ENG308Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 22: Mary Shelley, Rhyme Scheme, Atheism
Final&Exam&Info
2&hour&exam&focusing&of&Term&2
•
Essay&questions&and¶graphs,&but&no&short&answers&(MCQ,&Fill&in&Blanks,&
etc.)
Essay&Qs&like&the&Term&Test
○
Single¶graphs,&e.g.&Discuss&the&significance&of&the&term&"joy"&in&
Coleridge
○
•
There&is&choice&in&the¶graphs&and&essay&questions
•
Paragraphs&include&specific&and&vague&questions
•
You&need&a&comprehensive&understanding&of&the&poems
•
Second&Generation& Romanticism
Not&an&easy&division
Superficial&premises&of&periodicity
○
•
It's&important&to¬e&that&there&are&certain&common&norms,&platitudes,&etc.&
within&social&configuration&within&particular&nations&within&which&authors&are&
situated&(e.g.&Wordsworth&and&Coleridge,&liberty,&egality,&fraternity)
The&way&in&which&certain&authors&challenge&certain&norms&(e.g.&Smith)
○
We&need&to&be&attentive&to&the&way&in&which&common&assumptions&are&
a&construction&of&the&inherited&perception&of&a&particular&period
And&how&particular&examples&challenge&common&norms&and&how&
we&perceive&them
§
○
•
There&have&been&many&revisions&to&the&assumption&about&how&to&understand&
romanticism&and&what&it&means&to&describe&romantic&poetry&in&the&last&50&
years&or&so
P.B.&Shelley&crystallises&many&of&the¢ral&debates&about&Romanticism
○
•
P.B.&Shelley&is&a&younger&romantic&(most&works&after&1810)
Self&conscious&inheritance&of&the&standard&romantic&precursors&of&
Wordsworth&and&Coleridge
Situated&against&neoclassical&propriety
§
Understood&poetry&to&be&participant&in&a&subversive&effort&to&
engage&the&consciousness&of&their&readers
§
Invested&in&understanding&their&own&interiority/psychology&as&
they&confront&disappointment&with&the&external&world
§
Return&to&the&pastoral&often&seen&as&a&kind&of&escapism&from&
political&failures&(reign&of&terror&of&the&French&revolution)
§
○
•
Clare&living&as&an&impoverished&labourer,&who&went&hungry&just&to&purchase&
writing&paper
So&when&he&engages&with&romanticism&we&have&an&engagement&with&a&
nitty&gritty&politicism&with&is&all&the&joy&in&poetry
○
He&spans&all&through&romanticism,¬&just&first&or&second&gen.
○
•
Younger&romantics&are&responding&to&disappointment&too
They&are&the&heirs&of&this&tradition
○
But&for&Shelley,&Wordsworth&led&the&way&and&then&dropped&the&ball,&
disappointed&them
○
The&term&"away&from&direct&political& engagement"&is&a&turn&away&from&
human&vitality
○
Wordsworth&and&Coleridge&engaged&in&quietism&towards&the&end&of&
their&career
The&younger&romantics&felt&betrayed&by&this
§
○
Difficult&and&complicated&history
○
•
Shelley&was&radical&in&every&aspect&of&his&life&and&thought
Emerged&from&a&very&conservative&background
○
His&ancestors&were&historically&huge&aristocrats
○
His&grandfather&was&famously&the&richest&man&in&Sussex
○
•
Timothy&Shelley,&his&father,&was&a&member&of&parliament
Percy&would&have&inherited&a&baronetcy
○
•
But&he&was&expelled&from&Oxford&for&publishing&"The&Necessity&of&Atheism"
Challenging&religious&norms&and&in&doing&so,&challenging&national&
Christianity
Hugely&radical&gesture
§
○
He&knew&he&was&situating&himself&against&the&dominant&norms&and&
cultural&authority&of&England
○
This&is&a&manifesto&which&differentiates&Shelley&from&authoritative&
contexts&that&is&radical&in&its&implications
○
Left&Oxford&and&suffered&huge&financial&difficulties&and&then&died&at&29&
by&drowning&in&a&boat
Was&outlived&by&his&father&by&many&decades
§
○
•
Harriet&Westbrook&was&Shelley's&first&wife
Eloped&with&her&to&Edenborough&against&the&wishes&of&his&family
○
Famously&insisted&that&marriage&was&a°rading&institution
○
But&he&married&her&b/c&she&needed&the&social&protection&conferred&by&
marriage
○
•
He&eventually&left&her&and&took&off&with&Mary&Wollstonecraft&Godwin
Her&parents&were&major&radical& figures&in&public&discourse
○
•
Harriet&committed&suicide&and&Shelley&lost&custody&of&his&children•
Stakes&various&claims&to&radicalism•
Fled&England,&took&up&residence&in&Italy
Restless&life,&always&moving&and&escaping&predators
○
•
Phenomenally&voracious&readers
One&of&the&greatest&intellectuals&of&the&Romantic&period
○
Had&he¬&died&at&the&age&of&29,&it&is&hard&to&think&about&what&he&
would&have&become
○
•
Hymn&to&Intellectual&Beauty&(Pg.&773)
Poet&of&great&contradictions&and&radicalism&rooted&in&a&deep&understanding•
Adapts&a&form&of&the&Ode
Romanticism&often&seen&as&the&era&in&which&the&Ode&of&passionate&
expression&was&perfected
○
Personal&or&more&general&human&problem&posed
○
Shelley&adapted&and&responded&to&the&Odes&of&the&17th-19th¢uries&
which&affirm&human&desire&to&illustrate&the&way&such&desire&to&clarify&
fails
○
The&way&in&which&our&own&need&to&construct&a&narrative&about&
resolution&is&both&affirming&for&us&and&can&lead&us&astray
○
•
Uses&idea&of&Hymn&and&idea&of&the&Ode&offers&up&praise&to&the&spiritual&
presence&that&gives&solace&to&human&existence
But&in&fact&undermines&his&own&existence
○
Draws&attention&to&our&own&efforts&to&affirm&meaning&in&our&lives
○
•
Addressed&to&a&spiritual&entity&to&which&he&gives&the&name&intellectual&beauty
Platonic&idea&of&perfect&beauty
○
•
This&is¬&just&a&shadow&of&a&power,&but&it&is&unseen&-this&is&intellectual&
beauty
In&the&very&opening&situation,&he&draws&immediate&awareness&to&the&
fact&that&this&is&a&spiritual&entity&whose&manifest&evidence&relies&on&
invisible&images
○
•
Rhyme&scheme&joins&unseen&power&with&flower&and&mountain&shower
Vulnerability&and&transience
○
The&inconstant&glance&is&immediately&joined&with&human&countenance
○
The&human&countenance&that&is&always&longing&for&the&inconstant&
glance&of&intellectual& beauty
○
We&don’t&conventionally&in&prayer&praise&God&by&calling&out&its&
inconstancy,&vulnerability,&etc.
○
Taking&the&genre&of&the&Ode&(which&celebrates&nature)&and&the&Hymn&
(which&praises&the&divine)&and&celebrates,&in&the&guise&of&conventional&
praise,&drawing&our&attention&to&just&how&little&we&know&about&that&
which&we&rely&upon
○
•
Anaphora&of&"like"
Calling&our&attention&to&the&fact&that&he&cannot&offer&an&absolute&
equivalence&because&he&does¬&have&that&assurance
○
Obtrusive&reminder&of&the&fact&that&there&is&no&consensual&
understanding&of&what&intellectual&beauty
○
Undermines&the&odes&conceptualisation&of&the&object&of&its&address
○
•
Odes&tended&to&address&abstract&personifications&(Love,&Hope,&Fear,&Death,&
God,&etc.)
These&traded&on&the&belief&that&the&audience&had&a&consensual&
understanding&of&the&object&of&the&address
○
Wordsworth&and&Coleridge,&in&moving&away&from&such&generalisations,&
addressed&the&landscape
○
Shelley&is&recalling&the&ode's&conventional&way&of&addressing&abstract&
personifications
But&calling&attention&to&how&we&don't&share&consensual&meaning&
about&the&object&of&his&address&because&we&can't
§
We&don’t&have&answers&to&questions
§
○
•
We&have&Shelley&equating&Gods,&ghosts,&heaven,&intellectual& beauty&and&
pointing&out&that&they&are&names&of&our&vain&endeavours
The&names&that&the&poet&or&sage&give&to&these&endeavours&are&just&
feeble&guesses&that&philosophers&and&poets&have&made&but&also&delude&
us
○
We&have&no&assured&knowledge&of&a&sustaining&power&of&the&universe
○
So&the&names&of&God,&heaven,&etc.&is&no&different&than&that&of&
intellectual& beauty
○
That's&why&he&equates&so&many&things&in&the&first&stanza&to&them
○
Shelley&can't&locate&his&spiritual&anchor
○
Calling&attention&to&Wordsworth's&anchoring&in&the&landscape
○
Resisting&the&desire&to&locate&his&spiritual&anchor&with&certainty
○
Pointing&out&the&limitations&of&knowledge,&of&poetry
○
Also&pointing&out&how&poetry&can&point&out&the&urgency&of&our&desire&to&
locate&a&spiritual&anchor
○
Doesn’t&mean&he&doesn’t&retain&a&desire&for&naming,&or&rejects&the&idea&
of&a&spiritual&presence
○
He&names&names&too&(28)
○
•
Recalling&the&Eolian&Harp&(34)•
He&is&aware&of&the&fact&that&an&ultimate&spiritual&presence&eludes&him•
Images&of&transience,&of&insubstantial&things
But&also&similes&drawn&from&the&world&around&him
○
We&are&becoming&aware&of&what&we&don't&know&and&the&world&from&
which&he&draws&his&similes
○
We&are&aware&of&the&world&in&which&he&is&situated
○
•
Love,&Hope&and&Self-esteem&are&primary&values&for&him•
Self-consciously&following&his&tradition
As&a&child,&he&was&into&magic/superstition
○
Is&this&any&different&from&the&efforts&of&naming&that&we&have&
exemplified&(25-27&v.&stanza&5)?
○
When&he&becomes&more&receptive& to&the&world,&that&is&when&he&finds&
illumination
○
•
He&has&stayed&up&into&the&night&being&envious&(stanza&7)
Language&that&locates&its&own&inefficacy&-beyond&representation
○
Imagines&that&spirit&fair&enjoins&him&to&fear&himself&in&the&sense&of&
standing&in&awe&of,&and&love&all&humankind&(83-84)
○
Poem&concludes&with&an&acknowledgement&of&the&inefficacy&of&
language
○
Not&an&ultimate&affirmation&of&human&beauty,&it&is&an&affirmation&of&
human&contexts
○
•
Winter&Semester&-Lecture&22
Monday,&January&9,&2017
11:09&AM
Final&Exam&Info
2&hour&exam&focusing&of&Term&2•
Essay&questions&and¶graphs,&but&no&short&answers&(MCQ,&Fill&in&Blanks,&
etc.)
Essay&Qs&like&the&Term&Test
○
Single¶graphs,&e.g.&Discuss&the&significance&of&the&term&"joy"&in&
Coleridge
○
•
There&is&choice&in&the¶graphs&and&essay&questions•
Paragraphs&include&specific&and&vague&questions•
You&need&a&comprehensive&understanding&of&the&poems•
Second&Generation& Romanticism
Not&an&easy&division
Superficial&premises&of&periodicity
○
•
It's&important&to¬e&that&there&are&certain&common&norms,&platitudes,&etc.&
within&social&configuration&within&particular&nations&within&which&authors&are&
situated&(e.g.&Wordsworth&and&Coleridge,&liberty,&egality,&fraternity)
The&way&in&which&certain&authors&challenge&certain&norms&(e.g.&Smith)
○
We&need&to&be&attentive&to&the&way&in&which&common&assumptions&are&
a&construction&of&the&inherited&perception&of&a&particular&period
And&how&particular&examples&challenge&common&norms&and&how&
we&perceive&them
§
○
•
There&have&been&many&revisions&to&the&assumption&about&how&to&understand&
romanticism&and&what&it&means&to&describe&romantic&poetry&in&the&last&50&
years&or&so
P.B.&Shelley&crystallises&many&of&the¢ral&debates&about&Romanticism
○
•
P.B.&Shelley&is&a&younger&romantic&(most&works&after&1810)
Self&conscious&inheritance&of&the&standard&romantic&precursors&of&
Wordsworth&and&Coleridge
Situated&against&neoclassical&propriety
§
Understood&poetry&to&be&participant&in&a&subversive&effort&to&
engage&the&consciousness&of&their&readers
§
Invested&in&understanding&their&own&interiority/psychology&as&
they&confront&disappointment&with&the&external&world
§
Return&to&the&pastoral&often&seen&as&a&kind&of&escapism&from&
political&failures&(reign&of&terror&of&the&French&revolution)
§
○
•
Clare&living&as&an&impoverished&labourer,&who&went&hungry&just&to&purchase&
writing&paper
So&when&he&engages&with&romanticism&we&have&an&engagement&with&a&
nitty&gritty&politicism&with&is&all&the&joy&in&poetry
○
He&spans&all&through&romanticism,¬&just&first&or&second&gen.
○
•
Younger&romantics&are&responding&to&disappointment&too
They&are&the&heirs&of&this&tradition
○
But&for&Shelley,&Wordsworth&led&the&way&and&then&dropped&the&ball,&
disappointed&them
○
The&term&"away&from&direct&political& engagement"&is&a&turn&away&from&
human&vitality
○
Wordsworth&and&Coleridge&engaged&in&quietism&towards&the&end&of&
their&career
The&younger&romantics&felt&betrayed&by&this
§
○
Difficult&and&complicated&history
○
•
Shelley&was&radical&in&every&aspect&of&his&life&and&thought
Emerged&from&a&very&conservative&background
○
His&ancestors&were&historically&huge&aristocrats
○
His&grandfather&was&famously&the&richest&man&in&Sussex
○
•
Timothy&Shelley,&his&father,&was&a&member&of&parliament
Percy&would&have&inherited&a&baronetcy
○
•
But&he&was&expelled&from&Oxford&for&publishing&"The&Necessity&of&Atheism"
Challenging&religious&norms&and&in&doing&so,&challenging&national&
Christianity
Hugely&radical&gesture
§
○
He&knew&he&was&situating&himself&against&the&dominant&norms&and&
cultural&authority&of&England
○
This&is&a&manifesto&which&differentiates&Shelley&from&authoritative&
contexts&that&is&radical&in&its&implications
○
Left&Oxford&and&suffered&huge&financial&difficulties&and&then&died&at&29&
by&drowning&in&a&boat
Was&outlived&by&his&father&by&many&decades
§
○
•
Harriet&Westbrook&was&Shelley's&first&wife
Eloped&with&her&to&Edenborough&against&the&wishes&of&his&family
○
Famously&insisted&that&marriage&was&a°rading&institution
○
But&he&married&her&b/c&she&needed&the&social&protection&conferred&by&
marriage
○
•
He&eventually&left&her&and&took&off&with&Mary&Wollstonecraft&Godwin
Her&parents&were&major&radical& figures&in&public&discourse
○
•
Harriet&committed&suicide&and&Shelley&lost&custody&of&his&children•
Stakes&various&claims&to&radicalism•
Fled&England,&took&up&residence&in&Italy
Restless&life,&always&moving&and&escaping&predators
○
•
Phenomenally&voracious&readers
One&of&the&greatest&intellectuals&of&the&Romantic&period
○
Had&he¬&died&at&the&age&of&29,&it&is&hard&to&think&about&what&he&
would&have&become
○
•
Hymn&to&Intellectual&Beauty&(Pg.&773)
Poet&of&great&contradictions&and&radicalism&rooted&in&a&deep&understanding•
Adapts&a&form&of&the&Ode
Romanticism&often&seen&as&the&era&in&which&the&Ode&of&passionate&
expression&was&perfected
○
Personal&or&more&general&human&problem&posed
○
Shelley&adapted&and&responded&to&the&Odes&of&the&17th-19th¢uries&
which&affirm&human&desire&to&illustrate&the&way&such&desire&to&clarify&
fails
○
The&way&in&which&our&own&need&to&construct&a&narrative&about&
resolution&is&both&affirming&for&us&and&can&lead&us&astray
○
•
Uses&idea&of&Hymn&and&idea&of&the&Ode&offers&up&praise&to&the&spiritual&
presence&that&gives&solace&to&human&existence
But&in&fact&undermines&his&own&existence
○
Draws&attention&to&our&own&efforts&to&affirm&meaning&in&our&lives
○
•
Addressed&to&a&spiritual&entity&to&which&he&gives&the&name&intellectual&beauty
Platonic&idea&of&perfect&beauty
○
•
This&is¬&just&a&shadow&of&a&power,&but&it&is&unseen&-this&is&intellectual&
beauty
In&the&very&opening&situation,&he&draws&immediate&awareness&to&the&
fact&that&this&is&a&spiritual&entity&whose&manifest&evidence&relies&on&
invisible&images
○
•
Rhyme&scheme&joins&unseen&power&with&flower&and&mountain&shower
Vulnerability&and&transience
○
The&inconstant&glance&is&immediately&joined&with&human&countenance
○
The&human&countenance&that&is&always&longing&for&the&inconstant&
glance&of&intellectual& beauty
○
We&don’t&conventionally&in&prayer&praise&God&by&calling&out&its&
inconstancy,&vulnerability,&etc.
○
Taking&the&genre&of&the&Ode&(which&celebrates&nature)&and&the&Hymn&
(which&praises&the&divine)&and&celebrates,&in&the&guise&of&conventional&
praise,&drawing&our&attention&to&just&how&little&we&know&about&that&
which&we&rely&upon
○
•
Anaphora&of&"like"
Calling&our&attention&to&the&fact&that&he&cannot&offer&an&absolute&
equivalence&because&he&does¬&have&that&assurance
○
Obtrusive&reminder&of&the&fact&that&there&is&no&consensual&
understanding&of&what&intellectual&beauty
○
Undermines&the&odes&conceptualisation&of&the&object&of&its&address
○
•
Odes&tended&to&address&abstract&personifications&(Love,&Hope,&Fear,&Death,&
God,&etc.)
These&traded&on&the&belief&that&the&audience&had&a&consensual&
understanding&of&the&object&of&the&address
○
Wordsworth&and&Coleridge,&in&moving&away&from&such&generalisations,&
addressed&the&landscape
○
Shelley&is&recalling&the&ode's&conventional&way&of&addressing&abstract&
personifications
But&calling&attention&to&how&we&don't&share&consensual&meaning&
about&the&object&of&his&address&because&we&can't
§
We&don’t&have&answers&to&questions
§
○
•
We&have&Shelley&equating&Gods,&ghosts,&heaven,&intellectual& beauty&and&
pointing&out&that&they&are&names&of&our&vain&endeavours
The&names&that&the&poet&or&sage&give&to&these&endeavours&are&just&
feeble&guesses&that&philosophers&and&poets&have&made&but&also&delude&
us
○
We&have&no&assured&knowledge&of&a&sustaining&power&of&the&universe
○
So&the&names&of&God,&heaven,&etc.&is&no&different&than&that&of&
intellectual& beauty
○
That's&why&he&equates&so&many&things&in&the&first&stanza&to&them
○
Shelley&can't&locate&his&spiritual&anchor
○
Calling&attention&to&Wordsworth's&anchoring&in&the&landscape
○
Resisting&the&desire&to&locate&his&spiritual&anchor&with&certainty
○
Pointing&out&the&limitations&of&knowledge,&of&poetry
○
Also&pointing&out&how&poetry&can&point&out&the&urgency&of&our&desire&to&
locate&a&spiritual&anchor
○
Doesn’t&mean&he&doesn’t&retain&a&desire&for&naming,&or&rejects&the&idea&
of&a&spiritual&presence
○
He&names&names&too&(28)
○
•
Recalling&the&Eolian&Harp&(34)•
He&is&aware&of&the&fact&that&an&ultimate&spiritual&presence&eludes&him•
Images&of&transience,&of&insubstantial&things
But&also&similes&drawn&from&the&world&around&him
○
We&are&becoming&aware&of&what&we&don't&know&and&the&world&from&
which&he&draws&his&similes
○
We&are&aware&of&the&world&in&which&he&is&situated
○
•
Love,&Hope&and&Self-esteem&are&primary&values&for&him•
Self-consciously&following&his&tradition
As&a&child,&he&was&into&magic/superstition
○
Is&this&any&different&from&the&efforts&of&naming&that&we&have&
exemplified&(25-27&v.&stanza&5)?
○
When&he&becomes&more&receptive& to&the&world,&that&is&when&he&finds&
illumination
○
•
He&has&stayed&up&into&the&night&being&envious&(stanza&7)
Language&that&locates&its&own&inefficacy&-beyond&representation
○
Imagines&that&spirit&fair&enjoins&him&to&fear&himself&in&the&sense&of&
standing&in&awe&of,&and&love&all&humankind&(83-84)
○
Poem&concludes&with&an&acknowledgement&of&the&inefficacy&of&
language
○
Not&an&ultimate&affirmation&of&human&beauty,&it&is&an&affirmation&of&
human&contexts
○
•
Winter&Semester&-Lecture&22
Monday,&January&9,&2017 11:09&AM
Document Summary
Essay questions and paragraphs, but no short answers (mcq, fill in blanks, etc. ) Single paragraphs, e. g. discuss the significance of the term joy in. There is choice in the paragraphs and essay questions. You need a comprehensive understanding of the poems. It"s important to note that there are certain common norms, platitudes, etc. within social configuration within particular nations within which authors are situated (e. g. wordsworth and coleridge, liberty, egality, fraternity) The way in which certain authors challenge certain norms (e. g. smith) We need to be attentive to the way in which common assumptions are a construction of the inherited perception of a particular period. And how particular examples challenge common norms and how we perceive them. There have been many revisions to the assumption about how to understand romanticism and what it means to describe romantic poetry in the last 50 years or so. Shelley crystallises many of the central debates about romanticism.
