Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saëns
This piece by Saint-Saens demonstrates the rejection of established ideals, characteristic of the Romantic period. It starts off with 12 gongs, symbolizing midnight. Saint-Saens uses the gongs to establish the motif of ordered time, the most rational and systematic unit. Suddenly, a strong violin starts to play in sharp-high pitched tones, disrupting the mood. The piece effectively becomes a microcosm of the shift from the Age of Reason into the Age of Emotion. Finally, the title “Danse Macabre” actually means “Dance of Death”. It symbolizes the ability of being emotive even after death. Saint-Saens seems to be showing us that emotion is boundless and not limited to our physical lives. The introduction of death as euphoric, contrasting the well-known idea of death being repulsive, makes this a piece which critiques the paradigms of the era and fits into the revolutionary romantic period.
The Tables Turned by William Wordsworth
Books! 'tis a dull and endless strife:Come, hear the woodland linnet,How sweet his music! on my life,There's more of wisdom in it.
Again, like Danse Macabre, the title gives away the poem as a romantic one. It uses a colloquial proverb, “the tables are turned”, to indicate the shift from the Enlightenment to Romanticism. The poem itself heavily critiques the sources of knowledge which we draw from. Books begin to represent factual knowledge derived from pure scientific learning. Wordsworth deems it “dull” and equates it to “endless strife” but on the other hand, nature has “more of wisdom”. The entire poem criticizes observational, scientific learning while emboldening “Nature as a teacher” in experiential learning.
Sweet is the lore which Nature brings;Our meddling intellectMis-shapes the beauteous forms of things:—We murder to dissect.
Finally, Wordsworth teaches us to let nature exist in its pure form, filled with sweet lore. This excerpt is an allusion to the industrial era where factories and machines were beginning to exploit natural resources. His spiritual infatuation with nature is clearly displayed in this poem, establishing him as an obvious Romantic poet who holds a deep connection to nature above anything else.
Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich
This painting effectively captures the quintessential idea of Romanticism – the immense power of nature. The solitary man on the peak of the mountain symbolizes all of mankind. The man believes to have reached the pinnacle but looks out only to realise that it is just the beginning. The piece becomes a critique on man’s incessant need to know everything. However in reality, most of the information is beyond human understanding. This is shown through the fog which shrouds the nearby cliffs subtly indicating that all knowledge is in the hands of nature. The fog becomes a symbol of uncertainty. Friedrich creates a complex where nature’s magnificence is enlarged and put face to face with man’s potential. Needless to say, at this point, humankind begins to seem insignificant.
Quotation Analysis
“The only purpose for which power can be exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant.” John Stuart Mill
An unwilling individual can be forced to make certain actions by another power only if it concerns avoiding harm to other people. The individual’s own positive good is not a valid excuse.
The historical context of this quote epitomizes the author’s socio-political theory of Utilitarianism whereby the action that guarantees the most happiness is the ethical act. The quote outlines an important rule in this theory that everyone’s happiness is valued equally. One individual’s happiness is not as important as maintaining the happiness of a greater amount of people.
