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The Romantic Period. 1798-1832 “Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.” William Wordsworth , Preface to Lyrical Ballads.
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The Romantic Period 1798-1832 “Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.” William Wordsworth , Preface to Lyrical Ballads
Basic Definition- The Romantic period was a time of nature-inspired poetry, political questioning and individualism.
When did Romanticism begin? • This political, artistic and social movement began as a reaction to the “scientific thoughts” of the writers of the Enlightenment and Age of Reason. • William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote the “Lyrical Ballads” in 1798 and most scholars believe this began the movement. • The “Lyrical Ballads” are a set of poems describing the personal and subjective view of nature through connections with beauty and the divine.
Where did it come from? • In addition to the artists rebelling against the Age of Reason, there was a similar movement happening in Germany called Sturm und Drang • This movement brought about the most important characteristic of Romanticism: the voice of the individual • The “voice” of the speakers in Romantic poetry is a person who rebels against traditional norms, who fights for independent thought and seeks solace with nature and the child’s imagination • Common themes are carpe diem, innocence versus experience, non-conformity, appreciation for beauty in nature – we’ll study themes along with the literature.
Characteristics, continued • Questioning of authority • Values individuals who question authority • Personal liberty above all else • Glorifies the childlike imagination=innocent • Nature is omnipresent: rural landscapes and picturesque settings • Non-conformity ; originality • Subjective rather than objective – life is more than observations • The ordinary is described extraordinarily
Views of Nature • Nature has a transformational powers • Poems about nature communicate this power nature has to alter human perception and perspective • Specific viewpoints • 1. Nature does not die ; serves as “agent of death” • 2. Nature was created by God and is proof that he exists • 3. Nature affects the human mind • 4. Nature provides the concept of “moral freedom” • 5. Nature is beautiful and beauty is truth to the Romantics
Literature: “Art for Art’s Sake” • The aesthetic movement that began later during the Romantic period is also called “art for art’s sake” • “Art for art’s sake” means Romantics appreciate art for the affects its beauty has on the individual. They enjoy the beauty of art in various forms • Happiness to the Romantics is creating harmony between unlimited will and limited world • Poems search for a symbolic understanding of the world: its beauty, burdens, human instincts, pain and eternal truth • Focus on using art (poetry) to turn chance into design
One topic in particular was a favorite among the Romantics Nature.These poems were not quaint, predictable, over-simplified glorifications of Nature on a purely observational level.
These poems were designed to communicate Nature’s transformative power.Nature is portrayed as omnipresent and capable of altering human perception and perspective. The settings of these poems, therefore, are picturesque and exotic, a characteristic specific to Romanticism.
Views of Nature:Nature does not die, but serves as the “agent of death”Nature is a beautiful, intricate system that must have been created by God---Nature assures us that God existsNature is not hostile, but is a mysterious force that affects the human mind
‘’Hey, Johnny, what are you rebelling against’’?“What’ve you got’?” Movies such as Marlon Brando’s ‘’Wild One’’ have popularized the ideal of an irresistible bad boy, glamorous in his fatal passion, rivaling society with a hell-bent glare.
This bad boy stereotype first entered our English culture in the Romantic poetry of Lord Byron. These ill-fated but beautifully emotional characters are called “Byronic Heroes.”
Another characteristic of Romantic literature is the inclusion of supernatural elements.
Perhaps, for the Romantics, Nature was so powerful that it could not be contained. Nature takes on a mysterious, sometimes even scary quality in literature of the Romantics. Supernatural elements play a large part in these works.
First Generation poets:William BlakeWilliam WordsworthSamuel Taylor ColeridgeThese poets began & lived through all or most of the entire Romantic movement
Second Generation Poets:Percy Bysshe ShelleyJohn KeatsLord Byron-Began their careers in the 2nd decade of the century but died before 1825
British Romantic poetry most frequently took the form of lyric poetry.This genre employed rhythm, repetition, and sometimes rhyme to give the poem a lyrical or musical effect. Lyric poetry emphasizes deep feeling and emotion as opposed to logic, reason or narrative.
Although poetry was the most expected Romantic genre, Romantic novels were also written. A popular novel by Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, is also representative of the period.
Romanticism TodayThis is a clip from a film directed by Peter Weir- Dead Poets Society (1989) We can view it from many perspectives, but as you watch I want you to write down how we can view this film from a romantic point of view.
