Download Unit 4: The Flowering of Romanticism

Unit 4: The Flowering of Romanticism
I.
Historical Context
A. A Time of Revolution
1. George III ruled England during the American and French
revolutions
a. George III was __________ ill and placed by many
for the loss of the American colonies
b. 1811 was declared mentally insane
c. Most English citizens felt sympathy for the French
Revolution—until the all too real awareness of their
own poor became more dominate
2. Resisting Reform
a. Lack of _________________ in Parliament,
growing cities, crime, poor sanitations and harsh
criminal justice systems all played into therefore
writing or public speaking out against the
government was banned
B. War with France
1. 1793 Britain entered war with France after they invaded
Netherlands—which would last _____ years
a. During that time rebellious Irishmen sided with
France rose up against British control
b. Act of Union (1800) passed giving Ireland
representation within the British Parliament and all
the British Isles would now be called the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
2. Napoleon Bonaparte had made himself Emperor of France
and established control over much of Europe
a. Britain was under constant threat of __________
until the British fleet destroyed the French Navy at
the Battle of Trafalgar (1805)
b. Britain continued to help liberate others from
French control
c. 1815 the Battle of Waterloo was the final defeat of
Napoleon and Britain’s war with France
II.
Cultural Influences
A. The Downside of Industry
1. The Industrial Revolution and improvements in farming
brought _____________ prosperity to middle/upper class
but degrading poverty to families employed by the factories
a. Working conditions were appalling—no laws
regulated factory safety, worker hours, low wages
and child labor
b. Government did not believe in intervening
c. Riots broke out against unfair treatment but
government did nothing to solve problems
2. Post War Problems
a. Unemployment swelled as veterans returned home
b. ________ Law (any grain) was passed taxing
imported grain—keeping food prices too high for
the poor
c. Factory works wanted to join together to better
working conditions (this looked down upon by the
government
III.
Romantic Literature
A. The Revolt Against Neoclassicism
1. English romantics revolted against the order and the
traditionalism of neoclassicism
a. They were influenced by the same forces of
________ as the American and French revolutions
by the agitation for change.
b. The valued emotion over reason, nature, and the
common place
c. The popularized lyric poems—emphasis on
experiences, thoughts, feelings and desires
B. Romanticism Evolves
1. The publication of Lyrical Ballads launched the Romantic
period
2. Romanticism _________ the individual, emotion, nature,
the common place and the imagination
C. The Late Romantics
1. A new generation of romantic poets flourished during the
Regency (the time period in which George III’s son took
over for him before his death)
2. The Byronic hero—dark, handsome, restless, brooding,
diabolical—became a literary staple