Romanticism is an 18th century writing style that expressed things that were unknown. Romanticism was more about imagination than reality. It was a free style, not orderly or strict. The romanticism period was during the time of the Industrial Revolution. Many people felt the Industrial Revolution was all about assembly lines and making people the same. It was becoming a homogenized country.
Writers of that time had many different feelings and emotions about a homogenized country and this was evident in their stories, poems, epics, and songs. Many of the writings were about the unknown places or things. They told of exotic places and amazing events. Romanticism celebrated the individual and the individual spirit. Their heroes would stand in contrast to the homogenized thought of that time. The stories and writings helped the authors and the readers to get away from their everyday lives and feelings. It helped them think of the unimaginable and impossible.
On August 1, 1819, in New York City, a baby was born. His name was Herman Melvill. Melvill was the son of Allan Melvill and Maria Gansevoort Melvill. Born into a wealthy family, his father was a French dry goods importer. Melvill’s mother added an “e” to their last name which turned Melvill into Melville. Melville was the third oldest of eight. After Melville’s father died, his family was left in poverty with only their mother to take care of them. Melville then dropped the educational life and went to work at a variety of odd jobs. Around the age of twenty, Melville signed on as a crew member of his first ship to Liverpool. Afterwards, Melville went on to sail many more times on a whaling ship. Melville’s experiences on the ship gave him most of the ideas for his books. In fact, a lot of Melville’s books had to do with some trip he took to some exotic island.
Melville was married in 1847 to a girl named Elizabeth Shaw. Melville was already writing about his adventures at sea and had the thought of supporting his family with his writings. Melville was famous for his earlier novels until Moby-Dick. Later on in his life, he wasn’t as famous for his novels. Herman Melville kept writing though. The reason was probably because it helped him get out of his daily routine and helped his mind escape to nostalgic thoughts.
Herman Melville’s writing style was the same throughout his books. He wrote of his days on the sea. He wrote of his experiences in exotic islands. Moby-Dick, for instance, is about a man who is the narrator of a sea voyage. Melville writes of the days when he and a fellow traveler ended up on an island where the people of the land were cannibals in the book Typee. Typee “was Melville’s own story of living with a tribe of cannibals of Nuku Hiva” (Canada). Most of Melville’s writings have to do with the sea of some sort. After all, he did use nautical terms and personal experiences in his writing. Melville was also in the Navy at one time and he wrote about his life in the Navy. Melville didn’t just tell the facts and events in his novels. Melville instead made it into a fictional story based off of actual events he had witnessed. In his book, The World in a Man-of-War, Melville “exposed the abuse of sailors that was prevalent in the U.S. Navy at that time” (Bloom). Melville made his stories interesting by creating an imaginative world that was similar to the way the world was then. “Melville wrote about his experiences so attractively that he soon became one of the most popular writers of his time” (World Book, 390).
A recurring theme that Herman Melville tended to write about was a homosexual theme. In some of his stories he wrote about men loving other men. The men may not have loved each other intimately, but in his stories some men do exchange vows. Whether this is homosexual love or just homosexual marriage is the question. Either way, Melville had a thing for writing about men being together intimately and celebrating it. For example, “Mardi (1849) is a celebration of the intimate friendship of two men, and equates marriage with suicide” (Norton). This book was his first book published after he was married. It was said that Melville did not have a very good relationship with his wife and it may be the reason why he wrote about homosexuality. Melville was even thought to be homosexual. He felt passionately towards Nathaniel Hawthorne. Herman Melville also writes about incest. Pierre is a whole novel of his devoted to incest. Herman Melville mixed the names of his wife and mother on his son’s birth certificate. Herman Melville was thought to be confused and little weird. This may have been why his writings were written the way they were. “Incestuous mix-ups (which Melville himself linked with homosexuality) and misogyny (which many people link with male homosexuality), are the two rather negative factors taken into account when assessing Melville’s erotic makeup” (Norton). In Moby-Dick there is a passage where it implies homosexual love and/or homosexual marriage. This passage is: “The bed they sleep in is the same marriage bed in which the landlord and his wife spent their wedding night: “it’s a nice bed: Sal and me slept in that ere bed the night we were spliced. There’s plenty of room for two to kick about in that bed; it’s an almighty big bed that.” Ishmael, virtually a new bride although a lusty seaman, appropriately goes to bed before Queequeg, the savage harpooner and bridegroom, and shivers in anticipation of her/his husband fulfilling his wedding-night duty” (Norton).
Another theme Melville wrote about had something to do with a father-son relationship. “Melville’s life and writings are filled with problems between sons and fathers” (Canada). Melville and his father didn’t have a very strong relationship and neither do some of his characters in his book. Also, Melville didn’t have a very good relationship with his son and his son ended up committing suicide. Herman Melville usually bases the main character or narrator off of himself and it tends to be that this certain character is looking for a fatherly figure in his life. Some books where this theme is occurring are Moby-Dick, Redburn, Billy Budd, and Pierre. Some examples are: “In Redburn, the narrator, Wellingborough Redburn, praises his dead father, “but contrasts his own humble position as a sailor with that of his father, a successful business man” who died bankrupt (Robillard). In Moby-Dick, the character Ishmael, an unhappy, fatherless son, seeks a father figure and finds one in Queequeg, and the main character of Pierre, Pierre Glendennin, reveres a dead father who was not who Pierre thought he was (Robillard). In Billy Budd, Billy, a young sailor, discovers a “father figure” in Captain Vere, but is betrayed by him in the end” (Canada).
Another theme of Herman Melville’s is a religious theme. Melville relates a lot of things to the Bible. The names and actions of his characters are tied in with a story in the Bible. Herman Melville usually relates to something of the Old Testament. “Ahab, named for an Old Testament king, desires a total, Faustian, god-like knowledge. Ahab is struck blind before he is wounded in the leg and finally killed. Moby-Dick ends with the word “orphan.” Ishmael, the narrator, is an orphan-like wanderer. The name Ishmael emanates from the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament — he was the son of Abraham and Hagar (servant to Abraham’s wife, Sarah). Ishmael and Hagar were cast into the wilderness by Abraham. Other examples exist. Rachel (one of the patriarch Jacob’s wives) is the name of the boat that rescues Ishmael at book’s end. Finally, the metaphysical whale reminds Jewish and Christian readers of the biblical story of Jonah, who was tossed overboard by fellow sailors who considered him an object of ill fortune. Swallowed by a “big fish,” according to the biblical text, he lived for a time in its belly before being returned to dry land through God’s intervention. Seeking to flee from punishment, he only brought more suffering upon himself” (VanSpanckeren). However, even though Melville was said to have written with a Biblical context, there are also parts where it may not have been Biblical. For instance, in an article written about Typee it is said that, “The book praises the islanders and their natural, harmonious life, and criticizes the Christian missionaries, who Melville found less genuinely civilized than the people they came to convert” (VanSpanckeren).
I believe Herman Melville liked to write about things with a religious tie to it because it would raise questions about god, if there even is one. Herman Melville’s father and mother came from two different religions and backgrounds. He may have had mixed feelings about religion and gods and what to celebrate because Herman Melville’s books usually left the reader with questions about gods and religions.
Romanticism was a way of getting away from the everyday life of modern America. It was a way to create an imaginative world where you could escape to and read about others problems. Romanticism was a time to forget about your own opinions for a while and to calm your mind. Herman Melville did just that in his books. He created a world where unknown things would happen. Most of his works had to do with the sea, but he still created a place for the reader to go to when they needed a break from the everyday society. Herman Melville is a wonderful author, although he is confusing. Since he died quite a while ago and he was forgotten as an author around his death, nobody really knows why he wrote the way he wrote. One person takes it as incest and homosexuality whereas another just takes it as someone looking for a relationship among men. Where one person sees his writing as biblical, another may look at is as just a coincidence. Herman Melville was thought to be crazy and little messed up in the mind. This may have been true and may have also been the reason why he wrote the way he did. A reason to study Herman Melville is to form your own conclusion about him. Don’t turn him away because you heard a rumor about him. His books are very good and have become classics in our literature. Herman Melville can write in a detailed style and in a way that is so interesting to the reader that they want to keep reading. Herman Melville was once forgotten at a time in his life. After his death, his works were rediscovered and now he is famous again. I hope that his writings won’t be forgotten again.