Romanticism and Literature

Overview of the Romantic Period (1780s–1830s)

• The Romantic Period was a literary, artistic, and intellectual movement.
• It emerged as a reaction against the Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution.
• Emotion, nature, individualism, and imagination are emphasized over reason and order.
• Themes explored include the supernatural, the sublime, and personal freedom.

Key Characteristics of Romantic Literature

• Intense emotions, personal expression, and creative imagination are the focus.
• Nature is revered as a source of beauty, truth, and spiritual renewal.
• Individual and personal experience are celebrated over societal norms.
• Interest includes mysterious, eerie, and supernatural elements.
• A critique of industrialization, rigid class structures, and rationalism is present.

Major Romantic Writers and Works: British Romanticism

• William Wordsworth co-wrote Lyrical Ballads with Coleridge and wrote "Tintern Abbey" and "Ode: Intimations of Immortality."
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge penned "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and "Kubla Khan."
• Lord Byron is known for Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage and "She Walks in Beauty."
• Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote "Ode to the West Wind" and Prometheus Unbound.
• John Keats is famous for "Ode to a Nightingale" and "Ode on a Grecian Urn."
• Mary Shelley authored Frankenstein with early science fiction and Gothic elements.

Major Romantic Writers and Works: American Romanticism

• Washington Irving wrote "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow."
• Edgar Allan Poe is known for "The Raven," "The Fall of the House of Usher," and "The Tell-Tale Heart."
• Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote The Scarlet Letter.
• Herman Melville authored Moby-Dick.

Major Romantic Writers and Works: German and French Romanticism

• Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote Faust.
• Victor Hugo is known for The Hunchback of Notre-Dame and Les Misérables.

Key Themes and Concepts

• The Sublime involves awe-inspiring beauty or terror, often related to nature.
• Revolution and Change were influenced by the French and American Revolutions.
• Heroism and the Byronic Hero include a brooding, rebellious protagonist.
• Melancholy and Transience include awareness of mortality, lost beauty, and fleeting time.
• Writers sought to transcend reality through dreams and visionary experiences.

Study Guide for She Walks in Beauty by Lord Byron: Background Information

• Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron) authored the poem.
• The poem was written in 1814.
• It is a lyric poem.
• Inspiration came from Anne Beatrix Wilmot, his cousin’s wife, at a party.
• She wore a black mourning dress with sequins.
• The poem admires both physical and inner beauty.
• Contrasts are reflected such as light and dark, outer and inner beauty, and innocence and experience.

Structure and Style

• The rhyme scheme is ababab (alternating rhyme in each stanza).
• The meter is iambic tetrameter (four beats per line).
• The tone is admiring, reverent, and lyrical.

Literary Devices

• Light and dark imagery is used to describe the woman’s beauty, exemplified by "And all that’s best of dark and bright / Meet in her aspect and her eyes."
• Opposing elements such as dark and bright create a sense of balance in her beauty.
• Outer beauty reflects inner purity.
• Alliteration is present, such as "Which waves in every raven tress," creating a musical quality.
• Some lines flow into the next without a pause, mirroring the smoothness of her beauty.
• An example of Metaphor is the woman’s beauty is compared to the night.

Themes

• The poem emphasizes a perfect harmony between dark and light, physical beauty, and moral goodness.
• The woman’s appearance is a perfect blend of dark and light.
• Byron describes the woman's grace and virtue
• The last stanza highlights her innocence and purity.
• The Romantic ideal of beauty is reflected as natural and effortless.
• The woman is admired from a distance.

Stanza 1: Light and Dark Imagery

• Her beauty is compared to a clear, starry night, unlike traditional comparisons to the sun.
• Balance of dark and light is reflected in her face and expression.
• "Gaudy day" is rejected suggesting that her beauty is subtle and refined, not overpowering.

Stanza 2: Softness and Grace

• Her beauty is perfectly balanced.
• Her raven hair contrasts with the light on her face, reinforcing the light-dark theme.
• Her outward beauty reflects her inner goodness.

Stanza 3: Inner Beauty and Virtue

• Her serene expression suggests inner peace and kindness.
• She is virtuous and pure.
• The poem ends with an emphasis on her moral and emotional purity.

Key Romantic Elements

• The focus is on admiration and awe rather than rational analysis.
• The woman’s beauty is compared to a natural phenomenon.
• The poem is deeply personal and reflective.
• The woman is presented as almost divine, pure, and unattainable.

Possible Study Questions

• How does Byron use light and dark imagery to describe the woman’s beauty?
• Why does Byron compare the woman to the night instead of the sun?
• How does Byron suggest that inner goodness and physical beauty are connected?
• How does the Romantic movement’s emphasis on nature and emotion appear in this poem?
• What does the rhyme and rhythm contribute to the poem’s tone?
• In what ways does this poem differ from typical love poems?

Study Guide for La Belle Dame Sans Merci by John Keats: Background Information

• John Keats authored the poem.
• Written in 1819.
• It is a ballad.
• The Title Meaning is "The Beautiful Lady Without Mercy."
• The poem reflects Keats’ fascination with love, beauty, and death.
• Medieval folklore, chivalric romance, and the idea of a femme fatale serve as inspiration.

Structure and Style

• The poem is in the form of a ballad, a traditional narrative poem.
• The rhyme scheme is abcb (second and fourth lines rhyme in each stanza).
• Alternates between iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter.
• The tone is mysterious, melancholic, and eerie.

Literary Devices

• Vivid nature imagery ("the harvest’s done", "withered from the lake") creates decay and death.
• Ethereal and supernatural imagery is used to describe the mysterious woman ("a faery’s child", "her wild eyes").
• Symbolic examples: Knight = romantic idealism and human vulnerability, Lady = love, beauty, death, tuberculosis, Dreams/visions: Suggest deception, illusion, and loss.
• Alliteration & Repetition enhance the poem’s musical quality and mood.
• An example of contrast is the knight’s past joy versus his present suffering.

Themes

• The knight falls for an enchanting woman, but she abandons him.
• Love can be intoxicating as well as destructive.
• The knight believes he has found true love, but it's a fleeting illusion.
• The landscape is barren, symbolizing decline.
• The lady may represent fate, illness, or death.
• The woman seduces, enchants, and abandons the knight.
• She is described as both beautiful and dangerous.

Stanza 1-3: Introduction and Setting

• The poem begins with an unknown speaker questioning the knight.
• The knight appears sick, pale, and lost.
• The setting is bleak, foreshadowing tragedy.

Stanza 4-7: The Enchantment

• The knight recalls meeting a beautiful, mysterious woman.
• He compares her to a fairy or supernatural being.
• She enchants him with her looks, songs, and gestures.

Stanza 8-9: The Love and Illusion

• She takes the knight to her mysterious dwelling.
• She weeps and sighs.

Stanza 10-12: The Tragic Vision

• The knight has a dream of pale, ghostly men, victims of the same woman.
• They warn him that he is trapped.

Stanza 13-14: The Aftermath

• The knight wakes up alone, abandoned, and doomed.
• He is trapped.
• The poem ends with his endless suffering.

Key Romantic Elements

• The knight is overcome by love and desire, leading to his downfall.
• The lady is possibly a fairy, a ghost, or a vision.
• The barren landscape mirrors the knight’s despair.
• The knight's dream serves as both a warning and a revelation.

Possible Interpretations

• The poem warns that love can be deceptive and harmful.
• Some believe the knight's paleness reflects Keats' struggle with tuberculosis.
• The lady represents beauty and art, but the knight's obsession leads to his doom.

Discussion & Study Questions

• Why does the knight remain trapped and suffering at the end?
• What does the lady symbolize?
• How does Keats use nature imagery to reflect the knight’s emotions?
• What is the effect of the ballad form and repetition?
• How does the poem reflect Romantic ideals of beauty, imagination, and the supernatural?

Key Quotes for Analysis

• "And no birds sing." This is repeated at the beginning and end.
• "She looked at me as she did love, and made sweet moan." Did the woman genuinely love him?
• "La Belle Dame sans Merci / Thee hath in thrall!" What does "in thrall" mean?

Summary of Takeaways

• La Belle Dame Sans Merci is a tragic Romantic ballad about a knight who is enchanted and abandoned.
• The poem explores love, illusion, the supernatural, and inevitable loss.
• Keats uses dreamlike imagery, contrast, and a haunting refrain.

Study Guide for "Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey" by William Wordsworth: Background Information

• Authored by William Wordsworth in 1798.
• Published in Lyrical Ballads (1798).
• Reflects on nature’s impact on the human soul and the passage of time.
• Addresses Wordsworth’s sister, Dorothy.
• A key work emphasizing emotion, memory, and the sublime.

Structure and Style

• The poem is in blank verse.
• The tone is reflective, meditative, and reverent.
• Conversational and flowing poetic style.

Literary Devices

• Vivid natural descriptions create a serene setting.
• Contrast between past and present experiences of nature.
• Nature is depicted as almost like a spiritual guide.
• Alliteration & Assonance enhance the musicality of the verse.
• Contrast: The speaker compares his youthful experience with his mature understanding.

Themes

• Nature provides solace, inspiration, and moral guidance.
• Wordsworth sees nature as a healing force.
• The poem explores how memories shape our future.
• The poet reflects on how his perception has changed.
• As a young man, he enjoyed nature passionately.
• As an adult, he appreciates nature in a spiritual and philosophical way.
• The poem conveys awe for nature’s vastness.
• Wordsworth suggests that poets can capture the deep emotions inspired by nature.
• Imagination allows us to relive past experiences.

Summary & Analysis: Opening Stanzas

• The speaker returns after five years and is immediately comforted by the familiar landscape.
• The passage of time is emphasized.
• The natural setting is unchanged, but the speaker has changed.

Summary & Analysis: Middle Stanzas

• Memories of Tintern Abbey provided him with inspiration.
• Nature acts as a spiritual refuge.
• Nature helps the speaker escape the burdens of life.

Summary & Analysis: Later Stanzas

• As a youth, he saw nature as an exciting, physical experience.
• As an adult, he sees nature as a source of deep wisdom.

Summary & Analysis: Final Stanzas

• The speaker turns to his sister, Dorothy, expressing his wish that she too will find joy in nature.
• He hopes she will recall this moment just as he remembers his past experiences.
• This moment emphasizes the theme of memory.

Key Romantic Elements

• The poem focuses on personal emotions and experiences.
• Nature is not just beautiful but also morally uplifting.
• Past experiences shape the present.
• Nature’s beauty creates awe and deep reflection.
• The poem is personal yet universal in its themes.

Discussion & Study Questions

• How does Wordsworth’s perception of nature change?
• What role does memory play in the poem?
• Why does Wordsworth address his sister, Dorothy, at the end?
• How does the poem reflect Romantic ideals?
• How does Wordsworth describe the relationship between nature and human emotions?

Key Quotes for Analysis

• "Five years have past; five summers, with the length of five long winters!" Why does Wordsworth emphasize time?
• "These beauteous forms … have not been to me as is a landscape to a blind man’s eye." How does this line show the power of memory?
• "My dear, dear Sister! and this prayer I make, Knowing that Nature never did betray The heart that loved her." What does this reveal about Wordsworth’s view of nature?

Summary of Takeaways

• "Tintern Abbey" is a personal reflection on nature, memory, and personal growth.
• Wordsworth moves from a childlike joy in nature to a more philosophical connection.
• The poem illustrates how nature shapes human emotions and provides lasting inspiration.
• He shares this wisdom with his sister Dorothy.

4. Study Guide for Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge: Background Information

• Samuel Taylor Coleridge authored.
• Written in 1797.
• Published in 1816.
• Coleridge claimed that he wrote the poem after waking from an opium-induced dream.
• The poem is often referred to as a fragment.
• The poem explores themes of imagination, creativity, and the power of poetry.
• A key example of emphasizing the sublime, nature, and the supernatural.

Structure and Style

• The poem is written in two parts: a description, and a personal reflection.
• Mostly iambic tetrameter, with some variations.
• Irregular rhyme scheme, creating a dreamlike atmosphere.
• Shifts from grand and exotic to deeply personal and meditative tone.

Literary Devices

• Lush and exotic landscapes depict imagery.
• Contrast between order and chaos is show in the sunny pleasure-dome compared to caverns.
• Alliteration is shown in “Five miles meandering with a mazy motion.”
• Nature is depicted as untamed.
• dome represents creativity and artistic vision.
• River Alph symbolizes the and imagination.
• Harmony and disorder creates contrast, along historical view versus supernatural vision.

Summary & Analysis: Part 1

• The poem opens with a palace in Xanadu, surrounded by beauty.
• The setting includes gardens, a sacred river.
• Nature’s power is both beautiful and chaotic. Contrast between human creation and nature.

Summary & Analysis: Part 2

• The poem shifts from Xanadu to the poet’s personal vision.

Themes

• The poem celebrates the creative force of the mind.
• The unfinished nature of the poem reflects the elusive nature of inspiration.

Art vs. Reality

• Kubla Khan constructs a pleasure-dome, just as poets construct visions.

Romantic Elements

• Prioritizes dreamlike creativity.
• Landscapes and untamed rivers.
• The poet’s vision.

Discussion & Study Questions

• Presents the theme of poetic inspiration in the second half?
• How does the damsel with a dulcimer relate to the power of poetry?

Key Quotes for Analysis

• "In Xanadu did Kubla Khan / A stately pleasure-dome decree."
• "And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills, / Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree."
• "As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing."
• What does this reveal about the poet’s longing for artistic vision?

Summary of Takeaways

• Kubla Khan is a dreamlike poem about creativity, imagination, and the power of poetic vision.
• The first part describes a grand and mysterious landscape, blending human artifice and nature’s raw power.
• The poem illustrates Romantic ideals, particularly the sublime, supernatural, and the importance of imagination.

Pride and Prejudice - Plot Summary

• Focus is on the Bennet family, particularly Elizabeth.
• Evolves around Elizabeth's relationship with Mr. Darcy.
• Examines the marriage plots of Elizabeth's sisters.
• Highlights the importance of love, class, and respectability.

Pride and Prejudice - Key Themes

• Social Class & Marriage: Critiques social structure
• Prejudice & Judgment: Critiques first impressions
• Gender Roles: Highlights limited opportunities for women
• Individual Growth & Self-awareness: Personal growth is tied to assumptions

Pride and Prejudice - Main Characters

• Elizabeth Bennet: Intelligent, witty, values love over status
• Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Initially proud, reveals kindness
• Jane Bennet: Beautiful, calm, romantic interest in Mr. Bingley is impeded
• Mr. Charles Bingley: Wealthy, amiable, easily influenced by others
• Mr. Wickham: Charming, deceptive, causes turmoil in the Bennet family
• Lydia Bennet: Reckless, flirtatious, brings scandal to the family
• Mr. Collins: Pompous, self-important, marries Charlotte after rejection
• Lady Catherine de Bourgh: Aristocratic aunt, antagonist to Elizabeth

Pride and Prejudice - Key Locations

• Longbourn: The Bennet family home
• Pemberley: Mr. Darcy’s estate
• Netherfield: Mr. Bingley’s estate
• Meryton: The town near the Bennet home

Pride and Prejudice - Important Events

• First Ball at Netherfield: Elizabeth forms a negative opinion of Mr. Darcy
• Elizabeth’s Visit to Pemberley: Elizabeth's perception begins to evolve
• Lydia and Wickham Scandal: Threatens the Bennet family’s reputation
• Darcy’s Proposal to Elizabeth: Elizabeth rejects his proposal

Pride and Prejudice - Symbols & Motifs

• Letters: Serve as symbols of communication
• Social Gatherings: Represent constraints of society and class divisions
• Walks: Symbolize freedom, introspection

Pride and Prejudice - Commentary on Key Themes

• Marriage & Class: Marrying based on social status, critiques marrying for convenience
• Pride & Prejudice: Misjudgment that arises from preconceived notions
• Gender & Expectations: Women in the novel are judged based on marriage prospects

Pride and Prejudice - Significance of Key Relationships

• Elizabeth & Darcy: Evolve from disdain to respect and love
• Jane & Bingley: Straightforward love story, highlights gentleness
• Lydia & Wickham: Represents dangerous affairs, unchecked desire

Pride and Prejudice - Commentary on Social Class and Gender

• Social class is judged on standing
• Focus on gender of women in society as economic stability depends on marrying up

Pride and Prejudice - Elizabeth as a judge of character

• Elizabeth learns to recognize prejudice and adjustments, recognizes character growth

Pride and Prejudice - Pemberley Significance

• Reflects Darcy's true nature
• Changes to the perception of Elizabeth, making her realize it was misguided

Pride and Prejudice - The Netherfield Ball

• Negative perception of Darcy is created
• Highlight the ball as the gatherings of the time

Pride and Prejudice - The Lydia and Wickham Scandal

• Represents risks of poor judgment
• Highlights deceptive charm

Pride and Prejudice - The Importance of Walks

• Elizabeth walks often, reflecting and showing freedom
• Walks are a contrast of constraints with society and personal realm

Pride and Prejudice - Elizabeth’s Walks

• Walking showcases character
• Highlights the role of the individual, challenges character

Pride and Prejudice - Mr. Collins & Lady Catherine

• Both test Elizabeth
• Highlight views on social expectations versus class

Pride and Prejudice - The Marriage Plot

• Critique of marriage time
• Focuses on Darcy and Elizabeth as a view of mutual understanding