19th Century Summative Entry

Do the interests, concerns and experiences of writers in the 19th century still have relevance to human needs in the the 21st century?

The interests, concerns and experiences of writers in the 19th century still hold great relevance to human needs in the 21st century. What has defined the history of man has been in our thirst for power, strength, knowledge and progress. It is not surprising to see that throughout man’s history we have come at odds and we have pursued these goals for our own ends or as some would believe for the betterment of humanity. It is through literature that we often see this struggle, but we also see the struggle of the age within the words upon the page. The concerns and interests of the 19th century vary around the concerns of enlightenment, romanticism and industrialization. The struggle between these powers were fought on many fronts but the literature of the time displays the struggle of the romantic most of all, William Blake as the first example of this displays the knowledge found in nature whilst also delivering his belief in Mans ultimate question of the meaning of life. Blake’s answer is not to pursue the histories of man but to live a life free from the constraints of knowledge and have everything you need to know about life from the world around you. Here it displays our concerns now and possibly forever of our question of why we live and how we should live our lives in pursuit of knowledge, enlightenment or in the pursuit of freedom and understanding of the world. Whilst these philosophical escapes from the modern restraining world are so often found in the poetry written by Blake, what is also found which appeals to our 21st century appetites are found in the pages of Emily Bronte, where passion, despair, anger, jealousy and most certainly lover are pursued vehemently. In the pages of Wuthering Heights the sympathies of our modern world can be seen, as ever the subject of love and all its companions are pursued in Bronte’s writing. Love is ever a prominent theme within the interests of the 21st century I could not watch a film without some aspect of love or passion within it. And from this as anyone who has felt love, and a romantic would tell you the truth about love’s jealousy and anger, are found in alignment with our own interests within Wuthering Heights (which I might add is the first book any person reads for a good romance novel, I mean who would read rubbish like twilight? URGH!!). All in all the interests of love and passion found in the 19th century are still found in the 21st the concerns of the question and meaning of life are still found in 21st century and our experiences of love and our pursuit for the meaning of life or the pursuit of knowledge are ever as prevalent know as they were in the 19th century and as I am sure they will be for many years to come.