Question

Fancy, in Coleridge’s view, is:

• A. The highest form of imagination
• B. A mechanical and ornamental process
• C. Synonymous with genius
• D. Irrelevant to poetry

Answer 1

Answer:

B. A mechanical and ornamental process

According to Samuel Taylor Coleridge, fancy is the act of combining different things into pleasing shapes, but not fusing them into a new creation. He considered fancy to be inferior to imagination, which is the power to shape and unify. 

• Coleridge believed that fancy is a repository for lust and the source of baser desires. 

• He considered fancy to be an acquired talent, while imagination is related to innate genius. 

• Coleridge was the first critic to distinguish between fancy and imagination, and to define their roles. 

• Coleridge believed that imagination is the soul of poetic genius, while fancy is its drapery.