What we’re about
"Wisdom and Woe" is a philosophy and literature discussion group dedicated to exploring the world, work, life, and times of Herman Melville and the 19th century Romantic movement. We will read and discuss topics related to:
- Works of Herman Melville: Moby-Dick, Clarel, Bartleby the Scrivener, Billy Budd, the Confidence Man, Mardi, reviews, correspondence, etc.
- Themes and affinities: whales, cannibals, shipwrecks, theodicy, narcissism, exile, freedom, slavery, redemption, democracy, law, orientalism, Zoroastrianism, Gnosticism, psychology, mythology, etc.
- Influences and sources: the Bible, Shakespeare, Hawthorne, Milton, Cervantes, Dante, Emerson, Kant, Plato, Romanticism, Stoicism, etc.
- Legacy and impact: adaptations, derivations, artworks, analysis, criticism, etc.
- And more
The group is free and open to anybody with an interest in learning and growing by "diving deeper" (as Hawthorne once said of his conversations with Melville) into "time and eternity, things of this world and of the next, and books, and publishers, and all possible and impossible matters."
"There is a wisdom that is woe; but there is a woe that is madness. And there is a Catskill eagle in some souls that can alike dive down into the blackest gorges, and soar out of them again and become invisible in the sunny spaces."
(Moby-Dick, chapter 96)
"Though wisdom be wedded to woe, though the way thereto is by tears, yet all ends in a shout." (Mardi, chapter 2.79)
"The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth." (Ecclesiastes 7:4)
NOTE: This page is intended as a thematic overview of the meetups in the series, but is not itself a meetup. To RSVP, please see the individual events as they are announced on the Wisdom and Woe calendar. This page will be updated as necessary to reflect changes to the schedule.
For a descriptive overview of this series, see here:
Series schedule:
- A Discourse Upon the Origin of Inequality - Rousseau - 5/19
- The Theory of the Leisure Class - Veblen - 5/26
- Of Dandyism and of George Brummell - Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly - 6/2
- Typee: A Peep At Polynesian Life - 6/9, 6/16, 6/23
- Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas - 6/30, 7/7, 7/14
- Totem and Taboo - Freud - 7/21
- Letters to His Son - Lord Chesterfield - 7/28
- Don Juan - Lord Byron - 8/4
- D'Orsay; or, The Complete Dandy - W. Teignmouth Shore - 8/11
- Henrietta Temple - Benjamin Disraeli - 8/18
- Pierre; or, The Ambiguities - 8/25, 9/1, 9/8, 9/15
- A Tale of a Tub - Jonathan Swift - x1
- Sartor Resartus - Thomas Carlyle - x3
- The Rape of the Lock - Alexander Pope [Sat] - x1
- Dandy Doodles - x1
- The Book of Job - x1
- Cinderella - Brothers Grimm [Sat] - x1
- The Women of Trachis - Sophocles - x1
- The Sea Lady - H.G. Wells - x1
- Mary Slessor [The White Queen of the Cannibals] - W.P. Livingston - x1
- John Rutherford, The White Chief - George Lillie Craik - x1
- White Shadows in the South Seas - Frederick O'Brien - x2
- White Jacket; or, The World in a Man-of-War - x4
- Movie night: "White Shadows in the South Seas" & "Fig Leaves"
- The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins - x2
- Movie night: "Last of the Pagans" & "Omoo-Omoo, The Shark God"
- Culture and Anarchy - Matthew Arnold - x2
- The Rebel - Camus - x1
- One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey ~288pp (buy here)
- Murat - Alexander Dumas [Sat] - x1
- Billy Budd, Sailor (An Inside Narrative) - x1
- On Revolution - Hannah Arendt - x1
- The Leopard - Lampedusa - x2
- The Overcoat - Gogol [Sat] - x1
- The Burgundy Club Sketches - x1
- Pacifism and Rebellion in the Writings of Herman Melville - John Bernstein
Upcoming events (4+)
See all- Of Dandyism and of George Brummell - Jules Barbey d'AurevillyLink visible for attendees
The word "dandy" denotes a person of flamboyant dress and meticulous grooming, generally associated with aristocratic manners and a self-absorbed attitude. In the 18th and 19th centuries, dandyism was a movement unto itself, proudly represented by the likes of Lord Byron, Oscar Wilde, Baudelaire, and Huysmans. However, the most prominent dandy of the period was the (now mostly forgotten) commoner George "Beau" Brummell.
In fact, Lord Byron estimated that the three greatest men of the 19th century were (in order) Brummell, Napoleon, and himself. All three were not only fashionable (Napoleon wearing garments of "opulent grandeur"), but they were also said to have similar downfalls. Brummell eventually lost his fortune, his friends, his reputation, and died in exile and poverty: "the year 1815 was fatal to three great men--Byron, Buonaparte, and Brummell" (the year Byron was married, Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo, and Brummell was ostracized).
"Of Dandyism and of George Brummell" (1844), by Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly, is considered one of the foremost manifestos of the dandy philosophy. "Dandyism," the author writes, is more than a superficial concern for outward appearance, it "is a complete theory of life." The author portrays Brummell as a genius of style and wit, who transcended class distinctions and the mediocrity of the modern world, to courageously embrace his destiny as a tragic hero.
Of Dandyism and of George Brummell:
Supplemental:
- "Brummelliana" by William Hazlitt
Extracts:
- "...my whole person, the envy of the beaux, the idol of the women and the admiration of the tailor." ("Fragments from a Writing Desk No. 1")
- "...beautiful as Apollo, dressed in a style which would extort admiration from a Brummell..." ("Fragments from a Writing Desk No. 1")
- "Darius giving laws to the Medes and the Persians...was not a whit more sublime, than Beau Brummel magnificently ringing for his valet." (Mardi, 1.60)
- "[Plato] has the sleek and smooth appearance of a modern Brummel." ("Statues in Rome" lecture)
- "In his general toilet he is far from imitating a Brummellian precision and starchedness of cravat." ("Authentic Anecdotes of Old Zack")
- "...I could not avoid comparing them with the fine gentlemen and dandies who promenade such unexceptionable figures in our frequented thoroughfares. Stripped of the cunning artifices of the tailor, and standing forth in the garb of Eden—what a sorry, set of round-shouldered, spindle-shanked, crane-necked varlets would civilized men appear!" (Typee, 25)
- "Then we often encountered the dandy Blue Shark, a long, taper and mighty genteel looking fellow, with a slender waist, like a Bond-street beau, and the whitest tiers of teeth imaginable. This dainty spark invariably lounged by with a careless fin and an indolent tail." (Mardi, 1.13)
- "Mr. Thompson was a great crony of the steward’s, who, being a handsome, dandy mulatto, that had once been a barber in West-Broadway, went by the name of Lavender." (Redburn, 17)
- "Dandies! amputate yourselves, if you will; but know, and be assured, oh, democrats, that, like a pyramid, a great man stands on a broad base." (Redburn, 57)
- "...the captain had just been...sweeping the vast horizon with his quadrant, like a dandy circumnavigating the dress-circle of an amphitheater with his glass." (Redburn, 59)
- "...pluming themselves upon the cut of their trowsers, and the glossiness of their tarpaulins, from the rest of the ship’s company, they acquire the name of “sea-dandies” and “silk-sock-gentry.”" (White-Jacket, 8)
- "No town-bred dandy will compare with a country-bred one..." (Moby-Dick, 11)
- "...some merchant ships...will oftentimes pass on without so much as a single word of recognition, mutually cutting each other on the high seas, like a brace of dandies in Broadway; and all the time indulging, perhaps, in finical criticism upon each other’s rig." (Moby-Dick, 53)
- "Like fashionables, they are for ever on the move in leisurely search of variety." (Moby-Dick, 88)
- "In truth, a mature man who uses hairoil, unless medicinally, that man has probably got a quoggy spot in him somewhere." (Moby-Dick, 25)
- "...what care these fops and brawlers for me? But am I not myself an egregious coxcomb?" (Mardi, 2.76)
- "The dandy and the man; strength and effeminacy; courage and indolence, were so strangely blended in this superb-eyed youth, that at first sight, it seemed impossible to decide whether there was any genuine mettle in him, or not." (Pierre, 16.2)
- "Song of poor-devil dandy" (Clarel, 2.5)
This meetup is part of a series on Fig Leaves and Fancy Pants.
- Typee: A Peep At Polynesian LifeLink visible for attendees
Almost from the time of its publication, Melville's first book, Typee (1846), has been recognized as a classic of travel and adventure literature. It was immensely popular in Melville's lifetime, and often regarded as his best work. It established his reputation as the literary discoverer of the South Seas, and continued to inspire the likes of Jack London, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Frederick O'Brien.
Loosely based on Melville's first-hand experience as a guest-captive of the (allegedly cannibalistic) natives of the Marquesas Islands, it is a fast-moving and humorous adventure tale, describing the Typee culture, customs, and beliefs with a mixture of admiration, curiosity, and criticism. The narrator also describes his escape attempts, his friendship with his companion Toby and servant Kory-Kory, and his island romance with the beautiful Fayaway.
The book is both an anthropological study and a philosophical reflection on the contrast between civilization and savagery, an examination of the nature of good and evil, and a frank exploration of sensuality and exotic ritual.
The subtitle--"A Peep at Polynesian Life"--obliquely suggests an island "peep show," wherein the narrator (who only calls himself "Tom") is a kind of "Peeping Tom": the legendary character who refused to avert his eyes during Lady Godiva's famous ride through town. In that vein, Tom encounters "noble" and "nubile" savages alike.
Initially rejected by critics as too fantastic to be true, scholars continue to discuss the book's veracity in terms of its imaginative embellishments and unacknowledged use of secondary sources.
Week 1: 6/9: chapters 1-11
Week 2: 6/16: chapters 12-24
Week 3: 6/23: chapters 25-34, The Story of TobyTypee:
Supplemental:
- Fayaway song by Tankus the Henge
- French Polynesia and Melville
This meetup is part of a series on Fig Leaves and Fancy Pants.
- Typee: A Peep At Polynesian LifeLink visible for attendees
Almost from the time of its publication, Melville's first book, Typee (1846), has been recognized as a classic of travel and adventure literature. It was immensely popular in Melville's lifetime, and often regarded as his best work. It established his reputation as the literary discoverer of the South Seas, and continued to inspire the likes of Jack London, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Frederick O'Brien.
Loosely based on Melville's first-hand experience as a guest-captive of the (allegedly cannibalistic) natives of the Marquesas Islands, it is a fast-moving and humorous adventure tale, describing the Typee culture, customs, and beliefs with a mixture of admiration, curiosity, and criticism. The narrator also describes his escape attempts, his friendship with his companion Toby and servant Kory-Kory, and his island romance with the beautiful Fayaway.
The book is both an anthropological study and a philosophical reflection on the contrast between civilization and savagery, an examination of the nature of good and evil, and a frank exploration of sensuality and exotic ritual.
The subtitle--"A Peep at Polynesian Life"--obliquely suggests an island "peep show," wherein the narrator (who only calls himself "Tom") is a kind of "Peeping Tom": the legendary character who refused to avert his eyes during Lady Godiva's famous ride through town. In that vein, Tom encounters "noble" and "nubile" savages alike.
Initially rejected by critics as too fantastic to be true, scholars continue to discuss the book's veracity in terms of its imaginative embellishments and unacknowledged use of secondary sources.
Week 1: 6/9: chapters 1-11
Week 2: 6/16: chapters 12-24
Week 3: 6/23: chapters 25-34, The Story of TobyTypee:
Supplemental:
- Fayaway song by Tankus the Henge
- French Polynesia and Melville
This meetup is part of a series on Fig Leaves and Fancy Pants.
- Typee: A Peep At Polynesian LifeLink visible for attendees
Almost from the time of its publication, Melville's first book, Typee (1846), has been recognized as a classic of travel and adventure literature. It was immensely popular in Melville's lifetime, and often regarded as his best work. It established his reputation as the literary discoverer of the South Seas, and continued to inspire the likes of Jack London, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Frederick O'Brien.
Loosely based on Melville's first-hand experience as a guest-captive of the (allegedly cannibalistic) natives of the Marquesas Islands, it is a fast-moving and humorous adventure tale, describing the Typee culture, customs, and beliefs with a mixture of admiration, curiosity, and criticism. The narrator also describes his escape attempts, his friendship with his companion Toby and servant Kory-Kory, and his island romance with the beautiful Fayaway.
The book is both an anthropological study and a philosophical reflection on the contrast between civilization and savagery, an examination of the nature of good and evil, and a frank exploration of sensuality and exotic ritual.
The subtitle--"A Peep at Polynesian Life"--obliquely suggests an island "peep show," wherein the narrator (who only calls himself "Tom") is a kind of "Peeping Tom": the legendary character who refused to avert his eyes during Lady Godiva's famous ride through town. In that vein, Tom encounters "noble" and "nubile" savages alike.
Initially rejected by critics as too fantastic to be true, scholars continue to discuss the book's veracity in terms of its imaginative embellishments and unacknowledged use of secondary sources.
Week 1: 6/9: chapters 1-11
Week 2: 6/16: chapters 12-24
Week 3: 6/23: chapters 25-34, The Story of TobyTypee:
Supplemental:
- Fayaway song by Tankus the Henge
- French Polynesia and Melville
This meetup is part of a series on Fig Leaves and Fancy Pants.