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Example research essay topic: Composed Upon Westminster Bridge Mont Blanc - 2,251 words

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The Alps Romantic movement in English literature (1785 - 1832) is known for its great novels and poetry works. This was the time of many important activities going on in the world and those events had a great impact upon artistic people. Many great masterpieces of poetry and other kinds of arts were created during that period, that still are popular among people of all ages and social status. In this paper we are going to examine significance of mountains, specifically the Alps, in this Romantic movement in English literature.

It is necessary to say that the Alps were used as some specific examples of the representation of the highest concepts of the nature in the artistic works of the period. The paper will primarily discuss three works that represent the movement and have a great deal of Alps influencing them. The works of our concern are: Wordsworth's Prelude, Mary Shelleys Frankenstein, and Percy Shelly's Mount Blank. There is an obvious reason to the appearence of the Alps in lots of works of that Romanticism period and it is the fact that mountains always represent the concept of romantic activities. The attitudes which Wordsworth and Shelley express towards Nature in Mont Blanc and The Prelude are both ones of admiration and appreciation at natures power, beauty, and majesty. But, they have very different descriptions and views of nature and how mankind should treat it, and react to it.

According to Shelley, nature is both resplendent and deadly; a dynamic force that cannot be tamed by man. While appreciating natures aesthetic majesty, Shelley warns man not to equate beauty with tranquility. In The Prelude rather than placing man and nature in opposition, Wordsworth views them as complementary elements of a whole, recognizing man as a part of nature. The Prelude and Mont Blanc both view nature as a sublime, and majestic thing. It is deeply respected by both Wordsworth and Shelley yet in different ways.

Both works describe a particular natural scene. In The Prelude, Wordsworth describes a beauty of the Alps mountains and the significance they had towards the events of the time era the work was written, where in Mont Blanc, Shelley describes the icy glacial capped peaks of the Swiss Alps just as representation of the beauty of the nature. Both poets seem to hold a great appreciation and respect for nature and the things that they are surrounded by, but each view nature in a different respect with regard to humanity. The natural world depicted in Shelleys poem is much more untamed and cruel than in Wordsworth's. In The Prelude, he shows nature to be a gentle, nurturing force that teaches and soothes humanity. Shelley, however, focuses on a dizzy ravine whose grandeur puts him in a trance, not at all a comforting force, but a force not to be reckoned with.

Each poets attitude about nature stems, at least in part, from his actual location at the time when he composed his poem. The setting of each poem has to do a great deal with each poets opinion of the relationship of nature to the human world. Wordsworth wrote this poem in 1798, when he was 28 years old, looking back on his childhood which was spent largely among mountains at Hawks head where he was educated. The sonnet Composed upon Westminster Bridge is written mainly in the third person in the present tense and describes the skyline of London from above the Thames and is set early in the morning. Wordsworth never lived in London and was not familiar with the bustling city that he was passing through.

The sonnet describes the tranquillity of the city before everyone wakes up and goes about their usual daily routine. This poem is probably the more accurate of the two poems because Wordsworth could see the view whilst he was composing the sonnet, whereas The Prelude was written looking back, so some memories could have been forgotten, exaggerated or distorted in some way. The sonnet is fourteen lines long and all of the lines share the same approximate length of about ten syllables, forming a square shape on the page. The extract from The Prelude is twenty four lines long and all the lines are also approximately the same length as each other. The extract is part of a longer piece, therefore it is incomplete, whereas the sonnet is complete, giving a much fuller and therefore clearer picture. The Prelude is more like a continuous piece of prose, telling a story, with no rhyming couplets or rhyming pattern.

Composed upon Westminster Bridge appears to have quite a random rhyming pattern for the majority of the poem, with an A, B, A, B, A, B rhyming pattern in the last sestet, maybe to emphasise this part of the poem. In many ways the two poems are contrasting. For example, Composed upon Westminster Bridge is written at sunrise and the extract from The Prelude is written about the time just before sunset. According to Shelley, nature is at once splendorous and deadly, a dynamic force that cannot be tamed by man. While appreciating natures aesthetic majesty, Shelley warns man not to equate beauty with tranquility.

Instead, Shelley advises us to view nature from both sides of the coin, delight in its unapproachable synthesis of power and grace. Wordsworth on the other hand, views nature almost completely in relationship to himself, and the three stages of his life, namely youth, adolescence, and adulthood. Wordsworth tells us that in his youth he experienced nature in a more physical way, there was no spiritual or intellectual response involved, it was simply a carefree reaction filled with glad animal movements. He says this was similar to how he reacted to the natural setting around him in his adolescence, though at this stage in his life Wordsworth seems to experience a more emotional response filled with passion and aching joys. The Prelude involves other children playing games on the ice, with Wordsworth, whereas Composed upon Westminster Bridge was written alone and involves no other people at all, except in personifications of objects. The sonnet is a very ephemeral poem, as Wordsworth caught London at a very flattering time of day.

If he had been at the same point at midday, then he may not have had the same opinions, as the city would have been much busier and not so peaceful. Much imagery is used in the sonnet to convey the picturesque image of the city. The opening line, Earth has not anything to show more fair is quite effective as it makes it sound as if the view is the best thing in the world, this is emphasised by the use of the negative not which emphasises the great power of the planet. On the fourth line, the subject of the poem is revealed and by using both personification and a simile. The City is personified and given the ability to wear the beauty of the morning; silent, bare. This is compared this to the human ability to wear a garment. , with a reference to majesty in the previous line, which suggests royal garments, and the worshipping of the city, like royalty was then worshipped.

Another stylistic device that Wordsworth uses in this poem is the use of lists. The first list includes all the man-made features in the poem, Ships, towers, domes, theatres and temples. The second from essay bank. co. uk list contrasts the first by including the natural features in the landscape, valley, rock or hill. These lists contrast each other.

On the thirteenth line of the sonnet, the vocative tense is used, Dear God! The very houses seem asleep, which is effective as it seems to convey what Wordsworth really thought, inside his head, whilst standing on the bridge, writing the sonnet. Enjambment is used in both poems. An example in the sonnet is: Dull would he be of soul who could pass by A Sight so touching in its majesty. An example of enjambment in The Prelude is And in the frosty season, when the sun Was set, and visible for many a mile This is effective because it makes you think about what the phrase actually means, and sometimes puts emphasis on certain words or gives them double meanings. This may also make the poem flow better and sound more effective when read out.

Enjambment is used a lot by Wordsworth in The Prelude along with many other tricks of style. The attitudes toward nature and its relationship to the human world expressed by both Wordsworth and Shelley are both complementary and contrasting. Bth pets view nature as a powerful being, with an also spiritual side, an inspiration fr humankind. But the tw pets take a completely posing stand n the human relationship with nature. Shelley views it as something t be seen and appreciated but nt t be fled with. He warns the human world nt t take beauty as serenity r placidity, but t respect the power that nature hld's.

Whereas Wordsworth views nature as a calming free, a string, inspirational entity, that is ne with mankind, unlike Shelley, Wordsworth has n fear fr the natural world that he is surrounded by and that he writes abut. He feels that he is ne with nature, and is completely content in his surroundings. Another bright writer that expressed a very interesting attitude toward the nature of the Alps is Mary Shelley in her work Frankenstien. All literature is influenced by the time period in which it was written; whether it be war, poverty, or any other social trends. People tend to write commentaries of political events, or just describe the time period. Whether it is intentional or subconscious, an author can not help to include some aspects of the time period in which they are in.

The Romantic Period had a tremendous influence on Marry Shelly's writing of the novel, Frankenstein. The Industrial Revolution in England during the late 1700 s was a time of great change. The populace was moving into cities, and people were disillusioned by the destruction of nature and the living conditions in the cities. In response to this disillusionment, people started to envision the world differently than they had before. They saw nature as all beautiful, powerful, and perfect. Previously, the inspiration for literature was law, order, and religion; now, it is in the writers imagination and powerful emotions.

This change in the attitude of the people is called Romanticism. The Rmantic Movement is ne f the mst important literary perid's in history; affecting the literature, music, and art f the period. It encouraged spontaneity, and acting with eating, nt can sense. In the mre classical style f writing, writers addressed their bks t the upper class, but nw writers addressed the can man and his problems. Their was a new feeling f spirituality. People were seeking eastern concepts f nirvana, transcendentalism and being ne with nature.

People wanted t experience life, nt study it. They seemed extreme eating, whether they were gd r bad. Marry Shelly used all f these philosophies f the Rmantic Period in writing, Frankenstien. The tw Rmantic characters in the new are Henry Clerval and the master. Henry is the complete paste f Victor. He is emotional, carefree, and innocent.

Henry has studied eastern languages and cultures, and wants t g t the east t study the people. He is caring and Rmantic. The master is brn as a rmantic, but because f the wrld's transgressions n him, he becomes an anti-Rmantic and a Gothic character. The master become dark, and wants t bring death and destruction t everything and him. Nw, when he sees beauty, he becomes jesus. but she, shall suffer; the murder I have committee because I am free red f all that she could give, had its source in her, she shall and; be hers the punishment! (pg. 137) When he first went int the world, all he desired was human interaction.

Shelly creates an excellent contrast between a Rmantic and a Industrialist, and makes a social commentary abut social acceptance in her new. In the new, Frankenstien, Marry Shelly definitely shw's the influence f the Rmantic Period. Thought the we story she is using the images f the Alps mountains in her wrk. She is making a rmantic connection between the main characters f the new and the beautiful views f the nature that is surrounding the place where the actins take place.

All three of these writers actually use the images of the Alps differently but there is always something similar about it. The similarity if seen in the actual spirit of the mountains that makes the stories more and more romantic. During that period of time the Romantic movement experienced the great rise I would say. This was very popular among all the people the civil ones as well as military people. The difference of the representation of the nature by the authors aforementioned can actually be seen in the attitudes towards it that is expressed by the authors in their works. The overall stand point is actually very positive and is actually making a great impression of beauty and goodness.

Bibliography: Jonathan Wordsworth, The Prelude, New York: Norton, 1979. Shelley, Percy Bysshe, Mont Blanc, The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Major Authors. 6 th edition. Ed. M. H. Abrahams et al.

New York: W. W. Norton, 1996. Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, New York: Viking Press, 1985 3 rd Edition.


Free research essays on topics related to: composed upon westminster bridge, mont blanc, romantic movement, rhyming pattern, mary shelley

Research essay sample on Composed Upon Westminster Bridge Mont Blanc

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