The Romantic Period

1785-1832

WARNING:THIS UNIT HAS NOTHING TO

DO WITH THE DEFINITION OF ROMANTIC THAT WE THINK OF. PLEASE GET

THE LOVEY DOVEY IDEAS OUT OF YOUR HEAD.

THANKS.

The Romantics

• People of this time are beginning to rebel the idea of reason and adopt the idea of emotion.

• It is a time where people withdrew from the outer social to the inner individual.

• This time was a turbulent period during which England changed from a primarily agricultural society to a modern industrial nation.

• This change was prompted by revolution - political, industrial,and social revolutions.

The Romantics - Political Revolution

• The American Revolution influenced the French Revolution in 1789. With the democratic belief of “liberty, equality, and fraternity” the French were hoping to replace their monarchy and aristocracy who governed them. With this idea of reform, the French were hoping that poverty and oppression would end.

• MANY Romantic poets latched onto these ideas.

The Romantics - Change

• Since England was moving away from agricultural jobs and becoming a more industrial nation, new reforms were needed. More factories were built to produce more goods, the cities began to grow, and labor conditions were poor. People worked long hours for little pay in poor conditions. This marks the rise of child labor.

The Romantics - Social Revolution

• The Rich and The Poor• A social revolution was developing.• Feminism was beginning.• Art was reacting to the previous reliance on

neoclassical attributes and focused more on imagination and passion.

• Slavery was beginning to crumble at this time.

Romantic Poetry

• Stemming from the inner feelings of the poet.

• Spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.

Romantic Poetry

• Romantic Poetry is often referred to as “Nature Poetry”.

• Nature is a wild, free force that could inspire poets to instinctive, spiritual understanding.

Romantic Poetry

• Emphasis on Individual Rights.

• Rejection of the authoritarian themes of the previous period.

• Poets wrote in vernacular and chose situations of common life as the subject of their writing.

Pivotal Poets

• The pivotal poets of the Romantic Period are:– William Blake– William Wordsworth– Samuel Coleridge– Lord Byron– Percy Shelley– John Keats