The Romantic Period

1798-1832

“Beauty is truth, truth beauty.That’s all you know on EarthAnd all you need to know.”

-William Wordsworth

DefinitionRomanticism refers to a movement in

art, literature, and music during the 19th century.

Romanticism is characterized by the 5 “I”sImaginationIntuitionIdealismInspirationIndividuality

ImaginationImagination was emphasized over

“reason.”This was a backlash against the

rationalism characterized by the Neoclassical period or “Age of Reason.”

Imagination was considered necessary for creating all art.

British writer Samuel Taylor Coleridge called it “intellectual intuition.”

IntuitionRomantics placed value on

“intuition,” or feeling and instincts, over reason.

Emotions were important in Romantic art.

British Romantic William Wordsworth described poetry as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.”

IdealismIdealism 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.

Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher, held that the mind forces the world we perceive to take the shape of space-and-time.

InspirationThe 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.”

IndividualityRomantics 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…”

OriginsRomanticism began to take

root as a movement following the French Revolution.

The publication of Lyrical Ballads by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1792 is considered the beginning of literary Romanticism.

The ArtsRomanticism was a movement across all

the arts: visual art, music, and literature.All of the arts embraced themes

prevalent in the Middle Ages: chivalry, courtly love. Literature and art from this time depicted these themes. Music (ballets and operas) illustrated these themes.

Shakespeare came back into vogue.

Visual Arts Neoclassical art was

rigid, severe, and unemotional; it hearkened back to ancient Greece and Rome

Romantic art was emotional, deeply-felt, individualistic, and exotic. It has been described as a reaction to Neoclassicism, or “anti-Classicism.”

Visual Arts: Examples

Neoclassical Art

Romantic Art

Music: Components1730-1820.Classical music

emphasized internal order and balance.

1800-1910.Romantic music

emphasized expression of feelings.

Turbulent Times, Bitter Realities

• Some say it started with the French Revolution (1789) and ended with

Parliamentary reforms of 1832 that laid political foundations for modern Britain.

:

1. William Blake2. William Wordsworth3. Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Six Dominate Poets

4. Percy Bysshe Shelley

5. John Keats6. George Gordon, Lord Byron

Lived throughout

most of the period.

“2nd generation”

A Turbulent Age

• Agricultural society changes to industrialized nation

- Large, restless working class

A Turbulent Age

• American Revolution - Lost 13 colonies 1. economic loss 2. loss of prestige and

confidence

A Turbulent Age

• French Revolution A) To the upper class – represented overthrow of an anointed king by the “rabble” – their worst fear – They feared it would spread across the English Channel to England

B) Democratic idealists were exhilarated

C) “September Massacre” – Hundreds of French aristocrats who were connected to King Louis XVI lost their heads from the guillotine

A Turbulent Age

D) Napoleon Bonaparte- became first dictator & later emperor of France (1804)

--Becomes ruthless tyrant

and is executed

A Turbulent Age

• These changes made England more rigid than ever; more repressive– Suspected spies were sent to prison without a

trial– England engages in long war with Napoleon

• 1815, with the help of allies, defeated him at Waterloo, Belgium

The Tyranny of Laissez Faire

• Industrial Revolution brings changes

1. Production switches to factories in the cities

2. Population in the cities increases- Desperate living

conditions result

3. Communal living once shared by small farmers was taken over by individual owners = large numbers of landless people= migration to cities in search of work= people living on welfare

Laissez Faire

• Kept the misery going• Definition- “Let people do as they

please”– Economic forces could operate freely

without government interference

Results of Laissez Faire

– Result- Rich got richer and poor got poorer

– Small children of the poor were mistreated and used as “beasts of burden” • Coal mines, chimney sweeps

Results of Laissez Faire

• Poets moved from very structured, formal, “public” poetry to private, spontaneous, lyric poetry– Imagination, not reason is the best

response to the forces of change

What Does Romantic Mean?

• “Romantic” comes from “romance” – one of the most popular genres of medieval literature– Allowed writers to

explore new, more psychological and mysterious aspects of the human experience

Three Meanings of Romanticism

1. Fascination with youth and innocencea. Trust your emotionsb. Sense of identity

2. Question tradition and authority of the pasta. Imagine happier, fairer, healthier ways to live = idealism

3. Ability to change

Poetry, Nature, & Imagination

• Wordsworth – poetry should use simple language to deal with commonplace subjects for a particular purpose.

1. Focused on rural instead of city life2. Romantics were called “Nature Poets”

- Intrigued by the way nature and the human mind act upon each other

- Mind is a “mirror” of nature

The Idea of the Poet

• Poet is “a man speaking to men”- Wordsworth

• Each poem has:– A speaker or narrator– Speaking to

someone/something– Type of speaking –praising,

complaining, etc.• Speaking is emotional and

from the heart

• Poetry is about human, emotional experiences of ordinary people

Byronic Hero: Romantic “Bad Boy”

• “A man proud, moody, cynical with defiance on his brow & misery in his heart, a scorner of his kind, implacable in revenge, yet capable of deep & strong affection.”

Byronic Hero: Romantic “Bad Boy”

• George Gordon, Lord Byron– Gave his name to

his devastatingly attractive, yet fatally flawed man.

Byron’s Heroes Were…

• Passionate, yet flawed individualists

• Intellectually searching

• Incapable of compromise

• Brooding over mysterious past sins

• Painfully, yet defiantly alone

Byronic Heroes of Film

James Dean – Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

• Marlon Brando – The Wild One (1954)

Byronic Heroes of Literature

• Mr. Darcy – Pride and Prejudice

• Tristan – Legends of the Fall (Brad Pitt)

Byronic Heroes of Literature

• Heathcliff – Wuthering Heights

Edward Cullen- Twilight series

Gothic Literature

• Gothic: Works that contain primitive, medieval, wild, mysterious, or natural elements

• Gothic Novel: Gloomy settings, atmosphere of terror or mystery – Example- Frankenstein

by Mary Shelley