To what extent do you agree that, in gothic writing, fear and pain are sources of pleasure? Fear and pain are sources of pleasure that Shelley in ‘Frankenstein’ employs, especially within the character of Victor. The painful description of the monstrous birth is one example of this- having the element of disturbance to shock the reader, yet to Victor (the creator) his response is pleasure and he seems to enjoy the terrifying sounds made of the birth; ‘’I might infuse a spark… into the lifeless thing’’, Here Shelley emphasises the gothic by playing with the dead and ‘infusing’ life- making the dead a scientific experiment for Victor to ‘play’ with. Shelley also reinforces the idea of fear and pain being a pleasure to Victor by the way he describes his emotions towards the experiment- ‘’I became nervous to a painful degree’’ making the reader feel a degree of anticipation by the creator speaking like this is intensifies the situation- even though he seems eager to fulfil ‘spark’s into the ‘’lifeless thing’’.
In relation to ‘Macbeth’- Shakespeare ties in inflicting pain with one of the major themes within the play- the supernatural. The characters of the three witches are used to present inflicting fear over the reader which enhances the theme of the supernatural due to their nature. This is highlighted by the link between the witches and pathetic fallacy ‘’When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning or rain?’’- Similar to the ‘dreary night’ in Frankenstein where the ‘monstrous birth’ consists, pathetic fallacy is used to inflict a scare over the reader and foreshadows fear and pain- again, similar to Victor in ‘Frankenstein’, the witches seem to be comfortable around this type of weather which gives the effect of them holding an inhumanly pleasure concerned with pathetic fallacy- a tendency of the gothic used to highlight fear and danger. Lady Macbeth, also, is pleasured by the pain and fear she is making Macbeth impose on others (Banquo, King Duncan and Macduff) – she takes an enjoyment over the supernatural torture that takes place within her mind.
The Essay on The role fear plays in the actions
Fear has brought its way into a little town called Aqua traverse, motivating them into cold blooded kidnappers. The role of fear appears in many of the villagers in particular Michele, Felice and Pino as they show numerous areas of fear throughout the novel I’m not scared. An innocent young boy Michele takes his fears on head first and motivates himself on with his comic book character Tiger ...
Her wanting to become ‘’unsexed’’ creates a painful atmosphere for the audience due to depth in description; however, she seems to enjoy the transformation when she calls upon the ‘’evil spirits’’ ‘’unsex me here/ And fill me crown to the toe topfull of direst cruelty’’- here Shakespeare offers a gothic experience by the transformation from woman to man- controlling the natural order is not something thought of as ‘pleasurable’ yet, Lady Macbeth seems to encounter enjoyment through the process. The character of Lady Macbeth further reinforces the theme of fear and pain for the audience by excluding any hope of safety by the exclusion of heaven- ‘’take my milk…my kean knife see not the wound it makes… nor heaven peep’’. The connotations of ‘’kean knife’’ suggest that she literally wants to cut any good and innocence in her out- voicing the fear and pain held within any human if a ‘’knife’’ was to cut in, yet not wanting heaven to ‘’peep’’ acts as a source of pleasure for her and she is enjoying becoming monstrous.
However, the writer doesn’t continue this exact same source of pleasure felt from fear and pain in the character of Lady Macbeth- rather he shows a journey of a woman who felt as if she could be ‘’unsexed’’ but natural order takes over the superior mind of Lady Macbeth and replaces her guilt stricken- resulting to a stereotypical woman: ‘’The Thane of Fife once had a wife. Where is she now?’’ For the first time here, the audience view Lady Macbeth as not only feminine, but human. This then goes onto reveal that the fear and pain caused by Lady Macbeth’s corrupted mind doesn’t always lead her to pleasure- ‘’Will these hands be clean?’’, ‘’Out damned spot!’’- Her guilt is replaced for pleasure and this leads to her ultimate destruction. Something Shakespeare hints to the audience is that the overpowering of natural order is not pleasurable, and even if it is, it’s not for long- it has led Lady Macbeth to become a raving madwoman who now cannot speak with eloquence as she had before and she became weaker than what she ever was- rather than grow in strength and power.
The Essay on Lady Macbeth A Woman Before Her Time
During the Elizabethan era, the great chain of being reigned. Women were low on this chain of power, and men were on top. In fact, women were below horses; you couldnt live without a good horse, but, you could live without a wife. Lady Macbeth was a woman before her time, she was caught between being todays ambitious, powerful modern woman and a fragile creature of the Elizabethan era. In the ...
Pleasure received from fear and pain are a main focus within Angela Carter’s ‘The Bloody Chamber’ collection; especially within the opening with the character of the Marquis- who enjoys inflicting pain and fear into his wives, both physically and physiologically- it is apparent that he does this not only on the current heroine but the other wives he has had due to the ‘’pool of blood’’ and the secret chamber in which is keeps the corpses of his ex-wives. However, it is through the events that happen to the heroine in opening of the bloody chamber that the reader gets the impression a similar situation has happened with his ex-wives- it becomes clear to the reader that once the heroine reaches sexual maturity that the Marquis feels as though he has to empower the female through the act of fearing him and causing pain in which he finds most pleasurable- this is evident when he describes ‘’the act of love as the act of torture’’- to the reader this seems fearful and we can imagine the act to be painful due to the connotations that can be taken from ‘’torture’. However- Carter employs a different approach from the young girl’s naïve nature, emphasising the dark nature of the gothic. It appears that she seems to gain a source of pleasure from being his seemingly ‘prey’: ‘’tender, delicious, ecstasy of excitement’’.
Yet, Carter in her story shows a development of knowledge and growth within the girl as she realises she is becoming groomed- opening up a new layer of fear and pain to the Marquis- ‘’a chocker of rubies… like a slit throat’’- by making the heroine wear the chocker shows that’s he is trapped by both the Marquis and society for being a wife- the chocker acts as the entrapment of marriage, doubling the pain of being strangled to the pain of being in marriage. The fear and pain which changes from pleasurable to terrifying soon takes over the heroine ‘’I sensed in myself a potentiality for corruption’’- fearing both herself and the reader of the pain that the Marquis is capable of. ‘The Tiger’s Bride’ presents how Carter turns events that can cause fear and pain within a woman and develops them into events that cause the character pleasure- for example, the reader may find the licking of the heroines skin away as a source of pain and relate it to rape, however, Carter puts the female in the position of starting the sexual nature by ‘’he will lick skin after successive skin’’- showing that the gothic theme of breaking boundaries allows the female to replace fear and pain from what society will think into a pleasure and by her going through this transformation she, herself, can feel pleasured and satisfied with her ‘’shining hairs’’- the particular use of ‘’shining’’ is presented as a positive outcome- she is no longer trapped in the vulnerable female body, she has been through fear and pain and has now escaped to enjoy her ‘pleasure’ in the beastly world.
The Essay on Utilitarianism 2 Pains And Pleasure
When first introduced to Utilitarianism one would think that it is pretty straightforward and easy to swallow. Utilitarianism relates to the greatest happiness of the greatest number. Although there are some problems with this theory. In the paragraphs to follow I will illustrate what Utilitarianism is, discuss why it is important to society, and discuss some of the problems related to ...
Similarly in ‘The Erl-King’, Carter strongly presents the fear and pain inflicted over a woman which seems to evoke pleasure. ‘’I knew from the first moment… how the Erl-King would do me grievous harm’’- Carter here creates an ambiguous view for the reader as she shows the malicious side of the Erl-King- yet, the heroine stays in the woods that will ‘’swallow you up’’ voluntarily- this effect allows the reader not to anticipate as much as normal for the fear and pain the girl is likely to encounter as she seems to be in control and isn’t as naïve compared to the other heroines within the collection- making it possible for her to be pleasured by the fear and pain the Erl-King may act upon. Due to the reader having experienced the fear and pain men inflict over woman vigorously throughout the collection as a whole, it becomes a pleasure for the reader when the young girl ‘’strangles’’ the Erl-King as we are aware of his power over both humans and nature ‘’they sat at his feet’’. The strangling of the Erl-King and the constant playing of his voice screeching out ‘’Mother, Mother, you have murdered me!’’ darkly makes the reader feel a pleasure from the pain the man has now been caused.
The Essay on Imagination And Judgment Blake Pain Pleasure
Sensation, imagination, and judgment are interrelated in the experience of art. Burke explains how sensation, imagination, and judgment determine the experience of pleasure and pain, and how pleasure and pain are represented by the aesthetic concepts of beauty and sublimity. Burke says that, in order to understand the origin of our ideas of the sublime and beautiful, we must examine the experience ...
