ROMANTICISM

romanticism

• developed as a result of the industrial revolution, considering it inhuman, ‘soul crushing’ and unnatural

• concerned with the psychological and social effects of newly industrial world upon the individual

• the glorification and appreciation of Nature (the sublime)

• rejection of the enlightenment and neoclassicism: The enlightenment celebrated reason, structure and scientific progress - romantic poets reacted against this my championing emotion, nature, imagination and personal freedom: loathing for an academic formula

features of romanticism

• passion, extreme sublime, emotionalism, nature, innocence, childhood, rebellion, radicalism, freedom, spirituality, the divine, subjectivity

• emphasis on individualism and creativity

• spontaneity and freedom from rules

• beliefs that imagination is superior to reason

• devotion to beauty, love of and worship of nature

• fascination with death, mystery and family

• Prioritised emotion, intuition and subjective experience over rationality

• Feelings of melancholy, joy and passion explored deeply 

• Valued imagination as a powerful force, viewing it as more important than logical reasoning 

• Glorified the individual, depicting outcasts, rebels and misunderstood geniuses 

• Opposed rigid structures of society, advocating for freedom in thought, expression and lifestyle 

• interest in the primitive and the remote

• superhuman qualities, admiration of wild genius, outlaws, heroes, aestheticism and self destruction

the sublime

•  a feature of romanticism

• describes nature's ability to evoke awe, wonder and even fear 

• Typical romantic tropes in placing nature above the individual 

• Celebrated nature as a source of beauty, inspiration, emotional depth

• Nature is a redemptive force, a place where we feed out souls and commune with the divine, also a place of memory and thirdly, it arouses our emotions 

• concept of awe, terror and greatness that goes beyond ordinary human understanding

• capable of generating the strongest sensations in its beholders

• the experience of nature

first generation vs second generation poets

• first generation - Blake, Wordsworth and Coleridge

• second generation - byron, Shelley, keats

• the first generation started the movement by focusing on nature and self

• second generation took those ideas and make the more intense, rebellious and tragic

language and form

• everyday language: words anyone could understand

• lyric poem: focus on a single speakers emotions

• odes and sonnets: traditional forms of poems but filling them with intense, personal feelings

rousseau

• ‘a man is born free, but everywhere is chains’

• theory of education: emphasised importance of expression to produced a well balanced, freethinking child without constraints imposed by society in order to reach their fullest potential, both educational and morally

• Challenge traditional moral and religious teaching, claiming ‘man is naturally good, loving justice and order’

• Argued ills of man would be cured with a return to nature 

• Presented aesthetic and philosophical idea that anticipated the romantics movement - advocating turning away form society and reason and towards nature, emotion and individual soul for meaning

• Emphasis on sentiments, imagination and humanities connection with the natural world prefigured the romanticist sensibility

role of children

• believed to have been connected to nature

• object of fascination

• epitome of innocence

• closest connection that humanity has to god

French Revolution

• romantic poets inspired by the French Revolution: a time of huge political change and the idea that ‘ordinary people’ mattered started to take root: romantic poets inspired by the ideals of equality, fraternity and liberty

• England had become very oppressive due to fears of recreating the french revolution hence, there were little rights for the working class

industrial revolution

• Rapid growth of cities led to overcrowding, poor sanitation and harsh working conditions - romantics opposed destruction of rural communities and suffering of the working class

• Polluted landscapes - romantics viewed nature as sacred and a source of spiritual renewal, often lamenting its destruction 

• Machines replaced traditional crafts making workers feel alienated and reducing human creativity: romantics championed individual expression and saw mechanisation as a loss of personal identity

• Romantics saw technological advancement as a threat to freedom, beauty and morality 

• Presents industrialization as a source of oppression, especially for the poor

pantheism

• Religious and philosophical beliefs 

• God is nature and should not be considered separate as you cannot separate a creator from their creation 

negative capability and pre-existence

• term used by poets and philosophers to describe the ability to perceive and recognise truths beyond the reach of consecutive reasoning

  idea that we are a soul before we are guided to a mortal body