E349S April 26: Sylvie's Perfection and God's Imperfection

Dead Hare

Lewis Carroll's "Sylvie and Bruno" portrays motifs of perfection and its inescapable grasp. Sylvie is undeniably perfect, aiding everyone, chastising gently yet sternly, and never does anything wrong. She is essentially the embodiment of good, and thus, an unchanging character. However, once Sylvie approaches the dead hare, she "[flings] herself down at its side in such agony and grief" that was rare in "so young a child" [1]. 

Sylvie is perfect. Mankind is not.

Sylvie's perfection and innocence affects her, leading to her grief, for it is not death that moves Sylvie but her inability to realize the world cannot be as perfect as she is. Even in the case of hunting, Sylvie feels disgust towards those who hunt animals for sport, just as Lewis Carroll chastises animal cruelty. Sylvie seemed "so good and gentle"[2] and the harsh realization that mankind can be so cruel stirs her soul to its very core. Being so young and naive, she is unable to comprehend the idea of hunting as a sport, considering its cruel consequences, and thus, I believe Carroll parallels his own beliefs through Sylvie, a young and naive girl who dislikes animal cruelty. 

Hopkins' Loss of Faith

Hopkins takes a different route with his perfection, that being the perfection of God and all his creation. Whilst most of his poetry praises the natural world and its association with the Almighty and divine creation, his darker poems such as "Carrion Comfort" portrays the imperfection and doubt associated with God. As described in our course anthology, "Carrion Comfort" depicts Stagirius as "a passive victim of various tortures and one who battles with God Himself in nightmares"[3]. Stagirius is "wresting with ([his] God)"[4] just as Hopkins struggles internally with his isolation from God. In essence, Religion "brought Gerard Manley Hopkins conviction and inspiration throughout his life"[5]. Due to his religious doubt as a Roman Catholic and familial exile, he wrote this sonnet "at a time when he had just emerged from a long period of depression and inner anguish"[6]. The poem is designed to dramatize the speaker's recognition of his own spiritual struggle. Both authors create a sense of desired perfection and lack thereof in different forms. 

Hopkins must have felt despair during his dark isolation.

Works Cited

1. Jerome Bump, "Gerard Manley Hopkins," Carroll and Hopkins, (Austin: 2012), 500.

2.Jerome Bump, "Gerard Manley Hopkins," Carroll and Hopkins, (Austin: 2012), 491.

3. Jerome Bump, "Gerard Manley Hopkins," Carroll and Hopkins, (Austin: 2012), 439.

4. Gerard Manley Hopkins, The Major Works Including all the Poems and Selected Prose (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002), 168.

5. Meglio, Leila. The Victorian Web, "Stranger Among Strangers: Hopkins' Isolation from Society and God." Last modified April 19, 2011. Accessed May 12, 2012. http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/hopkins/meglio.html.

6. SparkNotes, "Hopkins Poetry: "Carrion Comfort"." Accessed May 13, 2012. http://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/hopkins/section7.rhtml.