Section 3 Late Romanticism. R' l! q$ o. }7 `5 e
I. Nathaniel Hawthorne- }7 m" Q. o# y. n+ n
1. life
$ K6 Z8 [; E0 w. m/ K. `* h 2. works) [* u& J; f" P8 U" l1 {
(1) Two collections of short stories: Twice-told Tales, Mosses from and Old Manse: i. h2 |5 T5 J
(2) The Scarlet Letter
# ~$ d" R/ x0 k: J (3) The House of the Seven Gables
8 }! A9 R. ?7 {8 \) o3 \ (4) The Marble Faun
) j$ l& Y8 u, _ 3. point of view) m! J4 M2 P( a {
(1) Evil is at the core of human life, “that blackness in Hawthorne”
0 Z2 {- r: D4 R+ p (2) Whenever there is sin, there is punishment. Sin or evil can be passed from generation to generation (causality).
, i) Y- a C A8 w (3) He is of the opinion that evil educates.1 ~% q6 y% B( B: ]+ {. B
(4) He has disgust in science.- j: ~7 m5 N' n' h" R; n
4. aesthetic ideas! n- l' I0 ?- C7 }# H
(1) He took a great interest in history and antiquity. To him these furnish the soil on which his mind grows to fruition.
2 P$ l1 |+ B* G4 J (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.
& C3 z0 v( A% X& @0 j5 g 5. style – typical romantic writer% ^# w+ L: Q' l* D' |) d
(1) the use of symbols* l; p# q! u7 W9 `% K) u: r
(2) revelation of characters’ psychology3 U. R! r T6 {
(3) the use of supernatural mixed with the actual/ ^5 ]* G( z9 w9 T
(4) his stories are parable (parable inform) – to teach a lesson1 }/ A. N0 K; m& ]* Y4 \
(5) use of ambiguity to keep the reader in the world of uncertainty – multiple point of view
* |" C: Q( t! j6 [8 v II. Herman Melville
. Z% h+ w0 ~' o/ N# N1 | 1. life$ w" O8 P% P3 o D
2. works
/ a1 g! a0 A# z4 P% p+ A& V (1) Typee, z) g4 d# N) j+ h1 t
(2) Omio
' d8 ^4 |3 h& X9 N% z; ^ (3) Mardi9 y# B' ?$ ^" M
(4) Redburn
) z: |- f, @7 l4 z6 W (5) White Jacket
6 P) d& N: f. v% n: d% ^) ` (6) Moby Dick& T1 s, g' M! [2 @8 T8 j6 {
(7) Pierre
& t( B# q+ |+ a8 E (8) Billy Budd
6 v1 u. P+ D* Q) k' z. S 3. point of view% [9 P& i* \) Q; ~6 a
(1) He never seems able to say an affirmative yes to life: His is the attitude of “Everlasting Nay” (negative attitude towards life).
?* z+ B c0 a) Z1 } (2) One of the major themes of his is alienation (far away from each other).9 D9 N. y1 I* c3 ?; C. ?
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
# N+ d; j; ^6 Y 4. style2 D5 h7 J' a8 n
(1) Like Hawthorne, Melville manages to achieve the effect of ambiguity through employing the technique of multiple view of his narratives.
" i( t" L8 W# N. \0 y! D- U (2) He tends to write periodic chapters.
# j! h6 ~1 i6 o! q (3) His rich rhythmical prose and his poetic power have been profusely commented upon and praised./ f, ~% k/ ]; u! m6 e- G* A/ m
(4) His works are symbolic and metaphorical.# _, J4 ]- @+ E
(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)
' |* @( A w( @% M+ M( d Romantic Poets
' Z1 k7 q: N$ f+ w: d I. Walt Whitman- `' d2 F0 G; M6 Q# z' y
1. life
7 @- }- q% D' H! O. F' f; t& k: O+ D! H 2. work: Leaves of Grass (9 editions)* O2 ~/ ~' j$ j- `( B1 N
(1) Song of Myself) u) _6 c f7 l _" u3 J. J! R
(2) There Was a Child Went Forth$ o. q0 u( j G
(3) Crossing Brooklyn Ferry w3 z0 P2 y9 R8 Q* T* W, [) o
(4) Democratic Vistas( D% T$ g* ?* b1 M2 u
(5) Passage to India9 M4 E5 ]4 S( l6 H- c- t4 X
(6) Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking+ B/ @3 z$ A! ^9 Q. v& A" D
3. themes – “Catalogue of American and European thought”
# }9 q0 K+ V, c. }# R 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.; t# T$ m8 P- R( P0 h8 o; c2 t
Major themes in his poems (almost everything):
/ O, D* H b/ \4 e; Q) Q/ F l equality of things and beings' ?' S# f7 r& g
l divinity of everything. O4 @7 [& f- K& L, F8 N0 q' H
l immanence of God" ], w" K( N, I! \
l democracy/ o$ v' {# F$ n% P4 r
l evolution of cosmos' }- G) v4 T% v1 D8 c# A- }* u/ m
l multiplicity of nature6 r7 m) y( N5 W( y+ ~9 w
l self-reliant spirit N. c5 j1 {9 T% U+ ~" y
l death, beauty of death" o# z- ]5 H0 E: G( s
l expansion of America
5 k$ q* B2 U) j, d l brotherhood and social solidarity (unity of nations in the world): |6 e/ L0 |. J4 B
l pursuit of love and happiness! \' {$ A/ M% d' n/ w s$ Y# h
4. style: “free verse”" {4 u' Q% ]' z+ ]& O5 a
(1) no fixed rhyme or scheme
/ v0 X0 Q5 K' {( T2 A3 v3 ] (2) parallelism, a rhythm of thought& h) @1 Q' u6 ?+ p/ B& c4 j+ r0 x
(3) phonetic recurrence
, `: z- S8 N" H3 { (4) the habit of using snapshots2 K2 u, [( F4 T4 C5 ~7 ^
(5) the use of a certain pronoun “I”7 A* M9 |) w; X2 p5 n
(6) a looser and more open-ended syntactic structure
+ y& |8 w6 {+ Y& m8 {8 q# J) ^ (7) use of conventional image# A- V, f/ U1 m' X7 m" P
(8) strong tendency to use oral English4 y% A/ s5 y' u! E4 }. x' f
(9) vocabulary – powerful, colourful, rarely used words of foreign origins, some even wrong; v1 C. H- ~- h6 j& d
(10) sentences – catalogue technique: long list of names, long poem lines
A% D2 _) ^- p) I0 q k/ t3 w, n 5. influence
8 L x$ S8 v5 n @) a9 o (1) His best work has become part of the common property of Western culture. c' d( R2 t9 Y
(2) He took over Whitman’s vision of the poet-prophet and poet-teacher and recast it in a more sophisticated and Europeanized mood.; g7 l4 H3 p P7 h
(3) He has been compared to a mountain in American literary history.
: V$ s) s. H6 |; [$ |( M9 W (4) Contemporary American poetry, whatever school or form, bears witness to his great influence.
/ Q |7 ]% a! o" e2 U* y II. Emily Dickenson |