Keats overall context

Romantic revolution

• Romantic movement in arts and ways of thinking in the 1780-1830

• 18th century AKA neo-classical Age of Reason included architecture and logic

• Neo-classicism also prioritised control, order, reason and idealised form, something that the Romantics hated as they thought it would lead to a lack of emotion, lack of individual expression and unimagination

• France was on the brink of revolution in the 18th century so the artists sought a style in response to this, which would reflect the seriousness and rationality of the time - restrained and discipline style

• A new movement started to dominate the arts and culture in Europe out of response and respite to neo-classicism which alternatively emphasised and glorified intense emotion and natural spontaneity

Keats’s life

• mother and father and brother died from TB

• went to medical school in Guy’s hospital

• wrote poetry for 6 years