초록 열기/닫기 버튼
Recently, many critics have tried to correct the traditional view that Wordsworth was politically radical in his early life around 1800 and turned conservative in his later life. They argue that even when the poet published Lyrical Ballads in 1798, he was politically conservative. In this paper, I try to compare Wordsworth with Beethoven, who is considered to have started Romanticism in music history. Theodor Adorno regards Beethoven as a composer who rebelled against the status quo by using unconventional and radical musical materials when he wrote music. For example, Beethoven used diminished-seventh chord in his late piano sonatas, the chord known as the sound of dissonance and disharmony. According to Adorno, this kind of material, which expresses the conflicts existing in the society, is chosen by artists with political intention, and thus functions as a historical moment done by an individual. As Beethoven used musical materials as a means to express his radicality, so did Wordsworth with literary materials. It is well known that Wordsworth did poetic experiments in Lyrical Ballads, trying unconventional and radical poetic materials. Unlike Adorno, who realizes the significance of choosing particular materials, recent critics do not seem to take as much consideration on it. Therefore, my argument is that, as Beethoven is considered as a radical composer, so should Wordsworth be considered as a radical poet.
