# Symbols explained — Sartor Resartus

> Chapter companion for Sartor Resartus by Thomas Carlyle.

## What happens

The Editor attempts to distill Teufelsdröckh's complex theories on Symbols, exploring how they conceal and reveal the Infinite, the role of Silence and Secrecy in creation, the distinction between extrinsic and intrinsic symbolic value, and the highest symbols found in art, heroic lives, and religion, particularly Christianity.

## Themes in this chapter

### Clothing as Symbol

Teufelsdröckh's entire philosophy of Symbols is tied to his earlier 'Clothes-Philosophy'; symbols are like garments that conceal and reveal the divine.

### Spiritual Crisis and Faith

The chapter discusses the highest Symbols as religious, with Jesus of Nazareth as the ultimate Symbol, pointing to the need for faith and the divine.

### Critique of Society and Materialism

Teufelsdröckh attacks the 'Motive-Millwrights' and the mechanistic view of the world, arguing that Fantasy and Imagination rule over mere Logic and Calculation.

## Character check-ins

### Diogenes Teufelsdröckh

The Professor whose speculations on Symbols are being excerpted and arranged by the Editor.

### The Editor

The Editor compiles and comments on Teufelsdröckh's writings on Symbols, attempting to present them in a logical order.

### Jesus of Nazareth

Cited as the highest religious Symbol, whose Life and Biography represent a perennial, infinite Symbol of Christianity.

## Key lines

> Silence is the element in which great things fashion themselves together; that at length they may emerge, full-formed and majestic, into the daylight of Life, which they are thenceforth to rule.

Great things are formed in silence and only later emerge into the world to take charge.

_Teufelsdröckh emphasizes the creative power of silence and concealment._

> In a Symbol there is concealment and yet revelation: here therefore, by Silence and by Speech acting together, comes a double significance.

A Symbol both hides and reveals, combining silence and speech to create a deeper meaning.

_This is the core definition of a Symbol in Teufelsdröckh's philosophy._

> The Universe is but one vast Symbol of God; nay if thou wilt have it, what is man himself but a Symbol of God; is not all that he does symbolical; a revelation to Sense of the mystic god-given force that is in him; a 'Gospel of Freedom,' which he, the 'Messias of Nature,' preaches, as he can, by act and word?

The entire universe and every human action is a symbol of God, revealing a divine force within.

_Teufelsdröckh elevates symbolism to a cosmic and theological level._

> It is in and through Symbols that man, consciously or unconsciously, lives, works, and has his being: those ages, moreover, are accounted the noblest which can the best recognise symbolical worth, and prize it the highest.

Humans exist through symbols, and the greatest ages are those that most value symbolic meaning.

_The Professor asserts the fundamental role of symbols in human life and history._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/sartor_resartus_se/chapters/iii-symbols
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/sartor_resartus_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/sartor_resartus_se/chapters