English 610 —British Romanticism

Professor
J. Jennifer Jones

Nature and Burke's Aesthetics of the Sublime and Beautiful

Edmund Burke’s A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful explains how sensation, imagination, and judgment shape the experience of pleasure and pain, and how pleasure and pain are represented by the aesthetic categories of beauty and the sublime. Specifically, Burke relies on nature to characterize aesthetic experience, a fundamental concept of eighteenth century (and later) writing. For instance, Kant's Critique of Judgment reflects how Burke uses nature to develop his ideas of the beautiful and sublime, albeit Kant's ideas evolve even further to include virtually all objects as potential sources of the sublime. It is generally understood that greater appreciation of "natural" beauty is a vital concept of Romantic thought. Thus, Burke’s theory on the sublime and beautiful is important because he places the two categories in terms of the process of perception and its effect upon the perceiver. Burke’s explanation makes the opposition of pleasure and pain the source of the two aesthetic categories, deriving beauty from pleasure and sublimity from pain.

Pain is not simply the removal of pleasure, and pleasure is not simply the removal of pain. Rather, pain may be caused by the removal of pleasure, yet also arise in and of itself. The same may be said for pleasure as mutually exclusive from pain. Although Burke's title implies discussion of both sublimity and beauty, he primarily focuses on causes and effects of the sublime in Parts 2 and 4 (periodically claiming the reverse of subliminal aspects is where beauty stems from). To understand these causes and effects, Burke further categorizes the ideas of pain and pleasure; in turn, he creates sub-categories that delineate certain types of passions as necessary catalysts to strike emotions we can then define in terms of the sublime and beautiful.

Burke divides the passions into two major groups: those that concern self-preservation, and those that concern sex and society. Pain is a more powerful emotion than pleasure, and may have a much stronger influence on the imagination. However, the idea of pain when the individual is not directly in harm's way, produces a pleasurable form of fear, which Burke calls "delight." In other words, so long as our sense of security is not compromised, Burke believes we possess a profound interest and even "delight" in contemplating others' misfortunes. While we can "sympathize" with them by more or less extrapolating an idea of their pain, we are simultaneously struck by a sense of happiness that we are not on the receiving end of misfortune and that we can possibly help. This premise is also the origin of the strongest passion that the mind is capable of feeling: the terror experienced in contemplating the horrors that others endure. The cause of this "delightful" terror is what Burke calls the "sublime." Burke further distinguishes a positive sensation of pleasure from delight. This distinction is of crucial importance in the development of his treatment of the sublime.

In contrast to earlier theorists like Longinus, Burke associates the sublime more with fear, pain, and horror, and less with a sense of magnificence or inspiration in the audience. In Burke's terminology, the "passions which concern self-preservation, turn mostly on pain and danger" (36). Burke asserts that the ideas of pain, pleasure, and indifference are "clear" ideas that are independent of each other, and not ideas existing only in relation to one another (31). Each exists independently. Thus, the diminution of pleasure may result in a state of indifference, disappointment, or grief (34). On the other hand, the ceasing of pain may result in a state of indifference, happiness, or delight. Here Burke uses the term "delight" in a slightly different manner than previously noted; he refers to delight as a pleasure that is caused by the removal of pain. He distinguishes between this delight and "joy," claiming that joy refers to a pleasure which arises in and of itself (delight depending on the removal of pain in this case, and joy existing independently). By establishing these distinctions within passions that individuals feel, Burke generates a conception of the sublime in connection with our encounter with nature as well as art.

Burke assimilates most of what Longinus previously stated about the sublime, but his primary focus is different. Drawing from John Locke’s empiricism about knowledge in his Essay on Human Understanding, Burke assumes all knowledge stems from sense experience, which requires the taking of simple impressions made by our physical senses, and making turning them into more complex ideas about human relations with nature. This view displays Burke's idea of the purpose of imagination; the imagination is more or less the foundation where the pleasure of images can be constructed by what appeals to our senses. What appeals to us (simple ideas) is then taken and reworked to be complex in nature (nature as state of being and nature as surroundings). Although Burke (based on other writings) himself was not focused on nature like Romantic poets, his basic ideas equating the sublime with astonishment, fear, pain, roughness, and obscurity and the beautiful with a set of opposing qualities (calmness, safety, smoothness, clarity) permeate thinking and writing by Romantics, especially Wordsworth and Coleridge. For example, Wordsworth's "aspect more sublime" and the "presence that disturbs me with the joy / Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime" in Tintern Abbey, lines 38, 94–95 demonstrate Burke's concept of the sublime. Likewise, the passages about beauty and fear in the opening book of The Prelude and the decaying woods, blasting waterfalls, thwarting winds, torrents, "black drizzling crags," and the rest of the lines at the conclusion of the crossing the Alps episode in book 6 provide further concrete manifestations of the Burkean sublime.

The sublime applies to large, grand parts of nature while the beautiful is reserved for smaller delicate parts. Burke establishes this idea by associating the fear of death, dismemberment, terror (mostly stemming from not knowing what we're up against), and darkness with feelings of sublime. While he addresses the fact that Locke does not think that darkness is sign of terror, Burke feels an association of utter darkness makes it impossible to ascertain one's safety; this lack of control to secure our safety evokes a feeling of the sublime due to sheer immanent danger that is even possible. So, Burke sees a difference between what the mind expects and what actually happens in any given situation. Indeed, part of his thesis involves the fact that fear robs the mind of reason, and the sublime stems from that loss. He says,

Whatever is fitted in any sort to excite the ideas of pain, and danger, that is to say, whatever is in any sort terrible, or is conversant about terrible objects, or operates in a manner analogous to terror, is a source of the sublime; that is, it is productive of the strongest emotion which the mind is capable of feeling. I say the strongest emotion, because I am satisfied the ideas of pain are much more powerful than those which enter on the part of pleasure. (36)

In its highest degree, Burke claims the sublime will cause astonishment, or "that state of the soul, in which all its motions are suspended, with some degree of horror" (53). For Burke, since the sublime is the cause of the strongest emotions which the individual is capable of feeling, it may produce the pain, fear, or terror referred to earlier (leading to the effect of astonishment). The sublime effects astonishment because it is found to have an unimagined, inexplicable greatness or power. Let us not forget, however, that both pain and pleasure are caused by the sublime because it causes the most powerful emotions which can be experienced by the individual, including awe, reverence, fear, and terror.

The sublime also has "inferior" effects otherwise known as admiration, reverence, and respect. To create any or all of these effects, circumstances must appear terrible, and this is created through lack of clarity or obscurity for the most part. Burke believes some general "privations" are what produce the necessary obscurity to evoke terror: "All general privations are great because they are all terrible; Vacuity, darkness, solitude, and silence" (65). According to Burke, obscurity has a more powerful effect on the imagination than clarity because the sublime, as an obscure source of danger, seems more fearful if the perceiver cannot identify boundaries with which to connect and find familiarity. For instance, low, intermittent sounds and shadows bring about feelings of the sublime because we expect something specific but don't actually know the circumstances, and this minimally causes tension in our bodily organs.

These expectations cause individuals to fall prey to the ultimate "power" Burke sees as inherent in fear and terror of the indefinite or unknown (which can threaten individuals with pain or death). This power can also represent what we cannot fathom, such as strength of animals or power which stems from monarchy. Thus, the sublime can also be caused by immensity of form (institutions) or situation (infinite), as well as magnitude (ex. buildings), grandeur and difficulty (fathoming building of Stonehenge), or unity. The big question for Burke then, is "what terrifies us?" Subjectively, it's the fear of pain, and Burke's theory seems paradoxical in this respect because we are drawn to our sources of pain and, hence, terror. This is where the idea of imagination discussed earlier plays a greater role in understanding the complexity of Burke's ideas.

Essentially, no one desires pain, and people look for pleasure. It is through fictional pain or sense of endangerment existing in our imaginations that we sometimes find pleasure (anticipation of campers in a movie getting killed by the axe murderer). It's also probable that pain is metaphorical and that pleasure exists in a sublime experience which we describe as painful (Burke's example of the violent effects produced by love). While explanation should not be limited to these perspectives, they nonetheless provide paradoxes from which Burke's ideas about beauty stem.

Early in Part 2, Burkes explains that beauty inspires love or affection toward the perceiver of beauty, making it a highly "social" quality and even concept for the societal passions earlier noted. In particular, the society of sex uses the passion of love with a mixture of lust. Thus, the object of beauty is the body of women. The "great society" concept of beauty, however, lacks the quality of lust in the passion of love, focusing more on ideas of affection and tenderness as calming, welcoming effects to the perceiver (47). These premises provide a larger umbrella under which to broadly categorize Burke's ideas of the sublime and beautiful: beauty=feminine, smooth, calm; sublime=masculine, rough, obscure (chaotic).

Burke defines beauty as a "social quality" which produces "positive and original pleasure" (119). Beauty may inspire the individual to feel affection and tenderness towards that which is perceived as beautiful. More specifically, Burke situates beauty within characteristics pleasing to the physical senses, especially sight. For instance, he claims, "the application of smooth bodies relaxes" our perceptions (137). In general, "constituents of beauty" have a "natural tendency to relax the fibres of the human body," creating the "passion called Love" (136). It is here in Part 4 that Burke modifies his idea of the sublime and beautiful; the pleasure provided by beauty stems from a relaxing effect that takes hold of the body upon perceiving something pleasing to the eye. In contrast, sublimity causes an “unnatural tension” in the perceiver’s body. Exactly because of this tension of the nerves, and consequently of the passions, terror seems pleasing. So, the idea of delight changes paths and becomes more thrilling (sometimes masochistically) as one approaches danger or death. Thus, he sets the two categories in opposition, leaving little room for reconciliation of the two (although he does address unity in visual works of art in Part 3): "The ideas of the sublime and the beautiful stand on foundations so different, that it is hard, I had almost said impossible, to think of reconciling them in the same subject, without considerably lessening the effect of the one or the other upon the passions'' (113).

One conclusion to be drawn from Burke's theory is that the reason why a great work (written or visual) is so inspiring is because it is not merely beautiful, but sublime. While the beauty of that work may inspire love or admiration, the sublimity of the work may stem from awe or astonishment at the mystery, terror, and power provided by obscurity in text or visual elements. To conclude generally, though the sublime can be characterized as power that effects loss of control over ourselves, it also characterizes any given state of mind at work; we are, as Burke suggests, amazed, awe-struck, and astonished.

Gretchen Cohenour
University of Rhode Island
November 15, 2005

Flagg Road 124
TH 11-noon; 2-3pm

Required Texts

John Milton. Paradise Lost (Norton)

Marilyn Butler, ed. Burke, Paine, Godwin, and the Revolution Controversy (Cambridge)

William Godwin. Things as They Are; or, The Adventures of Caleb Williams (Penguin)

Stephen Gill, ed. William Wordsworth: A Critical Edition of the Major Works (Oxford)

William Wordsworth. The Prelude: 1799, 1805, 1850 (Norton)

H. J. Jackson, ed. Samuel Taylor Coleridge: A Critical Edition of the Major Works (Oxford)

Donald H. Reiman, ed. Shelley's Poetry and Prose: A Norton Critical Edition (Norton)

Jerome McGann, ed. Lord Byron: The Major Works (Oxford)

Edward Hirsch, ed. Complete Poems and Selected Letters of John Keats (Random House)

Harold Bloom, ed. Romanticism and Consciousness (Norton)

Course Packet (Rhode Island Book Company)

NOTE: With the exceptions of Caleb Williams and the Course Packet, all materials are available through Reserve at the URI library.

Class Participation (15%)
Seminar Paper (70%)
Class Opening (15%