Marginal identities from the Romantics to the Victorians

Flashcards reviewing key concepts from the lecture notes on Marginal Identities from the Romantics to the Victorians.

What is the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizens?

A statement inspired by the French Revolution that proclaimed men are born and remain free and equal in rights, including liberty, private property, and resistance to oppression.

What were the years and key characteristics of Queen Anne's reign?

1702-1714. Marked by a stable government, a growing empire, prosperity, and the flourishing of the arts.

What were the key concepts of the 18th century?

Political stability, individualism, liberal thought and free will, optimism, reason and common sense, desire for balance, symmetry, and refinement.

Who was a neoclassical architect and where can you find an example of his architecture?

Robert Adam: Pulteney Bridge in Bath (1769-1774).

What factors contributed to the rise of the periodical press in the 18th century?

The economical, social, and political changes of the 18th century, along with improved sanitary conditions, led to a demographic increase and a more literate population.

What was the purpose of conduct books in the 18th century?

They provided ethical guidelines and principles for social behavior, influencing private life, family relationships, education, and household management.

Who critiqued British colonial policies in relation to Ireland and with what work?

Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" (1729).

What was Samuel Johnson's view on criticism?

Lives of the English Poets. He believed criticism should ensure literature provided pleasure and moral instruction.

What are the key characteristics of the novel as it emerged in the 18th century?

Focus on everyday experiences of ordinary people depicted in realistic situations, using epistolary formats, first-person confessions, and found manuscripts.

Who are considered the fathers of the novel?

Daniel Defoe, Samuel Richardson, and Henry Fielding.

Who were key women novelists of the 18th century?

Aphra Behn, Delarivière Manley, Eliza Haywood, Sarah Fielding, Frances Burney, Charlotte Lennox.

Who were the chief bluestocking hostesses?

Elizabeth Montagu, Elizabeth Vesey, and Frances Boscawen.

What were the defining aspects of Pre-Romanticism?

Explored emotions, imagination, and individual experience, rejecting rigid rules of reason in favor of personal expression and a deeper connection with nature.

What new forms of drama emerged in the 18th century?

Sentimental comedy and bourgeois tragedy.

What kind of drama blurred the distinction between high theatre and low theatre?

Gothic drama.

What types of novels evolved in the Age of Revolutions (1780-1830)?

Evangelical Novel, Sentimental novel, Jacobin Novel, and Gothic novel.

What were the key characteristics of a Sentimental novel?

Emphasized strong emotional responses, often depicting virtuous characters suffering unjustly, and focused on inner life, moral development, and empathy.

Which work is widely considered the first Gothic novel and who wrote it?

'The Castle of Otranto' (1764) by Horace Walpole.

Who was considered 'the Shakespeare of romance writers'?

Ann Radcliffe.

Which Richardson novel profoundly influenced Jane Austen's writing?

Sir Charles Grandison by Samuel Richardson.

What novels did Jane Austen publish?

Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Persuasion.

What is the main theme of 'Mansfield Park' and what characters embody it?

Fanny Price vs. Mary Crawford. The debate centers on the virtues of each character and what elements in 'Mansfield Park' each character represents.

What important issue and concept did Lord Mansfield's ruling establish?

That slavery had no legal standing in England.

What does 'Mansfield Park' reveal to its readers?

Economic interests dominate, and morality is manipulated to justify social structures that frequently sacrifice women.

Who delivered the sermon that sparked the Revolution Controversy?

Richard Price.

What did the Act of Settlement of 1701 stipulate?

The Act stipulated that, after the death of the childless Queen Anne (the last legitimate Stuart monarch) the British monarchy should be Protestant and Hanoverian.

What did the Regency focus on ?

Political events and fundamental literary figures.

How is British Romanticism best understood?

A moment of intersection between different literary modes, rather than as a clearly defined movement due to the absence of an official literary manifesto.

What did Wordsworth's do in his poetry?

To give voice to the marginalized and oppressed, including the rural poor, the insane, the disabled, and children.

Who were two key figures in the abolitionist movement in Britain?

William Wilberforce and Thomas Clarkson.

Why is William Cowper, greatest poet of the pre-Romantic era, important?

She used lyrical poetry and was focused in personal experience and interiority, foreshadowing the Romantic movement to come.

How did Ann Radcliffe influence other novels?

Emphasizing landscape description, known as "word painting."

While influenced by Radcliffe’s supernatural themes, what contribution did Matthew Gregory Lewis make to Gothic horror?

His graphic depiction of horror, incorporating sex, blood, sadism, torture, murder, and rotting corpses.

What are central themes of Romanticism?

The power of imagination, individual vs. society, emotions and psychological states, nature, the supernatural, political engagement, and history.

Which Romantic poet challenged social and political oppression?

William Blake.

How is Jonathan Swift's 'Gulliver's Travels' related to voyage accounts?

They both parodied voyage literature and satirized human vanities and irrationality, but Swift's work is a critique of society, describing such things in imaginary worlds.

Which British writer and poet made his home into a symbol of their work?

William Wordsworth.

Who saw Wordsworth and Coleridge's work in 1798 as the translation into the literary sphere of the French Revolution?

William Hazlitt

What did women poets in the Abolitionist Movement draw inspiration from in their poetry?

Their own challenges and limitations in Victorian society, and those of slaves.

What movement combined emotion, imagination, and interiority in their writings?

The Sublime.

Who sought a style that was both energetic and harmonious?

William Cowper. He sought a poetry in which fervor and intellectual agility are expressed through carefully chosen words.

What was the key to transforming plays in theater in the 18th Century

They emphasized emotions within human relationships, governed by poetic justice, and explored serious and moral themes by means that could evoke human empathy.

Jane Austen's years with the English Bourgouise

1775-1817, English bourgeois were turbulent on England, from poverty from standards of

What did William Wordsworth do through his writings?

Argued for the importance of emotions, spirituality, and the individual's connection to nature, portraying nature as a source of sublime beauty and spiritual truth.

What did Samuel Taylor Coleridge focus on in his writings?

Focused on the exotic, the supernatural, and the psychological exploration of characters, creating fantastical and imaginative worlds.

What did Percy Bysshe Shelley do through his writings?

Explored themes of social injustice, political oppression, and revolution, using poetry as a means to challenge authority and advocate for change.

What did John Keats do through his writings?

Explored themes of beauty, sensuality, and mortality, known for his vivid imagery and intense emotional expression.

What did Lord Byron do through his writings?

Rejected social conventions and celebrated individualism, freedom, and passion in his poetry.

What are some recurring elements or themes in the works of Percy Bysshe Shelley?

Rebellion against tyranny, the power of imagination, and the pursuit of intellectual and spiritual freedom.

What are some of the common themes explored by John Keats in his masterpieces of poetry?

Beauty, the transience of life, and the intertwined nature of pleasure and pain.

What subjects interested Lord Byron in his writings?

Exile, alienation, and the complexities of the human psyche and a profound sense of disillusionment.

How has 'Frankenstein' been interpreted over time?

As a reflection of the anxieties surrounding scientific progress and the socio-political upheavals of its time.

What's the legacy of Walter Scott?

His novels revived interest in historical fiction, which can be characterized by their detailed depiction of past eras, their exploration of Scottish identity, and their influence on subsequent generations of novelists.

Who wrote 'Frankenstein'?

Mary Shelley wrote 'Frankenstein'.

What is William Haz