I’ve always wanted to know good synonyms for “good,” “bad,” and “sad” to use in my essays. Melancholy was one such word for “sad,” but it was always so difficult to use without sounding awkward and out of place. As an undirected and pensive sadness, it seems to have a highly specialized use. While I don’t often find the use for melancholy in essays, I do find use for it in real life. Melancholy and sadness are emotions that everyone needs to feel to take part in the human experience. They put one in a mindset to think deeply about difficult situations and questions that no other emotion does. Many times, sorrow is felt by oneself, so it allows for introspection that might be difficult to engage in at other, happier times. I always feel that I understand myself better and have grown into a stronger person after a bout of melancholy.

Sarah Schlemm discussed the rich history of melancholy based on her PhD research on Renaissance literature. The word melancholy derives from Greek “melaina khole” meaning “black bile”, from the belief that an excess of black bile caused this state. Today, we define melancholy as “a feeling of pensive sadness, typically with no obvious cause”. Sarah gave various examples of melancholy in literature like Hamlet and in movies like Vertigo.
The most fascinating observation that occurred to me is that sadness, depression, and melancholy are considered as quite negative in our current western culture that seeks joy and happiness at all times. It seems to me that even though historically melancholy was considered as an imbalance, people likely also better understood some natural or positive aspects of melancholy. This is not to say that old superstitions such as someone being possessed (or even the concept of black bile) are better than our current scientific understanding of extended periods of sadness or depression. But more along the lines that pensive thoughtful sadness can have redeeming aspects such as more deeply grappling with issues and dealing with root causes; in contrast to the superficial approach we have today since we feel we need to to joyful and happy at all times and may avoid spending the required time to deeply think about uncomfortable issue). Or along the lines that contrast of sad and happy are important for us to truly enjoy our moments of happiness. We all naturally want to be joyful, happy, and full of energy all the time. We shouldn’t forget that a little dose of pensive sadness can give us more clear perspectives about our lives and also our place in the cosmos, and help us live and enjoy every day to our fullest potential.

In this seminar we learned that one of the  main differences between sadness and melancholy is that melancholy is rather a state a being, than a fleeting emotion. Throughout modern history, there have been several things that are associated with melancholy, such as black bile, earthiness, madness, genius, and words. This is especially true in the Elizabethan era, where it was common belief that people had humors and that black bile was a symptom of melancholy. Melancholy seems to have been a major idea in Elizabethan times, when looking at Shakespeare’s Hamlet. This play is renown for its intricate weaving in and out of madness and melancholy. Hamlet has been struck with melancholy after his father’s death, and the state in which he finds himself is past sadness, it is a state which seems to be never ending, it is melancholy. Due to his state, Hamlet acts and speaks sometimes irrationally, but at times the irrational words that he says are perfectly sensible, given his state.

This made me wonder, within the state of melancholy, is madness something that makes sense? Sara said that sometimes melancholy is so extreme that it is interpreted as fake. To what extent are our suspicions right? Melancholy seems to be so mysterious. One of the biggest takeaways from the discussion was that it’s about how we’re melancholy, not whether we are.This seems to hold true in the excerpts from the movie Vertigo, where we saw how the main character manifested melancholy after he saw his friend die. His melancholy manifests itself by him falling in love with Madeline, and through her, he is curing his melancholy.

This gives melancholy a positive aspect, for it is curable. Scotty’s melancholy is cured by breaking the fantasy of the thing he had lost. That could be the case with all of us. We may be in a state of melancholy, but it is reassuring to know that it can be cured.

Last Wednesday, Sara Schlemm led a discussion on melancholy, starting by asking us how we would differentiate it from sadness. The room came up with that melancholy is often longer-lasting and pervasive, but also more mellow. Sara pointed out that in older times, melancholy did not necessarily have the same strong negative associations that it does in modern-day society. Nowadays, being sad is seen as something that we should strive to avoid. However, in the past there was a view that writers could be driven by their melancholy to write effusively and create worthwhile works. She then brought our attention to specific works where she found melancholy such as Hamlet and Vertigo. In the scenes of Vertigo she showed, there was a sense of the bizarre, of feeling out of place, that was strongly attached to the melancholy atmosphere. Personally, I feel that melancholy is not necessarily always a negative thing. As long as it does not disrupt a person’s life too severely, it can simply be a natural, passing emotional state. It can lead to some serious self-reflection and re-evaluation, and so could even be of value.

Last Wednesday I attended the Becker-Rose café talk on the nature of melancholy. I thought it was interesting how melancholy and mourning were juxtaposed with mourning defined as a purely emotional experience and melancholy defined as a more intellectualized experience. Melancholy often appears in art and, in my opinion, it often comes off as a kind of romanticized sadness. The representative character of melancholy is usually the tortured, artistic male genius. Sara focused on a passage in Hamlet where there is a confrontation between Gertrude and Hamlet over his continued mourning over his father’s death. She asks why he “seems” sad, due to his mourning garb, and he responds by saying that he does not “seem” sad but he is sad. We do not always trust the outward appearance of Hamlet, but he tells us that his outward appearance is only the smallest manifestation of his inward feelings of grief. This is especially important because throughout the play, there is a lingering question about Hamlet’s honesty as he performs different roles that leave the other characters and the reader questioning his stability.

Sara also showed a scene from the movie, Vertigo, which I have never seen before. We saw the detective spying on a young woman and following her to an art gallery. At the art gallery there are close ups on the flowers she holds in her hands as well as the painting of the woman she is observing. While it seems that we have intruded on her period of mourning, the scene is too interested in appearing pretty and pristine as it focuses on the flower, the painting and the woman’s hairdo. In that moment there is an association of death with femininity and beauty. There is also the fact that the scene does not show the woman’s face. So in addition to being observed without her knowledge, the woman is not even allowed to show her own face or show any emotion indicating mourning. This does not feel like a true emotional moment of mourning but rather the romanticized sadness that I mentioned before. There is no real expression of emotion from this faceless stranger, which seems dehumanizing. Even in death and mourning there are expectations placed on women to be beautiful and they are not granted full autonomy. As we learn later, this woman was actually playing a role in this moment and this scene was part of an elaborate identity scheme. Before this reveal, the main female character experiences the same emotional problems that her supposed grandmother faced. Her grandmother’s tragic death thus becomes a generational or circular story passing down to the another generation of women. She states how she knows that she is going to die and this fatalistic outlook leaves the woman a passive character who simply allows things to happen to her while the man makes all of the decisions. The man in this story is experiencing vertigo due to a traumatic experience on the police force. The vertigo is the physical manifestation of his melancholy, which is cured at the expense of the female protagonist. It is interesting because he is physically unable to look down until his emotional wounds are healed. Even though he experiences melancholy through a physical disadvantage, the cause of his vertigo is emotional. The way in which the outward manifestation and the inward feelings are linked is similar to Hamlet. It is also interesting how the man in the story experiences melancholy through a physical disadvantage while the woman experiences it through art and beauty.

Sara’s overall idea was about how society typically views melancholy and sadness as negative and undesirable but melancholy is actually a natural experience. I think that all human emotion is valid and can have favorable and unfavorable results. To use her example, in various forms of art, people use emotion to express ideas. Some of the greatest works of art have been produced because of a state of melancholy. However, that isn’t to say that melancholy is only good for its production value. Ultimately, I believe it’s best to feel a wide range of emotion because that is how we make meaning out of our thoughts and surroundings.

Melancholy is probably one of the most difficult feelings to describe. I think part of the reason why is because everyone experiences it in different ways. For me, melancholy is not necessarily a negative feeling. From my perspective, melancholy is a state of being contemplative, in kind of a somber way rather than a joyful one. I think this state of being is really important in order to reflect on things in a realistic way, rather than just constantly seeing the world through rose-colored glasses. If you are always happy and satisfied, then there really isn’t much motivation to contemplate things from different perspectives, which is really really important in order to avoid close-mindedness. Because in reality, the world is not all roses and daisies. In my opinion, melancholy is an important feeling that leads you to contemplate perspectives that you wouldn’t necessarily think about if you were constantly feeling satisfied with life. It’s a crucial part of open-mindedness and seeing the world realistically.

Sara Schlemm’s presentation was very thought-provoking, and it got me thinking about the influence melancholy has on artistic expression, from paintings to movies. Some of the most beautiful works of art that have been created, including the movie “Vertigo” that Sara discussed, have been inspired by melancholy, and it’s pretty obvious when they are. These are the works that get you thinking. A joyful movie about puppies can obviously be really entertaining, but it doesn’t necessarily stimulate your mind. And to me, that’s what art is all about. I love it when I watch a good movie and I’m given a glimpse into the director’s (usually melancholic) perspective about life.

Side note: the title of this post is a really good Smashing Pumpkins album. If you got that then you’re awesome!

Last week I attended GRF Sara Schlemm’s talk about Melancholy. Sara began by relating to us the meaning and history of melancholy: more than just an emotionally sad state, melancholy has deeper roots in the psyche and physical body. It’s more of an outlook or disposition towards life. Melancholy was associated in the past with one of the four humors that were held in balance in the body: black bile. It was held that when you had an imbalance of black bile, you became melancholic. Melancholy was associated with the season of autumn, associated with the idea of a bleak outlook.

Personally, I struggle to see the point or use of melancholy. At this point in my life, I’m a pretty joyful guy. God has given me so much love, grace, and hope, so  the idea of moping around or being skeptical about life doesn’t make sense to me. When I get caught up with depressing circumstances and fall into that trend, I just remember the truth of who I am and who God is, and try to walk in light of it. Based on this, I think that life has the potential to be abundantly joyful for everyone. When I see a melancholic or sad person, I immediately think: “How can I fix this situation? How can I help this person cheer up?” However, I need to explore the idea that melancholy may not be the antithesis of joy. In fact, I suspect that melancholy can be used to strengthen the root of joy. I wonder how much my view of melancholy is shaped by current culture, which sees it as something that holds people back from enjoying life fully and reaching their full potential. In the past, however, melancholy was viewed as more than doom and gloom. Melancholy was associated with creative genius and a deeply contemplative mind. Ancient texts from eastern culture assert the importance of melancholy (held in balance with joy) as well. The third chapter of Solomon’s contemplative book Ecclesiastes starts like this:

Perhaps melancholy has a place, even an essential place, in a healthy, full life.

Last week Rose Scholars had the pleasure of having Sara Schlemm, a PhD candidate in the English department at Cornell University, discuss her research on the difference between melancholy and sadness. One would think that they are the same, given that I knew melancholy was a state of sadness, perhaps deeper but associated with the same emotion. However, comparing its affects in literature and film, it was evident that there was a difference of portraying it to the audience and causing them to enter a mood rather than just feel a temporary emotion. Schlemm used the example of the novel and movie Vertigo as an example of how the protagonist entered a state of madness practically because his mind was constantly revolving around the murder that had occurred and the web of lies he had formed.

It makes one think about the affects that movies and propaganda have on an audience and if the creator of such items had that intention to begin with. There are commercials of neglected animals, child abuse, and addiction that can strike a chord in someone so deep that it truly can affect them for the rest of their life. Perhaps the outcome is not necessarily melancholic, but the bases for their actions resulted from this stage of deeper sadness, one that caused them to really think about their subject matter of interest.  Although one may think that someone who is sad is in a bad state in their life, that does not necessarily mean that the person is being harmed by their experience. There is certainly a level of growth that comes with thought process and really trying to understand why one feels the way they do and if they can possibly do something to alter that feeling not only in themselves but in others as well.

This talk was very interesting in that I love psychology I could relate melancholy to how it affects one mentally. It was inspiring to see a graduate student present their work and see their passion for it as well.

Last week at Rose Cafe with featured guest, my GRF, Sara Schlemm, we discussed melancholy and its prolonged, pensive state alongside Hitchcock’s psychological thriller, Vertigo. We watched a couple of scenes, which I am not going to go into detail in for fear of spoiling, which expressed and invoked the feeling of melancholy in the viewer. Two contrasting scenes appealed to me: one scene in a flower garden bathed in sunlight and one scene in Muir Woods, which contained vast, shadowy redwood trees so tall that they hid the sky. What I found interesting about these almost contrasting scenes is that though the scenery and imagery was completely different, they both conveyed a sense of melancholy, felt by the characters and made cognizant to the viewers. This perhaps demonstrates that the feeling of melancholy can arise at any time, any season, in any environment, and that it is natural and beautiful in its own sense, much like the beauty of both types of nature in these scenes.

Relating to melancholy, here is one of my favorite pieces from the Corning Museum of Glass, where I have worked as an Explainer in the past. It is fittingly titled Melancholia, by Narcissus Quagliata, and is made in the style of traditional “stained” glass (we call it stained glass, but it’s actually colored glass, but that’s a whole other story); however, it is made modern by its simple, minimalistic design and coloration, as opposed to traditional ornate, colorful glass. The man, masked by his sunglasses, looks out the window of an airplane, giving off an aura of slight melancholy and evoking in the viewer the feeling of leaving loved ones and loved places, something external which triggers internal ache and conflict.

Through conversation and viewing parts of the movie Vertigo, last Wednesday we discussed melancholy and what it means. Going into this discussion, I was not sure how sadness and melancholy differed. I thought of sadness as something you felt and tended to overlook melancholy and its meaning. When we looked into it further, it seems that sadness is something more fleeting and more of an emotional state. Melancholy at its roots is something that is actually a physical state. It used to be that there were four humors in the body that linked up with different physical aspects and seasons. Melancholy was black bile and connected with the autumn season.
Where melancholy comes into play is that it is something that everyone has to deal with at some point. It may not be something consistent but it is something we all face. Just like the seasons, it may come and go but we can also learn from it. As Sara pointed out, there is an almost beauty in it. Something beautiful comes from the struggles and the things we go through that help us grow. Many artists have their best work when they are dealing with a state of melancholy, the idea of a tortured artists. It gives them some way to find the beauty in their struggles.
While talking about Vertigo, we talked about the idea of things coming back. I love the idea that things come back to us in some way. Whether it is a lesson or a person, things have a way of reappearing in different forms to teach us something that we may have skipped or missed. Everything around us is a lesson and we are constantly learning and developing. People and things come into our life so that we can learn from them and come out different, never quite the same. This cafe was an interesting, eye opening experience about a topic I never gave much consideration. As always, I learned a lot and really enjoyed it.

Nowadays, we may not be aware that there is a differentiation between the word “sad” and “melancholy”. From the Rose-Becker Cafe on February 17th, we explored the actual meaning of “melancholy”. Interestingly, Sarah explained to us the root meaning of “melancholy”. Turns out, by splitting the word “melancholy” into “mela” and “choly”, it literally means “bad yellow bile”. But what exactly is that? De facto, Hippocrates suggested that emotions and behaviors were caused by an excess or lack of body fluids, which are blood, yellow biles, black bile, and phem. Based on this, we can already scrutinize that the fundamental differences between “sad” and “melancholy” lie under that “melancholy” is not just a reflection of emotion, but also has a biological connection.

With that definition in mind we started watching some video clips and understand how the concept of melancholy can be accentuated in different types of arts. In one of the clips we saw, the protagonist looks at a painting that gives him the nostalgic, melancholic feeling. When we were watching the clip, we also got the intense emotional feeling from the art. The painting in the video clip has a woman standing in the center with her hair style pertaining to a swirl. The swirling hair style, in fact, is what has stirred the feeling in us. The portrayal of her hair has the effect of drawing us into the dark color element and make people feel lost in the painting, and essentially feel sadden. However, what is important is to note that the protagonist, unlike us, are not just sad but melancholic because he had recalled some tragic memory that he had and he was trapped in his terrible thought in his head. Ultimately, the painting because of his biological acceptance of the negative impacts of his past trauma, he ultimately had a much more intense feeling towards the painting than the viewers.

Last Wednesday’s Rose Cafe featured Sara Schlemm (my GRF!), who talked about the history of melancholy and the differences between sadness and melancholy. We began with a short discussion about our personal definitions of melancholy. Someone said that melancholy differs from sadness because it is categorized by a feeling of numbness; on the other hand, sadness is more of an outpour of emotions. I had never really considered the different facets of melancholy or sadness before, so this discussion was fairly interesting to me.

Last week I attended the Rose Café event where GRF Sara presented her research on melancholy. I thought her presenting skills were really good. During the presentation I learned that melancholy is not the same thing as sadness. It’s kind of like a deeper and more powerful version of sadness that doesn’t have a definite cause (as does sadness). She mentioned that during times of melancholy people tend to be really creative and I thought that this was a fascinating fact because it’s not something that I would usually expect. During her presentation she mentioned Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Freud’s work. I was able to relate better to what she was saying here because I’m actually learning about Freud and Hamlet in my adult psychopathology class.  I think that I really enjoyed her presentation because it exposed me to a subject that my usual science curriculum hasn’t given me a chance to think about.

Before going to the Rose Cafe Series on Wednesday, I had given little thought to what it means to be melancholy. I thought I understood its meaning however the talk by Sara Schlemm, helped me see the nuances of melancholy. Although I would not say I completely understand its meaning, I could say that I have a better understanding of the situations where it could be present. There are times when exploring the meaning of words may seem pedantic but Sara made a good presentation by integrating a movie into the conversation. It was nice to turn the abstract art of understanding melancholy into something concrete by applying it to an example. Although I had never seen Vertigo before, I thought it was a good example of melancholy. It showed how melancholy is not simply a synonym of sadness, rather it takes up a whole different mood.

The discussion on melancholy was interesting. It was good to have a concrete example of all nuances of melancholy. Before the examples from Vertigo were shown, I had started to think that maybe my understanding of melancholy was incorrect. However it was great to learn that my understanding was correct and still understand how it plays a role in history.

I still don’t understand the definition of melancholy.  After reading definitions, melancholy usually means “pensive sadness” or even “depression”, but these terms should be differentiated.  I think the best definition so far is “a gloomy state of mind, especially when habitual or prolonged”.  I hoped that going to last week’s Rose Café Series with Sara Schlemm would help me understand.  The talk helped me understand that melancholy is a very complex term that can be applied to a lot of scenarios and ideas.

It was an interesting topic to relate to literature such as Hamlet and film scenes in Vertigo.  I appreciated how melancholy was portrayed by Kim Novak in the femme fatale character as she solemnly and deeply looked down at the cemetery.  Or when she stared in numbing melancholy at a portrait of a person dressed in the same garb as her.

For now, I will continue to contemplate what it means to be melancholy.  But my favorite melancholy association is a hauntingly beautiful piece of music written by Erik Satie entitled, Gymnopedie No 1.  The melodies in the piano piece create mild dissonances with the harmony, emoting a painful and numbing sound to which I believe is melancholic.

I really enjoyed Sara Schlemm’s talk on melancholy. As a biology major, I don’t get to listen to lectures on the analysis of emotions in literature and film all that often anymore. Sara reminded me how much I used to love high school English classes, especially because Hamlet used to be one of my favorite subjects that we covered. She was very enthusiastic about her research and an engaging speaker, and she made me think about melancholy differently.

I had never given much thought to how melancholy differs from sadness. I liked the idea that melancholy is a more deep, persistent feeling that doesn’t necessarily have a cause, while sadness is a temporary state with a pinpointed reason for existing. Sara’s analysis of Hamlet’s first speech was interesting as well, because she mentioned a few things that I hadn’t noticed before, and she interpreted its main message as rather different from how I’ve always read it. It’s always fascinating to hear what different people take from the same piece of writing. I had never seen the movie Vertigo, but after Sara’s talk I’d really like to watch it.

Before this talk I had always been confused on the exact meaning of melancholy. I am still a bit confused however I now have a general understanding. It was interesting to hear a bit about Sara’s work and to see how sadness and melancholy compare. I am currently taking a class that focuses in the regulation of emotions and other bodily processes so I though this was really interesting. I have never paid much attention to movies in trying to see if a character is experiencing a fleeting bout of sadness or a more long term sense of melancholy. I found Sara’s interpretation of Vertigo to be really interesting even though I have never actually seen the movie.

Overall, I thought this was a great talk on a topic that we do not always discuss. We often discuss a range of emotions whether it is in class or in our personal lives but this rarely ever occurs with specific emotions or moods. I also thought that the classification of melancholy as a mood was interesting. A mood is more encompassing and can have physical as well as mental effects. Melancholy can be accompanied by sadness but may consist of a lack of emotions. I am glad that I attended this talk and I plan on watching Vertigo!

Sara Schlemm, a PhD candidate in the English department at Cornell University, led a talk about melancholy and sadness and the nuanced  differences between the two. The format of the initial discussion was quite good because she asked us how might we differentiate between sadness and melancholy. It sounds the same but one is more ephemeral and the other is a nostalgic sadness or sadness without any obvious reason, respectively. This difference as you might imagine was not necessarily common knowledge and it is not surprising to learn that melancholy was misdiagnosed for schizophrenia and other mental illnesses.

Unfortunately I have never seen Vertigo but it was evidently a very good example of how melancholy is portrayed in literature and culture. Madeline, the female protagonist, was quite beautiful when had a melancholic, somber air around her. The state of reminiscence, tinged with sadness, is quite mysterious and explains why it is so compelling to many and something that art strives to portray and describe in many pieces. Enigmas has always interested man and a melancholic individual would not be any different.

Etymology has never been a major interest of mine but it is always fun to learn about the very small, and often pedantic, differences that will almost always have very good reasons why they differ; whether such a distinction is relevant in modern society is another story in itself involving the evolution of language and communication. However, I am glad I attend Sara’s talk on the difference between melancholy and sadness and perhaps I will evaluate an individual, both in literary and in person, if they are truly sad or just merely melancholic. The latter is of course no less alarming but making such a distinction can help assess his or her state more appropriately. What other pairs seemingly identical words actually in fact have quite different meanings?

What struck me most about Sara Schlemm’s talk is the continuity of melancholy as theme in Western literature and art. The talk started with an etymological dissection melancholy, bringing us to a discussion of its Ancient Greek root, melankholia, which consists of melan (black) and kholé (bile.) From here we talked about the connection with ancient Humorism and the idea that depression stemmed directly from excess amounts of black bile— or melankholia. From here we moved forward to Shakespeare, and finally to the film Vertigo. Thus we moved from the 2nd century—with Hippocrates and Galen—  to the 17th with our discussion of Hamlet, and finally the 20th with our quick viewing of Vertigo.

What I find amazing— and perhaps also depressing in and of itself— is that this idea of melancholy as a deep, persistent sadness has not only existed and been experienced throughout humanity, but that it has been known so widely as to be represented so prominently in our literature. Considering melancholy’s extensive history, I am hard pressed to find another equally specific idea that has been examined and reexamined over the last 2000 years.

Sara Schlemm, a PhD candidate in the English department at Cornell University, led a discussion on melancholy and its differences compared with sadness in the recent Rose Cafe. Coming into the discussion, I had honestly seen the words as synonymous, but in fact, the portrayal of the two in areas like literature and film is quite different. We established early on the in the discussion that melancholy is perhaps a more profound word in the sense that it refers more to a mood than a pure emotion. In literature for example, Hamlet certainly illustrates this when his father dies, and his mother and Claudius prepare to get married. He chastises them for not recognizing the gravity of his father’s death, as it is clear they do not share his contemplative state. Hamlet does indeed experience sadness, but his contemplative and reflective state adds significant weight and meaning. In Vertigo, we see again that melancholy manifests itself in a manner that is far more profound than simple sadness. Kim Novak’s character exhibits a deeper state in a number of ways: she attempts to imitate the appearance and life of a female in a painting that clearly captivates her, and the interaction with the detective in the forest reveals her belief in the meaninglessness of life.

While both Hamlet and Kim Novak’s character’s melancholy perhaps led them far too astray, an interesting idea we touched on in the discussion is the value and maybe even the necessity of a small degree of sadness or melancholy in our lives. Indeed, the popular film Inside Out attempts to illustrate that some melancholy can enrich the experiences of our lives and allow us to develop a deeper appreciation for our existence.   

GRF Sara’s talk on melancholy left a few impressions on me. First, it allowed me to redefine my usage of the word and have a more keen eye for it in everyday life. Before the café, I would’ve defined melancholy as a deep sadness, but would have neglected the temporal component of the definition, which I now consider to be crucial. The resulting mental state is made much less acute via the addition of the drawn-out quality, and as a result perhaps much more subversive. Thinking about it now, it seems like most people have some degree of melancholy, regardless of whether or not it always manifests itself. Everybody regrets, longs for things of the past, and mourns the image of things that never came to be. Because of this, I now hold the opinion that perfectly happy people can hold some degree of melancholy, and that the two are not in opposition.

Also, I need to watch more Hitchcock. That’s the second impression.

Last Wednesday at Rose Cafe, Sara Schlemm, Graduate Resident Fellow at Rose House and Ph.D candidate in the Department of English, lead a discussion about the history of melancholy in literature and film. We opened the discussion by talking about the differences between sadness and melancholy, which tend to be mixed together in everyday uses. When I think about melancholy and sadness, I think of melancholy as being more of a prolonged sense of numbness, longer lasting then just sadness, which may be fleeting and short-lived. I found it interesting that the term “melancholia” literally translates to “black bile”, and it historically related to the balance of the 4 humors in the body. This illustrates that periods of melancholia are a natural occurrence, originating from the body itself.

We focused on analyzing Hamlet, who is in grief over the death of his father and the remarriage of his mother. Hamlet is such an complex individual that his outward appearance does provide a window into his inner feelings. According the Frued, unlike mourning, someone experiencing melancholia may also be self-reproaching and nihilistic. Mourning is usually a result of a loss, but melancholia is more complex because it is connected to both love and loss, and it may even prevent the natural process of mourning.

I agree that melancholia, like the progression of seasons, is natural to feel and experience, and that we are all bound to experience our own version of melancholia at some point of our lives. I found the idea that, if you really want to know somebody, find out what makes them sad, very interesting, because sadness can be more revealing than happiness in that it shows what we truly value and care about.

At the last Rose Cafe, GRF Sara Schlemm took the time to explain to me and the rest of the scholars about her work with studying the use of melancholy in literature and film. I had always thought that melancholy and sadness were somehow interchangeable, but after some discussion, we clarified that while “sadness” is more of a fleeting feeling of how you are in a particular moment, “melancholy” is more of a numbness and persisting feeling of despair. I found it fascinating that there was a perceived difference between the two, even so that people who have had melancholy in the past were often misdiagnosed as depressed, bipolar, or schizophrenic.

Sara referred to melancholy as “the black spleen,” refering back to the four humors of personality. The four humors often align themselves with a particular season; in melancholy’s case, it’s autumn. The experience of being melancholy is compared to autumn because of the cold and dry period, which can also explain why mostly people in their alte middle age are rumored to be more melancholy. Melancholy can also refer to the stereotype of the “tortured artistic genius.” This is often seen in literature and history as as well, if an artist is experiencing some form of melancholy, their art will become so much better becuase of the emotion they are pouring into their work.

One of the most interesting examples Sara showed us of melancholy on film was during Act I scene ii of Hamlet, as Hamlet is lamenting his father’s death and his family’s reaction is near nonexistent. Because his mother remarried his uncle so soon, no one took the time to mourn his father after he died, leaving Hamlet in a melancholy state.

My favorite part of the conversation we all had about melancholy was the addressing of how each person can deal with melancholy in their own unique way. Some people experiene melancholy for longer or for shorter periods of time, and while some can become the tortured artistic type, there can be others who have no motivation at all while they’re melancholy. If anything I learned from this talk, it’s that in its own strange way, melancholy in itself can be beautiful.

Upon thinking about all the things we covered in the cafe about melancholy and sadness, I couldn’t help but wonder what type of role gender played in the perception and depiction of melancholy, especially in the works we observed.

For example, in Vertigo, Madeline contributed to the “aesthetic” of melancholy by appearing beautiful and somber through the gaze of the main character, a male. She serves to solidify the relationship that beauty has with melancholy that dates all the way back to Shakespeare. In Hamlet, Ophelia’s melancholy is seen as overwhelmingly beautiful and peaceful. In fact, many serene, tranquil, and melancholic paintings have been inspired by the scene of her death, demonstrating the infatuation with this image.  I kept thinking that these scenes of melancholy are framed through the perspective of the male gaze. The male gaze, a term penned by Laura Mulvey, is the idea that  various modes of art are predominantly structured through the male lens. With this in mind,  I reached the conclusion that the male gaze in these works serve to reinforce the connection between melancholy and beauty.

How would melancholy be portrayed in film or in literature in a perspective that is not androcentric? How would these pieces change if they were shown from the perspective of the female characters?

Something that came to my mind immediately was the portrayal of melancholy in The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gillman. In addition to making a female the central character of the story (a radical move for the time), the main character subverts norms by manifesting a vastly different melancholic female character that has no obligation to be aesthetically pleasing and beautiful for the observer. Instead, this story depicts very real and very visceral emotion through its imagery. Since the imagery is far more unpleasant, dark, and unafraid to go there, the female character experiences melancholy in a vastly different way than those in Vertigo and Hamlet. In this way, Gilman’s piece pushes up against the trope of the beautiful and melancholic female.

In terms of cinema, I am sure there is a film that represents a perspective of melancholy that contrasts the androcentric lens we see Madeline through in Vertigo (and Ophelia in Hamlet). However, there is not one that comes to mind. Perhaps this is reflective of the fact that cinema still largely portrays stories through an androcentric lens today.

The discussion on Melancholy was thought provoking and extremely interesting. Sara walked us through the history of melancholy and how it changed over time. When I think about melancholia I picture someone that has a prolonged sadness. After listening to the discussion Melancholia seems to be more of a common occurrence that is human and everyone may experience it at some point or another. It was great to make the connection with Hamlet and see how literature has depicted these emotions which are timeless. We watched a brief scene from Hamlet and saw how the emotions over powered the scene. Overall I greatly enjoyed this weeks guest speaker being in mostly science classes, I was excited to hear a discussion on literature.

Last Becker-Rose Café, GRF Sara Schlemm led a talk about the development of melancholy over time in literature. I thought the talk was intriguing since melancholy isn’t a term that people talk over a cup of tea and a cookie or two. Emotions are often felt more than they are talked about and it was different to see melancholy from a more academic standpoint.

Sara briefly introduced her own research on melancholy and told us about how it led to the exploration of several literatures, such as Hamlet. It’s been a few years since I’ve touched on Hamlet, but Sara reminded everyone of the scene where Hamlet stages an act of madness. She talked about the brilliance of the writing and how the concept of torturing oneself is a form of melancholy.

And to pull away from more concrete, written sources, she later showed us clips from a movie called Vertigo in which a former detective is hired to follow a woman. I think I really admired the scene where the woman was dressed in the same attire in the painting since it brought to light the different ways melancholy can be portrayed. In that clip, melancholy was represented visually and audibly and it somehow created an feeling of eeriness and beauty.

While I haven’t watched Vertigo in it’s entirety, I will be sure to revisit the movie and hopefully gain some more insight on the topic of melancholy!

We have all, undoubtedly, experienced sadness in our lives. Have we all, however, experienced melancholy? The answer to this question will depend on your definition of melancholy. What is the difference between melancholy and sadness, if there is one at all? As some fellow scholars suggested, melancholy is a lingering, gloomy state that is characterized by numbness. Sadness, on the other hand, is a fleeting or temporary emotion that can come and go at any time.

This distinction appears to be relatively clear. I, however, have a question of my own: What exactly is the difference between melancholy and depression, if there is one at all? Can these terms be used interchangeably? I am currently taking HD 3700 (Introduction to Adult Psychopathology). Thus, I became particularly excited when Sara talked about Freud and Hamlet because we are covering them right now as well! Early in the play, my professor mentioned that Hamlet displayed 4 out of the 5 symptoms of depression. Was Hamlet suffering from depression or was he experiencing something else? According to my professor, Shakespeare understood clinical psychology better than anyone. His insight of the human mind was uncanny, especially for his time.

I also felt like I could relate to the image of the tortured, creative artist. I personally have a friend that fits this description perfectly. He even acknowledges it himself. Although my friend is incredibly talented (music, drawing, etc.), he suffers from depression (once again, is there a difference between melancholy and depression?). Does one’s creative genius flourish through suffering? If so, is it worth it?

GRF Sara led a very nice seminar this Wednesday on her graduate English research on melancholy. Whenever someone is presenting on a topic they have explored in depth, there is the potential to be overly technical or to over-simplify the subject. Sara did not fall into either of these traps and instead did a fantastic job of effectively explaining her work to the wide range of undergraduate majors in attendance. She went into sufficient detail to bring out the interesting and intriguing aspects of her research but was also conscientious to make sure that those of us who haven’t studied English in the classroom setting for a while (myself included) were given the proper background to follow her discussion.

My favorite aspect of Sara’s talk was how her exploration of melancholy has led her to explore a large variety of sources such as literature (Shakespeare’s Hamlet), film (Hitchcock’s Vertigo), history, phycology, and even anatomy! She explained to us that melancholy is associated with back bile, the autumn season, the concept of the tortured, prolific artist, and literary characters and it was interesting to draw connections between all these disparate concepts and to see how they all combine to define the mood or condition of melancholia. Sara’s point that melancholy is also linked with positive things such as artistic creation and love was also particularly insightful.

Melancholy, 1894 by Edvard Munch

The Café about melancholy was different from most other Café lectures. Notably, it was given by a Graduate Resident Fellow (GRF) instead of a professor or other professional. It was also more abstract that other Café lectures. I enjoyed the change of pace and appreciated the passion of the presenter. It was clear that she was genuinely enthusiastic about the topic.

While I was able to understand the broad ideas of the discussion I found myself unable to grasp the more nuanced distinctions made about melancholy. As someone who is not familiar with the books and plays referenced, I had difficultly understanding the nuances of the topic. I think that I would have enjoyed the talk much more if I had a previous understanding of the books and plays being discussed.

I did appreciate the discussion about how melancholy is comparable to the seasons because it inevitably comes and goes. This was an interesting conceptualization of melancholy and one that I had never consider prior to the lecture. It also makes sense to me because it seems inevitable that people will feel some sort of melancholy throughout life.

I am glad that I decided to attend a lecture on a topic that was not familiar to me. I feel like it will expand my horizons.

Last night at the Rose Café, my GRF Sara Schlemm gave a very interesting talk on melancholy and its different interpretations throughout history. She began by explaining how the word melancholy traditionally refers to a more prolonged and permanent emotional state than sadness, and how it has often been considered to be an indication of genius and artistic talent.

After providing this history of melancholy’s definition, Sara showed us some examples of melancholy in literature and film, starting with a speech from Hamlet about the distinction between outward appearances and inward manifestations of sorrow.

The second example Sara referred to was the 1950s movie Vertigo in which a police detective is following a woman whose unusual behavior shows signs of obsession with the past and acute melancholy. After showing some clips from the film, Sara pointed out that the picturesque setting of the scenes highlight a connection between melancholy and beauty. While I did watch Vertigo a few years ago, this talk made me want to go watch it again, this time paying more attention to its portrayal of melancholy.

At this week’s Rose Café, my GRF, Sara Schlemm, spoke about melancholy in art and literature. One of the literary artworks we discussed was Vertigo (1958), a four-fold movie about obsession, manipulation, fear, and melancholy. We watched a couple scenes from the piece, and it’s easy to say I know what movie I’m watching this weekend!

While discussing melancholy, especially in regards to this movie, I realized that the state of being can be equal parts eerie and beautiful. Before this Rose Café, I always equated melancholy to sadness, and now I understand that melancholy is something much deeper. Something that really stuck to me was the history of the idea of melancholy. It’s suggests the state has always been present in the earth, and that melancholy appears in prolonged cycles- much like the four seasons. (Fun fact, melancholy is associated with the season autumn).

I definitely look forward to looking more into melancholy, watching Vertigo in full, and I thank you Sara for such a great Rose Café!

Sara Schlemm led a wonderful Rose Cafe today regarding melancholy. While we began our discussion with comparing and contrasting sadness to melancholy, we also explored many other dimensions of this state of mind.

How is melancholy different from sadness? Some Rose Scholars pointed out that sadness is more of an emotion that is directed towards something, while melancholy may be just a general numbness. To add on to this description, we looked to Freud and learned that he wrote about melancholy and its differences from mourning. Freud argued that melancholy includes an aspect of self reproach and is more of a literary mourning while mourning itself is a feeling regarding an actual physical loss.

We learned that we can also relate melancholy to nature. It has been associated with the Earth, and with the season of Autumn, which is described as cold and dry. The word itself is Greek and means “black spleen” and thus implies that what you are feeling is directly connected to changes that are taking place in your body.

On the other hand, melancholy has also been linked to genius and art. The pain of a genius is put to work to yield brilliant creations, as is evidenced by some of the artistic masterpieces and the masterminds behind them of the past centuries. During the time of the Renaissance, melancholy was thought to be tied to the inability to stop writing, which is a form of art. The brilliant playwright Shakespeare delved into the theme of melancholy in Hamlet, which includes many interesting ideas on what it means for a person to be melancholy. One example is Hamlet’s monologue in Act 1 Scene 2 in which he talks about his grief being much more profound and deep than the symbols of it which he displays on the surface.

Finally, we watched a few scenes from the movie Vertigo and discussed what we can learn from them. I deduced the message that melancholy is a state that can suck you in, and so although it is natural (and “of the earth”, as mentioned above), happiness and joy are natural too and thus it is important to have a balance of those contrasting emotions.

I really enjoyed Sara Schlemm’s talk about melancholy. The in-depth discussion on melancholy was such an abstract topic but Sara was able to present it in the context of everyday life. 

What I really found interesting and what I did not know before this talk, was that melancholy in literature and in history was associated with many different things, such as black bile, genius, and autumn. The discussion on the association of melancholy with a season such as autumn really opened my eyes into a different way of thinking. The discussion focused on how melancholy, like autumn, is a season. Autumn is bound to come, just as melancholy is bound to come; it is a part of life. I was hesitant to believe that melancholy, this feeling characterized by gloom and even depression, is an unavoidable part of life. After talking to Sara after her talk, she brought up a very interesting study regarding how too much Facebook and social media leads to depression. Facebook, a platform that we are so drawn to as a place to connect with people and see how others are doing, is creating envy, when we see that others’  are doing better in life than us, which can lead to depression and melancholy. This brings me to see some truth in how too much beauty can lead to melancholy, and how melancholy is a part of life that is inevitable like the seasons. 

Wow! I really enjoyed today’s Rose Cafe. Sara’s talk about melancholy brought together so many apparently disparate subjects and stories (Hamlet, Vertigo, humorism, etc.) and added to the meaning of each of them. Vertigo, for example. When I first saw Vertigo, I have to admit I wasn’t a huge fan. It felt too melodramatic to me, and there wasn’t anything very redemptive about the ending. The suggestion that the story line between Scottie and Judy was a kind of Freudian fantasy fulfilled was pretty eye-opening to me. I had interpreted Scottie’s attempt to force Judy to (re)become Madeleine as an attempt to affirm her identity, so that he could be with her in the present – as Judy or as Madeleine, just to be with her was the important thing. I didn’t think that maybe restoring Madeleine, as he knew her, was more important than confirming the two women were one and the same. I think that reading is really interesting, and it definitely does a better job of drawing in Scottie’s melancholy at being forced off the police force (a melancholy which I don’t think I explicitly acknowledged when I watched the movie) than my own interpretation. While Vertigo is still not my favorite, maybe I’ll give it another watch now!

According to Sara Schlemm, Hamlet is the most famous melancholic. It has been a while since I read Hamlet, but my high school knowledge was due for a dusting off. During the talk, we were brought back to the beginning of the novel with Hamlet dressed in all black, surround by his family in ornate, celebratory clothing following Hamlet’s mother’s marriage to his uncle. Schlemm has us focus on that while his black clothing may be cliche, his melancholy is indescribable, as melancholy tends to be.

According to the dictionary, melancholy is “a feeling of pensive sadness, typically with no obvious cause”. This is obviously apparent in Hamlet, where his beginning speech describes displays he has a deep and incurable sadness. When Schlemm asked the room what our definition of sadness versus melancholy was, people typically answered that melancholy is a way you are, and sadness is something you feel towards an event. Another example given was “black bile”, which is the word actually broken down, and hints at melancholy being a medical affliction, and not just a feeling. She says that when you try to look up melancholy in a modern medical dictionary, you are redirected to depression. She also mentioned that a long time ago melancholy was explained through astrology, and was just part of who you were, while now sadness has a very small place in our lives, with a new ideal placed on positive thinking.

Another interesting topic brought up is a “love melancholy”. This is the idea that you cannot truly love without being sad. I’m not sure I quite agree. I think love brings along many other feelings, but I don’t think being in love should make one sad. I think it can make people nervous or feel as though they cannot live without what they’ve found, but none of those are sadness. I may feel this way because, as is true with many mental illnesses/conditions, it is hard to fully understand unless you’ve experienced it.

I’m not a very psychological person, so I feel a lot of the lecture went right over my head, but I do think it is very interesting how Sara Schlemm can research and discover so much about an emotion or feeling.

I never actually took the time to think of the difference between sad, melancholy, and depression.  I also never too the time to think about the history behind these words and what people once thought they were caused by.  As someone who is interested in history, especially greek history, this history of the word and where it came from was very interesting to me.  The image of melancholy is a natural one but is also a calm one, one that is not the same as the wailing image of sadness.  Melancholy is pain and solidarity.  It was also interesting to hear how the overall thought process about melancholy and life in general has changed over the years.  In olden times it was thought that melancholy was thought to bring intelligence and creativity.  Melancholy soon was thought to cause an increase in writing.  Later on, Hamlet rose as a spokesperson of melancholy.  We looked at one of his speeches, the one after his mother marries his uncle soon after his fathers passing, and it made me re-think the character of Hamlet.  In high school we never discussed the character of Hamlet as someone filled with melancholy, he was always described as the grieving son who was sad.  His melancholy led him to be an individual with emotions that those around him never understood.  Instead, those around him act as many do today and questioned weather he was faking it.

Today people will dismiss those who are melancholy or depressed and some go so far as to claim that people are just doing it for attention and they can snap out of it as soon as they want.  This however, is not the case as can be seen by melancholy’s consistent appearance in art and literature throughout the ages.

We came to the modern version and though process behind melancholy when the speaker talked about how melancholy is necessary for love and while we watched the film “Vertigo”.  This reminded me of the idea that there is no darkness without the light and how the moon shines brightest in a dark sky.  It is the idea that everything shines brightest when surrounded by their “opposite”.