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(2017
midterm assignment) Model Student Midterm answers 2017 #1: Long Essays (Index) |
LITR 4328 |
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Timothy Morrow
11
Oct. 2017
The Dark Unknown and its Welcoming Nature
Does literature transcend dusty books and faded ink into the daily lives
of the mundane individual? Other than for aesthetics, what worth does literature
offer? When looking at written works in the American Romantic Era, also known as
the American Renaissance, there is a plethora of literary value. Ralph Waldo
Emerson’s Nature explores the world
in a new lens, hoping to find and delight in the unknown and higher power of
nature, and through that expresses the literary sublime. Edgar Allan Poe’s
Ligeia expresses the morbid and the
mourning, which is then interrupted by dark Gothic elements with an unexpected
resurrection. Washington Irving in both
Rip Van Winkle & The Legend of Sleepy
Hollow portrays his protagonists interacting with new dark and alienating
worlds, both sublime and gothic in nature. While one could make these
observations, what does examining the sublime and the gothic produce to modern
audiences and the everyday man? These elements may be seen as a form of mimesis,
but they are more familiar to the reader than mere imitations or vocabulary.
While the American Romantic era may seem dated and foreign to modern readers,
through examining the elements of the sublime and the gothic in Emerson’s
Nature, Poe’s
Ligeia, and Irving’s
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow &
Rip Van Winkle it is evident that
these works continue to be relatable as long as people are amazed and are
anxious by the dark unknown.
The universal feeling of awe in the face of the sublime is demonstrated
in Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Nature early
on in his exploratory treatise. Emerson, acting as his protagonist, finds
himself in the wilderness, and through reflection, discovers a feeling of
empowerment through the connection with nature. The author finds the awesome
powerful and activity behind nature and the interacting energy of it all a form
of the sublime, the unknown greater than himself. Emerson says simply looking at
the stars is evidence enough of the overcoming power of the universe in the sky
stating, “The rays that come from those heavenly worlds, will separate between
him and what he touches. One might think the atmosphere was made transparent
with this design, to give man, in the heavenly bodies, the perpetual presence of
the sublime.” Emerson is bringing to light the idea that the sublime, the
unknown and wonderful, is found in nature, and by interacting with it, one can
experience a higher feeling connecting one to the universe. Although this text
is nearly two hundred years old, this yearning for a connection the something
higher than the denotative is prevalent even today. When people go to national
parks, and experience something like the Grand Canyon in person, they sometimes
feel the sense that they are participating in something larger than life,
something bigger than what they are. This feeling is universal. Emerson gives
this to his reader introducing a world “between him and what he touches.” The
idea that there is a spiritual presence that transcends this realm in nature is
appealing to readers, back then and even now.
While normally viewed as simply an American fairytale,
Rip Van Wrinkle gives its readers the
experience, much like Nature, a
feeling of the sublime, with Rip Van Wrinkle interacting with the powerful
unknown. When Rip Van Wrinkle decides to leave his life in the village, like
Emerson’s speaker, he heads into the forest, and in doing so, interacts with the
sublime. While ascending deeper into the gothic wilderness, Van Wrinkle hears
something unexplainable. Irving writes, “As they ascended, Rip every now and
then heard long rolling peals, like distant thunder, that seemed to issue out of
a deep ravine, or rather cleft, between lofty rocks, toward which their rugged
path conducted. He paused for an instant, but supposing it to be the muttering
of one of those transient thunder-showers which often take place in mountain
heights, he proceeded.” This passage is the first introduction the reader is
given of the sublime in the narrative. The protagonist is presented with the
unknown. There is the impression of bell sounds echoing throughout the cliff
sides, and Rip Van Wrinkle is for a moment given the chance to interact and
experience the sublime, yet he excuses it as something ordinary, thunder sounds.
Rip Van Wrinkle does find some very mysterious and unexplainable phenomenon
later in the narrative, yet the sounds of the bells were his invitation to the
sublime. What Rip Van Wrinkle experienced is something many have before. The
unexplainable, produced by something powerful and unknown happens daily as
people find things that are sublime. There is something to be said about the
familiarity with the feeling of discovering something unknown, and being taken
aback by it. While Rip Van Wrinkle may seem like an old fairytale, there is
something relatable to new readers who have interacted with something equally
sublime.
Washington Irving not only deals with the sublime in his narratives, but
also with the gothic. While people may misinterpret the term gothic as a
definition or genre which is dead and foreign to the common man, they would be
wrong. In
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Ichabod
Crane is displaced to a new environment, working as a school teacher for a small
town. Irving introduces the reader to the dark and the gothic with his
protagonist interacting with what the people called the Headless Horseman.
Simply describing the mythical creature would not suit Irving’s American
Romantic style of writing. The gothic is not interested in clear well lit
descriptions, instead, in order to explore the terrifying Irving introduces his
monster cryptically. He states, “he beheld something huge, misshapen and
towering. It stirred not, but seemed gathered up in the gloom, like some
gigantic monster ready to spring upon the traveler.” Washington Irving depicts
his monster with gothic elements. Irving describes the Horseman as “misshapen
and towering.” This type of
description is known as the grotesque, something the gothic is known for. The
dark and gothic description fits the genre. When examining the gothic, some may
wonder if analyzing and learning literary terms matter in the long run. Perhaps
these are just spooky stories written to sell books. Yet, the gothic is
relatable to the modern reader who has also been terrified by the unknown in the
dark. While The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
is sometimes viewed as a cartoonish Halloween spooky story, there is a universal
truth about seeing and being afraid of a dark unexplainable figure in the
shadows. Irving’s use of the gothic surpasses the genre and speaks towards human
nature of interacting and fearing the dark unknown in the world.
Another American Romantic story that expresses the gothic is
Lageia, written by Edgar Allan Poe,
the king of the Gothic genre. In the narrative, the protagonist wrestles with
the grief of his lover’s passing yet is terrified when he discovers her emerging
into the realm of the living once more. Before this point Poe sets the gothic
lens onto the narrative when describing the abbey which the protagonist buys
after the death of his wife. The author writes, “The gloomy and dreary grandeur
of the building, the almost savage aspect of the domain, the many melancholy and
time-honored memories connected with both, had much in unison with the feelings
of utter abandonment which had driven me into that remote and unsocial region of
the country.” This passage demonstrates Edgar Allan Poe’s gothic rhetoric. The
protagonist describes the Abbey with gothic imagery, using words like, “dreary”
and “gloomy” setting the stage to his haunting tale. The protagonist also
describes the building with “melancholy” and “abandonment.” These words almost
personify the building in a correspondence with protagonist. While he feels
mournful and depressed, he sees himself in his environment. The protagonist
projecting and conversing with his environment helps the reader understand the
emotional state that the character is in. While analyzing the gothic and
correspondence shows the literary worth, it doesn’t answer why the everyday
individual should care. What Poe’s work does here is portray something very
relatable. While not everyone has dealt with such a heart-retching grief, at
some point, everyone has projected their emotional plight on their surroundings.
When someone is having a bad day, they may perceive the sky cloudier then usual
and attribute that as a correspondence to their suffering. People while feeling
ambiguous may still narcissistically view the world as a reflection of their own
inner thoughts and feelings. Edgar Allan Poe’s
Ligeia is important and relatable to
the modern reader, who like Poe’s protagonist, feels the gothic correspondence
when they are overwhelmed with emotion.
While it is still a debate if the American Romance Era’s writing is
worthwhile to the modern audience, it is clear that the works above prove
themselves to contain relatable attributes to lure in new readers. With
Emerson’s Nature there is the
Romantic element of the sublime. This theme is versatile to the modern reader,
who like those two hundred years ago still yearn to transcend this world and
stand in awe of the unexplainable yet powerful sublime. While
Rip Van Wrinkle may seem like a
children’s story, there is a relatability with the protagonist’s interaction
with the unknown and mysterious, elevated from nature. Irving’s
Legend of Sleepy Hollow, while being
now a staple to the Halloween culture, shows its quality to modern readers who
interacted with something unexplainable in the dark.
Poe’s Lageia not only
introduces the gothic to the reader, but also depicts the very human trait of
projecting and personifying the world with one’s emotional turmoil. While these
works are celebrated in the literary world, they should also be recognized as
transcending the years and continuing to entice readers with relatable content
reflecting human nature.
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