Transcendentalism

Transcendentalism is a reaction to the overwhelming democratization of American life and liberalism in the 18^th century. It is a response to the rise of science and technology. In fact, it was an attempt to redefine the relation of Man to nature and Man to Man. This essay will delve into the main issues of Transcendentalist poetry in America highlighting its main principles.

This movement is based on prominent premises. In effect, adherents to this movement glorify intuition and rejected all sorts of authority be it religious one. Intuition is important for it leads the person to God. It runs counter senses which provide the individual only with what is tangible and physical. More importantly, they advocate the belief that the individual soul can reach God known as the over- soul without the help of churches or members of clergy. Namely, Man should be in a direct communion with God. By being in such a relation with God, Man would become self- reliant and unselfish. In this respect, the transcendentalists wished to separate the ideas of 'religion' and 'spirituality. This is not to say that they were anti-religion, or atheists. However, they felt that there was more to be cultivated, spiritually, than could be done through the church and religious community.

Nature is also of extreme importance to transcendentalists, who desired to strip away the excesses of the world and get back to the simple truths of life. Those who worked with the land- farmers and foresters- were thought to be the best of men, and did not lose sight of true worth as opposed to city dwellers, who are cut off from nature. Nature tends to be emblematic of the divine. Each element in nature is a reminder of the presence of the divine. As a matter of fact, by contemplating nature, one could transcend the physical world and unite with the 'Over-Soul,' the true energy of the universe. 

More importantly, the transcendentalists championed individualism, which is the practice of independence in thought and action based on the premise that individual character and personality are of the utmost importance. Accordingly, individuals are free to pursue their goals and private desires without taking into consideration the interests of society. This idea greatly shaped America's identity.

Another key feature of the movement was its growing respect and value for the position of women. It was out of transcendentalism that women in the United States would begin to campaign for the vote. This movement also embraced a transcendent love of all races, and took up the cause of unjust treatment of Native Americans and slaves. Not every transcendentalist was concerned about these reforms, but many of them used their instincts to listen to the human nature of essential equality, since humans are all, as Emerson said, “part or particle of God. Transcendentalists highlight the value of equality. In fact, Whitman alludes in some of his poems that the meal is set for everyone’s honour since he invites everyone to his meal and none is slighted. The top and dregs of society are actually invited which connotes that society does not undermine the other and the different. In essence, transcendentalism focuses on opposites for being different is rather attractive and exciting.

 There is no progress without contradiction. The idea of difference is foregrounded. In this respect, hues are colored the same; everyone can thus get rid of anything except his difference. Namely, transcendentalism is at the heart of opposition and differences, it is the womb where opposites co – exist.

More to the point, individuality and conformity are central premises in transcendental poetry.  For Whitman and America, grass takes on an expanding form and definition; each blade of grass varies from the next, but each blade makes up the collective body, such as the individuals who live in America, who are not to be alienated from their likeness, or what is the collective body.  
This omnipresence of grass is not accidental. It corresponds to an essential characteristic and specific trait of American literature which distinguishes it radically from all other western literatures: its transcendental quality. Transcendentalism, far from being a dead and irreverent philosophy confined to the first half of the nineteenth century, is a fertilizing undercurrent, a constant in American literature from Emerson down to our own time

To sum up, transcendentalism is aspiring for a new structure of society where all different people dwell together in the same society. It also longs for championing individualism over conformity which creates a new sense of the individual free from the manacles of the masses J

Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe is a novel that had presumably ignited the American Civil War. By discussing the issue of slavery and showing its cruel aspects, Stowe motivated people to take sides over the issue and determine what kind of country they wanted. In effect, Stowe’s goal in the novel is to restore dignity to African Americans, to voice their concerns and aspirations and bring to the fore their suffering. This essay will examine the major themes tackled in the issue and conveyed through characterization.

The suffering set forth in the novel seems to be endless. Characters chafe under enslavement. In fact, the whole novel revolves around slavery and its repercussions. It represents a powerful wrong despite the fair treatment of slaves first by Georges and later by Augustine St Clare, and always by the narrator through the use of irony. It is unveiled unethical from the beginning of the book, despite the relatively generous setting of Shelby’s Kentucky farm.  This peculiar institution of slavery is, actually, based on the objectification of all slaves as commodities. Such objectification is twofold evil as it not only tolerates cruel deeds but also incurs much spiritual damage to individuals.

Throughout the novel, Stowe shows slavery as physically and emotionally pernicious to individual slaves, which brings an abominable emotional effect upon the audience. Thus, Harris’s forcing George to kill his own dog , Eliza’s painful and frightened flight away from the only home she can remember, Tom’s heartbroken farewell to his wife –all these incidents are effective in showing the institution as destructive and appalling.

Slaves are not the only people affected by slavery. The most obvious example of a slave owner destroyed by the institution is Marie St. Clare who has been weaned (raised) since childhood that she is superior. Marie’s sadism is a natural result of her condition, as is her unhappiness, she tells herself on one level “if these people are not real, as am real, then I may hurt them without guilt”. Shelby and his wife are both shallow people, as they must be if they are to continue owning slaves. At the physical centre of the novel is St Clare’s nephew , the 12- year- old Henrique , potentially as a kind , loving human being who is , carefully trained and educated to be as meaningless as Topsy , as spiritless as Marie. Even Legree whom slavery turned into stone, as it were evil, seems to be a dead – living creature.

The narrative also sheds light on the contradiction between slavery and the moral values of Christianity. Indeed, Stowe takes great pains to illustrate the fact that the system of slavery and the moral code of Christianity are in stark opposition. No Christian, she insists, would be able to tolerate slavery. As the novel unfolds, the more religious a character is the more he or she objects to slavery. For instance, Eva, the most morally perfect white character in the novel, fails to grasp the rationale behind slavery. In contrast, the morally revolting, non – religious Legree practises slavery almost as a policy of deliberate evil. In essence, Christianity, in Stowe’s novel, rests on a principle of universal love. If all people were to put this principle into practise, Stowe insists, it would be impossible for one segment of humanity to enslave and oppress another. Thus, not only are Christianity and slavery incompatible, but Christianity can actually be used to fight slavery.

Moreover, Uncle Tom ultimately triumphs over slavery in adherence to Christ’s command to “love thine enemy”. In this respect, he refuses to compromise his Christian faith in the face of the many trials he undergoes at Legree’s plantation. When he is beaten to death by Legree and his men, he dies with a forgiving serenity. In this way, Tom becomes a Christian martyr, a model for the behaviour of both blacks and whites. The story of his life both exposes the evil of slavery, its incompatibility with Christian virtue and heralds its transformation through Christian love.

Accordingly, these themes interrelate to produce a symbiotic work revealing the wrongs of slavery and its effects on the character’s soul in the narrative 

The Tempest by W.Shakespeare

The Tempest  is a portrayal of intricate characters drawn with remarkable strength. Undergoing a brutal tempest , the main characters in this play once had or presently have individual power.

 Prospero , the protagonist, used to be the legitimate Duke of Milan. Unfortunately his unfaithful brother Antonio stole his title and banished him to a Mediterranean island with his daughter Miranda. Fond of arts and in particular books, Prospero has harnessed the powers of magic whilst in exile.

 Prospero is deemed as a complex character showing a duality of good and evil. On the one hand, his mastery of magic renders him extremely powerful and not entirely sympathetic. It is highlighted through his punishments of Caliban which are petty and vindictive. In fact , he calls upon his spirits to pinch Caliban when he curses. He is defensively autocratic with Ariel. For instance, when Ariel reminds his master of his promise to relieve him of his duties early if he performs them willingly, Prospero bursts into fury and threatens to return him to his former imprisonment and torment. More to the point, as a father he  is likely to be a master-slave relationship since he controls the speeches of his daughter. She is  restricted  to be a simple gift given by her father. In this context , he counsels Ferdinand against  consummating their love “hen, as my gift and thine own acquisition”. He seems to restrain her, in other words, he  colonizes her personality within a pretext of protecting her. Yet , as the plot unfolds , Prospero seems to use his daughter in order to get his dukedom back.

 Prospero tends to show that he is not perfect failing to be a God – like figure. Handing over the dukedom to his brother is his major mistake. Yet  later, he proves to be a benevolent character. Indeed , he  lovingly educates the monster Caliban and gives him freedom. Caliban , as a recognition to Prospero’s goodness attempts to rape his daughter .

The play sheds the light on the character of Miranda . Her  personality resolves itself into the very elements of womanhood. As a matter of fact ,  She is represented as a meek and docile girl . Because of her isolation, she has developed no artful skills at flirting. Evidently as  Ferdinand declares his love, Miranda weeps. Through her actions, Miranda is only purely sweet, honest and loving. Although she is passive towards what her father is doing, she proves to be daring. When she has the chance, Miranda takes her fate into her own hands. She declares her love to Ferdinand, though thinking her father still hates him. She does not  know that Prospero secretly helped the situation along. She appears daring and fearless about her father’s potential confrontation . Interestingly enough, When Prospero pretends to be mad that Miranda has fallen for Ferdinand, she totally stands up for herself asserting "My affections/ Are then most humble. I have no ambition to / To see a see a goodlier man" (1.2.26). Although, she is not wise , she has a brave heart and a strength  to follow it. Miranda's distinctive qualities might be her ability to feel empathy and amazement. Indeed  , she  frantically begs her father to have pity on the passengers of the storm-tossed ship.

Caliban however is depicted as a wicked character in The Tempest.  He   is an original inhabitant of the island  the son of the witch Sycorax , and an earthy slave . Caliban believes that Prospero stole the island from him, presenting  him as a colonial and villainous  occupier.  Hostilities tend to grow since Caliban considers Prospero as an invader . in The Tempest he is embodied as a wild man, uneducated and untrained, the creature in the rough, the material for evolution. Worse still , he is allied to the ape, and reduced to be an animal – like figure. Moreover , Prospero tortures him to the bone with the cramps. Subject to mistreatment,  they chatter at him and bite him; adders hurt him as he treads. In the midst of his pain , he  recalls how he was taught to name the bigger light. He acquires language but misuses it since he is only cursing his fate and his master .

Minor characters are important  in the play.  Ariel, Prospero’s helper  is referred to as “he” yet his gender and physical form are ambiguous. Rescued by Prospero from a long imprisonment at the hands of the witch Sycorax, Ariel becomes Prospero’s servant until Prospero decides to release him. Another figure is the Son and heir of Alonso, Ferdinand seems to be as pure and naïve as his beloved Miranda. He falls in love with her at first sight and happily submits to servitude in order to win her father’s approval.  He is an epitome of submissiveness portrayed as happy in his labors, blinded by love, and quick to promise the title of queen and wife to a girl before knowing her name.

  In short , William Shakespeare attempts to communicate his ideas and intentions through the characters portraits , particularly through the protagonist’s relationship with the rest of the characters.

Lord of the flies by William Golding

Themes

Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.

Civilization vs. Savagery

The central concern of Lord of the Flies is the conflict between two competing impulses that exist within all human beings: the instinct to live by rules, act peacefully, follow moral commands, and value the good of the group against the instinct to gratify one’s immediate desires, act violently to obtain supremacy over others, and enforce one’s will. This conflict might be expressed in a number of ways: civilization vs. savagery, order vs. chaos, reason vs. impulse, law vs. anarchy, or the broader heading of good vs. evil. Throughout the novel, Golding associates the instinct of civilization with good and the instinct of savagery with evil.

The conflict between the two instincts is the driving force of the novel, explored through the dissolution of the young English boys’ civilized, moral, disciplined behavior as they accustom themselves to a wild, brutal, barbaric life in the jungle. Lord of the Flies is an allegorical novel, which means that Golding conveys many of his main ideas and themes through symbolic characters and objects. He represents the conflict between civilization and savagery in the conflict between the novel’s two main characters: Ralph, the protagonist, who represents order and leadership; and Jack, the antagonist, who represents savagery and the desire for power.

As the novel progresses, Golding shows how different people feel the influences of the instincts of civilization and savagery to different degrees. Piggy, for instance, has no savage feelings, while Roger seems barely capable of comprehending the rules of civilization. Generally, however, Golding implies that the instinct of savagery is far more primal and fundamental to the human psyche than the instinct of civilization. Golding sees moral behavior, in many cases, as something that civilization forces upon the individual rather than a natural expression of human individuality. When left to their own devices, Golding implies, people naturally revert to cruelty, savagery, and barbarism. This idea of innate human evil is central to Lord of the Flies, and finds expression in several important symbols, most notably the beast and the sow’s head on the stake. Among all the characters, only Simon seems to possess anything like a natural, innate goodness.

Loss of Innocence

As the boys on the island progress from well-behaved, orderly children longing for rescue to cruel, bloodthirsty hunters who have no desire to return to civilization, they naturally lose the sense of innocence that they possessed at the beginning of the novel. The painted savages in Chapter 12 who have hunted, tortured, and killed animals and human beings are a far cry from the guileless children swimming in the lagoon in Chapter 3. But Golding does not portray this loss of innocence as something that is done to the children; rather, it results naturally from their increasing openness to the innate evil and savagery that has always existed within them. Golding implies that civilization can mitigate but never wipe out the innate evil that exists within all human beings. The forest glade in which Simon sits in Chapter 3 symbolizes this loss of innocence. At first, it is a place of natural beauty and peace, but when Simon returns later in the novel, he discovers the bloody sow’s head impaled upon a stake in the middle of the clearing. The bloody offering to the beast has disrupted the paradise that existed before—a powerful symbol of innate human evil disrupting childhood innocence.

Motifs

Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, and literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes.

Biblical Parallels

Many critics have characterized Lord of the Flies as a retelling of episodes from the Bible. While that description may be an oversimplification, the novel does echo certain Christian images and themes. Golding does not make any explicit or direct connections to Christian symbolism in Lord of the Flies; instead, these biblical parallels function as a kind of subtle motif in the novel, adding thematic resonance to the main ideas of the story. The island itself, particularly Simon’s glade in the forest, recalls the Garden of Eden in its status as an originally pristine place that is corrupted by the introduction of evil. Similarly, we may see the Lord of the Flies as a representation of the devil, for it works to promote evil among humankind. Furthermore, many critics have drawn strong parallels between Simon and Jesus. Among the boys, Simon is the one who arrives at the moral truth of the novel, and the other boys kill him sacrificially as a consequence of having discovered this truth. Simon’s conversation with the Lord of the Flies also parallels the confrontation between Jesus and the devil during Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness, as told in the Christian Gospels.

However, it is important to remember that the parallels between Simon and Christ are not complete, and that there are limits to reading Lord of the Fliespurely as a Christian allegory. Save for Simon’s two uncanny predictions of the future, he lacks the supernatural connection to God that Jesus has in Christian tradition. Although Simon is wise in many ways, his death does not bring salvation to the island; rather, his death plunges the island deeper into savagery and moral guilt. Moreover, Simon dies before he is able to tell the boys the truth he has discovered. Jesus, in contrast, was killed while spreading his moral philosophy. In this way, Simon—and Lord of the Flies as a whole—echoes Christian ideas and themes without developing explicit, precise parallels with them. The novel’s biblical parallels enhance its moral themes but are not necessarily the primary key to interpreting the story.

Symbols

Symbols are objects, characters, figures, and colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.

The Conch Shell

Ralph and Piggy discover the conch shell on the beach at the start of the novel and use it to summon the boys together after the crash separates them. Used in this capacity, the conch shell becomes a powerful symbol of civilization and order in the novel. The shell effectively governs the boys’ meetings, for the boy who holds the shell holds the right to speak. In this regard, the shell is more than a symbol—it is an actual vessel of political legitimacy and democratic power. As the island civilization erodes and the boys descend into savagery, the conch shell loses its power and influence among them. Ralph clutches the shell desperately when he talks about his role in murdering Simon. Later, the other boys ignore Ralph and throw stones at him when he attempts to blow the conch in Jack’s camp. The boulder that Roger rolls onto Piggy also crushes the conch shell, signifying the demise of the civilized instinct among almost all the boys on the island.

Piggy’s Glasses

Piggy is the most intelligent, rational boy in the group, and his glasses represent the power of science and intellectual endeavor in society. This symbolic significance is clear from the start of the novel, when the boys use the lenses from Piggy’s glasses to focus the sunlight and start a fire. When Jack’s hunters raid Ralph’s camp and steal the glasses, the savages effectively take the power to make fire, leaving Ralph’s group helpless.

The Signal Fire

The signal fire burns on the mountain, and later on the beach, to attract the notice of passing ships that might be able to rescue the boys. As a result, the signal fire becomes a barometer of the boys’ connection to civilization. In the early parts of the novel, the fact that the boys maintain the fire is a sign that they want to be rescued and return to society. When the fire burns low or goes out, we realize that the boys have lost sight of their desire to be rescued and have accepted their savage lives on the island. The signal fire thus functions as a kind of measurement of the strength of the civilized instinct remaining on the island. Ironically, at the end of the novel, a fire finally summons a ship to the island, but not the signal fire. Instead, it is the fire of savagery—the forest fire Jack’s gang starts as part of his quest to hunt and kill Ralph.

The Beast

The imaginary beast that frightens all the boys stands for the primal instinct of savagery that exists within all human beings. The boys are afraid of the beast, but only Simon reaches the realization that they fear the beast because it exists within each of them. As the boys grow more savage, their belief in the beast grows stronger. By the end of the novel, the boys are leaving it sacrifices and treating it as a totemic god. The boys’ behavior is what brings the beast into existence, so the more savagely the boys act, the more real the beast seems to become.

The Lord of the Flies

The Lord of the Flies is the bloody, severed sow’s head that Jack impales on a stake in the forest glade as an offering to the beast. This complicated symbol becomes the most important image in the novel when Simon confronts the sow’s head in the glade and it seems to speak to him, telling him that evil lies within every human heart and promising to have some “fun” with him. (This “fun” foreshadows Simon’s death in the following chapter.) In this way, the Lord of the Flies becomes both a physical manifestation of the beast, a symbol of the power of evil, and a kind of Satan figure who evokes the beast within each human being. Looking at the novel in the context of biblical parallels, the Lord of the Flies recalls the devil, just as Simon recalls Jesus. In fact, the name “Lord of the Flies” is a literal translation of the name of the biblical name Beelzebub, a powerful demon in hell sometimes thought to be the devil himself.

Ralph, Piggy, Jack, Simon, and Roger

Lord of the Flies is an allegorical novel, and many of its characters signify important ideas or themes. Ralph represents order, leadership, and civilization. Piggy represents the scientific and intellectual aspects of civilization. Jack represents unbridled savagery and the desire for power. Simon represents natural human goodness. Roger represents brutality and bloodlust at their most extreme. To the extent that the boys’ society resembles a political state, the littluns might be seen as the common people, while the older boys represent the ruling classes and political leaders. The relationships that develop between the older boys and the younger ones emphasize the older boys’ connection to either the civilized or the savage instinct: civilized boys like Ralph and Simon use their power to protect the younger boys and advance the good of the group; savage boys like Jack and Roger use their power to gratify their own desires, treating the littler boys as objects for their own amusement.

A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams

     

"a movie poster based on the Novel"

      A Streetcar Named Desire is a play pervaded by the atmosphere of personal and collective decline. A dichotomy of good and evil, pure and corrupt, true and fake is reigning supreme in the play. Tennessee Williams creates his characters to observe upon the societal downfalls. In fact, the play delves into the mechanisms and inner workings of its characters. This essay will show how characters in the play are two dimensional. It will mainly focus on Blanche and Stanley and their stark differences.  

           Blanche and Stanley are the two cardinal characters in the play. They are emotionally charged. Brought to the fore, Blanche is represented as a complex and dynamic character for she experiences a radical change as the plot unfolds. More to the point, her physical portrait delineates an aristocratic decent lady.  She is the representative of the old south, the woman that travels to an environment where her sense of decline and decay is going to be intensified.

Since the first encounter of Blanche and Stanley, the conflict between these two antagonistic characters is already traced. As for Stanley, he does not show any courtesy and respect for his sister in law which is transpired through his words “I never met a dame yet that didn't know if she was good-looking or not without being told, and there's some of them that give themselves credit for more than they've got.”

Stanley, in essence, is a man of facts and truths. He does everything to the extreme. He loves Stella and hates Blanche- a man who is all animal passion and male hormones. Indeed, Blanche sees him as a primitive ape driven only by instinct. Moreover, he is a controlling and domineering man, demanding subservience from his wife in the belief that his authority is threatened by Blanche's arrival. He is portrayed as a violent man; his mind and body are animalistic”.  His behaviour lacks refinement in manners since he embodies only brutal physical force. For instance, he roars, he stakes claim on his territory. He uses his fists. When Stella leaves him, he reverts to a primal form almost incapable of forming a sentence.

On the contrary, Blanche is epitomized as an intricate figure in the play. She represents the south with its aristocratic pretentions and obsolete values of property, respect and sophistication. She comes to her sister’s apartment wearing the mask of propriety of a clean and pure woman. Yet, behind this façade lies a hidden reality that of a disreputable past. In fact, she wasted the family heritage by leading an extravagant lifestyle and a promiscuous life.

To escape her harsh reality, she reconstructs her own world based on make – belief and illusions. Illusion tends to be an outlet from reality for Blanche, to borrow her words “I don't want realism. I want magic! Yes, yes, magic. I try to give that to people. I do misrepresent things. I don't tell truths. I tell what ought to be truth”. In the play, Blanche is compared to a butterfly. Consequently, the analogy between both is that they show a beautiful façade. In fact, behind this façade, Blanche hides a decimated and damaged woman vulnerable to others as she puts it “I have always depended on the kindness of strangers”.

Furthermore, the protagonist tries to hide in a glorified past constructed by her imagination. In this vein, illusions mingle with reality in order to make the cruel life of Blanche more sufferable.

Conversely, Stanley embodies the harsh reality in its brutal aspects without any mask or beautification. In fact, his presence disquiets her and makes her unsettled for he is the one who sees through her lies. He is going to be crucial in awakening her from that imaginary world she created and has lived in ever since. Blanche is then represented as a convulsive liar but Stanley is her sole threat who is going to puncture her fake world which would only aggravate the situation. Namely, Blanche’s life was driven by desire in Elysian Fields which is a place where the dead are buried, as her last hope was shattered she ends up alive yet in an asylum where she will be isolated from the whole world and drowning in her own memories and old glorious past.

The two major characters in the play have a slight different reaction towards Stella. Stanley wants her to be the submissive wife. When Blanche arrives and these roles lose their permanence, Stanley reacts with violent force. He does whatever it takes to restore his relationship according to his laws. They end up representing the image of a perfect family.

With her sister, Stella proves to play the traditional role. As soon as Blanche entered the apartment and tried to invade her sister’s private space, Stanley took hold of the situation.

To sum up, the relationship between the two major characters in the play seems to be tense as Stanley wants to reveal her private life bringing up painful memories she is trying to escape through illusions and lies. Tensions grow stronger that Stanley reveals all her lies which make her relapse into madness.