Selfish

Selfish

I was reading an article by Herbert M. Schueller entitled “Romanticism Reconsidered,” when I came across this line:

Escaping into what the individual desires, it celebrates suicide, which is the apparent denial of life, though it also celebrates life in its richness and multiplicity.

At first I was taken aback by the analogy to suicide, but then I thought more about it and was drawn to the “escaping into what the individual desires,” and then I pondered the question, is writing a selfish act? Are romantics just a bunch of selfish poets sitting under a pretty tree?

And let’s not only limit writing to the romantics, but open it up to modern day writers. Are they writing just to get a paycheck? Just to put their own thoughts and musings onto paper whether society could give a crap about their thoughts and musings?

The Romantics were all about having a connection with the supernatural through their writing. Writing was the bridge from human to supernatural. Did their writings help others? I think they thought their work would inspire them, but deep down I think they just did it for themselves. That’s why Emerson urged everyone to go out with a pencil and pad of paper in the woods and find Truth. Each one on their own! Maybe Schueller was right, writing, “Romanticism,” is escaping into what the individual desires.

And today I think we are still Romantics. We are still pushing the ideal that each person is on his own. And everyone likes it that way. That’s America for you. Do what you want.

But yet Schueller still says writing “celebrates life in its richness and multiplicity.” And it does. Writers might just have been celebrating it with themselves and if others enjoy it, great, but that wasn’t the sole intention of the writing…

Schueller, Herbert M. Romanticism Reconsidered. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 1962. 359-368.