Romantic Period ( 1789-1832)

ENGLISH LITERATURE

GENRES

BACKGROUND

CHARAC-

TERISTICS

ROMANTIC PERIOD

( 1789-1832)

ENTHUSIASM FOR DEMOCRACY BY THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND DISCOURAGEMENT BY NAPOLEON’S WAR

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION URBANIZATION & THE NATURE OVEREXPLOITATION

POETRY, THROUGH WHICH ROMANTICISM WAS EXPRESSED, STILL DOMINATED. DRAMA WAS NOT PROSPERED. NOVELS GREW PROSPEROUSLY.

SEE NEXT

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B A C K G R O U N D

THE ROMANTIC PERIOD LASTED FROM THE FRENCH

REVOLUTION (1789) TO THE REFORM ACT (1832). IT IS

SOMETIMES CALLED THE AGE OF REVOLUTION

BECAUSE THE SPIRIT OF THE AMERICAN

INDEPENDENCE (1776) & FRENCH REVOLUTION MADE

IT A TIME OF HOPE & CHANGE. LITERARY FIGURES

EXPECT THE SAME CHANGE WOULD HAPPEN IN

BRITAIN. BUT NAPOLEON’S REIGN OF TERROR & WAR

MADE PEOPLE DISAPPOINTED. THEIR EMPHASIS ON

INDIVIDUAL SPIRIT RATHER THAN AN ORDERED

SOCIETY CAUSE THE ROMANTIC POETS DISLIKED BY

THE GOVERNMENT.

BRITISH SOCIETY GREATLY CHANGED FROM

AGRICULTURAL TO INDUSTRIAL. THE NATURE WAS

OVEREXPLOITATED TO FACILLTATE INDUSTRIES.

MIDDLE CLASS BECAME MORE POWERFUL, BUT THE

LOWER CLASS SUFFERED A LOT AS JOBS ARE HARD

TO FIND. EVEN SOLDIERS WHO RETURNED FROM

NAPOLEON’S WAR FOUND THEMSELVES JOBLESS.

MANY PROTESTERS WERE KILLED IN PETERLOO

MASSACRE (1819). WAR ABROAD WAS FOLLOWED BY

SOCIAL CLASSES WAR AT HOME.

CLASSICISM 1. COPYING & EMULATING

PRINCIPLES & CHARACTERISTICS OF GREEK & ROMAN LITERATURE.

2. EMPHASIZING ON FORM, PRECISION, OBJECTIVITY, RATIONAL THINKING, AND TECHNICAL PERFECTION.

3. ACTUALIZING THE BELIEVE THAT THE HEAD CONTROLS THE HEART, BECAUSE FEELINGS ARE DANGEROUS.

4. DEALING WITH REALITIES AND PROBLEMS FACED BY THE SOCIETY, E.G. POLITICS, EMANCIPATION, HEROIC DEEDS, CORRUPTION, ETC.

Swift’s Gulliver’s Travel.

Dryden’s Heroic Stanza

5. USING LITERAL, PLAIN, SHORT, AND DIRECT LANGUAGE.

ROMANTICISM 1. REJECTING TRADITIONS AND

CONVENTIONS, ESPECIALLY THOSE RELATED TO CLASSICAL ARTS.

2. EMPHASIZING ON CONTENT, INDIVIDUAL EXPRESSIVENESS, IMAGINATIVE FANTASSY & EXPERIMENTATION.

3. ACTUALIZING THE BELIEVE THAT THE HEART CONTROLS THE HEAD, BECAUSE REASON AND INTELLECT ARE DANGEROUS.

4. DEALING WITH THE NATURE, SIMPLE LIFE, OR EVEN UNFAMILIAR, REMOTE, MYSTERIOUS, UNNATURAL (EVEN SUPERNATURAL) AND HORRIBLE LIFE. E.G. COUNTRY LIFE, LAKE, HORROR STORY, SCIENCE FICTION, THE JUNGLE, ETC.

Goldsmith’s The Deserted Village.

Shelley’s Frankenstein

5. USING ARTISTIC, CONNOTATIVE EXPRESSIVE LANGUAGE.

1) POETRY WAS THE MOST DOMINANT GENRE, AND ROMANTICISM IS MAJORLY SHOWN THROUGH POETRY.

2) MOST POETS SHOW THEIR RESPECT TO NATURE, EAGERNESS FOR GREATER FREEDOM & AND BETTER LIFE, DISILLUSIONMENT TO THE NEGATIVE EXCESS OF INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION, REBEL, AND INJUSTICE. (THEIR EMPHASIS ON INDIVIDUAL SPIRIT RATHER THAN AN ORDERED SOCIETY CAUSED THE GOVERNMENT DISLIKE SOME POETS).

3) DRAMA WAS UNPROSPERED.

4) NOVEL GREW FAST AND PROSPEROUSLY DUE TO TWO FACTORS:

THE RAPID SOCIAL & POLITICAL CHANGES NECESSITATED WORKS WITH DETAILED RECORDS & EXPLORATION OF CHANGE.

WOMAN NOVELISTS BEGAN TO PRODUCE NUMEROUS WORKS. THEIR EMERGENCE WAS PROBABLY SUPPORTED BY THE FACT THAT, UNLIKE WRITING POETRY, WRITING NOVELS DID NOT REQUIRE HIGH EDUCATION.

ROMANTIC POETRY

WILLIAM BLAKE. HE IS CONSIDERED UNIQUE IN ENGLISH POETRY BECAUSE

HIS POEMS ARE SIMPLE BUT SYMBOLIC & MYSTICAL. HIS POEMS EXPRESS A

‘VISION’ OR SOMETHING INVISIBLE TO THE READER. HIS MAJOR WORKS ARE

COLLECTED IN SONGS OF INNOCENCE AND EXPERIENCE. IN LONDON HE

SHOWS THE BAD IMPACTS OF INDUSTRIALIZATION AND FREE TRADE.

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH. HE IS THE MAJOR POET OF THE ERA. IN THE

BEGINNING HE DEEPLY ADMIRED THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. HOWEVER,

NAPOLEON WAR DISAPPOINTED HIM. HE OFTEN WENT TO FARAWAY PLACES.

HIS POEMS LOOK INWARD, NOT OUTWARD. HE ACCEPTS THE NATURE AS THE

REMEDY FOR LIFE AND AS THE DWELLING OF GOD. HIS POPULAR POEMS ARE:

TINTERN ABBEY, THE RAINBOW, SOLITARY REAPER, STEPPING WESWARD,

ETC.

S.T. COLLERIDGE. HE IS THE NEAREST CONTEMPORARY OF WORDSWORTH.

THEY PUBLISHED A FAMOUS COLLECTION, LYRRICAL BALLADS IN 1800. HE

SHOWS HIS ADMIRATION TO FRENCH REVOLUTION IN ODE TO THE

DESTRUCTION OF THE BASTILE, BUT HIS ODE TO FRANCE SHOWS HIS

DISAPPOINTMENT TO THE NEGATIVE EXCESS.

ROMANTIC POETRY (CONT.)

LORD BYRON. BORN IN A HARSH ARISTOCRATIC FAMILY, HE GREW UP

REBELLIOUSLY. WHEN HE SAW THAT HIS EAGERNESS FOR THE SOCIETY’S

IMPROVEMENT WAS NOT FULFILLED HE BECAME REVENGEFUL. HIS MANFRED

SATIRIZES THE SOCIETY, WHILE DON YUAN SHOWS IRONY TO SOCIAL

VALUES. HIS BEST WORK IS CHILD HAROLD’S PILGRIMAGE WHICH SHOWS

THE BEAUTY OF NATURE.

P.B. SHELLEY. SIMILAR TO BYRON, SHELLEY WAS ALSO REBELLIOUS TO

CONVENTIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF SOCIETY, LIKE THE CHURCH AND

GOVERNMENT. HIS QUEEN MOB ATTACKS RELIGION AND THE MORALS OF HIS

TIME. HIS THE MASK OF ANARCHY SHOWS HIS ANGER TO PETERLOO, AND

ODE TO THE WIND SHOWS HIS DESIRE FOR GREATER FREEDOM.

JOHN KEATS. HIS WORKS ARE INFLUENCED BY WORDSWORTH AND

COLERIDGE. HIS MAIN THEMES ARE THE SEARCH FOR LASTING BEAUTY AND

HAPPINESS AND FOR PERMANENT MEANING IN THE MORTAL WORRLD. THESE

THEME S ARE DOMINANT IN HIS ODE TO A NIHTINGALE AND TO AUTUMN.

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o’er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way,

They stretched in never ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance

Tossing their heads in uprightly dance.

The waves beside them dance; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed—and gazed—but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

(William Wordsworth)

I WANDERED LONELY AS A CLOUD

To see a world in a grain of sand

And a heaven in a wild flower,

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand

And eternity in an hour

(William Blake)

TO SEE A WORLD IN A GRAIN OF SAND

NOVELISTS IN ROMANTIC AGE

1) THOMAS LOVE PEACOCK. HIS WORKS TEND TO SATIRIZE SOME OF THE

ROMANTIC IDEAS & LIFE STYLES. IN NIGHTMARE ABBEY (1818), HE

RIDICULES THE MAIN CHARACTERS WHO ARE BASED ON COLERIDGE,

BYRON & SHELLEY.

2) MARY SHELLEY (THE WIFE OF P.B. SHELLEY). SHE CONTINUED WRITING

GOTHIC NOVELS. HER FRANKENSTEIN IS THE FIRST MODERN SCIENTIFIC

FICTION. IT TELLS ABOUT THE TERRORS MADE BY A MONSTER CREATED

FROM THE BONES OF THE DEAD BY FRANKENSTEIN.

3) JANE AUSTEEN. SHE IS UNIQUE AMONG HER CONTEMPORARIES BECAUSE

SHE IS INTERESTED IN THE MORAL, SOCIAL, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL

BEHAVIOR OF HER CHARACTERS. HER NOVELS COVER A SMALL NUMBER

OF PEOPLE IN WHICH THE YOUNG HEROINES GROW UP AND SEARCH FOR

PERSONAL HAPPINESS. IN SENSE AND SENSIBILITY SHE CONTRASTS TWO

SISTERS: ELINOR WHO IS RATIONAL (SENSE) AND MARIANNE WHO IS

EMOTIONAL (SENSIBLE). NORTHANGER ABBEY IS A SATIRE TO THE PLOT OF

GOTHIC NOVELS. PRIDE & PREJUDICE, EMMA, AND MANSFIELD EXPLORE

THE IMPORTANCE OF SELF-REALIZATION IN MAKING THE RIGHT CHOICES

IN LOVE & MARRIAGE.

NOVELISTS IN ROMANTIC AGE (CONT.)

4) FANNY BURNEY, MARIA EDGEWORTH, ANN RADCLIFFE & CLARA REEFE.

THEY, IN ADDITION TO AUSTEEN, ARE THREE IMPORTANT WOMAN

NOVELISTS OF THE ERA. BURNEY WROTE ABOUT YOUNG WOMEN’S

EXPERIENCE IN THE SOCIETY OF THEIR DAY IN EVELINA AND CAMILLA.

EDGEWORTH, AN IRISH NOVELIST, WROTE ABOUT THE DETAILS OF DAILY

PROVINCIAL LIFE. RADCLIFFE & REEFE WROTE SOME GOTHIC NOVELS.

5) WALTER SCOTT. BESIDE A GREAT POET, SCOTT IS ALSO AGREAT NOVELIST.

HIS NOVELS ARE CALLED HISTORICAL BECAUSE THEY DEAL WITH REAL

HISTORICAL, OLD LEGENDARY, OR BALLAD CHARACTERS AND EVENTS.

THE SUBJECT MATTERS ARE MAJORLY REVOLUTION AND CHANGES OF

VALUES. SCOTT IS VERY KEEN ON CREATING SETTINGS AND ATMOSPHERES

TO SUPPORT CHARACTERIZATION AND IDEAS. MOST OF THE NOVELS ARE

RELATIVELY SHORT, AND THIS IS ONE OF THE REASONS WHY MANY

PEOPLE LIKE HIS WORKS. HIS WAVERLEY TELLS ABOUT A REBELLION

AGAINST ENGLISH KING IN 1745. HIS MOST POPULAR NOVELS ARE GUY

MANNERING, THE HEART OF MIDLOTHIAN, THE TALISMAN, AND IVANHOE.

ALL OF THEM ARE FIRST INTERNATIONAL BEST-SELLING BOOKS.

THE END

CREATED BY:

PARLIN PARDEDE

THE ENGLISH DEPARTMENT OF UNINDRA JAKARTA

© 2006 THANK YOU

THE END

CREATED BY:

PARLIN PARDEDE

THE ENGLISH DEPARTMENT OF FKIP-UKI JAKARTA

© 2006 THANK YOU

FEEDBACK QUESTIONS (Romantic Period)

1. Why is it claimed that William Wordsworth’s poetry

looks inward rather than outward? Support your answer by providing it with one or more example.

2. Why did Wordsworth consider that human memory is very important?

3. Wordsworth and Coleridge are two major romantic poets, but their poetry’s subject matters are very different. Explain the difference.

4. Jane Austen and Walter Scott are most important novelists of the romantic age. Mention and explain their notable contributions to English fiction.

5. Why is Shelley’s Frankenstein seen as one of the first modern science fiction novels?