The Dark Romantics

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The Dark Romantics

• Its note time!
• REMEMBER
• no dirt, only nuggets!

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Dark romanticism

• (Also referred to as anti-transcendentalism)
• Is a literary subgenre that emerged from the
  transcendental philosophical movement.
• Such works are notably less optimistic than
  Transcendental texts about mankind, nature, and
  divinity. Authors considered most representative
  of dark romanticism are Poe, Melville, and
  Hawthorne

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Characteristics

• Firstly, dark romantics are much less confident
  about the notion that perfection is an innate
  quality of mankind, as believed by
  Transcendentalists. Subsequently, dark romantics
  present individuals as prone to sin and
  self-destruction, not as inherently possessing
  divinity and wisdom

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Dark romantics continued

• Secondly, while both groups believe that nature
  is a deeply spiritual force, dark romantics view
  it in a much more sinister light than
  Transcendentalism
• dark, decaying, and mysterious
• - when it does reveal truth to man, its
  revelations are evil and hellish

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Dark romantics continued

• Finally, whereas Transcendentalists advocate
  social reform when appropriate, works of dark
  romanticism frequently show individuals failing
  in their attempts to make changes for the better.

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Influences-

• Dark Romanticism finds some of its influence in
  Gothic Literature - With common elements of
  darkness, the supernatural, and melancholy
  characters, inherited curses, etc,
• Gothic fiction came to influence later dark
  romantic works, particularly some of those
  produced by Poe.

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Three main Dark Romanticwriters

• Herman Melville
• Nathaniel Hawthorne
• Edgar Allan Poe

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Herman Melville (1819-1891)

• Author of Moby Dick

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Early Life

• Was born in New York to a wealthy family.
• When he was a teenager, his father goes bankrupt,
  crazy and dies
• The family fell into debt, and he had to leave
  school to support the family by taking numerous
  jobs.

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• Melville Continued
• Mother moves family to Albany, NY. Herman works
  with brother and writes
• Takes to sea in 1839 as cabin boy on merchant
  ship (19 yrs old)
• 1841 goes on whaling expedition to Marquesas
  Islands, Tahiti, etc.
• 1844 back to Boston, begins writing memoirs of
  his travels (Typee)
• Marries, and in 1850 he, wife and 4 kids move to
  Pittsfield, Mass.

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Writing

• By the age of 30, he began writing and published
  two successful novels. However, his success was
  short lived and he fell out of favor with the
  literary establishment.
• Nathaniel Hawthorne encouraged him to keep
  writing and he published Moby Dick in 1851. It
  was a critical failure at the time.

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Later Years

• He accepted a regular job at custom house and
  continued to write stories.
• Son (Malcolm) kills himself, nothing he writes is
  published-dark period
• 1886 -wife comes into small inheritance-Melville
  quits custom house
• 1891- Melville dies poor, last novel (Billy
  Budd) lies unwanted on dresser

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Legacy

• In the 1920s Moby Dick was rediscovered and
  declared a literary masterpiece. It was not only
  a story about a whaling ship but one about the
  search for truth and vengeance.

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Moby Dick - information

• The ship featured in the novel had 30
  crewmembers, the exact number of states in the
  United States of America at the time Melville
  wrote the book.
• The varied crew members (African, Polynesian,
  French, Chinese, and Americans) stand for all
  humanity in general and for the melting pot of
  America in particular. A whaling ship often went
  on hunts lasting 3 years in length, bringing home
  about 80,000 of whale oil, if successful.

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Moby Dick

• Ahab is captain of a ship, the Pequod.
• They are looking for a GREAT WHITE WHALE (meaning
  of life)
• Starbuck and Queepeg and Stubb are shipmates
• Ishmael is shipmate and narrator of story
• Ship leaves Christmas Day
•  

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Moby Dick

• Important to remember
• strike through the pasteboard mask! look
  beyond things and seek your passion
• Ahab and Ishmael from Bible
• Symbol of ship as entire world-each character is
  representative of types of people

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Themes

• Too much faith in ourselves can lead to the
  false belief that mankind is the equal of nature.
• Friendship Although the world can be a tragic
  place, in the friendship of one or two we can
  find happiness.
• Mans need for purpose and meaning often
  conflicts with chaos, chance, and disorder.
• Human will can be thwarted by forces of nature
• The Alienation caused by darker emotions

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Nathaniel Hawthorne1804-1864
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Early Life

• Born in Salem Mass. July 4th 1804
• Father was a sea captain
• Led a very protective childhood

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Literary Career

• Drawn to writing at an early age
• Published over 100 short stories, sketches,
  novels, childrens stories, and non-fiction.
• He wrote several short stories that, collected,
  were called Twice Told Tales
• (Rapppacinis Daughter, Dr Heidiggers
  experiment, etc)

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Continued

• Much of Hawthorne's writing centers around New
  England, many works featuring moral allegories
  with a Puritan inspiration
• Changed name from Hathorne to Hawthorne (no w)
  great grandfather had been Salem Witch Trial
  Judge

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Later Years

• In 1842 earned enough money to marry Sophia
  Peabody, had two daughters
• (Uma and Rose)
• Returned to Salem 1845 worked in Custom House and
  wrote The Scarlet Letter in 1850
• Died in New Hampshire May 18th 1864

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Depiction of women

• Victims of male-dominated society
• First strong females in Am Lit
• (Margaret Fuller?)

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The Ministers Black VeilParable and Symbolism

• Parable- Short fiction stories that illustrates a
  moral attitude or a religious principal

• Symbolism-The use of conventional or traditional
  signs to represent something

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The Ministers Black Veil

• Characters-Mr. Clark and Father Hooper
• Symbols- The veil is not found by looking into
  the veil, but by looking out of it

• Importance- To teach his church that they all
  have sinned and are veiling something from
  their neighbors

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Edgar Allen Poe
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Early Life

• Poe was born in Boston on January 19, 1809.
• Shortly after the birth his father left the
  family and a year later his mother died.
• Poe was then taken to the family of a tobacco
  merchant named John Allan.
• Poe lived with the family in England from 1815 to
  1820, when they moved back to U.S

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Literary Career

• In 1827 Poe published his first volume of poetry
  called Tamerline and Other Poems.
• 2 years later he published a 2nd volume, Al
  Aaraaf.

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Later Life

• During the second half of his short life, Poe
  pursued a literary career in various cities.
  (barely supported himself by writing and working
  as an editor/critic for magazines.)
• Then in 1849, two years after the death of his
  beloved wife, Virginia, Poe died in Baltimore,
  alone and unhappy.

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Legacy

• Since his death Poes work has been a magnet for
  attention
• Poe is known as the inventor of the detective
  story
• His work has been translated into every
  language, and dozen s of film adaptations have
  been made of his stories.

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The Fall of The Usher(setting and characters)

• In the story The Fall of the Usher, the setting
  is taken place in the house the whole time.

• The main characters are Madeline and Roderick

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Critics and Importance

• Poe believes that the house may produce illness
  and dismisses his own superstitions thoughts as a
  dream.The three main parts about the story is
  that the family is an important theme, the house
  functions as a symbol, and also Poe uses the
  setting to enhance the plot.

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The Raven(Critics and Importance)

• The Raven is one of the best written poems ever
  written. The Raven reveals a tragic certainty,
  saying that there is no life after death. The
  Raven is basically a retelling of events that
  leads to a stanza. The Raven is the elevation
  of soul not of intellect.

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Gothic Literature

• - Is quite a broad term that can be applied to
  any kind of literature that includes elements of
  the uncanny and the supernatural.