethe Von. A dramatic poem. Harvard: Blackwoods & Sons, 1870. Print. Goethe, Johann Wolfgang. Faust. New York: haze Publishers, 1997. Print. Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. The Confessions. New York: Penguin Classics, 1953. Print. Read More