Art of Melancholy

 Sylvia Plath, the writer well known for her deeply personal and striking themed pieces caught fire across the world for effortlessly yet intentionally drawing close vivid images to real occurring struggles in the mind of many. Initially, Plath was intrigued and inspired by multiple other poets such as Virginia Woolf and Emily Dickinson but experimented with multiple techniques until she found her own that allows her poetry to "escape ordinary analysis".  She wrote and published a series titled Ariel , consisting of multiple poems within the realm of mental health with focuses in illness, suicide, and oppression of which was conveyed through a unique style. Ariel is "a unique book..., cold gust of reality as though somebody had knocked out a window pane on a brilliant night" as Robert Penn Warren refers to it as. Lady Lazarus  has a great plethora of metaphors encompassing her perspective and experience with suicide. Her life is similar to a cat with nine lives all...

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...