Final Paper - Long Proposal

Having done a little bit more research into the 3 stories I want to talk about, I have decided to shift my focus from the relationship between conscience/guilt and madness to the idea of "coping mechanisms" in relation to guilt in Edgar Huntly, William Wilson, and The Minister's Black Veil.  I think that there is evidence for madness in all 3 stories, but it is because that evidence is debatable that I have decided to switch my research.  In my opinion, and in my paper I will venture to convince others of this as well, these "coping mechanisms" present in the 3 stories are what create the twisted plots and interesting outcomes.  More importantly, I want to illustrate how our mind's have evolved to deal with the atrocities we commit by developing the "coping strategies" shown in Edgar Huntly, William Wilson, and The Minister's Black Veil.

Edgar Huntly's Coping Mechanism: Sleep Walking
William Wilson's Coping Mechanism: Eliminating his Conscience
The Minister's Black Veil's Coping Mechanism: Avoidance

Tentative Works Cited:
Freud, Sigmund.  Psychopathology of Everyday Life.  London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1901
-used to summarize Freud's theory about the Id, Ego, and Super-Ego

Neill, James.  “Structure of Mind: Freud’s Id, Ego, and Superego.”  Personality and Individual

     Differences: An Undergraduate Psychology Course.  2004.  18 Nov. 2008

     <http://wilderdom.com/personality/L8-4StructureMindIdEgoSuperego.html>

-shows how the three parts of the mind interact with each-other and what they are for

Shakespeare, William.  “Hamlet.”  The Complete Pelican Shakespeare. Eds. Stephen Orgel and A.R. Braunmuller.  New York:  Penguin Putnam Inc., 2002.

-comparing Edgar Huntly to the revenge tragedy of Hamlet (tragedy and coping mechanisms - result is unpleasant, instant gratification = long-term suffering)

Cassuto, Leonard. "[Un]consciousness Itself is the Malady: Edgar Huntly and the Discourse of the Other."
Modern Language Studies 4 (1993): 118-130
-uses Freud to analyze Edgar's behavior and how sleep walking is the manifestation of his warring mind/conscience

Cochrane, Robert W. "Hawthorne's Choice: The Veil or the Jaundiced Eye." College English 23 (1962): 342-346
-talks about the difference between the Minister's acceptance and display of his sin vs. the hidden and unacknowledged sin of others.

*I have yet to find a serious academic source for my paper in terms of Poe's William Wilson, but I do have several ideas regarding what each side of William Wilson represents (Id- earthly William Wilson, Super-Ego- soul) and how killing his better half is a coping mechanism.

Paper Proposal

I would love to say that I've given a lot of thought to this final paper, but I honestly haven't.  I really only have a general idea of what I would like to talk about.  I was thinking I might talk about something along the lines of the relationship between conscience/guilt and madness in Edgar Huntly and William Wilson.  As well as arguing that guilt and madness are directly related to each other, I also want to talk about how Poe and Brown portray madness in their protagonists differently and to what end (i.e. what message does that particular kind of madness send to the audience and why?)  I haven't found any academic sources yet, but I want to cite Hamlet to talk about the relationship between conscience and madness, and perhaps some secondary sources which also speak to that idea, along with perhaps talking about Freud?  Especially in relation to Edgar Huntly.  I haven't explored that idea extensively yet, but I really want to.  Mostly I would talk about the Freudian idea of the Id, Ego, and Super Ego and how Huntly's form of madness, sleepwalking, is a manifestation of the war of these 3 parts of the mind...I'm sure I could relate it to William Wilson as well, but I'd have to do some more research.

-Riannon S.

The Place of Women

I think it is interesting that, though both Hope Leslie and The Last of the Mohicans were published not too far apart from each other (1827 and 1826 respectively), it is obvious that the position women hold in the two novels is vastly different.  Magawisca and Hope Leslie, the heroines of Sedgwick's novel, are almost complete opposites to the insignificant characters of Cora and Alice in Cooper's version.


I say that Cora and Alice are "insignificant" not because the novel could do without them necessarily, but because their growth and involvement as characters in the development of the plot is fairly minimal.  The two girls in Cooper's novel serve only as objects to be used or rescued, and as tools to enhance the characters of Hawkeye, Heyward, and Uncas.  Alice and Cora are almost static and do nothing to change their situation or the course of the novel.


Sedgwick's novel, on the other hand, uses the role of women in a very different manner.  As previously stated, Magawisca and Hope Leslie are heroines of the novel, not just small characters.  Though we have talked extensively in class about the fact that Hawkeye may or may not be the protagonist, there is no doubt that a woman is not the focus of Te Last of the Mohicans.  Hope Leslie's protagonist is more than obvious, and the role of women is far more complex and significant.  It is not a stretch to say that one of Sedgwick's main goals with this novel was to show that women can affect change and are more than simply "props" to be objectified.


In my opinion, both girls are heroes in Hope Leslie, and they fill that role without being stereotypical.  Magiwasca achieves her hero status by sacrificing a limb, and Hope endures her own tribulations throughout the story.  Hope helps Magawisca escape, as much as possible, from persecution and racism, which, in itself, is different from the norm.  Both women take their situations into their own hands and work to change them, regardless of their gender.  I have to note here that, though Magawisca does escape safely, she (the native "hero") loses a limb in the process, while Hope endures no permanent damage in the closing of her "happily-ever-after".  I find this interesting because it almost reflects how Cooper continually made it obvious to the readers that Hawkeye was white and, therefore, better than Uncas or Chingachook.  It seems to me that, though Sedgwick wanted to complete a role reversal for women, her treatment of the Native characters is not a far cry from how Cooper treats his.

-Riannon S.

Yes & No

I'd just like to start off by saying that I do agree with everyone when they say that this book was a general bore and a hard one to get through.  That said, I think it's going a little far to insinuate that this book is absolutely useless and a total piece of crap; it does have at least a little to offer, despite its flaws and downfalls.  When Twain rips into Cooper's Deerslayer, he says, "There are nineteen rules governing literary art in the domain of romantic fiction--some say twenty-two. In Deerslayer Cooper violated eighteen of them," this may be the case, but there are a few rules which are definitely violated when it comes to The Last of the Mohicans. 



11. They require that the characters in a tale shall be so clearly defined that the reader can tell beforehand what each will do in a given emergency.

This rule, for example, may have been violated in Deerslayer, but it also applies for The Last of the Mohicans.  The best representation of this is Hawkeye.  Although we talked extensively in class about how he doesn't seem to fit the role of "hero" or "protagonist" in this novel, he really isn't defined clearly enough to the point where the reader can anticipate his every response and action.  The way he reacts when he sees his enemy falling from a tree is not something the audience could have accurately predicted, and even what he thinks about after wasting his bullet is not necessarily predictable.  Hawkeye is interesting because he is unpredictable; he may be one of the only points of interest in the novel.

10. They require that the author shall make the reader feel a deep interest in the personages of his tale and in their fate; and that he shall make the reader love the good people in the tale and hate the bad ones. But the reader of the Deerslayer tale dislikes the good people in it, is indifferent to the others, and wishes they would all get drowned together.


Personally, there were a number of characters in this book which did not interest me in any way, shape, or form, and even more characters which, in my opinion, were not cohesive.  For me, the only character I was wholly and truly interested in was Uncas, but his fate at the end of this novel is obvious and evident in the title, which makes me almost less interested in his fate.  Other characters, like David Gamut, seem to have no purpose whatsoever in this novel (other than the obscure event he was introduced for) and make me wonder what Cooper's motives were for characters like this, if indeed he had any at all.


-Riannon S.

A Cry of Silence: Cooper's Epigraph in Chapter III

Before these fields were shorn and tilled,Full to the brim our rivers flowed;The melody of waters filledThe fresh and boundless wood;And torrents dashed and rivulets played,And fountains spouted in the shade.

These 6 lines, drawn from William Bryant's poem, "An Indian At The Burial Place Of His Fathers," are the components of the epigraph preceding Chapter III of James Fenimore Cooper's, The Last of the Mohicans.  In this case, Cooper's use of this particular piece of writing is meant to elucidate or foreshadow what the chapter is about.
Bryant's poem was written in 1824, which is around the time when The Last of the Mohicans was published.  Because of this, it would seem as though Cooper was assuming that his audience would be familiar with the work, if not with the author.  The poem is written in rhyming iambic pentameter, which gives it a musical and "pretty" sound.  However, this acts in sharp contrast to the idea the poem puts forth.  The main message in this poem is that the sounds of nature and the land which the Natives inhabit are slowly dying away and being crushed by the sounds of a new country, by the sounds of progress.
This theme is strongly supported in Cooper's third chapter.  Most notably, when Chingachgook speaks to Hawkeye, "...and when Uncas follows in my footsteps, there will no longer be any of the blood of the sagamores, for my boy is the last of the Mohicans," (32) it hammers home the idea of Bryant's poem.  The blood of the Mohicans is being smothered, just like the sounds of nature in the epigraph.  This point is also emphasized with the description of Hawkeye and his later words to Chingachgook: "...the other exhibited, through the mask of his rude and nearly savage equipments, the brighter, though sunburnt and long-faded, complexion of one who might claim descent from European parentage." (27) & "What do you hear, Chingachgook?  For to my ears the woods are dumb." (35)  Here, the dying sounds of the woods are linked directly to Hawkeye and his apparent "European Parentage," just another affrimation of the epigraph's place at the beginning of Chapter III.
-Riannon S.

Lack Thereof

In terms of the genre of the Gothic Novel, there are many elements that are essential and rudimentary to the Gothic style.  This list includes such aspects as manifestation of social and economic tensions, terror, horror, the supernatural, architecture/setting, etc.  Of particular importance in Charles Brockden Brown's novel, Edgar Huntly (Memoirs of a Sleep Walker), is the setting, more specifically, the Wilderness.  However, the Wilderness is never described to the audience in any more detail than that it is the Wilderness of Norwalk.  Despite the lack of description, the audience still perceives the Wilderness as Edgar Huntly does, the audience still feels threatened.  This ability to manipulate the audience's perceptions and sensations is what marks Brown as a Gothic novelist and Edgar Huntly as terrifying.


Because of this novel's classification as one of the first American Gothic Novels, the manifestation of the social concerns of the time are prevalent.  The most major of these is, arguably, how the concerns with founding a new nation become visible throughout the text.  The main problem with this new nation is the "unknown".  The Wilderness in this novel not only strongly represents that unknown, but also the feeling of being trapped by so much openness, being confined by the vast emptiness, and the genuine terror of truly being on one's own.  As previously eluded to in the preceding blog, "Terrible Horror, Horrible Terror," an author's lack of description in a novel is what can create genuine fear and suspense or, more broadly, terror.  In this case, the lack of description in terms of the wilderness makes the audience fear it and view it as a threat.


Approximately a third of the way into the novel, there are numerous depictions of a specific unknown area of Wilderness, which Huntly encounters on his search for Clithero.  It would seem that this section is dedicated to the unknown, the dangers it provides, and the fear it evokes.


Intense dark is always the parent of fears.  Impending injuries cannot in this state be descried, nor shunned. nor repelled.  (96)


Chilling damps, the secret trepidation which attended me, the length and difficulties of my way, enhanced by the ceaseless caution and the numerous expedients which the utter darkness obliged me to employ, began to overpower my strength. (97)


I advanced to the outer verge of a hill, which I found to overlook a steep, no less inaccessible... (98)


A stream rushing from above fell into a cavity, which its own force seemed gradually to have made. (99)


A sort of sanctity and awe environed it, owing to the consciousness of absolute and utter loneliness. (99)


At length, I looked upon the rocks which confined and embarrassed its course.  I admired their fantastic shapes, and endless irregularities. (99)


Had my station been, in a slight degree nearer the brink than it was, I should have fallen headlong into the abyss. (99)

This section employs the use of words such as, difficulties, ceaseless, darkness, inaccessible, cavity, force, awe, loneliness, confined, endless, brink, and abyss.  These words are representative of the true nature of the fear Huntly feels in his situation, as well as the fear the people of this new nation feel as a whole.  It is interesting that Huntly is describing this area where, human feet had never before gained this recess, that human eyes had never been fixed upon these gushing waters (99), to Mary in his letter, and yet his description is so vague and un-awe-inspiring.  Instead, the audience is left with the uncertainty and anticipation so often associated with fear and terror, thus making it possible for the audience to see the wilderness as a genuine threat.  With his lack of detailed description, Brown also makes it necessary for the audience to use personal imagination to fill in the spaces; often what our own imagination can procure is more frightening than what anyone else could ever put into words.


Had these virgin experiences been written by another author, there would surely have been much more detailed description of the endless beauty and awe-inspiring features of a new landscape.  Perhaps even more detail in terms of how this new scene made the characters feel, instead of leaving it up to the audience to do the feeling.  However, although the audience would gain a more vivid understanding of the Wilderness surrounding Huntly, we would lose that all-important sense of uncertainty and fear which is so crucial to the Gothic genre and, in turn, to Edgar Huntly.


-Riannon S.


Brown, Charles Brockden. Edgar Huntly or, Memoirs of a Sleep-Walker (1799). Toronto: Penguin, 1988.

Terrible Horror, Horrible Terror

When one watches a chilling film, reads a spooky novel, or has a truly frightening experience, there are almost always elements of both Horror and Terror.  That is not to say that these two things are the same, they are, in fact, very different.

In terms of film, Terror and Horror can be created and experienced through many different mediums.  In a movie, the Terror element is the suspense or buildup before a frightening scene.  The tension and anticipation the audience experiences are indicators of Terror.  The Terror element in film is often heightened by other aspects such as camera angle, music (or absence thereof), setting, etc.  On the other hand, Horror is what the audience experiences during and/or after a frightening scene.  The feelings of awe or disgust created by the scene can also be described as Horror.  For example, in the popular horror film, "Psycho," directed by Alfred Hitchcock, a scene involving both Terror and Horror would be when the first murder is committed.  Marion, the sister of one of the main characters is stabbed to death in the shower.  For the audience, the Terror is the buildup and feeling of genuine fear before she is stabbed.  We see the murderer enter the bathroom as she is showering, brandishing a knife above his head.  Although we can feel confident in the assumption that he is going to stab her, we experience Terror because we are uncertain and because it is suspenseful.  The Horror element comes into play when she is stabbed repeatedly and lies bleeding and dying on the bathroom floor; this is where the audience experiences the shock and disgust which often accompany horrific scenes.

When it comes to a novel or literature, Terror and Horror are categorized the same way as in film, but they are created differently.  Because it is an author's aim to create an image in a reader's mind, to create Terror or suspense the author may actually write more vaguely than is customary to create uncertainty and fear of what is to come.  For example, in the novel, "Perfume," written by Patrick Süskind, Terror is achieved by the absence of the description of the murder by Jean-Baptiste Grenouille of young Laure.  The audience is left in suspense until the next chapter, when our fears are confirmed by the description of her lifeless body; this is where the Horror sets in.

The elements of Terror and Horror in personal experience are also characterized in the same manner as film and literature, but can be even more frightening because of their personal nature.  One of the most common and relatable instances of Terror in a personal experience would be when one has the feeling of being stalked or followed.  This feeling could occur because of a noise one heard or just because of a "gut" feeling.  This will result in Terror because of the uncertainty of who, or what, is doing the following and what will happen in the near future.  Horror in personal experience however, would more resemble coming across an article or news story about someone who was stalked and followed repeatedly and then brutally murdered by the stalker.  This would invoke feelings of Horror because it is an awful incident, which, as in film and literature, disgusts and shocks us.

Although Terror and Horror are experienced and created differently in film, literature, and personal events, they always invoke the same emotions in us respectively.  For Terror, whether in film, literature, or experience, the audience or person will feel tension, suspense, uncertainty and often genuine fear of what is to come.  Horror, however,  is not fear.  Horror is the shock value and feelings of disgust and awe at the outcome or conclusion of a situation or scene.  The elements and feelings of Terror and Horror are often mistakenly grouped together as the same, however, as is evident by the vastly contrasting feelings evoked by both, they are anything but.

-Riannon S.