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An Introduction to the Romantic Sublime (Patreon)

Published:
2021-06-08 16:20:47
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

What does sublime mean?

Well, to increase your appreciation of Austen's pastoral sketches, and to help you embrace the poetic power of poets like Blake, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Shelley, and Keats, let's discuss the meaning of "sublime" in literature.

We're talking about pain being more affecting than pleasure, power and obscurity, wild animals, forests, cataracts, and storm blasts buffeting ships at sea.

Video Timestamps:

  • 0:00 Burke's definition of the sublime 
  • 2:22 'Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog' 
  • 3:00 'the highest degree of pain' 
  • 4:00 pain, danger, distance, and delight 
  • 5:00 the sublimity of wild animals 
  • 6:30 the terror of Blake's tyger  
  • 8:00 power and obscurity  
  • 8:30 Milton and the shapelessness of Death 
  • 9:00 forests in sublime Romantic literature 
  • 10:00 Wordsworth's 'Prelude' 
  • 12:00 Coleridge's 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner' 
  • 17:00 Wordsworth's 'Tintern Abbey'

Do you agree that the highest degree of pain is more affecting than the highest degree of pleasure?

And do you get more enjoyment from the fear-inspiring sublime in art or do you prefer artistic renderings of beauty?

Happy reading!

Files

Previews only

An Introduction to the Romantic Sublime

0:00 Burke's definition of the sublime 2:22 'Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog' 3:00 'the highest degree of pain' 4:00 pain, danger, distance, and delight 5:00 the sublimity of wild animals 6:30 the terror of Blake's tyger 8:00 power and obscurity 8:30 Milton and the shapelessness of Death 9:00 forests in sublime Romantic literature 10:00 Wordsworth's 'Prelude' 12:00 Coleridge's 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner' 17:00 Wordsworth's 'Tintern Abbey'

Comments

Tom Pearsall

Thanks Ben for this video. I do appreciate these brief forays into some of the literary, philosophical and psychological ideas that both influence and radiate from what we are reading. It helps me to understand the literature from a broader perspective and helps me to make connections between works of different eras. I haven’t read much Romantic literature lately, so how the Sublime is portrayed there I can only hope to pick up on as I start to read some of these poems you have mentioned. I read parts of Burke’s essay and I agree it is not a difficult read. I think his idea of “aesthetic distance” is very interesting and is the key component to why we read literature in the first place. All literature and art inherently provides some distance from its subject matter. This invites the artist to explore subject matter that would be horrifying if we were living it rather than imagining it through the eyes of another. In a sense there are two layers of distancing - between subject matter and artist and then between artist and reader. Lets take surviving an airplane crash as a modern example. For the unfortunate soul who experiences this firsthand we are talking about some serious PTSD, survivor guilt, etc. I would want no part of that. For the person on the ground witnessing an airplane crash in front of them it is a horrifying experience, although I suspect many would admit to a degree of awe as well. By the time this event gets shown on television it no longer seems as horrifying as it is merely fascinating. Most people not only want to watch it but rewatch it, analyze it even. An example of this that we all share is watching the 9/11 World Trade towers collapse. Are these examples sublime though? Not sure. Perhaps the most truly “sublime” experience I can think of is an astronaut on a spacewalk with the enormously beautiful Earth on one side and the immense infinity of stars on the other. This is sublime in part because it is so dangerous as well. If the astronaut’s tether should be cut then it is instant terror while spinning away to a certain death. By the way, watch “Gravity” if you want to see a movie that captures this perfectly. Clearly, I agree that pain is more affecting than pleasure and for this reason requires the “aesthetic distance” or it is intolerable. I think when authors choose their subject matter they have this in mind, and a talented artist knows how much distance she needs to place. Too near and the reader recoils and too far it doesn’t resonate. Personally, I find Cormac McCarthy’s novels extremely moving despite the incessant violence because they feel real, and in the case of The Road, even prophetic. On the other hand, I can’t stand horror novels or film. I don’t want to test the limits of what I can stomach graphically. I can’t believe there is even a single person that wants to watch the “Human Centipede” movies. Seriously. Anyway, that's enough online “journaling” for now. Sorry for the long post and please more videos like this!

hardcoreliterature
>>61843293

That's wonderful to hear you've read Burke, Tom. Yes, "aesthetic distance" is a theory that has preoccupied me for some time. I actually notice its effect more when I'm viewing paintings than reading literature. When I'm in an art gallery, anything fearsome or awe-inspiring that impels me to lean in always makes me think of this theory. Why am I leaning in to get closer to something that could harm me if it were real? I'm reminded of Nietzsche's idea that when we look into the abyss, the abyss looks back into us. I've also been interested in PTSD for a while, having spoken to a few in the healthcare industry who make it their focus - I was recently speaking to someone who is experimenting with AI and virtual reality with wounded and traumatised veterans - they will replay the scene that led to their trauma over and over and over again until... the trauma starts to dissipate. Remarkable... Ah, Gravity - I had my heart in my mouth throughout that entire film. Sublime is absolutely the best way to describe it. Ha - Human Centipede... Unfortunately, I have seen it. I can appreciate a nuanced ghost film or something with psychological horror - but some of the gross-out gore (like the Saw films) just isn't for me!

Linda Falcone

Thank you for this wonderful lecture. I discovered Hardcore Literature searching for videos about Keats. The Romantic poets and Shakespeare were my two favorite topics as an English literature major and I have been longing recently to get reacquainted with all of my favorite works, with a guide. I am so excited to join the book club for 2022.