The Romantic Movement 1

8/13/2019 The Romantic Movement 1

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The Romantic Movement

Romanticism in

English Literature


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Hanover(George I-Victoria) (1714-1901)

George I (1714-1727)

George II (1727-1760)

George III (1760-1820)

George IV (1820-1830)

William IV (1830-1837)

Victoria (1837-1901)


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The Age of Romanticism( 1798-1850)

The Age of Revolution

George III ( latter half) to Victoria in 1837

Second creative period

Seeds were sown ( middle of 18thCentury)

Declaration of American Independence ( 1783)

English Reform Bill ( 1832)establishment of true

democracy ( consequence of French Revolution)

Triumph of Romanticism in literature, democracy in

government


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French Revolution French Revolution (1789-1799)radical political and social upheaval in

Franceimpact on Europestorm centre of political unrest Monarchy was overthrown and radical restructuring forced upon Roman

Catholic Church

Deterioration of economy-fiscal mismanagement- long years of feudaloppression-call on the assembly representing all classes-Meeting ofEstates GeneralClergy, Nobility, Rest of France

Storming of Bastille ( prison fortress)social disorderdifferences withinthe assembly-whether monarchy to continue

Struggle between Girondins, MontagnardsPeriod of Terror-16000guillotined

Old ideas on Monarchy, Aristocracy, Religious AuthorityoverthrownNew Enlightenment ideas on Equality, Citizenship and Inalienable rights

Republic was proclaimed in 1792-Louis XVIexecuted in 1793

1799- new Constitution--Army general Napoleon BonaparteFirstConsul1802Emperor of France


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French Revolution

Crucial influence on British philosophical,intellectual and political life in 19thcenturyLiberty, Equality, Fraternity

French Revolutionoften calledStart of theModern Worldan epochal event thatchanged the European mindsetPatriotism ,devotion to the State instead of Monarch,mass warfareall solidified in the modernworld


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Impact on England

Fired by political liberty and energy & sublimity ofNatureartists sought to break the bonds of 18thcentury conventions

Patriotic clubs and societies multiplied in England

Young England led by Pitt, hailed

Old England looked with horror on the turmoil inFrance

Misled, the two nations were at war

All were apprehensive


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Reforms

Napoleons overthrow at Waterloo in 1815

Reforms

Abolished--- African slave trade, horribly

unjust laws, child labor, restriction on press,limiting manhood suffrage, restrictions againstCatholics in parliament

1833- Proclaimed Emancipation of all slaves inall her colonies


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Elder writersWordsworth and Coleridgehailed the new era with joy

As the Revolution proceeded to unexpected

developmentsdisappointment, disillusion,dejection, despairrejection of youthful ideassoured adoption of older reactionary faith

Young writersShelley, Keats, Leigh Huntstill

adhered to Revolutionary doctrinesbutwarmth of the early days disappearing

Interest in social concerns intensified


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Emergence of Romanticism Metaphysical writers abused Elizabethan ideals of

liberty ; followers of Dryden and Pope abused theclassical ideals of order and restraint

Signs of revolt visible -1726-James ThomsonTheSeasonsdifferent in form and content

Collins and Gray continued the movement

Goldsmith and Burns added by their realism, humor intreatment of scenes of rustic life

Cowper, Crabbe and Blakeold order at the point ofdeath

1798Lyrical Balladsfull emergencecleft clear


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The Return to Nature

Essence of Romanticism : Literature must reflect all that is spontaneousand unaffected in Nature and in Man and be free to follow its own fancy inits own way

We see this literary independenceElizabethan Era

Finds tongues in trees, books in running brooks

Sermons in stones, and good in everything ColeridgeKubla Khan, The Ancient Marinertwo dream pictures

Wordsworth: Nature is not onlyseasons and seasonal fruitionit is theeye of all things natural and supernaturalthe observant soul can peerand behold the spiritnature amplified and glorified

...the light of setting suns

And the round ocean and the living airAnd the blue sky, and in the mind of man

In search of sublime momentssupernatural, marvelous, exotic, medievalalso beauty in simple rural life and everyday world


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Tintern Abbey

For I have learnedTo look on nature, not as in the hourOf thoughtless youth; but hearing oftentimesThe still, sad music of humanity,

Nor harsh nor grating, though of ample powerTo chasten and subdue. And I have feltA presence that disturbs me with the joyOf elevated thoughts; a sense sublimeOf something far more deeply interfused,

Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,And the round ocean and the living air,And the blue sky, and in the mind of man:


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Kubla Khan

In Xanadu did Kubla KhanA stately pleasure-dome decree :Where Alph, the sacred river, ranThrough caverns measureless to man

Down to a sunless sea.So twice five miles of fertile groundWith walls and towers were girdled round :And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,

Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree ;And here were forests ancient as the hills,Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.


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The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,The furrow followed free;We were the first that ever burst

Into that silent sea.

Water, water, every where,And all the boards did shrink;Water, water, every where,Nor any drop to drink


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First Generation (1798-1815) Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Southey

Years of Napoleons downfall Initially enthusiastic about French Revolution

Later disappointedshow hostilitygo back tonational moral tradition

Mysticism gets connected with National idealism andnot with revolutionary ideas of freedom, equality

Seek authority in Elizabethan Renaissance inliterature

Stress simplicity of common people in social spheres;purification of common life


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Second Generation (1815-1832)

Keats, Shelley, Byron, Leigh Hunt, Moore, Landor

Napoleon defeated; hostility subsides

Demand and need for liberal, social approach

towards common people and their problems Fired with liberty, equality, justice

Doesnt deny Elizabethan authoritybut doesnt

accept tradition Excess enthusiasm; revolutionary ideas; lack of

social responsibility


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Second Generation (1815-1832)

Keats's great odes-- intellectual and emotional sensibilitymerge in language of great power and beauty.

Shelleyamalgamation of soaring lyricism and anapocalyptic political vision--sought more extreme effectsand occasionally achieved them {Prometheus Unbound(1820)}

His wife, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley --- greatest of theGothic romances, Frankenstein(1818)

Byroninvested romantic lyric with rationalist irony

SoutheyGoldilocks and the three bears


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First vs Second

First generationmoderate formbelieves inorthodox, moral and social traditionpracticeself restraint

Second generationextreme formassertsrevolt of passion against reasonclaimunlimited freedom for imagination andfeelingsreject the claim of reason andintellectbelieve imagination and emotioncan lead to truth


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Characteristics

Imagination and emotion are more important than reasonand rules; imagination is a gateway to transcendentexperience and truth

Artist was individual creator-creative spirit was moreimportant

Intuition and reliance on natural feelings as a guide toCONduct

Emphasizes love of nature, respect for primitivism, valuefor common / natural man

Naturea means for divine revelation, metaphor forcreative process

Idealizes country lifemany of the ills are because ofurbanization


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Characteristics

Interest in medieval past, supernatural, mystical,gothic, exotic

Attracted to rebellion, revoltconcerned withhuman rights, freedom, individualism

Emphasis on introspection, psychology,melancholy, sadness

Often dealt with death, transience and mansfeelings about these ( Byronic hero)

No other period displays more variety in style,theme and contentprimary vehicle--poetry


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Different as it has added new experiencesgained in the interval

Turns its gaze to the past and is quite zealous

about itselflost, nostalgic, regretful of loss Try to recapture the past experiences, feelings,

moods that were in Elizabethan daywriterstry to probe deep into self

Objects of the past now appear in a magicgarb and bring a sense of wonder


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Literature of Romantic Period Collins, Gray, Burns, BlakePre romantics

Poetry: Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, Keats,Southey, Leigh Hunt

Novel: Scott ( Historical) ; Austen ( humanrelationships within the context of English country life)

Prose : Charles Lamb ( Master of personal essay) , De

Quincey ( Master of personal confession) , Hazlitt,Landor

Periodicals : Edinburgh Review, Blackwoods magazinemajor forums of controversiespolitical, literary

Literary CriticismColeridges Biographia LiterariaWilliam Hazlitt

Non fictional proseGodwin & Mary Wollstonecrafthuman and womens rights


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Wordsworth (1770-1850)

Lyrical Balladsillustrated a liberating aesthetic

poetry should express experience in genuine

language-filtered through personal emotion and

imaginationtruest experience was to be found in

nature The Preludeautobiographicalsublime power of

nature

The Tintern Abbey, The Rainbow, Ode to Intimations

of Immortality, Ode to Duty, The Solitary Reaper, The

Daffodils


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Ode to Intimations of Immortalityfrom recollections of early childhood

The clouds that gather round the setting sun

Do take a sober colouring from an eye

That hath kept watch o'er man's mortality;Another race hath been, and other palms are won.

Thanks to the human heart by which we live,

Thanks to its tenderness, its joys, and fears,

To me the meanest flower that blows can give

Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears.


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The Rainbow

My heart leaps up when I behold

A Rainbow in the sky:

So was it when my life began;

So is it now I am a man;

So be it when I shall grow old,

Or let me die!

The Child is father of the man;

And I wish my days to beBound each to each by natural

piety.


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Coleridge

WorksPoetic, Critical, Philosophical

Kubla Khan, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Christabel, Frostat Midnight

Heavenly, dreamy state that people enjoy while experiencing

nature which is beautiful and benevolentnature is also

harsh and dreary Dejection : an ode, Ode to France, Religious Musings, Fears in

Solitude

Biographia Literaria ( Sketches of my literary life and opinions)

--criticism of Wordsworths theory of poetrydespises therules for criticizing the Bards works ; Lectures on

Shakespeare; Aids to Reflection

( religion and philosophy)


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Dejection : an ode

I see the old Moon in her lap, foretelling

The coming-on of rain and squally blast,

And oh! that even now the gust were swelling,

And the slant night-shower driving loud and fast!Those sounds which oft have raised me, whilst they

awed

And sent my soul abroad,

Might now perhaps their wonted impulse give,

Might startle this dull pain, and make it move and live!


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Biographia Literaria (Ch.14)

Doubtless this could not be, but that she turnsBodies to spirit by sublimation strange,

As fire converts to fire the things it burns,

As we our food into our nature change.Finally, GOOD SENSE is the BODY of poeticgenius, FANCY its DRAPERY, MOTION its LIFE,and IMAGINATION the SOUL that iseverywhere, and in each; and forms all intoone graceful and intelligent whole.


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John Keats

Away! away! for I will fly to thee,Not charioted by Bacchus and his pards,

But on the viewless wings of Poesy,Though the dull brain perplexes and retards:

Already with thee! tender is the night,And haply the Queen-Moon is on her throne

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever;

Its loveliness increases; it will never

Pass into nothingness; but still will keepA bower quiet for us, and a sleep

Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.


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Shelley

I met a traveller from an antique landWho said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stoneStand in the desert. Near them on the sand,Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frownAnd wrinkled lip and sneer of cold commandTell that its sculptor well those passions readWhich yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.And on the pedestal these words appear:`My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!'Nothing beside remains. Round the decayOf that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,The lone and level sands stretch far away".


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Lord George Gordon Byron(1788-1824)

Don Juansatire/ epic/ novel in versesocial

criticismliberty, tyranny, war, love, sexuality,hypocrisy, etc., of high society--autobiographical

Childe Harolds Pilgrimage

Darkness

She walks in Beauty

Lara

He created his own cult of personality, the concept ofthe 'Byronic hero' a defiant, melancholy young

man, brooding on some mysterious, unforgivable in

his past.


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There's not a joy the world can give that it takes

away

When the glow of early thought declines in

feeling's dull decay,

'Tis not on youth's smooth cheek the blush

alone, which fades so fast,

But the tender bloom of heart is gone, ere youth

itself be past

Ch l L b (1775 1834)


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Charles Lamb (1775-1834)

Essays of Elia ; Tales from Shakespeare

Imperfect sympathies

Valentines Day

Dream Children : A Reverie

In Praise of Chimneysweepers A Bachelors complaint of the behavior of married people

Poor Relations

Essayspersonal, gentle, old fashioned, irresistibly attractive;

humor , pathos and spontaneity Appeared in London magazine

Characteristically romantic imagination akin to WW and STC

his friends


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A poor relation--is the most irrelevant thing in nature,--a piece

of impertinent correspondency,--an odious approximation,--a

haunting conscience,--a preposterous shadow, lengthening in

the noontide of your prosperity,--an unwelcome

remembrancer,--a perpetually recurring mortification,--a drain

on your purse,--a more intolerable dun upon your pride,--a

drawback upon success,--a rebuke to your rising,--a stain inyour blood,--a blot on your scutcheon,--a rent in your

garment,--a death's head at your banquet,--Agathocles' pot,--

a Mordecai in your gate,--a Lazarus at your door,--a lion in

your path,--a frog in your chamber,--a fly in your ointment,--a

mote in your eye,--a triumph to your enemy, an apology to

your friends,--the one thing not needful,--the hail in harvest,--

the ounce of sour in a pound of sweet.


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Jane Austen (1775-1817)

Idea of presenting life of English country society

exactly as it was as opposed to romantic

extravaganzanovels of common lifehome-

loving personaverse to publicity andpopularitylife mostly spent in country parishes

Pride and Prejudice ( 1797) ; Sense and Sensibility

( 1815); Northanger AbbeyEmma, Mansfield Park

Humor, delicate satire


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A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admirationto love, from love to matrimony, in a moment

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in

possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

When he was present she had no eyes for anyone else.Everything he did was right. Everything he said was clever.If their evenings at the Park were concluded with cards, he

cheated himself and all the rest of the party to get her agood hand. If dancing formed the amusement of the night,they were partners for half the time; and when obliged toseparate for a couple of dances, were careful to standtogether, and scarcely spoke a word to anybody else. Such

conduct made them, of course, most exceedingly laughedat; but ridicule could not shame, and seemed hardly toprovoke them


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The Romantic Movement 1