The role of pleasure in literature is a very debated subject in the literary works of William Wordsworth and Percy Blythe Shelley, in which they pick up where many writers before them left off and end where many writers after them will continue. Though neither of the men were the first to discuss the role of pleasure in literature, as it has been reviewed by many with vastly different established views about that role being from that pleasure is a distraction or a hindrance, that the received pleasure is a lie that only deceives the audience and corrupts them, and other opinions that vary greatly in praise or criticism for the sake of pleasure in literature. Wordsworth significantly valued pleasure and viewed pleasure as having a vital role …show more content…
Pleasure inspires knowledge. Men of all occupations value wisdom and Wordsworth believes that all wisdom has roots in pleasure, which he states by “However painful may be the objects with which the Anatomist’s knowledge is connected, he feels that his knowledge is pleasure; and where he has no knowledge he has no pleasure” (Wordsworth, 657). Knowledge cannot exist without pleasure because pleasure establishes knowledge. Pleasure, as it’s role in poetry, can be found “carrying sensation into the midst of the objects of the Science itself” (Wordsworth,658). Pleasure gives excitement to all ventures in poetry. Wordsworth views pleasure as something that both gives knowledge and sympathy to the reader, but allows for that knowledge, sympathy, and also excitement to be inspired in all things. Shelley believes that it is a duty of poets to have pleasure be found in their works, as he describes poets as “those who produce and preserve” (Shelley, 711) pleasure that we have discussed. Neither men would say that poetry could exist without pleasure as pleasure is a source of mastery and compassion. The importance of pleasure in poetry is one of a vital duty held by the poet to ensure that his poems produce pleasure for the benefit of the reader so the reader may become a better version of himself because of that
Good poetry provides meaningful commentary. One indication of a poem’s success in this is the depth of thought the reader has as a result of the poem. The poems I anthologized may take different
I frankly confess that I have, as a general thing, but little enjoyment of it, and that it has never seemed to me to be, as it were, a first-rate literary form. . . . But it is apt to spoil two good things – a story and a moral, a meaning and a form; and the taste for it is responsible for a large part of the forcible-feeding writing that has been inflicted upon the world. The only cases in whi...
William Wordsworth’s view on imagination can easily be seen in the two poems Expostulation & Reply and The Tables Turned. In these two short poems Wordsworth gives respect to the sciences; he does not look down on them. However, he does argue that ignoring nature, and by extension, imagination, would be to ignore part of what it means to be human. Another poem, I wandered lonely as a cloud, shows Wordsworth’s appreciation for imagination, as he reflects on the joy of being able to look inward and see the beauty of nature as he sees it, not as science does.
,“Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity" as William Wordsworth, the English Romantic poet, stated. Poetry is a way to express vast emotions and feelings in a way which is unique to the poet. Poetry uses forms and conventions to suggest differential interpretation to words, or to evoke emotive responses.
In utilitarianism, the word utility is used in a very formal sense and not in the dry vernacular of everyday language. At first glance it would seem that unity and pleasure cannot coexist in Mill's world. But Mill argues that attainment of pleasure is the very center of utilitarianism. According to his Greatest Happiness Principle, any action that promotes happiness and prevents pain is right and any action that produces the reverse of happiness is wrong. For utilitarianism the entirety of moral inquiry lies in the possession of happiness. But it is important to realize that to Mill Individual happiness is secondary to the happiness of the society as a whole. Furthermore, he argues that even though the "noble character" of an individual may give him dissatisfaction it is desirable because “there can be no doubt that it makes other people happy” (Mill). Even though nobleness of character may decrease the pleasure for an individual, the aggregate happiness increases from the presence of such character. Accordingly, happiness is not only the promotion of pleasure but also the absence...
I frankly confess that I have, as a general thing, but little enjoyment of it, and that it has never seemed to me to be, as it were, a first-rate literary form. . . . But it is apt to spoil two good things – a story and a moral, a meaning and a form; and the taste for it is responsible for a large part of the forcible-feeding writing that has been inflicted upon the world.
William Wordsworth is easily understood as a main author whom expresses the element of nature within his work. Wordsworth’s writings unravel the combination of the creation of beauty and sublime within the minds of man, as well as the receiver through naturalism. Wordsworth is known to be self-conscious of his immediate surroundings in the natural world, and to create his experience with it through imagination. It is common to point out Wordsworth speaking with, to, and for nature. Wordsworth had a strong sense of passion of finding ourselves as the individuals that we truly are through nature. Three poems which best agree with Wordsworth’s fascination with nature are: I Wandered as a Lonely Cloud, My Heart leaps up, and Composed upon Westminster Bridge. In I Wandered as a Lonely Cloud, Wordsworth claims that he would rather die than be without nature, because life isn’t life without it, and would be without the true happiness and pleasure nature brings to man. “So be it when I shall grow old, Or let me
As we all know that reading and writing plays a major role in the advancement of our knowledge but we have never expected that literature also plays a role to confer upon love and desire. In the essay “Why Literature?” Mario Vargas Llosa mentioned about the importance of literature and how it play an important function in the lives of people and the society itself. What I found to be the most interesting and unexpected function of reading and writing was the part when the author mentioned about the fact that “literature has served to benefit upon love and desire and the sexual act itself the status of artistic creation” (“Why Literature?” Mario Vargas Llosa). The author also wrote that without literature than eroticism wouldn’t even have exist. Therefore a society without literature, love and pleasure would be poorer in which there wouldn’t be relationships in the society.
When reading or listening to poetry, the main objective for me is to feel moved. Happiness, longing, sadness are some of the feelings that can be achieved just by listening to others’ words. It is within these words that creates another world, or separates us from our own. Words all have a certain kind of attachment to them, so if used properly an author can stimulate a reader beyond belief.
Stephen Gill, editor. The Oxford Authors: William Wordsworth, pp. 67-80. New York: Oxford University Press, 1986.
In William Wordsworth’s poems, the role of nature plays a more reassuring and pivotal r ole within them. To Wordsworth’s poetry, interacting with nature represents the forces of the natural world. Throughout the three poems, Resolution and Independence, Tintern Abbey, and Michael, which will be discussed in this essay, nature is seen prominently as an everlasting- individual figure, which gives his audience as well as Wordsworth, himself, a sense of console. In all three poems, Wordsworth views nature and human beings as complementary elements of a sum of a whole, recognizing that humans are a sum of nature. Therefore, looking at the world as a soothing being of which he is a part of, Wordsworth looks at nature and sees the benevolence of the divinity aspects behind them. For Wordsworth, the world itself, in all its glory, can be a place of suffering, which surely occurs within the world; Wordsworth is still comforted with the belief that all things happen by the hands of the divinity and the just and divine order of nature, itself.
Literature is a form of art with many facets, many obvious and others subtle. The surface of literature can be composed of many elements such as genre, form, rhythm, tone, diction, sentence structure, etc. Time periods, authors’ personal style and type of work all determine what elements are used in the literature. The deeper more subtle side of literature is the use of symbolism, imagery and the significance of the work. In most works of literature, parallels can be drawn between the author’s personality and current life’s events through the subject matter, the characters, and the use of specific literary techniques. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu’s use of literary techniques in the first two stanzas of The Lover: A Ballad, are consistent throughout the six stanza ballad identifying and refuting the ways in which women were defined by literature of the 18th century era.
...portant bases of pleasure. Such as pleasures of reading; ‘Reading may be a compulsion for a school going child, pastime for a retired person, but a pleasure for many. You can discover simile on the face of novel- reader, a gleam in the eyes of the reader of a poem and furrow of seriousness on the forehead of a person reading a newspaper report. Reading disturbs mind and heart. Waves of thinking and emotion are generated by reading. So the pleasure is immediate and it continues to linger in the mind.’ Our emotions controls everything and finding pleasure is all about emotions. Books take us to new journeys and make us smile. “Reading well is one of the great pleasures that solitude can afford you.” Harold Bloom. We can found love, friendship, adventure, courage all of the things that make us smile and make us excited. Those are the greatest pleasures in our worlds.
Wordsworth had two simple ideas that he put into his writing of poetry. One was that “poetry was the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.” The second idea was that poets should describe simple scenes of nature in the everyday words, which in turn would create an atmosphere through the use of imagination (Compton 2).
The last two stanza exemplified Shelley's definition on the role of a poet. He argues that "A man, to be greatly good, must imagine intensely and comprehensively; he must put himself in the place of anotherand of many others; the pains and pleasures of his species must become his own. The great instrument of moral good is imagination." In the "Ode to the west wind," he acts accomplished his goal by representing the pain and pleasure of human and even nature. He resorts to imagination in order to accomplish his goal and full exemplified his role as a poet.