Moby-Dick can be interpreted as a
work of romanticism. As early as the first few chapters, Melville begins
presenting Ishmael as a romantic hero, and imbuing the sea with mystical
properties. Ishmael is portrayed almost immediately as someone with a strong
desire to break free from the mundane burden of everyday life. His form of
romantic expression is his decision to follow his yearning to go out to sea as
a deckhand in spite of the restrictions and expectations of society. Ishmael
ponders, “Why did the Persians hold the sea holy? Why did the Greeks give it a separate
deity, and own brother of Jove? Surely all this is not without meaning… It is
the image of the ungraspable phantom of life; and this is the key to it all”
(Chapter 1). In this passage, Melville speaks of the ocean as possessing a
supernatural allure. But that is not the only romantic trait which the sea
apparently has. His use of the words “deity,” “brother,” and “phantom” give the
sea both a human and godlike presence within the first chapter.
One of the themes of romantic
literature is the idea of conflict between urban sprawl and the natural order.
In chapter 3, Melville wrote, “Further on, from the bright-red windows of the “Sword-Fish
Inn,” there came such fervent rays, that it seemed to have melted the packed
snow and ice from before the house, for everywhere else the congealed frost lay
ten inches thick in a hard, asphaltic pavement, -- rather weary for me, when I
struck my foot against the flinty projections, because from hard, remorseless
service the soles of my boots were in a most miserable plight.” This passage is
important because it expresses the encroachment of civilization into the
natural world, as well as Ishmael’s desire to return to that which is primal
and enigmatic, but rapidly waning. The snow and ice represent the boundary
between nature and civilization, and Ishmael is in a “miserable plight” because
he wishes to extricate himself from society.
I agree with Mike’s post about the importance of the Romantic Movement in Meville’s work. An important part of the Romantic Movement is an emphasis on emotions, and this is illustrated throughout the novel by the relationship between Ishmael and Queequeq. In chapter eleven Melville describes them stating, “We had thus laid in bed, chatting and napping at short intervals, and Queequenq now and then affectionately throwing his brown tattooed legs over mine.” Ishmael continuly voices the strong feels he experiences for his closest friend, thus adding to the romantic flair. Emotions are also thoroughly described when Captain Ahab speaks about his vengeance against Moby Dick.
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