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Axe d’étude 1 : L’expression des émotions

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📝 Mini-cours GRATUIT

To show or not to show your emotions …

The word catharsis, means "cleansing or purification" in Greek. This word was applied to literature by Aristotle to explain how tragedy affects audiences. He believed that a story enables the audience to feel strong emotions in an indirect way and "through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation (catharsis) of these emotions".

Shakespeare was a master at portraying these extreme displays of emotion. Among his tragic characters of course Romeo and Juliet, the "star-crossed lovers", the young Hamlet, or Othello, tormented by jealousy, come to mind.

The British pride themselves on their ability to keep a stiff upper lip no matter what happens and yet their romantic poets, such as Wordsworth (1770-1850), are known for their outpouring of emotions and their belief in the power of the imagination over reason. Like most romantic poets the natural world was a constant source of wonder and inspiration for Wordsworth. One of his most famous poems I wandered Lonely as a Cloud bears testimony to the poet's relationship with nature and the emotions he experiences then.

Love is another source of inspiration for romantic poets. The English romantic poet John Keats (1795-1821) created "poetry that sought its wonder in the desires and sufferings of the human heart". One of his most famous poems Bright Star is thought to have been inspired by Fanny Brawne, a young woman with whom he was in love. The film Bright Star (2009) by Jane Campion depicts this relationship. Andrew Motion, who wrote a biography of Keats praises Jane Campion for having aptly conveyed "the pathos" of the love affair between the poet and Fanny. Another critic also describes the film as "a portrait of love and loss". 

Twentieth century American poet Sylvia Plath is also famous for the intense emotions expressed in her poetry. In the poem Daddy, written a few months before she committed suicide, she writes about her father's death and her own.

Quotations

"Speak of me as I am. Nothing extenuate.

Nor set down aught in malice. Then must you speak.

Of one that loved not wisely, but too well." (Shakespeare, Othello, Act 5 scene 2, 1604)

The poet according to Wordsworth is someone :

"Contented if he may enjoy
The things which others understand." (Wordsworth, The Prelude)

“Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.” (Wordsworth, Lyrical Ballads)

"Let Nature be your teacher." (Wordsworth, The Tables Turned

"O for a life of Sensations rather than of Thoughts" (Letters of John Keats)

"I was ten when they buried you.
At twenty I tried to die
And get back, back, back to you". (Daddy by Sylvia Plath)

"I am at my best in illogical, sensuous description." (The Journals of Sylvia Plath)

"The British are often portrayed as reserved and unemotional." (B.B.C. Future, 2016)

A recent poll by the Health Charity Mind revealed that " four in five British 18- to 34-year-olds admit to putting on a brave face when they’re anxious, and a quarter believe that showing their emotions is a sign of weakness. " 

Vocabulary

  • to enable someone to…: permettre à quelqu'un de…

  • fear: peur

  • display: expression

  • among: parmi

  • star-crossed lovers: amants maudits

  • to come to mind: venir à l'esprit

  • to keep a stiff upper lip: garder son sang froid, rester de marbre

  • outpouring: effusion

  • wonder: émerveillement

  • to wander: errer

  • to bear testimony to: témoigner de

  • to seek (sought, sought): chercher

  • to depict: dépeindre

  • aptly: avec justesse

  • to convey: exprimer, traduire

  • loss: perte

  • to extenuate: atténuer

  • set down aught in malice: n'aggravez rien par méchanceté

  • wisely: avec sagesse

  • overflow: débordement

  • four in five: quatre sur cinq

  • to put on a brave face: faire bonne figure

  • weakness: faiblesse

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