Evolution of Self Through British

Evolution of Self Through British Literature

Literature moves through phases as writers attempt new ways of dissecting life. The evolution of self is an interesting idea to study throughout literature periods because we see how each writer tackles the issue. Poets and novelists alike took time to study their fellow man and themselves in order to capture the nuances that make man unique. Each writer provides us with diverse stories and ways of looking at characters and ourselves. John Keats, Mary Shelley, Charlotte Bronte, Jane Austen and Henry Miller are a few writers that explore the evolution of self and help us to understand humanity better with concepts and characters that make us think. The notion of self is continuously evolving and literature through the ages allows us to learn that with all we know there will always be more to learn.

In the Romantic era, Keats is one of the premier poets when it comes to discovering the self. He was occupied with exploring the imagination and he often lost himself when composing poetry. He believed a true poet could not help but lose him or herself during the process of writing. One poem that demonstrates this process is "Ode to a Nightingale." The poem examines nature from something as simple as a bird's song. This song is enough to inspire the poet to think on things not in this world and, to do so, he must let go of everyday trappings and go deeper into himself. When he does delve into his imagination, his heart "aches" (Keats 1) and his senses become dreamy and numb (1). This brief moment causes him to fall into a sublime world almost indescribable. In this place, he experiences pain as he witnesses the simple beauty of the birdsong beneath the branches where "men sit and hear each other moan" (24). He considers how his imagination might "cheat" (73) him if he falls under the spell of the song. This thought brings us to the revelation of the song, what forces the poet to think about an "easeful death" (52), which would permit him to flee the suffering of this earth. He experiences a symbolic death when he thinks about drinking hemlock. He longs for a "long age in the deep-delved earth" (12) and a "beaker full of the warm South" (15) because these things would allow him to escape the boundaries of the world he knows. He thinks of the bird and of escaping "the world unseen / And with thee fade away into the forest dim" (19-20). Here, the poet imagines flying away on the wings of poetry. Beauty and death hold hands as the poet attempts to wrestle with his imagination.

Another piece of Romantic literature that explores the self is Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. In this novel, Shelley uses the scientist and the monster to juxtapose good and evil and how these relate to life. The desire for knowledge is generally a good thing but it drives Victor to the brink of insanity as he becomes obsessed with creating life. He says, "I would sacrifice my fortune, my existence, my every hope, to the furtherance of my enterprise. One man's life or death was but a small price to pay for the acquirement of the knowledge which I sought" (13). Here, Shelley is demonstrating the fragile nature of man's psyche. He realizes his mistake and tells Robert, "Learn from me . . . how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge, and how happier the man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow" (38). By the end of the novel, we see how the self has devolved into something that is much worse than the monster Victor created.

In the Victorian era, Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte, becomes a novel that traces the life Jane as she becomes increasingly aware of her self and her desires. Her experience is not any easy one but it helps her figure out who she is. Through her experiences, we can see how the evolution of the self leans toward happiness. Jane is to be admired because she stands up for herself and learns to cling to independence early. We see this when she holds her own Mrs. Reed and says, "I am not deceitful: if I were, I should say I loved you, but I declare I do not love you. I dislike you the worst of anybody in the world except John Reed" (Bronte 34). In this scene, we see Jane refuse to say or do something in exchange for something called love. She even decides to leave Rochester when she finds out about Bertha. She walks away from love because she does not want to think she settled for something.

Another novel that explores the evolution of self is Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Austen uses Elizabeth's growth process to make her points about society. Elizabeth becomes an excellent case study because she learns from her mistakes and becomes healthier person by the end of the novel. She learns from the mistake she made with Wickham and this revelation allows her to move into a relationship that she will treasure for the rest of her life. She and Darcy both must learn to get over their first impressions of people. When Elizabeth tells him, "You could not have made me the offer of your hand in any possible way that would have tempted me to accept it" (Bronte 145). He is "astonished" with "an expression of mingled incredibility and mortification" (145) when she says this and her accusation of not being a gentleman is something he cannot forget. As a result, he ponders it and finally realizes it is true. The evolution of self in this story forces us to look at how we think of others when we have very little information to go on.