48 ROMANTICISM

1. INTRODUCTION.

The Romantic period goes from 1798 with the first publications of Lyrical Ballads to 1832 with the death of Sir Walter Scott. This period is generally subdivided into two main phases: The first phase, known as the "triumph of Romantic ideas," emphasizes the celebration of nature, individualism, and emotional expression, with poets like Wordsworth, Coleridge, Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and John Keats at the forefront. The second phase transitions into the Victorian Age, which carried forward and evolved many themes of Romanticism but was also marked by a growing concern with social issues, industrialization, and moral responsibility.

I will divide this topic into 3 differentiated parts. Firstly, I will explain some of the historical and cultural aspects of the period, then, I will comment on poetry and its main representative poets and finally, I will speak about the novel and its authors.

2. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ROMANTIC PERIOD.

2.1. BACKGROUND.

The so-called Romantic period was marked by turbulence and significant change, driven by the breakdown of traditional stabilities like the agricultural economy and the established monarchical government. The Industrial Revolution played a central role in this upheaval, transforming England from a primarily agricultural society into an industrial powerhouse. This shift led to dramatic social and economic changes:

• The emergence of a new working class that often lacked land forced many to migrate to urban areas for factory jobs or remain in rural regions as farm labourers.

• The coming of machines provoked widespread unemployment and demands for Parliamentary Reform.

However, according to Abrams (2000), there were other factors, apart from the Industrial Revolution, which affected this period:

• The Independence of America in 1776: inspired democratic ideals, challenging traditional notions of monarchy.

• The French Revolution in 1789: influenced political thought and action.

• The French Revolutionary Wars from 1793 to 1802 and the Napoleonic Wars from 1803 to 1815. They brought about the first modern Industrial Depression, exacerbating social and economic tensions across Britain.

• The emergence of the first Feminist Group which claimed equal rights for both men and women: figures like Mary Wollstonecraft argued for equal educational and social opportunities for women

• And a series of repressive measures in Britain, for example, the ban of public meetings or the suspension of habeas corpus.

All these changes became the frame for Romanticism to take place in Britain.

2.2. THE MEANING OF ROMANTIC.

It is difficult to define the word 'romantic'. The Romantic movement emerged in France, Germany and England as a response to rationalist thought. The word itself derives from the Old French word 'romanz', referring to the vernacular languages derived from Latin and the literature written in those languages.

However, according to Lovejoy (1960), the term "romantic" gradually evolved in meaning. In the 17th century, it was associated with notions of the imaginative, fictitious, fabulous, or extravagant. Therefore, romanticism can be defined as a movement opposed to neo-classicism, dragging its inspirations to the Medieval Ages and Renaissance. By the 18th century, the term romantic began to be seen as an advancement upon the classical and reason. This shift highlighted values such as emotional depth, the sublime, and a reverence for the natural world.

In the Romantic movement, the natural world became a central focus, transforming creative imagination and serving as the primary source of imagery and inspiration. One of the consequences of romantic ideas is the poets' flight from the city, which they associated with corruption and dehumanization. As Shelley remarked 'Hell is a city much like London'. Poetry was not only a form of artistic expression, it was also used to inform and inspire others, change society and denounce social corruption. According to Purkis (1970), Wordsworth's view of the natural world as the source of spiritual understanding was dominant in changing people's sensibilities. It is in solitude and communion with the natural world that individuals can exercise the most valuable of faculties: imagination. Whereas intelligence is limited, imagination enables us to contact with the whole spiritual world. It opened up unlimited opportunities for the human mind to escape from a world that had become rational and ugly. This emphasis on imagination led to a fascination with the mystical, the subconscious, and the supernatural, reflecting a broader Romantic desire to explore realms beyond the rational and material.

3. POETRY.

Following Alexander (2000), two generations of Romantic writers can be distinguished: Blake, Wordsworth and Coleridge belong to the older generation while Byron, Shelley and Keats belong to the younger generation. Let's analyze them one by one.

3.1. OLDER GENERATION.

3.1.1. WILLIAM BLAKE (1757-1827): TOTAL ARTIST.

William Blake was born in 1757 in London. As a child, he saw visions from which he drew inspiration his whole life. His formal training as a painter and engraver was enriched by his extensive reading, including the Bible, Dante, Milton, and Shakespeare, alongside works reflecting his political radicalism and religious dissent.

His books provide a rich marriage of text and illustration. According to Burrow et al (2001), he was a total artist: a poet, engraver, printer, publisher, painter and book-seller. He had creative autonomy and he was a prolific and visualizer poet. His two arts of poetry and engraving came together for the first time in 1789 in Songs of Innocence. He was the first poet to locate innocence in the individual's childhood. Then in 1794, he published Songs of Experience, explaining the concept of experience as maturity, as all the things attached to humanity such as suffering, pain or corruption. These two contrary concepts of innocence and experience are understood as complementary since for him 'Without contraries, there is no progression'.

In his early books, William Blake engaged deeply with the political and social affairs of his time. He drew inspiration from significant events such as the War of Independence in America: A Prophecy or the French Revolution in The French Revolution. He also denounced the subordination of women in The Visions of the Daughter of Albion.

In his later books, he tackled the origin of evil. His Lambeth Books, especially the Book of Urizen (1794) are his version of Genesis. In this narrative, creation is a tragic mistake driven by his tyrant God Urizen who is associated with law, restriction and dividing and measuring. Blake showed his Neoplatonist view that evil in the world is inherited in creation, in being born in the physical world. The result of this generation is to confine man in his 5 senses limiting his capacity for perception and who can only be freed by imagination. He also explored how the spiritual realm has been lost and how rules govern the mere existence of man. As a consequence, society has yielded to the power of reason.

On the whole, Blake, as a poet, was a visionary and a genius who brought to the foreground the problems of social repression and spiritual death of much of his time.

3.1.2. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH (1770-1850): SPONTANEOUS OVERFLOW OF FEELINGS.

William Wordsworth was born in 1770 and spent his childhood and adolescence in the Lake District whose beauty undoubtedly influenced his poetry. The crucial emotional events in his life were his years in France (1791-1792) where he became deeply involved with the ideals of the French Revolution. This exposure to revolutionary fervor and republicanism left a lasting imprint on his early poetry. However, after the turmoil of those years, Wordsworth returned to the Lake District in 1799, where he spent the remainder of his life, eventually becoming a reflective figure. His later years saw him adopting a more conservative outlook, both politically and religiously, and his lyrical expressiveness became more restrained.

His best poetry was written before 1820. In 1793, he published An Evening Walk, a poem describing the beauty of the Lake District from noon to night. In the same year, he also published Descriptive Sketches in which he espoused the cause of the French Revolution. He also started a long autobiographical poem, The Prelude, published posthumously.

He enjoyed a close intimacy with Coleridge, and together they wrote Lyrical Ballads (1798). Their creative partnership involved a unique division of themes. According to Coleridge (1817), the plan was that he would focus on writing about the supernatural and the mystical, while Wordsworth would concentrate on exploring ordinary life and the beauty found in everyday experiences. A second edition came in 1800 and contained more poems and a Preface written by Wordsworth which became one of the most famous pieces of literary criticism in English, outlining his belief in the “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”. Several memorable poems emerged from Lyrical Ballads, including The Idiot Boy, The Thorn, The Mad Mother, and Tintern Abbey. The latter is a reflective meditation on nature, memory, and the profound joy found in solitude.

Therefore, Wordsworth was a poet characterized by his expression of intense feelings that nature inspires in him and by using the language really spoken by men, that is, the natural language of common speech.

3.1.3. SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE (1772-1835): INTENSE IMAGINATION.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge was a complex and fascinating figure in the Romantic movement. Born in 1772, his life was marked by personal struggles, particularly his addiction to opium, which began in the late 1790s and significantly affected both his health and his creative output. Despite this, Coleridge produced a remarkable body of work that included poetry, criticism, and lectures. After gaining some control over his addiction, Coleridge's productivity increased, leading to the publication of several significant works: Biographia Literaria, Aids of Reflection and On the Constitution of Church and State all date from his last years of life.

His most important contribution to Lyrical Ballads was The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. This is a highly sophisticated poem with brilliant use of literary devices such as repetition, alliteration, onomatopoeia and internal rhyme. These devices enhance its musicality and emotional resonance. The narrative, with its exploration of guilt, redemption, and the natural world, encapsulates the Romantic fascination with the sublime and the complexities of the human experience.

Kubla Khan, on the other hand, is often described as one of Coleridge's most enigmatic and imaginative works. It was composed in an opium dream. When he woke up, he started to transcribe it but suddenly he was interrupted and the rest of the poem fled from his conscious mind. We find a narrative poem that begins to fragment and becomes wild, mysterious and full of visions. According to Burrow et al. (2001), it is about a measureless sublime which produces intense imagination.

In a nutshell, Coleridge and his intense imaginative power became a fundamental pillar in early Romanticism.

3.2. YOUNGER GENERATION.

3.2.1. LORD BYRON (1788-1824): BYRONIC HERO.

Lord Byron, born in 1788, was an influential Romantic poet known for his striking personality and adventurous lifestyle. He had a privileged upbringing and attended Cambridge University, where his aristocratic demeanour and love of action became apparent. Byron’s literary career took off in 1809 when he published a satire on the contemporary literary scene. English Bards and Scotch Reviewers.

Byron then travelled extensively through Europe, including Spain, Greece, Portugal, and Albania. When returning to England in 1812, he published the first two cantos of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, introducing his Byronic hero. According to Christensen (1988), the Byronic hero is a complex character defined by pride, moodiness or cynicism, with defiance on his brow and misery in his heart, a scorned of his kind, implacable in revenge yet capable of strong affection. This character owns something to Milton's Satan, the figures of contemporary German Romantic literature and the dark figures of the Gothic novel.

He married in 1815 and from then on he started to enact aspects of his own hero. He separated from his wife and left England with his half-sister and never returned. In England, he was a Whig who spoke in the House of Lords and his political liberalism found expression in Prophecy of Dante or Marino Faliero or tragedies such as Cain or Heaven and Earth.

In 1818, he began his major work, Don Juan. It is a brilliant picture of life in many lands with mocking commentaries about life. It exhibits his gift of friendship, his sensual view of women, his political conventions, his superiority to the conventions of society, his memories of romantic wanderings, his questioning of the cosmos and his poetic sense of the grandeur of nature. Byron's Don Juan remains a landmark work, celebrated for its humour, narrative complexity, and rich poetic style, blending personal experiences with broader reflections on society and human nature. Despite its unfinished state, it has had a lasting impact on literature, influencing the genre of satire and the portrayal of the anti-hero.

Above all, he was viewed in his own time as a quintessential Romantic figure and as a true comic poet.

3.2.2. PERCY B. SHELLEY (1792-1822): RADICALISM.

Percy B. Shelley, born in 1792 in Sussex, was a key figure among the Romantic poets and is remembered for his passionate commitment to political and social reform. Educated at Eton, Shelley developed a spirit of defiance and scepticism toward established authority from a young age. In 1810, he attended Oxford University but was expelled shortly thereafter for publishing a controversial pamphlet, The Necessity of Atheism, which challenged religious orthodoxy.

Shelley's philosophical and political views were heavily influenced by the writings of William Godwin, whose ideas on political radicalism shaped his beliefs. He became a fierce critic of institutionalized power, opposing the monarchy, organized religion, and societal constraints, and dedicated his life to advocating for individual and societal liberty.

In 1811, he made an impulsive marriage to 16-year-old Harriet Westbrook, but the relationship failed. Seeking a more profound connection, he eloped with Mary Godwin, the daughter of William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft. This marked a pivotal chapter in his personal and literary life, as Mary would later become the author of Frankenstein.

In 1813, Shelley published Queen Mab, a poem that boldly expressed his radical views on religion, politics, and morality, establishing his reputation as a fearless and controversial writer. His disdain for societal oppression and his utopian ideals pervaded much of his work. Then, in 1818, Shelley left England for Italy, where he spent the remaining years of his life until he died in 1822.

In his search for a philosophy, he was attracted to the works of Plato. This philosophical inspiration is evident in his lyrical drama Prometheus Unbound (1820), which is often considered his greatest work. In this piece, Shelley weaves themes of human liberation and spiritual transcendence, showcasing ethereal characters and spiritualized landscapes. Nature in Prometheus Unbound is a dual symbol, reflecting both the immense suffering imposed by tyranny and the triumphant beauty of freedom.

He shares with almost all the Romantic writers a skill in brief lyric and the intense feelings about beauty and expression which are documented in poems such as Ode to the West Wind. This poem captures the turbulent, regenerative power of nature and embodies the spirit of change, a theme central to Shelley's philosophy. Shelley expressed his poetry through impulses of feelings and believed that poetry makes people and society better.

On the whole, he was a naturalist and idealist who was influential in the Romantic Movement and enjoyed creative writing from his heart.

3.2.3. JOHN KEATS (1795-1821): ODES.

Born in 1795 in London, John Keats had a brief yet profoundly influential career as a Romantic poet. Although he initially trained as an apothecary and became a licentiate of the Society of Apothecaries in 1816, Keats soon decided to dedicate his life to poetry. He became part of a liberal literary circle led by Leigh Hunt, who played a significant role in supporting and encouraging his poetic aspirations.

In 1817, Keats published his first collection, Poems, which included Endymion, an ambitious long poem inspired by classical mythology. While Endymion was noted for its colloquial language and abundant references to mythology, fine arts, and other literature, it received mixed critical responses.

The year 1818 marked a turning point for Keats, as he began work on Hyperion, an unfinished epic that reveals his evolving style and growing maturity as a poet. This period was also characterized by his deep and passionate love for Fanny Brawne, whose influence infused his poetry with sensuousness and a focus on beauty.

The most exquisite expression of his genius came in 1819 with his Great Odes which include Ode to Psyche, Ode to a Nightingale, Ode to a Grecian Urn, Ode to Indolence and Ode to Autumn. In these poems, he masterfully explores themes such as beauty, transience, the relationship between the real and the ideal, and the pursuit of artistic and spiritual fulfilment.

Then in 1820, he published one of the greatest single volumes of English poetry in the 19th century: The Eve of St. Agnes. It displays Keats' lyrical mastery and his deep philosophical insights into beauty and mortality.

In a nutshell, Keats's poems and odes are the work of a great man and a poet of extraordinary gifts.

4. THE NOVEL.

While dominated by the works of celebrated poets, the Romantic period also marked a significant development in prose, particularly the rise of the novel. During this era, the Literature of Sensibility, the Historical Novel and the Gothic Novel emerged as influential genres.

• The Literature of Sensibility is defined as the cult of feelings as a reaction against the sheer brutality of 18th-century life. It was expressed in human relations and response to nature and art.

• The Historical novel is characterized by its use of historical events, settings, and figures to craft stories that explore the past, often blending fact and fiction to provide a vivid portrayal of bygone eras.

• The Gothic novel captivated readers with its fascination for the dark and the irrational. It explores the emotions of terror, guilt and horror in medieval settings with supernatural atmospheres. Gothic novels provided an imaginative escape from the rationality of the Enlightenment and delved into the complexities of human experience.

4.1. JANE AUSTEN (1775-1817): LITERATURE OF SENSIBILITY.

Jane Austen was born in 1775 and her work reflects influences from the Literature of Sensibility while simultaneously marking a transition between Romantic and Victorian fiction. The Literature of Sensibility emphasized emotion, empathy, and refined feeling, reacting against the cold rationalism of the earlier 18th century. However, Austen approached these themes with a satirical and ironic perspective.

She began writing as a teenager, but her first novel, Sense and Sensibility (1811) wasn’t published until she was 35 and success didn’t come until then. Thereafter, she published Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1816), all of which are now considered classics.

Her works can be defined in Christian conservative terms, emphasizing virtues such as humility, kindness, and moral integrity. Her characters frequently struggle with moral dilemmas and learn lessons about their own imperfections. Austen had a deep understanding of human nature, and her novels excel in exploring the complexities of people’s motivations and relationships. Her stories focus on the emotional and psychological development of her characters, particularly her heroines. These young women start their journeys at the outset of adulthood, facing challenges that force them to grow, change, and ultimately discover their true selves. By the end of each novel, the protagonists have matured, having learned important lessons about themselves and the world around them. She also used a special writing technique called ‘free indirect speech’, which blends the character’s inner thoughts with the third-person narration. This allows readers to gain intimate insight into the character’s mind.

In summary, Jane Austen's novels combine the emotional insights of the Literature of Sensibility with a critical, often satirical examination of society, creating works that continue to resonate with readers for their wit, moral depth, and keen understanding of human behaviour.

4.2. SIR WALTER SCOT (1771-1832): HISTORICAL NOVEL.

Sir Walter Scott, born in 1771 in Edinburgh, is celebrated for establishing the historical novel as a respected and popular genre. By setting the personal dilemmas of his characters against a background of historical events, Scott brought the past to life in a compelling and relatable way.

Through his works, Scott transformed Scotland into a Romantic ideal, full of rich traditions, breathtaking landscapes, and heroic figures. Novels like Rob Roy and The Antiquary reflect his love for Scotland’s culture, landscape, and people. Scott also had a deep affection for the glamorous and often turbulent history of Scotland and other places, which he brought to life in novels such as The Monastery, Ivanhoe, and The Old Morality.

In addition to this, he excelled when depicting the lives of simple, humble characters from the lower social ranks of Scottish society. These characters often reflect the traditions and hardships of the common people, providing a realistic view of the past and showing the impact of major historical events on ordinary lives.

In summary, Sir Walter Scott’s novels are a celebration of history, culture, and human resilience. He elevated the historical novel to a new level of literary significance,

The Romantic period ended in 1832 when Sir Walter Scott died and when the passing of the first Reform Bill inaugurated the Victorian era.

5. TEACHING IMPLICATIONS.

Before finishing, I would like to comment on the teaching implications this topic might offer. 

To begin with, I would like to justify the topic in the English curriculum. According to our current legislation based on LOMLOE from 2020 the teaching of a foreign language must be based on the communicative approach and communication must be the essential part of a language learning process. In addition to this, the law also highlights the importance for students to know not only how to use the language but also about the language, for this reason, it is very important to learn the historical literature and cultural aspects of the language learned. In this context, this topic has a relevant role in the English curriculum as it can be a tool to transmit our students’ linguistic and cultural competences.

On top of that, the current law and the Council of Europe prioritize the development of the communicative competence and establish many methodological principles of great use for this topic. These principles and the communicative competence are also reflected in the Royal Decree of 29th of March and in the Order of 2nd of August of 2022.

Therefore, historical events and literature, so crucial to the understanding of the origins of English and its role as an international language, must be explained to our students in a very communicative way. The EFRL provides a key for that. It states that our role as teachers is that of facilitators. Then, our role would be to make this topic and the language as close as possible to our students' reality and to provide them with knowledge and resources for its understanding. In other words, to work from the known to the unknown. For instance, there are books and film adaptations of the medieval period which can be incredibly useful in our lessons to practice the different competences established by the curriculum.

Moreover, a whole cultural environment is created in the classroom by working on topics like this. Students can carry out different communicative tasks with specific communicative purposes. For instance, how to produce a literary text, write a novel, represent a film scene orally, produce a poem or read one of the Romantic works mentioned before which are usually appealing to them.

6. CONCLUSION.

To conclude, Romanticism was a movement in art and literature in the 18th and 19th centuries in revolt against the Neoclassicism of the previous centuries whose focal points were imagination, emotion and freedom. Romantic poets also cultivated individualism, worship of nature, interest in the mystic and supernatural and fascination with the past. They used their poetry to rise against the order and rationality of much of their time. The spirit of Romanticism dominated the arts at least until 1870 and paved the way for freer and more experimental forms of poetry in later periods up to modern times.

7. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES.

To write this topic, several references have been use, among which I would like to highlight:

• Alexander, M. (2000). A History of English Literature.

• Daiches, D. (1980). A Critical History of English Literature.

• Sanders, A. (1996). The Short Oxford History of English Literature.

Besides, legal sources have also been used to justify the topic:

• LOMLOE Organic Law 3/2020, of 29th of December to improve the educational quality.

• Council of Europe (2001). Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching and Assessment. Strasbourg.

• Royal Decree 217/2022, of 29th of March, which establishes the basic curriculum of secondary compulsory education and bachillerato.

• Order ECD 1172/2022, of 2nd of August, which passes the curriculum of secondary education and allows its application in the schools of Aragon.