Common Issues in Romanticism Essay example -- Romanticism Essays

The key figures in Romanticism addressed many of the same issues. Such connectivity is marked in William Blakes poems Infant Sorrow and On Anothers Sorrow, and Mary Shelleys Frankenstein. Shelley, like Blake, argues for continual development of innocence to experience, and through the character of overlord Frankensteins creation, Mary Shelley suggests the equilibrium of innocence and experience offers insight into the human condition. The trade is distinguished by what Blake states in plate 3, stanza 2 of The Marriage of heaven and Hell Without contraries is no progression (112). Any event, idea, or emotion that is contrary to the innocent human conscience is a progression to experience. In Frankenstein, the balance and shift of innocence and experience is evidenced by the creatures observance of the De Laceys, the misfortune that befalls him in his wandering, and finally, the progression of experience reaches maturation through murder.A too-careful analysis of the creatures init ial human interaction shows a steady shift from innocence as the creature experiences the world around him. Frankensteins creation is simple and child-like in conscience yet aged and abhorred in appearance. Although a paradox, the creature is akin to an adult child innocent and nave, notwithstanding forced to experience the world. Blake recognizes this concept in his poem Infant Sorrow in which he states, Into the dangerous world I leapt / Helpless, naked, piping loud, / Like a fiend hid in a cloud (ll. 2-4). One rarely thinks of a newborn baby as a fiend. It seems more believable to solemnize the grotesque form of the creature as a fiend. However, both the infant and Frankensteins creation entered the world with veiled and clouded eyes, unable ... ... for his actions, likewise, humans hold back to, at the least, coexist with their fellow man, abiding by laws and regulations. It is hopeful then that in the world today, the balance of innocence and experience is not entirely over turned. full treatment CitedBlake, William. The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. The Norton Anthology of English Literature The Romantic Period. Eighth Edition. sensitive York W. W. Norton & Company, 2006. (111-120). Blake, William. Infant Sorrow. The Norton Anthology of English Literature The Romantic Period. Eighth Edition. New York W. W. Norton & Company, 2006. (95). Blake, William. On Anothers Sorrow. Classical Poetry Songs of Innocence. Passions in Poetry Foundation 11 Nov. 2008. . Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Second Edition. Boston/New York Bedford/St. Martins, 2000.