She Walks in Beauty by Lord Byron - Research Paper Example

She Walks in Beauty s Month, Year Generally, Romanticism is considered as an important epoch within the scenario of English literature. To be specific, Romanticism led the readers to the realm of poets’ individual feelings, instinct, and imagination. Most of the poets who patronized Romanticism made use of their personal feelings and imaginative capacity to unleash their poetic craftsmanship. So, one can see that Romanticism utilized the personal feelings and imagination of the poets, and enriched English literature to an extent. Within this scenario, Lord Byron’s involvement helped Romanticism to shed light into the dark corners of personal feelings and imaginative capacity. To be specific, Byron’s literary works (especially poems) can be considered as his tribute to art/literature. Thesis statement: The literary work named as She walks in beauty by Lord Byron proves that proper blending of imagination and reality can arouse pleasure in the reader and the same is the basic aspect of Romanticism that enriched art/literature. Analysis: This section is broadly divided into: poet’s life, brief summary, background, relationship with romanticism, plot, theme, imagery, and third person perspective. Poet and Romanticism The basic feature of Romanticism in poetry is the view on ordinary things/events from a different angle and the attempt to unveil the real sense. This basic feature can be applied to all the works of the poets who represent Romanticism in literature. In English literature, Romanticism emerged as an innovative mode of protest against neoclassicism. For instance, Romanticism provided importance to emotions, but Neoclassicism provided importance to reasoning. This basic difference can be seen in the poetic works by Byron. In addition, the poet emerged as the supporter of Romanticism during its developed stage. This change among the Romantic poets cannot be regarded as a sudden leap but as a continuous procedure within development. Besides, Byron and others provided ample importance to the expression of individual liberty. Byron made use of his literary creativity to prove that individual liberty is most important for a poet. Stauffer (2009) opines that, “For Byron, the resulting angry poetry- a combination of satire, dramatic curse, and confessional lyric-opposes Romantic sincerity with its theatricality, Romantic sympathy with its alienating effects, and Romantic transcendence with its commitment to mundane cycles of retribution” (p.133). As well, most of the poets during Byron’s age made use of different themes to convey their messages and to share their ideas. So, the poet’s interest in Romanticism is interconnected with his positive attitude towards individual liberty. On the other side, his fellow poets did not limit their themes within the scenario of individual liberty. Instead, they made use of politics, revolution, truth, etc., as their main themes. Poet’s life The poet’s birth was in the year 1788, in London. But there exists a dispute on the poet’s birth place because some people consider that Dover is his exact birth place. He started his education at Aberdeen School. During school days, the poet was a restless and violent student because he considered that the same can help him forget his physical inability, i.e. deformed foot. On the other side, his mother used to intrude into his educational matters. This resulted in an imbalanced form of education because his mother tired to teach him. But his education at Harrow and Cambridge helped him to be cordial with others and to gain confidence. After education, the poet decided to conduct a tour to other nations in Europe. This helped him to get involved in the internal politics of European nations. Later, he left his motherland and led his life in Italy and Greece. While fighting for the people in Greece, the poet became ill and was succumbed to death in the year 1824. As an individual who is interested in national politics, the poet was in favor of social reforms. Gross (2001) states that, “As a politician who was also a poet, Byron could maintain Whig positions without integrating himself to the Whigs, as he had with Lord Holland” (p.25). Besides, he was totally against the influence of religion in personal life and limited the influence of established religion in his life. On the other side, the poet balanced his career between politics and literature. So, one can see that the poet provided utmost importance to liberty, politics, and literature in his life. Brief summary The exact year of publication of the work named as She Walks in Beauty is 1815. In the poem, the poet describes the beauty/appearance of a woman. The poet fills the minds of the readers with curiosity because the opening line provides ample importance to the woman’s appearance. The woman in the poem is portrayed as the embodiment of beauty. In the following lines, the poet describes the natural beauty that acts as the background of the woman’s physical beauty. Besides, the poet makes use of contrasting images to provide ample importance to the physical appearance of the woman in the poem. Pereira (2011) quotes from Byron’s work as, “And all that’s best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect and her eyes:” (p.112). The poet makes use of the following lines to describe the woman by focusing on her hair, eyes etc. The poet points out that the perfect blend of different elements is the reason behind her beauty. The concluding section deals with the woman’s inner feelings. Edgcumbe (2012) opines that, “Lord Byron had examined every form of philosophy by the light of common sense, and by the instinct of his genius” (p.15). To be specific, the poet shares the view that the woman’s beauty is enhanced by her purity or innocence. Her purity is related to her attitude as a good person with morality. The poet tries to link the element of beauty in the women with nature. One can see that the balanced usage of imagination and real objects tend the readers to think that the woman is the personification of eternal beauty. Background Some are of the opinion that the woman in the poem is the poet’s cousin. To be specific, the poet happened to meet his cousin at a social function (say, at a ball). Glancy (2002) opines that, “Lord Byron, a notorious womanizer, wrote “She Walks in Beauty” (1814) in appreciation of his cousin by marriage, Mrs. Robert John Wilmot, a widow who appeared at a ball in a black gown decorated with spangles” (p. 39). The poet was mesmerized by the woman’s beauty and he decided to compose a poem on her appearance. The woman was in black dress, symbolic of mourning. The black dress provided a special appearance to the woman and this deeply influenced the poet. So, he decided to link her mesmerizing appearance with eternal beauty. There is another opinion that the feminine figure in the poem is not the poet’s cousin, but another lady named as Augusta (say, the poet’s half-sister). Still, most of the people believe that the woman portrayed in the literary work is the poet’s cousin, not his sister. Besides, the description of the appearance of the woman in the work is similar to the appearance of the poet’s cousin, named as Mrs. John Wilmot. So, one can see that the work’s background is linked with a real incident in the poet’s life. At the same time, the poet connected the incident with his imaginative capacity and the end result was a poem with lyrical quality. Relationship with Romanticism The poem is linked with the very essence of Romanticism, i.e. the amalgamation of imagination and realism. One can see that the poet made use of a real incident to unleash his literary creativity. Besides, the poet amalgamated the real incident with his imagination. For instance, the woman in the literary work is real, but the background and other things are symbolic of the poet’s imagination. The poet knows that mere reproduction of an incident cannot represent the essence of Romanticism. So, he decided to utilize his imagination to extend the scope of the incident. One can see that the poem is symbolic of the emotional aspect of Romanticism. The poet never tries to depend upon his reasoning ability to describe the woman. Instead, he utilizes his imagination to portray the woman’s charm. Besides, the poet goes deeper into the woman’s mind and tries to unearth her emotions. This is important because one among the elements of Romanticism is emotional appeal. Still, the poet does not try to neglect the spiritual and intellectual aspects of the focal point, i.e., the woman. So, one can see that the poem is symbolic of the very essence of Romanticism. Plot The poem’s plot is interconnected with a normal event of socialization in daily life, i.e. a ball. The speaker meets a woman at a ball and realizes that this woman is special and different from others. Then the speaker begins to analyze the elements of beauty in the women. Besides, the speaker realizes that the woman is the embodiment of perfection. Later, the speaker imagines that the woman’s intellectual beauty blends with her physical attractiveness. Within this scenario, the speaker moves on to the philosophical and intellectual characteristics of life. This difference in perception is helpful for the reader to have a clearer picture of the woman. The speaker knows that the woman’s attractiveness is influencing the viewers and the woman is aware of this fact. But the woman does not try to exert any sort of influence upon the viewers. To be specific, she knows that she is beautiful and attractive. This realization helps her to be the focal point at the social gathering. Within this scenario, the poet makes use of his imagination to deal with the intellectual features of the woman. So, skilful amalgamation of imagination and reality is the main feature of the literary work’s plot. Theme The poem’s theme is related to the beauty (say, inner and physical/visual) of a woman. The poet (narrator/speaker) does not provide information on the woman but tries to portray her in words. In the poem, the first part deals with the woman’s physical charisma. One can see that the poet is mesmerized by her physical beauty and begins to describe the same from different angles of view. Then, the poet suddenly changes his description to another level, i.e. the description of the woman’s intellectual beauty. The speaker’s words prove that he is attracted by physical beauty, but intellectual beauty adds perfection or proper balance to the woman’s appearance. From a different angle of view, the poet knows that physical attractiveness is a temporary status, which can be changed. On the other side, intellectual attractiveness is related to the poet’s imagination. When intellectual beauty based on imagination is added to physical attractiveness, the work (poem) gains proper balance. This proper blending of reality with imagination is the most important element of the poem. Still, the poet knows that mere physical beauty cannot prove the worth of a person. Instead, intellectual beauty must be there with physical beauty. In the poem, the speaker does not try to converse with the woman, but tries to imagine about her intellectual capacity. Besides, the poet makes use of the woman’s body language to assess her intellectual beauty. For instance, the woman is aware of her beauty that attracts others. Still, she does not try to attract others because she is totally aware of her value as a human being, not as a beautiful woman. Imagery Similar to other poets related to Romanticism, Byron makes use of imagery to share his views with the readers. For instance, the usage of light/brightness and darkness is made use in the poem to portray the contrasting characteristics in the woman. To be specific, light/brightness is related to the woman’s physical attractiveness that enchants the speaker. On the other side, darkness is symbolic of night time and the background of the woman’s physical charisma. Llanas (2014) states that, “In its three stanzas, Byron juxtaposes night and day, heaven and earth, and body and mind” (p.39). The poet knows that mere brightness (beauty) cannot help the readers to visualize the essence of the woman’s beauty. So, the poet inculcates the imagery of darkness as the background of the poem. At the same time, the poet happens to see the woman during night time. So, there is enough space to provide importance to the images related to night time. Besides, the amalgamation of dissimilar images like light and shade/darkness are made use in the poem to portray the inner magnificence of the woman. This is helpful for the reader to go into another level of the poem, i.e. imaginative level. The proper blending of dissimilar images is helpful to perceive the poem as a whole. Besides, the imagery made use in the poem tends the readers to think that the woman in the poem is angelic, not ordinary. So, one can see that the author made use of imagery to intensify the value of the focal point (say, woman) from common to extraordinary. Third person angle In the poem, the poet made of third person angle as the narrative technique. To be specific, this narrative technique is helpful to prove that the narrator is detached from the actual event. Carano (2008) states that, “Some believe that the madness brewing in his mind propelled Lord Byron’s poetic vision, while others believe the opposite to be true, his visionary talent caused his madness” (p.31). Besides, the narrator never tries to prove that he/she is well-known to the woman. If, he/she is familiar to the woman, the reader can suspect that the narrator is trying to provide unneeded importance to an ordinary woman. But the speaker acts like an onlooker who is mesmerized by the woman’s appearance. To be specific, this narrative technique helps the reader to realize that the narrator is an ordinary person who is the admirer of the physical and intellectual beauty of the woman. The readers are not forced to enjoy the work from the perspective of the poet/speaker. Instead, the readers are free to enjoy the work from their own perspectives. So, the third person angle made use in the work helps the reader to perceive the work as a whole. Summing, Byron’s work proves that a literary work must be able to exert positive influence on the inner mind of the readers. Still, mere description of facts based upon reasoning cannot help the individual reader to perceive the essence of a literary work. Instead, proper blending of reality and imagination can help the reader to perceive the work from a different angle of view. In the poem, the speaker acts as a detached individual who is not familiar to the woman. This basic difference helps the readers to realize that the speaker is an onlooker. To be specific, the poet makes use of an incident in his life to share his views on physical attractiveness and intellectual beauty. Besides, the poet considers that positive approach to physical (reality but temporary) and intellectual (imagination but permanent) attractiveness is important in human life. In short, Byron’s work is one among the best examples for the influence of Romanticism within the scenario of art, especially literature. References Carano, C.L. (2008). Mad Lords and Irishmen: Representations of Lord Byron and Oscar Wilde Since 1967. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest. Edgcumbe, R. (2012). Lord Byron: The Last Phase. Hamburg, Germany: SEVERUS Verlag. Glancy, R.F. (2002). Thematic Guide to British Poetry. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group. Gross, J.D. (2001). Byron: The Erotic Liberal. Maryland, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. Llanas, S.G. (2014). Beauty Poetry: “She Walks in Beauty”. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers. Pereira, D. (2011). The Art of HDR Photography. (n.p.): David Pereira. Stauffer, A.M. (2009). Anger, Revolution, and Romanticism. New York, NJ: Cambridge University Press. Read More