Romantic Orientalism
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Romantic Orientalism during the Romantic period of writing is visible in “The Indian Serenade” by Percy Shelley, “The Little Black Boy” by William Blake, and “Lamia” by John Keats. The exaggerations, cultural expressions, references to African or Indian background, and fictional story lines and characters play as proof that Romantic Orientalism is pieced into these authors writings, considering these are characteristics of which Romantic Orientalism displays. Each author, Shelley, Blake, and Keats, all display different characteristics of these Romantic Orientalism qualities.
First, Percy Shelley displays characteristics of Romantic Orientalism in his lyric “The Indian Serenade”. Before even reading the lyric, the title gives the reader a hint of Romantic Orientalism, through the idea of looking through the eyes of a group of legendary people – the Indians. By the end of the lyric, it is possible to receive a mental picture of the surroundings that the Indian speaker sees, but if it were not for the title, the reader would not make the connection that this lyric is from an Indians perspective. So since there is a title, it is possible to see other characteristics that suggest Orientalism.
Another way this sense of Romantic Orientalism can be seen is through the abundant natural language that Shelley uses to describe the surroundings of the speaker. The speaker illustrates, “The wandering airs they faint / On the dark, the silent stream- / And the champaks odours”(Shelley). These words, amongst others presented in the lyric, paint a picture in the readers mind of what it is like to take a walk on a beautiful Indian night. It presents the geographic display of a different reality not seen in the readers every day life, therefore creating the concept of Romantic Orientalism.
This vivid description of the outside world also corresponds with the inner feelings that the speaker experiences. Throughout the lyric, there is much exaggeration of both environment and feeling. The speaker is overcome with emotion when he proclaims, “My heart beats loud and fast: / O press it to thine own again, / Where it will break at last!” (Shelley). The overwhelming amount of emotion is so extreme that the speaker falls to the ground and faints, hence he states, “O lift me from the grass! / I die! I faint! I fail!”(Shelley). The portrayal of the speakers love is so extravagant that it overpowers the man both physically and emotionally, therefore once again the elaborate description of the world around. This exaggeration of emotion and atmosphere is a key indicator of Romantic Orientalism. By the end of the lyric, the reader will be able to realize the goal of the author, which is to portray how deeply in love the speaker is with this woman. So Shelley uses Romantic Orientalism in a way to connect with his readers.
Another poem that illustrates characteristics of Romantic Orientalism is “The Little Black Boy” by William Blake. The first clue, like in “The Indian Serenade”, is through the title, telling the reader immediately that this poem refers to a black boy. It is then learned in the first line that this boy was born in the “the southern wild”(Blake 84), which refers to Africa. This is a key indicator that this poem has a tone of Orientalism, because the author is going to proceed to display the culture of a boy from South Africa. From the beginning, the reader is asked by Blake to put oneself into the shoes of the boy as he describes his growing up in the world of whites.
Being surrounded by English children has caused him to think of himself as being white, not on the outside but in his soul. This is presented when the boy informs, “And I am black, but O! my soul is white”(Blake 84) This helps the reader to realize that this boy has had to go through a lot of transitions in order to make this claim, because in Africa his whole culture was completely different. One of the main ways that this black boy comes to cope with the idea that he is different, is through religion and the belief in God his mother has raised him on. He believes that through Gods eyes color does not matter, seen through his statement, “When I from black and he from white cloud free, / And round the tent of God like lambs we joy”(Blake 84). At this time, the thought of a black boy and a white boy sitting together in heaven was a complete Romantic thought, due to the idea that it was unrealistic. White people and black people did not befriend each other. So the idea of this poem is fictional, because the black boy is already friends with a white boy which was against social acceptance. This is interesting because according to Kathryn Freeman in her article “Brahma in the West: William Blake and the Oriental renaissance”, “Blakes shifting representation of the world around him intersects with the complex and often contradictory relationship between the politics and religion of Orientalism.”. So using Kathryns thoughts, it is understood that Blake displays a sense of Romantic Orientalism, because he is displaying a different view of how the world looks at the friendship between a black boy and white boy. He is connecting them through religion, which is not a connection that most people would dare to make at this time.
Lastly, signs of Romantic Orientalism can also be seen in John Keats poem “Lamia”. In the background information of the poem before its actual presentation, it is learned that the story of Lamia is an “ancient legend”(910). The fact that this poem has been depicted through many generations, displays that it has become part of Greek mythology. The character Lamia has been written about in many other texts, making her a well-known myth. This proves that Romantic Orientalism is present though the fact that this poem has cultural background and displays the beliefs of a distinct group of people.
Another way that “Lamia” displays characteristics of Romantic Orientalism is through the imaginary character, Lamia. Keats writes,
“Her head was a serpent, but ah, bitter-sweet! / She had a womans mouth