The Lady of Shalott by John Everett Millais
One thing that we didn't really touch on in class is the restlessness in both "The Lady of Shalott" and "Ulysses." We were working under the assumption that the Lady was so enamored with Lancelot and his song that she couldn't bear not to look at him and go after him. In other words, we were talking about it in very Romantic terms. But isn't it also possible that she was just sick of being in the tower? "I am half sick of shadows" she says. In this sense, she is not so very different from Ulysses who cannot rest. They are both rest-less. Joseph Conrad, whose work we will read in a few weeks, calls the sea "the accomplice of human restlessness." This certainly seems appropriate to "Ulysses." And John Ruskin, probably the most influential of Victorian critics, famously said, "Some slaves are scoured to their work by whips, others by their restlessness and ambition." There is, in fact, a kind of restlessness in Victorian literature that manifests itself in a desire to get out, even flee. Thinking about Victorian society, where do you think this tendency might have come from?
We didn't get much of a chance to discuss "Fra Lippo Lippi," so I would like to continue our discussion here. We talked a lot about art last time (you will recall our discussion of the Lady of Shalott, who is an artist but, ironically, becomes a work of art at the end of the poem). In a similar way, Lippi is both an artist who, by painting people he knows into religious scenes, captures the world in which he lives AND a reflection of that society (the poetic persona, after all, is an artistic creation himself, brought to life by Robert Browning). He "illustrates" many of the vices of his day both by painting them and living them.
I also think Browning is satirizing the Church, and religion in general, throughout the poem, and he is absolutely calling into question the accepted idea that art and religion go together, that there should be some moral or spiritual property in all art. Horace says that the purpose of art is twofold: to delight and to instruct. What do you think Browning would say about this?
I would love for you to read the poem again with these questions/ideas in mind and then respond to anything that grabs you.
See you tomorrow.
Filippo Lippi's Banquet of Herodius
I think that the restlessness could stem from the Victorians feeling like they had to always impress and put on a certain air. They felt the need to protray themselves in way that was socially acceptable. The restlessness they may have felt could be that they wanted others things or to act, feel, think and do as they wished. But in doing so they might be looked down upon and thier sense of duties led them to be constrained against thier own will.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the poem “Fra Lippo Lippi.” I thought that the way Browning worded the poem was genius. With the random breaking into song, the frequent use of interjections with dashes, and the casual diction (“Zooks!”), it really seemed like I was listening to a man’s drunken rambling.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I noticed was the connection between art and life in the context of the church. Throughout the piece, the monk shows explicitly that he does not live the “higher” life that the church expects him to. His speech suggests that he is drunk, he’s out “past midnight,” and is found in a shoddy part of town with loose women! This is not the way that a monk is supposed to behave according to the church. However, the monk does not seem sorry for his behavior. He actually seems somewhat resentful. He tells the story of how he entered the monastery and states, “You should not take a fellow eight years old/ and make him swear to never kiss the girls.” You can then compare this to his dilemma with painting. He is a magnificent artist who created extremely realistic images that showed life as it was. However the church criticizes his work, saying that art should be something higher. That it should show what man could aspire to become, not the base reality of physical nature. The Prior states “Make them forget there's such a thing as flesh. /Your business is to paint the souls of men.” Just as Lippo Lippi resents being told to live a “higher” life, he also begrudges having to paint “higher” art. He says, “So, I swallow my rage,/ Clench my teeth, suck my lips in tight, and paint/ to please them.” I felt that what Browning is trying to say is that there is no greater state than life itself. Pretending to be divine, as he suggests the church does, does not make a person any holier than painting a more divine image makes art higher quality.
When I think of Victorian era I think of corsets and all the social graces that were expected to be obeyed. I remember reading a handout of all the dos and don’t of that era.Things like what a color of a flower might mean. How you held your fan was a form of communication. There was even a mention of who you should marry. Like if you had a bad temper you should marry someone mild or if you’re too tall you should marry someone short so it would all even out in the end. They wanted that perfect balance to their world. But as so many writers of the Victorian era seemed to want to point out is that life isn’t a perfect balance, there is toil, hardship, chipped tea cups and crazy people. I think they were trying to get people to wake up out their routine of dos and don’ts and be who they truly wanted to be and seek true purpose. Like Tennyson says “ ‘Tis not too late to seek a newer world.”
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