The Romantic Period in Europe

1. The Romantic Period in Europe 1785-1830

2. BBC Documentary: The Romantics

3. Frankenstein is primarily a Gothic novel but has significant connections to the Romantic movement

4. Shelley’s link to Romanticism is inevitable given her background • Father, Godwin, had a notable impact on many English Romantic poets • Husband, Percy Shelley, one of the key Romantic poets • Mary Shelley frequently in the company of notable Romantics, such as Lord Byron

5. How did romanticism begin?

6. A PERIOD OF GREAT CHANGE • FOR CENTURIES ENGLAND HAD BEEN AN AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY W/ A POWERFUL LANDHOLDING ARISTOCRACY.

11. PERIOD OF CHANGE (cont.) • NOW THE COUNTRY WAS BEING TRANSFORMED INTO AMODERN INDUSTRIAL NATION OF LARGE-SCALE EMPLOYERS & A GROWING, RESTLESS MIDDLE CLASS.

18. PHYSICAL & SOCIAL CHANGES • MILL TOWNS GREW. • THE LANDSCAPE WAS INCREASINGLY SUBDIVIDED. • FACTORIES SPEWED SMOKE & POL-LUTION OVER EVER-EXPANDING SLUMS. • THE POPULATION WAS INCREASING-LY DIVIDED INTO RICH & POOR.

19. LACK OF REFORM • ECONOMIC & POLITICAL REFORMS WERE SLOW TO OCCURBECAUSE OF THE PREVAILING LAISSEZ-FAIRE(“LET ALONE”) PHILOSOPHY.

20. Impact of Industrial Revolution on the Common People • THE MOST IMPORTANTASPECT OF THE I.R. WAS THE APPLICATION OF INDUSTRIAL PRINCIPLES OF PRODUCTION TO HUMAN WORK • THE MACHINE BECAME A MODEL OF THE FACTORY • ASSEMBLY LINES AND MASS PRODUCTION RESULTED FROM THIS DEVELOPMENT • WORKING PEOPLE (INCLUDING WOMEN AND CHILDREN) WERE PUT UNDER DANGEROUSAND DEHUMANIZING CONDITONS (COAL MINING) FOR LOW WAGES

21. LACK OF REFORM (cont.) • IN THE FACE OF ECONOMIC DEPRES-SION & TECHNOLOGICAL UNEM-PLOYMENT, WORKERS (WHO HAD NO VOTE) HAD TORESORT TO PROTESTS & RIOTS,INCURRING FURTHER RE-PRESSION. • WORKING-CLASS REVOLTS WERE A MAJOR CONCERN

22. SHELLEY’S REPRESENTATION OF THE CREATURE COMMUNICATES an OUTRAGED AWARENESS OF SOCIAL INJUSTICE AND A PASSIONATE DESIRE FOR REFORM BUT… • SHE COULD NOT FULLY SUPPORT THE REBELLION AGAINST ESTABLISHED ORDER…AND EXPRESSES FEAR OF THE REVOLUTIONARY VIOLENCE THAT INJUSTICE IN SOCIETY MIGHT PROVOKE

23. LACK OF REFORM (cont.) • WHILE THE POOR OF ENGLAND SUFFERED, HOWEVER, THE LEISURE CLASS PROSPERED.

24. THE PLIGHT OF WOMEN • WOMEN OF ALL CLASSES WERE REGARDED AS INFERIOR TO MEN & HAD ALMOSTNO LEGAL RIGHTS. • WOMEN WERE UNDEREDUCATED, HAD LIMITED VOCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES, AND WERE SUBJECT TO A STRICT CODE OF SEXUAL CONDUCT.

25. DUE TO THIS DRASTIC CHANGE… • Romanticism was created by... • Disheartened liberals who… • Wanted to go back to the “good days,” which were idealized because of its spiritual depth, adventure, and focus on nature. • Seen as the beginnings of a new age of justice and equality for all • Originated around 1789- the year of the French Revolution

26. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION • AT FIRST WIDELY SUPPORTED BY ENGLISH LIBERALS & RADICALS, WHO ADVOCATED A DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC FOR ENGLAND THROUGH EITHER PEACEFUL EVOLUTION OR POPULAR REVOLUTION.

27. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION • ROMANTICS, INCLUDING GODWIN [SHELLEY’S FATHER] WERE INITIALLY FULL OF OPTIMISM AND IDEALISM AND PLACED THE SOURCE OF EVIL IN HUMAN INSTITUTIONS • THEY BELIEVED IN THE PERFECTABILITY OF THE HUMAN RACE • THEY THOUGHT THE REVOLUTION WOULD REMOVE THE CORRUPT INSTITUTIONS AND, IN A SENSE, CREATE A “NEW MAN”

28. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION • THE REVOLUTIONARIES’ MOTIVES WERE ADMIRABLE, BUT THE MEANS THEY ADOPTED WERE VIOLENT • GUITENE • EXECUTION OF THE KING (DEFIED GOD’S LAW BECAUSE KING=DIVINE ON EARTH) • FRENCH REVOLUTION= CREATURE? • “a gigantic body politic originating in a desire to benefit all mankind,” but so abandoned and abused, “that it is driven into an uncontrollable rage” (Mellor).

29. What is ROMANTICISM? • Romanticism refers to a movement in art, literature, and music during the 19th century. • Romanticism is characterized by the following: • Interest in the common man and childhood (Idealism) • Importance of Imagination • Strong senses, emotions, and feelings (Intuition) • Celebration of the Individual • Awe of nature

30. Interest in the Common Man and Childhood (Idealism) • Idealism is the concept that we can make the world a better place. • Idealism refers to any theory that emphasizes the spirit, the mind, or language over matter – thought has a crucial role in making the world the way it is. • Romantics believed in the natural goodness of humans which is hindered by the urban life of civilization • The savage is noble, childhood is good and the emotions inspired by both beliefs causes the heart to soar.

31. Importance of Imagination • Imagination was emphasized over “reason.” • Used both to escape the world and to transform it • Creativity = Power • Placed more value on SELF

32. Celebration of the Individual • Romantics celebrated the individual. • During this time period, Women’s Rights and Abolitionism were taking root as major movements. • Walt Whitman, a later Romantic writer, would write a poem entitled “Song of Myself”: it begins, “I celebrate myself…” • Romantics elevated the achievements of the misunderstood, heroic individual outcast.

33. Strong Senses, Emotions, and Feelings (Intuition) • Romantics placed value on “intuition,” or feeling and instincts, over reason. • Emotions were important in Romantic art. • British Romantic William Wordsworth described good poetry as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.”

34. Inspiration • The Romantic artist, musician, or writer, is an “inspired creator” rather than a “technical master.” • What this means is “going with the moment” or being spontaneous, rather than “getting it precise.”

35. Awe of Nature • Romantics stressed the awe of nature in art and language and the experience of sublimity (greatness) through a connection with nature • They rejected the rationalization of nature by the previous thinkers of the Enlightenment period.

36. ENLIGHTMENT VS. ROMANTICISM • ENLIGHTMENT ENSHIRNED REASON– ROMANTICS CELEBRATED MADNESS • ENLIGHTMENT CRITICIZED ENTHUSIASM AND DISTRUSTED THE EMOTIONAL SIDE OF HUMANITY –ROMANTICS CALLED ON HUMANS TO TRUST THEIR INSTINCTS AND FEELINGS • ENLIGHTENMENT BELIEVED SCIENCE WAS THE IDEAL OF HUMAN ACHIEVEMENT – ROMANTICS EMPHASIZED POETRY

37. ENLIGHTMENT VS. ROMANTICISM • ENLIGHTENMENT EMPHASIZED PROGRESS – ROMANTICS SOUGHT TO RETURN TO AN IDEALIZED PAST, WHILE ALSO REALIZING THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF SUCH A RETURN

38. THE ‘BIG SIX’ OF ENGLISH ROMANTICISM • WILLIAM BLAKE (1757-1827) • WILLIAM WORDSWORTH (1770-1850) • SAMUELTAYLOR COLERIDGE (1772-1834) • GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON (1788-1824) • PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY(1792-1822) • JOHN KEATS (1795—1821)

39. “FATHERS” OF ROMANTIC POETRY • WORDSWORTH AND COLERIDGE PUBLISHED THE LYRICAL BALLADS IN 1798 • VOLUME CONTAINED “TINTERN ABBEY” (WORDSWORTH) AND “RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER” (COLERIDGE)

40. FRANKENSTEIN AND ROMANTICISM • CONCERNED WITH THE CORRUPTION OF SOCIAL INSTITIUTIONS • HOWEVER, SHE SHOWS LITTLE FAITH IN THE POSSIBILITY OF CHANGE • THE CREATION OF A CREATURE, A NEW, IMPROVED MAN, SUGGESTS SHE HAS EQUALLY LITTLE FAITH IN THE PERFECTABILITY OF THE HUMAN RACE

41. Introduction to Frankenstein: Crash Course MARY SHELLEY

42. Early Life • August 30, 1797: Born in London • Only child of two notable intellectual radicals • William Goodwin: philosopher; believed all human institutions were corrupt • Mary Wollstonecraft: pioneering feminist; died only ten days after daughter’s birth • Mary Jane Clairmont (widow): married William Goodwin four years after wife’s death • Relationship between stepmother and daughter strained

43. Friends of Shelley’s • Friends of father • Charles Lamb (writer and essayist) • Samuel Taylor Coleridge (“Rime of the Ancient Mariner” • Friends of daughter • Percy Blysshe Shelley • Lord Byron (had affair and impregnated Shelley’s stepsister, Claire)

44. Percy and Mary Shelley • Began relationship in spring of 1814, as he was a frequent visitor to the Goodwin home • Eloped in summer of 1814 when Mary was 17 (Percy already married with one young daughter and a child on the way ) • Became pregnant immediately (premature daughter died) • Father refused to speak to Mary after elopement (lasted 2 ½ years) • Mary is a social outcast because she ran away with a married man. She must live separately from Percy

45. 1816: gave birth to William • October 1816: Percy’s wife drowned herself (while pregnant with their third child) • Mary and Percy marry; Mary reconciles with father • Had five children total; only one lived to adulthood (Percy Florence) • July 1822: Percy Shelley drowns. • February 1, 1851: Died in London at age of 53

46. THEMES in Frankenstein

47. THEMES • Birth and Creation • Alienation • The Family and Domestic Affections • The Double • Critique of Society • Monstrous and the Human • Alienation and loneliness • Nature vs. Nurture • Justice vs. Injustice • Forbidden Knowledge • Science vs. Nature

48. Look at Allusions and Analogies in Frankenstein handout • Beside each quote for Paradise Lost, write down what we learn about the creature from each reference • Beside each quote for “Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” write down what we learn about Walton, Frankenstein and the plot from each reference • SKIPPrometheus Allusions • Read Allusions to Shelley’s life: How does Frankenstein allude to her life?

49. Frankenstein and “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” • Antarctic/Arctic • Ships trapped in ice • Victor and Mariner defy God, which disturbs the natural order of their world • World transformed into a nightmare vision of an alien universe, a meaningless and terrifying wasteland, a world without God. • Monster also experiences godless world (full of corrupt individuals who are irresponsible and cruel) • Mariner, Victor and Creature alienated; no longer at peace with self or wider community • Punishment: continue living despite desire to die; those closest must pay. • Mariner and Victor seek redemption by continuing on journey. Mariner tries to pray; Victor tries to find Creature and destroy him. • Frankenstein and Mariner forced to do penance by telling story of warning.

50. “Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay / To mold me man? Did I solicit thee / From darkness to promote me?” • This quotation appears on the title page of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. It could have been spoken by Frankenstein’s creature. In fact, the words come from John Milton’s poem Paradise Lost (1667) and are spoken by the character of Adam. This book-length poem is a retelling of the story of Adam and Eve from the Bible. An equally prominent character in the poem is Satan, the lord of evil. Milton depicts Satan as the chief angel of heaven who rebels against God and is cast into hell. To avenge himself, he tempts Adam and Eve to disobey God in the Garden of Eden. **The McGraw-Hill Company, Inc.