The Adventure Part Three

Today we had a wonderful discussion about Byron's Manfred since we are staying the night in view of the very mountains in which much of the dramatic poem took place. The paradoxical idea of living a life for individuality and pursuing truth and understanding inwardly versus accepting and seeking life and fulfillment outside of ones self is a constant theme of the traditional Byronic hero. The constant question seems to be should one find solace simply in ones individuality, or is that even possible? Can happiness and fulfillment be found without contributing to society, by denying it and living in nature? Surely a person cannot thrive in nature alone-- is there purpose to a seemingly purposeless life? But can one positively contribute anything to society without first contributing to his or her self? These were the questions of the evening while staring up at the beautifully intimidating mountains and wondering about the sublime. What is nature and what is it in man? What of the evil of this world that Byron was so clearly aware existed-- does it have an affect on nature at all, or can nature even be given a quality such as evil? Nature is nature and thus has no human characteristics, is evil a human or living characteristic? These questions are seemingly overwhelming, yet hold the focus of Manfred.

Tonight while discussing, I realized something while staring at a waterfall very high up in the Alps. We call these waterfalls and mountains beautiful and powerful, but think about that waterfall that you personify with the term "beautiful". If a person were standing on that cliff about to fall he or she would be scared, or nervous... the water simply falls with no care. Why? Because it is water... it has no human characteristics. Does this mean we cannot see beauty in it? No, certainly there can be beauty with in nature, but I can't help but to think of Kant's thoughts about the sublime. I will end this without getting into a new discussion over Kant's work and ideas. This is all for now, God Bless! Let the adventure continue!