Introduction to the Romantic Period English Romanticism 17981832

1
Introduction to the Romantic Period(English
Romanticism)1798-1832

• English 4
• British Literature

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5 important contexts for literature

• Historical
• Political
• Social
• Religious
• Literary

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Historical Influences on English Romanticism

• French Revolution
• Industrial Revolution

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French Revolution influences

• 1) July 14, 1789 storming of Bastille
• 2) Assertion of basic rights of man opposed to
  rights of monarchy

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French Revolution influences

• 3) Becomes more violentReign of Terror under
  Robespierreexecution of king and queen Louis XVI
  and Marie Antoinette
• 4) Napolean becomes Emperor to be defeated at
  Waterloo 1815 by English

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French Revolution influences

• 5) Quest for greater democratic freedom led to
  despotism
• 6) Support for revolution from English liberals
  such as Wordsworth, Shelley, etc.

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Industrial Revolution influences

• 1) Shift from agricultural society to industrial
  society
• 2) Previously open fields and communally worked
  farms now privately owned

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Industrial Revolution influences

• 3) Shift in power from landholding aristocracy to
  workers and factory owners
• 4) New landless class

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Industrial Revolution influences

• 5) laissez-faire principles results in poor
  wages, long hours, child labor
• 6) oppositions capital vs. labor, owner vs.
  worker, rich vs. poor
• 7) More machinery, fewer jobs

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Characteristics of Romanticism

• Technical characteristics
• Use of lyric poetry
• Simple, unadorned language
• Use of first-person

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Characteristics of Romanticism

• Subject matter
• Nature
• The supernatural
• The past
• Individuality
• Rural, country life

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Characteristics of Romanticism

• Philosophy
• Emphasis on the power of the imagination
• Poetry as a way to express feelings and
  self-revelation
• Poetry speaks of personal experiences and emotions

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Six Major English Romantic Authors

• Williams Wordsworth
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge
• Williams Blake
• Percy Shelley
• John Keats
• Lord Byron

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In Summary, Romantic poets

• Believed that the imagination was a better guide
  to life than reason or intellect.
• Had a profound respect for nature and for the
  simple life.
• Had a common concern for the past.
• Had a widespread interest in the supernatural.
• Strongly believed in personal and political
  freedom. A person should listen to his or her
  own feelings, not necessarily those of society.

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Delacroix Liberty Leading the People, 1830
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You should know

• 1) How did the French Revolution influence the
  ideas of the British Romantic Period?
• 2) How did the Industrial Revolution influence
  the ideas of the British Romantic Period?
• 3) How do the technical characteristics of
  Romantic writing reflect the ideas?
• 4) Describe some elements of the philosophy of
  British Romantic writings.

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Gothicism

• Genre developed during the Romantic Period
• Horace Walpoles Castle of Otranto
• Evokes terror in readers
• Shows the darker side of human nature
• Considered the forerunner of modern mysteries or
  science fiction

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Elements of the Gothic Novel

• An atmosphere of mystery and suspense
• Omens, visions
• Supernatural or unexplainable events
• High emotion
• Women in distress
• Metonymy of gloom and doom (i.e. rain shows
  sorrow)

Taken from virtualsalt.com/gothic