The Romantic Period

(1798-1832)

A period marked by great changes in England and the Western

world.

England experienced the ordeal of change; shifting

from an agricultural society with landholders being the
wealthy (aristocratic), to an industrial nation where
power shifted to large-scale employers who had to deal
with an enlarging working class
There were constant economic cycles of:

inflation
wars

depression

These threatened social structures

Three revolutions occurred prior to and within this
time period affecting Britain tremendously:
o American Revolution 1776 (dealt Britain heavy
military and economic losses)
o French Revolution 1789 (drew England back into
costly wars)
o Industrial Revolution
The term Industrial Revolution evolved as power
machinery began replacing hand labor
Two Nations developed (capitol and labor), the wealthy
industry owners and the poor wage workers/(working
class)
 A laissez-faire (hands off) philosophy formed which
held that the government should not interfere with
private enterprise and so the working class were at the
mercy of the owners
Women were considered a deprived class, regarded as
inferior to men in all but domestic tasks
o They received limited schooling, held lowly
vocations, lived under rigid codes, held no legal
rights

Despite these seemingly gloomy conditions, this period was also

marked by a growing desire to expand the mind and several
key developments in literature occurred:

The writers of this period dubbed their time The Spirit

of the Age meaning it was a persuasive, intellectual,
and imaginative climate; a time of renewal and promise
The emphasis of writers of this time was on personal
experience; the expression of individual thoughts and
feelings; use of nature as inspiration

Three romantic schools of poetry existed under which

several important writers flourished:
o The Lake School Wordsworth, Coleridge, Southey
o The Satanic School Lord Byron, Percy Shelley
o The Cockney School (derogatory term for
Londoners) William Hazlitt, John Keats
The real flowering of the Romantic movement came
with the 1798 publication of William Wordsworth and
 Samuel Taylor Coleridges poetic collaboration Lyrical
Ballads
o Lyrical Ballads , as declared by Wordsworth in the
books preface, was a collection of experiments in
poetic language and subject matter
o Wordsworth was committed to the common people
and deliberately chose language and subjects from
the common life instead of the upper class
o Coleridge was into exploring the exotic and
supernatural experiences, letting his imagination
wander
o Both poets rejected the scientific and industrial
worlds, and felt that a better insight into human
experiences came from humans relation to nature
o Coleridge, Wordsworth, and their fellow friend and
writer Robert Southey, spent a great deal of time in
a rural lake district of England and are therefore
dubbed The Lake Poets

A second generation of poets followed Wordsworth and

Coleridge:
o Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley and John Keats
o Byron popularized the self-absorbed romantic hero
figure in his writings
o Byron and Shelley were involved in radical politics
and affairs that became scandalous, leading to their
self-imposed exile from Britain
o Keats also left Britain, but was not overly concerned
with the political and social affairs of his
contemporaries
 Romantic period, though best known for its poetry, also
produced many memorable works in prose
(novels/fiction):

o Personal essays from Charles Lamb, William Hazlitt

and Thomas De Quincey focused on the romantic
emphasis of personal experience and appeared in
literary journals
o The historic novel was pioneered by Sir Walter Scott
(most popular novelist of his day); through his best
seller Waverley
o Gothic novels (involving mystery, horror and
supernatural elements) became popular; most
famous Mary Shelleys Frankenstein
o Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice, an ironic/satire
novel of manners, introduced more dialogue into
fiction and helped pave the way for more realistic
novels

Romantic writers strove to break free from the style of

their Enlightenment predecessors, dubbed neoclassical
writers for their admiration and imitation of classic forms
o Romantic writers strove for a sense of freedom, wrote
more serious lyric poems about their own
experiences, and stressed emotions and imagination
in their works (see the chart on pg 707 of your text
for a more in-depth comparison)
o There are five features or characteristics that have
been coined to romanticism:
A new concept of poetry emphasis on
personal experience; writing about your own
life, emotions from the heart
New spontaneity and freedom poetry displays
spontaneous outbursts of emotion, free from
strict and confining rules; intuition and
imagination stressed
Love of nature nature is a major
theme/subject of romantic poetry
Importance of common place poets
celebrated ordinary things, common life/people
Fascination with supernatural and exotic
introduced mystery and imagination, magic
into writing, alluring beauty of the unknown
Key Romantic Period Writers:

William Wordsworth
Attended the finest schools, including Cambridge, but
found school life artificial and stifling
Developed a great appreciation for nature at a young age
Dubbed Englands greatest nature poet
Aimed to express more personal experiences in his
writing
Helped usher in the literary philosophy known as
romanticism
Viewed nature as a source of spiritual comfort
Valued imagination and emotion over reason
Stressed the importance of the individual and placed
poetry at the center of human experience
Made frequent use of imagery in his writing

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

With Wordsworth, helped usher in the literary
philosophy of romanticism
A leading figure in Romantic movement
Was a critic, poet, and philosopher
Responded to nature and wrote about it with intense
emotion
Poetry enthusiastically conveyed the beauty and serenity
of nature as well as its savagery and wildness
Explored themes of the supernatural
John Keats
Gifted romantic poet, died tragically at a young age (25) of
tuberculosis
In 1819, a year of great emotional distress for Keats, he
produced a series of masterpieces that included a narrative
poem, sonnets, and five odes
Poetry reflects the powerful emotions typical of romantic
poets
Keats was not as radical or highly involved in social and
political realms as his contemporaries; his works were more
concerned and focused on the quality of and truth in beauty,
and on the private emotions of the individual, such as joys
and pains of love, anxiety about future

Percy Bysshe Shelley

An idealist and nonconformist, opposed all injustice and
sought to change the world through love, imagination and
poetry
Though viewed as one of the greatest of the romantic poets,
he was rebuked by his contemporaries for his radical views
(such as atheism)
Radical views drew great criticism and led him to leave
Britain and move to Italy
Opposed to oppression and poverty (which he witnessed in
Ireland) he pursued reform efforts; when these efforts failed
he turned to poetry as a way to express his ideas and
aspirations
Wrote with great conviction, believing that through the
imagination of the poet and the power of love, humanity

could rise above the evils of society

 Explored a wide array of poetic forms and rhythmic patterns
such as:
o Various rhyme and rhythm sequences in sonnets
o Odes exalted, complex lyric poetry with developed
themes

George Gordon, Lord Byron

Achieved great popularity during romantic period
Viewed as the ideal example of the romantic spirit for his
creation of rebellious, moody, passionate and strong-willed
heroes such as Don Juan
Despite being a symbol of romanticism, he scorned and
avoided the experimental poetry of his contemporaries (like
Coleridge)
He did emphasize, though, freedom, individuality and the
expression of powerful emotions
Lived a very active and romantic life-style, and due in part to
a failed marriage and the rumors that ensued, his popularity
in Britain declined and he left for good in 1816
Lived in various other countries afterwards, including
Switzerland, Italy, and Greece