Flowering Romanticism Guide Notes



Flowering Romanticism 1798-1832-1870

I. Timeline of world wide historical events

a. 1790-1794 The French Revolution

▪ War with England

▪ Napoleon—emperor of France—invades Russia

b. 1818 Mary Shelley publishes he gothic novel Frankenstein

▪ 1st major widespread novel by a women during this time period

c. George III British King

d. Poets rebelled against Enlightenment era

e. Emotion more important than reason

II. Questions of the Times

a. Is emotion stronger than reason?

b. What can people learn from nature?

c. When is the ordinary extraordinary?

d. How does war change our values?

e. What is proper balance between liberty and war?

f. Can we fix society?

g. What is the women’s role in public life?

h. How are individual’s freedoms defined?

III. Romanticism: Historical context (p. 755-756)

a. Reactions of the time

▪ Inspired by French and American Revolutions

▪ Widespread poverty and oppression of workers

▪ Writers responded to conditions

1. wanted nature and life to bring happiness

2. Responded against tyranny

IV. Cultural Influences (p 757-760)

a. Industrial Revolution

b. Appalling working conditions

c. Oppression of the common man

Three writers that started the time period:

▪ William Wordsworth

▪ Samuel Taylor Coleridge

▪ William Blake

Lyrical Ballads written by Wordsworth and Coleridge started the time period

Lyric poetry were intended to be sung to their audiences

Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein as a challenge.

Romanticism evolves from neoclassicism 1798 (p 759-760)

Neoclassical Writers Romantic Writers

|Stressed reason and common sense |Stressed emotion and imagination |

|Wrote about objective (manners and protocol) issues that concerned society as a |Wrote about subjective (put heart and soul into writing) experiences of the |

|whole |individual |

|Respected human institutions of church and state |Exalted nature in all its creative and destructive forces |

|Exercised controlled wit and urbania (city areas)—in charge of brain and urban |Celebrated intense passion and vision |

|life | |

|Maintained traditional standards and believed in order |Believed in experimentation and spontaneous (impulsive) thoughts |

Defining features of a Romantic writer:

▪ Emphasis on the individual

▪ Rejection of artificiality in favor of passion and emotion

▪ Love of nature

▪ Respect for the common place

▪ Freeing of imagination

Robert Burns: From Scotland and focused on Folkloric dialect

William Wordsworth: Wrote poems in long, free-flowing sentences and language that reflected actual speech; Described poetry as spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge: fascination with the with supernatural; wrote story about a sailor who went on a dangerous journey

George Gordon, Lord Byron: poems about tormented human souls ; castle on Lake Geneva

Mary Shelley: wrote the 1st Gothic novel—Frankenstein

Percy Shelley: husband of Mary Shelley

John Keats: poems full of sounds and sights

Elements of a Romance

Plot: simple evidential plot

Therefore there is:

▪ A near perfect hero

▪ An evil enemy

▪ A quest with 3 stages

o Dangerous journey

o Central test or ordeal to determine if they are truly a hero

o Return to the point or place where they began

Therefore the Hero’s journey includes:

▪ A test

▪ Supernatural elements

▪ Good vs. evil

▪ Female figures who are usually maidens in need of rescue

Romanticism looks back to the Middle Ages for setting and uses the natural and supernatural.

Romanticism relies on the power of imagination

Themes oftentimes include:

▪ Isolation (rejection)

▪ Consequences of senseless acts and implications of the acts

o (Bad choices and their results)

▪ Knowing one’s place in nature and respect for life

Read pages 754-763 to clarify anything that you missed

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