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Couplet
Couplets are a term used in poetic literature to describe two lines that have a rhythmic pattern. Couplets do not have to rhyme perfectly, but to give the poem a sort of rhythm to promote movement in a poem. This allows the reader to read the poem with a sense of movement similar to a song. There are many different types of couples. Two examples are closed and run-on couplets. Closed couplets signify that there is a grammatical end to the lines. This is shown when two lines that follow one another and rhyme so you know where the end is. A run-on couplet is more general and has to do with the entirety of the poem. The meaning of something that begins in one line, is carried down into the next lines without a grammatical end.
In Coleridge’s poem, Christabel, he uses couplets in order to enhance the readers experience when reading the poem. The couplets that he uses are inconsistent, which may be intentional. It is possible that Coleridge did it to throw a reader off because there is an certain feeling you should get while reading the poem. Also, the couplets provide a sense of rhyme and repetition which captivate. One of the things that Coleridge does is when each different character is talking, he uses a different meter and couplet pattern in order to distinguish them. This makes the poem more interesting and easier to follow. It also gives you insight to how the characters would be if they were real. Overall, with a variety of couplets, Coleridge makes the poem seem interesting and draws the reader in.
“Couplet.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/couplet.
“Couplet.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Mar. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Couplet.
“What Is Couplet? | Definition and Examples.” Reading Worksheets, Spelling, Grammar, Comprehension, Lesson Plans, www.k12reader.com/term/couplet/.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Volume 3 and Crusades Against Frost: Frankenstein, Polar Ice, and Climate Change in 1818 by Siobhan Carroll
Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” is a novel that was written during the romantic era, and is regarded to as one of the first science fiction stories. Mary Shelley tells a story about a scientist by the name of Victor Frankenstein, who managed to create a ridiculous creature during a scientific experiment. The creature exhibits absurd behavior throughout the novel which may be attributed to the neglect that it received by its creator and society altogether. The text incorporates various literary elements and has been studied for many years. One unique attribute that the literature contains is the idea of ecocriticism, which was analyzed by Siobhan Carroll in her paper “Crusades Against Frost: Frankenstein, Polar Ice, and Climate Change in 1818.” The text also shares certain similarities to Lord Byron’s poem “Darkness.” The novel incorporates a total of 3 volumes, and this blog post will focus specifically on the 3rd volume.
Volume 3 of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” begins with Victor and Henry Creval traveling in London. Victor later decides to part ways with Henry in Scotland, fearing that the monster will kill Henry. In a quiet and uninhabited area in Orkney Islands, Victor continues with his plan to create a mate for the monster. In the process, Victor becomes ashamed with himself and fears a threat to civilization that this new creature may bring. At this time, the monster appears near the window of Victor’s workshops to see his soon to be mate. Feeling very dissatisfied and angry with himself, Victor destroys the half-finished creation, and tells the monster that he refuses to continue. Evidently, the monster becomes very displeased and begins to question Victors intentions, and states “I shall be with you on your wedding night.” The monster then disappears, and Victor assumes that the threat was toward himself.
Victor dismantles the workshop and travels off on a boat to dispose the remaining body parts. He dumps the remains in to the deep water and becomes carried away in his boat on a quest to England as requested by Henry. On his journey, Victor is taken into magistrate on accusation of murdering Henry whose remains were found on that very shore. Victor notices the black finger marks on the neck of Henry, and is certain that the monster is responsible of this wrong-doing. Victor is later taken to court and is imprisoned. In prison, Victor becomes extremely ill and Kirwin, the magistrate sends a doctor to return victor to good health. Victor is later released on proof that he was on the Orkney Islands at the time of the murder, and is set free to travel home with his father, Alphonse.
Victor becomes very determined to marry Elizabeth as quickly as possible to encounter the monster once more and to end the battle. When the wedding night finally arrives, Victor becomes nervous and Elizabeth notices his odd behavior. He assures her that he will explain his behavior the next day and sends her off to bed. While awaiting the monster in the outer chambers, he hears a scream from his bedroom. Victor quickly rushes in to the bedroom and finds his wife dead, laying across the bed. The monster remained outside the room waiting for Victor and grinned at him through the window. In attempt to kill the monster, Victor pulled out a pistol and shoots at the monster, however the monster escapes woundless. When Alphonse learns of the death, he dies in grief.
A crowd of local authorities soon begin a quest to capture the monster but fail to do so. As Victor vows for vengeance at the grave of his loved ones he hears the voice of the monster: “I am satisfied, miserable wretch! You have determined to live, and I am satisfied.” Victor leaves his home and chases for the monster through Europe and Russia and to the North Pole. The weather progressively becomes worse, and food becomes very scarce. The monster is seen by villagers with a dog sled team and fear is scattered throughout the village. Victor eventually gets very close to the monster, however the two are separated due to a breakage in the ice. Victor floats away on a piece of ice to the side of Walton’s ship. Here, Victor confesses of what he has done and urges Walton to search for and kill the monster. Shortly after, Victor passes away.
Towards the end of the book, Walton enters a cabin where the body of victor lies and witnesses the monster hovering over Victors dead body expressing his grief. The monster reveals the misery and struggles that he has been facing to Walton. He mentions that in the early stages of his life he was a happy being and was filled with affection and love. He goes on to say that he was rejected by humans: “Am I to be thought the only criminal, when all humankind sinned against me?” The story ends on a very gloomy note.
In “Crusades Against Frost: Frankenstein, Polar Ice, and Climate Change in 1818,” Siobhan Carroll focus on the idea of ecocriticism. This idea suggests that literature if affected by the natural environment on earth during the period that a certain piece of literature was composed. As proposed by Siobhan Carroll, 1818 was a period of climate change. Specifically, Romantic climatic fears regarding polar ice was a major concern at the time, and Siobhan Carroll believed that poets expressed their concern through poetic schemes. Mary Shelly portrays her concern through the characters of Walton and Victor in their desire to tame nature. When conversing with Walton’s crew, Victor insists that the human race can and will overcome the empire of ice because it is mutable. Here, Siobhan Carroll is attempting to provide a reference toward the desire for ecological change. Siobhan Carrol also believed that Mary Shelly depicted this idea of climate change metaphorically through the monster. The monster’s rejection by society suggests that Europeans are similar in that they are not willing to embrace and render cosmopolitan responses to ecological crisis’s.
Although it is not evident whether Mary Shelly is in fact providing a reference toward ecocriticism, I certainty believe that it is highly likely. The year 1816, just a couple years prior to the release of Frankenstein, was dubbed “the year without a summer.” For the next several years, Britain was concerned with climate change. There were references in the text eluding to the cold winter and scarcity in food products which made the chase after the monster a highly difficult task. When first reading “Frankenstein,” I did not sense this idea of ecocriticism, but after reading Siobhan Carroll and analyzing the text, it seems reasonable to believe that Mary Shelly along with other poets of the period were illustrating a need for climate change.
I found Mary Shelly’s “Frankenstein” very similar in certain aspects to Lord Byron’s poem “Darkness.” Although the two texts vary drastically in format and plot, they both portray a very gloomy story. “Darkness” was written in 1816, just two years prior to “Frankenstein” and as illustrated by Siobhan Carroll, the two may share a similarity in reference to the climate. In his poem, Lord Byron presented graphical imagery on his prediction of earth’s future. He and many others during the time believed that the world was going to end. The gloomy and cold world depicted in the “darkness” made men forget about their passions and only want to survive. Animals were not able to sustain their lives and died. People began to turn on one another and began resort to cannibalism in order to survive. Darkness conquered all. It is noteworthy to mention that the behavior portrayed by the animals, in a sense demonstrate the distinction between human and inhuman responses to the apocalyptic climate change seen in the poem. In “Frankenstein,” Mary Shelly created a monster character that received no nurture, love, and was neglected by its creator along with society. Dissimilar to the animals in Lord Byron’s poem, the monster behavior display’s no distinction between the idea of the human and inhuman. The variation between the human an inhuman can we thought of on the basis of ecocriticism as proposed by Siobhan Carroll. The two authors differed in views on the climate, hence their characters portrayed a variation in behavior. The monster was capable of good, as is the earth, but both resulted in a catastrophe. The two texts share a very gloomy plot of aspects that are capable of good, but ultimately result in the worst.
- Do you believe that Mary Shelly was eluding to climate change in her text?
- Do you believe that it was the right decision not to create a mate for the monster?
- How would you describe the monsters character? Was he a good creature or an evil one?
Romanticism
Romanticism refers to the period during the eighteenth century where literacy, art and philosophical thinking boomed. The movement began in Europe, mainly in Britain, France and Germany in a reaction to the Industrial Revolution and Age of Enlightenment. This is where new ideas were discovered in government and self realization. There were many aspects of the Romantic Period. One was the importance of modernity. The ideas expressed through art and literature during this time helped influence the new wave of ideas in political groups like liberalism, radicalism, conservatism and nationalism. Work from this period also included the emotions of fear, sadness, terror and showed a representation of beauty. Another thing is that many romantic writers feel that they have a distrust of human-nature.
Coleridge was one of the most well known writers of the Romantic Period. He believed that the aspect of imagination was extremely important in order to convey the ideas of natural law. His work was very original, which he thought was essential as well. He was able to express himself through writing and related his ideas to the way people felt during that period.
In the long poem, Christabel, that Coleridge wrote, there are many aspects of the Romantic Period. One way Christabel shows aspects is a morphed representation of beauty. The character of Geraldine is introduced and described as a beautiful, angelic woman. Geraldine appears in the forest, in the shadows dressed in all white and bright. Another thing expressed in Christabel, is deception of reality. Christabel is described as a beautiful, young girl who seems to live in a castle. Although, she is portrayed in the most beautiful way, she is also extremely unfilled and unhappy. She doesn’t have a mother figure, and although her father figure loves her very much, he doesn’t spend much time looking after her. She is able to go into the forest by herself and be deceived by a woman she just met.
“Romanticism.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 16 Mar. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanticism.
“Romanticism.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/romanticism.
Beer, John Bernard. “Samuel Taylor Coleridge.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2 Aug. 2017, www.britannica.com/biography/Samuel-Taylor-Coleridge.
Imagery
Juan Barrios
Professor Leila Walker
ENGL 151W
12 March 2018
Imagery (Glossary Entry 1)
There are many definitions for the word “imagery.” One of them according to Cambridge Dictionary is “the use of pictures or words to create images, esp. to create an impression or mood” imagery is a part of figurative language. Imagery is mostly used in literary work such as fiction stories, articles, essays, and memoirs. Imagery is very important to include in one’s writing because it helps the reader “see” the setting or given situation. Readers and scholars are able to see and sometimes feel what the writer is living and experiencing through the text. Imagery requires a lot of sensory work. The five senses are involved.
The poem that was assigned to me for my first blog post is “Mont Blanc” by Percy Bysshe Shelley. He uses an array of different imagery. One of the few lines that stuck out to me in this poem were,
Now dark—now glittering—now reflecting gloom—
Now lending splendour, where from secret springs
The source of human thought its tribute brings
Of waters—with a sound but half its own…(3-6)
Here Percy Bysshe Shelley uses an array of words that give the poem dimension. In the first line words like “Dark”, “Reflecting” and “Gloom” show the reader the mood of the poem and are able to create images through the text. As we move along these lines he allows the reader to be able to hear the sound of the waters from the secret springs as well as picture the setting of the poem. This poem is filled with many other examples of imagery but this is one of my favorite ones. I really like the image of water as well the sound of it. The mood of the poem is also dark and gloomy which goes perfect with the water.
Works Cited
“Imagery | Definition of Imagery in English by the Cambridge Dictionary.” Cambridge Dictionaries | English,
Cambridge Dictionaries, https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/imagery
Shelly, Percy Bysshe. “Mont Blanc.” Frankenstein: the 1818 Text, Contexts, Criticism. J. Paul Hunter. 2nd ed.
W.W. Norton & Co., 2012.
Frankenstein’s Fallen Angel&Frankenstein “Why mankind is not always kind”
When we talk about mankind, people always think about human, which is it surface meaning, but as my point of view, we are called mankind is because we are kind, I’m not talking about as now we are all good people, but I believe that as we were born, as our life began, we are all kind-hearted. So the question is that, why we changed? Why people commit a crime? Why the number of people in prison is more and more day by day? Is it because we are educated that way as we growing up? I think the answer is negative, what changed as is what we had experienced and how we were treated. In the novel, “Frankenstein Third Edition” by Mary Shelley, the writer shows us a story to prove that what we have been through changes our life and she also use lots of literary devices like simile, foreshadow and symbol to help reader have a better understanding.
Victor Frankenstein is a nice gentleman who interested in science and looking a way to bring the life back to the dead body, he did a lot of experiment and finally find a way to make it, so he collected every part of body from dead people and combine them together, then he shock the body by electric from the thunder, and he made it, he give the dead body a new life, just as an newborn body. But victor feel terrible feel terrible about his creature, as we can read in the novel, he said:“How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavoured to form? His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful!-Great God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; “(Shelley 83) We can know Victor’s feeling from the word “catastrophe”, he compare his creature as a very terrible thing ,I was really wondering about that when I was reading because in my opinion he should be really excited and happy when he saw that creature was back to life, because that is what he is working on all the time, but now when he saw the ugly appearance, he was scared and run out of the lab. From the details he shows us about the creature’s appearance, we could know that how he disgust about it. In this chapter we could know the first attitude of Victor to the creature, also the writer use simile and foreshadow to show us how victor feel and also bedding the murder later.
After that day Victor left the creature in the lab and ran away, he thought the creature as a monster and never tried to find it until his brother got murdered. He clearly know that the murderer was not the maid but he can’t save her from death, after that, Victor wants to revenge. Later when they met again, Victor try to kill the creature but the creature ask him to come with it and wants to tell Victor what he had been through after he left. In this chapter, the creature’s good deeds impress me a lot. “I discovered also another means through which I was enabled to assist their labors. I found that the youth spent a great part of each day in collecting wood for the family fire; and, during the night, I often took his tools, the use of which I quickly discovered, and brought home firing sufficient for the consumption of several days ”(Shelley 128) I had to say that when I read this chapter I was moved by what the creature did, just as a kid, who has no hate or harm or any negative feelings but kindness, they are mentally nature and clean. When the creature saw that the young couple was busy about their life day by day, he tried to help them, also he didn’t plan to let them know who did that for them, all he want is help them without disturb, this is irony because Victor treated it as a monster but in fact this creature is kindness, nobody taught him to do that but he did that by himself, that’s his nature and he is giving instead of taking. So is the creature a real monster? I don’t think so, so why victor hate it so much, only because it is ugly? I think one more reason is because he was disappointed, not by the creature, but by himself, he means to create a beautiful, wonderful life but when he saw his work he just can’t accept it, that’s why he wants to destroy it as it has never been created, but it was not the creature’s fault, it had no choice of its appearance, we all know parents love their children more than anything else, so if Victor had a baby with his lover and once he saw his child is looks ugly, will he throw his child away immediately? I think the creature is the child of him and what victor should do is try to look after him and teach him as a normal person, if he do that at the beginning I don’t think there won’t be murder later.
From another side, in “Frankenstein’s Fallen Angel” by Joyce Carol Oates. It talks about the creature’s view when he first come to the world and also how it’s view was changed. At first, the creature thinks the world will accept him “He relates himself with Adam, except so far as Adam had come forth from God a ‘perfect creature, happy and prosperous.’ (Oates, 544) just as I said, the creature hopes it can fit the world, can get along with the people around him, he is hoping a better life, which shows as we were born, as our life began, we are all kind-hearted. But the at the end, everything changed, “Finally, of course, he identifies with Satan: ‘I am thy creature: I ought to be thy Adam; but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed. Everywhere I see bliss, from which I alone am irrevocably excluded. I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend. Make me happy, and I shall again be virtuous.’ (Oates, 544-545) the creature begins to change to a monster even though he doesn’t mean to do that, but the things around him, the people around him, also it’s creator seems him as a monster, which leads him to totally becoming a monster
Questions:
What’s the reason that victor hate his creature?
What lead Frankenstein to be a real monster?
Why Frankenstein choose to die at the end?
“Mont Blanc” by Percy Shelley
In class we have been reading Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “Mont Blanc: Lines Written in the Vale of Chamouni.” Percy Bysshe Shelley was born on August 4th, 1792 in Sussex, England. Shelley was accepted at the University College, Oxford, in 1810. Oxford was a prestigious University where many other famous writers also attended throughout the years. Shelley was known as an English romantic writer who was published when he was only seventeen years of age, even before he had entered Oxford. He would also refer to himself as an atheist and would often state that religion was a distraction.
Percy Shelley’s five-part poem touches on many themes but the most important one is the theme of the power of nature and the scenery of a mountain in the alps. This theme is emphasized throughout the whole poem. He chooses to exclude any kind of religion or God in his poem. The poem consists of five stanzas. In the first stanza, Shelley speaks about “the everlasting universe of things” (line 1). By those “things” one could say or infer that they are thoughts in the mind of a human. He then goes to describes these things as “rapid waves’, “secret springs”, and “vast rivers”. Thoughts flow like river. They are endless and flow in many different directions. The secret springs could be a metaphor for the deep dark thoughts hidden in the back of our minds. This is why one could infer that he is using all these words as metaphors for “thoughts” that nature is flowing into the mind.
Shelley than leads us into the second stanza. The second stanza seems to be about the mountain he refers to throughout the whole poem. He describes the mountain as being majestic with all its “giant brood of pines around thee clinging” (line 20) with “…their odours, and their mighty swinging” (line 24). He is describing the huge trees in the great big mountain. The mountain and nature in it is so overtaking to him that he becomes dizzy. Although it is the literal explanation of stanza two, alternate interpretation could be that Percy Shelley is describing the thoughts in his head. They are so immense and strong, that they make him dizzy. All these thoughts and feelings become “the sublime. He cannot grasp them all at once. It also connects to the interpretation in stanza one. Shelley reflects it all on the mountain.
In stanza three, Shelley changes the tone of the poem. He starts it with “Some say that gleams of a remoter world / Visit the soul in sleep, that death is slumber, / And that its shapes the busy thoughts outnumber” (lines 51-52). He goes from talking about all these static feelings about nature to referring to darkness and death. These dark forces visit the human mind at night and haunt the mind. He also states “thoughts” in this stanza, once again making a reader believe that his words about nature are metaphors for his thoughts and mind. He ends stanza three by stating that “by all, but which the wise, and great, and good, / Interpret, or make felt, or deeply feel. (Lines 82-83). Here one can interpret that Shelley believes that only the wise can experience nature in this way; that nature can fill the mind with all this power and knowledge rather than God.
At the second to last stanza, Percy Shelley amplifies beyond the mountain he is describing. “The limits of the dead and living world, / Never to be reclaim’d. The dwelling-place / Of insects, beasts, and birds, becomes its spoil;” (Lines 113-15). Here starts talking about nature and human life and how nature has lived longer than any human in the world. He also states that we as humans will always die, we will never be immortal like nature has been throughout all these decades. Another interpretation that could take place here is that thoughts and feelings are not endless. They die with us when we are gone, but our spirits linger amongst all the nature, haunting it. The mountain is Shelley’s brain with all this inside it, and he choose to write a poem to share it with the world.
In the last stanza, Shelley leaves the darkness he has entered in stanzas three and four and goes back to describing the mountain. He ends the poem with “And what were thou, and earth, and stars, and sea, / If to the human mind’s imaginings / Silence and solitude were vacancy?” (lines 142-45) He refers to the mountain as the spirit. This is the spirit of nature itself. Nature allows him to absorb this obscure knowledge that invades him with loneliness. It sounds as if it were him dying on this mountain and he were being called by nature rather than God. A reader could even picture the spirit of Shelley descending into nature with the rest of the ghosts that inhabit it. This poem is filled with greatness and mystery. It is a great thing that there could be so many interpretations of it. Feelings, thoughts. He seemed to rely more toward the power of nature rather than a power of religion like it was accustomed back in his days.
Discussion Questions:
- Do you agree or disagree that the power of nature is actually God in Shelley’s poem?
- How does Percy Shelley reflect his atheism in “Mont Blanc”?
- How does Percy Shelley use nature to demonstrate romanticism?
