Romanticism in Literature

7/29/2019 Romanticism in Literature

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I

THE ROMANTIC

AGE

Extending from about 1789 until 1837, the romantic age stressed emotion over reason.

One objective of the French Revolution (1789-1799) was to destroy an older tradition that had

come to seem artificial, and to assert the liberty, spirit, and heartfelt unity of the human race.

To many writers of the romantic age this objective seemed equally appropriate in the field of

English letters. In addition, the romantic age in English literature was characterized by the

subordination of reason to intuition and passion, the cult of nature much as the word is now

understood and not as Pope understood it, the primacy of the individual will over social norms

of behavior, the preference for the illusion of immediate experience as opposed to generalized

and typical experience, and the interest in what is distant in time and place.

The Romantic

Poets

The first important expression of romanticism was in the Lyrical Ballads (1798) of

William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, young men who were aroused to creative

activity by the French Revolution; later they became disillusioned with what followed it. The

poems of Wordsworth in this volume treat ordinary subjects with a new freshness that imparts

a certain radiance to them. On the other hand, Coleridge's main contribution, The Rime of

the Ancient Mariner, masterfully creates an illusion of reality in relating strange, exotic, or

obviously unreal events. These two directions characterize most of the later works of the two

poets.

For Wordsworth the great theme remained the world of simple, natural things, in the

countryside or among people. He reproduced this world with so close and understanding an

eye as to add a hitherto unperceived glory to it. His representation of human nature is

similarly simple but revealing. It is at its best, as in Tintern Abbey or Ode on Intimations

of Immortality, when he speaks of the mystical kinship between quiet nature and the human

soul and of the spiritual refreshment yielded by humanity's sympathetic contact with the rest

of God's creation. Not only is the immediacy of experience in the poetry of Wordsworth

opposed to neoclassical notions, but also his poetic style constitutes a rejection of the

immediate poetic past. Wordsworth condemned the idea of a specifically poetic language,

such as that of neoclassical poetry, and he strove instead for what he considered the morepowerful effects of ordinary, everyday language. Coleridge's natural bent, on the other hand,

was toward the strange, the exotic, and the mysterious. Unlike Wordsworth, he wrote few

poems, and these during a very brief period. In such poems as Kubla Khan and

Christabel, the beauties and horrors of the far distant in time or place are evoked in a style

that is neither neoclassical nor simple in Wordsworth's fashion, but that, instead, recalls the

splendor and extravagance of the Elizabethans. At the same time Coleridge achieved an

immediacy of sensation that suggests the natural although hidden affinity between him and

Wordsworth, and their common rejection of the 18th-century spirit in poetry.

Another poet who found delight in the far distant in time was Sir Walter Scott, who, afterevincing an early interest in the ancient ballads of his native Scotland, wrote a series of


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narrative poems glorifying the active virtues of the simple, vigorous life and culture of his

land in the Middle Ages, before it had been affected by modern civilization. In such of these

poems as The Lady of the Lake (1810) he employed a style of little originality. His work,

however, was the more popular among his immediate contemporaries for that very reason,

long before the full stature of Wordsworth's more impressive poetry was recognized. Some of

Scott's Waverley novels, a series of historical works, have given him a more permanent

reputation as a writer of prose.

A second generation of romantic poets remained revolutionary in some sense throughout

their poetic careers, unlike Coleridge, Wordsworth, and Scott. George Gordon, Lord Byron, is

one of the exemplars of a personality in tragic revolt against society. As in his stormy

personal life, so also in such poems as Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1812) and Don Juan

(1819-1824), this generous but egotistical aristocrat revealed with uneven pathos or with

striking irony and cynicism the vagrant feelings and actions of great souls caught in a petty

world. Byron's satirical spirit and strong sense of social realism kept him apart from other

English romantics; unlike the rest, he proclaimed, for example, a high regard for Pope, whom

he sometimes imitated.

The other great poet-revolutionary of the time, Percy Bysshe Shelley, seems much closer

to the grandly serious spirit of the other romantics. His most thoughtful poetry expresses his

two main ideas, that the external tyranny of rulers, customs, or superstitions is the main

enemy, and that inherent human goodness will, sooner or later, eliminate evil from the world

and usher in an eternal reign of transcendant love. It is, perhaps, in Prometheus Unbound

(1820) that these ideas are most completely expressed, although Shelley's more obvious

poetic qualitiesthe natural correspondence of metrical structure to mood, the power of

shaping effective abstractions, and his ethereal idealismcan be studied in a whole range of

poems, from Ode tothe West Wind and To a Skylark to the elegy Adonais, written for

John Keats, the youngest of the great romantics.

More than that of any of the other romantics, Keats's poetry is a response to sensuous

impressions. He found neither the time nor the inclination to elaborate a complete moral or

social philosophy in his poetry. In such poems as The Eve of St. Agnes,Ode on a Grecian

Urn, and Ode to a Nightingale, all written about 1819, he showed an unrivaled awareness

of immediate sensation and an unequaled ability to reproduce it. Between 1818 and 1821,

during the last few years of his short life, this spiritually robust, active, and wonderfully

receptive writer produced all his poetry. His work had a more profound influence than that of

any other romantic in widening the sensuous realm of poetry for the Victorians later in the

century.

Romantic

Prose

Certain romantic prose parallels the poetry of the period in a number of ways. The

evolution of fundamentally new critical principles in literature is the main achievement of

Coleridge's Biographia literaria (1817), but like Charles Lamb (Specimens of EnglishDramatic Poets, 1808) and William Hazlitt (Characters of Shakespeare's Plays, 1817),


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Coleridge also wrote a large amount of practical criticism, much of which helped to elevate

the reputations of Renaissance dramatists and poets neglected in the 18th century. Lamb is

famous also for his occasional essays, the Essays of Elia (1823, 1833). An influential

romantic experiment in the achievement of a rich poetic quality in prose is the

phantasmagoric, impassioned autobiography of Thomas De Quincey, Confessions of an

English Opium-Eater(1821).

II

THE VICTORIAN

ERA

The Victorian era, from the coronation of Queen Victoria in 1837 until her death in 1901,

was an era of several unsettling social developments that forced writers more than ever before

to take positions on the immediate issues animating the rest of society. Thus, although

romantic forms of expression in poetry and prose continued to dominate English literature

throughout much of the century, the attention of many writers was directed, sometimes

passionately, to such issues as the growth of English democracy, the education of the masses,

the progress of industrial enterprise and the consequent rise of a materialistic philosophy, and

the plight of the newly industrialized worker. In addition, the unsettling of religious belief by

new advances in science, particularly the theory of evolution and the historical study of the

Bible, drew other writers away from the immemorial subjects of literature into considerations

of problems of faith and truth.

Nonfic

tion

The historian Thomas Babington Macaulay, in his History of England (5 volumes, 1848-

1861) and even more in his Critical and Historical Essays (1843), expressed the complacency

of the English middle classes over their new prosperity and growing political power. The

clarity and balance of Macaulay's style, which reflects his practical familiarity with

parliamentary debate, stands in contrast to the sensitivity and beauty of the prose of John

Henry Newman. Newman's main effort, unlike Macaulay's, was to draw people away from the

materialism and skepticism of the age back to a purified Christian faith. His most famous

work, Apologia pro vita sua (Apology for His Life, 1864), describes with psychological

subtlety and charm the basis of his religious opinions and the reasons for his change from the

Anglican to the Roman Catholic church.

Similarly alienated by the materialism and commercialism of the period, Thomas Carlyle,

another of the great Victorians, advanced a heroic philosophy of work, courage, and the

cultivation of the godlike in human beings, by means of which life might recover its true

worth and nobility. This view, borrowed in part from German idealist philosophy, Carlyle

expressed in a vehement, idiosyncratic style in such works as Sartor resartus (The Tailor

Retailored, 1833-1834) and On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History (1841).

Other answers to social problems were presented by two fine Victorian prose writers of a

different stamp. The social criticism of the art critic John Ruskin looked to the curing of theills of industrial society and capitalism as the only path to beauty and vitality in the national


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life. The escape from social problems into aesthetic hedonism was the contribution of the

Oxford scholar Walter Pater.

Po

etry

The three notable poets of the Victorian Age became similarly absorbed in social issues.

Beginning as a poet of pure romantic escapism, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, soon moved on to

problems of religious faith, social change, and political power, as in Locksley Hall, the

elegyIn Memoriam (1850), andIdylls of the King (1859-1885). All the characteristic moods

of his poetry, from brooding splendor to lyrical sweetness, are expressed with smooth

technical mastery. His style, as well as his peculiarly English conservatism, stands in some

contrast to the intellectuality and bracing harshness of the poetry of Robert Browning.

Browning's most important short poems are collected in Dramatic Romances and Lyrics

(1841-1846) andMen and Women (1855). Matthew Arnold, the third of these mid-Victorian

poets, stands apart from them as a more subtle and balanced thinker; his literary criticism

(Essays in Criticism, 1865, 1888) is the most remarkable written in Victorian times. His

poetry displays a sorrowful, disillusioned pessimism over the human plight in rapidly

changing times (for example, Dover Beach, 1867), a pessimism countered, however, by a

strong sense of duty. Among a number of lesser poets, Algernon Charles Swinburne showed

an escapist aestheticism, somewhat similar to Pater's, in sensuous verse rich in verbal music

but somewhat diffuse and pallid in its expression of emotion. The poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti

and the poet, artist, and socialist reformer William Morris were associated with the Pre-

Raphaelite movement, the adherents of which hoped to inaugurate a new period of honest

craft and spiritual truth in property and painting. Despite the otherworldly or archaic characterof their romantic poetry, Morris, at least, found a social purpose in his designs for household

objects, which profoundly influenced contemporary taste.

The Victorian

Novel

The novel gradually became the dominant form in literature during the Victorian Age. A

fairly constant accompaniment of this development was the yielding of romanticism to

literary realism, the accurate observation of individual problems and social relationships. The

close observation of a restricted social milieu in the novels of Jane Austen early in the century(Pride and Prejudice, 1813; Emma, 1816) had been a harbinger of what was to come. The

romantic historical novels of Sir Walter Scott, about the same time (Ivanhoe, 1819), typified,

however, the spirit against which the realists later were to react. It was only in the Victorian

novelists Charles Dickens and William Makepeace Thackeray that the new spirit of realism

came to the fore. Dickens's novels of contemporary life (Oliver Twist, 1838; David

Copperfield, 1849-1850; Great Expectations, 1861; Our Mutual Friend, 1865) exhibit an

astonishing ability to create living characters; his graphic exposures of social evils and his

powers of caricature and humor have won him a vast readership. Thackeray, on the other

hand, indulged less in the sentimentality sometimes found in Dickens's works. He was also

capable of greater subtlety of characterization, as his Vanity Fair (1847-1848) shows.


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Nevertheless, the restriction of concern in Thackeray's novels to middle- and upper-class life,

and his lesser creative power, render him second to Dickens in many readers' minds.

Other important figures in the mainstream of the Victorian novel were notable for a

variety of reasons. Anthony Trollope was distinguished for his gently ironic surveys of

English ecclesiastical and political circles; Emily Bront, for her penetrating study of

passionate character; George Eliot, for her responsible idealism; George Meredith, for a

sophisticated, detached, and ironical view of human nature; and Thomas Hardy, for a

profoundly pessimistic sense of human subjection to fate and circumstance.

A second and younger group of novelists, many of whom continued their important work

into the 20th century, displayed two new tendencies. Robert Louis Stevenson, Rudyard

Kipling, and Joseph Conrad tried in various ways to restore the spirit of romance to the novel,

in part by a choice of exotic locale, in part by articulating their themes through plots of

adventure and action. Kipling attained fame also for his verse and for his mastery of the

single, concentrated effect in the short story. Another tendency, in a sense an intensification of

realism, was common to Arnold Bennett, John Galsworthy, and H. G. Wells. These novelists

attempted to represent the life of their time with great accuracy and in a critical, partly

propagandistic spirit. Wells's novels, for example, often seem to be sociological investigations

of the ills of modern civilization rather than self-contained stories.

19th-Century

Drama

The same spirit of social criticism inspired the plays of the Irish-born George Bernard

Shaw, who did more than anyone else to awaken the drama from its 19th-century somnolence.

In a series of powerful plays that made use of the latest economic and sociological theories, he

exposed with enormous satirical skill the sickness and fatuities of individuals and societies in

England and the rest of the modern world.Man and Superman (1903),Androcles and the Lion

(1913), Heartbreak House (1919), and Back to Methuselah (1921) are notable among his

works. His final prescription for a cure, a philosophy of creative evolution by which human

beings should in time surpass the biological limit of species, showed him going beyond the

limits of sociological realism into visionary writing.

WILLIAM BLAKE (1757-1827)

William Blake

I INTRODUCTION

William Blake (1757-1827), English poet, painter, and engraver, who created an unusual form

of illustrated verse; his poetry, inspired by mystical vision, is among the most original, lyric,

and prophetic in the language.

Blake, the son of a hosier(stocking-maker), was born November 28, 1757, in London, where

he lived most of his life. Largely self-taught, he was, however, widely read, and his poetry


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shows the influence of the German mystic Jakob Boehme, for example, and of

Swedenborgianism (see Swedenborg, Emanuel). As a child, Blake wanted to become a

painter. He was sent to drawing school and at the age of 14 was apprenticed to James Basire,

an engraver. The young Blake had to draw monuments in the old churches of London, a task

he thoroughly enjoyed.

After his seven-year apprenticeship was over, Blake studied briefly at the Royal Academy,

but he rebelled against the aesthetic doctrines of its president, Sir Joshua Reynolds. Reynolds

was a neoclassicist who took a very academic approach to the study of art. Blake preferred to

draw from his imagination. At the Royal Academy Blake did, however, establish friendships

with such artists as John Flaxman and Henry Fuseli, whose work may have influenced him.

In 1784 Blake married Catherine Boucher, the daughter of a gardener, who proved a devoted

wife. The Blakes set up a print shop; although it failed after a few years, for the rest of his life

Blake eked out a living as an engraver and illustrator. His wife helped him print the

illuminated poetry for which he is remembered today.

II EARLY POETRY

Blake began writing poetry at the age of 12, and his first printed work, Poetical Sketches

(1783), is a collection of youthful verse. Amid its traditional, derivative elements are hints of

his later innovative style and themes. As with all his poetry, this volume reached few

contemporary readers.

In 1789, unable to find a publisher for his Songs of Innocence, Blake and his wife engraved

and printed the work at home. This was the first large work created in his novel method of

illuminated printing, which combined text and decorations on a single etched plate. Blakes

most popular poems have always been Songs of Innocence, and the volume displays

characteristics that become more marked in Blakes later work. It is written in a lyric style of

great freshness, simplicity, and directness. Here are the first verses of the Nurses Song

from Songs of Innocence:

When the voices of children are heard on the green

And laughing is heard on the hill,

My heart is at rest within my breast

And everything else is still.

Then come home, my children, the Sun is gone down

And the dews of night arise,

Come, come, leave off play, and let us away

Till the morning appears in the skies.

In 1794, disillusioned by the apparent impossibility of human perfection, Blake issuedSongs

of Experience, employing the same lyric style, and often using the same titles and themes as


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in Songs of Innocence, but perverting the sing-song rhythms so that the verses seem sinister

and resonant with a darker meaning.Here is the Nurses Song from Songs of Experience:

When the voices of children are heard on the green

And whisprings are in the dale,

The days of my youth rise fresh in my mind,

My face turns green and pale.

Then come home my children, the Sun is gone down,

And the dews of the night arise;

Your spring & your day are wasted in play,

And your winter and night in disguise.

Both series of poems take on deeper resonances when read in conjunction. Innocence and

Experience, the two contrary states of the human soul, are contrasted in such companion

pieces as The Lamb and The Tyger. Blakes subsequent poetry develops the implication

that true innocence is impossible without experience, transformed by the creative force of the

human imagination.

III BLAKE AS ARTIST

As was to be Blakes custom, he illustrated the Songs with designs that demand an

imaginative reading of the complicated dialogue between word and picture. His method ofilluminated printing is not completely understood. The most likely explanation is that he

wrote the words and drew the pictures for each poem on a copper plate, using some liquid

impervious to acid, which when applied left text and illustration in relief. Ink or a color wash

was then applied, and the printed picture was finished by hand in watercolors.

Blake has been called a preromantic because he rejected neoclassical literary style and modes

of thought (Romanticism). His favorite tenet was that all things exist in the human

imagination alone. In his graphic art, too, he shunned 18th-century conventions and felt that

ideal forms should be constructed not from observations of nature but from inner visions. His

style made great use of the line in repudiation of the painterly academic style. Blakesattenuated, fantastic figures refer back to the medieval tomb sculptures he copied as an

apprentice. The influence of Michelangelo is evident in the radical foreshortening and

exaggerated muscular form in one of his best-known illustrations, popularly known as The

Ancient of Days, the frontispiece to his poemEurope, a Prophecy (1794).

Much ofBlakes painting was on religious subjects: illustrations for the work of John Milton,

his favoritepoet (although he rejected Miltons Puritanism), for John BunyansPilgrims

Progress, and for the Bible, including 21 illustrations to the Book of Job. Among his secular

illustrations were those for an edition of Thomas Grays poems and the 537 watercolors for

Edward YoungsNight Thoughtsonly 43 of which were published.


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IV THE PROPHETIC BOOKS

In his so-called Prophetic Books, a series of longer poems written from 1789 on, Blake

created a complex personal mythology and invented his own symbolic characters to reflect his

social concerns. A true original in thought and expression, he declared in one of these poems,I must create a system or be enslaved by another mans. Blake was a nonconformist radical

who numbered among his associates such freethinkers as political theorist Thomas Paine and

writer Mary Wollstonecraft.

Poems such as The French Revolution (1791),America, a Prophecy (1793), Visions of the

Daughters of Albion (1793), andEurope, a Prophecy (1794) express his condemnation of

18th-century political and social tyranny. Theological tyranny is the subject ofThe Book of

Urizen (1794), and the dreadful cycle set up by the mutual exploitation of the sexes is vividly

described in The Mental Traveller (1803?). Among the Prophetic Books is a prose work,

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell(1790), which develops Blakes idea that withoutContraries is no progression. It includes the Proverbs of Hell, such as The tygers of wrath

are wiser than the horses of instruction.

In 1800 Blake moved to the seacoast town of Felpham, where he lived and worked until 1803

under the patronage of William Hayley. There he experienced profound spiritual insights that

prepared him for his mature work, the great visionary epics written and etched between about

1804 and 1820.Milton (1804-08), Vala, or The Four Zoas (that is, aspects of the human soul,

1797; rewritten after 1800), andJerusalem (1804-20) have neither traditional plot, characters,

rhyme, nor meter; the rhetorical free-verse lines demand new modes of reading. They

envision a new and higher kind of innocence, the human spirit triumphant over reason.

V OTHER WORKS

Blakes writings also includeAn Island in the Moon (1784), a rollicking satire on events in his

early life; a collection of letters; and a notebook containing sketches and some shorter poems

dating between 1793 and 1818. It was called the Rossetti Manuscript, because it was acquired

in 1847 by English poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti, one of the first to recognize Blakes genius.

Blakes final years, spent in great poverty, were cheered by the admiring friendship of a group

of younger artists. He died in London, August 12, 1827, leaving uncompleted a cycle ofdrawings inspired by Dantes The Divine Comedy.

ROBERT BURNS (1759-1796)

Robert Burns

I INTRODUCTION

Robert Burns (1759-96), Scottish poet and writer of traditional Scottish folk songs, whose

works are known and loved wherever the English language is read.

II EARLY LIFE


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Burns was born in Alloway, Ayrshire, January 25, 1759. He was the eldest of seven children

born to William Burness, a struggling tenant farmer, and his wife, Agnes Broun. Although

poverty limited his formal education, Burns read widely in English literature and the Bible

and learned to read French. He was encouraged in his self-education by his father, and his

mother acquainted him with Scottish folk songs, legends, and proverbs. Arduous farm work

and undernourishment in his youth permanently injured his health, leading to the rheumatic

heart disease from which he eventually died. He went in 1781 to Irvine to learn flax dressing,

but when the shop burned down, he returned home penniless. He had, meanwhile, composed

his first poems. The poet's father died in 1784, leaving him as head of the family. He and his

brother Gilbert rented Mossgiel Farm, near Mauchline, but the venture proved a failure.

III FIRST VERNACULAR POEMS

In 1784 Burns read the works of the Edinburgh poet Robert Fergusson. Under his influence

and that of Scottish folk tradition and older Scottish poetry, he became aware of the literarypossibilities of the Scottish regional dialects. During the next two years he produced most of

his best-known poems, including The Cotter's Saturday Night,Hallowe'en,To a Daisy,

and To a Mouse. In addition, he wrote The Jolly Beggars, a cantata chiefly in standard

English, which is considered one of his masterpieces. Several of his early poems, notably

Holy Willie's Prayer, satirized local ecclesiastical squabbles and attacked Calvinist

theology, bringing him into conflict with the church.

IV SOCIAL NOTORIETY

Burns further angered church authorities by having several indiscreet love affairs. In 1785 hefell in love with Jean Armour, the daughter of a Mauchline building contractor. Jean soon

became pregnant, and although Burns offered to make her his wife, her father forbade their

marriage. Thereupon (1786) he prepared to immigrate to the West Indies. Before departing he

arranged to issue by subscription a collection of his poetry. Published on July 31 in

Kilmarnock in an edition of 600 copies, Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialectwas an

immediate success. In September Burns abandoned the West Indies plan; the same month

Jean became the mother of twins. He moved in the fall of 1786 to Edinburgh, where he was

lionized by fashionable society. Charmed by Burns, the literati mistakenly believed him to be

an untutored bard, a Heavens-taught Plowman. He resented their condescension, and his

bristling independence, blunt manner of speech, and occasional social awkwardness alienatedadmirers.

While Burns was in Edinburgh, he successfully published a second, 3000-copy edition of

Poems (1787), which earned him a considerable sum. From the proceeds he was able to tour

(1787) the English border region and the Highlands and finance another winter in Edinburgh.

In the meantime he had resumed his relationship with Jean Armour. The next spring she bore

him another set of twins, both of whom died, and in April Burns and Armour were married.

In June 1788, Burns leased a poorly equipped farm in Ellisland, but the land proved

unproductive. Within a year he was appointed to a position in the Excise Service, and inNovember 1791 he relinquished the farm.


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V LATER SONGS AND BALLADS

Burns's later literary output consisted almost entirely of songs, both original compositions and

adaptations of traditional Scottish ballads and folk songs. He contributed some 200 songs to

Scots Musical Museum (6 volumes, 1783-1803), a project initiated by the engraver and musicpublisher James Johnson. Beginning in 1792 Burns wrote about 100 songs and some

humorous verse for Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs, compiled by George

Thomson. Among his songs in this collection are such favorites as Auld Lang

Syne,Comin' Thro' the Rye,Scots Wha Hae,A Red, RedRose,The Banks o' Doon,

and John Anderson, My Jo.

After the outbreak of the French Revolution, Burns became an outspoken champion of the

Republican cause. His enthusiasm for liberty and social justice dismayed many of his

admirers; some shunned or reviled him. After Franco-British relations began to deteriorate, he

curbed his radical sympathies, and in 1794, for patriotic reasons, he joined the DumfriesshireVolunteers. Burns died in Dumfries, July 21, 1796.

A memorial edition of Burn's poems was published for the benefit of his wife and children. Its

editor, the physician James Currie, a man of narrow sympathies, represented the poet as a

drunkard and a reprobate, and his biased judgment did much to perpetuate an unjustly harsh

and distorted conception of the poet.

Burns touched with his own genius the traditional folk songs of Scotland, transmuting them

into great poetry, and he immortalized its countryside and humble farm life. He was a keen

and discerning satirist who reserved his sharpest barbs for sham, hypocrisy, and cruelty. Hissatirical verse, once little appreciated, has in recent decades been recognized widely as his

finest work. He was also a master of the verse-narrative technique, as exemplified in Tam

o'Shanter. Finally, his love songs, perfectly fitted to the tunes for which he wrote them, are,

at their best, unsurpassed.

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH (1770-1850)

William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth (1770-1850), English poet, one of the most accomplished and influential

of England's romantic poets, whose theories and style created a new tradition in poetry.

Wordsworth was born on April 7, 1770, in Cockermouth, Cumberland, and educated at Saint

John's College, University of Cambridge. He developed a keen love of nature as a youth, and

during school vacation periods he frequently visited places noted for their scenic beauty. In

the summer of 1790 he took a walking tour through France and Switzerland. After receiving

his degree in 1791 he returned to France, where he became an enthusiastic convert to the

ideals of the French Revolution (1789-1799). His lover Annette Vallon of Orleans bore him a

daughter in December 1792, shortly before his return to England. Disheartened by the

outbreak of hostilities between France and Great Britain in 1793, Wordsworth nevertheless

remained sympathetic to the French cause.


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Although Wordsworth had begun to write poetry while still a schoolboy, none of his poems

was published until 1793, whenAn Evening WalkandDescriptive Sketches appeared. These

works, although fresh and original in content, reflect the influence of the formal style of 18th-

century English poetry. The poems received little notice, and few copies were sold.

Wordsworth's income from his writings amounted to little, but his financial problems were

alleviated for a time when in 1795 he received a bequest of 900 from a close friend.

Thereupon he and his sister, Dorothy Wordsworth, went to live in Racedown, Dorsetshire.

The two had always enjoyed a warmly sympathetic relationship, and Wordsworth relied

greatly on Dorothy, his devoted confidante, for encouragement in his literary endeavors. Her

mental breakdown in later years was to cause him great sorrow, as did the death of his brother

John. William had met the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, an enthusiastic admirer of his early

poetic efforts, and in 1797 he and Dorothy moved to Alfoxden, Somersetshire, near

Coleridge's home in Nether Stowey. The move marked the beginning of a close and enduring

friendship between the poets. In the ensuing period they collaborated on a book of poems

entitledLyrical Ballads, first published in 1798.

This work is generally taken to mark the beginning of the romantic movement in English

poetry. Wordsworth wrote almost all the poems in the volume, including the memorable

Tintern Abbey; Coleridge contributed the famous Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

Representing a revolt against the artificial classicism of contemporary English verse,Lyrical

Ballads was greeted with hostility by most leading critics of the day.

In defense of his unconventional theory of poetry, Wordsworth wrote a Preface to the

second edition ofBallads, which appeared in 1800 (actual date of publication, 1801). His

premise was that the source of poetic truth is the direct experience of the senses. Poetry, he

asserted, originates from emotion recollected in tranquillity. Rejecting the contemporary

emphasis on form and an intellectual approach that drained poetic writing of strong emotion,

he maintained that the scenes and events of everyday life and the speech of ordinary people

were the raw material of which poetry could and should be made. Far from conciliating the

critics, the Preface served only to increase their hostility. Wordsworth, however, was not

discouraged, continuing to write poetry that graphically illustrated his principles.

Before the publication of the Preface, Wordsworth and his sister had accompanied

Coleridge to Germany in 1798 and 1799. There Wordsworth wrote several of his finest lyrical

verses, the Lucy poems, and began The Prelude. This introspective account of his own

development was completed in 1805 and, after substantial revision, published posthumously

in 1850. Many critics rank it as Wordsworth's greatest work.

Returning to England, William and his sister settled in 1799 at Dove Cottage in Grasmere,

Westmorland, the loveliest spot in the English Lake District. The poet Robert Southey as well

as Coleridge lived nearby, and the three men became known as the Lake Poets. In 1802

Wordsworth married Mary Hutchinson, a childhood friend, who is portrayed in the charming

lyric She Was a Phantom of Delight. In 1807Poems in Two Volumes was published. The

work contains much of Wordsworth's finest verse, notably the superb Ode: Intimations of

Immortality, the autobiographical narrative Resolution and Independence, and many of his

well-known sonnets.


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In 1813 Wordsworth obtained a sinecure as distributor of stamps for Westmorland at a salary

of 400 a year. In the same year he and his family and sister moved to Rydal Mount, a few

kilometers from Dove Cottage, and there the poet spent the remainder of his life, except for

periodic travels.

Wordsworth's political and intellectual sympathies underwent a transformation after 1800. By

1810 his viewpoint was staunchly conservative. He was disillusioned by the course of events

in France culminating in the rise of Napoleon; his circle of friends, including the Scottish

author Sir Walter Scott, also influenced him in the direction of orthodoxy.

As he advanced in age, Wordsworth's poetic vision and inspiration dulled; his later, more

rhetorical, moralistic poems cannot be compared to the lyrics of his youth, although a number

of them are illumined by the spark of his former greatness. Between 1814 and 1822 his

publications included The Excursion (1814), a continuation ofThe Prelude but lacking the

power and beauty of that work; The White Doe of Rylstone (1815); Peter Bell (1819); and

Ecclesiastical Sonnets (1822). Yarrow Revisited and Other Poems appeared in 1835, but after

that Wordsworth wrote little more. Among his other poetic works are The Borderers: A

Tragedy (1796; published 1842),Michael (1800), The Recluse (1800; published 1888),

Laodamia (1815), andMemorials of a Tour on the Continent(1822). Wordsworth also wrote

the prose works Convention of Cintra (1809) andA Description of the Scenery of the Lakes in

the North of England(1810; reprinted with additions, 1822).

Much of Wordsworth's easy flow of conversational blank verse has true lyrical power and

grace, and his finest work is permeated by a sense of the human relationship to external nature

that is religious in its scope and intensity. To Wordsworth, God was everywhere manifest in

the harmony of nature, and he felt deeply the kinship between nature and the soul of

humankind.

The tide of critical opinion turned in his favor after 1820, and Wordsworth lived to see his

work universally praised. In 1842 he was awarded a government pension, and in the following

year he succeeded Southey as poet laureate. Wordsworth died at Rydal Mount, April 23,

1850, and was buried in the Grasmere churchyard.

SIR WALTER SCOTT (1771-1832)

Ivanhoe

Published 1819

I ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Walter Scott was born on August 15, 1771, in Edinburgh, Scotland, the son of Walterand

Anne Scott. Of the couple's 12 children, only five survived infancy, and Walter narrowly

escaped an early death himself when, at two years old, he contracted polio, which left him

permanently disabled. As a child, he was an avid reader of fairy tales, ballads, Shakespeare,

fiction, Asian fables, and folklore. Through visits to his grandfather's farm in the valley of the

Tweed River and to the homes of other relatives in the Border country and in the Highlands,

Scott developed a superb memory for Scottish gossip, history, legend, song, and folklore. Bythe age of 14, he could recite Scots ballads from memory; this skill combined with his passion


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for medieval romances, history, and travel books formed the basis of his education. Never

completely happy with formal schooling, he spent the years 1778-1782 at the High School of

Edinburgh and proceeded to Edinburgh University in 1783 but soon left because of poor

health. Scott continued reading English literature at home with the help of a tutor; in the

meantime, he was apprenticed to his father as a legal clerk. At various points during the next

nine years, Scott attended humanities and law classes at Edinburgh University. Although heapplied himself seriously to his apprenticeship, traveling the country on business for his

father, he always maintained a heavy schedule of reading. In 1792 he qualified to practice law

and was admitted to the Scottish Bar. With his profession apparently chosen, he married

Charlotte Carpenter in 1797. Although he continued to practice law, he was made sheriff of

Selkirkshire in 1799 and went to live at Ashestiel on the Tweed, returning to Edinburgh when

the law sessions opened.

Among Scott's first published works was a three-volume collection of popular ballads,

Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border(1802-1803), which revealed his strengths as a folklorist.

Publication of his long poems The Lay of the Last Minstrel (1805),Marmion (1808), and The

Lady of the Lake (1810) made Scott one of the most widely read poets in the British Isles, and

although his legal practice suffered, his literary success brought fresh income. By 1812 Scottmoved to the small estate of Abbotsford, where he hoped to live the life of a country

gentleman. Earlier, he had become a silent partner in a bookselling business, John Ballantyne

and Co., and also helped promote the founding of the Tory journal the Quarterly Review

(1809). In 1813 he turned down an offer to assume the position of poet laureate, which was

then awarded to Robert Southey, partly at Scott's suggestion.

When the public shifted its interest to Lord Byron's verse romances, Scott turned to prose

writing. Waverley, Scott's first novel, was followed by another 20 novels in the course of ten

years. Although these were written anonymously, many readers recognized Scott's popular

style, and all 32 of Scott's anonymously published novels are still referred to as his Waverley

novels.

In 1826 the failures of Ballantyne's printing firm and of Scott's publisher brought him

financial ruin, from which he spent the rest of his life extricating himself. Suffering from

bouts of apoplexy, Scott was offered free passage by the British government on a frigate

voyaging to the Mediterranean, where it was hoped he would regain his health. From this trip,

he returned to Abbotsford and died there on September 21, 1832, at the age of 61. He was

buried next to his wife in the ruins of Dryburgh Abbey; in 1844 an intricate Gothic monument

was erected to his memory in Edinburgh.

II OVERVIEW

Ivanhoe is an excellent example of the historical novel, as developed by Scott and defined in

his numerous prefaces and introductions to his Waverley novels. Scott reconstructs the

fascinating struggle between the Normans and the Saxons. Into this cultural conflict, Scottpresents fictional characters who participate in actual historical events, among actual

historical figures. These characters reflect the effect that the historical events had upon

individuals in medieval England.

Ivanhoe and the other Waverley novels brought a new perspective to historical writing. No

longer would dull chronicles and lifeless collections of fact serve as models for historians;

instead, a new kind of history was born that seriously recreated the spirit of the time.

Nineteenth-century historians such as Thomas Carlyle and W. H. Prescott recognized that

Scott had changed people's very awareness of history.

III SETTING

The story takes place in 1194, the year of King Richard I's (also known as Richard the Lion-

Hearted) return to England from the Third Crusade, which was undertaken to rescue the Holy

Land from the Turkish sultan, Saladin. The world ofIvanhoe is the picturesque Midlands and


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North country of England, specifically the counties of Leicestershire; Nottinghamshire, with

the vast Sherwood Forest at its center; and Yorkshire. Using this time and setting enables

Scott to examine the nature and role of chivalry at the height of the medieval age. He balances

the reality of the 12th century against the romantic ideal, juxtaposing knights in glittering

armor, beautiful ladies, and the color and pagentry of the tournament at Ashby, against the

bloody siege of Torquilstone and the mortal combat of Ivanhoe and de Bois-Guilbert atTemplestowe.

He complicates the narrative by introducing the clash of two peoples, the Normans and the

Saxons. In 1066 Duke William of Normandy (William the Conqueror) crossed the channel to

England and defeated the Saxon Lord Harold. England became a land where oppressive laws

forced the Anglo-Saxons to reconcile themselves to Norman rule. Beyond the severity of

William's military government, taxes were heavy and the two peoples spoke different

languages. But neither the hatred between Normans and Saxons nor the Saxon claim to the

English throne persisted into the 12th century. This has led some scholars to criticizeIvanhoe

as historically inaccurate, while others claim that he portrays Cedric the Saxon as a fanatic

holdout nurturing a hopeless cause.

IV THEMES AND CHARACTERS

Mark Twain once claimed that Sir Walter Scott caused the American Civil War because his

romances, such asIvanhoe, helped to shape the Southern character, encouraging its devotion

to outmoded notions of chivalry and to hopeless battles for impossible causes. Twain's

hyperbole may correctly suggest that Scott is one of the great dramatists of history, but it

implies an unfair judgment of the novel's theme. Scott's aim was not to glorify the past but to

hold it up for the scrutiny of modern society. According to his own statements, he hoped to

recreate scenes in which 'our ancestors thought deeply, acted fiercely, and died

desperately...in ignorance of each other's prejudices.'

Ivanhoe investigates two related themes: bigotry in political, economic, and religious matters

and the shortcomings of the feudal system and its code of chivalry. From the early chapters,Scott explores the divisions between the privileged Normans and the downtrodden Saxons,

encouraging the reader's sympathy for the oppressed Cedric the Saxon and his countrymen.

With the introduction of Isaac the Jew, Scott compounds his analysis of prejudice. No longer

can simple moral distinctions apply between the two races; Isaac and his daughter Rebecca

must suffer the hate and ill-treatment of nearly everyone. Reviled as villains, the two more

closely resemble victims by whom Scott can measure the cruelty of their oppressors and

indict the society that rejects them. If the Saxons, who have themselves suffered at the hands

of the Normans, can deride the Jews with so little compunction, England has no claim to

greatness. Scott depicts an English society riddled with irrational racial and religious hatred,

weakened by an inability to solve its central moral issues. The true struggle faced by the

English is, he says, not between Norman or Saxon, but good versus evil, toleration versusbigotry, and patriotism versus self-interest.

The characters of Ivanhoe and King Richard function as the leaders of this struggle for a

good, tolerant, and patriotic England, bringing a message of conciliation and restoration to the

country. Ivanhoe plays a significant role in the first third of the book, first as the Palmer who

saves Isaac from Norman treachery, then disguised as the Disinherited Knight when he

defeats the Norman knights at Ashby. Devoted to his God, his king, and all victims of unjust

tyranny, Ivanhoe symbolically reconciles Norman knighthood with his Saxon heritage by

marrying Rowena, descendant of the ancient Saxon princes.

King Richard is a more complex and contradictory character. He appears at Ashby in disguise

and fights only when Ivanhoe is in danger. Later, he leads Robin Hood's band against

Torquilstone, destroying the villainous Front-de-Boeuf and capturing the misguided DeBracy. Richard's mere presence in England sends his brother, the unscrupulous Prince John,


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into a fit of terror, ending his conspiracy against the throne. Richard reestablishes the natural

order and reasserts the community's values, but he has no ultimate place in the restored

community and soon leaves it to the hero, Ivanhoe. As an adventurer, Richard has a

dangerous charisma. He enchants Ivanhoe, and for a time the young knight seems susceptible

to his power. Ivanhoe's allegiance to Richard remains an essential part of the mystery of his

own identity and inheritance.Although both Richard and Ivanhoe lead the fight against tyrannical villains such as Prince

John and Brian de Bois-Guilbert, their chivalric effort to bring order and honor to England

ignores the tyranny of anti-Semitic oppression. The book ends with the exile of Rebecca and

Isaac, who must find a more secure home than England. An early battle over intolerance has

been won, but the realist in Scott recognizes that prejudice dies hard and leaves many victims.

The intelligent and articulate Rebecca, one of Scott's finest characters, frames the moral

center of the novel. Although Rebecca remains a victim of bigotry, her moral superiority

offers her a greater perspective on the human condition. Her debates with Ivanhoe on the

virtues of chivalry express Scott's essential theme and the central conflict on the novel.

Ivanhoe lamely defends the chivalric code he lives by, while Rebecca exposes it as a self-

serving, superficial standard of behavior. Ivanhoe is seemingly the hero of the novel that bearshis name, while the bland Rowena, Rebecca's Gentile counterpart, supposedly achieves

heroine status by marrying her knight, Ivanhoe. The character of Rebecca breaks through this

fairy-tale plot of chivalry to emerge as the true heroine of the novel. She represents the

goodness, tolerance, and social commitment that English society lacks, but because she is an

outspoken Jewish woman, English society despises her. Through Rebecca, Scott illustrates the

pretensions and hypocrisies of the chivalric code, the tragic pathos of those it ignores, and the

violence and chaos it cannot repress.

V LITERARY QUALITIES

Ivanhoe is notable for the symmetry of its structure, the vivid incidents and settings, and the

essential humanity of many of its characters. Although often criticized for the slipshodstructure of his novels, Scott arranged the plot ofIvanhoe into three well-balanced, brilliant

episodes. Beginning with the tournament at Ashby, proceeding to the central scene during the

siege of Torquilstone, and culminating in the trial by combat at Templestowe, he creates an

episodic structure that enables him to develop his theme while concentrating on a single

incident. For example, the success of the tournament of Ashby scene depends on the secret of

the Disinherited Knight's identity and Scott's handling of the mass battle scene. The suspense

created by hiding Ivanhoe's identity early in the novel serves as a major device for securing

and maintaining the reader's interest. As the events lead to the confrontation at Ashby, Scott

creates reader sympathy for the disguised Ivanhoe. When this unidentified hero defeats his

menacing enemies, his heroics set the tone for a novel of pure romance. Yet, this scene helps

develop Scott's antichivalric theme, for his novel is a deliberate criticism of romance andcondemns with savage irony the war and those who pursue glory for its own sake.

Within his carefully structured episodes, Scott further develops his theme and plot through

lively and lengthy dialogue. Although the exchanges between characters such as Ivanhoe and

Rebecca often include stilted language and long, preachy passages, they successfully establish

the characters' opposing viewpoints and Scott's theme. In contrast, the banter among Richard,

his men, and the villainous tyrants serves largely to propel the plot forward and heighten

dramatic action.

Scott's character development, though uneven, is most effective in the cases of Ivanhoe and

Rebecca. Ivanhoe, who reflects the nobler qualities of chivalry, cannot completely escape the

historical evolution taking place. A product of his heredity, environment, and profession, he

struggles between the tyranny of the past and the instinct for progress and growth. Eachsucceeding episode further clarifies his dilemma until he must compromise his heroic ideals to


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survive in the modern world. Unfortunately, Ivanhoe never fully realizes this; instead, it is

Rebecca who understands the need to reject outmoded ideals. Through Rebecca's insight, the

reader confronts the reality that historical pressures and conflicts shape individuals.

VI SOCIAL SENSITIVITY

Ivanhoe has often been identified as a work that glorifies war and revels in bloodshed and the

clang of sword upon sword. But,Ivanhoe is about the shaping forces of history, not thesuperficial qualities of costume drama. The violence that permeates a good part of the book

accurately portrays the atmosphere of medieval England, and physical violence in particular is

roundly condemned as a method for distinguishing good from evil and justice from injustice.

While analyzing chivalry's failure to halt warfare, Scott also portrays the dangers facing a

society infected by bigotry. Whether describing religious or racial prejudice, Scott stands

firmly opposed to intolerance of any kind. His study of Isaac and Rebecca has become one of

the most powerful statements in the English novel against the historical mistreatment of the

Jews. Disinherited and forced into such occupations as moneylending by a society that

manipulates them for its own purposes, Isaac and Rebecca defend themselves honorably.

When the two must leave England for safer shores at the end of the novel, Scott clearly points

to the injustice of this unfortunate exile.

SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE (1772-1834)

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

I INTRODUCTION

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834), English poet, critic, and philosopher, who was a leader

of the romantic movement (see Romanticism). The highly imaginative and vivid images of his

poems along with their varied rhythms and strange settings evoke the mysterious atmosphere

of a fairy tale or nightmare.

II COLERIDGES LIFE

Coleridge is often regarded as a tragic genius who fulfilled only a fraction of his enormous

potential. He was handicapped by his impulsive and impractical nature, which caused him to

leave many projects uncompleted. Nevertheless, he created poetry of unique beauty and

power.

A Early Years

Coleridge was born in Ottery Saint Mary in the English county of Devonshire on October 21,

1772. His father was a clergyman and a scholar. From 1791 until 1794 Coleridge studied

classics at Jesus College at the University of Cambridge and became interested in the politics

of the French Revolution (1789-1799), which was then underway. Through heavy drinking

and other self-indulgent behavior he incurred large debts, which he attempted to clear by

entering the army for a brief period. His brother paid for his release from the army. At the

university Coleridge absorbed political and theological ideas then considered radical,

especially those of Unitarianism.


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Coleridge left Cambridge without a degree and worked with his university friend the poet

Robert Southey on a plan, soon abandoned, to found a utopian society in Pennsylvania. This

ideal society, which Coleridge dubbed Pantisocracy, was based on the ideas of English

political philosopher William Godwin. But the plan evaporated soon after the two friends

married sisters, Sara and Edith Fricker, in 1795. Coleridges marriage to Sara proved

extremely unhappy, and his friendship with Southey cooled as well. Southey departed for

Portugal in 1795, but Coleridge remained in England to write and lecture. From his new home

in Clevedon, he edited a radical Christian journal, The Watchman. In 1796 he published

Poems on Various Subjects, which included The Eolian Harp and Monody on the Death of

Chatterton.

B Friendship with Wordsworth

By 1797 Coleridge had met the poet William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy, and had

begun what was to be a lifelong friendship with them. The years 1797 and 1798, during whichthe friends lived near each other in the county of Somerset, were among the most productive

of Coleridges life. The two men anonymously published a joint volume of poetry,Lyrical

Ballads (1798), which became a landmark in English poetry (see English Literature). It

contained the first great works of the romantic school, including the famous The Rime of the

Ancient Mariner.

In the fall of 1798 Coleridge and Wordsworth left for a trip on the European continent.

Coleridge soon went his own way, spending much of his time in Germany. During this period

he lost his early sympathy with political radicalism and became interested in German

philosophy, especially the 18th-century idealism of Immanuel Kant and the 17th-centurymystical writings of Jakob Boehme, and in the literary criticism of the 18th-century dramatist

G. E. Lessing. Coleridge studied German and translated into English the dramatic trilogy

Wallenstein by the romantic poet Friedrich von Schiller. These studies made Coleridge the

most influential English interpreter of German romanticism. By this time Coleridge had

become addicted to opium, a drug he used to ease the pain of rheumatism.

In 1800 Coleridge returned to England, and shortly thereafter settled with his family and

friends at Keswick in the Lake District of Cumberland. In 1804 he went to the island of Malta

as secretary to the governor. Coleridge returned to England in 1806. Between 1808 and 1819

he gave his famous series of lectures on literature and philosophy; the lectures on Shakespearewere partly responsible for a renewed interest in the playwright. In this period Coleridge also

wrote about religion and political theory. Financial donations and grants supplemented his

literary income.

C Seclusion in London

In 1816 Coleridge, still addicted to opium and now estranged from his family, took residence

in the London home of an admirer, the physician James Gillman. There he wrote his major

prose work,Biographia Literaria (1817), a series of autobiographical notes and dissertations

on many subjects, including some brilliantly perceptive literary criticism. The sections inwhich Coleridge defines his views on the nature of poetry and the imagination and discusses


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the works of Wordsworth are especially notable. Other writings were published while he was

in seclusion at the Gillman home, notably Sibylline Leaves (1817),Aids to Reflection (1825),

and Church and State(1830). He died in London on July 25, 1834. Coleridges oldest son,

Hartley Coleridge, was an accomplished scholar, best known for his poetry.

III COLERIDGES WORKS

Critical interest in Coleridge has focused on the poems he wrote in the 1790s. In addition to

the Ancient Mariner, Coleridge wrote the symbolic poem Kubla Khan during this period;

began the mystical narrative poem Christabel; and composed the quietly lyrical This Lime-

Tree Bower My Prison, Frost at Midnight, and The Nightingale, considered three of his

best conversational poems.

A Conversational Poems

One ofColeridgesmajor achievements of the 1790s was the development of the

conversational or conversation poem. Deeply personal, these works are emotional meditations

on experiences from everyday life. This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison (1797) relates the

poets frustration when injury prevents him from taking a walk with friends. Through his

imagination, he participates in their pleasure and realizes that the tree bower under which he

is convalescing also possesses a profound beauty. He writes,

Nature neer deserts the wise and pure;

No plot so narrow, be but Nature there,

No waste so vacant, but may well employEach faculty of sense, and keep the heart

Awake to Love and Beauty!

In TheNightingale(1798) the poet first reflects on the birds association with melancholy

and the reinforcement of that association through poetry. He then goes on to relate the intense

experience of observing his young sons delight in first hearing the birds song, a delight that

negates the conventional association.

Frost at Midnight(1798), perhaps Coleridges most powerful conversational poem, is

quietly meditative in tone. Its rhythm is subtle and unforced, successfully suggesting therhythms of actual speech. The poems speaker reflects on the silence of the night as he

watches over his sleeping child. As in the other conversational poems by Coleridge, the mind

of the poet and his environment are brought into intimate contact. Here, the secret ministry

of frost sets the poet on his imaginative journey. In dim sympathy with the wintry nights

silence, he muses on an unhappy urban childhood, spent in the great city, pent mid cloisters

dim, and resolves that this will not be the case for his son. Coleridge returns from his

thoughts with a touching expression of joy at the sight of his sleeping child, My babe so

beautiful! it thrills my heart.

B The Rime of the Ancient Mariner


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The opening poem of the first edition ofLyrical Ballads,The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,

is, in a precise historical sense, the only true ballad in the book. It conforms to the traditional

rules of meter for the genre, which was established in the late Middle Ages. In his attempt to

construct a historical artifact, Coleridge in some ways resembles the English aristocrats of the

period who enhanced their parks and gardens with picturesque ruins. The poem is scattered

with archaic words and phrases, such as unhand me, grey-beard loon! The 1798 edition

used the mock-medieval spelling, Ancyent Marinere. Later, Coleridge added prose

explanations in the style of a 17th-century scholar.

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is essentially a narrative poem that describes a meeting

between the title character and a guest at a wedding. The wedding guest expects to hear an

amusing anecdote from the mariner but finds himself listening instead to the story of a horrific

supernatural ordeal. The mariner tells how his rash act of killing an albatross brings ghostly

retribution upon the crew of his ship. The dead bird is hung around the mariners neck to

indicate his cursed status. The ship is adrift in a stagnant sea alive with slimy things. Dying

of thirst, the men are visited by a ghostly sight, the Night-mare Life in Death. Adrift on a

ship of dead men, the mariner is released when, looking at the slimy water-snakes, he

blesses them for their strange beauty. The albatross falls from his neck, but for his act he is

condemned to wander the Earth, preaching reverence for all creatures.

The poem achieves the stated aims ofLyrical Ballads with its strong, simple rhythms and

repetitions, creating the impression that it is a product of oral tradition rather than written

culture.

The ice was here, the ice was there,

The ice was all around:

It cracked and growled, and roared and howled,

Like noises in a swound.

In addition to emphasizing the poems balladic features, the insistent rhymes allude to the

irresistible supernatural powers that take control of the ship, and they give urgency to the

mariners narration. This urgency is a cursed one: I pass, like night, from land to land, he

declares, compelled to relate his story with his strange power of speech. There is much

strangeness in the poem that is hard to interpret consistently. In particular, the momentous

killing of the albatross, a central event, seems an act totally without motive.

Coleridge makes use of a number of poetic devices in the Ancient Mariner. As the crew is

suffering from heat and thirst, he introduces images such as the copper sky and the bloody

sun to emphasize the heat and suffering. He describes the becalmed boat as idle as a painted

ship upon a painted ocean and the water as like a witchs oils. Both comparisons are

examples of similes (see Figure of Speech). He repeats sounds at the beginnings of words

(alliteration) and vowel sounds in the middle of words (assonance), as in the line about,

about, in reel and rout.

C Christabel


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Like the AncientMariner, Christabel (1798, revised 1800) is a supernatural poem.

Christabel was published as a fragment. Coleridge drafted, but never completed, a second

part. The poem is a fantasy with a medieval setting influenced by the conventions of the

Gothic novel then popular in England. It is narrative-based rather than reflective, also like the

Ancient Mariner.

Christabel tells the story of a baronets daughter who discovers a mysterious woman in the

forest that surrounds her castle home. This woman, Geraldine, appears to be the victim of an

abduction, but in fact is a predatory, vampirelike creature. Coleridge gives her desire to do

evil a strongly erotic edge, placing much emphasis on Geraldines desire to look at

Christabels naked bodya sight to dream of, not to tell! Exclamations such as this are

urgently addressed to the reader, a practice also borrowed from Gothic fiction.

D Kubla Khan

Coleridge claimed that the poem Kubla Khan (1798) was the product of a hallucinatory

dream experienced after he had taken opium in consequence of a slight indisposition. On

awaking, he began to commit the experience to paper but was interrupted by a person on

business from Porlock. On returning to his desk, he found that the intensity of his

impressions had faded. The poem claims to be scattered lines and images from a longer,

forgotten work. Whether the story is true or not, the poem takes the unrecapturable nature of

such dreams as its theme. It opens with sumptuous images of a mythic land, in which a

powerful ruler orders the construction of a fabulous palace.

In Xanadu did Kubla KhanA stately pleasure-dome decree;

Where Alph, the sacred river, ran

Through caverns measureless to man

Down to a sunless sea.

Coleridge conveys the idea of harmony and order by imitating the word order of the Latin

language, using strong single-syllable rhymes, and providing a percussive beat heightened by

alliteration. The poem offers sensual images of an oriental paradise: There are gardens bright

with sinuous rills and many an incense-bearing tree. With a powerful sense of movement,

the poem follows the progress of the river Alph in order to focus on a violent natural forcebeyond the palace walls: a chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething. Coleridge describes this

place with a mass of contradictory adjectives: It is holy, enchanted, and savage, its

massive force like that of a living being. If, as literary critics have suggested, this place is a

metaphor (see Figure of Speech) for the imagination, its blasts might be compared to

Wordsworths definition of the poetic process as a spontaneous overflow of powerful

feeling.

The second half ofthe poem considers the fading of the dream and the speakers attempt to

recapture it. He finds that his attempt to communicate his vision to others threatens to alienate

him from those people.


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E Evaluation

Coleridge was esteemed by some of his contemporaries and is recognized today as a lyrical

poet and literary critic of the first rank. His poetic themes range from the supernatural to the

domestic. His treatises, lectures, and compelling conversational powers made him perhaps themost influential English literary critic and philosopher of the 19th century.

Despite the fact that his best-known works were written by 1800, and that several of these

remain unfinished, Coleridges status as a major poet remains secure. His increasing use of

opium ended his period of poetic production, and he left many works incomplete. Yet he

turned even these problems into the subject of a poem, Dejection: An Ode (1802), an

agonizing expression of his desire for poetic inspiration.

JANE AUSTEN (1775-1817)

Pride and Prejudice

Published 1813

I ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jane Austen, one of England's most cherished and frequently read novelists, was born into the

landed gentry in the town of Steventon on December 16, 1775. She was the sixth of seven

children raised by strong parents: Cassandra, the daughter of an Oxford University scholar,

and George, an Oxford-educated country clergyman. Never married, Austen lived

comfortably with her family in Steventon until 1800, and thereafter in Bath, Southampton,

and Chawton.

Many of her biographers have written that Austen's life lacked dramatic or noteworthyincidents. She and her older sister Cassandra were educated primarily at home by their father.

As a youth she read literature avidly, wrote fragments of novels and histories, and took part in

standard social activities such as formal dances and visiting. In adulthood her daily life

included assisting her parents at home and looking after her many nieces and nephews. Two

adult experiences do stand out: in 1801 a mysterious romantic interest of hers died, and in

1802 she accepted and then declined an offer of marriage from a man she did not love.

Otherwise Austen seems to have lived happily and uneventfully. During her mature years,

when she was an author of solid repute, she remained at home, preferring rural domesticity to

the London literary scene. She died in Winchester of Addison's disease on July 18, 1817.

In her early twenties, Austen wrote in earnest, completingLady Susan, Elinor and Marianne,

and First Impressions, and drafting other works. Her father sent the novels to a publisher, butall were rejected, as was Susan in 1803. In 1804 she began The Watsons but abandoned it

after her father's death. Perhaps because of these disappointments, Austen's interest in writing

waned until 1809-1811, when she revisedElinor and Marianne and won it an anonymous

printing as Sense and Sensibility. In 1812 she greatly revised First Impressions and saw it

published, also anonymously, as Pride and Prejudice. Working intensely in a busy parlor in

her Chawton home from 1813 to 1816, she composedMansfield Park, Emma, and Persuasion

and revised Susan intoNorthanger Abbey, a spoof of the popular romance and horror novels

of the era. At the time of her death she was working on a manuscript entitled Sanditon.

All of these works deal with the lives of young, marriageable men and women in England's

nineteenth-century rural landowning and aristocratic classes. Young readers have long

admired Austen's endearing, if imperfect heroes and heroines, whose struggles to find the

right partner are complex, moving, and often humorous. Austen's work is also known for its


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finely crafted plots, masterful language, and subtle irony, and for its vivid and sometimes

satirical presentation of the only society in which Jane Austen lived.

II OVERVIEW

Pride and Prejudice is a love story that is both humorous and deeply serious. It is primarily

concerned with the Bennets, a family with five daughters ranging in age from twenty-two to

fifteen. The family children live well but know that when their father dies they will lose theirhome and property to their cousin Mr. Collins, simply because the family has no male heir.

Mrs. Bennet, a comically deluded woman, believes that her main business is to arrange for her

children to marry rich or, at worst, reputable gentlemen. Her husband, a genial wit, refuses to

support her schemes but rarely hinders them. As a result, when experiences with bachelors of

varying worth lead to problems and new emotions, the daughters must struggle on their own,

without parental guidance.

The novel portrays two remarkable characters with whom generations of readers have fallen

in love: Elizabeth Bennet, the talented, independent second daughter, and Mr. Fitzwilliam

Darcy, a haughty aristocrat who sees through Mrs. Bennet's manipulations and believes the

Bennet family to be beneath him. In turn, Elizabeth develops a blinding prejudice against

Darcy and puts him down as no one has dared before. Their relationshipa combination of

attraction and contemptis certainly one of the most exciting in all literature.

Through its vivid characters, Pride and Prejudice contrasts many human qualities: depth and

superficiality; honesty and dishonesty; pride and humility; independence and servile

compliance; selfishness and generosity. Most important, Austen contrasts weak, dense people

with those who can recognize their own foibles and thus mature. It is the latter group that the

writer sees as the moral leaders of her society.

III SETTING

The story begins in the autumn of 1811 when Charles Bingley, accompanied by his two

sisters and Darcy, takes up residence at Netherfield, close to the Bennets' home at Longbourn.

Both homes are located in a rural area of Hertfordshire, a county in southeast-central England.Other scenes take place in nearby Rosings in Kent county, where Mr. Collins occupies a

clergyman's 'seat,' and in the central county Derbyshire, where Darcy lives. The novel also

describes, but does not show, events that occur in London (located twenty-four miles from

Longbourn) and in the popular seaside resort town of Brighton.

Pride and Prejudice reveals distinctions of social class that may seem unusual to young

American readers. Darcy and his aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, are members of the

aristocracy, England's hereditary ruling class. The Bennet family and the clergyman Mr.

Collinslike Jane Austen herselffall into the category of landed gentry, which means that

they own property in the country, are well-bred, and hold a good social position. The Bennets

are 'poor' only in comparison with others of the gentry. Historically, the aristocracy and gentry

mixed freely but tended not to cross lines for marriage. Both maintained business but notsocial dealings with people of 'inferior' status, such as small merchants, tenant farmers, and

servants.

The members of the Bingley family, from the north of England, are neither gentry nor

aristocracy, but their wealth and cultivation earn them immediate prestige in Hertfordshire

and make Charles an attractive bachelor. Finally, the officer corps of the militia contains men

of diverse status, ranging from aristocrats such as Colonel Fitzwilliam to men of more

ordinary background, such as Lieutenant George Wickham, whose father once managed the

property of Darcy's father. Wickham's rank as an officer allows him to visit the Bennet

family, but his lack of money or property renders him a poor choice for marriage, as Mrs.

Gardiner reminds her niece Elizabeth.

Young readers should know that Austen considers rural communities like the Bennets' places

of comfort and havens for traditional values. Families know each other well and care very


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much about how they appear to their neighbors. Unlike London, which values change,

fashion, and commerce, Austen's country towns preserve pleasures considered more genteel:

social graces, family living, and honorable courtship.

In this world marriage is a complex institution; teen-age women are considered 'out' (or

eligible for suitors) after they attend their first dance, and most of a young woman's life

consists of preparing for marriage. For most women, the choice of a spouse is the mostsignificant decision they will make. Because few women hold jobs, those who do not marry

may live lonely, idle existences. Many coupleslike Charlotte Lucas and Mr. Collinswed

not for love but to gain property or achieve a desired social rank. Austen's novels show such

arrangements, but they do not approve of them; her heroes and heroines never marry coldly.

IV THEMES AND CHARACTERS

Jane Austen is a keen observer of human behavior. She shows that while men and women

often think too highly of themselves, deceive or flatter others, and act stupidly, they are also

capable of love, kindness, and moral growth. With this mingling of positive and negative

traits, her heroes and heroines seem deeply human.

The novelist is reputed to have considered Elizabeth Bennet her favorite creation. Indeed, the

twenty-year-old possesses brains, beauty, musical talent, confidence, andfor the erarare

independence. At every turn Elizabeth displays the latter trait: she walks several miles alone

to visit her ailing sister Jane at Netherfield; she declines Mr. Collins's marriage offer despite

her mother's outrage; she angrily rejects Darcy's condescending proposal in the novel's most

stunning scene. But this independenceperhaps inherited from her motherleads her to

make mistakes: she judges Wickham, Darcy, and others too soon, and then clings stubbornly

to her prejudices.

Fitzwilliam Darcy first appears as an exceedingly self-impressed figure. Early in the novel, as

he rudely refrains from dancing at a ball, Elizabeth overhears him talking derogatorily about

her and the other women. At the next dance, he 'must' admit to himself, although he still

considers himself superior, that Elizabeth's intelligent expression is 'beautiful.' He falls in lovewith her against his wishesdespite detesting her bumptious mother, despite erroneously

distrusting her older sister Jane, despite disdaining her family's modest means, and despite

detecting Elizabeth's thinly veiled hostility. Darcy's attempts to approach Elizabeth succeed

only in offending her more, and to complicate matters, his arrogant Aunt Catherine expects

him to marry within the aristocracy.

Pride and Prejudice develops other characters skillfully if less fully. Charles Bingley and

Jane Bennet fall in love quickly and tastefully at the novel's outset. Both respect social form

and refuse to write or visit the other improperly. Bingley's intrusive sisters and Darcy remove

him to London in an attempt to break up their relationship. The sisters believe that their

brother should marry someone of his wealth, while Darcy believes that Jane, like her mother,

favors Charles only for his money. Jane, a thoughtful, self-denying womanthe opposite ofMrs. Bennettries to hide her heartbreak and humiliation from her family, particularly her

mother, for whom their engagement had been a certainty.

Meanwhile, the youngest Bennet, Lydia, whose shallowness points to her parents'

deficiencies, rushes into an ill-advised romance with Wickham, an officer who at first appears

charming and trustworthy. Wickham recountsto Elizabeth's satisfactionhow Darcy

unjustly kept him from receiving the large inheritance Darcy's father had left for him. Later,

after this lie is exposed by Darcy, Wickham fails in a ruthless attempt to marry a rich northern

woman and impulsively elopes with the naive Lydia. The sixteen-year-old girl speaks

recklessly, acts offensively, and must gratify her impulses instantly. Lydia fails to see that

running off with Wickham scandalizes her family.

Pride and Prejudice depicts a leadership crisis in the Bennet family and in the community asa whole. Mrs. Bennet's tactless meddling in Jane's affairs creates the appearance that her


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daughter is hunting Bingley's fortune. Mrs. Bennet also fails to anticipate the disastrous

possibilities of her young daughter's flirting with militiamen. Her hunger for attention

damages the family reputation at every public occasion. Meanwhile, as likeable as her

husband may seem, he has no stomach for disciplining his children. He is not seriously

engaged in their lives except when Lydia's flight jeopardizes the family. Then he reluctantly

assumes his paternal duties and makes for London to reclaim his daughter, only to return infailure.

Several memorable minor characters also contribute to this leadership void. Lady Catherine

de Bourgh, Darcy's aunt, is a rich, domineering woman who stifles others' spirits at every

social gathering and considers Elizabeth a poor match for her nephew. Sir William Lucas,

Charlotte's 'empty-headed' father, lives inconsequentially, overly concerned with his own

importance. Mr. Collins, the young clergyman, strives for no role of substance in his

community, instead considering his only urgent duty to follow Lady Catherine's orders

quickly and precisely.

Pride and Prejudice shows the Bennet familyand by inference the country life that Austen

lovedto be in a state of crisis. With no strong adult influences, the best young people step

forward. Darcy shows his true mettle by secretly helping Charles return to Jane, by ensuringthat Wickham and Lydia return to Longbourn as a married couple with an income, and by

proposing again to Elizabeth with new humility. Shamed, Elizabeth recognizes many of her

misjudgments and accepts Darcy's proposal. Their personalities soften and blend beautifully.

Like any moralist, Austen shows that foolish or evil actions do have adverse consequences.

Although Jane ends up happily married to Bingley, the scheming of her mother and Bingley's

sisters causes her real pain. More severely, Lydia ends up living joylessly with her indifferent

husband, always moving about and never financially secure. Darcy's intervention preserves

her reputation, but her life amounts to little.

The novel ends on the hopeful note of two Christmas-time weddings for the eldest Bennet

daughters. Elizabeth builds a friendship with Darcy's sister Georgiana, occasionally sends

money to Lydia, and gradually moves her husband to reconcile with his aunt. By their actions

and their shared sense of duty, Elizabeth and Darcya union of the gentry and the

aristocracyshow themselves to have become leaders in their society.

V LITERARY QUALITIES

Pride and Prejudice is an exciting, suspenseful story. The novel does not drag, for Austen

writes succinctly and structures a tight plot. The story is based on a series of conflicts: the

central one between Elizabeth and Darcy, and smaller ones concerning the other characters.

Every chapter builds towards the novel's climax, Elizabeth's visit to Darcy's home in

Derbyshire, and the resolution is both plausible and satisfying.

Pride and Prejudice is an excellent book to reread because of its foreshadowingsubtle hints

of upcoming events. Darcy's first proposal to Elizabeth, Lydia's elopement, and Charlotte'smarriage are among the novel's many foreshadowed occurrences.

Austen also uses language superbly, but not in flowery or flashy ways. Rather, she writes with

great clarity and precision, and employs irony for a comic effect. Irony allows a writer to

communicate more than the literal or expected meanings of his or her language. For instance,

upon Darcy's entrance to a dance in chapter 3, Austen writes that 'the report was in general

circulation within five minutes...of his having ten thousand a year.' Here Austen pokes fun at

the gossipy nature of the people and shows why Darcy might be justified in feeling out of

place. Austen also fills the novel's dialogue with irony, making people such as Mrs. Bennet

and Mr. Collins reveal their foolishness to the reader through their ridiculous comments.

Many critics consider the novel a satire, which, in general terms, is a literary work that uses

irony and humor to expose human or social faults. Thus, Lydia embodies vanity, Wickhamdishonesty, Mr. Collins obsequiousness, and Mrs. Bennet a multitude of follies. Austen does


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not tear down country life or folk; rather, she directs the reader's gaze to some of the human

imperfections that threaten the virtues of her culture.

Pride and Prejudice possesses other literary qualities. Austen renders splendid characters,

showing how their errors result from their flaws. She uses symbolism sparingly but

successfully; for example, the ordered, austere beauty of Darcy's grounds and home at

Pemberly represents his real nature. Finally, Austen employs the omniscient point of view,which means that her all-knowing narrator has complete knowledge of the story and can

reveal any character's thoughts and feelings to the reader. Most of the time, the narrator shows

the world as Elizabeth sees it.

VI SOCIAL SENSITIVITY

Pride and Prejudice contains no violent or explicit scenes and adults should feel comfortable

that it is appropriate for young readers. Nevertheless, the novel does present as 'normal'

certain attitudes that few readers share today. The class system imposes unwritten rules on

who may marry or socialize with whom. Young readers may profit from learning about other

manifestations of class discrimination: injustice, social unrest, and the leveling of aspirations.

Also, the novel does not question or challenge the inferior position allotted to women in early

nineteenth-century country life. Mr. Bennet's daughters cannot inherit his property, and they

receive less schooling than do males of the landed gentry. Twenty-seven-year-olds such as

Charlotte Lucas marry lesser men for fear of wearing the label 'spinster' at thirty. Women

cannot work and thus are economically dependent upon men. For women, 'success' is defined

solely in terms of marriage and domestic affairsin short, in terms of what they provide for

men. But even in the homeMr. Bennet's weakness notwithstandingthe father controls the

money and holds ultimate authority. That Elizabeth is even considered 'rebellious' is one

measure of the restriction of women; her actions surely would not earn her that label today.

Teachers and other adults may find it helpful to discuss gender roles and sex discrimination

with young readers. While Elizabeth has been called a pioneer for sexual equality (she tells

Mrs. Gardiner that she will marry Wickham or whomever else she pleases), she does in facttake rather nicely to her appointed role in the end.

Plot introduction

Elinor and Marianne Dashwood are sisters with opposite temperaments. Traditionally, it has

been viewed that 19 year old Elinor, the elder daughter, represents "sense" (reason) of the

title, and Marianne , who is 17, represents "sensibility" (emotion). However this view is a

very restricting one. On close inspection of the novel it can be seen that each

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