Theologian, abolitionist and theorist Mary Anne Schimmelpenninck influenced nineteenth-century aesthetics through her original concept of the contemplative sublime. Her
Theory on the Classification of Beauty and Deformity(1815) divides aesthetic perceptions into four categories: the terrible sublime, the contemplative sublime, the sentimental, and the sprightly. In the early nineteenth century, her idea of the contemplative sublime presented a new, unique, and inclusive aesthetic category. Schimmelpenninck proposes that the bold vigor of the terrible is a necessary, first step towards the calm dauntlessness of the contemplative. In doing so, she builds on the work of earlier women writers, such as travel writer Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and French critic Madame de Staël, both of whom…
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Citation: Duquette, Natasha Aleksiuk. "Mary Anne Schimmelpenninck". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 25 May 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5918, accessed 23 November 2024.]
