POETRY IN THE AGE OF
REVOLUTION
Group Presentation # 2
Overview and Political Tensions
The French Revolution
And
The American Revolution
Overview
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1780-1830: a time of many tremendous tensions
politically, socially, economically, and religiously.
Romantic poets of this time cannot be isolated from
these controversies.
Dawson examines these tensions and how these
poets attempt to grapple with them.
French and American Revolutions
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The late 1600s-mid 1700s: a period of prosperity
that led to discontent with the old aristocratic order.
American revolution a source of humiliation and
hope, while the French revolution revived dormant
motions of radical reform.
As the French Revolution soured, hope and optimism
quickly turned to despair.
French and American Revolutions
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When war finally broke out between England and
France, progress became associated with fear and
radicalism.
Paranoia resulted in government repression that
affected many poets personally.
Government and religion were also impossible to
separate from one another.
Revolution and Religion
Rethinking God
The Irish Problem
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The Irish Rebellion
The Act of Union
Impact on Romantics
Thomas Paine
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Age of Reason
Age of Enlightenment
Wordsworth
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Ideology
William Godwin
Illustration from text
Utilitarianism
A Philosophical Revolution
GENERATIONAL
DIFFERENCES
and the influence of nationalism
The “Older” Romantics
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Included Wordsworth, Coleridge, Southey
Generally believed a more conservative form of
“mystical” nationalism, as seen in continental
romanticism
Believed in the value of protecting a unique way of
life…in this way similar to Burke’s ideas of defense
of tradition versus modern innovation
However their initial revolutionary enthusiasm shows
that they were still moved by claims of freedom.
The “Younger” Romantics
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Included Byron, Shelley, Keats
Believed in a more liberal and cosmopolitan
nationalism
Byron for instance was particularly involved in
nationalist movements
Were more inclined towards more liberal views than
their predecessors, though they still “felt the force of
the appeal to tradition.” even if it was to a lesser
degree
Tensions- Overview
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The tension between tradition and freedom (burke
vs. paine)
Tension between belief in nationalist ideas and
desires for stability
Generally believed in nationalism, but as british
citizens at a time when the sun never set on the
british empire…this was kind of ironic
“differences (between generations) a matter of
degree rather than kind.”
In the text…
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Shelley’s “Revolt of Islam” written as a sort of
coping device, “when the last hope of trampled
france had failed” (opening line)
Shows how the revolution affected the younger
generation of poets
The Romantics v. Utilitarianism
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Utilitarianism – “A philosophy that reduced human action to the
calculation of consequences and the pursuit of self-interest and valued
hard facts over fine fancies…” (Dawson 68)
Peacock
- Claims poetry is “frivolous and unconducive”
- As society progresses, poetry will degrade
Thomas Babington Macaulay
- The advance of civilization = decline of poetry
- Poets become child-like because of their society’s
“rude state.”
The
Romantics
v.
Utilitarianism
Shelley
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- Recognizes that “moral and political knowledge” are above poetry
- Counters Peacock with Defence of Poetry (The imaginative vision of
poets would be required to guide the labors of reformers)
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Keats
- Goes to Scotland in 1818 and remarks that Calvinist “kirkmen” have
improved the economic status of the common people, yet at the cost of
their humanity.
- Notes how the poor are “thrown out from their fellows” in cities, or are
dirty and wretched if in towns.
- Believes that because society “demands” this, “the world is very young
and in a very ignorant state – We live in a barbarous age.”
The Romantics v. Utilitarianism
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William Hazlitt
- The nature of poetry is in direct conflict with that of liberal
political values.
- Imagination goes against equality and justice.
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Paine
- Recognizes that political reformers make an obvious choice
between reason and imagination.
- The choice between the two are lamented in Shelley’s
Prometheus Unbound and The Triumph of Life, and Keat’s The
Fall of Hyperion: The Dream
The Romantics v. Utilitarianism
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Wordsworth
- Claims that every great and original writer defines the
context in which readers must view his work.
Romantics recognized that their duties were to spread ideas
and change minds
Romantics believed that one’s mind created the world they
existed in. (Ignoring that society helps to determine one’s
mental being)
To what extent had economic and social conditions created
the Romantics?
The Romantics v. Utilitarianism
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Marx and Engel would categorize the Romantics as
followers of “the German Ideology”
“[The Romantics] consider conceptions, thoughts,
ideas, in fact all the products of consciousness, to
which they attribute an independent existence as
the real chains of men.” … and therefore fight
against them by proposing new ways of
interpretation.
The Romantics vs. Utilitarianism
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The Romantics were privileged enough to imagine a
new society yet powerless to actually transform their
conditions. Their works were considered “escapist,”
but their works were really a method of
compensation. Because their other choice was to
acquiesce into complacency, which was unacceptable.
Their roles were to “keep open a sense of alternative
possibility,” and serve as a kind of political vanguard
using their imaginations.
Useful Quotations
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“…Poets work in language, the same medium in
which political concepts and demands are
formulated, contested, and negotiated.”
“…public events are also personal events to the
individuals living through them…” (50)
“Those who thought of themselves as political
reformers, like paine, could make the choice
between reason and imagination in favor of the
former. For poets, this was an impossible choice…”
Discussion Questions
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Are poets more affected by political happenings than,
say artists or musicians? If so, why?
Whose influence is greater- Poets on politics, or politics
on poets?
In the reading he states, “Those who thought of
themselves as political reformers, like Paine, could make
the choice between reason and imagination in favor of
the former. For poets, this was an impossible choice…”
is that really the only difference between a poet and a
reformer? Who has more power?
Discussion Questions, Cont’d
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How was religion an influencing factor for the
romantics, or was it at all?
How important was the French Revolution in
determining the course of the romantic movement,
and vice versa?