1. How is the Romantic notion of the Sublime reflected in the texts under consideration in this Romanticism reader? Discuss one or two examples from Blake's Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience.
2. How do Blake and Rousseau's ideas align and differ (themes to consider are slavery, religion and education)?
2. How do Blake and Rousseau's ideas align and differ (themes to consider are slavery, religion and education)?
3. See what you can find out anything about what really happened at the Villa Diodati that fateful summer in 1816...
4. 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).
5. 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).
7. How does Frankenstein a) reference the Bible, b) foreshadow the Death of God and c) juggle genres as well as narrative points of view in its storytelling?
4. 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).
5. 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).
7. How does Frankenstein a) reference the Bible, b) foreshadow the Death of God and c) juggle genres as well as narrative points of view in its storytelling?
See what you can find out anything about what really happened at the Villa Diodati that fateful summer in 1816…
ReplyDelete‘The year without a summer’, as 1816 became known, provided the perfect bleak, macabre backdrop to write such doom-laden Gothic tales as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and John Polidori’s The Vampyre. Lord Byron suggestion one evening at the Villa Diodati that those present should turn their hands to the writing of ghost stories. The late-night talks at the Villa Diodati continued as the weather outside remained stormy, and it was following one of these conversations that Mary had the nightmare that gave rise to the central idea of Frankenstein. This suggestion resulted in the two iconic tales: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, a story of scientific transgression and a cautionary warning about the need to take responsibility for one’s actions; and John Polidori’s The Vampyre, a tale which influenced Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula.
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).
There are many films that depict the events of 1816. Titles include Gothic, directed by Ken Russell (1986), Haunted Summer, directed by Ivan Passer (1988), The Bride of Frankenstein, directed by James Whale (1935), Frankenstein: Birth of a Monster, directed by Mary Downes (2003) and Remando al Viento (English title: Rowing with the Wind), directed by Gonzalo Suárez (1988). There is also a film about Mary Shelley, title Mary Shelley, that was released in 2018 and directed by Haifaa al-Mansour, which explores Mary’s life and love life with Percy Bysshe Shelley and the origins of the Frankenstein story.
Gothic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwfBY2_cXMo
Haunted Summer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG-rJuyfvxM
The Bride of Frankenstein: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEF0zUY5d9Y
Frankenstein: Birth of a Monster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3sQMFGxZTM – full film
Remando al Viento: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92U3orszabY
Mary Shelley: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EaDRhPm1DM
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).
The brat part is seen as the pioneers of modernising the Gothic genre, obviously not having created it as they were inspired by both a collection of German horror stories, translated under the title Fantasmagoriana, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s Christabel, a poem in which the character Geraldine, who appears as a woman but is actually a Lamia or disguised serpent, seeks both the spiritual and physical possession of the beautiful and innocent Christabel, in their own writing. Byron’s reading of Christabel supposedly made Percy Shelley flee the room screaming, apparently horrified by the sudden mental vision of a woman who had eyes instead of nipples on her breasts. Polidori made use of this ‘fit of fantasy’ in his story The Vampyre. The two main texts produced at Villa Diodati, Frankenstein and The Vampyre, have influenced many adaptations since their births that fateful evening, some mentioned in the above question. The key ideas and themes within the texts have been able to surpass the test of time and are able to integrate themselves as elements of other genres that have since made themselves popular, such as YA and Horror.
References:
https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/mary-shelley-frankenstein-and-the-villa-diodati
https://mjpcuervo.com/2016/08/30/summer-1816-on-film/
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls020622769/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwfBY2_cXMo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG-rJuyfvxM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEF0zUY5d9Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3sQMFGxZTM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92U3orszabY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EaDRhPm1DM
#2
ReplyDeleteMany of William Blake's works were influenced by Rousseau's writing. They both helped build the Romantic movement in literature. There are many similarities between the two writers. For example, Rousseau was very outspoken about his view on human suffering. He believed that revulsion at seeing suffering is what motivated humans. It can be assumed that Blake had the same feeling towards this topic. His poem, "Chimney Sweeper" in both Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, suggests that he was against any time of human suffering or mistreatment. In specific, when it comes to slavery, the two seem to match up on beliefs and viewpoints. Rousseau had, again, a very outspoken belief, whereas, Blake's opinion seems to be suggested through his works. In his opening line of The Social Contract, he says, "Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains," (Rousseau, 1762). He believed that when man was in a natural state, he is free, but society is what turns him into a slave. He said that for society to work, man must give up everything, and all conditions must be the same for each person ('Then and Now' YouTube channel). As for Blake, his works suggest he had a similar point of view and supported equal rights for all. His poem "Little Black Boy" was inspired by the slave trade accounts from Surinam (Gupta, date unknown). The speaker of the poem is clearly bothered by slavery, and this suggests that Blake's personal views were similar. For Blake and Rousseau, slavery went beyond the physical world and race. It was a mental state that was the result of pursuing materialism or following conventional religion. They believed living a life like that made man a slave to the world and to society.
The two Romantic writers also fell on similar wavelengths when it came to education. For Rousseau, he believed children are born naturally good and should be kept in a natural environment in order to grow up to be freethinkers (The Educational Roots). His work Emile is on the education of man. He states that the education of women should be in relations to man (Rousseau, 1762). So, for example, they should learn how to care for men and raise their sons. Therefore, this means that the education of men depends on the education of women. If the women are educated in terms of how to teach boys, then the boys will be educated. It is like a cycle. As for Blake, his poem "The School Boy", suggests that he is against formal and organized education. Line six and seven says, "But to go to school in a summer morn, / O! it drives all joy away;" (Blake, 1794). They both supported natural learning, not organized schools and education.
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#2 CONTINUED
ReplyDeleteLastly, when it comes to religion, it again seems as if they are both against conventional and organized religion (surprise, surprise!). In Blake's poem "The Garden of Love", it paints a picture of a beautiful garden taken over by a church and organized religion. The priest is the "agent of repression" and the speaker's joy and desire is being choked by briar patches (Blake, 1794). Rousseau believed in three different types of religion. Religion of the man, religion of the citizen, and a third type is independent of the state and has its own dogma. The religion of man is informal and is centered around the raw worship of God. He believed this one to be holy and true, but its downfall is that it is too detached from the earth. The religion of the citizen is like civil religion. It is organized and hierarchical with formal dogmas. It teaches the love of country, obedience to the state, and martial values. He believed this one had a few flaws but was, for the most part, good since it joined worship and law. The last type, which is similar to Catholicism, was believed by Rousseau to be absolutely wrong and bad. He was completely against it. (econfaculty.gmu.edu/bcaplan/rousseau.txt)
All in all, the two writers had more similarities than differences. Rousseau was very outspoken on his beliefs, whereas, Blake's principles showed through his writings.
#3
ReplyDeleteLord Byron rented the villa in Geneva with his personal physician John Polidori. Percy Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (soon to be Mary Shelley), and Claire Clairmont were staying at a house nearby. They all seemed to be fleeing from things back home. Bryon was escaping allegations of an affair and incest, and Percy Shelley and Mary were also escaping the heat of being in an affair. They visited Villa Diodati, and the group had a spooky night in. They challenged each other to write the best ghost story (Kane, 2016). A very famous work came out of this challenge: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. To this day, it is still a very mysterious and eerie gathering that took place in the villa that night. There are rumors of hauntings and drunk partying. Perhaps the truth will always remain a mystery, but the one thing we know is that it produced a work of art - Frankenstein.
#4
ReplyDelete1. Ken Russel's Gothic
2. Kelly Dunn's One Night at the Villa Diodati
3. Mira J. Spektor's "Villa Diodati": A Chamber Opera
4. Gonzalo Suarez's Rowing with the Wind
5. Ivan Passer's Haunted Summer
6. Roger Corman's Frankenstein Unbound
7. Rob Urbinati's "Villa Diodati" (Winter Films Award winner 2016)
#5
In the summer of 1816 on the shores of Lake Geneva, a rather scandalous group of people gathered in a large house, each on the run from their own personal demons. Lord Byron was escaping the heat of adultery and incest, and the soon-to-be married Shelley's were fleeing affair allegations and having children out of wedlock. Polidori and Clairmont were like the supporting characters. They were both just invited, they were not fleeing anything, but if they had not joined then nothing that came as a result of this mysterious summer would have been possible. They all played a part in what started and fueled the Gothic genre in literature.
After reading Fantasmagoriana, a French ghost story book, and a couple rounds of laudanum, Lord Byron suggested a contest. They had all been experiencing mysterious, eerie things in the mansion. So, he wanted to use it, and challenged each of them to write the best horror story. Out of this competition, two very important Gothic genre works were born. Apparently, the story of Frankenstein came to Shelley through a frightening nightmare. She intended it to be a short story, but her husband Percy encouraged her to make it a full novel. Two years later, back in London, the work was published. The critics were unwelcoming of it at first, but it won with the general public. This work is known to be one of the three youngest horror stories since it contains a completely original creation of the monster (Kane, 2016). It played a key role in launching the literary genre of Gothicism. Shelley's writing possessed all the qualities of a Gothic story - horror, death, and sometimes romance. It is a dark story, and the diction portrays the eerie and frightening mood. She brought the Gothic genre about through words and sentences like, "Darkness then came over me and troubled me" and "demoniacal corpse" (Shelley, 1818). A specific exclamation from Dr. Frankenstein truly embodies the gothic mood, as well as the real terror of the monster:
"Oh! No mortal could support the horror of that countenance. A mummy again endued with animation could not be so hideous as that wretch. I had gazed on him while unfinished; he was ugly then, but when those muscles and joints were rendered capable of motion, it became a thing such as even Dante could not have conceived."
These words of Frankenstein are filled with fear and horror. It is just one of the many factors that made this novel a beacon for the Gothic genre.
Lord Byron's Manfred also embodies many Gothic elements. It involves spirits and has a very creepy mood. The following quote has a very downcast tone that helps contribute to the gothic style: "But grief should be the instructor of the wise; / Sorrow is knowledge," (Byron, 1817). Lastly, the presence of spirits creates a very creepy setting. The following quote demonstrates that: "I call upon ye by the written charm / Which gives me power upon you - Rise! Appear!" (Byron, 1817).
References
ReplyDeletehttp://libertygroup.tripod.com/style.html
http://econfaculty.gmu.edu/bcaplan/rousseau.txt
https://www.academia.edu/7700256/Ideas_of_Slavery_and_Racism_in_the_Poems_of_William_Blake
https://educationalroots.weebly.com/jean-jacques-rousseau.html
https://regencyredingote.wordpress.com/2016/06/24/regency-bicentennial-horror-at-villa-diodati/
https://medium.com/@gilroi/what-exactly-was-the-curse-of-the-diodati-circle-3de05c794444
https://mjpcuervo.com/2016/08/30/summer-1816-on-film/
https://winterfilmawards.com/film/wfa16-villa-diodati/
1. The romantic notion of the sublime in texts are, in other words, the strongest sensations that produce excitement toward the reader. Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience are intended to show two states of the human soul. In the Chimney Sweeper, two lines such as “And by came an Angel who had a bright key, and he open’d the coffins and set them all free” (Blake w., 1972, pg.137). This part of the poem changes the mood of the story because an angel of Tom’s dream unlocks the coffin and all the boys are celebrating their freedom from the coffins. This sublime moment of the story suggests excitement toward the reader because the mood of the story is changed when the boys are released into freedom.
ReplyDeleteAnother example from Blake’s works is from the poem Infant Joy. Blake said, “Sweet joy befall thee” (Blake W., 1972, pg.140). This part of the poem the toddlers name is announced; her name is Joy. This reason is because the toddler was overly happy when she came out of the mother’s womb. This is also another sublime moment because it expressed excitement towards the reader because the toddler has a name.
2. Blake and Rousseau have similar ideas that both align and differ. A huge theme that both writers exaggerate are the topics of slavery. In many of Blake’s novels he expresses a lifelong concern with the struggle of the soul to free itself from reason and religion. He himself grew up living in poverty and must be a man and slave away to make a living. The topic of slavery is important to him. Many of his poems have important meaning to this topic, however, a specific poem was The Chimney Sweeper. A line he wrote, “so your chimneys I sweep, and in soot I sleep” (Blake, 1972, pg.137). This sentence describes his rough days of being a slave cleaning chimneys to be able to make a living. Blake is highly against slavery and puts in huge efforts to put it to an end.
ReplyDeleteRousseau also included a lot of topics on slavery in his novel, The Social Contract. He argued that “man is born good, in a natural state”. His novel claimed that institutions of law and morality are necessary to prevent man’s natural state from descending into brutishness and perishing thereby (PowerPoint). He wanted to write something that would reflected peoples purpose in society. He thought “the right of slavery is null and void, not only as being illegitimate…” (Cole, 1913, pg.148). He had a similar view as Blake; he felt that slavery need to end because people should have their own freedom to have their own beliefs and values in which they decide to live their lives.
3. The Villa Diodati is a mansion in the village of Cologny near Lake Geneva in Switzerland. In the summer of 1816 Lord Byron and John Polidori stayed there while Mary Shelley and Percy Shelley lived nearby. Shelley’s novel Frankenstein is well known because of this specific time in her life. She experienced many ghost encounters in the villa and she wanted to them write a novel that included them. She wrote, “soon a gate swung back, a step was heard, the door of the chamber opened, and he advanced to the couch of the blooming youths, cradled in healthy sleep” (Shelley, 1985, pg.173). That summer the 4 individuals wrote and told their stories of ghosts and Shelley reflected her experiences later in her life by writing a novel, Frankenstein.
ReplyDelete4. People now wondered the reason behind Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein. A film clip that talks about Mary Shelley’s conception of Frankenstein was written to inform people about the reasons behind the story. The book was written after she thought of the ghost Frankenstein and all the ghost stories that were told by the others that lived in Geneva. A film produced in 1986, Gothic, was a story recreated after Frankenstein became a well-known classical novel. The trailer of this film is about the book which describes the aftermath of Shelley’s summer in 1816. Overall there are many clips today that describe the story of Frankenstein and the history behind the novel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VM1D_xUjuOE
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaKoytUL0xI
5. Mary Shelley’s novels were the start of a new generation of movies and novel in society. The “brat pack” is a known and common theme for entertainment that involves teen-oriented actors and characters. For example, fictional or thriller shows and movies involving vampires such as The Vampire Diaries and the Twilight series highlight “bloody and gory” scenes. Teenagers have interest in this type of genre because it involves drama while also adventurous entertainment. If it weren’t for Mary Shelley’s writing this type of genre would of never became a source of entertainment for the world. In Frankenstein, Shelley talks about a “skull-head lady” which is a part of a horror image for the reader (Shelley, 1985, pg.174). Her imagination with words put a beginning to scary movies for entertainment.
ReplyDelete7. Frankenstein references many biblical scenes from the Bible because Shelley wanted to showcase the principles of what is means to be human. She is also atheist and wanted to eliminate God to display self-realization in the novel. For example, a scene in the novel Frankenstein wants to have a female companion to eat berries with; Shelley is referencing the story of Adam and Eve. Shelley foreshadows the death of God in Frankenstein by describing the weather such as thunder and lightning can mean something horrible would happen. She includes a lot of tragedies of characters in the movie to cause the reader to feel scared. The genre of this novel was the beginning to horror and thriller books and movies and a broad entertainment for teenagers.
ReplyDeleteReferences:
ReplyDeleteBlake, W. (1972; 1794). Songs of Innocence and Experience with an introduction and commentary by Sir Geoffrey Keynes, London: Oxford.
Cole, G.D. (1913). Translation of Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s The Social Contract, 1762
Rousseau, J.J. (1762). Emile.
Shelley, Mary. (1985; 1818). Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus, London: Penguin
How is the Romantic notion of the Sublime reflected in the texts under consideration in this Romanticism reader? Discuss one or two examples from Blake's Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience.
ReplyDeleteThe Chimney Sweeper - Songs of Experience
The Sublime has a lurking sense of terror and horror, it is something born of terror and awe. The Chimney Sweeper within the Songs of Experience poems is a good reflection of the notion of the Sublime. In the second rendition of The Chimney Sweeper poem, there is no redemption through a happy dream, the young boy’s parents are up piously praying by the church: “Where are thy father & mother ? say ? / They are both gone up to the church to pray,” (Blake, 1793). While he is ‘working’ all year round in terrible conditions: “They clothed me in the clothes of death, / And taught me to sing the notes of woe,” (Blake, 1793). Blake almost blames organised religion for human suffering and targets his distaste for God, his priests and the King.
How do Blake and Rousseau's ideas align and differ (themes to consider are slavery, religion and education)?
Rousseau argued that ‘man’ is born good, in a natural state and that man is perfectible by their own means. Citizens may be comfortable to hand over certain rights to the state, if the state then provides certain benefits
However, Blake’s solution to social problems in songs of innocence is to sweep them under the carpet, But in the songs of experience, Blake’s targets of distaste were God, his Priests & King and he spoke about the remnants of the holy roman empire social order.
Rousseau believed in the death of god, displacing the role of god in relation to the creation, humans becoming god.
See what you can find out anything about what really happened at the Villa Diodati that fateful summer in 1816...
In the summer of 1816, Percy Shelley, his soon-to-be wife Mary Godwin and Mary’s step-sister Clare Clairmont were staying at the Hotel d’Angleterre in Geneva. Clare suggested they rendezvous with Lord Byron and his personal physician John Polidori after she spent quite a bit of time with Byron. After meeting, Shelley and Byron became good friends and soon decided to find new lodgings together. The Villa Diodati had a main house, which was taken by Byron and his physician and a chalet, for Shelley and co. But after a spell of bad weather, they all ended up staying in the main house at Villa Diodati. Lord Byron suggested they each write a ghost story while they were confined indoors. Mary Godwin took the to time listen to Shelley and Byron discuss ghosts and galvanism (as they were both known poets) and after a night of insomnia, she had written the beginnings of what would soon be known as Frankenstein. Clare then found out she was pregnant with Bryon’s child, while Polidori wrote his short novel The Vampyre, which went on to be a bestseller. Within eight years of this summer, all three men in attendance were dead, (Jackson, 2016).
Blake, W. (1793). Songs of Experience: The Chimney Sweeper. England.
Jackson, K. (2016, May 17). The haunted summer of 1816. Prospect. Retrieved from: https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/
1. How is the Romantic notion of the sublime reflected in the texts under consideration in this Romanticism reader? Discuss one or two examples from Blake's Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience.
ReplyDeleteThe anonymous author in crossref-it.info stated that Romantic literatures contain the imaginative and emotional languages in text. Also, Romantic literatures put emphasis on children’s pure, and innocent point of view. However, they also criticize the issues such as the gap between the rich and the poor, industrialization, and pollution. In other words, they also focus on the reality. (cross-it.info, 2019).
Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience both describe the society, using the interpretation of the bible.
The former, as the word itself, expressing the ‘innocence’. For example, if we focus on ‘The Little Boy Found’, the poem describes the scene of child is rescued by the God – “Began to cry, but God ever nigh/ Appeard like his father in white”. This sacred God was illustrated as the “androgynous figures” which has both gender (Keynes, 1972).
The latter, whereas indirectly expressing that there is a gap between the ideal society and the real society. ‘Holy Thursday’ can be one of the examples. The ideal society has drawn by these stanzas - “Is this a holy thing to see/ In a rich and fruitful land” (L1, L2) and the real society is this stanza – “It is a land of poverty!” (L8). The land is “eternal winter” (Blake, 1794). These contrasted expressions are maximizing the tragic moment which is occurred by the poverty or could be by the death.
2. How do Blake and Rousseau's ideas align and differ (themes to consider are slavery, religion and education)?
ReplyDeleteBlake and Rousseau are both influential people for the development of Romanticism. According to Welch (2011), in terms of education, Blake consisted that children’s imaginations are the “open gate” for them to expand their possibilities to be a better person, whereas Rousseau considered them as “a barrier” (p.209). If we consider slavery, Gupta (n.d.) states that Blake’s ideas are “highly sympathetic” towards the slavery and his works examined their sufferings as well as helped their “marginalised position” to be uplifted (Gupta, n.d.). Douglass (October 28, 2014), however cited that Rousseau usually did not consider about the slavery at all, and seemed that he had very little concerning related to the postcolonial issues (Douglass, 2015). According to Kaur (n.d.), the Romantic God is stretched the influence to “more dynamic and more immediately present, both in nature and the self”, unlike the deistic God. Therefore, for both of Blake and Rousseau, God and the universe are the same. Rousseau consisted that the humans were naturally born as good but the society is corrupting the human morality (Kaur, n.d.) whereas Blake consisted that we have to ask endless questions about “existence”, and the questions are more important than the answers (Damrosch, 2016).
3. See what you can find out anything about what really happened at the Villa Diodati that fateful summer in 1816...
ReplyDeleteI have explored Wikipedia to get some knowledge about the ‘Villa Diodati’. It is a notable mention near Lake Geneva in Switzerland which was rented by the Lord Byron in 1816. John Polidori was also stayed there in 1816 as well as Mary Shelly (Mary Godwin) who became the future wife of Byron, and Percy Bysshe Shelly were frequently visiting their house to hang out. Since the weather was awful in 1816’s summer, they were spending time together by creating stories and telling them to each other. Two of the stories were developed into Mary Shelly’s ‘Frankenstein’ which is the gothic horror genre and Polidori’s ‘The Vampyre’ which is the first story of the vampire (Wikipedia, last edited in May 3, 2006). Surprisingly, three men those who were attending to this gathering were dead within 8 years (Jackson, 2016).
4. 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).
ReplyDelete1. Ken Russel’s Gothic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C_xrvI0xQ4
2. Mira J. Spektor’s Villa Diodati, A chamber opera
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDzWlCHj7Cs
3. Matt Corner and Stephen Gragory Smith’s Monsters of the Villa Diodati
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUXSuSSXpvk
4. Ivan Passer’s Haunted Summer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQwwVThTuZM
There must be several more fictional accounts related to the fateful summer in 1816 because the horror genre was getting popular since then.
References:
ReplyDeleteDouglass, R. (2014, October 28). Fugitive Rousseau: Slavery, primitivism and political freedom. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/cpt.2014.27
Gothic (1986) - HD Trailer [1080p] [Video file]. (2018, February 5). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C_xrvI0xQ4
Gupta, A. (n.d.). Ideas of Slavery and Racism in the Poems of William Blake. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/7700256/Ideas_of_Slavery_and_Racism_in_the_Poems_of_William_Blake
Haunted Summer 1988 Movie [Video file]. (2014, February 22). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQwwVThTuZM
Jackson, K. (2016, May 17). The haunted summer of 1816. Prospect. Retrieved from: https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/
Kaur, J. (n.d.). God and Religion in Romantic Era. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/11053600/God_and_Religion_in_Romantic_Era
Keynes, G. (1972). 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. London, UK: Oxford.
Monsters of the Villa Diodati Teaser [Video file]. (2016, January 15). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUXSuSSXpvk
Romanticism: background, main features, Romantic authors from Crossref-it.info. (2019). Retrieved from https://crossref-it.info/articles/361/romantic-poetry
VILLA DIODATI, a chamber opera by Mira J. Spektor [Video file]. (2016, January 21). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDzWlCHj7Cs
Welch, D. M. (2011). Blake and Rousseau on Children’s Reading, Pleasure, and Imagination. The Lion and the Unicorn, 35(3), 199-226. doi:10.1353/uni.2011.0022
Wikipedia. (2006, May 3). Villa Diodati. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villa_Diodati#Summer_of_1816
1. How is the Romantic notion of the Sublime reflected in the texts under consideration in this Romanticism reader? Discuss one or two examples from Blake's Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience.
ReplyDeleteRomantic literature was most concerned with imagination and emotion. To the romanticists, imagination and emotion were placed above reason and formal rules. Imagination was considered a gateway to transcendent experience and truth. In the poem- The little boy lost, I can feel the little boy, “ Father, father, where are you going, do not walk so fast, speak father, speak to your little boy, or else I shall be lost.” The little boy is an image of innocence and dependence. The weeping of the child conveys his terror at abandonment, emphasizing his vulnerability. The term father would have more than associations with human generation and care. In Blake’s Christian society, fatherhood was associated with God the Father, an all-pervasive, benevolent presence. Therefor, the relationship between father and child not just of a human reality but of a divine one, too.
2. How do Blake and Rousseau's ideas align and differ (themes to consider are slavery, religion and education)?
William Blake was a poet during the Romantic period who studied the works of Rousseau and wrote songs based on the ideas he studied. There are some similarities between Blake an Rousseau. Blake’s “ The Lamb” effectively established the sublimity and innocence surrounding the concept of the natural existence. By the end of the poem, the speaker acknowledges that is it a child, stating “ I’(he is) a child & thou (his companion is) a lamb” (Blake 17), further revealing Blake;s attempts to encompass the innocence of childhood in his poem and explaining the purpose of his utilization of the calming and simplistic tone that is present throughout the poem. The soaker’s absence of logic and knowledge parallels Rousseau’s statements in “A discourse on inequality” Which stated that “ …the more discoveries we (mankind) make(s), the more we deprive ourself of the means of making the most important of all”(Rousseau 43).
3. See what you can find out anything about what really happened at the Villa Diodati that fateful summer in 1816…
ReplyDeleteThe year 1816 went down in history as “the year without summer.” During this terrible summer of 1816, Lord Byron came from England and rented the Villa Diodati to escape the scandals some of his love affairs had provoked back home. He spent many days and nights with his friends, among them John William Polidori, Claire Clairmont, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (later Mary Shelley). Lord Byron encouraged friends to try their hands at writing horror stories to pass the time and reflect the mood of the dreary days. Some of those ghoulish tales were later turned into famous fiction novels.
The very first draft of the manuscript for Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus was written inside Villa Diodati. The author penned the book when she was just 18. It was published in 1818. During that dreadful summer, Byron and Polidori also began working on The Vampyre, the first work related to the Romantic paradigm of vampire novels.
4.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).
Mary Shelley’s conception of Frankenstein- The secret life of books- BBC Four
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VM1D_xUjuOE
Villa Diodati
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foAPqrFOp4o
Reference:
ReplyDeleteElements of Romantic Writing. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://williamblakeandromanticism.weebly.com/elements-of-romantic-writing.html
The Little Boy Lost (I) - Imagery, symbolism and themes. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://crossref-it.info/textguide/songs-of-innocence-and-experience/13/1490
Duff, M. (2018, February 20). Rousseau and Blake. Retrieved from https://prezi.com/n7grdlhy-d4p/rousseau-and-blake/
(n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.123helpme.com/human-innocent-in-william-blakes-poems-the-lamb-and-the-tyger-preview.asp?id=181397
Ugc. (2018, May 08). The Birthplace of 'Frankenstein'. Retrieved from https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/villa-diodati
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).
ReplyDelete1. Gothic (1986, directed by Ken Russel)
The classic Ken Russel film is a fictionalized retelling of Shelleys' visit to Lord Byron in Villa Diodati.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEw2P0hFI2k
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095280/
3. Frankenstein (1910)
Frankenstein is a film made in 1910 by Edison Studios. The landmark film was written and directed by J. Searle Dawley.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcLxsOJK9bs
4. Frankenstein (1931), directed by James Whale. This extremely successful and incredibly highly rated film was made in 1931. A great film revolving around Shelley’s classic novel.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/
5. Rowing with the Wind (1988, Directed by Gonzalo Suarez)
The film directed in 1988, starring Hugh Grant as Lord Byron, retells the story of what happened at the Villa Diodata.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgQwca6QNg0
6. The Vampyre (1819 written by John William Polidori). The Vampyre is a short fiction story.
YouTube Clip- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A87RedNOtjg
7. Haunted Summer (1988 directed by Ivan Passer). Haunted Summer has similarities with its story line with Ken Russell 1986 film Gothic. The movie was set in the 1816.
YouTube Clip- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQwwVThTuZM
8. Remando al viento. Another 1988 film about the villa events by Gonzalo Suarez.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093840/
9. Drunk History - Lord Byron -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rawk6jsILQ.
10. Drunk History – Mary Shelley
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNcwpHw_Oa0.
1. Romantic sublime can be seen as connecting the sublime with experiences of awe or terror. Nature is the most sublime object, capable of generating the strongest sensations in its beholders. Blake's Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience are intended to juxtapose the innocent world of childhood against an adult world of repression and corruption (Tateorguk, 2019). For example, in Blake's The Garden of Love, a story is told of how he used to go to a garden when he was younger that now "is surrounded by the grave of instincts" (Blake 1794, pg 147). There are no longer any joys or desires after growing up and seeing the priest who is an "agent of repression" (Blake 1794, pg. 147). The garden has now been taken over with a chapel that represents the opposite of positive; it has been taken over by the "graves of instinct" (Blake 1794, pg. 147).
ReplyDelete2. Rousseau's ideas contributed to revolutionary ideals, feminism and socialism. He believed that the suffering and death that humans go through is a main reason in motivating other humans to act. Blake agrees with this view, as evidently shown through his poems such as 'The Chimney Sweeper' and 'Infant Sorrow.' Just as Rousseau wanted to bring awareness to social issues, so did Blake with his poems that brought light to suffering of children and others who were suppressed. 'The Chimney Sweeper' tells the story of a young boy whose parents have exploited him and how he works cleaning chimneys, while his parents ignore his feelings. "And because I am happy, and dance, and sign, they think that they have done me no injury: And are gone to praise God and his priest and King who make up a heaven of our misery" (Blake, 1794, pg. 145). Blake shoes here that organized church does not encourage people to act as Rousseau suggests, since he believed civil religion served as a motivated function to obey laws (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2017). While Blake suggests that the parents are praising God at church instead of helping their child. As for education, Rousseau's ideas about education are talked about in 'Emile.' He explains how education should be carried out in autonomous discovery as the child develops its natural capacities (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2017). Whereas Blake believed in following a similar education as we do today, but must cultivate a student's inner sense, as seen in 'The School Boy' (Tripod, 1992).
ReplyDeletePercy Shelley along with Mary Godwin and their son travelled to Geneva in May 1816. During their travels across the French border and into Switzerland were wintry landscapes that were frightening and bleak. They arrived in Geneva and Lord Byron and Dr. Polidori arrived late that night where the following day they took lease on two nearby properties, Shelley at Montalegre and Byron and the doctor at Villa Diodati. The weather in June was stormy, so the group decided to spend their nights inside discussing literary projects, taking into account the thunder and lighting over the mountains. While taking into account the doctor's medical knowledge, and the idea from Byron writing ghost stories, inspiration was taken from a collection of German horror stories. One night Mary had a nightmare following all their discussions on ghost stories and the nasty weather outside that sparked the idea of Frankenstein (The British Library, 2014).
ReplyDelete4. There are many stories, movies, etc., that tell their own version of how Frankenstein was created, and how it came to be what it was. Some of the links below share different versions of how it was created, as well as movies that take on Frankenstein in different manners.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51DjtWFSir0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDgu25Dsv34
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgqOBgfMaPc
Badalamenti, A. (2006). Why did Mary Shelley Write Frankenstein? Journal of Religion and Health, 45(3), 419-439. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/27512949
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/02/12/the-strange-and-twisted-life-of-frankenstein
House of Dracula
Haunted Summer
Rowing with the Wind
Frankenstein Unbound
5. After Shelley and the "brat pack" met in Geneva and had time to talk about ghost stories during the rainy season, Mary started writing Frankenstein and Byron suggested they each write their own spooky tales. Poldori wrote the short story the The Vampire, which later inspired Dracula. Gothic fiction was a branch of the Romantic movement that were romances with a twist, largely to do with their love of the imaginery over the logical, told from numerous points of view. Shelley's Frankenstein, The Vampire, and other stories from the Gothic genre, started an era of movies with Gothic themes such as, Mansell, val. (2013). The Birth of Gothic Horror and Beyond. Retrieved 13 May, 2019, from 'Edward ScissorHands' (1990), 'Bram Stoker's Dracula' (1992), and 'Sleepy Hollow' (1999) (Mansell, 2013). The "brat pack" then became a common theme of actors that appeared together in teen-oriented movies.
7. There are many reference to the Bible in Frankenstein, one being Frankenstein being compared to Adam, and wants to go eat berries in the wilderness, similar to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. He also reads, and becomes obsessed with Paradise Lost, which talks about Satan, Adam and Eve. "Like Adam, I was apparently united by no link to any other being in existence; but his state was far different from mine in every other respect. He had come forth from the hands of God a perfect creature, happy and prosperous, guarded by the special care of his Creator" (Frankenstein, pg. 2)... There are more than one genre--being gothic fiction, tragedy, and is considered the first work of science fiction.
ReplyDeleteReferences:
Mansell, Val. (2013). The Birth of Gothic Horror and Beyond. Retrieved 13 May 2019, from https://www.booksie.com/posting/val-mansell/the-birth-of-gothic-horror-and-beyond-311880
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, 1797-1851. (1998). Frankenstein, or, The modern Prometheus: the 1818 text. Oxford; New Yor :Oxford University Press,
Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. (2017). Stanfordedu. Retrieved 13 May 2019, from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/rousseau/
Tate. (2019). William Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience. Retrieved 13 May 2019, from https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/william-blake-39/blakes-songs-innocence-experience
The British Library. (2014). Mary Shelley, Frankenstein and the Villa Diodati. Retrieved 13 May 2019, from https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/mary-shelley-frankenstein-and-the-villa-diodati
Tripod. (1992). A Stylistic Analysis of "The School Boy". Retrieved 13 May 2019, from http://libertygroup.tripod.com/style.html
Wordpress. (2016). Blake’s Innocence and Experience: A Study of Contraries. Retrieved 13 May 2019, from https://thefablesoup.wordpress.com/2016/12/07/blakes-innocence-and-experience-a-study-of-contraries/