American Literature: Romanticism   Student Midterm Samples 2015 midterm assignment 3. Web Highlights

Heather Minette Schutmaat

Web Highlights: Escapism, Transcendence, Isolation and the Sublime

Tanya Stanley’s 2008 midterm essay “Experiencing the Sublime: A Checked Familiarity” centers on the sublime in American Romanticism, identifying and examining the concept in stories such as “Rip Van Winkle,” “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” and poems such as “The Blessing.” Stanley provides a very interesting and thorough exploration of the concept in these works, demonstrating that “elements of the sublime describe the ultimate human experience, a dualism of pleasure and pain felt simultaneously.” What I learned from Stanley’s essay is that “while experiencing [the sublime], the protagonist can escape from reality and experience a feeling of transcendence.” Using examples from romantic texts, Stanley explains that often a character feels, as a result of experiencing the sublime, “the desire to escape from the here and now into a moment of transcendence—a separation from the masses.” I found it incredibly interesting that in a moment of the sublime, or after experiencing the sublime, characters desire to escape reality into moments of transcendence, and I felt inclined to further investigate the relationship between the sublime and escapism.

Similar to Stanley’s essay, Sharon Lockett also explores the relationship between the sublime and transcendence in Romanticism in her essay “The Sublime:  A Coveted Escape from Reality.” She begins her essay with a brief but comprehensive definition of the sublime and states that “the pleasure/pain motif exists as a vital element in Romanticism.” Lockett points out that “when characters experience the sublime, they find themselves captivated by the moment and often become transferred to almost heavenly realms.” Locket explains that “this transference is prompted by a desire to escape reality” and “as they transition psychologically from ‘the here and now,’ they realize, at least momentarily, an emotionally or spiritually ‘transcendent goal or dream.’" After reading Stanley’s essay and wanting to know more about the relationship between the sublime and escapism, I was delighted to come across Lockett’s essay, which further explores the relationship, and I especially appreciate her statement that romantic heroes “stand ready to welcome both awe and terror.”

The most captivating model midterm assignment I read was “The Sublime: An Individualistic or Communal Moment?” by Kristen Hamon. Like Tanya Stanley and Sharon Lockett, Hamon explores the sublime, escapism, and transcendence. However, Hamon also examines the importance of isolation in allowing for, or inducing, moments of the sublime. Using examples such as “The Minister’s Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne and the writings of Jonathan Edwards, Hamon shows that “the ardent desire for anything besides ‘the here and now’ or ‘reality’ is one significant trait of Romantic speakers” and “this desire encourages a speaker to seek solace in isolation for the sake of a transcendent and liberating journey away from their current reality.” From her essay, I learned and agree with her statement that “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.”

While reading these three essays, I learned much about the sublime, the desire to escape and find transcendence, as well as the isolation necessary in experiencing the sublime. Before reading these essays, I thought of the sublime as something that happened naturally and unexpectedly, and was a phenomenon outside our control. However, now I understand that isolation and the sublime are things romanticists seek in order to escape “the here and now” and to realize a transcendent goal.