The Romantic Period
1798-1832
Romantic Period
During this time period
Mary Shelley published
Frankenstein
(Published in 1818)
Romantic Period
REMEMBER…
This period starts 732 years
after the end of the AngloSaxon time period in England.
Romantic Period
Thus, we are jumping ahead in
English history and literature
-The Anglo Saxons 449-1066
-The Middle Ages 1066-1485
-The Renaissance 1485-1660
-The Restoration and 18th Century 1660-1800
-The ROMANTIC PERIOD 1798-1832
Romantic Period
The
actual period is said to begin with
the FRENCH REVOLUTION
The period is said to end with the
PARLIAMENTARY REFORMS OF
1832 that laid the political foundations
for modern Britain
Romantic Period
You
may be wondering:
What does the word
“ROMANTIC ” mean in the
context of this period?
Romantic Period
The
word “romantic’” comes
from the term “ROMANCE,”
and romance was one of the
most popular genres of
medieval literature.
Romantic Period
The
romance genre allowed writers to
explore new, more PSYCHOLOGICAL
AND MYSTERIOUS aspects of human
experience.
Romantic Period
The
writers of the Romantic period lived in
England during a time of SOCIAL UPHEAVAL.
The
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION in England
changed the way people lived, where people
lived, and how business was done.
(England changed from an agricultural society to an industrial nation w/
almost everyone living in the city)
Romantic Period
 Writers
before this time period tended to rely on
SCIENCE and REASON to base their
writings on…(Remember, the Restoration was often
called the “Age of Reason”)
 Writers
soon after this time period, such as the
Victorian era, wrote to AFFECT CHANGE in society.
In
Romantic Period
contrast, the Romantic writers focused
on PERSONAL EXPERIENCE and
IMAGINATION in their work. (This
change in thinking was thought to be NEEDED b/c of all the
political, economic, and social changes taking
place…remember… INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION)
Thus, they were not as concerned with
“REASON”… Imagination was superior!
Romantic Period
Romantic
literature that included the
elements of mystery, horror, and the
supernatural is known as GOTHIC
Gothic Literature
Gothic
novels tended to feature
TROUBLESOME
TONES
REMOTE SETTINGS
MYSTERIOUS EVENTS
Gothic Literature
The
characters’
INNER EMOTIONAL LIVES
receive a lot of attention.
Gothic Literature
The struggle between
GOOD vs. EVIL
is prominent
Romantic Poets/Poetry
The
Romantic period could be
argued to start with the
selling of Lyrical Ballads,
with a Few Other Poems
Romantic Poets/Poetry
The
era has been most identified with with
six poets:
William Blake
William Wordsworth
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Percy Bysshe Shelley
John Keats
George Gordon “Lord Byron”
Romantic Poets/Poetry
Remember, before this time
the American Revolution had
taken place and the French
Revolution was taking place.
Romantic Poets/Poetry
The American Rev. not only
cost England economically, but
it was also a loss of prestige
and confidence.
Romantic Poets/Poetry
The
French Rev. was a prime example
of an anointed king being
OVERTHROWN by a democratic
mob.
French Rev. meant the triumph of
radical principles…the English worried
this would spread.
Romantic Poets/Poetry
The
In
In
French called for a worldwide revolution
1793 England declared war on France
1804 Napoleon Bonaparte declared himself
dictator of France. (Napoleon just as bad as
executed king, associated w/ “tyrant”)
Romantic Poets/Poetry
As
a result of all the changes in western
Europe, especially in France, conservatives
in England institute severe repressive
measures
 It
outlawed collective bargaining and kept suspected
spies in prison without a trial
Romantic Poets/Poetry
However,
many Romantics (including poets)
supported the idea of revolution/change,
and clung to their hopes for the “DAWN
OF A NEW ERA” through peaceful change
Hopes provoked and shaped by upheavals in
English life brought about by the
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
Romantic Poets/Poetry
Remember,
Industrial Revolution brought
many people to the city to work in factories
where machines replaced handmade articles.
City
populations greatly increased and
resulted in very POOR LIVING
CONDITIONS.
Romantic Poets/Poetry
Industrial
Revolution also caused land to no
longer be communally owned. This resulted in
MANY LANDLESS PEOPLE
Thus,
these landless people MIGRATED TO
THE CITY in search of work or charity.
The
Romantic Poets/Poetry
economic cause of all this misery was called
“LAISSEZ FAIRE”
Translated
means “let (people) do (as they
please)”
Meaning economic forces were out of the
government’s control
Result = rich grew richer and the poor got
poorer. (children also suffered because they were often times
forced to work)
Romantic Poets/Poetry
As a result…
Frustrated by England’s resistance to
political and social change during this age
of revolution around the globe, the
ROMANTIC POETS became dedicated
to bringing about change.
Romantic Poets/Poetry
These
poets believed in the force of
literature.
They turned from the formal, public verse
of the 18th century Augustans to a more
private, spontaneous, lyric poetry.
These lyrics expressed the belief that
IMAGINATION, rather than reason, was
the best response to the forces of change.
Romantic Poets/Poetry
The term “Romantic” has at
least THREE useful meanings
relevant to the Romantic
poets.
Romantic Poets/Poetry
#1:
A Child’s Sense of Wonder:
“Romantic”
signifies a fascination with youth and
innocence…particularly the freshness and wonder
of a child’s perception of the world.
This
perception seemed to resemble the age’s
sense of a “new dawn”…like what Wordsworth saw
in his first experience in France as “human nature
being born again.”
Romantic Poets/Poetry
#2:
The
Social Idealism:
term “Romantic”refers to a view of cyclical
development of human societies. This is the stage
when people need to question tradition and
authority in order to imagine better - that is,
happier, fairer, and healthier - ways to live.
Romantic in this sense is associated with idealism.
Romantic Poets/Poetry
#3:
The
Adaptation to Change:
term “Romantic”suggests an ability to change- an
acceptance of change rather than a rigid rejection of
it. In the so-called Romantic period of the first half
of the 19th century (up to the Civil War in America),
Western societies met the conditions necessary for
industrialization. This demanded that people acquire a
stronger and stronger awareness of change, and that
they try to find a way to adapt to it.
Romantic Poets/Poetry
Overall,
the term “romantic” signifies a
fascination with youth and innocence, a
questioning of authority and tradition
for idealistic purposes, and an
adaptation to change.
Romantic Poets/Poetry
It
is a mistake to think of the Romantics as
“nature poets.”
Rather, these poets were “mind poets” who
sought a deeper understanding of the bond
between human beings and the world of the
senses.
Romantic Poets/Poetry
Their
search led them to a third,
more mysterious element present in
both the mind and nature….this
element is a creative power that
makes things happen…this power is
the IMAGINATION.

The Romantics thought this superior to human reasoning.
Romantic Poets/Poetry
 Each
of the Romantics had his or her own special
view of the imagination.
 However, all of them believed that the imagination
could be stimulated by both nature and the mind
itself.
 These poets had a strong sense of nature’s
mysterious forces, which both inspire the poet and
hint at the causes of great changes taking place in
the world.
Romantic Poets/Poetry
Romantic
poems usually present imaginative
experiences as very powerful or moving.
This suggests that the human imagination
is also a kind of desire - a motive that
drives the mind to discover things that it
cannot learn by rational or logical thinking.
Restoration versus Romanticism
 Scientific
observation
of outer world; logic
 Pragmatic (practical)
 Science, technology
 General, universal
experiences
 Optimistic about
present
 Moderation, selfrestraint
 Aristocratic; society
as whole
 Nature controlled by
humans
 Examine
inner
feelings, emotions,
imagination
 Idealistic (optimistic)
 Mysterious,
supernatural
 Concerned with the
particular (very
specific)
 Romanticizing the past
 Excess, spontaneity
 Concerned with
common people and
individuals
 Felt nature should be
untamed
Important Dates 1775-1783:
American
Revolution (fighting
ended in 1781)
1789-1815: French
Revolution
1798: Publication
of Lyrical Ballads
1798-1832:
Romantic Period
“The Big Six” Romantic Poets
William
Blake
William Wordsworth
Samuel Taylor
Coleridge
Percy Bysshe Shelley
John Keats
George Gordon, Lord
Byron
Other Romantic Writers
Jane
Austen
Leigh Hunt
Mary Shelley
Mary Wollstonecraft
Sir Walter Scott
Robert Southey
Key Romantic Themes
 Imagination
 Egotism
 The
particular
 The remote
 The primitive
 The medieval
 The East
 The sublime
 Nature
 Irrational
experiences
(dreams and drugs)
 Awareness of process and
current conceptions of art
and introspection
 Longing for the infinite
encounter through intense
experiences of sublime
nature (storms, mountains,
oceans)
Pastoral
Definition:
“The pastoral is a mode of
poetry that sought to imitate and
celebrate the virtues of rural life (a
nature poem).”
Examples: “To My Sister” by William
Wordsworth and “Ode on a Grecian
Urn” by John Keats
Definition:
Ode
“An ode is a formal
address to an event, a person, or a
thing not present. There are three
types: Pindaric, Horatian, and
Irregular.”
Examples: “Ode to the West Wind”
by Percy Bysshe Shelley and “To
Autumn” by John Keats