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The Romantic Period
in British literature
1798 - 1832
The Romantic Period (1798-1832) was a TIME OF CHANGE!
18th century poets had celebrated man’s intellect and reason.
19th century poets rejected this. Why?
There were 2 historical events that caused the change in thinking!
1)The French Revolution stirred interest in democratic ideals
Began July 17, 1789 when French citizens stormed the Bastille in Paris.
French Revolutionaries wrote Declaration of the Rights of Man
This created a constitutional monarchy in France
Their motto: “liberty, equality, fraternity”
1792 the “Reign of Terror” started in France
Jacobins took over control of French govt.
Abolished monarchy; established a Republic
1793 King Louis XVI, Queen Marie Antoinette, and
17,000 aristocrats were guillotined.
France declared war on England, Austria, Russia (lasted for 22 yrs)
Many British at first supported the Revolution’s goals: freedom/equality.
Reign of Terror changed this!
British crack down on reformers in England
Public meetings banned; talk of reform is made illegal
Took away many civil rights of British citizens
Only outlet for English ideas of reform is through literature!!
2) English Industrial Revolution stirred interest in plight of the poor.
Industrial Revolution had created many ugly problems:
Overcrowded factory towns
Low wages
Poverty
Slums
People losing jobs to new equipment
Terrible, unsafe working conditions
Government does nothing to help the people
1811-1813 Luddite Riots – workers’ violent protests
1819 Peterloo Massacre – soldiers kill protestors
Society is split: Working Class (reform) vs Ruling Class (NO reform!)
Government finally passes some reforms:
1820’s Govt. passes first reform – will allow labor unions
1830 liberal Whigs win election
“1832 Reform Bill” – gave voting rights to middle class men
1833 Pass 1st law on factory safety;
Pass law abolishing slavery
Beginnings of Romantic Movement in literature
1.Rejected the ugliness created by Industrial Rev.
2.Interest in problems of the poor
3.Supported democratic ideals of the early French Rev.
4.Glorifies beauty of nature, imagination; rejects science and reason
Romantic Movement was Inspired by European writers:
Jean-Jacques Rousseau- French philosopher
Blamed society for man’s problems
Wrote “Discourse on the Origins of Inequality”
Johann von Goethe- German writer
Wrote about myth, adventure, emotion, self-fulfillment
Created the bildungsroman style
Poetry was the dominant literary form during the Romantic Period)
Early English Romantic Poets
1) William WordsworthHis book of poems, “Lyrical Ballads,” set goals of the Romantics:
1. Defined poetry as “spontaneous overflow of strong emotion”
2. Subject matter- present situations from common life
3. Link human passions with wild, free beauty of nature
His Style:
No flowery language or figures of speech
Wrote about ordinary life and nature in common language
“The World Is Too Much With Us” (pg 675)
“London 1802” (pg 676)
“Lyrical Ballads” is his most important work
2) Samuel Coleridge- wrote “Lyrical Ballads” with Wordsworth
Most imaginative of the romantic poets
Best known poem: “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” (687-709)
Style: Wrote about the strange and exotic
2nd generation Romantic Poets
1) George Gordon, Lord Byron (aristocrat)
Scandalous love affairs, reckless lifestyle, & radical politics forced him
to leave England. Died in Greece at age 32.
Inspired the Byronic hero – a mysterious, passionate outcast who
rejects values of society; tormented by secret sins
1st successful poem: “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage” (pg720-723)
“She Walks in Beauty” (pg 719)
2) Percy Shelley (aristocrat)
Drowned in Italy at age 30
Called “the perfect poet of the Romantic Era” for his passion
and his deep convictions about freedom
Friend of Lord Byron; he was the husband of Mary Shelley
Known as the “most politically radical of the Romantic poets.”
Radical politics and marital scandal made him to leave England
Best known for lyrical poetry – “Ode to a Skylark” (pg 737-40)
Ode: a lyric poem, characterized by heightened emotion, that
directly pays respect to a person or thing.
3) John Keats (from the working class)
Died of TB in Italy at age 25
Not into rebellion or politics; wrote about beauty
Tries to reconcile beauty of nature w/ reality of human misery
Famed for lyric poetry- “Ode to a Grecian Urn” (pg 755-6)
Romantic Era Prose
Consisted of 2 forms: Essays and Novels
(drama was not popular)
The London Magazine was most important periodical 1820-1829.
Many famous essayists and critics wrote for it
Best known prose authors:
1) Mary Shelley (wife of Percy Shelley) (pg 651-654)
Famous for writing Frankenstein – first modern horror story
Writer in popular new style of the Gothic novel:
Elements of the Gothic novel:
1) brave heroes & heroines
2) menacing villains
3) eerie castles
4) elements of the supernatural
2) Jane Austen – (pg780-783) (pg 791-793)
Early feminist writer- strong, intelligent heroines
Wrote romantic “novel of manners”, which satirized British customs.
Most highly regarded writer of “novels of manners”
Best known for Pride and Prejudice, and Sense and Sensibility
3) Sir Walter Scott
Invented the “historical novel”
Best known novel= Ivanhoe
Focus on historical events/settings, with romantic treatment of
realistic themes.