This presentation of the movie "Frankenstein," by director J. Searle Dawley in 1910 with Thomas Edison's Company, gives a first film depiction of the monster. His look is similar in some ways to Nosferatu, although the 1910 film predates the film of "Nosferatu" in 1922, by director F.W. Murnau, which is a German Expressionist film.
The special effects of the creation of the monster is a possible inspiration to the recent movie, "Frankenstein" with Robert De Niro as Frankenstein, as Dr. Frankenstein also looks through a sealed window to see his creation coming to life. The mirror image in the 1910 version is used to reflect a juxtaposition of Dr. Frankenstein as both the monster and man, the nature of good and evil, with good prevailing. The movie plays on the idea of man playing God, by creating life, which results in an extension of his evil nature.
The twist in the movie is that the monster disappears and Dr. Frankenstein prevails. In the book, as Dr. Frankenstein dies, the monster appears and makes his final comments before retreating to the North Pole to destroy himself on his funeral pyre. The novel's subtitle,"The Modern Prometheus," makes the connection to fire. The monster's end being fire, it ties in with Prometheus stealing fire from Zeus, to return it to the human race after he withheld it to punish Prometheus for swindling him by placing two offerings before him, one with good interior and undesirable exterior, and the other with a desirable exterior and undesirable interior of bones. The two offerings could be seen as a metaphor for the doctor and the monster. Ovid's "Metamorphoses" depicts Prometheus as a creator of mankind from the earth, like a potter makes clay, which is also similar to the theme of "Frankenstein."
Friday, October 30, 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
"Ode" to a Bard: Keats and "Ode to a Nightingale"
I used to say that, if all else fails, I would retire to some obscure place and become a drunk poet... that place usually being some unknown South American villa or colony of artists, poets and intellectuals. Whether such a place exists, I don't know, but its one of my fantasia fallback plans.
In Keat's poem, "Ode to a Nightingale," he seems to have taken a similar path, at least for the night, to recline himself under a tree. Whether drunk with wine or with the ideas he contemplated, I can't tell, but he seems to be in a similar state of mind. Depressed with existence in a world where there is that constant grind, he contemplates an escape by associating his plight with a nightingale that sings through the night.
This is one of my favorite lyrical poems, because it is pensive and speaks of the hardships in this world, yet finds an escape in poetic expression. In the lines, "That I might drink, and leave the world unseen, / And with thee fade away into the forest dim" (l. 19-20) he is referring to drinking from "Hippocrene" (16), the fountain of the muses on Mount Helicon (footnotes, p. 438). Drinking along these lines seems to be a metaphor for using poetry to induce an elevated state of consciousness, used as a kind of sedative.
I adore the fact that he uses a nightingale as a form of lyrical instrument, like the bards who used instruments to perform Odes in the original Greek and later. The nightingale provides the music and he provides the words. His thoughts take on the form of a songbird that may have been the same song heard during the hardships in the lives of people, from kings to peasants, who lived from ancient times through history, such as "the sad heart of Ruth" (66) as she stood, homesick in tears, as a gleaner in a foreign field during a time of famine. Yet the "hungry generations" (62) have not silenced the songbird. As he contemplates the thought of "easeful Death" (52), he realizes the limitations of this kind of vain escape, because he would not be able to hear the song of the bird. He then compares the nightingale to an "immortal Bird" (61) possibly a metaphor for an immortal Bard. Then he speaks of the song of the bard which has been heard down the paths of time.
As the song of the nightingale fades, he recalls the echo of "faery lands forlorn" (70), the very word "forlorn" calls him back to his senses, and he is no longer engaged in his fanciful flight with the bird. His resolution is to ponder the questions at the end, "Was it a vision, or a waking dream? / Fled is that music: -- Do I wake or sleep?" (79-80). The music of the original bards of Odes has not been replicated for centuries, fled is that music, like the nightingale. Yet their songs linger in their words, and they are still relevant as inspiration today. I think Keats finds an escape in being caught up in the ecstasy of these poetic musings and finds inspiration in them, just as his poems continue to inspire us today. He may also be wondering if he, too, will be remembered once he has flown to the next "valley-glade" (78).
Keats, John. "Ode to a Nightingale." In The Longman Anthology, British Literature, Volume B. Ed. David Damrosch. 2nd ed. New York: Pearson Education, 2004. 438-440.
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In Keat's poem, "Ode to a Nightingale," he seems to have taken a similar path, at least for the night, to recline himself under a tree. Whether drunk with wine or with the ideas he contemplated, I can't tell, but he seems to be in a similar state of mind. Depressed with existence in a world where there is that constant grind, he contemplates an escape by associating his plight with a nightingale that sings through the night.
This is one of my favorite lyrical poems, because it is pensive and speaks of the hardships in this world, yet finds an escape in poetic expression. In the lines, "That I might drink, and leave the world unseen, / And with thee fade away into the forest dim" (l. 19-20) he is referring to drinking from "Hippocrene" (16), the fountain of the muses on Mount Helicon (footnotes, p. 438). Drinking along these lines seems to be a metaphor for using poetry to induce an elevated state of consciousness, used as a kind of sedative.
I adore the fact that he uses a nightingale as a form of lyrical instrument, like the bards who used instruments to perform Odes in the original Greek and later. The nightingale provides the music and he provides the words. His thoughts take on the form of a songbird that may have been the same song heard during the hardships in the lives of people, from kings to peasants, who lived from ancient times through history, such as "the sad heart of Ruth" (66) as she stood, homesick in tears, as a gleaner in a foreign field during a time of famine. Yet the "hungry generations" (62) have not silenced the songbird. As he contemplates the thought of "easeful Death" (52), he realizes the limitations of this kind of vain escape, because he would not be able to hear the song of the bird. He then compares the nightingale to an "immortal Bird" (61) possibly a metaphor for an immortal Bard. Then he speaks of the song of the bard which has been heard down the paths of time.
As the song of the nightingale fades, he recalls the echo of "faery lands forlorn" (70), the very word "forlorn" calls him back to his senses, and he is no longer engaged in his fanciful flight with the bird. His resolution is to ponder the questions at the end, "Was it a vision, or a waking dream? / Fled is that music: -- Do I wake or sleep?" (79-80). The music of the original bards of Odes has not been replicated for centuries, fled is that music, like the nightingale. Yet their songs linger in their words, and they are still relevant as inspiration today. I think Keats finds an escape in being caught up in the ecstasy of these poetic musings and finds inspiration in them, just as his poems continue to inspire us today. He may also be wondering if he, too, will be remembered once he has flown to the next "valley-glade" (78).
Keats, John. "Ode to a Nightingale." In The Longman Anthology, British Literature, Volume B. Ed. David Damrosch. 2nd ed. New York: Pearson Education, 2004. 438-440.
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Thursday, October 15, 2009
A Description of Samuel Taylor Coleridge
After reading the Longman's introduction to Samuel Taylor Coleridge, I wanted to know more about him. The description in the introduction of Coleridge as a Logician, Metaphysician and Bard (Longman 323), as well as Magus (324), caught my attention. This greatly interested me, along with his radical view on politics and enthusiasm for an ideal democracy. His literary accomplishments were progressive, and although accompanied by his addiction to pain medicine (a form of heroin), leading to depression, estrangement from his wife, and accusations of plagiarism, he continued to capture a particular charm, especially among the young generation and maintained a productive public life (323-234, paraphrase).
In researching the web-link provided in our lesson, I found a letter from Dorothy Wordsworth to Mary Hutchinson in June, 1779, which describes Coleridge, then age 25, in endearing terms. There is also a self-portrait description on the same website which he wrote at age 24 that matches some of his features given by Mary Hutchinson; yet her description gives a brief but very good impression of what it would be like for someone meeting him for the first time. Here is the link:
http://etext.virginia.edu/stc/Wordsworth/letters/DW_MH_0697.html
After reading this letter, I must agree with her first statement, "You had a great loss in not seeing Coleridge."
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Table Talk: Week 1
This is the beginning of my blog for British Literature Since 1800. I decided to name my blog after Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Table Talk, which "posthumously captured the echoes of his voice" (Longman 324). In the next eight weeks, I hope to capture many echoes of the authors we will be visiting and I will be posting my impressions, thoughts and comments as we go along each week. Please feel free to add or share your comments, thoughts and impressions as well!
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