Romanticism
-takes emotion from great awakening, takes self-evidence from enlightenment
-connecting with and experiencing every moment
-__labyrinthine corridor__: a place where we can get lost (forest, building); used as a symbol of the human mind
-__das ding an sich__: “the thing in itself” that exists as an object but is not perceivable
-do not like social hierarchy, believe everyone dies so we are all equal
-did not like money/greed, but mostly came from upper/middle-class educated families
“ultimate yolo people”
-live the moment and do whatever to live that moment, lots of self-indulgence
-thought humans had lots of capability, very arrogant (esp traditional romantics)
| Traditional Romanticism | Dark Romanticism |
|---|---|
| -heavily focused on nature as an inspiration, a guide, and almost a god, in order to find the truth \n -focus on beauty and inspiration \n -look outwards for answers \n -powers of both nature and themselves are godlike | -duality: who are human beings really?(ex: Dr Jekyll & Mister Hyde)-conclude human beings are both good and bad at the same time \n -look (at the human psyche) inwards for answers |
Jekyll & Hyde chapter 2:
-searches for the truth: Utterson stalks Mr. Hyde to find out what he truly looks like and solve the mystery of who Mr. Jekyll has left his will to
-passing of time (clock ringing at 12am, 6am)
-appearance vs reality: Hyde’s house being dingy and cramped vs Jekyll’s house being grand and beautiful
-mystery: Utterson cannot imagine Jekyll being bad, thinks Hyde is blackmailing Jekyll into making him a beneficiary in the will
-document (will) gives deeper information about the relationship between Jekyll & Hyde, a sense of shared ownership
-key: Hyde belongs inside; connection to Jekyll; Hyde has a key to Jekyll’s lab showing that he belongs with Jekyll and inside the same place
-Lanyon claims Jekyll has gotten into “unscientific balderdash”; reflects the romantics’ worry about science coming too far: “just because we can, should we?” idea of forbidden knowledge (info about death, god, changing the fundamentals of the world)
-just because we can, should we? (Frankenstein, Prometheus)
The Minister’s Black Veil by Hawthorne
-``the moment of your release is at hand. Are you ready for the lifting of the veil that shuts in time from eternity?'' lifting of the veil = seeing the truth = seeing death/heaven
-wearing the veil = wearing his sins on the outside
-people are scared of seeing someone’s sins so clearly and can’t bear to look at him because they don’t want to face their own sins
Edgar Allan Poe
-signified (S^D) / signifier (S^R)
The Imp of the Perverse
-when given the choice between doing the right and the wrong thing, we choose the wrong because it is the wrong thing
-Poe is very philosophical (rationalism, empiricism)
-humans do what we do because it is the dumb thing to do
-summary of short story: a person commits the murder of someone whom he knew pretty well. he struggles to contain his giddiness at his successful attempt, but manages to restrain himself from spilling. eventually all of his desires to tell about his bad deed bubble up and overpower him, causing him to confess and be censured for his crime.
“Imp of the Perverse” vocab
-__prima mobilia__
**: primary impulse, the thing that drives our impulses, given to us by God-phrenologists: people who felt the bumps and knolls of the skull to determine traits of people-phrenologists claim our prima mobilia is given to us by god and we follow it because__supererogation__: to go above, excessive, almost unexplainable, behaviours__a priori__
: prior to or independent of experienc, associated with Rationalism__a posteriori__