Thesis: Charlotte Lennox’s The Female Quixote demonstrates the
dangerous line between absorption and obsession that can be crossed by the
power that literature was thought to have throughout the eighteenth century.
The character Arabella meets more of the criteria for the eighteenth century
concept of “obsession” than absorption, as shown by her self-objectification, and
the manner in which her thoughts and words are decrees through words of command
and of high and low status. Furthermore, there is the historical difference
between the positive connotation of absorption and the negative association
with obsession which make Arabella’s singular focus lean towards obsession.
Example Paragraph: (corresponds to e. and f. of part IV)
One
of the major characteristics of an obsession that Van Zuylen discusses in Monomania is the consequent
depersonalization of the person suffering from the obsession (or, in eighteenth
century terms, suffering because of that obsession). The author asserts that “at
the heart of their most personal idée fixe lies the hungry hankering for
impersonality” (7). “Impersonality” itself could mean actually replacing the “self”
with whatever the obsession is. Arabella seems to go through this very process
in The Female Quixote. As shown in
the quote in which she reproaches Glanville for expressing his affection for
her, she refers to women (and herself) as a “divine Object” that “causes”
affection. This is a very apparent
example of Arabella’s self-objectification, which demonstrates how she does not
consider herself anything but a tool in the development of a romance (as
classified by the group of novels she has read.) She does not even refer to
herself as “I” or “me,” but rather classifies herself as one of many heroines,
therefore rendering her view of the world completely impersonal.
Outline
I. Introduction
a.
Establish Modern vs 18th Century OED Definition of Obsession/Absorption
(not very in-depth)
b. Thesis
II. The Power of Literature in the 18th Century
(This might go into the introduction)
a.
The Pleasures of the Imagination: “But the greatest and purest pleasures were
those of the imagination, feelings provoked by imaginative literature and the
fine arts… Dr. Johnson took a similar view: ‘Works of imagination excel by
their allurements and delight; by their power of attracting and detaining the
attention.’ Works of art were of enormous importance because of their
persuasive power. Used wisely they could teach people to follow the path of
virtuous sociability; used wrongly they might cause irreparable damage” (105-6)
(I will probably use chunks of this; I’m just not sure what to cut out yet).
b.
Connect to Arabella/Quixote quote? : “Her
Ideas, from the Manner of her Life, and the Objects around her, had taken a
romantic Turn; and, supposing Romances were real Pictures of Life, from them
she drew all her Notions of Expectations…”(7)
III. Obsession vs. Absorption
a. OED
about Obsession
b.
Metaphors of Mind about Absorption
c.
Connect to quote above (“Her Ideas…”)
d. Incorporate: “Her
Mind being wholly filled with the most extravagant Expectations, she was alarmed
by every trifling Incident; and kept in a continual Anxiety by a Vicissitude of
Hopes, Fears, Wishes, and Disappointments…”(8)
e. Use these two quotes to
establish the lean towards obsession
IV. Monomania and Obsession in The Female Quixote
a.
Establish obsession as reconstruction of world from Monomania: “Each one of its enactments is part of an abstract,
autonomous desire to reorganize the world according to a long-lost model of
wholeness.”
b. Connect
back to the quotes shown above
c.Obsession
gives sense of agency according to Monomania:
“The idée fixe is an infinite source of comfort; not only does it provide
unshakable boundaries, but it lures the subject into a sense of agency.”
d.
Show the kind of decrees that Arabella uses-give her boundaries, establishes
distance between her (high) and Glanville (low). Actually the “laws” are
speaking through her in a way. “What a horrid Violation this, of all the Laws
of Gallantry and Respect, which decree a Lover to suffer whole Years in Silence
before he declares his Flame to the divine Object that Causes it; and then with
Awful Tremblings, and submissive Prostrating at the Feet of the offended Fair”
e. Impersonality from Monomania: “At the heart of their most
personal idée fixe lies the hungry
hankering for impersonality…”
f. Show Arabella’s
self-objectification: “What a horrid Violation this, of all the Laws of
Gallantry and Respect, which decree a Lover to suffer whole Years in Silence
before he declares his Flame to the
divine Object that Causes it; and then with Awful Tremblings, and submissive
Prostrating at the Feet of the offended Fair!” (32) (Maybe one of the speeches directly
from one of the novels)
g.
Obsession=need for submission to authority according to Monomania: “What all of these extremists share is a fear of
freedom, of openness, and an overpowering need to surrender to something that
will stand in for authority.”
h.
Connect to quote above or use moment when Arabella tries to swim across Thames:
“Fortune, which has thrown us into this Exigence, presents us the Means of
gloriously escaping…” (363)
V. Positive Connotation of ”Absorption” vs. Negative with “Obsession”
a. “Absorption”
associated many times with “genius” and “imagination” (Metaphors of Mind)
b. Etymology
of “Obsession” (changing in 18th century from demon possession to
this
influence that troubles/fills the mind. Either way not good.)
c. Bring
in quote from The Female Quixote from
the end scene with the doctor where Arabella is
shown the error of her ways.
VI. Conclusion
No comments:
Post a Comment