Charlotte Smith's "On Being Cautioned..."

Some thoughts...

Subjectivity of lunacy and identity is addressed within the sonnet and can be related to ideas concerning the self, imagination, identity, the human, and so forth. Note how the speaker delves into the identity and mental state of a supposed mentally ill person. This explores the way in which a public persona is created through preconceptions and the imagination of others. Also take into account the animalistic portrayal of the man and the personification of his surroundings—thus illustrating the large extent to which one can "imprint" their prejudices. There's a connection between the way the self is, in part, formed through the preconception of others and the way identity can be created through poetry/writing. The self therefore is never a singular portrayal, but an ever-changing image dependent on the eyes and presumptions of a given person. Taking this into account, is there a "true self"? This concept is pretty similar to the way Burney, Pepys, etc. reconstruct events and accounts of people through prose and their journals or biographies.


Crystal Lie Ian's section