Themes in European

literature
Questions of the self
Themes in European literature
• Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1805)
• Leading figure in Germany’s Golden Age
• Best known for “Ode to Joy”, which Beethoven incorporated into
his Ninth Symphony
• ODE TO JOY-JOYFUL, JOYFUL, WE ADORE THEE at ROYAL ALBERT
HALL,LONDON 30-12-2012 – YouTube
• Two of his historical plays turned into operas
• Father was army surgeon; von Schiller attended military academy,
but was more interested in literature
• Eventually dismissed from military service after attending opening
night of a play without permission
• Exiled by ducal authorities for strong beliefs of freedom
• Remained true to beliefs, reflecting passion for political & religious
freedom in themes of his plays, poetry
Themes in European literature
• Poems range from lyrical to philosophical and from subjective
romanticism to more objective classicism
• “Human Knowledge” reflects philosophical musings of great
humanitarian
• PARADOX – A statement or situation that appears to be false or
self-contradictory, but that proves to be true upon reflection
• CLASSICISM – A literary movement, popular in France and
England in the 17th and 18th centuries, that reflected the following
values of ancient Greece and Rome: balance and proportion in
artistic form; reason and rationality rather than emotion and
irrationality; dignity and restraint; objectivity; and unity of
structure.
Themes in European literature
• ROMANTICISM – A late 18th and early 19th century movement that
rejected neoclassicism’s emphasis on rational and instead valued the
subjective qualities of instinct and spontaneity, originality,
imagination, and fantasy, and the expression of powerful emotion.
Romantic writers valued individualism, believing the human being to
be basically good and society to be potentially predictable. They
valued nature and felt a common bond existed between the natural
world and human beings.
• Is “How Much Land Does a Man Need” an example of Classicism or
Romanticism? Why?
• Is “The Kiss” an example of Classicism or Romanticism? Why?
• Is “The Heavenly Christmas Tree” an example of Classicism or
Romanticism? Why?
The Shadow
• Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875)
• Popular children’s author (The Emperor’s
New Clothes, The Ugly Duckling, The
Nightingale)
• Born in Denmark to a poor family before
moving to Copenhagen at age 14,
determined to become famous
• Failed miserably early in life before going
to school while continuing to write
• Started to travel, and his
autobiographical novel finally brought
him fame – started writing first for
children, then adults
Hans Christian Andersen
• Tale ultimate form of poetry
• Created his own tales
• Astute observer of those around him – fascinated by people’s
pretensions, and his stories reflect inability of one character to see
another’s genuine value; focused on difference between illusion and
reality and how differences create ironic situations that were both
poignant and powerful
• The Shadow
• Published in 1847
• Inspired by Andersen’s feelings and experiences in Naples, Italy
• Allusion to earlier German story about a man without a shadow
• Literary devices to look for: Theme, Irony, Humor
• Is the story Romanticism or Classicism
The Shadow
• What is the theme? What does the shadow represent? What does
the man represent?
• Escaping one’s past or getting oneself out of the shadow of someone
else
• Shadow first represents who you were, then who you’ve become
• The man represents someone that has taught you or someone whose
example you have followed
• Becoming independent
• Where do we find irony?
• After the shadow becomes his own man, he puts the man in his
shadow
• Where do we find humor?
• The behavior of the shadow – his treatment of the man and the
man’s acceptance of it; his conversation/marriage with the princess;
personification of the shadow
Jean Paul Sartre (1905-1980)
• Leading existential author from France
• Gifted, philosophically oriented playwright,
novelist, short-story writer, essayist, and
critic
• Awarded 1964 Nobel Prize for Literature but
refused to accept it
• Raised by maternal grandfather
• Felt environment stifled his independence
• Escaped into his own world by writing
adventure stories
Existentialism
• A philosophy prominent in France following World War II.
According to Jean-Paul Sartre, human beings live in a universe
that is irrational and meaningless. Human nature, custom, and
religion are outmoded concepts. People are free to create
who they are, and their actions give meaning to their lives and
to the world in which they live. Such an awesome
responsibility creates anxiety and anguish.
• Flourished between 1940-1965 because its philosophy met needs
of those disillusioned by WWII
• Asserts that all human beings define themselves by their actions
• “Man is nothing else but that which he makes of himself.”
• Made principles of existentialism comprehensible by embodying
them in the attitudes and behaviors of his protagonists
The Wall
• Classic existential writing – set in Spain in late 1930s, it deals
with a group of men who are condemned to die by General
Franco’s Fascist government
• Where do we see he idea of free will in the text? Controlling
one’s own fate/destiny?
• Narrative perspective
• Limited Omniscience – The technique of having the narrator
possess limited knowledge, knowing only what he or she
experiences directly or hears from other characters
• What is Sartre’s theme?
• Symbolism – a second level of meaning beyond the literal,
surface meaning
• How does the wall act as a symbol?
Albert Camus (1913-60)
• French author awarded Nobel Prize for
Literature in 1957 “for his important
literary production which with clear-
sighted earnestness illuminates the
problems of human conscience in our
times”
• Novelist, playwright, essayist, journalist,
and critic
• Born in Algeria, and after his father’s
death in WWI, he was raised by his deaf,
illiterate mother
• Worked way through school, studying
philosophy
• Communist but left party because of
disapproval of Soviets’ treatment of its
citizens
• After moving to Paris, joined French
resistance movement in WWII
Camus (1913-60)
• Died at age 46 in auto accident
• Attitudes & beliefs emerged from life experiences
• Compassion for others
• Hatred of injustice and cruelty
• Admired beauty of universe, pleasure of being alive, and suffering of
poor and innocent people
• WWII caused consideration of problem of living in world that was
“absurd”, indifferent to basic human needs for logic and justice, a
world where being human involves suffering and inevitably dying
• Focused on responsibility of humans to treat one another with
respect and concern
• Found dignity in experience of being alive
• Active commitment to moral values
• Individual’s stubborn struggle to improve human condition by
opposing evil & relieving human suffering despite obstacles
Literary devices
• CONFLICT – Opposition in a work of literature. Common
conflicts include (a) the protagonist in conflict with the
antagonist, (b) the protagonist in conflict with emotions and
desires within himself or herself, (c) the protagonist in conflict
with society, and (d) the protagonist in conflict with the
natural world
• POINT OF VIEW - Narrative perspective – Limited Omniscience
– Narrator possesses limited knowledge, knowing only what
he or she experiences directly or hears from other characters
Literary Devices
• IRONY – Hidden meaning, usually the contrast between
appearance and reality (with regard to words and situations)
and the contrast between expectations and actuality (with
regard to actions)
• ALLEGORY – Literary work in which a symbolic meaning exists
beneath the literal surface meaning. An allegory expresses
truths about the human condition by using the actions and
attitudes of fictional characters to symbolize virtues, vices, or
other abstract ideas and issues
The Guest
• Schoolmaster (Daru) lives peacefully atop the plateau in
Algiers
• An old friend (gendarme – police officer) visits, bringing with
him an Arab prisoner
• What is the CONFLICT?
• Gendarme tells Daru he will bring the Arab to police after they
spend the night at the school house
• Irony
• Balducci tells Daru to have his shotgun near his bed in case of
revolt, and Balducci gives Daru his revolver because HE claims he
won’t need two weapons
• Is another type of CONFLICT at play?
• protagonist in conflict with emotions and desires within himself
or herself
The Guest
• Daru has a desire to understand the Arab
• His reasons for killing
• Whether or not he feels remorse
• This also reveals the Arab’s feelings
• “to hand him over was contrary to honor” (p. 277) – Conflict
• Resolution - Daru allowed the prisoner to make his own
decision – control his own destiny, fate
• What is ironic about the ending?
• He actually handed over his own brother