Brown wrote Wieland during a time of turmoil for Western religions: the authors of the Great Enlightenment period were beginning to spurn the Church and organized religion and many people were beginning to doubt the idea of blind adherence to a mysterious god. Wieland is certainly a commentary on religion, as evidenced in the very first chapters of the story when Clara and Wieland’s father dies of a supernatural explosion in his own austere temple. The rest of the story follows the religious thread.
The essential story, that which almost all religion-based books tend to explore, is of course that of original sin and the fall from grace. In Wieland Clara relates that “from the death of my parents, till the commencement of this year, my life had been serene and blissful”. The other players in her life, Catherine, Pleyel, and Wieland, were also just as completely satisfied with their lives. This period brings to mind the happy solitude of Adam and Eve in Eden; they have no knowledge of the evils of the world and are blissfully ignorant. Even the very limited perspective and admittedly very few people that affect Clara’s life support this theory, as Adam and Eve were each other’s only company whilst in the garden. However, when a new player is introduced, the system is thrown out of balance. With Carwin’s arrival comes disquieting knowledge for every character, most notably Clara. After threats are placed upon her life, she goes through the shock of a premeditated but incomplete rape, and she is threatened with the same fate as her hapless father, her “bosom was corroded by anxiety”. Clara realizes the world is not a safe refuge, that life is not a wondrous bounty of happiness, and who brings this apple of knowledge to her? Carwin of course, who I believe is the source of many of the voices following Clara and her family, as he is the one who first suggested mimicry and seemed so knowledgeable about it. Carwin does not only provide fatal knowledge to Clara, but also to the other characters; Pleyel’s realization of evil comes with learning that his mistress in Saxon is dead, and Wieland is thrown completely off-balance when he hears the voices for the first time. As Clara says, he “has completely changed his demeanor.”
However, one must not forget the ending of Adam and Eve’s story. Yes, after gaining knowledge from the crafty snake they are thrown out of their blissful garden, but God does not forsake them. Actually, he promises to watch over them and bless their many descendants. I believe that this role in Wieland is played by the mysterious voice, the one who so often claims he is helping Clara and steering her away from danger. When she falls asleep by the hill, he tells her she must never go near that spot again for fear of mortal peril. Similarly, when Carwin lurks in her closet waiting to ambush and rape her, the voice appears and warns Clara, as well as scare Carwin too much to even attempt his repulsive act. I don’t think that that voice is also the result of Carwin’s mimicry because of several reasons; firstly, why would he bother to conceal himself in a closet only to come out and declare his purpose, and secondly, he seems genuinely frightened. Therefore, this voice must be of another, unknown origin. It is a great leap to attribute it to the voice of God at this point, but it is almost certainly supernatural, and clearly a benevolent being.
Holly,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I would like to tell you that I truly enjoyed reading this post! You brought in many ideas discussed in the classroom about the religious undertones of Wieland and the similarities to Paradise Lost, but were able to weave them together and fill in gaps to create an extremely well-composed and coherent analysis! Plus, I love the title. As I was reading, I found myself thinking back to Tate’s post, and his proposition that the mysterious voice that continually interjects itself into Clara’s senses is that of her ill-fated father. During our “small group discussion” in which we looked for passages that reflected Clara’s ongoing transition and change as a dynamic character, I stumbled upon something that struck me as significant: “The state of my mind naturally introduced a train of reflections upon the dangers and cares which inevitably beset a human being. By no violent transition was I led to ponder on the turbulent life and mysterious end of my father” (95). The incidence of Clara’s father’s death was one that was seldom referenced during the period of blissfulness that followed it, but currently we find Clara contemplating it, even being drawn to it, through her desire to read her father’s memoirs. It is apparent that there must be SOME sort of bridge between these emerging suspicions and the puzzling departure of her father; I saw another possible connection between Wieland and the story of Genesis/the Bible in general. God gave His only son to save us, all of his children. Perhaps Clara’s father’s hesitance in performing this duty he believed was bestowed upon him (14) and the subsequent “penalty” was a similar sacrifice, to save his own son and daughter. Just as the heavenly Father continued to act as a guardian for Adam and Eve after their fall from grace, perhaps Clara’s earthly father is fulfilling this same protective role in Wieland.
I would also like to just briefly play devil’s advocate and question one point you made in your post. You suggested that many of the voices that have been tormenting Clara and her family have been the work of Carwin, as he previously mentioned in conversation the concepts of mimicry, etc. At first, I wholeheartedly agreed with you, but as I read deeper I began to wonder why Carwin would allude to such things if these were mechanisms for his own trickery? He is undoubtedly a very intelligent creature and, it seems to me, one who is quite good at harboring secrets. Thus, it seemed curious that he would reveal something so essential to his dark scheme unless there was a particular reason for him to reveal this or if it somehow relates to the doings of his “foe”?
Those were just my thoughts—perhaps we can discuss further in class!