Weeks 7-9
1. How is the Romantic notion of the Sublime reflected in the ideological, conceptual and linguistic construction of the texts under consideration in this Romanticism reader? Discuss one or two examples...
2. Go online and see if you can find out anything about what really happened at the Villa Diodati that fateful summer in 1816...
3. How many fictional accounts (film and other narrative media) can you find about that? Provide some useful links, including Youtube clips (hint: for a start try Ken Russel Gothic on Youtube).
4. Discuss the links between the Villa Diodati "brat-pack" and the birth of Gothic as a modern genre with reference to specific texts by the authors who gathered there and subsequent texts (e.g. The Vampire >> Dracula, etc).
3. How many fictional accounts (film and other narrative media) can you find about that? Provide some useful links, including Youtube clips (hint: for a start try Ken Russel Gothic on Youtube).
4. Discuss the links between the Villa Diodati "brat-pack" and the birth of Gothic as a modern genre with reference to specific texts by the authors who gathered there and subsequent texts (e.g. The Vampire >> Dracula, etc).
(Purwanti Rachmadi)
ReplyDelete1.How is he Romantic notion of the Sublime reflected in the ideological, conceptual and linguistic of the text under consideration in this Romanticism reader?
Answer,
This is one of romantic poems from William Blake, the Songs of Innocence
Holy Thursday
Is this a holy thing to see,
In a rich and fruitful land,
Babes reduced to misery,
Fed with cold and usurious hand?
Is that trembling cry a song ?
Can it be a song of joy ?
And so many children poor ?
It is a land of poverty
And their sun does never shine.
And their fields are bleak & bare.
And their ways are fill'd with thorns
It is eternal winter there.
For where-e'er the sun does shine,
And where-e'er the rain does fall:
Babe can never hunger there,
Nor poverty the mind appall.
(Blake, W. 1764)
The emphasized of romantics on this poem can be reflected in the ideas of a sadness children who live in the land with full of fruits but in reality put them on misery and unhappiness, since there is no song of joy and they cry in hunger. It gives the romantic readers a conceptual of real life around us about nature that provides rich sources and it should be enough to fed people but ironically many of them live in poverty and just like “ their sun does never shine” and “their fields are bleak and bare”.
The readers could directly understand in linguistic about the notion of self-realization and the need of salvation through the movement words here, “It is eternal winter there, for where-e'er the sun does shine……...,”. In my point of view, this sublime ideology of romanticism philosophy and enlighten could have been transferred from Blake’s objective point of view to the reader’s subjective view.
References:
Blake, W. (1972; 1794). The Songs of Innocence and Experience with an introduction and commentary by Sir Geoffrey Keynes. London, Oxford. p144
Q1. How is the Romantic notion of the Sublime reflected in the ideological, conceptual and linguistic construction of the texts under consideration in this Romanticism reader? Discuss one or two examples...
DeleteRomantic notion of the Sublime is from ‘the poet’s mind’. The romantic sublime approaches to romanticism readers through a connection of emotion between poet and readers. People find pleasure in life. Romantic poetry always have a special memory or experiences and, it makes readers imagine or look back into the past themselves by connecting with their emotion in deep reverence. Imagination with emotion is an ability or power to awaken memories naturally. Therefore, the romantic Sublime is reflected in the poem through natural connection ideologically. These powerful feelings may make the minds of the readers peaceful (Diwan, 2013). A representative example can be found in the poem by Wordsworth.
Five years have past; five summers, with the length
Of five long winters! and again I hear
These waters, rolling from their mountain-springs
With a soft inland murmur.
Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs,
That on a wild secluded scene impress
Thoughts of more deep seclusion; and connect
The landscape with the quiet of the sky. (Wordsworth, W. 1798)
The subject of this poem is ‘memory. Wordsworth is returning to his past spaces and places where he has been before. These connections mean hope and desire. By feeling this connection with emotion and memories, the thought of Romanticism readers is reflected in the romantic poem ideologically and conceptually. Furthermore, Wordsworth used repetitive words for emphasizing the romantic sublimes he wanted to say. He repeats ‘again’ or ‘once again’ 4 times. Repeating words and describing romantic words means a linguistic expression in romantic poems (Holman & Snyder, n.d.).
References:
Diwan, S. (2013). The romantic sublime: What Wordsworth said. Retrieved May, 12, 2014, from http://literaryyard.com/2013/10/30/the-romantic-sublime-what-wordsworth-said/
Holman, B., & Snyder, M. (n.d.). Memory and nature: A guide to William Wordswoth’s “Tintern Abbey”. Retrieved May, 12, 2014, from http://poetry.about.com/od/poems/a/tinternguide_3.htm
Ans. (1) Wanti and Kim have made fairly interesting points with regard to what they perceive as the ideas of the sublime in the texts concerning romanticism - especially in terms of relating the concept with the mind,memory and emotion and how it reflects on the textual expressions used in specific texts in the critical reader.
DeleteI would like to attempt to explain my version of the sublime concept that is reflected in the ideological,conceptual and linguistic structure of texts concerning romanticism in the critical reader.
The literary concept of the sublime has proved to be influential for several generations (especially in romanticism) that intends to, with high regard, portray an emotional understanding that transcends far beyond systematic thinking through the use of language in order to create mental imagery (Llewellyn & Riding, 2013). As Edmund Burke (1909-14) had famously suggested, the sublime concept refers to ideas being "vast in their dimensions" , attempting to form a conjunction between the emotional and natural world - allowing feelings to triumph over ones rationality and be able to dominate with the hopes of evoking a deep, instinctive emotion (through linguistics and art).
Let us,for instance,take William Blake's poem, written in 1978, "The little boy lost" as an example, and analyse it for the sublime effect.
The poem is about the seeking of spirituality - a brief representation of the relationship between an individual and their spiritual faith with god.
The coinciding illustration with the linguistic structure of the poem is crucial in understanding the concept of the sublime.
The illustration depicts a child moving towards what is seen as a bright light, which in the poem is referred to as a "vapour", in what looks to be a secluded forest of some kind - perhaps, pertaining to the word "lost". The rest of the text is surrounded by images of angels, potentially an indicator of the spiritual soul seeking aspect.
The illustration has the capacity to arouse some type of emotion, like most depictions of imagery, in this case, perhaps feelings of despair,devotion etc. - partly because of the sensitive nature of the subject. Perhaps the ideological notion that underlies in the artwork relates to the creation of subjective internal and the eliciting of these emotion into the objective external world - the main purpose of the sublime and the principle intention of the writer.
In terms of the linguistic structure, there are certain phrases or words that applies the sublime effect and uses it to the advantage of inducing the desired or intended emotion. The following are a few of the linguistic examples of the sublime in the poem;
- The word "father" for instance, is of great significance. In both senses, as a parent as through referring to god - it invokes a personal connection. It creates an indirect bond between the reader and writer through notions of the power and contact of the linguistic structure.
- "The mire was deep and the child did weep" - although a simple line, underlies a deep, sentimental meaning. The mentioning of the weeping child in particular, can be interpreted in various ways. Nonetheless, the language used produces a fragile link.
In conclusion, the sublime deals with the aesthetics of both the language and illustration that possess qualities of certain intensities that magnify a subject (Llewellyn & Riding, 2013).
References:
DeleteBurke, Edmund. On the Sublime and Beautiful. Vol. XXIV, Part 2. The Harvard Classics. New York: P.F. Collier & Son, 1909–14; Bartleby.com, 2001. www.bartleby.com/24/2/. [Date of Printout].
Selections from William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience, 1794; boxed
commentaries from Blake, W. (1972; 1794). Songs of Innocence and Experience with an introduction and commentary by Sir Geoffrey Keynes, London: Oxford.
‘The Romantic sublime’, in Nigel Llewellyn and Christine Riding (eds.), The Art of the Sublime, January 2013, http://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/the-sublime/the-romantic-sublime-r1109221, accessed 16 May 2014.
Some excellent comments here Naufa. There is a strong spiritual aspect to the sublime, the sublime being God's glory in the world, or seen the world.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete3. What really happened at the Villa Diodati that fateful summer in 1816 and how
ReplyDeletemany fictional accounts (film and other narrative media) online about that? (hint:
Ken Russel Gothic on YouTube).
Answer:
Actually, in 1816 is a year with no summer after mountain Tambora in Indonesia had a big bang in 1815. Most of histories write, it was a catastrophe, since the eruption was sixty thousand bigger than the atom bomb in Hiroshima and had filled the Earth’s atmosphere a fine ash. Summer in 1816 just like winter season and the legendary writers – Mary Shelley, Percy Shelley, Lord Byron and John Polidori thought an amazing idea in their indoor holiday.
Villa Diodati, is classically European located in suburb Cologny of Switzerland, looking onto Lake Geneva. The weather was giving them a notion of nightmare. The sky was dark, much rain, cold, stormy and thunder. The splendor of Villa Diodati and climate situation reveal magnificent history in literacy. Marry Shelley wrote her master piece “Frankenstein”, and the story set is in Switzerland. She describes the monster in turbulent feeling. Lord Bryon with his poem “Darkness” and several years later a short story “The Vampyre” by John Polidori.
There are many fictional accounts of summer’s gothic such as, Frankenstein and Vampire literature like Dracula those Ken Russell visualized on his best-known movie, Altered States, in 1986 and he put it on old VHS version and DVD. Also, several films of horror night, ghost story and the narrative media of Villa Diodati can be found in reviews, blogs and social media. It can be seen, that is one of attractive tourism destination as well in few websites.
Reference:
Lord Byron & Villa Diodati, Switzerland’s Gothic Summer of 1816 on Lake Geneva. Retrieved May 2014. http://www.bargaintraveleurope.com/08/Switzerland_Villa_Diodoti_Geneva.htm
It can be seen that Villa Diodati is one of attractive tourism destination in few websites.
ReplyDelete3. How many fictional accounts (film and other narrative media) can you find about that? Provide some useful links, including Youtube clips (hint: for a start try Ken Russel Gothic on Youtube).
ReplyDeleteKen Russells “Gothic” 1986 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLyP9-6elh0
Chuck Palahniuk's novel Haunted - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haunted_(Palahniuk_novel)
Tim Powers's novel The Stress of Her Regard - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stress_of_Her_Regard
Features Mary Shelley, John Polidori & Lord Byron
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, which she began writing in the Villa Diodati - http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/frankenstein/context.html
John William Polidori’s short story, “The Vampyre" written in 1819 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Vampyre
Claire Woodard’s short poem “Summer on the Lake: Villa Diodati” written in 1816 - http://www.newrepublic.com/article/114458/summer-lake-villa-diodati-1816-poem-claire-woodard
Ans. (3) Here are some of the links I have found on the web that suggest or pertain to what might have happened in Villa Diodati in the summer of 1816 :
Delete-Possible suggestion of an affair;
http://www.bargaintraveleurope.com/08/Switzerland_Villa_Diodoti_Geneva.htm
- Other suggestions;
http://www.teemingbrain.com/2013/09/05/mary-shelley-frankenstein-and-the-dark-mythic-summer-of-1816/
http://www.todayinliterature.com/stories.asp?Event_Date=6/19/1816
> A suggestive poem about what happened;
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/114458/summer-lake-villa-diodati-1816-poem-claire-woodard
-Video links
Scene 1 of "Gothic" , 1986:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn3w26w0n10
Q3:
DeleteJust adding to what has already been mentioned.
http://www.yorktheatre.org/villa-diodati.html - A musical take with a bit of a twist to the classic telling of what happened in that villa in 1816.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FGuL1S0z00 - A one-act opera show of the four writers and their time in the Villa Diodati.
Q4:Discuss the links between the Villa Diodati "brat-pack" and the birth of Gothic as a modern genre with reference to specific texts by the authors who gathered there and subsequent texts (e.g. The Vampire >> Dracula, etc).
ReplyDeleteThe Villa Diodati 'brat pack' can be seen as paving the way for modern- day horror. Romanticism was in a way a "revolt against aristocratic, social and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment and a reaction against the rationalisation of nature" (Romanticism, 2014). Looking at texts like 'The Vampire Diaries' by L.J. Smith and 'Interview with the Vampire' by Anne Rice, show how there is still a need to escape from the industrial and scientific society that has had such an influence on us today, with supernatural and terrifying worlds. Some historians say that 'Frankenstein' was the first sci-fi novel. Mary Shelley explores the idea that the industrialisation of society can be destructive, by creating her monster through science. The popular horror film 'Alien' by Ridley Scott also uses these elements. The computer that controls the ship the humans use, ultimately causes the destruction of them. As well as this, their need to research and analyse develop their society through technology causes them to bring destruction upon themselves.
References:
Cliff Notes. (2013). Frankenstein at a Glance. http://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/f/frankenstein/frankenstein-at-a-glance
Wikipedia. (2014). Romanticism.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanticism
A pretty good account, but notice you do not answer the question which asks you to concentrate on those authors there at the time. In fact, by moving to modern texts, you carefully avoid answering the question which takes more than general knowledge of todays pop genres.
DeleteQ4:
DeleteGreat analysis, Stephany - Just adding to what you've said.
According to Shaffer (2010), following a ghost story write up challenge between the ‘brat pack’ in the Villa Diodati, Polidori had developed his story ‘The Vampyr’ after using and expanding on an abandoned short story about vampires that Lord Byron wrote. The Vampyre was written by John Polidori but was falsely attributed to Lord Byron when it was published in a magazine; though both men had denied this.
“”The Vampyre” transformed the vampire myth from the monster of folklore to the dark, sexual, and predatory creature still popular today” (Shaffer, 2010). Many shows, novels, and movies have expanded on this transformed vampire myth that Polidori had set; for example, Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’, Joss Whedon’s ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’, Stephanie Meyers’ ‘Twilight’ series, HBO’s ‘True Blood’, and L. J. Smith’s ‘The Vampire Diaries’.
Another story that was developed in the Villa Diodati was Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Reynolds (2013) mentions that the tragic events and influences in Mary’s life “can be found to be woven throughout her novel”. Reynolds also states that “Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”, though originally conceived as a horror story, grew beyond the confines of the Gothic tales of its day to become a classic of Romantic literature”.
Both authors, as well as Byron’s influence, have changed the face of horrors and Gothic tales of its time which has heavily influenced pop culture today.
References:
Reynolds, C. (2013). Mary shelley’s inspiration behind frankenstein. Retrieved on June 7, 2014, from http://www.humanities360.com/index.php/mary-shelleys-inspiration-behind-frankenstein-2-964/
Shaffer, L. (2010). The vampyr john polidori literary analysis. Retrieved on June 7, 2014, from http://www.humanities360.com/index.php/the-vampyre-john-polidori-literary-analysis-1904/
Q2. Go online and see if you can find out anything about what really happened at the Villa Diodati that fateful summer in 1816...
ReplyDeleteWe can find out a context about Villa Diodati and the fateful summer of 1816. On this day in 1816, many writers such as Mary Shelley, Lord Byron and John Polidori lived in the villa during the summer season. They wrote many great works related to ghost in there because they always gathered altogether at the Villa Diodati and they read German horror stories. At that time, Mary Shelley had an idea about her novel in there. She wrote ‘Frankenstein’ which is a horror genre. This work and the other works were influenced by the summer weather especially at night (Barnesandnoble, 2013). According to Perrottet (n.d.), the summer of 1816 is called fateful summer or noticeable summer because there is a surprising event in meteorological lore. At that time, there was an eruption of Mount Tambora from Indonesia. It made a cloud of volcanic ash and sent it across the northern hemisphere. From that time, the summer of 1816 was called ‘the year without a summer’. It was raining perpetually when Byron and his friends were trapped indoors. And because of the strong lightning storms, the weather was always dark and gloomy. He suggested composing a horror story to his friends. One of his friends, John Polidori who was his traveling companion and physician wrote a nightmarish story called ‘The Vampyre’. It was the first story related to vampires in English. And Byron finished his third canto ‘Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage’ in a balcony of the villa.
In my opinion, the Villa Diodati is known for a special place where many writers wrote works of monstrous, horror and vampire genre. And the fateful summer of 1816 can be seen as a background and foundation all of the works.
References:
Barnesandnoble. (2013). At villa Diadati. Retrived May, 11, 2014, from http://bnreview.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Daybook/At-Villa-Diodati/ba-p/10747
Perrottet, T. (n.d.). Frankenstein. Retrived May, 11, 2014, from http://exhibitions.nypl.org/biblion/outsiders/frankenstein/essay/essayperrottet
Ans. (2) There are several theories that have been circulating throughout the years, suggesting what might have happened at the Villa Diodati in that fateful summer of 1816 - although, nobody has yet been able to undoubtedly confirm the events that took place and it still remains somewhat of a mystery (Curran, 2009).
DeleteSome of the events that have been said to have taken place during the time are as follows;
- Lord Byron, Mary Shelley, Claire Clairmount (the stepsister of Mary Shelley, and the mistress of Byron), Percy Shelley and John Polidori were said to have been residing at the Villa Diodati in the summer of 1816 under horrible weather conditions (Buzwell, 2013). Some have suggested that,basically,being trapped in the villa due to the storm throughout the summer, all these writers had at one point, decided to collectively write up a formidable gothic novel (Cardin, 2013). They had reportedly spent hours reading several volumes of gothic novels for research, discussing and analysing them together (Buzwell, 2013).
- The party is also said to have spent a great amount of time near Byron's fireplace and spent a generous duration of their stay telling ghost stories, which is said to have lead to Mary Shelley's novel, known as a "hideous progeny", Frankenstein (Cardin, 2013). As Cardin (2013) has suggested, along with the foundation of "Frankenstein" laid, Polidori was said to have come up with the main plot for his novel, "Vampyre", which was influenced by "Dracula" by Bram Stroker. Byron had also conceived his poem, "Darkness" at the villa, during that time talking about senses of unease and destruction as reflected in the scientific discoveries he was influenced by at the time (Cardin, 2013).
- It was also suggested having being stuck inside the villa, there was an increase in sexual tension among the party (Buzwell, 2013). Claire was fixated on Byron - whether or not an affair had happened between them at the villa is debatable - Polidori on the other hand, took an interest to Mary Shelley, who did not reciprocate the same feelings towards him (Buzwell, 2013). According to Buzwell (2013), Percy Shelley had also found himself feeling blue, slipping into oppressive mood swings.
References:
Buzwell, Greg (2013). Mary Shelley, Frankenstein and the Villa Diodati - The British Library. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/mary-shelley-frankenstein-and-the-villa-diodati
Cardin, Matt (2013).Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, and the dark-mythic summer of 1816 The Teeming Brain. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.teemingbrain.com/2013/09/05/mary-shelley-frankenstein-and-the-dark-mythic-summer-of-1816/
Curran, Stuart (2009).Villa Diodati. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://knarf.english.upenn.edu/Places/diodati.html
I agree with everything you two said, although the more I researched the more I realized there is nothing that tells you exactly what happened in the house that summer but that four writers challenged each other to invent a scary/horror piece of work of their own, it is all assumptions of what most likely went down in the Villa Diodati which makes it a myth come to life in some ways. It was referred to the “Year without a summer” like you said Kim. The whole of the Northern Hemisphere was plunged into a kind of apocalyptic nuclear winter (May, 2011). It was the biggest eruption the planet had seen in years. Crops failed, food prices soared, and famine was widespread. It was certainly not the type of place for a wealthy young British aristocrat place to relocate to but Lord Byron did and with as you guys have said a few house guests. The conditions of that time, the responses of the time, and the cold and gloom inspired Byron to write “Darkness” and set the tone for the gloomy “end of the world” sub-genre of science fiction (May, 2011). In that house as you guys said, Shelley wrote the original version of “Frankenstein” which was influenced after she had a nightmare and Polidori’s wrote the short story “The Vampyre” which isn’t as well known today, but this piece culturally changed how we see vampires, from the hideous ghouls in Eastern European folklore to a smooth seductive vampire which bore an uncanny resemblance to Lord Byron and this is where the modern myth of the vampire was born (James, 2010). “The Vampyre” was not influenced by “Dracula” as ‘Dracula” was written after “The Vampyre”, “Dracula” however was the story that really took root in 1897 and the most well-known, but Polidori’s story is the one that planted the seed about what vampires could be (James, 2010).
DeleteThe villa Doidati is the place where four writers challenged each other to invent a scary/horror tale, which reflected the world they were in as it was scary and gloomy and as you can see it brought out the most influential pieces of writing for the Vampire, Monster, Horror, and Gothic genre. What happened in the house has never been confirmed but some sources say it may have included a lot of drinking, sex and as we know for sure a lot of writing but the rest will always be a mystery.
References:
May, Andrew. (2011). The Year Without a Summer. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://forteana-blog.blogspot.co.nz/2011/10/year-without-summer.html
James, Syrie. (2010). Dracula: The Roots of the Vampire Romance. Retrieved from http://www.harperteen.com/author/microsite/readingguide.aspx?authorID=32567&displayType=essay&articleId=8955
Website Retrieved Info From: http://www.bargaintraveleurope.com/08/Switzerland_Villa_Diodoti_Geneva.htm
Website Retrieved Info From: http://knarf.english.upenn.edu/Polidori/poldiary.html
Website Retrieved Info From: http://www.oxforddnb.com/templates/article.jsp?articleid=4279&back=&version=2007-10
Website Retrieved Info From: http://knarf.english.upenn.edu/Places/diodati.html
Excellent account. You have captured the atmosphere of 'gothic'. It's always a stormy night...
ReplyDelete