Research Article

CHARLOTTE SMITH’S “BEACHY HEAD” AS A SPACE OF CONTRASTS

Volume: 23 Number: 2 June 30, 2021
TR EN

CHARLOTTE SMITH’S “BEACHY HEAD” AS A SPACE OF CONTRASTS

Abstract

This study concerns itself with the analysis of “Beachy Head” by Smith from the respect of prevalent contradicting forces such as Nature and culture or the historical time and the mythical past in the poem. The long narrative structure of the poem enables to present different voices reflecting the poet’s ideological stance towards the contemporary issues in her time and exemplifies the excluding attitude of the ones representing the Neoclassical values. The study, in this regard, tries to clarify the functionality of the contrasts in the poem and their influence on the possible meanings of the text. The tension and the Sublime in the poem appear in the way that the speaker observes Nature and her surroundings in order to grasp the circulations in the natural world and her private sphere. Accordingly, the concepts of time and place lead to alternative spatial and temporal experiences for the poetic persona. Then, the text also turns into a space in which the persona confronts not only the bloody history of humanity but also the consoling past experiences she has lost by integrating into the cultural world. The study concludes that “Beachy Head” goes beyond its geographical and natural qualities by offering both a corporeal journey and visionary progress for the poetic persona through certain dichotomies constructed and deconstructed throughout the text.

Keywords

References

  1. Bernstein, S. (2007). “Nature seem’d to lose her course:” Crisis historiography and historiographic crisis in Charlotte Smiths the Emigrants. L. Felber (Ed.), In Clio’s Daughters: British Women Making History 1790-1899. (pp. 29-42). New Jersey: U of Delaware P.
  2. Bode, C. (2008). The subject of Beachy Head. J. Labbe (Ed.), In Charlotte Smith in British Romanticism. (pp. 57-69). London: Pickering& Chatto.
  3. Burke, E. (1823). A philosophical enquiry into the origin of our ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful with an introductory discourse concerning taste and several other additions. London: Thomas M’Lean, Haymarket.
  4. Cognevich, C. (2020). Inside voice: Charlotte Smith, Silence, and the sonnet of insensibility. Essays in Romanticism, 27 (1), 1-22.
  5. Coleridge, S. T. (1847). Aids to Reflection. New York: Stanford& Swords.
  6. Curran, S. (1994). Charlotte Smith and British Romanticism. South Central Review, 11 (2), 66-78.
  7. Fletcher, L. (2001). Charlotte Smith: A critical biography. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
  8. Garnai, A. (2009). Revolutionary imaginings in the 1790s: Charlotte Smith, Mary Robinson, Elizabeth Inchbald. Hampshire and New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

-

Journal Section

Research Article

Publication Date

June 30, 2021

Submission Date

October 25, 2020

Acceptance Date

April 8, 2021

Published in Issue

Year 2021 Volume: 23 Number: 2

APA
Altunsoy, Ş. (2021). CHARLOTTE SMITH’S “BEACHY HEAD” AS A SPACE OF CONTRASTS. Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, 23(2), 569-585. https://doi.org/10.16953/deusosbil.816079
AMA
1.Altunsoy Ş. CHARLOTTE SMITH’S “BEACHY HEAD” AS A SPACE OF CONTRASTS. DEU Journal of GSSS. 2021;23(2):569-585. doi:10.16953/deusosbil.816079
Chicago
Altunsoy, Şafak. 2021. “CHARLOTTE SMITH’S ‘BEACHY HEAD’ AS A SPACE OF CONTRASTS”. Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi 23 (2): 569-85. https://doi.org/10.16953/deusosbil.816079.
EndNote
Altunsoy Ş (June 1, 2021) CHARLOTTE SMITH’S “BEACHY HEAD” AS A SPACE OF CONTRASTS. Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi 23 2 569–585.
IEEE
[1]Ş. Altunsoy, “CHARLOTTE SMITH’S ‘BEACHY HEAD’ AS A SPACE OF CONTRASTS”, DEU Journal of GSSS, vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 569–585, June 2021, doi: 10.16953/deusosbil.816079.
ISNAD
Altunsoy, Şafak. “CHARLOTTE SMITH’S ‘BEACHY HEAD’ AS A SPACE OF CONTRASTS”. Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi 23/2 (June 1, 2021): 569-585. https://doi.org/10.16953/deusosbil.816079.
JAMA
1.Altunsoy Ş. CHARLOTTE SMITH’S “BEACHY HEAD” AS A SPACE OF CONTRASTS. DEU Journal of GSSS. 2021;23:569–585.
MLA
Altunsoy, Şafak. “CHARLOTTE SMITH’S ‘BEACHY HEAD’ AS A SPACE OF CONTRASTS”. Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, vol. 23, no. 2, June 2021, pp. 569-85, doi:10.16953/deusosbil.816079.
Vancouver
1.Şafak Altunsoy. CHARLOTTE SMITH’S “BEACHY HEAD” AS A SPACE OF CONTRASTS. DEU Journal of GSSS. 2021 Jun. 1;23(2):569-85. doi:10.16953/deusosbil.816079