Sublime

Letter IV of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein foreshadows the elementary ideas that are instilled during the course of the novel. Throughout key ideas and motifs such as the pursuit of knowledge and the dangers involved, appreciation for nature and the sublime, elements that make this a gothic text, the recurring motif of life and death or light and dark. These ideas are found throughout the text and consistently recur. Shelley instilled these ideas because of the political perspectives that would…

the sublime. Both of which contribute greatly to the psyche of the main character, Victor Frankenstein. Perceived as the greatest of loves, the friendship between two men was exalted by Romantics for its purity of spirit and trustworthiness. Concerned about Victor after the death of his brother William, Henry hurries to Victor to comfort him. Afterwards, Victor…

With that said, it’d look appropriate that literary analysis, having come so far, acknowledges a great deal of its contributions, in a roundabout kind of way, to William Shakespeare himself. “The Bard” arguably best took on human nature, and the natural environment, at least from the point of his written understanding. Reiterated within the first chapters of Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human Pages, Harold Bloom, the paramount scholar on the subject, makes his case on what is meant, in…

in high regards "[they] have changed the face of Nature with regard to us" (62, Voltaire). While Voltaire agrees with Shelley that there is a sublime, he disagrees with Shelley and the Romantics on the sublime being a barrier one shouldn't pass. He encourages the exploration of the sublime. Tools such as telescopes assist in the exploration of the sublime. Voltaire's attitude of science is similar to his attitude towards progress, a positive upward…

Although many understand the concept of human nature loosely, as an abstract idea that may or may not define what is means to be a human being, C.S. Lewis in The Abolition of Man, treats human nature as something serious and necessary, yet at risk of being pushed to the back of everyone’s minds and ultimately forgotten. Lewis’ work, which at first seems to be a critique of modern education, reaches into the depths of the human soul and tries to make sense of it. By taking a simple flaw in one…

Whatever you think the concept of discovery is, you are correct. Discovery is subjective - it means whatever you think it means. Discovery may help us to change our assumptions and beliefs about the world or maybe help with breaking through challenges and ideas to invent something new. Whether motivated by wonder and/or curiosity, discovery has the power to be transformative. Since the dawn of time, humans have always wondered what their purpose was with a desire to seek out and understand the…

spill, Lance Duerfahrd notes how Burtynsky’s photography encourages viewers “to become art historians” by way of “abstraction” (Duerfahrd 126). “Bitumen” also asks this of its readers by situating Burtynsky’s photography within the tradition of the sublime, while it also compels scrutiny of the “anaesthetics” and abstraction at work in Burtynsky’s OIL. In the following passage, the poem describes “Burtynsky’s drone helicopters” and the photographs of the Alberta Oil Sands he is able to take with…

The usage of the word “sublime” in the quote, meaning “to render finer (as in purity or excellence)” as defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary represents how much he truly appreciates the site of the mountainous view . He refers to the setting as “majestic and wondrous” (Shelley…

Locus Amoenus is an idealized place of safety and comfort with a hint of charm and beauty. This is a pleasant place usually a shady lawn or open woodland, or a group of idyllic islands that is quiet and beautiful. Elysian Fields and Happy Isles are two traditions that have shared concepts and mythological ideal places. This idealized “paradise” is relaxing and rejuvenating to the mind. This term became a staple of the pastoral works of poets becoming a rhetorical commonplace. Pope, Alexander.…

The piece of art I chose to study was the story of how Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. This story can be found in the second book of the Bible, Exodus. The story begins with Moses being found by the Pharaoh’s daughter after being given up by his mother. The Pharaoh’s daughter took Hebrew Moses as her own and raised him. One day Moses saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, Moses intervened and actually killed the Egyptian. Moses became frightened and fled. Years later God appeared to Moses…