Melville's Captain Ahab as a Literary Antitype

Nonfiction, Entertainment, Drama, Anthologies
Cover of the book Melville's Captain Ahab as a Literary Antitype by Silja Rübsamen, GRIN Publishing
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Silja Rübsamen ISBN: 9783638147866
Publisher: GRIN Publishing Publication: October 16, 2002
Imprint: GRIN Publishing Language: English
Author: Silja Rübsamen
ISBN: 9783638147866
Publisher: GRIN Publishing
Publication: October 16, 2002
Imprint: GRIN Publishing
Language: English

Seminar paper from the year 2002 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: A, University of Massachusetts - Amherst (English Department), course: English 731: Bible - Myth, Society, Literature, 19 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: 1. Introduction: The Bible as a Source Of all sources for Moby-Dick, the Bible, as an inescapable part of his education, was Melville's best and earliest known one. Herman Melville was raised in a pious middle class perception of religion, and broadened his horizon of knowledge about Scripture and its reception throughout the centuries through the study of biblical commentaries, metaphysical essays, sermons, religious poetry, and of course of the 'opposition': stoic, skeptical, and deist literature. No other major writer of Melville's times makes such extensive use of Scripture. Not even Emerson, with an actual career as an Unitarian minister, or Hawthorne, who grew up in a Salem Calvinist family, make a comparable effort to use the Bible as a source, or to imply comparable grave consequences for the world view of both reader and author in their use of it. Raised with the Bible, Melville's biblical allusions appear with such regularity that their use seems 'not studied but involuntarily.' The spontaneity of their occurrence points to the fact that Melville had internalized the contents and styles of Scripture to an extent that made him employ biblical imagery, characters, and themes as if they had sprung from his own mind. There are about 250 obvious allusions to biblical passages in Moby-Dick , and an almost indefinite number of thematic and stylistic borrowings. Throughout Melville's career as an author, the number of allusions to biblical writings continually rises, from only a dozen in his first novel, Typee, to more than 550 in Clarel, the latter being the only work with more references to Scripture than Moby-Dick. In Nathalia Wright's list of the biblical books which Herman Melville marked and commented upon, the books of Ecclesiastes and Job have most markings, right after the Psalms, Matthew, and Isaiah, which suggests 'close connections [...] between the Bibles he read and the books Melville wrote.' Of the passages thoroughly marked the wisdom sentiments in Job, especially the dialogue between Yahweh and Job in Job, ch. 38ff, as well as the short book of Jonah, are most notable for their recurrence as important features of Melville's novels. [...]

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Seminar paper from the year 2002 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: A, University of Massachusetts - Amherst (English Department), course: English 731: Bible - Myth, Society, Literature, 19 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: 1. Introduction: The Bible as a Source Of all sources for Moby-Dick, the Bible, as an inescapable part of his education, was Melville's best and earliest known one. Herman Melville was raised in a pious middle class perception of religion, and broadened his horizon of knowledge about Scripture and its reception throughout the centuries through the study of biblical commentaries, metaphysical essays, sermons, religious poetry, and of course of the 'opposition': stoic, skeptical, and deist literature. No other major writer of Melville's times makes such extensive use of Scripture. Not even Emerson, with an actual career as an Unitarian minister, or Hawthorne, who grew up in a Salem Calvinist family, make a comparable effort to use the Bible as a source, or to imply comparable grave consequences for the world view of both reader and author in their use of it. Raised with the Bible, Melville's biblical allusions appear with such regularity that their use seems 'not studied but involuntarily.' The spontaneity of their occurrence points to the fact that Melville had internalized the contents and styles of Scripture to an extent that made him employ biblical imagery, characters, and themes as if they had sprung from his own mind. There are about 250 obvious allusions to biblical passages in Moby-Dick , and an almost indefinite number of thematic and stylistic borrowings. Throughout Melville's career as an author, the number of allusions to biblical writings continually rises, from only a dozen in his first novel, Typee, to more than 550 in Clarel, the latter being the only work with more references to Scripture than Moby-Dick. In Nathalia Wright's list of the biblical books which Herman Melville marked and commented upon, the books of Ecclesiastes and Job have most markings, right after the Psalms, Matthew, and Isaiah, which suggests 'close connections [...] between the Bibles he read and the books Melville wrote.' Of the passages thoroughly marked the wisdom sentiments in Job, especially the dialogue between Yahweh and Job in Job, ch. 38ff, as well as the short book of Jonah, are most notable for their recurrence as important features of Melville's novels. [...]

More books from GRIN Publishing

Cover of the book The Actual US Climate Policy In Comparison With The Global Climate Protection And The Interrelation With The US Economy by Silja Rübsamen
Cover of the book Survival factors of newly founded firms by Silja Rübsamen
Cover of the book International Trade and Finance - Pharmaceutical Industry in Germany by Silja Rübsamen
Cover of the book How to solve the Lack of Volatility in the standard MP model by Silja Rübsamen
Cover of the book The South's Failure to Adjust to Modernity by Silja Rübsamen
Cover of the book Customer Relationship Management in Banking Sector by Silja Rübsamen
Cover of the book Repräsentation von Herrschaft im Mittelalter by Silja Rübsamen
Cover of the book Immunmodulation inflammatorischer Autoimmunerkrankungen mit Hilfe Mesenchymaler Stroma-/Stammzellen by Silja Rübsamen
Cover of the book Robust Methods in Regression Analysis - Theory and Application by Silja Rübsamen
Cover of the book Human resource management: Impact of changes in German labour relations by Silja Rübsamen
Cover of the book Why do animals fight? When do they avoid it? by Silja Rübsamen
Cover of the book Aspects of the private-public experiences of cinema-going by Silja Rübsamen
Cover of the book Über die Belastbarkeit der Luhmann'schen Einteilung massenmedialen Inhalts in die Programmbereiche 'Nachrichten und Berichte', 'Werbung' und 'Unterhaltung' by Silja Rübsamen
Cover of the book 'A photograph without space and time'. Functions, Values and Messages of the 'generated-through software photograph' (GSP) by Silja Rübsamen
Cover of the book School League Tables - Advantages, Disadvantages and the Future Development by Silja Rübsamen
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy