4. Romantic?
ï¶ Mere love or more?
ï¶Nature
ï¶Contrast with Neo-Classicism
ï¶Imagination and the Mysterious
ï¶Emotions and the Self
ï¶Myths and symbolism
5. âą âWriters and artists particularly those associated with the
Romantic Movement not only found beauty in nature; they
also perceived truth and nobility in an earlier social age- the
Medieval period- that they then contrasted to the social
disorder of their own timesâ (Barthel, 88).
âą âI am not made like anyone I have seen; I dare believe that I
am not made like anyone in existence. If I am not superior, at
least I am differentâ (Rousseau, Confessions).
6. Reaction to the Age of
Reason
âą Age of Reason
â Reason is primal
â Emotions are unreliable
â Classical works are the best, they must be imitated
âą Romanticism
â Reason alone is not enough
â Emotions are indispensable
â Imagination cannot be stopped, no boundaries
7. Age of Revolutions
âą French Revolution
â «Liberty, Equality, Fraternity»
â Nationalism
âą American Revolution
â Against tyranny
âą Industrial Revolution
â Away from nature
â Mechanization
â Urbanization= suffering
8. âą Humanity is good, but corrupted by society and its
institutions.
âą Simplicity and naturalness
⹠«Man speaking to men»
âą Rebellious, against tyranny, authority, injustice
âą Nature begign, beautiful but at the same time
frightening, awe â inspiring; sublime
9. ï¶Romanticism is characterized by the 5 âIâs
ï¶Imagination
ï¶Intuition and emotions
ï¶Idealism
ï¶Inspiration
ï¶Individuality
10. Imagination
ï¶Imagination was emphasized over
âreason.â
ï¶This was a backlash against the
rationalism characterized by the
Neoclassical period or âAge of Reason.â
ï¶Imagination was considered necessary for
creating all art.
ï¶British writer Samuel Taylor Coleridge
called it âintellectual intuition.â
11. Intuition
ï¶Romantics placed value on âintuition,â or
feeling and instincts, over reason.
ï¶Emotions were important in Romantic art.
ï¶British Romantic William Wordsworth
described poetry as âthe spontaneous
overflow of powerful feelings.â
ï¶âI felt before I thoughtâ
13. Inspiration
ï¶The Romantic artist, musician, or writer,
is an âinspired creatorâ rather than a
âtechnical master.â
ï¶What this means is âgoing with the
momentâ or being spontaneous, rather
than âgetting it precise.â
14. Individuality
ï¶Romantics celebrated the individual.
ï¶During this time period, Womenâs Rights
and Abolitionism were taking root as
major movements.
ï¶Walt Whitman, a later Romantic writer,
would write a poem entitled âSong of
Myselfâ: it begins, âI celebrate myselfâŠâ
15. Two Generations of
Romantics
First Generation
âą William Blake
â 1757 - 1827
âą William Wordsworth
1770 - 1850
âą Samuel Taylor Coleridge
â 1772 - 1834
Second Generation
âą John Keats
â 1795 - 1821
âą Percy Bysshe Shelley
â 1792 - 1822
âą George Gordon, Lord Byron
â 1788 - 1824
16. William Wordsworth
(1770-1850)
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(1772-1834)
ï¶The return to the original state of nature
ï¶The tragedies of society
ï¶The imagination: self consciousness and poetic imagination
17.
18. The Scottish Poets
Robert Burns (1759-1796) Sir Walter Scott (1771-
1832)
ï¶Folk poetry
ï¶Emphasise on nature
ï¶Scottish rural life
ï¶Holy Willieâs Prayer
ï¶The Cotterâs Saturday Night
ï¶Love and Liberty
ï¶The Lay of the Last Minstrel
ï¶The Lady of the Lake
19. Lord George Gordon Byron (1788-
1824)
ï¶An embodiment of the Romantic Hero
ï¶A scandalous aristocrat criticizing the socia
norms
ï¶Defender of nationalism and liberty
ï¶Childe Haroldâs Pilgrimage
ï¶Don Juan
âI awoke one morning and found
myself famousâ
20. Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)
ï¶Rebellion against all kinds of authority
ï¶Vision of liberty
ï¶The Necessity of Atheism
ï¶Prometheus Unbound
ï¶Ozymandias
ï¶The Mask of Anarchy
ï¶Ode to the West Wind
21. John Keats (1795-1821)
ï¶Absorption of love and beauty
ï¶The Eve of Saint Agnes: dream vs. reality
ï¶Lamia
ï¶Ode to a Nightingale
ï¶Negative Capability She took me to her elfin grot,
And there she gaz'd and sighed deep,
And there I shut her wild sad eyes -
So kiss'd to sleep.
La Belle Dame Sans Merci
22. ï¶The dominance of Shakespeare
ï¶Dramatic criticism
Curtain falls on RomanticismâŠ
William Hazlitt (1778-1830) Charles Lamb (1775-1834)
23. ï¶Women: the leading role on the stage of
literature
The NovelâŠ
ï¶Reaction to the society of the 18th century
ï¶Women and Marriage
ï¶The nature of human insight
Jane Austen (1775-1817)
ï¶Sense and Sensibility
ï¶Pride and Prejudice
ï¶Mansfield Park
ï¶Persuasion
ï¶Emma
24. The Gothic genre
ï¶Mysteries of Udolpho
Ann Radcliffe (1764-1823)
Mary Shelley (1797-1851)
ï¶Scientific Gothic: Frankenstein
ï¶A Vindication of the Right of Woman
25. Walter Scott: the novelist
ï¶Waverley
ï¶Opposition to the restricted world of Austen
ï¶Portrayal of Scottish life and culture
ï¶Historical elements
26. William Blake
âą Madman
âą Poet, painter, engraver, spiritual visionary
âą Prophet Ezekiel on a tree, tree filled with angels
⹠«Without contraries is no progression»
âą The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
âą The Book of Urizen
âą Songs of Innocence (1789)
âą Songs of Experience (1794)
27. âą Insane or ingenious?
âą Mystical insight and the religious innocence
William Blake (1757-1827)
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33. âąRythmic like a song
âąAlliteration (Little Lamb)
âąAssonance (Dost Thou Know Who)
âąRepetition
âąImagery (Use of visuals)
âąSymbol (Lamb Peace/Tiger Violence)
34. Battle in Heaven between
God and Rebel Angels
God as a blacksmith
The depths of the human soul:
An Angel & A Demon?
35. âą Tiger => Powerful, proud, fearful, killer, evil
âą Lamb => Ignorant, Meek, gentle, innocent, good
âą Combined they represent life itself?
âą Do we have free will?
Do we have freedom of choice?
âą What does faith mean?
âą In what ways are these poems reflective of
human nature / Existence?
âą God as an artist and life/World as his creation?
âą Why did God create the lamb & the tiger
together?