Introduction to the Romantic Age of English Literature When you see this, you may want to take note of the material on the page.

Definition Contrary to what you may think, the term Romanticism is not just about romantic love (although love is sometimes the subject of romantic art).

Definition (continued) Romanticism is an international artistic and philosophical movement that re-defined the ways in which humans in Western civilization thought about themselves and their world.

Historical Considerations English Literary History Dates: English Literary History begins the Romantic Period officially in 1798, with the publication of Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, and ends it in 1832, with the deaths of Sir Walter Scott and the German Romantic poet, Goethe.

Romanticism as an International Movement Affected all of the arts (literature, music, painting, philosophy) Began in the 1770s and extended through the second half of the 19th century (1870).

Romanticism is characterized by these general features: Romanticism turned away from the eighteenth-century emphasis on reason and artifice. Instead, the Romantics embraced imagination and naturalness. Romantic-era poets rejected the public, formal, and witty works of the previous century. They preferred poetry that spoke of personal experiences and emotions, often in simple, unadorned language. The Romantics each used the lyric as the form best suited to expressions of feeling, self-revelation, and the imagination.

Characterizations, continued Wordsworth urged poets to adopt a democratic attitude toward their audiences; though endowed with a special sensibility, the poet was always "a man speaking to men ." Many Romantics turned to a past or an inner dream world that they felt was more picturesque and magical than the ugly industrial age they lived in. Most Romantics believed in individual liberty and sympathized with those who rebelled against tyranny. The Romantics thought of nature as transformative; they were fascinated by the ways nature and the human mind "mirrored" the other's creative properties.

“The Age of Revolutions” Since the early Romantic period includes the American (1776) and the French (1789) revolutions, it has been called the “age of revolutions” (changes). It was a time of massive energy (intellectual, social, artistic). It set out to transform not only the theory and practice of all art, but also the ways in which human beings perceived the world. Some of its ideas survive even to our present day.

The Role of Imagination Imagination now replaces reason as the supreme faculty of the mind—hence the flowering of creative activity in this period. For Romantic thinkers, the imagination was the ultimate “shaping,” or creative power, the approximate human equivalent to divine creative powers.

Imagination (continued) As the poet Wordsworth would suggest, humans not only perceive and experience the world around them; they also, in part, create it. The imagination unites reason and feeling, enabling humans to reconcile differences and opposites—this reconciliation is a central ideal for Romantics. Finally, the imagination enables humans to “read “ nature as a system of symbols.

Nature

Celebration of Nature Nature often presented as a work of art from the divine imagination Nature as a healing power Nature as a refuge from civilization Nature viewed as “organic,” (alive) rather than “mechanical” or “rationalist” Nature viewed as a source of refreshment and meditation

Nature VS Industry & Laissez Faire: The Industrial Revolution was bringing about other changes: Goods that had been previously produced by hand, were now being made in factories more quickly and cheaply As factories were located in and near cities, people seeking employment crowded into cities and helped to cause overcrowding, pollution, increases in crime Land that had been reserved for communal farms, was divided, privatized, used for personal hunting grounds or sold to industrialists to create more factories

Continued Laissez Faire “let (people) do (as they please)” is an economic policy which allows forces to operate without government interference. The result is the rich grow richer and the poor suffer even more. Children are especially hard hit as they can be sold to businesses: such as chimney sweepers and coal mining companies. In 1802, the workday of a poor child was limited to 12 hours

Symbolism and Myth Valued as the human means for imitating nature in art Could simultaneously suggest many things in a creative way Based on a desire to “express the inexpressible” through the resources of language

Emotion, Lyric Poetry, and the Self Greater emphasis on the importance of intuition, instincts, and feelings Wordsworth’s definition of good poetry as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” was a turning point in literary history. Ultimate source of poetry found in the individual artist and his/her traditions (present and past)

Value of the Written Art Source of illumination of the world within the self Led to a prominence for first-person lyric poetry; the “speaker” became less a persona and more the direct person of the poet. Ex. Wordsworth’s Prelude and Whitman’s “Song of Myself” Also a wealth of autobiographical verse described as poetry about someone else: Byron, Childe Harold

Contrasts with Neoclassicism (the Age of Reason) Shift in focus from rationalism to the imagination Shift toward a more expressive orientation toward the literary art Freedom of expression Freedom of the individual [and responsibility]

Individualism Summed up in opening statement of Rousseau’s Confessions : “I am not made like anyone I have seen; I dare believe that I am not made like anyone in existence. If I am not superior, at least I am different.”

The Romantic Hero 1. The hero as artist As the Romantic writers show us: 1. The hero as artist 2. The hero striving beyond the moral restrictions of society 3. The hero who reappears from the ancient classics

The Everyday and the Exotic Romantic writers embraced everyday realism (poetry of Wordsworth) Also sought the folk legends of the past Promoted exotic ideas suggested by technology and the imagination (a beautiful soul in an ugly body, as in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein or Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame).

The Romantic Artist in Society The Romantics were often ambivalent toward the “outside” world. On the one hand, they were socially and politically passionate—involved in worthy causes and social issues. On the other hand, they isolated themselves from the public. Human Rights Environmental Awareness

Spread of the Romantic Spirit All of the arts—from music, to painting; from sculpture to architecture—were affected by and continue to be affected by the revolutionary energy underlying the Romantic movement. Strains of Romanticism infuse every age and every generation.

Works Cited Abrams and others. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 7th edition. NY: W. W. Norton, 2000. http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/rom.html