Disassociation Between Thought and Feeling

It is difficult to point to one author as the exact moment when feeling disassociates from thought. Yet, the majority of later authors in the 17th century do struggle to balance these ideas, while many earlier writers take the connection between the two for granted. Modern literary analysts follow this later strain of ideas, as feelings and thoughts are generally considered paradoxical concepts. Feeling tends to encompass a more inherent state of mind, while thought operates within logic and reason. Later authors believe that the two come into direct conflict with each other, as it is near possible for both to coexist. Marvell struggles for religious bliss, but is hindered by his inevitable human intellect. Antony of Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra" is clouded by his love for Cleopatra, and thus unable to perform his duties. Their inability to balance their emotions with their reasonable mind is not difficult for modern analysts to comprehend. The disconnection between inherent pleasure and man's intellect seems patent. Yet, Donne takes this seeming paradox as a part of man's comprehensive experience. While Marvell and Antony insist that they fall because of an inevitable disassociation, Donne claims that his religious experience is synonymous with his sexual, or political ones. The later authors tend to be more pessimistic, and their struggles seem inevitably doomed, while earlier writers, if not necessarily optimistic, seem more accepting of all of their human qualities.

Marvell is in constant scorn of humanity, as he strives to achieve the purity before the fall of man. He associates the idea of thought with his distaste for mankind, who is tainted since they have descended from Heaven, claiming that the "human flower" (On a Drop of Dew 21) "remember[s] still its former height" (On a Drop of Dew 21). He strives to achieve feeling, a religious bliss in the absence of man. Yet, he cannot achieve this purity because he inevitably embraces the very human characteristics he scorns. As he revels his garden bliss, the diction is reminiscent of seductive poetry, as "the luscious clusters" "upon [his] mouth do crush their wine" (The Garden 603). However, his "soul" (The Garden 52) uncharacteristically "whets" (The Garden 54) and it seems that he has found the balance between spirituality and reason. Yet, unlike Donne, Marvell cannot accept his inherent humanity. Spiritual bliss cannot mesh with this human thought, and although he acknowledges their coexistence to a certain extent, he struggles to sever this connection.

Antony is torn between his emotions and his reasonable state of mind. The Roman idea of honor encompasses his duties and leaves no room for his love for Clepatra. Unlike Cleopatra, Antony's character seems to truly struggle between love and Roman honor, eventually falling because he cannot find peace in their discordance. Cleopatra claims that it does not matter which way he goes, because in both extremes he is passionate, "Be'st thou sad or merry/ The violence of either thee becomes" (I.v.60-61). Yet, he has fallen "between both," and his inability to choose becomes his ultimate downfall (I.v.58). Antony finds a sort of balance between his thoughts and his feelings, yet in this mediocre compromise he cannot satisfy anyone, least of all, himself. Only in his death can Antony escape this conflict between love and duty.

Unlike Marvell and Shakespeare, Donne does not attempt to differentiate between any human conditions. Although a connection between thought and feeling seem to be a paradoxical idea, Donne embraces paradoxes as inevitably human. His writing reflects an attempt to meld together the different aspects of life, without clearly differentiating between them. He writes to God in a Petrachan love fashion, saying that he "dearly... loves[s] [God], and would be loved fain" (Sonnet XIV 9). Even in his solution he proposes a paradox, for he "never shall be free" "except [God] enthrall[s] [he]" (Sonnet XIV 13) and "nor ever chaste, except [God] ravish[es] [he]" (Sonnet XIV 14). Yet, unlike Marvell and Antony, he is not lost in this paradox, and does not struggle to solve it. Donne acknowledges the paradox of human experiences, but manages to accept its existence without contestation.

Milton may not be the father of this disassociation between thought and feeling, but even the modern literary criticism reflects its impact. Analysts struggle to solve the paradoxes of human conditions, and coexistence is difficult to accept without an explanation. It is easy to understand why Marvell cannot achieve his Eden like bliss, or why Antony cannot survive and fulfill both his love for Cleopatra and his duties. Yet, it is much more difficult to comprehend Donne's myriad of riddles. He offers no solution to human conditions, except in the form of more paradoxes, but manages to create a tone that is not nearly as fated as that of both Marvell's and Shakespeare's.