CHAPTER XXVI- ROMANTICISM
(Art imitates life.. How does the painting embody Romanticism?)
(Note that there will be continuing shifts in point of view.)
CHAPTER XXVI- ROMANTICISM
(Art imitates life.. How does the painting embody Romanticism?)
(Note that there will be continuing shifts in point of view.)
I. HILDE’S QUESTION ABOUT POO AND LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD--is "fairy tale" literature important to philosophy, and what role does the imagination play??
[NOTE THE SHIFT IN POINT OF VIEW]
II. PARTY INVITATIONS OF SOPHIE TO A ‘PHILOSOPHICAL GARDEN PARTY’ - USE OF THE IMAGINATION IS ALLOWED
A. HILDE’S DAD GETS HOME FROM LEBANON ON THE SAME DAY AS THE PARTY?
B. KANT --recall the role of the mind in the creative process ( a priori ).
III. THE NEXT LESSON [ROMANTICISM]--see the key words, p. 346...:
A. ROUSSEAU and SCHELLING and SPINOZA and BERKELEY--the philosophical fathers of romanticism
B. BLAKE, WORDSWORTH, COLERIDGE, BYRON, SHELLEY, KEATS, BEETHOVEN--note the common elements; love of nature, feelings control emotions, the creative urge--the primacy of the imagination, love of nature, love of the medieval past, man creates his own soul--Promethius, the Byronic hero (negative romanticism), ego-worship, cosmic consciousness, organicism vs. mechanic form, mysticism.
D. THE AESTHETICS OF KANT--prelude to Romanticism: SEE PREVIOUS CHAPTER.
1--WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE EXPERIENCE THE BEAUTY OF A WORK OF ART--AS IT EXISTS INDEPENDENT OF SENSE EXPERIENCE--CAN THERE BE A STANDARD?
2--THE ARTISTS USES HIS COGNITION HERE, BUT SOME ROMANTICS LIKE COLERIDGE WOULD STRESS THE ROLE OF THE IMAGINATION AS PARAMOUNT.
IV. THE ARTIST IS LIKE GOD--THE EXPRESSIVE THEORY
A. TOLKIEN AND SUB-CREATION
B. WORDSWORTH AND THE COLORING OF THE IMAGINATION
C. COLERIDGE AND THE DIVINE SPARK, AND THE PRIMARY / SECONDARY IMAGINATION
D. SHELLEY AND THE SYMPATHETIC IMAGINATION
E. KEATS--THE ROLE OF DREAMS
D. THE BYRONIC HERO--GOTHIC ROMANTICISM
V. THE MYSTERY OF NATURE IS BEYOND REASON, SO THE PRIMACY OF THE IMAGINATION IS ESSENTIAL
A. SCHELLING AND THE WORLD SPIRIT
B. THE PRESENCE OF WORDSWORTH--SEE TINTERN ABBEY
VI. UNIVERSAL AND NATIONAL ROMANTICISM:
A. PLATO’S WORLD SOUL AND GENIUS
B. THE HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OR RACE--THE RISE OF FAIRY TALE LITERATURE:
1--GRIMM BROTHERS
2--FOLK TALES OF THE COMMUNITY
3--NATIONAL SOCIALISM-- ‘TRIUMPH OF THE WILL’
4--THE FAIRY TALE: ARTISTS THE FREEDOM TO USE HIS IMAGINATION TO EXPLORE
5--TOLKIEN = GOSPELS = FAIRY TALES: SEE MY TOLKIEN SEMINAR CLASS
VII. WILL THE WORD DESTROY THE ROMANTICS’ ILLUSION? ROLE OF MIMETICISM AND THE EXPRESSIVE THEORY: THE MIRROR AND THE LAMP-METAPHOR
VIII. THE APPEARANCE IN THE WOODS OF ALADDIN, p. 355
A. THE SPIRIT IN THE LAMP HE RUBBED LOOKED LIKE THE MAJOR (HILDE’S FATHER)
B. HE WARNS THAT “BJERKELY” IS A FAIRY TALE, BUT RECALL WHAT TOLKIEN SAID. READ HIS ESSAY ON FAIRY TALE LITERTURE
C. PUZZLE: HOW CAN HILDE’ FATHER APPEAR OUT OF A LAMP IN A STORY WRITTEN ABOUT SOPHIE BY A MAN IN LEBANON? (P. 354-5)
IX. WHAT HAS BEEN GIVEN AWAY?
A. WE ARE LIVING IN A BOOK THAT HILDE’S FATHER WILL GIVE TO HER AS A PRESENT FOR HER 15TH BIRTHDAY, p. 356
B. WE ARE SHADOWS IN THE SOUL OF THE MAJOR, AND HOW CAN WE REBEL AGAINST HIM?
1--ONLY AN ANGEL CAN REBEL?
2--CAN HILDE PUNISH HER FATHER FOR THIS TRICK?
3--DOES SHE PLAY THE FOOL AT SOPHIE’S EXPENSE
WHAT CAN THE CREATED DO TO THE CREATOR? THIS IS ONE OF THE CENTRAL IDEAS IN THE BOOK AND POSES A PARADOX: CAN THE CREATED 'CONCEIVE' OF THAT WHICH THE CREATOR HAS NOT IMAGINED? AN INTERESTING PERSPECTIVE MAY BE FOUND IN HAROLD BLOOM'S HAMLET: POEM UNLIMITED,
X. WHAT IF SOPHIE AND ALBERTO ARE NOTING BUT IMAGES IN THE MIND OF THE MAJOR WHO IN TURN IS NOTHING BUT AN IMAGE IN THE MIND OF...
XI. IS THE AUTHOR A PART OF A HIGHER MIND? (SPINOZA? BERKELEY?)
XII. HOW CAN THE CONFUSION BE SOLVED?
SUGGESTED READINGS
A--You will find under Supplementary Readings, SECTION SIX, links to my BRITISH LITERATURE page. You should examine:
B--[Eve of St. Agnes which may be found under Supplementary Readings.]
C--See Also Student Curriculum Links for Romantic Period Research and WEB Sites
D--See the Supplementary Readings for SECTION SIX--Reason and Romanticism; read: Hegel, Schopenhauer, and Rousseau.
E--NEGATIVE ROMANTICISM-has unfortunately tarnished its contribution. Nazism made much of the Romantic spirit but perverted its essence, and in our own time, the Unabomber's Essay did the same thing.
F--SEE THE ROMANTIC AND GOTHIC HORROR COURSE CO-AUTHORED WITH DR. DONNA FRIETAS
G- BLOOM, HAROLD. HAMLET: POEM UNLIMITED; NEW YORK; RIVERSIDE PRESS, 2002