By: Jason Hoang

LITERATURE ROMANTICISM

• Movement started in the 18th century• France and Germany were the main starting countries• French philosophers Rousseau and Voltaire had great

influence upon philosophers and poets all over Europe• Still influences European and English literature to this

day

THE ORIGINS OF THE ROMANTIC AGE

• Romantic literature is not focused on romance• Described as emotional, revolutionary, freedom, nature,

and captures the aspects of the common person• Romantic writers exhibited great amounts of emotion in

their writing• Inspiration came from nature as it was unpredictable• These were very prominent concepts in Romantic

Literature and carried off into the early 19th century

WHAT IS ROMANTICISM

• Francois-Rene de Chateaubriand was the founder of the French Romantic Movement

• He was not too fond of the 18th century• His work explores the world of irrational emotions• He was later followed by Victor Hugo (Les Miserables),

Honore de Balzac, Alexandre Dumas (Three Musketeers)

FRENCH ROMANTICS

• Much more diverse than the French as it spread to many different cities

• German and French romantics viewed Wolfgang von Goethe as the role model of the Romantic Movement due to his views of nature and freedom

GERMAN ROMANTICS

• British romantics impacted literature greatly in the 19th century

• British romantics believed the cities were destroyed by the Industrial Revolution

• Glorified the poor working class people• They believed that we must move away from society’s

distractions to seek deeper truths• This belief still influences society today

BRITISH ROMANTICS

• Born on February 7, 1812, Portsmouth, England• Author of the classic A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist,

Nicholas Nickleby, Great Expectations…• A true romantic writer during the 19th century• As a child his family had gone through a financial

crisis• Worked dirty jobs such as a chimney sweeper at a

young age to support his family

CHARLES DICKENS

• A novel about a young boy from a low working class that moves up in society

• Aims to be a true “Gentleman”• Although there is somewhat of a romance in the novel,

romance is not the focus• Demonstrates that money and status does not bring

happiness• Captures irrational and unpredictable emotions

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

• (1757-1827)• Considered one of the most mystical early romantic poets• Wrote about the child slavery during the increase of

Britain’s industry• Also wrote about the beauty and force of nature• He was also a painter

WILLIAM BLAKE

When my mother died I was very young,

And my father sold me while yet my tongue

Could scarcely cry " 'weep! 'weep! 'weep! 'weep!"

So your chimneys I sweep & in soot I sleep.

There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head

That curled like a lamb's back, was shaved, so I said,

"Hush, Tom! never mind it, for when your head's bare,

You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair."

And so he was quiet, & that very night,

As Tom was a-sleeping he had such a sight!

That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, & Jack,

Were all of them locked up in coffins of black;

And by came an Angel who had a bright key,

And he opened the coffins & set them all free;

Then down a green plain, leaping, laughing they run,

And wash in a river and shine in the Sun.

Then naked & white, all their bags left behind,

They rise upon clouds, and sport in the wind.

And the Angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy,

He'd have God for his father & never want joy.

And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark

And got with our bags & our brushes to work.

Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy & warm;

So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.

CHIMNEY SWEEPER

• Romanticism was not inspired by romance at all• Nature was the inspiration for the Romantic Movement

because of the emotions it contains• Can be seen as a response to the beginning of the

Industrial Revolution• The concepts and attributes of Romanticism are still

present to this current day

CONCLUSION

1. What inspired the Romantic Movement?

A) Romance

B) Nature

C) Money

2. Briefly describe the emotions that Romanticism captured

3. Who inspired the French and German romantics and why?

QUESTIONS

Gini-Newman, Garfield. Legacy: The West and the World. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 2002. Print.

"Charles Dickens Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.

Blake, William. "The Chimney Sweeper: When My Mother Died I Was Very Young." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.

WORKS CITED