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.