1.
How is the
Romantic notion of the Sublime reflected in the texts under consideration in
this Romanticism reader? Discuss one or two examples from Blake's Songs of
Innocence and Songs of Experience.
The Romantics notion of the sublime within the texts provided is not quite one would expect from the word sublime, meaning of great excellency or beauty. The sublime elicits significant emotions, it has the ability to draw you in or pique interest. The romantics used it to contemplate beauty and horror. Lamenting on the connection humans desire with nature and how unattainable it is to truly connect before they have perished.
In Blakes songs of experience a particular verse from Earths Answer stands out to me as a piece of the sublime being reflected on:
“Prison’d on watery shore,
Starry jealousy does keep my den,
Cold and hoar,
Weeping o’er
I hear the Father of ancient men”
here the Earth responds to the bards call and laments on how she is a prisoner of the jealous creator and reason. The twinkling of the stars taunt the Earth, watching over her. The sky is normally observed as a thing of beauty yet here it is tortuous. The ocean surrounds her and imprisons her. The imagery of the Earth weeping by God is quite powerful as it is at the mercy of this creator. The Earth is not in control of itself.
This poem is a response to Introduction from songs of experience, where a bard demands the ‘return’ of Earth and daylight. The bard tries to back their call with the holy word and the first people who walked the planet in the garden of Eden
“Calling the lapsed soul,
And weeping in the evening dew,
that might control,
The starry pole:
And fallen light renew!”
The bard demands from the earth here that it answers his call. Suggesting that she controls the stars, but as seen above they are a part of her prison. Neither the earth nor man can appease the other here as they are both supposedly bound to a higher power. Through these we see man asking for a deed with the intention of it bringing beauty and we see Earth lament on her horror of being trapped.
The Romantics notion of the sublime within the texts provided is not quite one would expect from the word sublime, meaning of great excellency or beauty. The sublime elicits significant emotions, it has the ability to draw you in or pique interest. The romantics used it to contemplate beauty and horror. Lamenting on the connection humans desire with nature and how unattainable it is to truly connect before they have perished.
In Blakes songs of experience a particular verse from Earths Answer stands out to me as a piece of the sublime being reflected on:
“Prison’d on watery shore,
Starry jealousy does keep my den,
Cold and hoar,
Weeping o’er
I hear the Father of ancient men”
here the Earth responds to the bards call and laments on how she is a prisoner of the jealous creator and reason. The twinkling of the stars taunt the Earth, watching over her. The sky is normally observed as a thing of beauty yet here it is tortuous. The ocean surrounds her and imprisons her. The imagery of the Earth weeping by God is quite powerful as it is at the mercy of this creator. The Earth is not in control of itself.
This poem is a response to Introduction from songs of experience, where a bard demands the ‘return’ of Earth and daylight. The bard tries to back their call with the holy word and the first people who walked the planet in the garden of Eden
“Calling the lapsed soul,
And weeping in the evening dew,
that might control,
The starry pole:
And fallen light renew!”
The bard demands from the earth here that it answers his call. Suggesting that she controls the stars, but as seen above they are a part of her prison. Neither the earth nor man can appease the other here as they are both supposedly bound to a higher power. Through these we see man asking for a deed with the intention of it bringing beauty and we see Earth lament on her horror of being trapped.
3. See what you can
find out anything about what really happened at the Villa Diodati that fateful
summer in 1816…
According to Prospect Magazine (2016), a group of young people and Lord Byron convened in Switzerland in summer. The young people were Percy Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, their four month old son William, John Polidori and Mary’s step sister Clare Clairmont were in attendance. Supposedly Claire helped arrange this as she had been with Byron recently. Shelley hadn’t yet met Byron but wanted to and so he supported the plan.
Byron was unbeknownst to him being spied on by his companion, Polidori was hired by Byron’s publisher to take notes of Byron’s adventures to create a racy bestseller. Whilst Byron thought he himself had hired Polidori as a personal physician.
They originally arrived at Hotel D’Angleterre but were asked to leave as they had the air of potential scandal.
Byron found Villa Diodati for them to reconvene at, which had a nearby small chalet. The Shelley group originally headed for the chalet and Byrons group towards the Villa.
They had expected warmer weather, which eluded them. Due to the weather Shelley’s group moved into the Villa. Mary reflected back on their time there fifteen years later “it proved a wet, ungenial summer, and incessant rain often confined us for days to the house. Some volumes of ghost stories translated from the German into French, fell into our hands” (Shelley, 1831) . With the inspiration from the rainy gloom and the stories they devoured with their days, a challenge was proposed; to write a scary story.
According to Prospect Magazine (2016), a group of young people and Lord Byron convened in Switzerland in summer. The young people were Percy Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, their four month old son William, John Polidori and Mary’s step sister Clare Clairmont were in attendance. Supposedly Claire helped arrange this as she had been with Byron recently. Shelley hadn’t yet met Byron but wanted to and so he supported the plan.
Byron was unbeknownst to him being spied on by his companion, Polidori was hired by Byron’s publisher to take notes of Byron’s adventures to create a racy bestseller. Whilst Byron thought he himself had hired Polidori as a personal physician.
They originally arrived at Hotel D’Angleterre but were asked to leave as they had the air of potential scandal.
Byron found Villa Diodati for them to reconvene at, which had a nearby small chalet. The Shelley group originally headed for the chalet and Byrons group towards the Villa.
They had expected warmer weather, which eluded them. Due to the weather Shelley’s group moved into the Villa. Mary reflected back on their time there fifteen years later “it proved a wet, ungenial summer, and incessant rain often confined us for days to the house. Some volumes of ghost stories translated from the German into French, fell into our hands” (Shelley, 1831) . With the inspiration from the rainy gloom and the stories they devoured with their days, a challenge was proposed; to write a scary story.
The
two established writers struggled compared to what the two novices
produced. Byron wrote an unpopular piece on vampires whilst Shelley tried to
write about his childhood. Whereas Wollstonecraft and Polidori both produced
the bones of famous works. Although at the time as Poidori had to keep his
agenda secret, he showed a different story to what he was actually working on “Poor
Polidori had some terrible idea about a skull-headed lady” (Shelley,1831).
At first Mary couldn’t think of anything that was scary enough to
create a tale from. Instead, she listened to Byron and Shelley talk about
galvanism and what it could do, vampires, monsters and ghosts. After a night of
insomnia she put pen to paper, reading her opening sentences to the group soon
after. Which eventually became the novel Frankenstein.
Polidori skulked off after arguing with the poets and began
working on a short novel ‘The Vampyre’ which was spun of Byrons’ idea. With the
public not failing to notice a resemblance between the villain of the tale Lord
Ruthven and Byron. It set the groundworks for Vampires to be seen as suave
aristocrats rather than gutter dwelling leaches.
4. How many fictional
accounts (film and other narrative media) can you find about that? Provide some
useful links, including Youtube clips (hint: for a start try Ken Russel Gothic
on Youtube).
Bloody Poetry (1984) A play about Percy Shelley and his inner circle, by Howard Brenton. Brenton was interested in the group as a whole rather than the successes of certain members and so aimed to portray them as each having vital parts in each other’s lives- especially during that summer. So Clairmont has importance in this telling outside of her being a mistress, which is not often seen in accounts. Although he did not care for moralising their actions and added in Utopian themes. The clip is from a 2009 performance of it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-DVNWiVprA .
Bloody Poetry (1984) A play about Percy Shelley and his inner circle, by Howard Brenton. Brenton was interested in the group as a whole rather than the successes of certain members and so aimed to portray them as each having vital parts in each other’s lives- especially during that summer. So Clairmont has importance in this telling outside of her being a mistress, which is not often seen in accounts. Although he did not care for moralising their actions and added in Utopian themes. The clip is from a 2009 performance of it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-DVNWiVprA .
Bride of Frankenstein (1935) Slight portrayal of the
groups time at the Villa, where Shelley (née Godwin) sets the premise up by
telling her novel idea to Byron and Shelley, before the film redirects to where
the novel ended then continues the story. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0026138/
Gothic (1986) A strange contrast between idyllic running through meadows and presumably psychosis induced terrors chasing about the house. Overly dramatic and no effects spared to illustrate what was in Shelley’s’ (née Godwin) imagination when she started writing Frankenstein. Byron portrayed as cheeky and beastly. Arthouse/horror/experimental/thriller/sci-fi/slasher all in one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C_xrvI0xQ4
Gothic (1986) A strange contrast between idyllic running through meadows and presumably psychosis induced terrors chasing about the house. Overly dramatic and no effects spared to illustrate what was in Shelley’s’ (née Godwin) imagination when she started writing Frankenstein. Byron portrayed as cheeky and beastly. Arthouse/horror/experimental/thriller/sci-fi/slasher all in one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C_xrvI0xQ4
Haunted Summer (1988) Is a drama film based on that
summer. The film focusses on Shelley, Byron and Shelley (née Godwin), although
it does include Clairmont and Polidori as secondary characters. No focus on
Polidori writing his own masterpiece and the film centres more on their deviant
behaviours. Four American actors and one South African trying to portray 19th
C accents is quite good though and it somehow scored 82% on Rotten Tomatoes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG-rJuyfvxM
Mary Shelley (2017) A film based around writing Frankenstein and troubles that arose from it. Fairly feminist piece in that Shelley fights and questions why her gender means she’s less capable of writing or thinking and Clairmont gets decent screen time compared to other retellings. Not completely accurate for instance Byron being portrayed as a young man but certainly highlights inequities in society at the time and the difficulties of the groups relationships. Although skips the travel parts significantly as they stay in the British Isles, heavily relying on drama alone to set the tone. Oh, and Byron wears a lot of eyeliner. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FnEzCtKa_4 .
Mary’s Story (2009) Is a 2009 Doctor Who audio story
from Big Finish Productions, they have numerous licensed Doctor Who audio
dramas, audio books and prose stories. In this telling Mary is a ‘companion’ of
the eighth doctor and we hear about the group briefly, with the reasoning for
the dull summer being due to a volcano explosion. Through this tale and also
following stories where Mary is a ‘companion’ (The Silver Turk,The Witch from
the Well, Army of Death and Big Bang Generation) we see the doctor and Percy
Shelley are really responsible for her ideas when writing Frankenstein. The
Doctor emerges calling himself Doctor Frankenstein, then dies. Percey decides
to try galvanisation and brings him to life, but of course the Doctor comes
back monstrous. There’s also ironically implicature that ‘The Last Man’ was
influenced by the Doctor within these stories. https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Mary%27s_Story_(audio_story)
Rowing With the Wind (1988) Hugh Grant as Byron was
underrated by Rotten tomatoes at only 50%, he has the right pompous, sly,
nervous yet over-confident mixture to properly portray him. The weather is
constantly spoken about in this film, which is a key part of how the
competition arose and fog machines were heavily employed to set the scene. Introduction
to the film shows an icy seascape like where the Doctor chases the monster and
where the monster isolates himself. Also a covered man breathing on a hovering
table like the monster.
This depiction is quite good as it shows both comradery,
romance and tension between the group before breaking off and following the
horrors Mary faced after that Summer and how they mirror the book. For
instance, the death of her son William and the monsters first victim; a child
called William. Quite dramatic, but they fit a lot into this telling. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgQwca6QNg0
7. How does Frankenstein a) reference the Bible, b) foreshadow the Death of God and c) juggle genres as well as narrative points of view in its storytelling?
A. Frankenstein references the bible in multiple ways, although heavily in aspects of creation as that is what the story is about. We see in the bible the idea that man was created to appear similar to its maker “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Genesis, 1.10) . Victor Frankenstein is described here as a man who “possessed an attractive softness” (Shelley,1818) , so we can gather he was good looking. When Victor describes making his creature in human form with the ideal that it too will be attractive, so like his own image; as God does in Genesis. “His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. His hair was a lustrous black, and flowing. His teeth of pearly whiteness” (Shelley) We see here Victor describing both the creature in his likeness as in Genesis and also mentioning his creative hand. Later in the novel Victor briefly creates a companion for the monster and so also aligns with this line from the bible “Male and female created he them” (Genesis, 1.26).
The creatures awakening also mirrors the bibles creation story of earth to a point “And darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light” (Genesis, 1.1) “By degrees, I remember, a stronger light pressed upon my nerves, so that I was obliged to shut my eyes. Darkness then came over me and troubled me, but hardly had I felt this when, by opening my eyes as I now suppose, the light poured unto me again” (Shelley), we see that the monster sees and feels the pressure of light, then closes his eyes and feels the pain of darkness. Light in the bible is a thing to rejoice, images of God or heaven are often drawn with light beams off them. Yet in this next sentence we see that light bears a burden for the creature “The light became more and more oppressive to me, and the heat wearying me as I walked, I sought a place where I could receive shade” (Shelley) because of his appearance being seen in light brings the danger of being killed by humans as he looks monstrous. His skin is drawn tight over his limbs and muscles and due to the fact that it came from corpses and has been electrocuted, probably made it quite frail towards sunlight. Where light brings life and comfort to most, it brings discomfort to this man-made being. Which both takes cue from the biblical passages on life and diverts to the fact that this creature is not of Gods ilk.
Victor, like God, rejects his creation. Adam and Eve for eating a forbidden fruit or going against god’s word and the creature for not being in his creators likeness enough.
B. Frankenstein foreshadows the death of God in a number of ways, during the time when the novel was written people were beginning to heavily question religion already. It does it in a literal sense when Victor creates his creature, a job which God was only supposed to be able to do. The creature says to him “I ought to be thy Adam” in direct reference to this marvel. It renders the job of the bibles ‘creator’ useless and seemingly the weather still remained, the earth still spun and life went on. When Victor sets out to destroy his creation, he ends up sick whilst tracking him and although he manages to share his tale, he ultimately dies from pneumonia. Victor who took on a godlike role, which he acknowledges “When I found so astonishing a power place within my hands, I hesitated a long time concerning the manner in which I should employ it” (Shelley) and understands that it was a great thin g to do, yet when he dies once again the world continues on. Although presumably his creature kept his word and took his own life.
The novel uses foreshadowing often, but two key ones come to mind in relation to Victor and the life/death of “God”. Victor begins his journey of creation after seeing a tremendous bolt of lightning hit a tree, he goes off to study and becomes interested in science and continues his passion of alchemy. He is shaken by the event, that a bolt could impact such a strong structure. That weather is in the story because it foreshadows Victors studies and applications of electricity in his creation. Then after Victor agrees to make his creature a companion he looks to the ocean “Gazing on the sea; it was almost motionless, for the winds were hushed, and all nature reposed under the eye of the quiet moon” which foreshadows the creators demise. The weather was wild when the creature was made as was Victor wild and frantic, but now it is motionless and hushed because it won’t happen as is Victors fate to be reposed. The quiet moon and its gaze is like the monster gazing over Victor once he has passed, and as he declares he will end his life too that would explain why the moon is described as being quiet.
C. In Frankenstein through letters to people, the monsters perspective, Victors perspective and the Captains the story manages to juggle narrative points of view efficiently as it has many. We see the monster dwell in his loneliness and lash out at his creator and we see the creator mull over the proposition and suffer in the lashings. The Captain introduces the tale in his letters to Mrs Saville and links the story so that Victors time on the ship does not seem random. The story juggles genres with ease because you have one of the main characters evolving fast, which also involves his moral compass. There is the romantic aspect of course in the creatures desire to love and be loved, we see him admiring other people’s relationships and envying them. Victor too feels love for someone and loses them, which what is a romantic novel without some great obstacle? Horror of course because the monster kills and has this great strength, he demands and threatens. He kills innocent little William and frames Justine yet feels joy because he knows his horrific acts will harm Victor. But also we see horror in how Victor treats his creation and his lack of humanity through that. Science-Fiction in that the novel delves into a futuristic technological advance.
7. How does Frankenstein a) reference the Bible, b) foreshadow the Death of God and c) juggle genres as well as narrative points of view in its storytelling?
A. Frankenstein references the bible in multiple ways, although heavily in aspects of creation as that is what the story is about. We see in the bible the idea that man was created to appear similar to its maker “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Genesis, 1.10) . Victor Frankenstein is described here as a man who “possessed an attractive softness” (Shelley,1818) , so we can gather he was good looking. When Victor describes making his creature in human form with the ideal that it too will be attractive, so like his own image; as God does in Genesis. “His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. His hair was a lustrous black, and flowing. His teeth of pearly whiteness” (Shelley) We see here Victor describing both the creature in his likeness as in Genesis and also mentioning his creative hand. Later in the novel Victor briefly creates a companion for the monster and so also aligns with this line from the bible “Male and female created he them” (Genesis, 1.26).
The creatures awakening also mirrors the bibles creation story of earth to a point “And darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light” (Genesis, 1.1) “By degrees, I remember, a stronger light pressed upon my nerves, so that I was obliged to shut my eyes. Darkness then came over me and troubled me, but hardly had I felt this when, by opening my eyes as I now suppose, the light poured unto me again” (Shelley), we see that the monster sees and feels the pressure of light, then closes his eyes and feels the pain of darkness. Light in the bible is a thing to rejoice, images of God or heaven are often drawn with light beams off them. Yet in this next sentence we see that light bears a burden for the creature “The light became more and more oppressive to me, and the heat wearying me as I walked, I sought a place where I could receive shade” (Shelley) because of his appearance being seen in light brings the danger of being killed by humans as he looks monstrous. His skin is drawn tight over his limbs and muscles and due to the fact that it came from corpses and has been electrocuted, probably made it quite frail towards sunlight. Where light brings life and comfort to most, it brings discomfort to this man-made being. Which both takes cue from the biblical passages on life and diverts to the fact that this creature is not of Gods ilk.
Victor, like God, rejects his creation. Adam and Eve for eating a forbidden fruit or going against god’s word and the creature for not being in his creators likeness enough.
B. Frankenstein foreshadows the death of God in a number of ways, during the time when the novel was written people were beginning to heavily question religion already. It does it in a literal sense when Victor creates his creature, a job which God was only supposed to be able to do. The creature says to him “I ought to be thy Adam” in direct reference to this marvel. It renders the job of the bibles ‘creator’ useless and seemingly the weather still remained, the earth still spun and life went on. When Victor sets out to destroy his creation, he ends up sick whilst tracking him and although he manages to share his tale, he ultimately dies from pneumonia. Victor who took on a godlike role, which he acknowledges “When I found so astonishing a power place within my hands, I hesitated a long time concerning the manner in which I should employ it” (Shelley) and understands that it was a great thin g to do, yet when he dies once again the world continues on. Although presumably his creature kept his word and took his own life.
The novel uses foreshadowing often, but two key ones come to mind in relation to Victor and the life/death of “God”. Victor begins his journey of creation after seeing a tremendous bolt of lightning hit a tree, he goes off to study and becomes interested in science and continues his passion of alchemy. He is shaken by the event, that a bolt could impact such a strong structure. That weather is in the story because it foreshadows Victors studies and applications of electricity in his creation. Then after Victor agrees to make his creature a companion he looks to the ocean “Gazing on the sea; it was almost motionless, for the winds were hushed, and all nature reposed under the eye of the quiet moon” which foreshadows the creators demise. The weather was wild when the creature was made as was Victor wild and frantic, but now it is motionless and hushed because it won’t happen as is Victors fate to be reposed. The quiet moon and its gaze is like the monster gazing over Victor once he has passed, and as he declares he will end his life too that would explain why the moon is described as being quiet.
C. In Frankenstein through letters to people, the monsters perspective, Victors perspective and the Captains the story manages to juggle narrative points of view efficiently as it has many. We see the monster dwell in his loneliness and lash out at his creator and we see the creator mull over the proposition and suffer in the lashings. The Captain introduces the tale in his letters to Mrs Saville and links the story so that Victors time on the ship does not seem random. The story juggles genres with ease because you have one of the main characters evolving fast, which also involves his moral compass. There is the romantic aspect of course in the creatures desire to love and be loved, we see him admiring other people’s relationships and envying them. Victor too feels love for someone and loses them, which what is a romantic novel without some great obstacle? Horror of course because the monster kills and has this great strength, he demands and threatens. He kills innocent little William and frames Justine yet feels joy because he knows his horrific acts will harm Victor. But also we see horror in how Victor treats his creation and his lack of humanity through that. Science-Fiction in that the novel delves into a futuristic technological advance.
References:
Al-Mansour, H (2017) Mary Shelley, HanWay Films.
Brenton, H. (1984) Bloody Poetry, Haymarket Theatre Leicester.
Jackson, K. (2016) The Haunted Summer of 1816, Prospect Magazine.
Al-Mansour, H (2017) Mary Shelley, HanWay Films.
Brenton, H. (1984) Bloody Poetry, Haymarket Theatre Leicester.
Jackson, K. (2016) The Haunted Summer of 1816, Prospect Magazine.
Morris, J. (2009) Mary’s Story, The Company of Friends. Big Finish Productions.
Passer, I (1988) Haunted Summer, Cannon Films.
Russell, K. (1986) Gothic, Virgin Films.
Shelley, M (1818) Frankenstein, A Modern Prometheus. Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor & Jones
Suarez, G. (1988) Rowing With the Wind, Miramax.
Shelley, M (1818) Frankenstein, A Modern Prometheus. Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor & Jones
Suarez, G. (1988) Rowing With the Wind, Miramax.
Whale, J. (1935) Bride of Frankenstein, Universal Pictures.
Hi there, for question 3. I don't really understand how the authors mentioned. it proved a wet, ungenial summer, and incessant rain often confined us for days to the house. Some volumes of ghost stories translated from the German into French, fell into our hands” (Shelley, 1831) . With the inspiration from the rainy gloom and the stories they devoured with their days, a challenge was proposed; to write a scary story." Didi they get inspired from this? Or did they really saw something?
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