The Place of the Personal Estimate in the Critical Theories of Certain Nineteenth- Century Critics
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
THE PLACE OF THE PERSONAL ESTIMATE IN THE CRITICAL THEORIES OF CERTAIN NINETEENTH- CENTURY CRITICS by John ?ifinStanley Bilsland A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in th© Department of ENGLISH We accept this thesis as conforming to the standard required from candidates for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS. Members: of the Departmen;t of THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA OCTOBER, 1951 The Place of the Personal Estimate in the Critical Theories of Certain Nineteenth- Century Critics The thesis covers the critical theories of eight English critics of the nineteenth century: Wordsworth, Coleridge, Lamb, Hazlitt, De Quineey, Arnold, Pater, and Wilde. I have first defined the personal estimate as "that estimate of art in which the nature of the critic as an individual man has influenced his judgment.w I recognize that all criticism mast have something of the personal estimate in it, hut the true critic will, as much as possible, cleanse his criticism of it in order to reveal the nature of the work of art as in itself it really is. I have then analyzed the theories of Wordsworth and Coleridge in order to indicate that the basis on which they established Romantic criticism is one of personal emotion - first in the poet, and then in the reader - and personal pleasure. In the theories of Lamb, Hazlitt, and De Quineey I have traced the development of impres• sionism in Romantic criticism, and the degree to which that impressionism leads these three men to a personal estimate of literature. In Arnold's theories I have analyzed his concept of poetry as a criticism of life, and indicated the way in which that concept leads Arnold to a recognition that although the critic must first feel the emotional effects of poetry, his ultimate aim must be to see the object as in itself it really is. I have then turned to the theories of Pater and suggested that although ii he bases his theories on impressions he recognizes that the experiencing of impressions alone is not the critic's sole aim: the critic must contemplate his impressions in order to arrive at a perception of the essence of a work, and, in the case of a great work of art, a perception of the ideals of life which it embodies. And I have last considered the theories of Wilde who also builds on im• pressions, but believes the end of criticism to be - like poetry itself - the communication of one man's emotional response, in this case the critic's response to a work of art: whether or not that response represents a balanced appreciation of the work itself does not matter. From the survey of the theories of these eight men I have arrived at the conclusion that all follow the right path when they recognize the importance of the personal response in criticism. Some, however, lose sight of their duty as critics when they allow their own experience of life to colour their response and offer a purely per• sonal estimate of a work as criticism. The greatest of the eight - Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Arnold - recognize that in criticism we must see the poet's poem and not our own. Only by doing so can we arrive at a real esti• mate. Tattle of Contents The Personal Estimate The Essentially Personal Basis of Romantic Criticisms Wordsworth and Coleridge The Development of Impressionism in the Critical Theories of Lamb, Hazlitt and De Quineey The Attempt of Matthew Arnold to Restore Objective Standards to Criticism The Analytical Impressionism of Walter Pater The Full Flowering of the Personal Esti• mate? Oscar Wilde Conclusion Bibliography I The Personal Estimate Of all the tasks which man undertakes in life there is pro• bably none more rewarding though more difficult than that of per• ceiving clearly and appreciating fully the true nature of poetry. Poetry at its greatest offers " . , , the echo of a great soul,"1 and he who would hear that echo in all its richness, all its depth, all its power, must exert himself as for no experience other than that of communion with God. In his Fifth Ennead Plotinus des• cribes the state of being which man must achieve before he can know the mystical awareness of God, the Supreme, the One, the Firsts • . let the soul that is not unworthy of the vision con• template the Great Soul; freed from deceit and every witchery and collected into calm. Calmed be the body for it in that hour and the tumult of the flesh, ay» all that is about it calm; calm be the earth, the sea, the air, and let heaven itself be still. Then let it feel how into that silent heaven the Great Soul floweth in.^ Although Plotinus speaks here of the union with God, the state of be• ing which he describes is also that which man must achieve before he can know full union with the poet. Poetry has much in common with religious faiths it "... is to be thought of as a life-giving power, as a radiance of light illuminating all existence, as an energy stimulating all action, as a spirit of beauty giving greatness 1 Longinus, On the Sublime, IX, 2, transl. 1. Rhys Roberts, Cambridge University Press, 1899, p. 61. 2 The Essence of Plotinuss Extracts from the Six Enneads and Porphyry's Life of Plotinus, transl. Stephen HacKenna, ed., Grace H. Turnbull, Oxford University Press, 1934, p. 155, to all repose.,,x To know the power, radiance, energy, and "beauty of poetry man must prepare himself as he does to know God. He must achieve the same calmness of the flesh and the spirit, and he must free himself from every deceit and every witchery, then he achieves this state of tranquillity and cleanliness of being, this calm receptivity of spirit, then, and then only, can he hope to know the ecstasy of that union in which the soul of the poet be• comes one with his. To experience the full effect of poetry man must rise above anything within him that may shadow the illumination with which the poem can brighten his being, and stand, not as a man in the dark forest of the actual world, but as Man on the high, clear plane of reality. However, it is a regrettable but undeniable fact that the achieving of this plane is an unattainable ideal. All men are limited beings, and their limitations - of the flesh, the heart, the mind, the spirit - must keep them from rising completely out of themselves, and so from perceiving the true nature of poetry; all that men can achieve is, at best, an imperfect perception. Nevertheless, if we are willing to make the great effort necessary to achieve the fullest possible per• ception we can come close to that true nature, that essence, even though we can never know it fully. The task of the critic of literature is, above all else, to per• ceive and reveal that essence of poetry as clearly as he can. All men who seek the illumination of poetry must try to perceive it, but the 1 Bailey, John Gann, Poets and Poetry> Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1911, p. 16. -3' critic must make doubly certain that he has come to it as close as possible. He must keep ever in mind that he holds the place of a guide in the world of literature: other men -will listen to him, and some will heed what he says. To the extent that he allows his own limitations as a man to colour his interpretation and estimate of a poem he fails those men who have placed their trust in him. The personal estimate in criticism is nothing more than that estimate of art in which the nature of the critic as an individual man has influenced his judgment. All criticism has something of the personal estimate in it. The response to art must "be personal: each of us must establish his own relationship with the poet, the painter, the sculptor, the composer. Ihen I hear Mozart's Jupiter I listen as an individual being, not as mankind. All art comes from the heart of a man and goes to the heart of a man. Each of us must make his own response to the artist's communication. However, we must keep in mind that the artist has something to tell us, and if we hope to know what that something is we must be prepared to submit fully to his sug• gestions. He will have made these as clear as he possibly can, but since art deals in the intangible emotions of humanity these suggestions cannot have the hard clarity of scientific fact. They do, however, have sufficient clarity that a man of sensibility and intelligence can follow their lead and eventually know the artist's intention. Edna St. Vincent Millay has left us a little epitaph: Heap not on this mound Roses that she loved so wellj Miy bewilder her with roses, That she cannot smell? She is happy where she lies With the dust upon her eyes. -4- On the surface these words reveal no more than that the poet does not wish roses strewn on the grave of her friend; roses would be• wilder that friend because she cannot smell them; she is happier with the dust of the grave in her eyes. On the surface the words say that much. Beneath the surface, however, the suggest much more, and to kno\¥ fully what Edna St.