Throughout this semester, we have learned about many facets of melancholia. We have read theories on causes, symptoms, cures, and types of melancholy. Although I gained an abundant amount of new knowledge throughout this course, I knew from the very beginning that I wanted to research and present on the beauty in melancholy for my digital archive project. When discussing the topic of melancholy, it is easy to be overwhelmed by the sadness of such a conversation. This class has primarily focused on pain, sadness, and suffering. However, I remembered from my younger years a “trend” on Tumblr that had piqued my interest (as well as horror). There was an overwhelming amount of depressing and suicidal posts on Tumblr and other social media platforms around the time when I was in middle school, where people would post quotes about their depression, self-harm tendencies, and suicidal desires. This trend can be referred to as the “romanticization” of mental illness, and it is quite sad and a bit sickening. I began the semester with this in mind, and I had hoped to research the trend in the romanticization of melancholy. However, as we began to learn about new perspectives on melancholy, I learned that there truly was hidden beauty in melancholy, although it was occasionally dramatized into romanticization even in earlier years.

Our focus on melancholy narrowed into about three main categories: religious melancholy, love melancholy, and intellectual melancholy. Through our readings and class discussions, I learned that there was an aspect of beauty and bittersweet emotion in each of these types of melancholy. Because of this, I expanded my focus from the modern romanticization of melancholy into the historical foundations of the beauty in melancholy. I did keep a portion of my original idea, where I researched the modern romanticization of mental illness and its effects on society. With these four major categories, I was able to organize a search into the beauty of melancholy throughout history. In my final digital archive, you can find two pages with one artifact each that relate to each category of melancholy: religious, love, intellectual, and modern. I organized these artifacts in the order listed above, because it is similar to the order in which we learned about the types of melancholy throughout this class. However, you will probably find within my digital archive, as I did within our class, that some of these categories flow together more than you may have assumed. Throughout the archive, I reference other pages and artifacts within some of the pages, so please feel free to peruse through the pages as many times as you would like to absorb the full picture of the beauty in melancholy.

My first two artifacts correspond to religious melancholy, as I mentioned, but there are slight nuances to both of the discussions. The first artifact is a painting of a sad angel, who represents the noble suffering associated with religion and salvation. In this first page, I discuss references to Cassian’s idea of acedia, Dante’s Inferno, and the story of Young Goodman Brown. All of these works acknowledge the suffering and melancholy associated with religion, yet they also reference the noble cause for which they are suffering: unity with God. For the second artifact, I use a painting by William Blake to represent the division between heaven and earth, as well as the religious yearning for a holy life in heaven. Although this artifact is associated with suffering, it contrasts from the discussion of the noble suffering with the first artifact. Instead, it shows the division between good and evil, and it represents the struggle to overcome human nature, which, if accomplished, leads to a holy life with God. Although both of the first two artifacts are related to the idea of religious melancholy, they each have key differences as explained by their discussions and references.

The second set of artifacts are related to love melancholy. The first artifact, Death by Edvard Munch, represents the loss that is often associated with love. These losses may come in different forms, such as unrequited love, distance, the end of a relationship, or death. However, it does a wonderful job of explaining how a beautiful emotion like love can be overcome with the pain of loss. Even in the loss, however, there is beauty because of what once was. The second artifact is Francesca da Rimini by William Dyce, which is actually based on Dante’s Inferno. This painting illustrates the madness that is often associated with love. In the discussion of this artifact, I reference the moon’s tie to lunacy, and how it correlates to both the painting and other love poems of the time. Although these are historical paintings and sources, the idea of being ‘madly in love’ still pervades society today. Loss in love and madness in love are two separate ideas, yet these two paintings both beautifully illustrate how such a positive concept of love can be strongly associated with the seemingly opposite concept of melancholy.

For the category of intellectual melancholy, I used the two different artifacts to represent the separate ideas of the melancholy genius and the catharsis that can be achieved through creative pursuits. The first artifact is a painting of a young man surrounded by objects of his studies, yet he has a melancholy look on his face. Many historical figures and people today who appear to be thriving in their intellectual pursuits are actually struggling under the burden of melancholy. Throughout this semester, we have attempted to understand why the wealth of knowledge is so often accompanied by the burden of melancholy. In the discussion of this artifact, I attempt to summarize our findings on this topic. For the other artifact, I chose Van Gogh’s Starry Night. I believe that Van Gogh is an amazing representation of how to use intellectual pursuits as an outlet for negative feelings, especially since he painted Starry Night while in an insane asylum. Along with this example, I explore other intellectuals who used their passions in an attempt for catharsis from melancholy. Both of these artifacts, although similar in category, provide separate examples of the beauty that can be found in intellectual melancholy.

My final two artifacts are related to the modern representation of melancholy, both truly beautiful and over-romanticized. The first artifact is a picture that was once on Tumblr before it was deleted, and its text reads “I think suicidal people are just angels who want to go home”. This type of image was exactly why I wanted to explore the theme of beauty in melancholy at the beginning of the semester, and I discuss the implications of these types of graphics, as well as other media sources like TV shows and personal accounts of depression. Although I found no redeeming qualities of beauty in the images like the artifact posted here, I believe it is important to recognize the limitations when trying to find beauty in sadness and mental illness. With the second artifact that explores modern melancholy, I chose a photograph of Lil Peep, an emo rapper. I believe that his music encapsulates the beauty in melancholy, because of the mellow and calming beats combined with lyrics that are depressing and devoid of hope. Because there is a draw to this type of music, I explored the possible adverse effects of this genre, yet I found overwhelmingly positive research that even songs with melancholy lyrics can have an uplifting and supportive effect on listeners. The cathartic effect of sad songs on listeners actually relates back to the page on “Catharsis through Creativity”, although in this situation they are able to achieve the therapeutic effect merely by listening to music rather than creating a work of art. I was happy to find a balance in the representation of modern melancholy, due to my original concerns about the trend toward the romanticization of mental illness.

The implications of this digital archive are not that melancholy and depression are desirable states or disorders, and the goal is not to encourage anyone to force themselves into these states of sadness. Rather, I hope that the bittersweet findings of this digital archive can encourage anyone struggling with their own melancholia to find beauty even in their worst moments.