Characteristics and Characters The Romantic Period Characteristics and Characters These notes come from a variety of sources, most of which I have forgotten. To those whose work I might inadvertently have used without crediting, I apologize. These notes are in no way intended for publication or other potentially profitable use. They are used only as educational support materials.

First, let’s get rid of confusion “Romanticism” and “Romantic” originally referred to imaginative medieval stories about the adventures of knights of the period. They were written in French, which is a derivation of the old Roman language, Latin. Hence, “Romance language”. Stories thus written were called romances. Because these stories involved frequent amorous encounters between knights and their ladies, the language evolved such that we now commonly use the word in this more restricted sense. In the study of literature, however, the term “romance” refers to imaginative, often idealizing, fiction – the stories themselves, the romances

The Romantic Period The publication of Wordsworth and Coleridge’s Lyrical Ballads in 1798 marks the beginning of the Romantic Period in English Literature. The major figures of the period included William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, George Gordon Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and John Keats. The period’s end is generally recognized as 1832, the year of the death of Sir Walter Scott and the passage of the First Reform Bill in parliament.

Characteristics of the Romantic Period The work of the eighteenth-century Classic period had been marked by perfection of form, by precision and polish. The reader expected the rhyming couplet (heroic couplet); predictable metre, usually iambic pentameter; narrow, often light-weight subject matter dealing with the upper classes; and an ample supply of satire. The Romantic period was more diverse.

Characteristics of the Romantic Period The movement was influenced by developments on the continent: the German Sturm und Drang period, the French revolution. Precursors in England include Robert Burns and Thomas Gray, poets frequently referred to as “pre-Romantic” The main philosophical influence on the movement comes from Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-78)

Characteristics of the Romantic Period The German notion of the protagonist as suffering individual, young genius rebelling against unjust authority, and of the ascendancy of Nature influenced the English writers – here we have the origin of the enthusiasm for Nature and the strong individualism in rebellion against authority, two of the main characteristics of the Romantic period. The Sturm und Drang movement also rebelled against the staid literary and professional establishments of German society.

Characteristics of the Romantic Period With the pre-Romantics originates the idea that the simple, the ordinary, the common is also the stuff of poetry. From them, too, we get the use of simple language. The expression of the ordinary in terms of the extraordinary is a characteristic of the literature of the period. Thus Burns’ wee mouse’s nest becomes as important as our own homes in the moment of our comprehension of the poet’s relationship to nature.

Characteristics of the Romantic Period Further characteristics include A trust in emotion and imagination more than in reason and judgement The use of supernatural elements. A concern with the particular as opposed to the general or universal. A greater interest in the medieval than in the classical. A concern for ecological preservation Activists for individual liberties, especially the rights of the downtrodden

Concurrent Events The French Revolution The Reign of Terror The Ascension of Napoleon European War The Industrial Revolution Enclosure (privatization of public communal property) The Slave Trade Laissez-faire economic policy An insane king (Geo III) until 1811, followed by an indulgent one (Geo IV) until 1820

The Poets William Wordsworth (1770-1850) From the Lake District Educated at Cambridge, lived a time in France Worked closely with Coleridge 1795-1810 when a quarrel caused a rift that lasted until 1828 Became Poet Laureate of England in 1843 Died in 1850 After his death, The Prelude is published, a work at whose centre are the ideas of growth and memory, the mutability of experience

The Poets William Wordsworth (1770-1850) Notable for a felicity of phrasing, a simplicity in diction and in subject matter. He is the “High Priest of Nature” and very often discusses nature in general terms, philosophizing in her lessons for himself and for mankind.

The Poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) From Devonshire Educated in London and at Cambridge (left without a degree) Worked closely with Wordsworth 1795-1810 when a quarrel caused a rift that lasted until 1828 In an effort to relieve the pain of rheumatism, Coleridge became addicted to opium Joined such luminaries as Sidney, Dryden, and Johnson as one of the select few elite poet-critics of English literature Became the best public lecturer in England, with a reputation for eloquence and conversational ability Died in 1834

The Poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) A master of atmosphere In a few words can bring us to a world where it seems natural to speak of a “woman wailing for her demon lover.” An awareness of the blessedness of the natural order of things

The Lyrical Ballads Greatest collaboration in all of English literature The power of poetic imagination “reveals itself in the balance or reconciliation of opposite or discordant qualities” Coleridge’s comments in Bibliographia Literaria affirm that the aims of their book, and of the Romantic movement, are not so much monolithic literary standards or rules as a tension between often opposing values This idea leads naturally to Wordsworth’s assertion that it is the poet’s mind and craft working on “real language” that transforms such language into poetry

The Lyrical Ballads Whereas Wordsworth’s role in the book was the expression of the ordinary as extraordinary, Coleridge’s was to explore the supernatural, “or at least romantic; yet so as to transfer from our inward nature a human interest and a semblance of truth sufficient to procure for these shadows of imagination that willing suspension of disbelief . . . which constitutes poetic faith”

The Lyrical Ballads “Tintern Abbey” is a prime example of the intense love of nature evident in Romantic poetry Wordsworth looks at rustic life because “in that condition the passions of men are incorporated with the beautiful and permanent forms of nature.” The mind of the poet, or of the persona of the poem, is the ultimate subject for the poet

The Lyrical Ballads In the preface Wordsworth gives us his definition of poetry: “All good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity.” Emotional experience is not enough – it must be “contemplated” and given shape by the mind and adapted to language before it can be called poetry.

The Lyrical Ballads Also in the preface, Wordsworth tells us that the language of the poet must be “the real language of men.” This is a direct challenge to the preceding Age of Reason (Pope, Swift, Johnson)

Required Readings Wordsworth Coleridge “My Heart Leaps Up” “The World Is Too Much With Us” p. 675 P-H Coleridge “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” p. 686 P-H

Required Readings in P-H Timeline pp. 612-13 Background, Romantic Period pp. 614-621 Changing Language pp. 622 Burns Background pp. 624-5 Blake Background pp. 638-9 Mary Shelley Background pp. 648-9 Wordsworth Background pp. 662-3 The Collaboration pp. 664-5 Early Reviews of Wordsworth pp. 681-2 Coleridge Background pp. 684-5

The Poets Part 2 George Gordon Lord Byron (1788-1824) Born into an arisocratic family Attended prestigious private schools and universities Left England because of social pressure concerning his unconventional personal life. Was celebrated throughout Europe for his poems, especially Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. He died in exile in Greece, where he is celebrated as a revolutionary hero

The Poets Part 2 George Gordon Lord Byron (1788-1824) Created the “Byronic Hero”, a passionate, moody, restless character who has become bored with the world, is enduring the consequence of some sinful past, refuses to be constrained by society’s mores, and whose daring life both sets him apart, and makes him attractive. Was influenced greatly by Dryden and Pope, and is more connected to the eighteenth century than most of his Romantic contemporaries. In terms of poetics, he was frequently critical of the other Romantics, except for Shelley

The Poets Part 2 Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) Born into an arisocratic family Attended prestigious private schools and universities Left England because of social pressure concerning his unconventional personal life. His poetry was never popular in his lifetime and often misunderstood. Stylistic experimentation and complex philosophy were beyond the ability of many readers He engaged in revolutionary activity and was active in workers’ rights movements He drowned of the coast of Italy in a boating accident.

The Poets Part 2 Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) His writing is the most passionate and intense of the Romantics, yet the most intellectual His desire to push the language to extremes, to express the inexpressible, makes him also the most difficult of the Romantics to understand. Is remembered also for a brilliant essay on poetry: A Defense of Poetry, 1821 Matthew Arnold has said of Shelley that he was too sensitive to be a really great writer; he called him a “beautiful and ineffectual angel, beating in the void his luminous wings in vain.” Shelley was much admired by his fellow Romantics, considered by most to be a better intellect and a better artist than the others; had he lived, he too might have produced far greater works than are left to us.

The Poets Part 2 John Keats (1795-1821) Youngest of the second generation of Romantic poets, and the first to die. He was a mere twenty-four years old when his poetic genius became evident with the body of work he produced between January and September of 1819: Almost all his greatest poems were written in this time period. Critics agree that his works are some of the greatest poems in the English language, and that, had he lived, he might have gone on to achieve the stature of a Shakespeare. Unfortunately, Tuberculosis struck him in February of 1820 and he died in 1821.

The Poets Part 2 John Keats (1795-1821) Is able to embody the complexity and concreteness of experience Unrivalled ability to appeal to the senses through language Unlike the other Romantics, Keats sought to subordinate his own personality, and to focus on his subject in all its complexity The capacity for forgetting oneself in the concentration on, or identification with, the subject of the poem is what Keats called “negative capability”.

Credits Holt, Rinehart, Winston. Adventures in English Literature. Athena Edition. 1996.