The Sublime - Gothic Novel - Mary Shelley letteratura inglese

Didascalia alternativa:

defining it a Gothic Novel. Also, the Romantic Age was influenced by the ideals of Middle Age, so authors usually refers to the interest of that period. The main feature of this kind of novel are: Setting in time: mostly at night to highlight the obscure atmosphere. Setting in place: ancient, mysterious and isolated castles or churches, the wood... Terror and horror as the main themes. Complex plots, usually characterised by many different narrations. Heroines and heroes. Irrational and powerful forces, related to the idea of the oscurity of life (cruel side of the human being). The Gothic revival was influenced by the romantic spirit because people were intrested in what the human being isn't able to explain with the reason. In fact, this era was characterised by the idea of rejecting reason as the only way to understand reality, focusing on the sensibility and feeling instead. Mary Shelley She was heavily influenced by her education, indeed her father was a philosopher and her mother was a feminist and her family was used to host important philosophers and authors. She was also interested in science, indeed she was attracted by Darwin's theories of species. Her novel Frankenstein is considered as a masterpiece of Gothic novels, she took inspiration to write by a nightmare. Her novel deals with some themes that inspired her when she attended her parents's house such as: social justice and the ideal of Russeau, who believed that the human being is born free and natural and has to be educated to live in a society. This last ideals is evident in the part of the story where the monster tries to take part in the society but people rejected him due to his appearance and habits. Although, in this novel is also evident the scientific ideals that inspired Mary Shelley, as the creation of the monster by Dr. Frankenstein in his lab. This action represent the idea that the human being has to always try to overcame their limits: the doctor tried to create a new creature as if he was God, however man's powers have limits, indeed his experiment was a failure. The narration consists in many different points of view and lots of feelings and is basically made up of letters. The themes: The idea of overcome limits. Style: ● ● ● Social prejudices. Belief in the importance of science. Original form of life. Revenge. Discrimination. Childhood as the unconcious side of the individual, closer to god than everyone else because isn't corrupted. ● Importance of fantasy and creativity. Role of the poet as the only person who can "see into the life of things" so that can't remain on the surface but has to explore the reality and the imagination to guide other people. Rejection of the industrialisation which is considered negative because had alienated people, but the belief in the progress. ● Impulsive way of writing, as if she wants to write down all her feelings in an impulsive way, without depending on reason. Passionate way of writing, full of feelings and description: in the "Creation of the Monster" Dr. Frankenstein decribes what he percieve while he is working. Romantic Ideals Rejection of the reason as the only way to understand reality, indeed it is proved to be negative because it has limitations, while imagination and the sensibility are subjective and are what matter the most. Role of the self, we have to believe in what we have inside. Humble way of living, rejecting the industrialisation and live according to the rythm of nature. William Wordsworth Poets First generation of romantic poets. His vision of nature: ● Nature has to be experienced through the senses, this is the only way to create sensations and emotions. He has an iddiliac vision of nature, which is only related to positive emotions for him. ● He achieved a "pantheistic" view of nature, which made him believe that nature can make people understand the divine and connect the human being to God. He went on the "Grand Tour" that was a trip that young aristocrats take to achieve culture and being amused by different towns and environments. He achieve a democratic idea of the role of the poet, who has to educate people conveying messages of equality, justice, freedoom to reject the alienation that the industrialisation had created. Daffodils The poet's aim is to recollect a memory of when he was at Lake District, indeed the first three stanzas are written in simple past. The first two stanzas are full of natural elements, such as clouds, hills, trees... The poet compares himself with a cloud, a simile that express the idea of loneliness, freedom, unconcreteness. He starts the poem with "I" to highlight the speaking voice of the poet that has to represent the ideal of the importance of the self. The last stanza is written in a present tense as if the poet suddenly takes back to reality, so the present. Lyrical ballads Wordsworth wrote Lyrical Ballads with Coleridge, which is a collection of poem considered as the "manifesto" of English Romanticism. It has a preface where the main features of the collection are exposed, such as the vision of poetry. The collection refers to Middle Age's ballads. Before they were folkloristic songs/stories that aimed to enteratain people and were only transmitted orally. Also they were invented by anonymous. In the Romanticism they became more sophisticated and were written down by poets. Wordsworth focused on the idea of nature while Coleridge is related to the idea of supernatural. Coleridge He deals with the idea of "non visible", so the supernatural essence of life, indeed he reject pragmatism in a different way than Wordsworth, focusing on the imagination. He defined two stage of the imagination: ● Primary: the ability of the human being to create images through perception. ● Secondary: poetic faculty which leads the poet to create new words through the mind and senses. He didn't share the same view of nature as Wordsworth, indeed he didn't identified nature with the divine, but believed that nature is a "projection" of the ideal world. The rime of the Ancient mariner The story starts abruptly with an old sailor that suddenly stops a wedding guest to tell him a dreadful story, breaking the marrily atmosphere. The guest is hypnotized by the old man and feels that he can't escape from his glacial gaze. The mariner is described with only few details like the gray long beard and the glittering-bright eyes. Then he continues with his story narrating that his ship came across a storm but suddenly his mates and him saw an albatross (representation of free nature) that saves them. After playing with the albatross, the old sailor killed it. This situation represented the irrational side of the human being, who commits a crime against nature breaking the sacrality and the rules of nature. This action also refers to History, as the situation in which people decided to kill Jesus even if he was on the earth to save them. Then he tells that he saw a boat with Death and Life-in-Death, that rolled a dice to decide which had to take the mariner. Life in Death actually wins and gave him the opportunity to re-establish a great relationship with nature, but condemn him to narrate this dreadful story till the end of the days, but he is actually immortal so he has to continue tell what happened forever. Details: Written in the form of a dialogue. Written in a simple way to educate even the most ignorant par of the society. Allegory of the poet = mariner. The mariner has to establish a new relationship with nature to realize the essence of life, such as Dante and Ulisse did in the past in their trip to salvation. The guest is not ready to hear the story, as people isn't ready to reflect on their own life. Allegory = different symbols to create the story. combined can be телрлетеа to reveal hidden meanings.