Niagara Fall: The Difference in Male and Female Consideration of Aesthetic Ideal of Sublime
Ecofeminism as a movement which is considered to be rather popular is going to be highlighted in this work along with the modern understanding of sublime and its relation to ecofeminists. The main idea of this research is to show the connection between two notions ‘ecofeminism’ and ‘sublime’. Furthermore, the Niagara Fall is going to be considered from these points of view of the basis of two writings, Summer on the Lakes, in 1843 by Margaret Fuller and My Visit to Niagara by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Male and female perception of beauty is different, this is going to be underlined by means of the literary works mentioned above.
Margaret Fuller’s Perception of Sublime via Niagara Fall
Margaret Fuller perceives the nature as it is. She envies those who were the first who saw the Niagara Falls as at that time the nature was absolutely new and the scene was virginal (Fuller 13). Fuller was sure that empire-building is violent and ugly if to compare it with the American utopian culture, the nature, where everything is on its place (Egan 51). She understands the entire nature as sublime. Dwelling upon her impressions from what she saw, she states that when she saw the fall for the first time, she noticed “everything looked as I thought it would” (Fuller 4). So, thinking about the nature, the author thought about its entire look and this is the sublime in her opinion.
The Relation of Fuller’s Ideas to Contemporary Cultural Ideals of the Sublime
Adams conducted a research devoted to Fuller’s experience of the Niagara Fall and states that the contemporary world with its buildings and changes prevents her from considering the falls with the “fresh vision or surprise” (251). Fuller is a women and ecofeminist statements are close to her. Even though she has never been oppressed too much, even though she was satisfied with the life she led, her perception of the sublime nature is closely related to that by ecofeminists. Sublime for may people in the modern world is connected with religion, for others it is the beauty expressed in the technological terms (Coffey 137), and for the rest, and Fuller is one of those, sublime is the nature and its entire look.
Nathaniel Hawthorne Perception of Sublime and Neagara Fall
Male perception of Niagara Fall may be explained by the development of the opinion about sublime. The technological sublime is what exactly Hawthorne feels while looking at the fall. The beauty is seen into its magnificence form the technological and architectural point of view (McKinsey 65). Looking at the nature, Hawthorne notices the structure of the whole scene. Analyzing the “My Visit to Niagara” by Hawthorne Levy states that the author tries to compare the nature with the world he lives in. It is rather difficult for the author to express his emotions as he feels aesthetics of the Fall differently, free from stereotypes (Levy 402). The beauty of the fall for Hawthorne is based on its technological beauty.
Does Fuller ever come to feel the “sublimity” that she hoped to find in the scene?
Does Fuller ever come to feel the “sublimity” that she hoped to find in the scene? Yes, she does. “It is very sublime, giving the effect of a spiritual repetition through all the spheres” (Fuller 2). These words support the main idea she wanted to deliver to the reader. Having seen so many pictures of Niagara Fall, Fuller had never expected that the view was going to be so exciting. Before leaving Fuller had to admit that she thought she really had seen “the full wonder of the scene” (Fuller 3).
What does Hawthorne say is necessary in order to appreciate nature?
Today, women are considered to be the parts of nature, “between the mistreatment of animals and the objectification of women’s bodies” (Kilcup 42). The main idea of these words is if to consider a woman as a part of a nature, which is beautiful, (ecofeminism), so the nature is really perfect and should be taken as the source of delight. Stowe dwells upon the embodiment of nature’s power. She tries to find something beautiful in the nature and to connect it to human beings (32).
Considering the problem, it may be concluded that the main idea of ecofeminism is that human attitude to each other and to women in particular are reflected on the nature. Making the nature beautiful, considering it as something sublime, the members of ecofeminism movement try to shift the nature entire tranquility to human beings and the way they live. At the same time, Hawthorne says that to appreciate the nature he needs to see it, to hear it. Dwelling upon the Hiagara he starts admiring the surrounding reality only when he heard the river stream and when he saw the sun on the water. This was the nature for him. As for me, he admired the changes he could see, not the fall itself.
To answer the question whether I think that one who sees nothing in Niagara except a mass rock and water, vapor and sunshine could appreciate its beauty, grandeur, and sublimity, I should say that it is possible. Some people admire the entire nature, others need some specific conditions, still all that is nature and it cannot be compare with the technological science which had been considered as the main parameter for nature beauty in the 17th century (Coffey 131). The notion of sublime is different for various people. The same said Fuller, “all great expression, which, on a superficial survey, seems so easy as well as so simple, furnishes, after a while, to the faithful observer its own standard by which to appreciate it” (3).
Why was Hawthorne’s first impression of Niagara a disappointment?
The first impression of Niagara Fall disappointed Hawthorne as he had to compare and contrast what he saw with what he had heard before. So much had already bees said about Niagara, but when Hawthorne came close to it, he could not appreciate the beauty as he had already created a picture in his head. But, when he saw the scene from absolutely new side, he understood that it is beautiful, as no one had wrote about it before and he hadn’t created a picture in his head. “My enjoyment became the more rapturous, because no poet shared it – nor wretch, devoted of poetry, profaned it: but the spot, so famous through the world, was all my own!” (Hawthorne 6).
Conclusion
In conclusion, both Margaret Fuller and Nathaniel Hawthorne agreed that the Niagara Fall is a real wonder of the world. Still, Fuller sees the entire nature in the fall. Her ideas are closely connected with the ideas claimed by the ecofeminist movement. This movement tries to change the society with the purpose to change the environment and stop its damage. Hawthorne believes that one should not express his emotions in the direction of the Niagara Fall as the main beauty for him in the phenomenon is the technological construction. Thus, it may be concluded that male and female consideration of the beauty is absolutely differently and ecofeminism plays not the last role there.
Reference
Adams, Stephen. “’That Tidiness We Always Look for in Woman’: Fuller’s Summer on the Lakes and Romantic Aesthetics.” Studies in the American Renaissance (1987): 247-264. Print.
Coffey, Donna. “A Sense of Place.” Women Studies 31 (2002): 131-140. Print.
Egan, Ken, Jr. “Poetic Travelers: Figuring the Wild in Parkman, Fuller, and Kirkland.” Western American Literature 44.1 (2009): 49-62. Print.
Fuller, Margaret. Summer on the Lakes, in 1843. 1844. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1991. Print.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “Original Papers: My Visit to Niagara.” The New-England Magazine 2. (1835): 91-96. Print.
Kilcup, Karen L. “’I Like These Plants That You Call Weeds’: Historicizing American Women’s Nature Writing.” Nineteenth-Century Literature 58.1 (2003): 42-74. Print.
Levy, Leo B. “Hawthorne and the Sublime.” American Literature 37.4 (1966)” 391-402. Print.
McKinsey, Elizabeth R. Niagara Falls: icon of the American sublime. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985. Print.
Sheumaker, Helen and Shirley Teresa Wajda. Material culture in America: understanding everyday life. New York: ABC-CLIO, 2008. Print.
Stowe, William W. “‘Busy Leisure’: Margaret Fuller, Nature, and Vacation Writing.” Isle: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment 9.1 (2002): 25-43. Web.