A BRIEF OVERVIEW

 A PERIOD OF GREAT CHANGE IN ENGLAND  AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY WITH POWERFUL LANDHOLDING ARISTOCRACY WAS GIVING WAY TO MODERN INDUSTRIAL NATION OF LARGE-SCALE EMPLOYERS AND A GROWING, RESTLESS MIDDLE CLASS.

 AMERICAN & FRENCH REVOLUTIONS WERE HUGELY IMPORTANT ELEMENTS OF THE POLITICAL LANDSCAPE.  THREATS TO EXISTING SOCIAL STRUCTURE WERE BEING POSED BY NEW, REVOLUTIONARY IDEAS.

 A TIME OF HARSH POLITICAL REPRESSION IN ENGLAND, IN SPITE OF NEED FOR CHANGES BROUGHT ABOUT BY THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION.

 MILL TOWNS GREW  THE LANDSCAPE WAS INCREASINGLY SUBDIVIDED  FACTORIES SPEWED POLLUTION OVER SLUMS  THE POPULATION WAS INCREASINGLY DIVIDED INTO RICH & POOR.

 REFORMS DID NOT OCCUR BECAUSE THE PHILOSOPHY OF LAISSEZ-FAIRE (“LET ALONE”) PREVAILED.

 CONSEQUENCES OF THE LACK OF REFORM:  LOW WAGES  HORRIBLE WORKING CONDITIONS  LARGE-SCALE EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN & CHILDREN IN BRUTALLY HARD OCCUPATIONS (SUCH AS COAL MINING).

 IN THE FACE OF TECHNOLOGICAL UNEMPLOYMENT & POVERTY, WORKERS (WHO COULD NOT VOTE) HAD TO RESORT TO PROTESTS & RIOTS, INCURRING FURTHER REPRESSION.  BUT WHILE THE POOR SUFFERED, THE LEISURE CLASS PROSPERED.

 TREATMENT OF WOMEN OF ALL CLASSES:  WERE REGARDED AS INFERIOR TO MEN  WERE UNDEREDUCATED  HAD LIMITED VOCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES  WERE SUBJECT TO A STRICT CODE OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR  HAD ALMOST NO LEGAL RIGHTS.  OVERALL, THE CAUSE OF WOMEN’S RIGHTS WAS LARGELY IGNORED.

 TERM “ROMANTICISM” IS DIFFICULT TO DEFINE BECAUSE OF THE VARIETY OF LITERARY ACHIEVEMENTS, AND WRITERS OF THE PERIOD WERE ONLY LATER LABELLED “ROMANTIC.”

 BUT MANY WRITERS HAD A SENSE OF “THE SPIRIT OF THE AGE”  A GREAT RELEASE OF CREATIVE ENERGY WAS OCCURING AS ACCOMPANIMENT TO POLITICAL & SOCIAL REVOLUTION.  IT WAS SEEN AS AN AGE OF NEW BEGINNINGS & LIMITLESS POSSIBILITIES.

 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH TRIED TO ARTICULATE THE SPIRIT OF THE NEW POETRY IN THE PREFACE TO LYRICAL BALLADS (1800, 1802).

 POETRY WAS SEEN AS THE “SPONTANEOUS OVERFLOW OF POWERFUL FEELINGS”; THE ESSENCE OF POETRY WAS THE MIND, EMOTIONS, & IMAGINATION OF THE POET (NOT THE OUTER WORLD).  GREATLY CONTRASTED WITH THE REASON, BALANCE, AND LOGIC THAT CHARACTERIZED THE LITERATURE OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT.

 FIRST-PERSON LYRIC POEM BECAME THE MAJOR ROMANTIC LITERARY FORM, WITH “I” OFTEN REFERRING DIRECTLY TO THE POET.  THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SELF BECAME A MAJOR TOPIC OF ROMANTIC POETRY.

 POETS OFTEN SAW THEMSELVES AS PROPHETS IN A TIME OF CRISIS, REVISING THE PROMISE OF DIVINE REDEMPTION IN TERMS OF A “HEAVEN” ON EARTH.

 INITIAL ACT OF POETIC COMPOSITION MUST ARISE FROM IMPULSE  FREE FROM THE RULES INHERITED FROM THE PAST  RELY ON INSTINCT, INTUITION, & FEELING.

 ACCURATE OBSERVATION & DESCRIPTION OF WILD NATURE BECOMES EXTREMELY IMPORTANT  NATURE SERVES AS A STIMULUS TO THINKING & TO THE RESOLUTION OF PERSONAL PROBLEMS & CRISES.

 LANDSCAPE WAS OFTEN GIVEN HUMAN QUALITIES OR SEEN AS A SYSTEM OF SYMBOLS REVEALING THE NATURE OF GOD.  CLOSENESS WITH NATURE WAS SEEN AS BRINGING OUT HUMANITY’S INNATE GOODNESS.

 HUMBLE, RUSTIC SUBJECT MATTER & PLAIN STYLE BECAME THE PRINCIPAL SUBJECT & MEDIUM OF POETRY.  POETS SOUGHT TO REFRESH READERS’ SENSE OF WONDER ABOUT THE ORDINARY THINGS OF EXISTENCE, TO MAKE THE “OLD” WORLD SEEM NEW.

 MANY ROMANTIC POEMS EXPLORE THE REALM OF MYSTERY & MAGIC  INCORPORATE MATERIALS FROM FOLKLORE, SUPERSTITION  OFTEN SET IN DISTANT OR FARAWAY PLACES.

 RENEWED INTEREST IN THE MIDDLE AGES (AND THE BALLAD FORM) AS A BEAUTIFUL, EXOTIC, MYSTERIOUS, BYGONE ERA.  THERE WAS ALSO GREAT INTEREST IN UNUSUAL MODES OF EXPERIENCE  VISIONARY STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS  HYPNOTISM  DREAMS  DRUG-INDUCED STATES

 HUMAN BEINGS WERE SEEN AS ESSENTIALLY NOBLE & GOOD.  HUMANS BEINGS WERE CORRUPTED BY SOCIETY.  HUMANS POSSESSED GREAT POWER & POTENTIAL THAT HAD FORMERLY BEEN ASCRIBED ONLY TO GOD.

 THERE WAS A GREAT BELIEF IN DEMOCRATIC IDEALS  CONCERN FOR HUMAN LIBERTY  GREAT OUTCRY AGAINST VARIOUS FORMS OF TYRANNY.

 THE HUMAN MIND WAS SEEN AS CREATING (AT LEAST IN PART) THE WORLD AROUND IT  HUMAN MIND BELIEVED TO HAVE ACCESS TO THE INFINITE VIA THE FACULTY OF IMAGINATION.

 REFUSING TO ACCEPT LIMITATIONS, HUMAN BEINGS SET INFINITE, INACCESSIBLE GOALS, THUS MAKING FAILURE & IMPERFECTION GLORIOUS ACCOMPLISHMENTS.

 THIS REFUSAL TO ACCEPT LIMITATIONS FOUND EXPRESSION IN BOLD POETIC EXPERIMENTATION.  MANY WRITERS DELIBERATELY ISOLATED THEMSELVES FROM SOCIETY TO FOCUS ON THEIR INDIVIDUAL VISION.  THEME OF EXILE WAS COMMON WITH THE ROMANTIC NONCONFORMIST OFTEN SEEN AS A GREAT SINNER OR OUTLAW.