Jarett Folsom
Coronado, Theresa
ENG 328
27 October 2016
Perception
of Nature by Man
During the 19th century, the Romantic Period
circulated through American culture in grand consistently as the many of the
great American works of art and literature were born in this era. However, many
fail to realize that much of the great works of Romantic America in the 19th
century was influenced by nature itself due to romanticism’s adoration on the
natural world. Because of its monumental influence, romantic literature cast
the natural world into something that is to be loved for its beauty before the
emergence of a theme emerged which spread across Romantic America with it
consisting of how man perceived nature, typically through direct contact with a
facet of nature, and how it affected him. Within the Rufus Dawes play, Athenia of Damascus, features such as
the setting of the play, the characters draw emphasis on negative and positive
aspects of man’s perception of nature through the usage of clever uses of
language with the insights of Vanessa Sage in her spiritual views and the
philosophical views of fellow Romantic George Marsh backing up the perspective
of the play. With plays like Dawes’ linking man and nature together through the
means of direct contact and perception through his usage of language, scholars
can see how the romantic views of the 19th century carry on even to
this day.
With writers like Rufus Dawes of Romantic America being
greatly influenced by man and his perceptions of nature, the play Athenia of Damascus explores this in a
creative and metaphoric fashion by connecting what the characters see to their
own selves. One of the best instances of a character connecting to nature
appears in Act III when Athenia walks through the gardens of Damascus stating,
Athenia “I
will not pluck thee from thy parent tree,
Sweet rose of beauty! while the raindrops
hang
O’er thy clear blush their modest
ornaments—
Another hour shall glory in thy
smile,
And when the daylight dies, the
queen of Heaven
Shall fold thee in a silver veil of
love” (Dawes Act III, 32).
With the usage of
metaphorical language in how Athenia sees the powers of Heaven consistently
aiding in giving the rose its beautiful appearance; to which her observation
and direct contact with the rose demonstrates that she stands in sublime of its
natural beauty spiritually and emotionally. With the romantics using being
influenced by the wonder of nature, perception of nature by man aids in
highlighting how the romantics tended to view an “encounter with nature
constitutes a new connection for the individual, a connection to something
bigger than oneself, perhaps even to the divine” (Sage 2), which furthers the
imagination of Dawes’ play in regards to how a human being may perceive the
natural world in comparing it that of the divine world.
The
spiritual element being a primary source to how the views of nature via the
Romantic Era come into our current 21st century in allowing one to
connect something wondrous in the natural world through their personal faiths. In
referencing the conception of nature connecting to someone’s own spiritual
faith, this carries on into the modern world from the 19th century
by with the notion of inspiration as most faiths tend to connect to nature in
some shape or form as “the earth is believed to be a living organism with
energies that cannot only be felt, but understood; and “pre-modern, ancient, or
indigenous cultures” are believed to be more in touch with these earth
energies” (Sage 11). Through this quote, one can see a better understanding as
to how this scene from the play connects to our modern-day world with this concept
of nature and faith mixing together as the ancient cultures worshipped the
forces of nature. I believe that Dawes knew this and created scenes like
Athenia in the gardens with rose to preserve this connection of a person’s
faith into nature to those who saw or read this play as time progressed. A
connection that, on a more personal note, I and others I know feel when
reviewing poems and other texts from the Romantic Era, the 21st
century and to times that rest in the distant past.
In the continuation of Athenia of Damascus aiding in the theme of nature perceived via man
brought on by the romantics, a scene involving the character of Calous when he
describes Athenia’s emotional status via the cycle of nature in the following
way,
Calous “How
can this dull cloud pass before the sun,
And turn our spring to winter? –
There, I knew
The dimpling bud of my Damascus
rose
Was only folding its sweet leaves
awhile,
To garner up more beauty” (Dawes
Act III 37)
Outside the content of
this statement from Calous to Athenia, as the two of them are lovers within the
play, the quote in its entirety speaks in a melancholy yet uplifting tone of
voice in regards to the cycle of nature as the warmth of spring fades into the
bitter old associated with winter, to which the “rose” disappears but with the
promise to reappear as the seasons change again. In furthering this perception,
fellow romantic writer George Marsh comments on observing nature that “sight is
a faculty; seeing, an art” (Marsh 15). Through this philosophical ideal of
perception, one would read into the downhearted perception of a human being
that physically sees the rose vanish with the arrival of winter, the knowledge
of its return better connects the emotional complement of man in respects to
the cycle of nature and her beautiful facets.
This
romantic representation by Dawes on of the seasons in reflection of nature’s
beauty diminishing before rising again reflects how we in the 21st
century might view the movements of nature with winter bringing a cold and
heartless desolation while spring revives what had once been fertile in a warm
rejoicing. I suspect that Dawes utilized this in his play as he had felt a form
of sadness when seeing the snow of winter overcome the fields and gardens that
coated America, before he could see the cherished beauty of these fields and
gardens once more with the next season. While as we, in the modern sense, have
undoubtedly felt melancholy when winter sweeps in and takes all the color from
nature until such color returns in our personal way. Thus, there’s the very
real possibility that many of the romantics saw the inevitable coming of winter
in such a manner with many people in our modern day see the change of winter to
spring as a rejoicing time as the beauty of nature sprouts again from beneath
the snow.
Despite the positive connotations of man’s connection to
nature thru his perception, representations of man’s direct contact with nature
can lead to negative results and connotations. Dawes’ play touches on this
briefly in the play when the character of Kaled describes the populace of
Damascus in a vile manner to the character of Dera.
Kaled “Adballah,
thou shalt govern in my absence!
Keep the defensive! and retreat, if
haply
These rabid dogs unkennel from the
city,
Go, Dera, rouse the lions from
their lair,
Bring out ten thousand chargers,
manned and scimitared” (Dawes Act III, 50).
From this piece of
dialogue, Dawes uses a darker form of perception with his metaphorical
description of the populace of Damascus and its soldiers as this represents
people being compared to wild and rabid dogs and predatory lions; which stands
opposite of man’s romantic insights towards nature and her wonders. However, it
is not all seen as a darker comparison as “beasts and birds and insects of
prey—all animal life feeds upon, and, of course, destroys other life—but this
destruction is balanced by compensations” (Marsh 57). In connecting this piece
of Dawes’ work to a quote by Marsh on man’ connection to nature, the wild and
rabid dog may be considered a destructive figure to play in nature, but its
presence is balanced through it becoming the prey of the powerful and predatory
lion. Though this does not portray the same form of sublime as most American
Romantic works feature, it adds to the notion of man perceiving nature through
keeping itself in check in every instance.
In
regards to the 21st century America’s understanding of nature’s
checks and balances, Marsh’s point on nature keeping itself in order validates
the reasoning behind the symbolic language used by Dawes and directly
references how we as people perceive the actions of nature’s elements through
our studies in the fields of ecology. Furthering this understanding, the
context of the play and of Marsh’s view demonstrates not only how nature itself
functions, but how society functions. By this, we as humans seem to have taken
a que from nature in keeping things balanced in our towns and cities through
using law enforcement as the symbolic lion to make sure that those members of society
that may symbolize the rabid dog are kept in place in an orderly fashion. It’s
very well possible that Dawes had decided to use this section of his play as a
metaphor for such a situation when comparing human society to the elements of
the natural world. This instance of Dawes’ play helps demonstrate the perception
man being influenced by nature to create a factor of balance that fit his own
environment from the Romantic Era of 19th century America until the
present day.
Through the inspirational element of man perceiving
nature spreading across Romantic America, the connection between mankind and
nature itself grew in such a way that it remains rooted deep within 21st
century American culture. With the influence of nature during American
Romanticism in the 1800s birthing the perception of the natural world through
the eyes and feelings of man, Rufus Dawes’ Athenia
of Damascus represents this theme quite well with its usage of metaphorical
language surrounding the characters and settings of the general setting. Using
its linking man and nature together in a creative manner, the contents of this
play helped create the basis of how Americans would view nature in literature,
in their beliefs and in their own personal beings from the 19th
century to even the present day. Through the examination of this literary work,
one can see how the current literature in America came to be in how it draws so
much attention to and from the elements of nature through the medium of novels,
plays and even poems; and without the Romantic Period moving through the United
States, this may not have been possible for a considerable amount of time.
Work
Cited
Dawes, Rufus. “Athenia of Damascus: A Tragedy.” S.
Coleman’s Publications. New York. 1839. Print.
Marsh, George Perkins.
“Man and Nature, Or, Physical Geography as Modified by Human Action”. Ed. David
Lowenthal. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. Cambridge,
Massachusetts. 1864. Reprinted 2003. Print.
Sage, Vanessa. "Encountering The Wilderness,
Encountering The Mist: Nature, Romanticism, And Contemporary Paganism." Anthropology
Of Consciousness 20.1 (2009): 27-52. Academic Search Complete. Web.
28 Oct. 2016.
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