THOMAS CARLYLE QUESTIONS
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Sartor Resartus
General Questions
1. Look up the dictionary meanings of the word “sage.” How do “sages” relate to their hearers or readers? How does Carlyle function as a sage-writer for Victorian readers?
2. What are some characteristics of Carlyle’s prose style in any of the selections we are reading? What do you think he is trying to accomplish by means of the attitudes, poses, or styles he adopts?
“The Everlasting No”
3. On 1006-08, how does Teufelsdröckh deal with his loss of religious faith, according to the Editor and Teufelsdröckh’s own words? In what sense is he “full of religiosity?” What begins to look like the replacement for his once firm faith in the Christian God?
4. On 1009, how does Teufelsdröckh characterize the threat that yawns before him if he can’t find the answer to his spiritual difficulties? How does the admission that the universe might just be “one huge, dead, immeasurable Steam-engine” clarify the problem that confronts Teufelsdröckh?
5. On 1010-11, what is “The Everlasting No”—what has it spoken to Teufelsdröckh in his bewilderment? How does he respond—what assertion allows Teufelsdröckh to defy such resounding negation? What is the “Baphometic Fire-Baptism” that he undergoes?
“Centre of Indifference”
6. On 1011-12, what is “the old inward Satanic School”? How does the Editor characterize its effects in Teufelsdröckh?
7. On 1012-14, how does Teufelsdröckh begin the process of casting out the Satanic School ? To what observations, what travels, does he turn his attention for that purpose, and what effect do they have upon his spirit?
8. On 1015-16, Teufelsdröckh waxes eloquent on war. What does he have to say about the causes and effects of war, and what thoughts does he offer concerning his brief interaction with the Great Man, Napoleon? How might Teufelsdröckh’s ideas about war and Napoleon mark some progression in his understanding of his predicament?
9. On 1016-17, Teufelsdröckh goes to the North Cape and meets a cantankerous Russian smuggler. What happens between the two men, and what do you take to be the point of placing such a ridiculous episode here at the end of the chapter on the Centre of Indifference?
10. On 1017, what exactly is the Centre of Indifference at which Teufelsdröckh has arrived? In what state of soul or mind does Teufelsdröckh find himself at this point?
“The Everlasting Yea”
11. On 1018-19, how does Teufelsdröckh describe the stage through which he has just passed? What has it made possible for him to move forwards?
12. On 1019 top, the Editor interrupts Teufelsdröckh and offers his own gloss on the Doctor’s remarks. What reason does the Editor give for this interruption? Why isn’t it a good thing for the readers to hear the whole of what Teufelsdröckh has said in his then-current state of mind?
13. On 1019-20, how does Teufelsdröckh characterize nature? How does this characterization represent a change in his understanding of nature, and how does he now view his fellow human beings?
14. On 1021-22, what, according to Teufelsdröckh, is the cause of “Man’s Unhappiness”? Why isn’t happiness an appropriate goal for human life? What, then, is the appropriate thing to do, the “Everlasting Yea,” as Teufelsdröckh calls it?
15. On 1023-24, what tasks does Teufelsdröckh set for those who, like himself, have realized the necessity of creating new beliefs and institutions to replace the old? How are we to do that, according to the Professor? How do you interpret Teufelsdröckh’s statement (borrowed from Goethe) that “America is here or nowhere” (1024)?
Edition: Abrams, M. H. et al, eds. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 8th ed. Vol. E. New York: Norton, 2006. ISBN Package 2 (Vols. DEF) 0-393-92834-9.