Patrick Suskind Essay

Literature: the enlightenment, romanticism, realism, modernism, and postmodernism…. Where does one begin? To some, those words can be as scary as the word computer is to others. This essay is designed to help you become a great literary interpreter. Getting the motivation is three fourths of the battle to getting into the heads of the artists. To begin, an outline of some of the literary movements has been provided.

In order to see how cultural and historical situations affect literature throughout history, it is important to get a brief history on each era discussed in this paper. The first era we will be reviewing will be writings from

Imagination and creativity is part of the many influences that attribute to the writings in the Romantic Era. It influenced writers and poets to expand their art to a new horizons and veer away from the Enlightenment Era of tradition and logic. The use and significance of memory and dreams in the Romantic Era helped strengthen the inner emotions within writings, present ideas outside of traditional expectancies, and display the authors creativity and individuality throughout their writings. These works have resonated throughout history and British Literature inspiring new and old writers to explore within themselves and inside their imagination to create art that portrays their personalities in their work.

The spirit of human generosity repulsed him so much that he did not hesitate to enjoy killing women one after another. Grenouille’s sensibility and addiction in a way reconstructs a different perception about the age of Enlightenment. Grenouille’s lack of scent is not just lack of a body odor, but also the lack of morals, “because a reader can see that Grenouille is someone who has the physical characteristics of a man but without the substance that fully establishes one as a human being. The sense of smell itself is always a way in which a person’s soul is identified, without the ability to smell or produce a body odor, one cannot detect the soul of a person.” [3] A good sense of smell is relatable to human generosity, warmth and passion, Suskind writes about Gaillard, “For good all sense of smell and every sense of human warmth and human coldness, indeed every human passion. Without that one blow, tenderness had become as foreign to her has enmity. Joy as strange as despair”. Thus, Grenouille’s obsession for producing the perfect smell can be interpreted not only a form of self gratification but also creating a soul for himself because when he kills his victims he extracts their body odor, thus extracting their essence and rendering them soulless. In so doing, Grenouille in fact gruesomely acts against the very principles of the age of Enlightenment, and thus an antithesis of the human spirit of warmth, sensibility and humanity at large. Grenouille shows a conflicting personality because even though he lacks body odor, he feels that his inner most being is wonderful. While describing Grenouille, Suskind writes, “He wanted to empty himself of his inner most being, of nothing less than his inner most being, which he considered more wonderful than anything the world had to offer”. This shows Grenouille really believed in the superiority of his intelligence and his inner

Patrick Süskind’s seminal 1985 novel, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, achieves that rare feat of creating a main character that portrays a protagonist that lacks conventional heroic qualities or in other literature term, an anti-hero. The novel discusses the main character Grenouille, who became an infamous criminal who lived in the unhygienic and uprising rebellion in Paris, France, 18th century. He had experienced life chiefly through his highly developed sense of smell. Süskind’s did a marvelous job in portraying personality traits that can be attributed and recognized to an actual serial killer. Moreover, he has been more in-depth within Grenouille’s personality by adding common mental disabilities and psychological abuse that the

Romanticism was a period time 1750 to 1870 in Europe, Latin America and The United States. Romantic Movement didn’t reach to France until the 1820’s. Romanticism main spirit was against of rule, law and formulas that classicism the different characterized of general in 18th century. Imagination, Subjectivity of approach, freedom, Expression and the idealization of nature will be focused in movement of Romantic Literature. In this period industrial revolution with the social and political norms form as age of enlightenment and against of scientific rationalization of nature. Some Literature element of that period will be emotional, imagination and suspense. Romanticism movement brings some of different writes such as John Keats, Blake William, Wordsworth William and other. They came with the different illustrated, poetry that expresses the language, emotion and imagination. Romanticism is a phenomenon characterized by subjectivity of approach and reliance on the imagination, An Idealization of nature and freedom of though and expression.

Romanticism took place in the early 1800's, it focused on the evolution and the effects nature has upon the universe. This time period helped grasp imagination, emotions, symbolism, and focus on the individual of one's self. I will be evaluating the authors, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nathaniel Hawthorne to demonstrate how their works relate to the time era of the 18th century.

As a German writer, the reason for which Patrick Suskind wrote his critically-acclaimed novel, Perfume, in a French setting, about the French, is questionable. However, candidate answers lie in the setting of the novel itself. Mid-18th century France, which is adjacent to Suskind’s Germany, harboured not only a national, but global revolution of politics, economics, and social norms through the French reforms. This had plentiful influence on all aspects of Prussia since the late 17th century (when Germany was known as Prussia) to the present. This stepping stone to a change in practicality lied in the French Revolution and the change of identity that it instilled upon the populace. An exploration of Grenouille and perfume in Perfume reveals their symbolism of the critical transition from religious prominence, to humanistic considerations, to nihilistic extremes that ensued national and global chaos after the French Revolution to represents its influence on Germany and its constituent populace.

Romanticism is an intellectual, spiritual, and literary movement that begins at the start of the nineteenth century and concludes at the beginning of the twentieth century. Of the many characteristics that are associated with Romanticism, the characteristics that are most evident in literature from this period are the characteristics of individuality and imagination. The author Edgar Allen Poe exhibits these characteristics in his works “The Black Cat”, and the “The Raven”.

Grenouille was born in the malodorous fish market of Paris in the “18th century”, where the 18th century was a period of tragedy and chaos where foul smells were everywhere. Moreover, Grenouille being born in a “fish market” indicates the evil and unnatural nature of Grenouille as he is born in the worst smelling, filthiest and unnatural place in Paris. Even more, being born in a fish market in a “pile of fish guts” shows Grenouille as a victim of social decay where society

If the Enlightenment was a movement which started among the elite and spread through society to pose its influence, Romanticism was widespread both in its origins and influence. Through the transformation of the basic arts such as poetry, the novel and drama, there has never been such an intellectual/artistic movement that has had such popularity ever since the end of the Middle Ages. At the time, people's fears, hopes and aspirations were the key elements that drove this literary movement to greatness. Knowingly, the Romantic Period was the voice of revolution in the late 1800's, early 1900's. Indeed, many famous writers such as John Keats, Mary Shelly, Lord Byron and Emily Brontë were recognized amongst the citizens for their exquisite work

Suskind’s novel ‘Perfume’ can be defined as a bildungsroman for it is divided into four parts which each treat a portion of Grenouille’s characterial development. In concluding such novel, Suskind comes to the climax of the development of the themes and concepts of his development. This conclusion therefore is both aesthetically and psychologically satisfying because it completely symbolically exhausts the dehumanization that occurs throughout the novel and the concept of chemical sovereignty for both the protagonist and the reader.

During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the literary world witnessed the birth of the Enlightenment and Romantic Periods. There were similarities as well as very notable differences between the two. There were also two prominent voices that gained notoriety during each of these two periods. Voltaire is considered to be the pioneer of the power of reason and Rousseau is looked upon as a legendary figure of Nineteenth Century Romanticism. This analysis will evaluate the two eras, both writers and a literary piece.

Perfume by Patrick Süskind follows Jean-Baptiste Grenouille through an incredible journey of survival, perseverance, and ascension to godlike power. It, being set during the Enlightenment, depicts a time where people let curiosity reign and science flourish. Nevertheless, although people were becoming more scientific in their thought, religion was still a part of people’s lives. The presence of religious elements in the novel, however, serves to be more than just a descriptive tool to flesh out the world of the novel. Because of the biblical parallels that present Grenouille as a messiah-like figure, and also further comments on religion through narration, the reader is often pushed to consider the nature of faith and the faithful. In effect, Süskind uses Grenouille and the world of Perfume to examine and critique the functions and foundations of worshipping a god.

The novel, Perfume- Story of a Murderer, is set in eighteenth-century France. The eighteenth-century was a significant period in French and European histories alike, as it marks an important era of change known as the Enlightenment. Also known as the “Age of Reason”, the Enlightenment saw, among other things, a rise in individualism across European societies. This notion is naturally apparent in Patrick Süskind’s novel and particularly in its main character, Grenouille. From his birth to his trip to becoming a journeyman and pursuing his personal goal of becoming the best perfumer, Grenouille is the embodiment of many changes that are characteristic to Enlightenment individualism such as the introduction of inborn rights and increased social