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British Romanticism

British Romanticism English IV APWhat is Romanticism? Romanticism was arguably the largest artistic movement of the late 1700s. Its influence was felt across continents and through every artistic discipline into the mid-nineteenth century, and many of its values and beliefs can still be seen in contemporary poetry. British Romanticism officially began in 1798 with the publication of Lyrical Ballads by Coleridge and Wordsworth. Preface of Lyrical Ballads: I have said that poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.Romanticism and Human NatureRomantics focused on the teachings of Rousseauman is basically good, but corrupted by society. I felt before I thought; tis is the common lot of humanity. ... I had conceived nothing, but felt everything. These confused emotions which I felt one after the other, certainly did not warp the reasoning powers which I did not yet possess; but they shaped them in me of a peculiar stamp, and gave me odd and romantic notions of life" (Rousseau)

Many Romantics sought to correct social ills (reform church and state) in order to allow the human soul to return to its natural state of goodness. Darker Romantics like Mary Shelley wondered if it was possible for man to return to his naturally benevolent state.

Lockean philosophyblank slate theory. The Quest foR TruthThe subjective nature of knowledge: --knowledge as personal, emotional, individual experience-- Each man is an individual, unlike any other; truth is subjective-- True knowledge is emotional-- The self is a subject worthy of study and representation

4Qualities/CharacteristicsRomantic writers cultivated/appreciatedIndividualism reverence for the natural world, idealism, physical and emotional passion, sentimentality an interest in the mystic and supernatural. Absolute originality, reliance on imagination, freedom of thought and expressionMore focus on women, children, the lower classes (the common man)Emotion over reason, feeling over thought

lake poetsWordsworth

Coleridge

Lyrical Ballads - 1798

Sir Walter ScottDied in 1832

First Reform Bill1. Sought to eliminate rotten boroughs2. Redistributed parliamentary representation to new industrial cities and extend the vote** Half the middle class, almost all the working class, and all women remained without a franchise

Romantic vs. RomanticismThe word romance originally referred to the highly imaginative medieval tales of knightly adventure written in the French derivative of the original Roman (or *Romance) language, Latin.* Romance languages derived from Latin = Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and RomanianDeclaration of the Rights of Man

Storming of the Bastille

September Massacres

Robespierre and the Reign of Terror

Napoleon Bonaparte

Prime MinisterBenjamin Disraeli

I am a Conservative to preserve all that is good in our constitution, a Radical to remove all that is bad. I seek to preserve property and to respect order, and I equally decry the appeal to the passions of the many or the prejudices of the few.

Two Nations the two classes ofcapitol and labor, the large owneror trader and the possessionlesswageworker, the rich and the poor.William Wordsworth1770 - 1850emotion recollected intranquility.spontaneous overflowof powerful feelings.speak in a languagereally spoken by men.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge1772 - 1834Mysterious and demonic poetry

George Gordon, Lord Byron1788 - 1824The Byronic hero:Heathcliff, Rochester,Captain Ahab

Percy Bysshe Shelley1792 - 1822Mad ShelleyMary Shelley FrankensteinMary Wollstonecraft Vindicationof the Rights of Women

John Keats1795 - 1821Keats died at the ageOf 25. Remember that WW didnot start writing in earnest untilhe was 27. On his death bed,Keatss achievements greatlyexceed that of Chaucer, Shakespeare, or Milton.

Poetic Theory and Poetic PracticeSpontaneity WW described all good poetry as, at the moment of composition, the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.Nature Poems Nature poems are in fact meditative poems

I wandered lonely as a cloudI wandered lonely as a cloudThat floats on high o'er vales and hills,When all at once I saw a crowd,A host, of golden daffodils;Beside the lake, beneath the trees,Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shineAnd twinkle on the milky way,They stretched in never-ending lineAlong the margin of a bay:Ten thousand saw I at a glance,Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but theyOut-did the sparkling leaves in glee;A poet could not be but gay,In such a jocund company!I gazedand gazedbut little thoughtWhat wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lieIn vacant or in pensive mood,They flash upon that inward eyeWhich is the bliss of solitude;And then my heart with pleasure fills,And dances with the daffodils. C. The Commonplace glorification of the common man and rustic lifeD. The Supernatural An interest in the realms of mystery and magicE. Individualism, Infinite Striving, and Nonconformity A higher estimate was put on human powers. A radical individualism surfaced

Gothic Architecture

Gothic Novel

Gothic Music

Gothic Fashion

Romantic GothicismGothic genre falls under the umbrella of RomanticismDoes not mean horror, but it can evoke feelings of horror.Gothicism: a type of imitation medievalism; it came to designate the macabre, mysterious, fantastic, supernatural, and, again, the terrifying, especially the pleasurably terrifying (Norton Anthology of English Literature)

Gothic Literature and WomenDespite a number of male achievements in Gothic literature (Horace Warpole writes the first), the genre has held a special attraction for women. In the early days of the genre, reading Gothic fiction became a favorite pastime of the middle-class femaleWomen, oppressed by needlepoint, whalebone stays, psychological frustrations, shame, and babies, found reading/writing these stories as a way to outline their pain. Gothic feminism seeks to escape the female body though a dream of turning weakness into strengthJane Austen & Sir Walter Scott

End of the Romantic AgeDeath of Sir Walter Scott 1832Passage of First Reform Bill 1832Queen Victorias reign begins 1837

Kate Bush Wuthering Heights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h_kCl5erJk

I love you, Cathy!Im Heathcliff not batman.