Kristin Hamon

11 October 2008

The Sublime: An Individualistic or Communal Moment?

            Isolated at a corner table, my hard wooden chair was just comfortable enough to enjoy several exquisite stories in between sporadic sips from a “Venti, no water, soy, Chai latte.” Individualistic nirvana. Perhaps if Jonathan Edwards were alive today, we would find him holed up at a local Starbucks, sipping a latte and seeking isolation amidst the masses. Or maybe not. Either way, this Romantic notion of the local coffee shop is what brought me there during a much needed day off from teaching. For some reason, whenever I need to work, I retreat to a coffee shop. I have no “wilderness,” which makes escaping the masses quite difficult. Instead, I opt for a contemporary alternative – a Wi-Fi Mecca filled with the sweet aroma of the latest “house blend” designed to help customers experience the sublime, while savoring seclusion in a public place. My paradoxical escape to a national coffeehouse chain caused me to wonder whether a sublime communal moment can be possible if originality creeps into quiet moments, creativity is born during solitary writing sessions, and transcendence emerges most often in instances of precious isolation.

            Perhaps because the sublime only occurs as a result of a moment of isolation, the true obsession for the Romantic speaker is isolation rather than the sublime. Seclusion is something that can be controlled, unlike a transcendent moment. Consequently, it would be impossible to escape from reality or transcend this world, if you are unable to separate yourself from the masses. As Dr. White pointed out, had he joined me at Starbucks for a cup of coffee, he would have “likely offered me a macaroon,” while my romantic and sublime moment slowly slipped away with every word of spoken conversation. In other words, the act of engaging in human contact can ruin a moment of isolation and the resulting and euphoric feeling of the sublime. This might explain why many Romantic characters appear overtly self-interested in their personal emotions and thoughts. Their true obsession may be to control their environment or current personal relationships. By exerting their own will, they can be left alone with their hopes that the sought-after sublime will provide the necessary high that they so desperately seek.

            The ardent desire for anything besides “the here and now” or “reality” is one significant trait of Romantic speakers. This desire encourages a speaker to seek solace in isolation for the sake of a transcendent and liberating journey away from their current reality. Sharon Lockett’s 2006 Midterm essay, “The Sublime: A Coveted Escape from Reality,” explains why many Romantic characters are so obsessed with isolation when she states that for “romantic heroes, [the] balance of pleasure and pain provides equalization in existences marked by unpredictability and incongruence” (2006 Midterms). Jonathan Edwards exists as one of the earliest examples of a Romantic author that uses isolation as a means of an escape from a life that, at times, seems to overwhelm him. In his personal narrative, he describes his relationship with God as a “great and violent struggle” (N 171). During his search for peace, he rarely describes Nature or the sublime aspects of God found outside the church. However, once he becomes “swallowed up” in God, he begins to view Nature and God as one entity that can be realized during his long solitary walks (N 172). In fact, after discussing his conversion experience with his father, he retreats to “a solitary place” on his father’s land in order to surround himself with introspective thought. By himself, not in conversation with his father, the sublime consumes him. His diction becomes almost hyperbolic as he peppers his language with words such as “sweet”, “glorious”, majestic”, and “holy” to describe the ambiance of God’s creation (N 172). In order to have experienced this kind of transcendent moment, he had to physically move away from a moment of human contact to one of isolation. It is important to mention, however, that if Edwards had never conversed with his father, he might not have felt the impulsive need to retreat into the wilderness where he experienced the sublime.

            As joyous as Edwards became during his solitary euphoric moment, it could not satiate his soul. After one of his most powerful encounters with God in Nature, he describes how he “had vehement longings of soul after God and Christ” (N 173). He seems to become the character described in Objective 1a that appears “empty or innocent of anything but readiness to change.” He so intimately associates Nature with God that even the descriptions of his soul are compared to “a field or garden of God” (N 174). These contemplative moments existed for him during instances of isolation. Although he may have been constantly preaching and socializing with members of the society, he did not write as lovingly about those moments in his personal narrative, if at all. His relationship with God, which was inextricably tied to Nature, created the assumption that if a retreat from the masses was not possible, Edwards might not have retained his fervent ardor for his ministerial duties.

            Edwards exists as a Christian example of finding euphoria in nature.  However, a Romantic tale is not required to include Christian philosophy in order to emphasize the important relationship between isolation and the sublime. In Washington Irving’s “Rip Van Winkle,” the main character also retreats to the wilderness for peace, but of a different kind and for a different reason. Escaping an abusive wife, Rip leaves the city with his canine as his only companion. His desire for isolation is not the result of conversion or a positive and life-altering discussion with another human being; he simply seeks silence. He settles up in the mountains and describes his view as “wild, lonely, and shagged” (N 459). In his wooded moment of isolation, Rip enters into a fantastical realm filled with gnome-like figures. Not unlike the surreal vision of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “May Pole,” Rip is filled with wonder as he carelessly frolics in a moment of transcendent excitement and drunkenness. Although darker than Edwards’ notion of the sublime, Rip’s isolated experience remains representative of a Romance narrative. Rip journeys from repression to transcendence as a direct result of his choice to isolate himself from his wife. It seems as though he had known these woods before this encounter, but it was not until the moment in which he sought an ultimate reprieve that Rip finally experienced the sublime.

            Perhaps one of the darkest and most unsettling examples of a character who desires to be separate from the masses is Reverend Hooper from Hawthorne’s parable “The Minister’s Black Veil.” Unlike Jonathan Edwards or Washington Irving, Hawthorne chose to symbolically address the constant desire for the Romantic speaker to seek isolation by creating an ominous and alarming metaphor. Reverend Hooper dawns the eerie veil early in the parable, leaving all his parishioners confused and dismayed by his seemingly impulsive decision. This Romantic impulse is not exclusively found in Hawthorne’s work. Edwards, Irving, and several more Romantic authors seek to expose the impulsive moment that spurs a character to begin an exhilarating Romantic narrative. Hawthorne’s choice, however, to extricate any hope of discovering the reason why Hooper chose to wear the veil, makes his parable as timeless and transcendent as the sublime.

            “The Minister’s Black Veil” is one of the most helpful texts for one seeking understanding regarding the intricate relationship between isolation and the sublime. Hawthorne describes the veil and Hooper’s newfound power in isolation by stating that “the black veil had one desirable effect, of making its wearer a very efficient clergyman” (N 629). His parishioners were terrified of him, and this horrifying state allowed Hooper to become “a man of awful power” (N 629). His sublime experience differs, however, from other Romantic notions because his isolation from the masses occurred among the masses. Hooper’s choice had to be drastic and seem overly impulsive in order to allow him to stay in his isolated state for a prolonged period of time. For Edwards and Rip Van Winkle, the eventual encounter with another human being destroyed their euphoric state. In order for Hawthorne to create a character that could remain in that euphoric moment, he had to amplify Hooper’s chosen state of isolation. By frightening even himself, the reverend is never allowed to experience normality, which results in a steady state of isolation. Thus, Hawthorne accomplishes the impossible – he suspends the sublime.

            Although Hawthorne’s artful diction differs from other Romantic writers, it is most important to understand that the relationship between isolation and the sublime remains integral in his writing. In “Young Goodman Brown,” Hawthorne’s central character describes the “narrow path” he travels down as “lonely,” with a “peculiarity in such a solitude” (N 606). Though eventually joined by the devil, Young Goodman Brown initiates his journey much like Minister Hooper – with no known cause. This impulsive act shows the obsessive state of Goodman Brown’s mind in choosing to isolate himself from his wife and theology – Faith. Goodman Brown understood that in order for something magnificent to occur, he had to flee his community. Perhaps this is why the ending becomes so disastrous for him. Unlike Hooper, Brown cannot hold on to his suspended state of isolation because he feels as though his isolated experience was riddled with human contact. He went into the woods to make a pact with the devil, thinking he was on an individualistic Romantic journey, only to find out that he is only as rebellious as everyone else in his village. This discovery destroys the possibility of him ever again experiencing the sublime, and therefore turns him into a wretched and unhappy elderly man.

            Having examined different states of isolation and reasons to seek that state of seclusion, one must wonder how a love relationship might fit in the Romantic notion of transcendence. Sexual intercourse seems to be one of the only acts that could be a communal act of the sublime, but even then, arguments could be made that the two individuals only experience the sublime as a momentary coincidence. That being said, it is still important to observe love relationships as a possible and sublime exception to the rule of isolation. In “Ligeia,” Edgar Allen Poe creates a speaker who is overwhelmed by an obsessive love for his wife. In fact, he is so obsessed with her that it becomes difficult to know whether Ligeia is an actual person or just an ideal the narrator creates. He explains that “in [her] death only” was he “fully impressed with the intensity of her affection” (N 683). Although it may seem as though his passion with this woman must have been mutually shared in order to move him to such a euphoric state, one must consider that the occurrence of the sublime only existed for him in the same moment of isolation.

In “Ligeia,” the speaker may not be able to control the emotions of either wife; however, he can manage his isolated state. When Ligeia dies, the tragic ending to his marriage pushes him to seek refuge in a gothic estate described as “gloomy and dreary” much like the physical appearance of his first wife (N 683). He proceeds to explain the “capacious size” of the home “gigantic in height” in order to emphasize the isolated state of his soul (N 684). In his isolated mansion, the speaker grows nostalgic and is only encouraged to leave this transcendent state when confronted with Rowena and reality. Even when Rowena enters his hallowed state of isolation, the speaker will not allow her to stay – clinging desperately to his nostalgic and reclusive way of life. He grows angry at his new wife for trying to separate him from his precious state of isolation and his anger grows more intense with every day of their marriage. He explains that Rowena “dreaded the fierce moodiness of [his] temper” and that “it gave [him] rather pleasure than otherwise” (N 685). He enjoys how his isolated state affects others, just as Reverend Hooper became intoxicated with the personal sublime power of his chosen separation.

Eventually, the “consuming intensity of [his] longing for the departed Ligeia” is more than the speaker can bear. He becomes so intoxicated with his own state of isolation that he is convinced that the dead and troublesome Rowena has magically turned into Ligeia. He has no human contact to pull him away from this notion, no societal rules that will stop him from entertaining this imaginative thought. Therefore, his chosen isolation ultimately creates an opportunity for an alternate reality or transcendent experience that holds no chance of being destroyed by human contact. It is ironic, however, that it is a relationship with another human that eventually drives Ligiea’s lover to madness and complete isolation.

One final and beautiful example of isolation and the sublime can be seen in Sylvia Plath’s poem “Blackberrying.” Her first line identifies her immediate solitary state when she affirms that there is “nobody in the lane, and nothing, nothing but blackberries” (N 2658). As she moves through her isolated state on a bit of a transcendent and physical journey towards the sea, she ultimately finds herself in an open space filled with nothingness. Her closing lines describe her experience of the sublime as an “orange rock that looks out on nothing, nothing but a great space of white and pewter lights” (N 2659). The “cacophonous flocks” are gone and the blackberries are no longer vying for her “sisterhood” (N 2658). The religious overtones found in this final euphoric description can be viewed just as powerful as the enigma that surrounds Minister Hooper’s “black veil.”

The transcendent experience cannot be constrained by words; therefore Plath creates a religious and reverent tone to recreate the euphoric feeling of her sublime. However, the reader is only able to understand the experience of the speaker through the language that she uses, and although each reader may read the same words, various interpretations are bound to be created. This is not necessarily problematic. The beauty of the relationship between the sublime and isolation is that the transcendent experience can never be felt or described in the same way by two different human beings. Perhaps this originality is the point. Maybe the communal experience of the sublime does not happen in isolation, but after the fact. The sublime communal experience could instead be created in the instant a person exits the transcendent plane and attempts to engage in conversation about his or her euphoric moment. Although it might be necessary to escape from the masses, in order to add meaning to a moment of euphoria, you must reenter the world. Maybe this is why so many individuals keep coming back to Starbucks, because no matter how transcendent you may feel while reading a good book, describing your euphoria to another Romantic consumer, is what ultimately makes isolation so enjoyable.