The Romantic period in American literature is different than what it initially sounds like. There is a lot of talk of evaluation and judgement of human life as we know it to be. In works like “The Devil and Tom Walker”, “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment”, and “The Pit and the Pendulum” humanity seems to be put on trial and assessed to the fullest degree. This paper will further analyze humanity as a whole, based on the representations of these works above. “The Devil and Tom Walker” by Washington Irving tells of a greedy man and his even greedier wife. Shortly into the story, Tom’s wife is killed by the Devil himself because she was far too greedy. Later, Tom makes a deal with the Devil and gets the life he always wanted. Obviously, there was a catch, and Tom had to constantly hinder the livelihood of others. Towards the end of his life he finally begins to see the cost and consequences of his choices in life, “He thought with regret of the bargain he had made with his black friend, and set his wits to work to cheat him out of the conditions” but it was too late. His life was that of the Devil’s now, and the Devil made sure to collect. This story depicts humankind as being greedy and …show more content…
Heidegger’s Experiment” the characters are given back their youth. After drinking this special water and taking back a number of years, the people wanted to continue getting younger until they were merely young adults, just out of adolescence. When they were finally this young, they all rejoiced greatly, “They were a group of merry youngsters, almost maddened with the exuberant frolicsomeness of their years”. However, their new youth was short lived and they soon returned to their true age and bitterness they had in life. Instead of being thankful for the chance to experience their youth again, they got greedy and selfish over wanting to stay that way forever. If ever there was a time where greed did not deserve to be rewarded it would be this
In the short story The Devil and Tom Walker, written by Washington Irving, the protagonist Tom Walker, is characterized as being a negative man. This is demonstrated through Tom Walker being characterized as being meager, outspoken, fearless, greedy, stubborn, and unloving.
"About the year 1727, just at the time when earthquakes were prevalent in New England, and shook many tall sinners down upon their knees, there lived near this place a meager miserly fellow of the name of Tom Walker." (Irving) “The Devil and Tom Walker” is a short story written by Washington Irving in about 1824. The story is about a man who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for Pirate Kidd’s hidden treasure. The man, named Tom Walker, is a greedy, selfish man who thinks money is more important than his wife. “The Devil and Tom Walker” is the best short story example of Romanticism. The story uses escapism, nature as a form of spirituality, and imagination, which are all tenets of Romanticism.
The theme of give your soul to the devil is very old. Most of the time someone would do this to get something very valuable to them. But a lot of the time it ends with someone losing all they have or losing someone they love. The characters in “The Devil and Tom Walker” and “Snow White and the Huntsman,” Were convinced to make a deal with “The Devil.”
The second half of the Civilization II course showed us the radical changes from the Renaissance period to the Romantic era and further on. With works like Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, and Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Notes from the Underground we move farther away from the religious views of the sixteenth century Europe and move toward a more open and industrialized world. With Romanticism the views of the Enlightenment are also changed. The Enlightenment was a time where reason and individualism were put forth whereas Romanticism was a literary, artistic, and intellectual movement. It originated in Europe in the late 18th and early 19th century and, it is due in part to the French Revolution which planted the grains needed for Romanticism to sprout and grow. Romanticism was the protest of the individual against the universal laws of classicism. It was also the protest of feeling against reason and perhaps more importantly the protest on the behalf of nature against the encroachments of industrialization (Barrett Chapter 6). However, it is not because a protest against reason is occurring that faith is taken away as seen in Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein. From the Romantic era and Industrialization, the world then witnessed World War I and finally, the course touched upon Samuel Beckett’s Endgame which shows the changes that occurred in daily life post-war. Within a short amount of time the views of mankind and its beliefs drastically changed. It also seems that all that was studied from the Enlightenment onwards are pieces of a very big puzzle. Each piece fits snuggly and creates one big picture that ends with Beckett’s Endgame.
Can you imagine yourself locked up in a room with no doors? Similar to a room with no doors, there is no way out of hell if it was one's destiny. In the short story "The Devil & Tom Walker" by Washington Irving, the main character's fate is hell because of his wrong decisions in life, accepting a deal with the devil for earthly benefits. Irving reinforces his message about not making decisions that may damn your soul with the use of literary elements and figurative language. Wisely, Irving combines characterization, mood and point of view to perpetuate the theme of the story in the reader's mind.
In Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment, Nathaniel Hawthorne creates a fictional experiment that resists both God and natures intentions. Dr. Heidegger gathers a few old acquaintances who seem to be unhappy with their lives and they all wish to be young again. They also hope having their wisdom from over the years, will allow them not to make the same mistakes that resulted in their unhappiness. Since they were so desperate, they joined a unpromising experiment, which turned out to be an illusion. Once the old friends started hallucinating their youth, they began to act out as they would have a decade prior. As well as forgetting all of their insight, as the narrator explains, “The fresh gloss of the soul, so early lost, and without which the worlds successive scenes had been but a gallery of faded pictures, again threw its enchantment over all prospects”(6). Clearly god did not intend the experiment subjects to be given a second chance and painfully strips them of their young age once again, “The delirium which it created had effervesced away. Yes! they were old again. With a shuddering impulse, that showed her a woman still, the widow clasped her skinny hands before her face, and wished that the coffin-lid were over it, since it could be no longer beautiful”(8). The fatal outcome in this story was the hope the old people once had in science. Therefore proving science is incapable of defying God’s power.
Nathaniel Hawthorne was one of the first American writers to pioneer the unprecedented and unforeseen gothic genre which resulted in the exposure of darker themes across America in the 19th century. This new genre sprouted the “brooding” romantics who revolved around the human’s capacity for evil as a main theme of their works. Being one of the “brooding” romantics, Hawthorne followed the Puritans’ belief that everyone is a sinner as a result of being a descendent of the Puritans associated with the infamous Salem witchcraft trials. Not only was he related to the despicable Puritans, but also, he had to live with the guilt that his dishonorable great-great grandfather, Judge Hathorne, was “the only one who refused to apologize for his role
The era of Romanticism during the 18th century was enriched with flourishing qualities of art, historiography, education and natural sciences that are exalted in history to this day. The Romantic era was more than what meets the surface, the literary creations of this time was not superficial love stories as the name may inaccurately suggest. This was a period of love for creation and nature, the exaltation of the common people, the desire for perfection in their community and an overall quest for something greater. The writers’ of this era emphasize on imagination and emotion and was influenced from the changes that were occurring in front of their very own eyes. A prime example of this is the literary works of Nathaniel Hawthorne and the common theme of science and the author’s fear and distaste it has on humanity that has been introduced.
Literature is often used to convey messages to their audience, through art, play or poetry. Whether it is intentional or not, an author can not help to include some aspect of the political events that happened during that time period. Two movements discussed in this essay are Enlightenment (17th – 18th Century) and Romanticism (18th – 19th Century) and through literature, we come to acknowledge the presence and representation of evil and how they shape society. Enlightenment thinkers value reason, rationality and moderation, whereas Romanticism encouraged imagination, emotion and individual sensibility. Tartuffe by Moliere demonstrates all of the Enlightenment values in his play, whereas Frankenstein by Mary Shelley emphasizes emotion, passion and the natural world. This essay will explore ways in which human reason and society can be evil and deceiving; although some individuals may think that evil is instilled in us from the day we were born.
Romanticism is an essential part of the early forms of American literature. Romantic’s, who value feelings and intuition as opposed to reason, seek to reveal higher truths through their writings. One way to reveal these truths is by the use imagination, as Washington Irving and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow do. Through the utilization of imagination, Washington Irving and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow reveal distinct truths about life.
The Romantic period was an entirely unique era in American history that produced new life philosophies through the focus of nature and exploration resulting in the evolution of the American Dream. Consequently, some of the world’s greatest advancements in arts and literature were accomplished during this time period. Authors such as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, James Fennimore Cooper, and Oliver Wendell Holmes sparked the imagination of American audiences through newfound literature such as lyrical poetry, myths, legends, folklore, and the new American novel. Romantic age writers emphasized nature, especially in poetry, as an inspiration for imagination and emotion. The American Dream during the Romantic era was to lead a life of emotion and intuition over reasoning through exploration of the countryside and the recognition of natural beauty displayed by imaginative literature that reflected this American Dream.
Washington Irving displays a sense of humor throughout “The Devil and Tom Walker” about greed, marriage and religion to help the reader, become a better person. Tom Walker makes a Faustian Bargain, also known as a deal with the devil. Tom has a lot of problems with his abusive wife, his desire for riches and getting into the afterlife. Washington Irving tells us the story of Tom Walker in a humorous way. Irving does this to display a message to his readers.
We see that good vs. evil has been a theme that is ubiquitous in many writings. The story "The Devil and Tom Walker" is a story about a man who lives an immoral life of greed. Walker lives in a wooded area, where it is solemn, and quiet area of New England. Walker runs into the devil and sees that the devil is cutting down someone else's timber.
I think that one of the themes found in “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment is that if a person is given a second chance at life, it is impossible for a person to change their behavior. Each of the characters all had chosen a lifestyle in their youths which each led a life of prosperity, but to loose their success and respect because of their behavior. The four friends had a life without pleasant memories to recall. They had gotten a second chance to relive life, they returned to their original faults. “Inflamed to madness by the coquetry of the girl-widow, who neither granted nor quite withheld her favors, the three rivals began to interchange threatening glances.” Once back to their youthful selves, the good doctor sees that their morals are still the same as before. Mr. Medbourne is still greedy. Colonel Killigrew still wants to seek the sinful pleasures he once had. Mr. Gascoigne is still lying about politics. The Widow Wycherly is still very vain and conceited. All of them laugh at the doctor since he is still old. They mock the sick, elderly, and disabled of which they had just been so themselves.
The identity of the true protagonist in Paradise Lost is a mystery. One would gather that Milton, a Puritan, would have no problem casting God as the hero, and Satan as the antagonist. However, looking back in history, Milton saw that most epic heroes had conflicts that prevented them from accomplishing their goals. God and his Son have no conflict, and Adam’s story does not really begin until the Fall of Man. Therefore, Milton was forced to select Satan as the hero of Paradise Lost because he adheres to the guidelines of epic poetry set by Homer, Virgil and others. There are many examples of how Milton uses and edits the tradition of these previous epics in the formation of the Devil as a hero. One of the most basic examples of heroism in epic poetry is the exhortation of the leader to his followers. In The Odyssey, Homer lets Odysseus give a speech that would convince anyone they could survive the journey to the Strait of Messina, "Then we die with our eyes open, if we are going to die, or know what death we baffle if we can. (Ln.1243-1245)" After passing the Sirens, the ship approaches the Strait, and the crew sees the twin terrors of Scylla and Charybdis, they are mortified. Odysseus again lifts their spirits with this speech, "Friends, have we ever been in danger before this? More fearsome, is it now, than when the Cyclops penned us in his cave? What power he had! Did I not keep my nerve, and use my wits to find a way out for us?