The Romantic

Era

1785-1832

The Romantic Era• Artists, philosophers, and writers rebelled against the Age of Reason which occurred previously in the 1600s and early 1700s.

• Romantic lit celebrates: - emotion over reason - nature over human sacrifice - ordinary people over aristocrats - spontaneity and wildness over decorum and control.

The Romantic Era – Political Developments• Early years of America, the French

Revolution, and major civil and political reforms in England

• King George III (1760-1820) and his policies cause the American Revolution

• The French Revolution began in 1789 with an attack on the Bastille (prison) by citizens.

The Romantic Era – England’s War with France• It was called “The best of times and the worst of times” (A Tale of Two Cities , Charles Dickens) because of the birth of freedom and equality, and the cost of lives to get that freedom and inequality.

• France declared war on England in 1793.

• Napoleon Bonaparte and his army were defeated at Waterloo in 1815 by the Duke of Wellington

The Romantic Era – Civil Reform• Napoleon was exiled to Elba, and was

replaced by King Louis XVIII in France, but with restrictions on the crown and power given to the people.

• Three weak English kings following this time period led to strong prime ministers which led to civil reform.

• Labor unions allowed to organize (common man)

The Romantic Era – Pre-Romantic Poets• Parliamentary seats more equally

distributed than before between nobles and middle class.

• Middle class men allowed to vote – removing power from total aristocratic control.

• Wild and untamed perception of nature

William Wordsworth• Lyrical Ballads written with Samuel Taylor Coleridge pub-lished in 1798 marking the beginning of the Romantic Era.

• Poetry should be about common people and events, and should be written in their ordinary language.

• “the noble savage” (Rousseau) celebratedThe idea that governments only derive power from the consent of the governed.

William Wordsworth• “The World is Too Much With Us”

• “Lines Composed From A FewMiles Above Tintern Abbey”

• “I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud”

• The Lake District

Romantic Landscapes – in the country

Rydal Mount – the home of Wordsworth

Romantic Poets – The Second Generation

• George Gordon, Lord Byron

• “Don Juan” • “She Walks in Beauty” • “When We Two Parted”

Romantic Poets – The Second Generation• John Keats

• “Ode On A Grecian Urn” • “When I Have Fears”

• Percy Bysshe Shelley• “Ode To The West Wind”• “Prometheus Unbound”

Romantic Era Prose• Gothic Novels and Gothic Romances – long stories containing elements of suspense, mystery, magic, and the macabre, with exotic settings such as haunted castles and untamed wilderness.

• Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein• The Comedy of Manners – a satirical look at society in book-length prose.

• Jane Austen – the greatest works in the genre – Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice

The origins of science fiction Part of the Romantic Movement (late 1700s

through mid-1800s) Characterized by innovation (instead of

traditionalism), spontaneity, freedom of thought and expression, and idealization of nature

Written mainly to evoke terror in their readers, they also served to show the dark side of human nature. They describe the "nightmarish terrors that lie beneath the controlled and ordered surface of the conscious mind."

GOTHICISM

Prominent features of gothic fiction include: - terror (both psychological and physical)

- mystery, the supernatural, and ghosts - haunted houses and Gothic Architecture - darkness, death, decay, secrets, and curses.

The settings of Gothic stories include: - wild, uncontrolled landscapes - remote and isolated locations

Gothicism

The stock characters of gothic fiction include: - tyrants, villains, maniacs - persecuted maidens and madwomen - magicians, vampires, monsters,

werewolves - demons, ghosts, and the Devil himself.

Gothicism

Highly imaginative fiction containing fantastic elements based on scientific principles, discoveries, or laws.

Speculative technology, alien races, robots, gene-engineering, space travel, experimental medicine, and/or altered scientific principles contribute to the plot or background.

Many make a distinction between "hard" science fiction and "soft" science fiction (which often involves looser adherence to scientific knowledge and more fantasy-elements).

Basic premise is usually built on a "what if" scenario.

Science Fiction

• One of the first science fiction novels.• Influenced by popular gothic fiction of the era.• Horror, suspense, mystery, and magic.

Mary Shelley – • Wrote Frankenstein when she was 18• The daughter of two radical thinkers –

Mary Wolstencraft – women’s rights activistWilliam Godwin – popular host of poets, creative thinkers, exposed his children to forward thinking

Frankenstein

Biographical Influences• Mother died when she was 11 days old• Father banished caretaker when she was 3. Result- no maternal caretaker.

• Father slightly negligent towards her upbringing• Sent to Scotland age 14-16 to live with family

friends – Result - found family connection there

Mary Shelley

Biographical Influences (continued)• Met Percy Shelley at 16 in London• He was married. Leading Romantic poet.• Ran away to France together, accompanied by

Mary’s step-sister. Result – Mary disowned by her father.

• First child, Clara, born pre-maturely and died (1815)

• Son, William, born 1 year later. Result – experiences another major loss

• Sent to Scotland age 14-16 to live with family friends –

Result - found family connection there

Mary Shelley

Biographical Influences (continued)

• Spends summer in Switzerland with Percy, Claire, and Lord Byron.

• Unusually cold. Keeps them indoors.• Great thinkers- discussed philosophy, science,

read ghost stories, and were challenged by Byron to write their own!

Result – the birth of Frankenstein

Mary Shelley

• Subtitled “The Modern Prometheus” Myth of Prometheus and Pandora• Paradise Lost – John Milton

Adam and Satan – Dr. Frankenstein and Monster• “Lines Composed…Tinturn Abbey” – Wordsworth

Clerval• “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” – Coleridge

Dr. Frankenstein

Result - Highly academic and layered symbolically and thematically

LiteraryInfluences

• Great advances in the scientific world during Romantic period

• Davy – Saw Nature as female (Emphasized by Shelley) Two branches of science – 1) Understanding the ways of nature 2) Changing the workings of nature Dr. F’s professor Waldman encourages #2.

SCIENTIFICInfluences

• Erasmus Darwin – Sexual reproduction is a higher evolutionary function than asexual reproduction Judgment of Frankenstein’s experiments – only

one male parent, or “creator”

• Luigi Galvani – Experiments with electricity to restore life to dead matter. Surges of electricity resulted in muscle contortions and contractions.

SCIENTIFICInfluences

• The reaches of science How far is too far?

When do we reach beyond responsibilitiy Where is the line between “playing God” and

using “God-given ability” ?• Attitudes toward scientific exploration• Responsibilities of a parent or creator to offspring• The effects of rejection or isolation • Creation and Destruction• The Question of Monstrosity –

From Where Does Evil Originate?

Thematic Topics

• Allusion• Archetype• Biographical Criticism• Epistolary Novel• Frame Tale

New LiteraryTerms