The Explicitness of
Contravention
In The Rights of Man, Thomas Paine writes
that in regards to the French Revolution, “principles, and not persons, were
the mediated objects of destruction.” Paine argues that it was a revolution
“generated in the rational contemplation of the rights of man.” While the
“political vagaries of France” disappointed England, the revolution left
Britain with a “moral imperative to advance human… rights” (Mellor and Matlak,
12). Therefore, while England experienced a series of political, social, and
economic changes, many Romantic writers responded to said issues by proposing
various types of reform with the hopes of improving the human condition.
Throughout
this course, we have spent a substantial amount of time discussing the destruction
of social constructions during the Romantic Period. We’ve analyzed works that
highlight issues such as politics, religion, race, and gender. While the
authors of these works all intend to expose readers to contraventions that will
liberate individuals from social constraints, the rhetorical methods used to facilitate
reader support are very different. Authors utilize varying degrees of
explicitness to propose, defend, and persuade their opinions and suggested solutions
concerning repressive institutions in England.
Let’s
start by discussing William Blake’s rhetorical approach to encouraging the
rejection of conventional religion in Songs
of Innocence. During the late 18th century, Blake witnessed
England’s changing economic and social climate induced by the Industrial
Revolution. While technological advances
increased production, employment, and urbanization, there was also the presence
of child labor, poverty, and harmful working conditions. Blake “despised the
injustices and basic rights violations that had become a part of modern life.”
As Blake saw the human condition decrease, the Church became increasingly
wealthy, but he did not believe it helped the needy as religious doctrine
instructed; rather, he thought the Church was only concerned with furthering
its political and social power (Mooney). Therefore, Blake tried to expand the
potential of human experience by “rejecting each and every mental or
psychological restriction” imposed by the “limited belief system” of the
Anglican Church (Mellor and Matlak, 273). Simultaneously, he encouraged the
“gratification of man’s desires” by suggesting his alternative belief: “God is
man,” and therefore, “one’s most intuitive, spontaneous thoughts and acts are
manifestations of divine truth and will” (Mellor and Matlak, 274).
So Blake
wants to denounce the teachings of the Church, but how does one productively
reject the most powerful system in England? Blake answers this question in his
work: “The Lamb.” As Alex points out in the blog, the poem identifies the
ignorance of religion by implying that faith is mimetic. The child’s naïve assurance
about the origins of creation symbolizes the blind acceptance of Church
instruction. However, the child’s confusion between the literal and figurative
lamb – the animal and Jesus – exposes the inherent confusion present in
theology, while alluding to the various interpretations of scripture. Because
the child’s innocence in understanding lacks mature experience, Blake is
characterizing the Church’s interpretation of doctrine as insufficient; it does
not account for the evil in the world, nor the naturalness of human desire.
Blake’s
religious criticism in “The Lamb” is not explicit; rather, the poem requires
analytical dissection. The poem’s meaning is masked by its nursery rhyme feel.
Blake uses simplistic language and rhyming couplets to create a sing-songy
reading. The reader mindlessly works through the poem, realizing after that he
just participated in the mindless recitation of religious teaching that the
poem is critiquing. What I find interesting is that if a reader was truly
faithful in religious belief, he would read and accept the poem at face-value;
he would not want to see past its innocence. However, Blake’s rhetorical device
is to perpetuate religious questioning through embedding the need for
questioning in the poem. The reader is forced to think: “Wait, who is the
actually ‘Lamb’?” inevitably questioning religious doctrine. Blake must be
implicit in the poem’s transgression so that the reader is forced to explicitly
question religion.
Cowper is
slightly more explicit than Blake in professing his objection to society’s racial
constraints inherent in the institution of slavery. Economic vs. moral
reasoning led the two sides of the debate concerning slavery in the Romantic
Period. The merchants and planters argued that slavery was necessary to
Britain’s economic survival. The slave trade used profits earned from selling
slaves to purchase tobacco and sugar that was later sold for greater profit in
England and Europe. The profits earned were up to 1,000,000 pounds annually
(Mellor and Matlak, 53). Without the trade, the economy would suffer. Slave
trade advocates also argued that no good would come from Britain outlawing the
slave trade because other countries would still continue to use it. On the
other hand, many abolitionists during the Romantic Era argued that “slavery was
immoral and violated both the rights of man and Christian doctrine” (Mellor and
Matlak, 54). In 1781, a legal case arose that involved a slave ship captain
throwing over 130 infected Africans to the sharks so that he could collect
insurance (Mandell; Mellor and Matlak, 54). This issue exposed the true barbaric
and uncivilized treatment of slaves, while calling to question the sacrifice of
morality to produce a profit.
So
Cowper wants to reject the institution of slavery, but how does one reject a
system that is beneficial to the prosperity of the country? In his work “Pity
for Poor Africans,” Cowper utilizes a unique rhetorical device. The first half
of the poem is designed to mock the motives that govern the Slave Trade;
however, as Miranda notes in the blog, “he does so in so subtle a way the
pro-slavery readers feel less attacked by his satire than they feel enlightened
by his liberalism.” By utilizing an upbeat, AABB rhyme scheme, Cowper masks his
obvious ridicule (shown by saying pro-trade supporters are as cold and immoral
as “stones”) and sarcasm (particularly shown with arguing that the need for
desserts is worth torturing slaves) with the usage of indirect satire. The
second half of the poem transitions to Cowper’s utilization of structural irony
to expose the moral infringements of the pro-trade arguments presented in the
first half of the poem. In the story, Tom abandons his integrity, despite his
instinctive moral code, for reasons that are painfully illogical. The
concluding line, “though I get a few,” highlights England’s “unforgiveable involvement”
in slavery (Miranda’s Post). Cowper instills in his readers that just because
pro-trade advocates can justify their actions with economic reasoning, it
doesn’t make their actions any less wrong.
Cowper’s
rhetorical device is most effective. While he uses satire to explicitly mock
the arguments supporting slavery, he does not explicitly tell readers to agree
with him. Instead, Cowper uses irony to implicitly foster reader awareness to
the reality of pro-trade arguments. Once the reader experiences the natural
guilt and moral dilemma induced by the embedded story, he formulates his own
conclusion about the trade’s supportive arguments. The realizations procured by
Cowper’s implicit irony makes it impossible for the reader to continue to
explicitly defend the trade using current sanctions.
The
painting displayed below, “The Slave Ship,” was produced by J.M.W. Turner about
50 years after the previously mentioned legal case shocked the British public.
Similar to Cowper, Turner’s explicit representation engenders a moral reaction
and consequential realization in the viewer.
Turner contorts a
commonly depicted pastoral image – the open ocean and peaceful sky – by infecting
it with elements of aggression and chaos produced by the slave trade. This
contrast represents the slave trade’s corruption of human nature’s morality. As
Alex states in the blog, “Turner illustrates the immense power of nature over
humanity with his relatively minuscule human forms in comparison to the vast
sea and overarching sky.” Nature is meant to be understood as God, symbolized
by the central ‘light’ being nature’s defining feature in the painting. The
goodness of God’s light stands in stark contrast to the darkness of evil
beneath it. This representation correlates to the abolitionist belief that “slavery
was immoral and violated both the rights of man and Christian doctrine” (Mellor
and Matlak, 54). Turner uses explicit art technique to provoke a feeling of
moral imbalance in the viewer, while implicitly promoting abolitionist beliefs.
The degree of explicitness increases even more as
Hemans attempts to alleviate the social obligations of women. During the
Romantic Period, “the ultimate social responsibility of women was to bear and
nurture young infants and to manage the domestic household under their
husband’s or father’s supervision” (Mellor and Matlak, 31). The Church and law
prohibited the equality of women to their male counterparts, and as medical and
scientific advancements continued, treatises insisted on the “innate sexual
differences between males and females.” As a result, female stereotypes began
to emerge, categorizing women as frail and overly emotional. While separation
between genders became more distinct, so did women’s attempts to “release the
repressed female self from the grip of male power by gaining intellectual,
economic, and emotional independence” (Linkin and Behrednt, 47).
So Hemans wants to promote feminine empowerment, but
how does a female writer persuade female and
male readers to support gender equality? In “The Bride of the Greek Isle,” Hemans
utilizes a narrative rhetoric to depict the progression of feminine liberation.
As the Windhover writes, Hemans starts by “framing the protagonist, Eudora, as
a sentimental, pastoral, and domestic figure.” Eudora goes through the
stereotypical -farewell before her wedding – demonstrating her daughterly obligations
and emotional nature -- and is then given to her husband. When her husband
dies, Eudora experiences a masculine shift that allows her to exercise her
power and independence through violent behavior, objecting the idea of inherent
female benevolence (Linkin and Behrednt, 46).
Hemans’s narrative serves different purposes in
perpetuating the advancement of female agency. The first could be that while
the poem’s ending depicts female liberation, “the balance between the pastoral
and the female Byronic hero would have pleased a wide audience of readers… men
would have enjoyed the pastoral, domestic imagery of Eudora, in conjunction
with her devotion to Ianthis” (Windhover Post). The narrative’s initial set up
allows male readers to view her actions as honorable instead of revolutionary,
while still accrediting Eudora’s strength and power. There is also the idea
that the social constructions that restrict women need to be demolished in
order for women to become independent –
it is only once Eudora is free from her family and husband that she assumes
control and asserts her independence. Hemans depicts the incredible potential
that women can have in political and social spheres once they are released from
the domestic sphere. Hemans explicitly illustrates the breaking of social
conventions, while promoting the power of female independence; however, Hemans’s
rhetoric allows different readers to justify her explicitness with narrative circumstance.
The picture displayed below, “Greece Expiring on the
Ruins of Missolonghi,” was produced by Delacroix in response to the Greeks’ attempted
escape from Missolonghi. [During the Greek War of Independence, Greeks needed
to escape the besieged Missolonghi. They created a plan to attack the Turks at
one end of the city, creating a diversion, while women and children escaped on
the other end; however, their plan was revealed, and the Turks conquered the
city (Hellenica).] Similar to Hemans, Delacroix represents the potential for female
independence and power if released from male control.
Because many Greeks
committed suicide instead of surrendering to the Turks, the woman’s open arms
and overly-sexualized, bare chest symbolize her refusal to surrender to gender repression.
Like Hemans, Delacroix explicitly depicts feminine empowerment while allowing
viewers to justify his explicitness with historical circumstance.
Explicitness reaches its maximum when Shelley rejects
the British political system. As the French Revolution seized and France began
to rebuild its state throughout the Napoleonic Era, the views of government and
social class conflict worsened in British society (French, 3). Events, such as
the Peterloo Massacre and the parliament reform act against radicalism,
reflected the political and social struggles occurring in Britain. Furthermore,
the public’s frustration heightened as the disputes between Tories and Whigs
created political and religious conflicts (Romantic Chronology). Society’s
condition declined, and the potential for revolution increased.
Shelley’s attack on the British government is evident
in his work, “Sonnet: England in 1819.” The initial sestet presents to the
reader the problems inflicting government, specifically with the hierarchy. The
following octave presents the resulting problems in England produced by the
unfit rulers. Shelley fills the poem with graphic violence and vulgar as he
expresses his lack of faith in the remaining institutes of England, including:
the army, the law, religion, and the senate.
However, Shelley concludes the poem with an optimistic couplet alluding
to a “glorious phantom.” Shelley is referencing the “recovery of reason and
understanding… the essential need for a revolution that will revitalize…
England on a basis of rationality and appreciation for nature” (French, 61).
Shelley explicitly undermines the British political
system. There is no subtly; he is incredibly blunt in his presentation. As
Libby writes in the blog, “his metaphors hit the reader head-on;” the reader
does not need to spend time dissecting the meaning or purpose of the poem;
rather, Shelley uses this aggressive rhetorical device so that he can convey
similar feelings of political disgust and rejection in the reader, thus
perpetuating society’s want for a revolution. Revolutionary action is based off
incredibly strong opinion and objection. Shelley is trying to create this in his
readers with his immense explicitness.
And thus concludes the analysis of explicitness in
contravention throughout Romanticism; I hope my explicit argument produced no
amount of implicit understanding.
References
French, K. Classic Notes: Percy Shelley.
GradeSaver: 2010.
Linkin, H.K., Behrednt,
S.C. Romanticism and Women Poets: Opening
the Door of Reception.
University Press
of Kentucky: Lexington, 1999.
Mandell, Laura. Romantic Chronology.
www.english.ucsb.edu
Mellor, A.K., Matlak,
R.E. British Literature: 1780-1830.
Heinle & Heinle, Boston, 1996.
Mooney, Patrick.
“William Blake’s Relevance to the Modern World.” 2002. www.ksuweb.kennesaw.edu
(2000). “Siege of
Messolonghi.” Hellenica. http://www.mlahanas.de/Greece/History
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