Analysis Of The Witch Of Atlas - 772 Words

In Shelley’s â€Å"The Witch of Atlas† one of the central themes is the Witch’s fascination with exploring the world of humans outside of their waking hours. Although the Witch possesses supernatural powers beyond the realm of human comprehension, she also enjoys observing the strange and fascinating beauty of sleep. For her, the purest and best qualities of humans can be found in the chaotic but surprisingly revealing world of dreams. From the beginning of stanza sixty-three, Shelley continues the story of the Witch’s travels on her boat by contrasting the Witch’s graceful journey with the humanity of spontaneous, uncontrolled dreams. He compares these nightly adventures to navigating a â€Å"wide lake† full of dangers, and notes that humans are†¦show more content†¦After clearly showing the limited nature of dreams, Shelley goes on to illuminate the Witch’s observation that, while humans may not be able to fully appreciate t he world of dreams, sleep in of itself has an almost magical effect on a person. When people drift off to sleep, they do not simply slip into darkness, but into a different realm where the Witch can view individuals â€Å"beheld as living spirits† in the night (91). Not only this, but the act of dreaming, of giving up our control of the waking world, allows the Witch to see â€Å"through a rude and worn disguise† that would normally conceal a person’s true identity (91). This, in fact, is the key quality that draws in the Witch to become so interested in human dreams. All too often, the ideas and personality we present to the outside world simply do not match ourselves on the inside, whether due to a lack of self-esteem or for more nefarious purposes. Openness and honesty can be difficult traits to find or uphold, but while asleep all worldly considerations become meaningless. The Witch, then, can view â€Å"the naked beauty of the soul lay bare† by revealing the parts of people that are worthy of admiration, regardless of what face they may wear during the day (91). Furthermore, the simple use of the word â€Å"naked† shows that the beauty of each person’s soul does not necessarily stem from their inherent personalShow MoreRelatedEssay Thirteen Days by Robert Kennedy978 Words   |  4 PagesThirteen Days by Robert Kennedy Thirteen Days, by Robert Kennedy, is a portrayal of the drama surrounding the Cuban missile crisis, and an analysis of the ordeal. There are two sides to this conflict which was played out in the post-World War II era. On one hand you have the Communists of the Soviet Union, whose desire to bring all of Europe under their heel would nearly spark a war that would annihilate the human race. On the other stands the Americans who wished the vindication of rightRead MoreEssay on Jungian Psychology and Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness6193 Words   |  25 Pageswarning and foreboding, I have been drawn beyond the classic analysis of the Heart of Darkness, embarking down an uncharted tributary, scouting parallels between Marlow’s tale and Jung’s own journeys to Africa, and seeking murky insight into the physical and the metaphorical impact of the dark continent on the language and the landscape of depth psychology. â€Å"Africa,† wrote Graham Greene, â€Å"will always be the Africa in the Victorian atlas, the blank unexplored continent in the shape of the human heartRead MoreReceived Pronunciation: Historical Background and Application17580 Words   |  71 Pageslanguage by people who study the problem of functional usage of Standard English. The scientific novelty of our research is in revealing the distinguishing features of Standard English as RP and some Non-RPs, particularly GA, through their comparative analysis. Our research work consists of the introduction, two chapters, the conclusion and the bibliography. The first part of this paper includes mostly the theory, i.e the history and development of RP, worked out by such linguists as D. Jones, D. Crystal