Consciousness, Literature and the Arts
Archive
Volume 5 Number 2, August 2004
Special Issue: Jacques Derrida’s Indian Philosophical Subtext
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Beer, John, Romantic Consciousness, Hampshire and New York, Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. 209 pp., ISBN 1-4039-0324-7, £ 45.00.
Reviewed by
Utah State University
Can the human mind and psyche, or humanity, for that matter, be explained from merely rational premises? In other words, can the rational consciousness of the eighteenth century provide answers to such questions? In his slender book of about 200 pages, Romantic Consciousness, Professor John Beer sets out to explore how the Romantic writers grappled with that question. The subsequent questions are disturbing yet exhilirating and the artists Beer includes in his study--from Blake to Coleridge and Wordsworth to the Cambridge Apostles to Keats, Byron, and the Shelleys--all encounter them in some context.
What makes Beer's book enjoyable for professionals and leisurely literary enthusiasts alike is his clear approach to a rather complex subject in a straightforward, easy-to-read-and-follow style. He articulates his argument in the very first paragraph of the first page and masterfully guides the reader from thereon along the intricate path of his unfolding argument.
Beer focuses on the import of the word 'Being' as the word the writers of the age applied in growing significance to approach the very essence of humanity in nineteenth century terms. He proposes that the importance of it is so considerable that we would make a crucial mistake by discounting the word as yet another era-typical metaphor. Rather, he contends, the complexity of the term is such that the meaning of it cannot be "reached by successive conscious analyses."
Blake applies 'Being' very sparingly in his visionary poetic works, but as Beer points out, he is well aware of the essense of the term as one drawing on a larger meaning. It is, however, Coleridge who establishes the connotation and also enriches the thinking of the future by creating his own theory on 'primary' and 'secondary' consciousness. In his approach, Beer warns, the two terms mean just the opposite from the later established psychological terminology: Coleridge prefers to consider the subconscious the 'primary' level of the human mind, as the key to true human nature. For him, then, the essence of Being crystallizes in the mental experiences of energy and light. In the remainder of his book, Beer meticulously follows the profound influence Coleridge's early thinking had on his contemporaries--and beyond--while at the same time allowing for the others' individualisms.
Romantic Consciousness reads as a scholarly page-turner (which, for many, may sound like a contradiction in terms) not just because of the allure of the grand era of English literary life--after all, these are indeed the most widely beloved poets and writers of the English culture--but also for the tremendous depth of Beer's exploration. He takes the reader on a vertical journey into the deepest philosophical challenges the writers of the era grappled with. It is a well-known fact that Coleridge and Wordsworth, at one point connected through the greatest mutual admiration, gradually distanced from each other and followed their individual paths, and Beer suggests the very core of their differences: "There is not, as is sometimes supposed, a power-struggle going on, simply the contentions of alternative versions of Being," in other words, the tension between the Coleridgean consciousness, i.e. the subconscious, and the Wordsworthian identity, a struggle between the weak and the strong, so to speak, undermines the friendship between the two giants.
Such a devastating divorce of great minds, Beer contends, created a dichotomy that would reverberate for rest of the Romantic movement. He brilliantly weaves this supporting idea into his main argument, namely that his contemporaries followed the Coleridge's tradition while at the same time they endeavoured to find their own connection to the phenomenon of 'Being'. Keats proposes that the heart is the mediator between consciousness and Being and De Quincey senses Being in the dark sublime. Beer reiterates a crucial point of his argument by saying that the Cambridge Apostles were affected by Coleridge's concept so much that "one who had been admitted as a member of the Society was said to have attained 'the category of Being.'" Tennyson, despite his membership in the society, distances himself from Coleridge, and Byron and Shelley also grapple with the polarities of Being.
Then, in probably the most enticing chapter, Beer closely examines Mary Shelley's crowning effort in the actual creation of a 'being' whose mere existence--or call to existence--signifies the central mystery and paradox of 'Being' or, essentially, humanity. Shelley infuses her Frankenstein's Monster with the essence of the question of 'Being,' consequently personifying in it the vital question of her age. Because of the significance of Shelley's creation, the reader would be more fulfilled if Professor Beer expounded further on the subject. One feels that if Shelley's Monster was indeed the personification of 'Being,' the chapter is not enough to explore its significance. Yet, with this final chapter, the book ends on a praiseworthy level that will hopefully be equaled in Professor Beer's sequel, Post-Romantic Consciousness.
One is almost sorry to see the chapter, along with the book, end on this high note. The reader is consoled by the fact that Professor Beer continues his brilliant investigations in a sequel, Post-Romantic Consciousness, which is undoubtedly expected by all readers with great anticipation.
In our days of specialization and mandatory single-focussed interests in academe, the number of literary figures Professor Beer discusses is a welcome relief. His ability to address a single concept and apply it to so many Romantic poets makes Romantic Consciousness not only enjoyable and understandable but also fascinating and intellectually stimulating.