Beauty in Coleridge

Abstract

This dissertation reflects upon the significance of beauty in the oeuvre of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. My central thesis is that Coleridgean beauty is a ‘transcendental’. That is to say, beauty is a property of being as such. My entire argument seeks to defend this claim, to unfold its meaning, and to trace out its implications. In pursuing these objectives, I shall place beauty in relation to Coleridge’s broader philosophical, poetic, and theological concerns. This is not simply about noticing connections, but about noticing the centrality of the beautiful. I shall thus argue that a proper understanding of many of his better-known aesthetic categories, including the symbol, the imagination, and the sublime, depends upon a deeper understanding of their relationship to beauty. Indeed, as I argue, many such categories have beauty as their animating principle. This reading aims to situate itself at the midpoint between the approaches that have generally been adopted in Divinity and English Faculties, respectively. Accordingly, it devotes much of its attention to developing the theological potential of literary works. It also explores a theological usage of categories, such as materiality, which have previously been deployed in a largely anti-theological, and anti-metaphysical manner. The argument has significant consequences for the broader tradition of Coleridge criticism. I shall show that a number of landmark readings, ranging from congenial exposition, to aggressive deconstruction, are built upon a questionable construal of beauty. This holds true even when the topic of discussion seems only distantly related to it. Consequently, I put forward the case for a thoroughgoing critique of some of the exemplary works of Coleridge scholarship. This critical angle to the analysis reflects my contention that beauty is one of the most important ideas in Coleridge’s oeuvre, and, at the same time, one of the most misunderstood. My reading ultimately has a constructive intention, which is to elucidate the meaning of this centrally important idea, and thus to provide a more robust foundation to Coleridge studies.