Art of Melancholy

Mrs. Dalloway , a novel written by Virginia Woolf, explores the life of Clarissa Dalloway and Warren Smith who live two completely separate lives in the post-World War I era and seemingly find themselves crossing paths throughout the story. Dalloway, a woman of high class and Smith, a veteran with mental health obstacles do not seem like two individuals whom find their lives intertwining. As one's life and experiences shape their reality and the class of which they live within, the novel explores and critiques these differences in impact through the narration of characters and their complexity. Social class, experiences, mental health, roles, and connections are just a few key points Woolf embarks through her writing. All of which flood into the narrative of melancholy and and human life. Smith experiences many hardships as a veteran including psychological obstacles on top of the loss of a dear friend. Additionally, his wife is not in the best condition either. Due to the depletio...

 T.S. Eliot was a writer who dove deep into the questioning of modern thoughts versus traditional doings of which are normally societal as all came with innovation around the world. The Love Song of J. Alfred   references the complex and fast-changing society he is within. Additionally, technologies, movements, ideas, and structure all around are changing faster than one single person can keep up with. Some phrases in the poem are relatively cut short. This technique of bits and pieces ties back into the quick paced society allowing the reader to be fully within the feeling the poem is conveying instead of just a read.  The poem explains emotion and feeling anxiety and interaction in lieu of the pursuit of personal desires. Hysteria references the behavior of such and how the line between sanity and madness can be a bit blurred. Likely enough, sometimes these can be blended together leaving rigidity and defining features to drift into the distances. With that being said,...

 The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins can be assumed as an escaped that she used. Perkins had suffered from what she describes as "severe and continuous nervous breakdown[s] tending to melancholia -- and beyond. After suffering for three years, she sought out a specialist in hopes of receiving help, guidance, and treatment. This specialist advised Perkins to "live as domestic a life as far as possible" and to "never touch pen, brush, or pencil again as long as [she] lived". In words of today, the specialist practically told her to crush and ignore her creativity. In today's world, we know that is far from true in terms of a treatment. Creativity and imagination can be thought of as an escape. Perkins quickly realized this while following the specialist's order and came close to the "border line of utter mental ruin". When she wrote The Yellow Wallpaper, although she does not explicitly write in first person or say a name, it is about her ...

 Just from the title we can assume many ideas of culture and societal prospects come to the surface around the time this novel was published as well as the novel itself. There are multiple concepts and common themes introduced, displayed, and reflected upon throughout Chopin's writing. A few to focus on specifically would be: the role of genders, social norms and their expectations, as well as the sense of isolation. All three of these directly correlate back to melancholy; the role you have in your gender creates borders and guidelines laying out what you should do whether you agree or not, expectations (with gender and society) dilute personality in way or encourage suppression of identity and freedom, and isolation relates to being kept in a bubble that curates depression because there is no one else around (loneliness also falls into the category). Centrally, The Awakening paints women and wives and mothers as society wants to view them but instead uses a twist of protagonist w...

 Phillis Wheatley, a poet from West Africa, had a story that transposed into her writing allowing her to become the first African-American woman in London to have a book of poetry published. Her backstory consists of growing up in West Africa and by the age of seven, she had been moved to Boston due to slavery, working for a man of the name of John Wheatley. He was wealthy but soon realized Phillis' capabilities including her wide range of intellect. With this now coming to the surface, education was in Phillis' path of life. At a young age, Wheatley was creative and driven by writing as she found joy in the activity. Her hobby soon became her life and she became a publisher of her own work to share with the world. After publishing, Wheatley became praised and recognized for her work. Her stories, messages, and connections reached more than she could have dreamed, such like George Washington. her poems often related back to her life with one being, On Imagination . It describes...

The novel, Rasselas, by Samuel Johnson draws the reader in by explaining stories of what can be thought of as fantasies while also implying messages to the life we all live. In summary, the novel consists of a prince finding himself very unhappy. To fix this, a quest is sought out to travel the world and find the wonders not only he is feeling but of the world itself. Rasselas encounters many people in many situations all drawing back to stories that are told with underlying messages. It can be assumed that Johnson truly enjoyed writing the novel such that some of the topics or chapter names are far beyond the norm. One being, The Dissertation on the Art of Flying. Ages ago, flying was unheard of and seemed to be a concept only one could dream. The basis of the encounter mixed with endeavors leads to the idea of seeking out dreams of the impossible, essentially. It was thought that flying is dangerous, impractical, and impossible for humans to act upon leading to a doomed failure. As e...