romantics 1798 – 1837. romantic revolution romantic age age of poetry

ROMANTICS

1798 – 1837

Romantic Revolution

Romantic Age Age of Poetry

Romantic Revolution

Romantic Age Age of Poetry

begins with the French Revolution

(Storming of the Bastille – 1789)

Romantic Revolution

Romantic Age Age of Poetry

In its first phase

nearly all Romantic poets were in favour of it

Romantic Revolution

Romantic Age Age of Poetry

William Blake – William Wordsworth –

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

were enthusiastic supporters.

Romantic Revolution

Romantic Age Age of Poetry

The bloody excesses of the “Reign of Terror” + imperialist tendencies of Napoleon cooled down

their enthusiasm, but the belief in the values expressed by the French Revolution remained.

REVOLUTIONARY SPIRIT

REVOLUTIONARY SPIRIT

Sense that a new era had begun:

REVOLUTIONARY SPIRIT

Sense that a new era had begun: Connection between Poetry &

Revolution

REVOLUTIONARY SPIRIT

Sense that a new era had begun: Connection between Poetry &

Revolution Democratic poems on simple people

using simple language

(no poetic diction)

Revolutionary Spirit

It took various forms:•

Revolutionary Spirit

It took various forms:

• Political social revolution in America & France

Revolutionary SpiritIt took various forms:

•

• Ideological revolution against all forms of authority neglecting

human dignity & free choice

Criticism of the social results of the Industrial Revolution

Revolutionary SpiritIt took various forms:

•

• Revolt against traditional Churches

Revolutionary SpiritIt took various forms:

•

• Revolt against classical restraints (liberation of the

subconscious)

Revolutionary SpiritIt took various forms:

•

• Artistic revolution against neo-classical rules free expression of personal feelings

Neo-classical vs. Romantic

Static vision Dynamic vision

Neo-classical vs. Romantic

Static vision Conservatism

Dynamic vision Revolution

Neo-classical vs. Romantic

Static vision Conservatism Uniformity

Dynamic vision Revolution Diversity

Neo-classical vs. Romantic

Static vision Conservatism Uniformity Rationality

Dynamic vision Revolution Diversity Feeling

Neo-classical vs. Romantic

Static vision Conservatism Uniformity Rationality

Dynamic vision Revolution Diversity Sentiment

God is in Nature – not above Nature Pantheistic view

Augustan vs Romantic writers:

Augustan vs Romantic writers:

Stressed man’s rational side (reason)

Emphasized imagination & emotion (heart)

Augustan vs Romantic writers:

Were concerned with the general / universal in experience

(objectivity)

Were concerned with the subjective and particular

(subjectivity)

Augustan vs Romantic writers:

Asserted the values of society

(Conservatism

- static vision)

Championed the value of the individual

Strove for freedom (Revolutionarism

- dynamic vision)

Augustan vs Romantic writers:

Took inspiration from classical Greek/Romans

Took interest in medieval subjects + contemporary issues

Augustan vs Romantic writers:

Used artificial language (poetic diction)

Used ordinary language

Reason vs. Heart

Reason vs. Heart

Supremacy of reason Rationalism

/Enlightenment

Emotions Sensibility

Reason vs. Heart

Supremacy of reason Rationalism

/Enlightenment Balance with nature Suppression of

feelings – self-control

Emotions Sensibility Introspection –

“Spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”

Reason vs. Heart

Supremacy of reason Rationalism

/Enlightenment Balance with nature Suppression of

feelings – self-control Belief in Knowledge &

Progress Objectivity - Realism

Emotions Sensibility Introspection Growing interest in

humble & everyday life Escape - Countryside vs.

City Subjectivity - Imagination

Romanticism

Emphasis on Feelings versus Intellect

Romanticism

Feelings versus IntellectFeelings such as loneliness & melancholy

capable of stirring man’s best emotions

German Origins

Sturm und Drang (Goethe – Schiller)

German Origins

Sturm und Drang (Goethe – Schiller)

Open revolt against Classicism

Two Generations of Romantics

1st Generation

2nd Generation

Two Generations of Romantics

1st Generation

William Blake

2nd Generation

Two Generations of Romantics

1st Generation

William Blake William Wordsworth

2nd Generation

Two Generations of Romantics

1st Generation

William Blake William Wordsworth Samuel Taylor

Coleridge

2nd Generation

Two Generations of Romantics

1st Generation

William Blake William Wordsworth Samuel Taylor

Coleridge

2nd Generation

George Gordon Byron

Two Generations of Romantics

1st Generation

William Blake William Wordsworth Samuel Taylor

Coleridge

2nd Generation

George Gordon Byron Percy Bysshe Shelley

Two Generations of Romantics

1st Generation

William Blake William Wordsworth Samuel Taylor

Coleridge

2nd Generation

George Gordon Byron Percy Bysshe Shelley John Keats

Poetic Form

Poetry to express personal feelings Introspection

Poetic Form

Poetry to express personal feelings Introspection

Romantics discovered reality/truth to be subjective

Poetic Form

Poetry to express personal feelings Introspection

Romantics discovered reality/truth to be subjective

1st-person lyric (formerly reguarded as a minor genre)

Poetic Form

Poetry to express personal feelings Introspection

Romantics discovered reality/truth to be subjective

1st-person lyric (formerly reguarded as a minor genre)

Individualism in the I-form

Romantics failed in social / political / economic life

They felt isolated from the rest of society and chose:

Romantics failed in social / political / economic life

They felt isolated from the rest of society and chose:

RETIREMENT in nature

(Wordsworth – Coleridge “The

Lake Poets”)

Romantics failed in social / political / economic life

They felt isolated from the rest of society and chose:

RETIREMENT in nature

(Wordsworth – Coleridge “The Lake Poets”)

EXILE

Byron was banished because

of sexual scandals; Shelley for atheism

& socialism

Romantics failed in social / political / economic life

They felt isolated from the rest of society and chose:

RETIREMENT in nature

(Wordsworth – Coleridge “The Lake Poets”)

EXILE

Byron was banished because of sexual scandals; Shelley

for atheism & socialism

REVOLT

against the establishment

(Blake suffered

imprisonment)

Romantics looked for escape

Romantics looked for escape

in Nature

Romantics looked for escape

in Nature in exotic lands

Romantics looked for escape

in Nature in exotic lands

In history & folklore (Middle Ages – Scotland)

Romantics looked for escape

in Nature in exotic lands

In history & folklore (Middle Ages – Scotland)Beyond reality (supernatural – magic –

hallucinated states of mind induced by drugs)

Romantic myths

Desire to reach for the infinitive

Romantic myths

Desire to reach for the infinitive To exceed human limits

Romantic myths

Desire to reach for the infinitive To exceed human limits The Myth of the Outlaw:

Satan, Cain, Prometheus, Faustus, Napoleon as a tyrant

Poet as a Prophet

Poet as a Prophet

Romantic poets felt they were striving for something unattainable

Poet as a Prophet

Romantic poets felt they were striving for something unattainable

They knew they were destined to fail

Poet as a Prophet

Romantic poets felt they were striving for something unattainable

They were destined to fail Their task was to talk to other men

about what they could see

Poet as a Prophet

Romantic poets felt they were striving for something unattainable

They were destined to fail Their task was to talk to other men about

what they could see To awaken the common man from

his death-like existence

Poet as a Prophet

Romantic poets felt they were striving for something unattainable

They were destined to fail Their task was to talk to other men about what they

could see To awaken the common man from his death-like

existence To help realize the potential of human

mind through the healing qualities of Nature

Role of Imaginationas opposed to fantasy/fancy

Connected to the universe

Role of Imaginationas opposed to fantasy/fancy

Connected to the universe Central point of the creating process

Role of Imaginationas opposed to fantasy/fancy

Connected to the universe Central point of the creating process Interaction between physical world &

human mind

Role of Imaginationas opposed to fantasy/fancy

Connected to the universe Central point of the creating process Interaction between physical world &

human mind Human/divine – mortality/eternity

Role of Imaginationas opposed to fantasy/fancy

Connected to the universe Central point of the creating process Interaction between physical world &

human mind Human/divine – mortality/eternity Emotions felt Poetry written

“Whole Nature is Imagination”

William Blake

Man should learn to see:“A World in a Grain of Sand,

a Heaven in a Wild FlowerHold Infinity in the palm of his hand

Eternity in an Hour”

William Blake

Romantic Themes:

Romantic Themes:

Love for Nature

Romantic Themes:

Love for Nature

Feeling higher than

reason

Romantic Themes:

Love for Nature

Feeling higher than

reason

Glorification of

commonplace

Romantic Themes:

Love for Nature

Feeling higher than

reason

Glorification of

commonplace

Interest in the supernatural /

magic

Romantic Themes:

Love for Nature

Feeling higher than

reason

Glorification of

commonplace

Interest in the supernatural /

magic

“Dark”

satanic hero

Concept of NATURE

NATURE

Not simply a description of physical nature

NATURE

Not simply a description of physical nature

Nature is endowed with life, passion

NATURE

Not simply a description of physical nature

Nature is endowed with life, passion Nature is talked of as if God were a

dearest friend

NATURE

Not simply a description of physical nature

Nature is endowed with life, passion Nature is talked of as if God were a

dearest friend Romantic description of places

thoughts about man & universe

Love for the countryside

The desolate, ruins, graveyards, ancient castles, abbeys

NATURE as opposed to industrial towns

Love for the countryside

The desolate, ruins, graveyards, ancient castles, abbeys

NATURE as opposed to industrial towns

Ideal place for meditation

MELANCHOLY associated with MEDITATION on the suffering of the POOR and DEATH

COMMONPLACE

COMMONPLACE

Simple scenes to reveal the “ordinary” in its splendour

COMMONPLACE

Simple scenes to reveal the “ordinary” in its splendour

To make us see familiar things as they are

COMMONPLACE

Simple scenes to reveal the “ordinary” in its splendour

To make us see familiar things as they are

To see with the eyes of a child

COMMONPLACE

Simple scenes to reveal the “ordinary” in its splendour

To make us see familiar things as they are

To see with the eyes of a child Use of simple language

New aesthetic theory

New aesthetic theory

Nature is perceived as a real living being

New aesthetic theory

Nature is perceived as a real living being Value of sensibility

New aesthetic theory

Nature is perceived as a real living being Value of sensibility Variety of individual RESPONSES to

SENSATIONS

New aesthetic theory

Nature is perceived as a real living being Value of sensibility Variety of individual RESPONSES to

SENSATIONS Individual consciousness

SUBJECTIVITY (David Hume: Subjective Beauty – Edmund Burke: Supremacy of the SUBLIME over the BEAUTIFUL

CONCEPT of the SUBLIMEEdmund Burke

What is beauty?

CONCEPT of the SUBLIMEE. Burke

What is sublime?

CONCEPT of the SUBLIMEE. Burke

Flowerbeds are beautiful…

CONCEPT of the SUBLIMEE. Burke

Daylight is beautiful …

CONCEPT of the SUBLIMEE. Burke

Daylight is beautiful because it can be contemplated

CONCEPT of the SUBLIMEE. Burke

The eruption of a volcano is sublime

CONCEPT of the SUBLIMEE. Burke

The eruption of a volcano is sublime A storm is sublime

CONCEPT of the SUBLIMEE. Burke

The eruption of a volcano is sublime A storm at sea is sublime An abyss is sublime

CONCEPT of the SUBLIMEE. Burke

The eruption of a volcano is sublime A storm at sea is sublime An abyss is sublime The obscurity of the night is sublime

because…

CONCEPT of the SUBLIMEE. Burke

the sublime arouses emotions such as: Uncertainty Anxiety Anguish Astonishment Admiration, reverence, respect

BURKE’s conclusion is that…

BURKE’s conclusion is that…

the great and the sublime are more effective than beauty in art because they arouse:

BURKE’s conclusion is that…

the great and the sublime are more effective than beauty in art because they arouse:

HORROR & FEAR ….by suspending man’s faculty of reason

SUPERNATURAL - MAGIC

SUPERNATURAL - MAGIC

Universe could reveal itself to man in apparent (nature) or invisible (supernatural)

SUPERNATURAL - MAGIC

Universe could reveal itself to man in apparent (nature) or invisible (supernatural)

Dreams – nightmares – visions – the occult were cultivated by the Romantics

SUPERNATURAL - MAGIC

Universe could reveal itself to man in apparent (nature) or invisible (supernatural)

Dreams – nightmares – visions – the occult were cultivated by the Romantics

Coleridge explored distorted states of consciousness brought on by drugs such as opium (Kubla Khan)

SATANIC HERO

Fascination for the negative / the forbidden

Glorious failure haunted by remorse (Faustus)

Solitary heroes / exiles as if they had committed crimes (Byron)

Thank you for your attention.