The Romantic Period

1798-1832

History:

-The Enlightenment

-The American Revolution

-The French Revolution

-Napoleon

-George III and the Regency

-The Industrial Revolution

Philosophy:

-The Enlightenment “Project”

-Cosmopolitanism

-German idealism

-Rousseau and the “state of nature”

-Sturm und Drang movement

Literature:

-Reaction against Neoclassical/Augustan

-William Blake and Robert Burns (precursors)

-William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge (early)

-Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, John Keats (late)

-Mary Shelley

-Jane Austen and Sir Walter Scott

History:

In order to understand Romanticism it is necessary to first

grasp what the goals of the Enlightenment were. The

Enlightenment, like the Renaissance, is a term that is used by

historians to describe the intellectual developments that took place

during a certain period of time. The Enlightenment was a

movement during the 18th century that emphasized the use of

science and reason to understand the world. It shares with the

Renaissance a certain confidence in our ability to comprehend the

world through human reason. Increasingly, science and rationality

were declared the most legitimate ways of comprehending reality.

In England, the figure of Sir Isaac Newton and the discovery, or

belief that the universe operates according to logical principles is

representative of this approach. Gradually, philosophers began to

apply this scientific thinking to human beings and society. The

Enlightenment reliance on reason influenced literature, politics,

economics, and religion.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are

created equal.” The “Declaration of Independence” was heavily

influenced by John Locke’s “Second Treatise on Government,”

which rationally argued against the “divine right of kings.” The

American Revolution, which took place between 1776-1783;

represents the application of certain Enlightenment ideas.

However, it is the French Revolution, which began in 1789 that

contributes more prominently to the historical background of

English Romanticism.

While the loss of the American colonies affected England’s

pride and economic interests, the French Revolution posed a much

more serious threat to political and social order within England

itself. Early Romantic writers such as William Blake, William

Wordsworth, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge enthusiastically

supported the French Revolution when it began. These writers did

not view it simply as an important event for French history, but as

an important event for humankind. These writers viewed the

French Revolution within the framework of the Enlightenment, a

movement whose ideals crossed national boundaries.

These early Romantic writers tended to align themselves with

the democratic spirit of reformers and revolutionaries. However, as

the broad revolutionary movement in France evolved into a radical

and violent faction, support within England began to decline. In

1792, the event known as the “September Massacres” involved the

execution of hundreds of the French nobility. In 1793-1794, the

event known as the “Reign of Terror” involved the execution of

King Louis XVI and thousands of aristocrats associated with the

Old Regime were guillotined. Due to this violent shift, the early

Romantic writers became disillusioned with the French Revolution

as a possible realization of Enlightenment ideals and the English

government became increasingly concerned about their own

security. The violent persecution of the aristocracy in France

revealed the power that a discontented lower class was capable of

exercising. The response to the violence and chaos in France was a

conservative restriction on freedom of assembly and freedom of

speech in England. Despite their disillusionment with the French

Revolution, many liberal and democratic reformers felt that

England was in need of political and social changes, but those in

power feared that any reforms would represent a move towards the

anarchy that characterized France (slippery slope argument).

Parliament and the monarchy feared an internal rebellion from

below, but also feared a French invasion from without. Britain

went to war with France after the French invasion of the

Netherlands and French aid was given to the Irish attempting to

remove the English colonialists who occupied Ireland (Swift’s A

Modest Proposal).

In France, Napoleon Bonaparte emerged as a military dictator

and eventually became emperor of France. Napoleon aimed to

spread Enlightenment ideals through military conquest and this

resulted in the rise of nationalism in what would become Germany

and Italy.

The British defeated the French navy in 1805 in the Battle of

Trafalgar and no longer feared a French invasion. Britain gradually

liberated countries that Napoleon was occupying and Napoleon’s

invasion of Russia in 1812 was unsuccessful. Napoleon was

ultimately defeated in 1815 in the Battle of Waterloo and the

Congress of Vienna then restored monarchies to the countries that

Napoleon had conquered. In other words, what began as a

revolutionary and democratic movement within France that had

spread to all of Europe by Napoleon, ended with the wealthy and

conservative classes still in power.

George III was King of England during the American

Revolution and the French Revolution; however, George later

became mentally ill and his son George ruled from 1811-1820.

This is referred to as the “Regency” period and George eventually

ruled as George IV.

Lastly, in order understand the historical background of

English Romanticism it is necessary to understand the profound

transformations that resulted from the Industrial Revolution. In the

18th century, England began to change from a primarily agricultural

society to a modern industrial society. The balance of economic,

and therefore political power, began to shift from the landowning

aristocracy to the middle-class industrialists and businessmen;

those who owned the factories.

The process of “enclosure,” whereby public land is made

private, had been taking place in the countryside for some time.

This contributed to a situation wherein peasants were losing access

to land while new jobs were becoming available in the urban

factories. Cities experienced growth due to industrialization and

rural peasants began seeking work in the new factories. These

factories were characterized by dangerous working conditions,

long hours, and low wages. Admittedly, this growing working

class did not live a much better life in the country, but the rapid

growth of cities resulted in poor living conditions, inadequate

sanitation, disease, and crime. Furthermore, new cities that arose

due to industrialization did not have representation in Parliament.

Overall, the middle-class and aristocracy prospered due to

industrialization, while the lower-class suffered in horrible

working and living conditions. The dominant economic philosophy

during this time period was the “laissez-faire” approach. The idea

is that the economy works best without government intervention.

At this time, no laws regulated factory safety, hours, or wages.

Furthermore, the government made no attempt to control the

inevitable booms-and-busts of the market. “Laissez-faire”

economics stems from the Enlightenment, the notion that “natural

laws” are at work in the universe. Well, that might work great for

physics, but it is this misapplication of, and over emphasis on,

rationality and science, that the Romantics are reacting against.

At the beginning of the Regency, an economic depression

occurred and factories fired many workers. Well, if you have taken

economics then you know about the “crises of overproduction.”

Machinery is introduced, which makes more stuff in less time and

less people are needed as labor power; the result, more supply, less

purchasing power, more people get fired. Well, the unemployed

factory workers decided to riot and to destroy the machinery in

many factories. This event is known as the “Luddite riots.”

Parliament and the people who owned the factories obviously did

not like this so they passed a law making the future destruction of

machinery punishable by death. Due to the “laissez-faire”

approach, the government did not seek to solve the unemployment

problem that caused the riot, but instead attempted to prevent riots.

The factory workers, the poor, and the unemployed wanted to unite

in their efforts, but labor unions were illegal. When the factory

workers did assemble, the government sent troops to break up the

meeting and eleven people were killed. This event is known as the

“Peterloo Massacre.”

Philosophy:

Earlier, I said that the early Romantic writers viewed the

French Revolution within the framework of the Enlightenment. In

other words, they viewed the event as the possible realization of

Enlightenment ideals. The Enlightenment “project” aimed to

emancipate mankind. That humanistic ideal of the Renaissance,

that belief that human reason can be used to make the world a

better place, influenced all of Europe. It was believed that human

reason, employed in science, philosophy, and literature, could

improve society. The Enlightenment encouraged the reasoned

criticism of existing authorities, the monarchy and the church, with

the aim of personal and political freedom.

Because the Enlightenment crossed national boundaries, the

orientation of reformers towards the French Revolution possessed

a sort of cosmopolitanism. In England, the figure of Thomas Paine,

who was involved in reform efforts in Britain, the American

Revolution, and the French Revolution, is representative of this

cosmopolitanism. Paine was a product of the Enlightenment and

his commitment to those ideals transcended nationality.

How is Romanticism a reaction against the Enlightenment?

Well, the Romantics did not reject the aims of the Enlightenment

and believed in many of the Enlightenment’s ideals. Romanticism

is a reaction against the Enlightenment in that it represents a

critique of the excessive reliance and emphasis on rationality,

order, and scientific thinking. In other words, the Enlightenment

had unforeseen consequences. Factories produce rationally and

efficiently lots of stuff; but is it healthy for human beings to be

treated as part of a machine? What happens when we apply that

Enlightenment view that Nature can be understood, controlled, and

used in a rational and productive manner, and apply it to human

beings? The Enlightenment emphasized the individual only as part

of a rational whole, a society; or in the case of labor power as part

of a machine. The Romantics revive the Renaissance emphasis on

the individual. In this way, Romanticism is the “renaissance of the

Renaissance.” Furthermore, it aims to carry out the ideals of the

Enlightenment in a different manner. Due to the French

Revolution, the emancipation of the individual through political

means had been a failure. The realization of personal imaginative

freedom was the only alternative. In this way, the Romantics

represent a tension between concerns for society, or ideas of

progress, and an emphasis on the individual. Faced with the

conservative reaction to the French Revolution, the shortcomings

of the Enlightenment “project,” and the social changes caused by

the Industrial Revolution, the Romantics in Britain respond to this

uncertainty with a new way of thinking.

The English Romantics were primarily concerned with the

individual, subjectivity, imagination, and emotion. This new way

of thinking had many sources, including German idealism

(philosophy), the Sturm und Drang movement in German

literature, the political philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and

Protestant ideas of self-determination and individual faith

stemming from the Reformation.

Schelling, a German philosopher, claimed that man could

only understand his place in the universe through an imaginative

involvement with it. In other words, rationally understanding how

the world operates, or understanding physics; does not provide an

explanation for why the world exists or the nature of man’s

existence within the world. How does the subject (the human

being) make sense of the object (the world) and their place within

the world? We are part of the world, but we can also reflect on the

world. For the Romantics, Nature becomes the site of imaginative

and emotional understanding. Nature can be understood in a

rational, scientific sense and encountered in an imaginative,

emotional sense.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a Swiss philosopher, wrote about

man in the “state of nature.” This was a time before political

institutions and society. English philosophers Thomas Hobbes and

John Locke had both written about the “state of nature,” but

Rousseau argues that man is naturally good. Rousseau argues that

society and institutions corrupt the individual and that the “state of

nature” was a less oppressive form of civilization. Rousseau

influenced Romanticism in that human imagination, emotion, and

intuition are viewed as a source of truth and goodness.

The Sturm und Drang movement, meaning “storm and

stress,” in German literature and music emphasized individuality,

subjectivity, and violent emotion. Goethe’s The Sorrows of Young

Werther (1774), which Napoleon carried in his jacket during the

French invasion of Egypt, is an early example of the “Romantic

hero” who feels a sense of isolation from the society which he is

expected to conform. The English Romantics emphasized emotion

over reason, Nature over industry, and the individual over society.

They considered the individual’s relationship to Nature very

important, they celebrated the commonplace, and perceived beauty

in the everyday. REPEAT.

Literature:

Where does the term “Romanticism” come from? Well, last

semester you studied the medieval “romance,” such as Sir Gawain

and the Green Knight. The medieval “romance” is a tale of

chivalry involving a “quest” that takes place in an imaginative

world. The use of the word “romance” to denote an emotional or

imaginative experience can be traced back to the medieval

“romance.” In referring to the literature of the late 18th and early

19th century as “Romanticism,” historians and literary critics are

recognizing an interest in the charming, magical, mysterious, and

imaginative among these writers.

Romanticism, as a literary movement in Britain, was a

reaction against the neo-classical and Augustan writing of the

earlier 18th century. Augustan writers stressed balance, order, logic,

and emotional restraint. The Romantics felt that the Augustan

emphasis on tradition resulted in a limitation of vision, or an

inability to perceive possibility.

Who are the Romantics? Two individuals who are considered

precursors to Romanticism are William Blake and Robert Burns.

William Blake (1757-1827) was not simply a poet; he was an

artist. In addition to writing poetry, Blake poured his energy into

painting, drawing, and engraving. He invented his own style of

printing called “illuminated printing,” which included a poem’s

text and illustration on the same plate. His poems in Songs of

Innocence (1789) and Songs of Experience (1794) explore the

perspectives of two opposing states of existence. Blake was a

Christian, but believed that church doctrine was used primarily as a

form of social control. This realization was part of the transition

from a state of innocence (blind obedience) to a state of experience

(disillusionment).

Robert Burns (1759-1796) grew up in poverty and was

critical of the economic inequality in Scotland. He wrote poems

praising peasant life in the dialect of the Scottish peasants. Burns’

dedication to natural speech and common experiences influenced

later Romantic poets.

The beginning of “Romanticism” in Britain is traditionally

marked by the publication in 1798 of Lyrical Ballads by William

Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Wordsworth used

simple language to celebrate nature and common life. Many of his

poems are about the passage of time and man’s subjective

experience of life and nature. He supported the French Revolution

in his youth, but became more conservative later in life.

Wordsworth contributed many poems to Lyrical Ballads and his

Preface to that work outlined some of the main characteristics of

“Romanticism.” The Preface is the theoretical justification for the

new conception of poetry that emphasized subjective experience.

How is the spontaneous expression of strong emotion and

imagination linked to man’s experiences in Nature? According to

Wordsworth, the natural world was a catalyst to explore inner

thoughts and feelings. Communion with nature could translate into

spiritual contemplation. The subject matter of the new poetry was

rustic life and ordinary events. In other words, the common was

glorified and beauty was perceived in the simple. The emphasis on

imagination also involved the mysterious, exotic, and supernatural.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner,”

the first poem in Lyrical Ballads, is an example of the supernatural

in “Romanticism.” Coleridge’s poem “Kubla Khan,” which was

written in an opium-induced sleep, represents the mysterious and

exotic. Like Wordsworth, Coleridge was more idealistic in his

youth and desired to build a utopian colony in Pennsylvania, but

the plan failed to materialize. Other utopian colonies were being

founded in the U.S. during this time and in the early 18th century as

experiments with utopian socialism and this was also influenced by

the political thought of Rousseau.

While Wordsworth and Coleridge, co-authors of Lyrical

Ballads, represent “early” Romanticism, a second “wave,” or

younger generation of poets represent “late” Romanticism. These

poets, Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, and John Keats, all died

relatively young.

Lord Byron’s (1788-1824) passion and rebelliousness make

him a symbol of the romantic spirit that was first captured in

Goethe’s Sorrows of Young Werther. The “Byronic hero” is a

restless, tortured soul who rejects traditional values. Byron was

described as being, “mad, bad and dangerous to know.” His fame

as a poet began with the publication of Childe Harold’s

Pilgrimage, based on his travels in Europe. He left Britain for the

continent in 1816 and became friends with Percy and Mary Shelley

in Switzerland. Lord Byron gave a speech in the House of Lords

defending the Luddite rioters and died helping train Greek soldiers

in their war for independence (cosmopolitan).

Percy Shelley (1792-1822) was an idealist and

nonconformist. As a child, Percy was the victim of bullying and

developed a hatred for tyranny and conformity. He was expelled

from Oxford University for writing an essay on atheism. He

supported Catholic emancipation and independence for Ireland.

Shelley fell in love with Mary Godwin, whose parents, Mary

Wollstonecraft, author of Vindication of the Rights of Woman, and

the philosopher William Godwin, were two of the most influential

radicals of the 1790s. Shelley wrote much of his greatest poetry

while traveling in Switzerland with his wife and Lord Byron. Percy

died at sea off of the coast of Italy during a storm.

The friendship between Lord Byron, Percy Shelly, and Mary

Shelley led to the writing of Frankenstein. Byron suggested that

they have a contest to write the best “ghost story” and Mary

ultimately produced Frankenstein, a warning against the dangers

of science and the desire to control nature. Frankenstein combined

elements of Romanticism, the Gothic, and science-fiction.

John Keats (1795-1821) achieved literary fame at an early

age and accomplished more in his short life than other poets who

wrote for decades. Keats was prevented from marrying due to his

poor health and poverty. Keats is most admired for his odes and

the imagery he used to discuss both physical and philosophical

beauty. Keats died at the age of 25 from tuberculosis.

During the 18th century the novel became a popular form of

writing and the Romantic period produced two influential

novelists; Jane Austen and Sir Walter Scott.

Jane Austen is known for her “novels of manners.” Works

such as Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility dealt with

the social conventions of the middle and upper classes. Sir Walter

Scott was influential in developing the “historical novel” and his

characters represented the experiences of the middle and lower

classes. Novels would become even more popular in the 19th

century as it became the preference of the growing middle-class.

Historians and literary critics mark 1832 as an appropriate

end date for the Romantic period due to the death of the novelist

Sir Walter Scott and the passage of the First Reform Bill of 1832.

After King George IV died in 1830, an influential member of the

Whig party, Earl Grey, led a parliamentary reform effort. This

legislation, the First Reform Bill of 1832, extended voting rights to

more middle-class men and represented a small step in the gradual

development of democracy in Britain. While Britain had

experienced working class riots, the country did not experience a

revolution and reform took place gradually. In 1837, Queen

Victoria took the throne and England expanded its power abroad.

The industrial revolution, laissez-faire capitalism, Christianity,

English culture, and the English language would be spread all over

the world, as Britain gradually became an empire.