Romantic Period in English Literature

Romantic Period (1796-1832) in English Literature

• The Romantic Period in English literature is generally considered to begin with the publication of Wordsworth and Coleridge's Lyrical Ballads and end with the death of Sir Walter Scott. This covers a broader time span than just the years 1796-1832.
• The Romantic Period displays a wide variety in style, theme, and content, and has been the subject of much disagreement and confusion regarding its defining principles and aesthetics.
• Romanticism in England had its greatest influence from the late 18th century up until approximately 1870. Its primary mode of expression was poetry.
• Romanticism encompasses a vast scope, including literature, politics, history, philosophy, and the arts. This wide range leads to disagreement about the specific meaning of the term.
• Some scholars argue that the term "Romanticism" should be abandoned due to its varied application. However, others believe discarding the label would not simplify the concept.
• Romanticism, a movement in art and literature, is a revolt against Neoclassicism of the previous centuries.
• Key focal points of Romanticism include imagination, emotion, and freedom.
• Characteristics of Romantic literature often include subjectivity, emphasis on individualism, spontaneity, freedom from rules, solitary life, and a belief that imagination is superior to reason. A love and devotion to nature is also a common thread.
• Lyrical Ballads, published in 1798 by Wordsworth and Coleridge, is considered the starting point of English Romanticism.
• Other prominent English Romantic poets include William Blake, George Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and John Keats.
• The word "romantic" has a complex and rich history. In the Middle Ages, it denoted new vernacular languages derived from Latin, contrasting with the Latin-based language of scholarship.
• The terms 'romance,' 'romanz,' and 'romant' signified imaginative works, 'courtly romance,' and 'popular books.'
• By the 17th century, the word 'romance' in Britain and France gained derogatory connotations, including fanciful, bizarre, and chimerical.
• In Germany, the word 'romantisch' initially held French connotations but later encompassed meanings akin to English 'gentle' and 'melancholy'.
• England and Germany became strongholds of the Romantic Movement, not the Romance language countries.
• Our contemporary usage of 'romance' and 'romantic' traces back to the medieval meaning and the 18th and 19th-century idea of Romanticism as an intellectual experience.
• Romanticism may be characterized by a move away from expressing the imagination in a negative light as something interfering with clarity, and instead, as a liberating force, allowing free expression.
• The term 'romantic' is also used in different senses relating to a psychological desire to escape from unpleasant realities.
• Late 18th-century German cultural theorists' influence led to renewed interest in the term "Romanticism", discarding negative connotations.
• Romanticism is seen as valuing authenticity, integrity, and spontaneity, contrasting with earlier notions of improbable or false sensibilities. Romanticism highlights the extremes of the human psyche that transcend logic and reason, most suitably expressed directly and sincerely.
• The Romantic period's preoccupation with change and uncertainty mirrors the period's historical context of two major political revolutions (American and French) and the burgeoning Industrial Revolution.
• The period saw new ways of life requiring a shift in thinking.
• Romanticism's relation to popularized notions of "romantic" should be carefully distinguished. While love is sometimes a subject, Romanticism itself is more complex than popular interpretations.
• A distinction in modern literary theory and history distinguishes romanticism from the Romantic period.
• Romanticism is, at its core, a reaction from the Neoclassical qualities of reason, moderation, and order in the Enlightenment era.
• The Neoclassical view of nature encompassed the interconnectedness of order and chaos to create a balanced world. Man was viewed as limited, restricted, and inherently part of the natural hierarchy.
• Romanticism, in contrast, celebrates the individual, emphasizing creative power, liberation, and the inherent potential of humankind. Poets viewed themselves as creators and producers.
• The Romantic poets' unique personal experiences often led to a sense of isolation and spiritual loneliness, even while acknowledging social obligations.
• The importance of the subjective experience, rather than adherence to conventions, was stressed, as was an appreciation for a concept of inherent goodness in nature.
• Nature became an important resource of strength and the source of aesthetic and spiritual insight and inspiration. Nature was not only an exemplar of physical beauty but also a manifestation of spirit and a source of solace for a disenchanted world.
• The period saw a shift in artistic forms, like the lyric, literary ballad, sonnet, etc.
• Romantic poets preferred boldness over restraint, suggestiveness over clarity, and experimentation over rigid rules.
• Romantics challenged established religious and philosophical systems, suggesting that each individual (and humanity) had the agency to craft their own systems of belief and practice.
• Romantics embraced realism in techniques such as "local color". However, they usually subordinated social realism to imaginative suggestion, prioritizing ideals of simplicity and innocence.
• There is an increased interest, in contrast to Neo-classicism, in children as individuals and sources of wisdom.
• The exotic and everyday became interconnected in paradoxical combinations. This is seen in, among other works, Lyrical Ballads.
• The Romantic period is associated with the rise of the artist-as-hero/celebrity, the idea of the poet as isolated, sorrowful genius and the idea of poetry as capable of being a religious experience.
• The fragment is a key aspect of Romantic poetry, embodying the inherent unknowability of the universe.
• Romantic poets explored symbolism as a powerful tool, providing a richer, more suggestive approach to expressing experiences.
• The focus on inner experience often led to poetry focusing on the emotional, personal journeys of the artist.
• Romanticism profoundly shaped how we perceive the world, and its principles and aesthetic ideals influenced 20th-century movements, even if they often presented a reaction to Romanticism.
• The Romantic emphasis on the power of imagination and the self as uniquely created entities are fundamental to contemporary understandings of art, culture, and the human condition.
• Romanticism's emphasis on emotional expression and on "becoming" and "creating" resonated with profound changes in the world as people viewed their own lives and futures.

Two Generations of English Romantic Poets

• The Romantic poets are often divided into two generations. The distinction has both contextual and thematic implications.
• First Generation: characterized by a focus on the self and its relationship to nature. This generation largely arose from optimism over the French Revolution, though this was overtaken by despair. Key figures included Blake, Wordsworth, and Coleridge.
• Second Generation: more concerned with the relationship between art and life, embracing individualism and rebelliousness. Key figures include Byron, Shelley, and Keats.
• The first generation shows an initial hopeful engagement with the issues surrounding mankind's struggles during the revolution, while the second generation was more interested in the philosophical and aesthetic implications of the artist's role.

Important Concepts for Romantic Poets

• Imagination
• Emotion
• Nature
• Symbolism