Section 3 Late Romanticism
. Q, o; ~# y% ? I. Nathaniel Hawthorne
9 Z6 a. q0 {5 a( q( W7 M! l 1. life* O4 Y# e% k7 t S( {6 v
2. works
; x5 ?$ @! k! d- u7 I (1) Two collections of short stories: Twice-told Tales, Mosses from and Old Manse @. Q2 [. }' w; A' r- Y, i2 |' `
(2) The Scarlet Letter- }' b _9 i. q+ B% J) k: c; ~
(3) The House of the Seven Gables
; `0 [1 Y: q7 a0 e (4) The Marble Faun* J& Y/ u! h1 ]! `% a8 _
3. point of view7 l9 `& e/ H7 z- E& N5 n
(1) Evil is at the core of human life, “that blackness in Hawthorne”
' k9 W# e6 D% z: l* R+ ?1 X (2) Whenever there is sin, there is punishment. Sin or evil can be passed from generation to generation (causality).- D2 |7 G8 s, Q2 S' F
(3) He is of the opinion that evil educates.1 Q* Q7 x' l) n2 T, T8 r0 r
(4) He has disgust in science.
( {! y. A! S& E 4. aesthetic ideas
+ J Q+ `0 a0 v+ h; \5 Q (1) He took a great interest in history and antiquity. To him these furnish the soil on which his mind grows to fruition.
) M7 J# ^* S6 {9 z (2) He was convinced that romance was the predestined form of American narrative. To tell the truth and satirize and yet not to offend: That was what Hawthorne had in mind to achieve.- ^. G# j0 v9 t2 `* e* C/ f) ^6 ]% k
5. style – typical romantic writer
- m; N9 _3 n. N: H4 @8 b (1) the use of symbols+ Q: a' j6 L' R( _; R
(2) revelation of characters’ psychology1 ^6 Y1 F2 H1 d( B. k% [& p
(3) the use of supernatural mixed with the actual/ O" n: F K$ G$ u' N& l
(4) his stories are parable (parable inform) – to teach a lesson
5 T) i' q* V7 Z2 n (5) use of ambiguity to keep the reader in the world of uncertainty – multiple point of view
" b/ s' h1 Z8 `8 @* G: u II. Herman Melville
9 r1 K6 `0 w2 U- V 1. life3 t: n) r' v; _3 a3 Q% G. v
2. works
: F. m: j# d" s) ~. {) | (1) Typee$ X6 C3 D( _* g1 c6 ^8 v$ t
(2) Omio
0 i2 g2 E3 U# V5 D' {' [" D. ~; Q- r (3) Mardi
9 V& `. b1 j7 [- |1 e7 Q0 s9 T (4) Redburn
0 i! o' I% v: |: y- l1 g" D3 N (5) White Jacket
5 A3 {( ?, ]: _$ c5 z) R3 m (6) Moby Dick
; f' c2 V* y" A: q4 w" X* L (7) Pierre6 ~* F" h# U! `4 d8 F
(8) Billy Budd
1 w/ s. ?4 }9 L 3. point of view( x6 S) z9 F# m: ?8 n& Q
(1) He never seems able to say an affirmative yes to life: His is the attitude of “Everlasting Nay” (negative attitude towards life).
; [# t8 ?( l- U6 E (2) One of the major themes of his is alienation (far away from each other).
' g N0 A% r4 ~5 z ^3 V/ t5 Z Other themes: loneliness, suicidal individualism (individualism causing disaster and death), rejection and quest, confrontation of innocence and evil, doubts over the comforting 19c idea of progress$ X) @: Q7 H7 q
4. style# B- K# c) Y' Y, X4 y2 R. ~0 C
(1) Like Hawthorne, Melville manages to achieve the effect of ambiguity through employing the technique of multiple view of his narratives.$ V4 S! n4 c/ L" {$ G. o/ y
(2) He tends to write periodic chapters.# f- a3 q! i/ }/ F, A- G
(3) His rich rhythmical prose and his poetic power have been profusely commented upon and praised.& o. @ F. c: {7 i; i3 @% C
(4) His works are symbolic and metaphorical.
7 p5 l7 \, A" D: h: j+ R5 j+ _ (5) He includes many non-narrative chapters of factual background or description of what goes on board the ship or on the route (Moby Dick)
' f e2 y( O( v& z Romantic Poets
. x% t7 ` z7 \2 s I. Walt Whitman
! i3 u1 \# l" g- C l2 F5 {1 N 1. life; s( j5 i6 b, p1 R, e4 L
2. work: Leaves of Grass (9 editions)
5 ]! P* D' B# {3 x, k (1) Song of Myself
* ~5 U4 E7 ~3 ?% f (2) There Was a Child Went Forth
: q' y! F( p5 h (3) Crossing Brooklyn Ferry6 M# b5 z2 c) Q, ^4 `- Z$ v9 C
(4) Democratic Vistas3 ]2 @/ _- F& F
(5) Passage to India, E5 ^6 k3 G E9 {3 H; B+ M
(6) Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking, b3 t1 V) b1 D4 x
3. themes – “Catalogue of American and European thought”
( k! I7 n# j) X He had been influenced by many American and European thoughts: enlightenment, idealism, transcendentalism, science, evolution ideas, western frontier spirits, Jefferson’s individualism, Civil War Unionism, Orientalism.3 }9 `/ ^ i* b, j& a3 L
Major themes in his poems (almost everything):
# }; ^( _$ b; Z7 C) C l equality of things and beings5 A3 S1 N2 U. ~! c; L2 X
l divinity of everything8 L, S% `# m" Q! c7 F8 T
l immanence of God
" ]$ o6 E/ w/ Y( g1 x6 U l democracy' Y/ H+ n5 q4 w) W. X
l evolution of cosmos. {0 P4 i2 }! y
l multiplicity of nature4 K4 v" @9 F& @+ r M& @! G
l self-reliant spirit
0 z5 M8 q5 [% S$ I4 q$ ^7 I/ Y: J, H) } l death, beauty of death9 F S) b# q) B; b2 U
l expansion of America
4 F) I2 ^! S! y7 j l brotherhood and social solidarity (unity of nations in the world)
3 t* Z# k4 B$ o# v3 p+ I l pursuit of love and happiness
; L4 N$ J' [6 ` 4. style: “free verse”
) Y5 x9 _5 L! o" M/ r' t* ^ (1) no fixed rhyme or scheme
/ S0 ~9 N0 z! g) U (2) parallelism, a rhythm of thought2 C8 B, M4 ^+ V5 T* j" _
(3) phonetic recurrence
6 m2 [9 ~4 _4 `" w" n% \ (4) the habit of using snapshots
0 u! E: v W& z. Z' u (5) the use of a certain pronoun “I”
" t! K7 ]& l( o# d* w& o1 _ y9 t (6) a looser and more open-ended syntactic structure
( b3 m# l. L; Z7 l. A6 J# M (7) use of conventional image
2 n, C& J6 q" j/ R% ]- O3 l (8) strong tendency to use oral English
, i8 z3 Y2 {: u9 ~" g( E+ P (9) vocabulary – powerful, colourful, rarely used words of foreign origins, some even wrong
, ^$ v, C% K: p5 {" f; E& X (10) sentences – catalogue technique: long list of names, long poem lines+ g1 q% C, n: D2 |4 y" ?. N* B& z
5. influence w/ J' T3 [2 e+ ], X6 w' \
(1) His best work has become part of the common property of Western culture.
h; _3 q- H2 [ (2) He took over Whitman’s vision of the poet-prophet and poet-teacher and recast it in a more sophisticated and Europeanized mood.4 `! g& o# A# x& |, B* A
(3) He has been compared to a mountain in American literary history.
9 \/ f, ]7 C4 v# s/ ^3 l3 h. ^ |! Q (4) Contemporary American poetry, whatever school or form, bears witness to his great influence.5 h6 ^0 }8 m4 d( O/ g. `
II. Emily Dickenson |