Literature in English 1. The Middle Ages (to ca. 1485) 2. The Sixteenth Century ( ) 3. The Early Seventeenth Century ( ) 4. The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century ( ) 1785) 5. The Romantic Period ( ) 6. The Victorian Age ( ) 7. The Twentieth Century and After

The Romantic Period I. Historical background 1. The French Revolution ( ) a. The storming of Bastille (1789) a. The storming of Bastille (1789) b. King Louis XVI executed (1793) b. King Louis XVI executed (1793) c. The Reign of Terror under c. The Reign of Terror under Robespierre ( ) Robespierre ( ) d. Napoleon crowned emperor (1804) d. Napoleon crowned emperor (1804) e. Napoleon defeated at Waterloo (1815) e. Napoleon defeated at Waterloo (1815)

The Romantic Period 2. Revolution and reaction 2. Revolution and reaction a. The suspension of the right of habeas corpus a. The suspension of the right of habeas corpus b. The frustration of the abolition cause b. The frustration of the abolition cause c. Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the c. Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Men; Tom Paine, Rights of Man; Rights of Men; Tom Paine, Rights of Man; Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France in France

The Romantic Period 3. The Industrial Revolution 3. The Industrial Revolution a. Economic expansion and technological a. Economic expansion and technological development: James Watt (the steam development: James Watt (the steam engine) engine) b. Overpopulated mill towns b. Overpopulated mill towns c. Enclosure and the creation of a landless c. Enclosure and the creation of a landless class class d. “ Two Nations ” : the two classes of capital d. “ Two Nations ” : the two classes of capital and labor, the rich and the poor and labor, the rich and the poor e. “ Peterloo Massacre ” : Shelley, “ England in e. “ Peterloo Massacre ” : Shelley, “ England in 1819 ” 1819 ”

The Romantic Period II. Major authors 1. Anna Barbauld, Charlotte Smith, Mary 1. Anna Barbauld, Charlotte Smith, Mary Robinson Robinson 2. William Blake, Robert Burns, William 2. William Blake, Robert Burns, William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Byron, Percy Shelley, John Keats Byron, Percy Shelley, John Keats

III. The Spirit of the Age: Revolution; new birth; apocalypse birth; apocalypse IV. Poetic theory and poetic practice IV. Poetic theory and poetic practice 1. Definition of poetry and the poet 1. Definition of poetry and the poet (Preface to Lyrical Ballads) (Preface to Lyrical Ballads) a. Poetry as “ the real language of men ” a. Poetry as “ the real language of men ” b. The poet as a “ man speaking to men ” b. The poet as a “ man speaking to men ” c. Poetry as the “ spontaneous overflow of c. Poetry as the “ spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings ” powerful feelings ” The Romantic Period

2. “Nature poetry”: the landscape endowed 2. “Nature poetry”: the landscape endowed with human life, passion, and expressiveness with human life, passion, and expressiveness 3. The glorification of the ordinary 3. The glorification of the ordinary a. “the rural scenes and rural pleasures of a. “the rural scenes and rural pleasures of natal Soil” natal Soil” b. convicts, female vagrants, gypsies, idiot b. convicts, female vagrants, gypsies, idiot boys, mad mothers etc. boys, mad mothers etc.

The Romantic Period 4. The supernatural, the romance, and 4. The supernatural, the romance, and psychological extremes psychological extremes a. Coleridge: “ The Rime of Ancient Mariner, ” a. Coleridge: “ The Rime of Ancient Mariner, ” “ Kubla Khan ” “ Kubla Khan ” b. Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto b. Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto (Gothic fiction) (Gothic fiction) c. Dreams, nightmares, strange mixtures of c. Dreams, nightmares, strange mixtures of pleasures and pain, sexuality and death, the pleasures and pain, sexuality and death, the fascination of the forbidden fascination of the forbidden d. the use of the exotic and archaic landscapes d. the use of the exotic and archaic landscapes e. the Byronic hero e. the Byronic hero