The Romantic Era

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The Romantic Era 1798-1832
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Ends with the passage of Reform Laws in 1832
Begins with the publication of Lyrical Ballads in
1798
Why?
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Romanticism has its roots in political unrest
and the need for social reform
The Industrial Revolution led to Romanticism
The French Revolution
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What came before the Romantic Era?

• Enlightenment thinkers glorified the urban and
  the civilized When a man is tried of London,
  he is tired of life. Dr. Samuel Johnson
• Popes definition of poetry was Reasoning in
  Verse
• The affairs of society, the concerns of the
  political, and satirical essays were the focus
• The emphasis was on the worldly and wit

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Two philosophical influences Rousseau Goethe
Wolfgang Goethe Medievalism Romantic from
roman medieval literature
Jean-Jacques Rousseau the noble savage
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Preface to Lyrical Ballads

• Poetry is not reasoning in verse, but a
  spontaneous overflow of emotion
• A poet is a man speaking to men
• Naturethe poets inspiration

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• Key Characteristics of Romanticism
• Society as a force of evil
• Middle Ages as inspiration (NOT neo-classical)
• Nostalgia longing for the past
• Focused on nature
• Exalted the common man
• Focused on inner feelings, emotions, and the
  imagination
• Exalted role of the poet
• Love of the exotic and far away
• Love of the supernatural, the bizarre, and the
  hideous