The enlightened view helped people to have their own reason and to have courage to say what is wrong and right. Government and religion had absolute power and were corrupted deeply. After The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the citizens, the revolutionary government started to rule by reason. Percy Shelley lived in romanticism era after the revolution.

Percy Shelley is a poet who wrote poetries in the era of French revolution. He is one of the icon of romanticism authors who describe the condition of the time. He has his own marked reason and thought of poetry. He wrote on A Defense of Poetry that “Poets are not only subject to these experiences as spirits of the most refined organization, but they can colour all that they combine with the evanescent hues of this ethereal world” The task of poetry for Shelley is reflecting the period of time in words and the reflection will be last long time. Poetry is a mirror which helps people understand better what the time used to be.

Shelley depicts the dark side of the time in poetries and, also, depicts frankly and provocatively the corruption and wrong points of England’s institution. He portrays the King as “the dregs of their dull race” and “Time’s worst statute, unrepealed” on the poetry “England in 1819”. By criticizing the corrupted government ruler, he implies the problems and how a new world should look like. He thought “Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the World”.

French revolution changed the entire status of French society by violence. Edmund Burke pointed out that French revolution caused terrifying chaos on society because it destroyed old system (order) that inherited from the past. Burke ‘s observation on society is that people use rational thinking to justify, question, and revolt authority. During the process of rational thinking, people have lost their emotion, feelings, and nature. Burke’s view is related to Shelley. Shelley emphasized on idea of Romanticism (love, emotion,beauty of nature and etc.). “Poetry redeems from decay the visitations of the divinity in man.” He believed that poetry can have huge impact on man and society, poetry can help man to regain awareness to the surrounding (nature, emotion and etc.). With those awareness of emotion and nature, people can create a new humanized society rather than rationalized society. 

Declaration of the rights of Man and of the citizen and The rights of Woman, those two declaration of the rights are in the language form. They were expressed in words.  Language is some kind of order. Human creation of language shows that we as human want to follow orders and rules.  Shelley stated that “Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the World.” Since Poetry is based on both imagination (love, emotion,beauty of nature and etc.) and language (order). Shelley pointed out that new post-revolution society should base both on emotional thinking and rational thinking.

“The most unfailing herald, companion, and… receiving intense and impassioned conceptions respecting man and nature.” What Shelley trying to say is very similar to Kant’s view. People with awareness of emotional thinking and rational thinking can work together to address any problems in society or give opinions to institutions. They can come up ideas that can benefit the society as whole. Communicating freely and accepting ideas, reasons freely in the new post-revolution society is very important. The use of emotional thinking and rational thinking constructs a better humanized society.

After the dramatic revolution happened in French, more and more Men realize the important of freedom, the rights of being independent, the idea of expressing their own thought and the bravery to question the existed.  People started to rationalize their surrounding and everything they had experience in their life, but Percy Shelley has a different picture for the world. He pictures the world as a place full of harmony, creativity, and imagination, where people can effortlessly share their passion to each other.  and in his mind, the best tool to express individual’s emotions is by poetry.

In “A Defense of Poetry” Shelley mentions that “it (poetry) arrests the vanishing apparitions which haunt the interlunation of life, and veiling them or in language or in form sends them forth among mankind, bearing sweet news of kindred joy to those with whom their sisters abide,” which imply that although logic and reason were the central ideas of enlightenment, the time, when people began to use their mind to visualize the whole world, he is the man who still values the spiritual, the intangible parts of a human being, the feelings that were always inside of ourselves but may not be easily recognized. Thus the need for poetry to capture all of those transient ideas in our life and retain them for the eternally.

Furthermore, as he discusses about the application of poetry, he describes poetry as a massager between government and its people. “the most unfailing herald, companion, and follower of the awakening of a great people to work a beneficial change in an opinion or institution, is poetry.”  during the English civil war, when the authority has suppressed its people,  it is the movement which poets stand out to public and the  power of their poetry to  help people fight for their liberty. Therefore, making them “the unacknowledged legislators of the World.”

Percy Shelly is an English poet during the Romanticism period. During the Romanticism, the poets were resisting traditional expectations and inventing new poetic forms. And the dominant literary form was the lyric poem. Also, as nature becomes more and more vulnerable and valued, Romanticism is associated with nature. In addition, Poet is seen as a new model of expressive freedom, which is liberated from the constraints of reason and authority. It is not only a very foundation for a new kind of society, but also a foundation for human experience, Thus, Romanticism is associated with nationalism as well. It is defined as a rejection of neoclassical styles and a rejection of reason as the organizing principle for art and society.

If we want to talk about Percy Shelly and his poems, we have to take the history background into account. Shelly experienced the era when the British government had imposed heavy taxes to pay for the nation’s protracted wars with France, with the poor suffering especially from high taxes. For example, Shelly describes large-scale historical events, and expresses his resistance and rebellion towards the authority in his poem, England in 1819, like he said, “Rulers who neither see nor feel nor know” and “Burst, to illumine our tempestuous day”. Shelly believes that only poetic images can be like the “redemption” to reanimate the literature. Such renewal of words could become a means of upending social inequities and tyrannical authorities.

In Shelly’s a Defense of Poetry, he first relates poetry to the remarks in its elements and principles, such as nature, to tell us what is called poetry. Like he said, “Poets are not only subject to these experiences as spirits of the most refined organization, but they can color all that they combine with the evanescent hues of this ethereal world;” That is, poetry makes our words, feelings, minds, and imaginations, all immortal. He then states an application of the principles to the cultivation of poetry by relating the nationalism background. The poets use poetry as an accumulation of the power if communicating and receiving concepts about man and nature to struggle for civil and religious liberty against authority. That is, in Shelly’s belief, poets, respecting nature and human reason, instead of the authority, should be the unacknowledged authentic legislators of the world.

Enlightenment emphasized the importance of reason which was related to French Revolution in which people began to question their authority as well as social situations. While many people were getting used to rationalize everything they encountered in daily lives, Shelley advocated the idea of the beauty of nature and human emotions that were somehow being eliminated after French Revolution. He states in “A Defense of Poetry” that “Poetry redeems from decay the visitations of the divinity in man.” When people used reasons to explain their surroundings, they ignored some emotional and spiritual feelings that were difficult to rationalize but essential to a human being. Shelley considered poetry as a tool to stimulate an intangible connection among people. This connection derived from people’s emotions and traditions that they had followed for a long period of time. However, this connection was getting blurred due to the overuse of reasons. At this point, Shelley believed that poetry could encourage people to regain this connection by reminding what they had felt and experienced from their traditions and inheritance.

In addition, even though intellectual development was mainly enhanced after the revolution, spiritual development was another part that people needed to focus on. Shelley mentions, “it is impossible to read the compositions of the most celebrated writers of the present day without being startled with the electric life which burns within their words.” This quote shows that although people were able to read a great piece of work, they did not really understand it until they paid attention to the writers’ inner thought and feelings. If they had similar experiences as the writers did, they would develop a better understanding as a result. Emotion was definitely a part of the experience because whatever people faced they would have certain feeling derived from it. The sense of empathy assimilated them with the writers when they read the piece of work. Again, it was difficult to measure and rationalize those feelings, but they were still important to people’s lives. In this case, people might not be aware of the fact that they strengthened the connections among them through different works composed by poets and writers.

MINJI KIM

Enlightenment and History of the Peloponnesian War

Enlightenment was occurred by French who wished to smash old, traditional and subordinate hierarchical social structure and create a new world that everyone is born free and equal. I believe all human beings must be born equal and free even though that is not easy. When generations have changed, societies have been changed by revolutions or by times too. When a society is changed from old to new, the purpose and reason why the society is changed are well maintained at first time, social structure will be eventually made in that new society again, people dissatisfy on the situation and protest against the situation, it has repeatedly occurred from ancient times to today. The book “History of the Peloponnesian War” by Thucydides shows this situation.

The book “History of the Peloponnesian War” basically tells about the Peloponnesian war that Sparta and Athena had battle with divided Greece. I’m not going to talk about the whole story, but I’m going to talk about this book’s certain part called “The Debate at Sparta and Declaration of War”: Corinth and Corcyra have a serious war because Corcyra doesn’t respect its mother state Corinth as Corcyra is an independent state than other state from Corinth. For Corcyra doesn’t respect Corinth, Corinth is mad at that and it doesn’t respect Corcyra too. When both states are fighting, Athen supports Corcyra although Athen and Corinth are in alliance as Corcyra’s suggestion was more attractive than Corinth’s suggestion to Athen. In this war, Corcyra with Athen wins against Corinth. After this war, the allies Sparta, Corinth and other states are in have a meeting to discuss about preparing war. Here, they debate why they, especially Sparta, should prepare and have wars and why they shouldn’t prepare and have wars. This part is very interesting related to Enlightenment. The side that opposes against having wars insists that human being’s INSIDE be nature and it be the best. On the other hand, the opposite side that supports for having wars claims that they should have wars because they can show their power and honor to other states and enemies by wars and the empire can be stronger by wars and the empire is human nature. What they mean is that the empire is supporting security, honor, and self-interest like money and the empire is also built with those three security, honor, and self-interest. For the empire and for keeping safety of each state, security, honor, and self-interest are very important and mandatory and it is human being. If so, when I compare this part to Enlightenment and revolution, hierarchical (social) structure is needed to keep safety of a society and a country or social structure must not exist because it is from nature.

Modern society and countries are tangled up in each other. Within international relations, politicians make more laws and intensify it in order to protect their countries. Citizens elect representatives who are stronger and wiser than them to keep their countries safe and strong. In this process, social structure is naturally made again. If so, can you criticize or support your society and social structure? Without my will, social structure has been made continuously by human beings and you are used to it. People, in particular poor class dissatisfy their status now since they have no power and there is nothing they can do. So, they say the society must be changed and they will be better leaders or representatives of their countries if they become new leaders instead of leaders now. To be honest, they, however, will be exactly same leaders like politicians now because this is human’s nature. Of course, the society must be changed and all human beings must be equal. Though, if all men are born equal and have equal right, the society can be different and better than now? Basically, in this modern society, being born equal is very difficult since when you are born under a certain home, your status is already given by your family’s status. Of course, by your efforts, you can be a better person than your given status. However, that doesn’t mean the society is changed, you change your status by yourself putting a lot of efforts. And, when you have a high status like other representatives in your country, keeping your original thoughts and attitude won’t be easy although you try to be a person who you want because you will be also interested in honor and self-interest like your own property and you’ll do your best to keep your country safe and strong like other politicians. So, my point is that all human beings, of course, must be born equal and free, but being born equal is practically impossible, social structure will be made anyway because you are human who has desire. If so, having social structure is better for a better society.

After reading a number of responses to the French Revolution that critiqued many aspects of the changes made to French society founded on an ‘Enlightened’ world view, consider what Shelley sees as Poetry’s task. How does Shelley see Poetry entering this debate about how a new, post-Revolution society should look? Please use direct, textual evidence. 300 words minimum.

17^th century was the era that was the beginning of social change such as rebellions for liberation from colonialism, slavery, and women’s right. People were deeply and severely pressed by their leaders so that it was hard to get out of someone’s tutelage. Kant’s approach was that we have to know how to have public use of reason by ourselves with courage to be enlightened.

I would like to connect this idea to my thought based on my perception. I had been familiar with learning by rote since I spent all of my school years in South Korea. Even though it was just 10 years ago, the way of learning was totally different from western world and the idea of Kant. I might live in a country that wasn’t affected by outside of the country so that it was so conservative. Having own thought and criticizing others are almost taboo in schools, works, and society. In classes, students never ask questions because teachers dislike having a different opinion with them. People did not critic political wrongdoings. Government controlled minority people who were against government although it is 21th century. We’ve had this kind of tutelage which is teaching and learning ideas by rote and we’ve banned to have our own reason. Thinking and criticizing ourselves with open mind would be arduous since many follow others’ set of idea. However, I believe self-incurred tutelage is necessary for developing ourselves.

I am unfamiliar with philosophical ideas but enlightenment is quite interesting for me. By moving to the States and having a kind of freedom of customary prejudice, enlightenment would follow as Kant says. Independent thinker is always right.

Women are often been seen as a mystery and sensuous creature, from their emotions express or their behalves. In the work of The Sensuous Women by Ihara Saikaku, the author indicated female’s sensuousness and how they used it as an advantage and then intend to control over men.

When I readed the article, I was surprised by some ideas that the author tried to imply and express. Firstly, I think this article was a reflection of a view of a woman’s fate in a general Japanese society. This woman desired to be love and wanted to give her love, however, there were hundreds of reasons can stop her being a dreamer so that she could live a life she wanted. The biggest issue was the gender. Secondly, this story not only tried to indicate women’ irrational treatments in old time because of their gender, it also gave a different perspective about men were being more powerful than women through two men’s argument, which was interesting, because all kinds of power these two men discussed were depended on gender also. A most important thing was the article embodied the new idealism. It made we think about our society and prejudices even today.

In Asia, as well as many other places.  Women’s position in society were often seen lower than men. Male here are always consider female as their property. However, in this article, it was not about what the woman’s position in society, it about the awareness of enlightenment of women rights in the upcoming new world. Women can purchase what their want to do and to love like men does. When we are defining what powers are, it should base on people’s abilities and personalities and how these effect and benefit the society, not their gender