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THE ROMANTIC PERIOD. 1780 -1830. The French Revolution - 1789. English geographically removed from US revolution French tenets of “Liberty, Equality and Fraternity” were just across the Channel
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THE ROMANTIC PERIOD 1780 -1830
The French Revolution - 1789 • English geographically removed from US revolution • French tenets of “Liberty, Equality and Fraternity” were just across the Channel • Disillusionment ensues when the Reign of Terror oppressed become as violent and corrupt as those they overthrew, opening door for Napoleon
Romantic writers tended to be: • Optimists who believed in progress and human reform • Attackers of tyranny and the evils of • Industrialism • Urban blight • Pollution • Alienation of people from nature and each other
Nineteenth century advancements • First Reform Bill (1832) liberalized representation in Parliament, leading to a truly representative body • Industrial Revolution (1750 – 1850) • Move from cottage industries to factories • Slums developed • Child / slave wage labor • Industrial accidents and diseases
Reform Movements • For the children of the poor, religious training, medical care and education were nonexistent. • Reformers force Church and government to assume responsibilities: • Sunday schools • Hospitals • Prison reform • Child labor laws enacted
Literature • Nature is the principal source of: • Inspiration • Spiritual truth • Enlightenment
Poetry • Focused on: • Ordinary people • Common life • Affirmation of worth and dignity of all humans • Repudiation of evils of a class system
Two Groups of Poets • 1786: William Blake and Robert Burns lead the transition in terms of subject matter, themes and style
William Blake • Blake lived in relative obscurity, explored concept of “contraries” pain and joy, success and failure, prudence and excess. • “Songs of Innocence” “Songs of Experience”
Robert Burns • Raised in incessant poverty in Ayrshire, Scotland • Limited formal education, but father inspired in him a love of literature • Mentally composed poems and songs in dialect while doing chores • In and out of love affairs, turns to drink and dissipation; dies at 37 • Remembered for ability to express feelings and concerns of ordinary people in a natural, flowing idiom
Transition between groups • 1798: Wordsworth and Coleridge, bridging the two groups, publish Lyrical Ballads which asserted that: • ordinary life is best subject for poetry • everyday language best conveys feelings • feeling is more important than action • “Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings…”
After Wordsworth and Coleridge • Byron, Shelley, Keats • WW and Coleridge become more politically conservative • Byron, Shelley & Keats, once their idols, denounce them as traitors to former ideals
George Gordon, Lord Byron • Reckless, bitter, in constant revolt against society • Epitomized Romanticism by his dedication to the cause of freedom and liberty • Remembered as a satirical poet
Percy Bysshe Shelley • Rebellious, scandalous, charismatic • Revolted against tyranny • Believed that the church, state, and commerce led to superstition, selfishness and corruption • Remembered as a lyric poet
John Keats • Mocked by critics for his Cockney heritage • Influenced by Shakespeare and Milton • Explored relationship between art and life • Believed that poetry should be the creation of concrete sensual images “in the service of profound creative thought.”
Gothicnovel develops • Stories set in medieval time • Ruined castles • Mysterious doors • Supernaturalism of all kinds • Walpole’s Castle of Otranto (1795) sets form for the genre (Stoker’s Dracula @ 1897)
Elsewhere • 1789 – GW becomes President of US • 1804 – Napoleon crowned Emperor of France • 1815 – Battle of Waterloo • 1825 – First railroad built in England • Mozart’s Magic Flute • Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5
Elsewhere • Poe writes Tamerlane and other Poems • Webster’s American Dictionary published • Austen writes Pride and Prejudice • M. Shelley pens Frankenstein • DeQuincey publishes Confessions of an English Opium Eater