ENGLISH LITERATURE

Romantic Period
( 1789-1832)

ENTHUSIASM FOR DEMOCRACY BY THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND DISCOURAGEMENT BY NAPOLEONS WAR

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION URBANIZATION & THE NATURE OVEREXPLOITATION

BACKGROUND

POETRY, THROUGH WHICH ROMANTICISM WAS EXPRESSED, STILL DOMINATED. DRAMA WAS NOT PROSPERED. NOVELS GREW PROSPEROUSLY.

ROMANTIC PERIOD
( 1789-1832)

CHARACTERISTICS

GENRES

SEE NEXT SLIDE

B A C K G R O U N D

THE ROMANTIC PERIOD LASTED FROM THE FRENCH REVOLUTION (1789) TO THE REFORM ACT (1832). IT IS SOMETIMES CALLED THE AGE OF REVOLUTION BECAUSE THE SPIRIT OF THE AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE (1776) & FRENCH REVOLUTION MADE IT A TIME OF HOPE & CHANGE. LITERARY FIGURES EXPECT THE SAME CHANGE WOULD HAPPEN IN BRITAIN. BUT NAPOLEONS REIGN OF TERROR & WAR MADE PEOPLE DISAPPOINTED. THEIR EMPHASIS ON INDIVIDUAL SPIRIT RATHER THAN AN ORDERED SOCIETY CAUSE THE ROMANTIC POETS DISLIKED BY THE GOVERNMENT. BRITISH SOCIETY GREATLY CHANGED FROM AGRICULTURAL TO INDUSTRIAL. THE NATURE WAS OVEREXPLOITATED TO FACILLTATE INDUSTRIES. MIDDLE CLASS BECAME MORE POWERFUL, BUT THE LOWER CLASS SUFFERED A LOT AS JOBS ARE HARD TO FIND. EVEN SOLDIERS WHO RETURNED FROM NAPOLEONS WAR FOUND THEMSELVES JOBLESS. MANY PROTESTERS WERE KILLED IN PETERLOO MASSACRE (1819). WAR ABROAD WAS FOLLOWED BY SOCIAL CLASSES WAR AT HOME.

CLASSICISM
1. COPYING & EMULATING PRINCIPLES & CHARACTERISTICS OF GREEK & ROMAN LITERATURE. 2. EMPHASIZING ON FORM, PRECISION, OBJECTIVITY, RATIONAL THINKING, AND TECHNICAL PERFECTION. 3. ACTUALIZING THE BELIEVE THAT THE HEAD CONTROLS THE HEART, BECAUSE FEELINGS ARE DANGEROUS. 4. DEALING WITH REALITIES AND PROBLEMS FACED BY THE SOCIETY, E.G. POLITICS, EMANCIPATION, HEROIC DEEDS, CORRUPTION, ETC. Swifts Gullivers Travel. Drydens Heroic Stanza

ROMANTICISM
1. REJECTING TRADITIONS AND CONVENTIONS, ESPECIALLY THOSE RELATED TO CLASSICAL ARTS. 2. EMPHASIZING ON CONTENT, INDIVIDUAL EXPRESSIVENESS, IMAGINATIVE FANTASSY & EXPERIMENTATION.

3. ACTUALIZING THE BELIEVE THAT THE HEART CONTROLS THE HEAD, BECAUSE REASON AND INTELLECT ARE DANGEROUS.
4. DEALING WITH THE NATURE, SIMPLE LIFE, OR EVEN UNFAMILIAR, REMOTE, MYSTERIOUS, UNNATURAL (EVEN SUPERNATURAL) AND HORRIBLE LIFE. E.G. COUNTRY LIFE, LAKE, HORROR STORY, SCIENCE FICTION, THE JUNGLE, ETC. Goldsmiths The Deserted Village.

5. USING LITERAL, PLAIN, SHORT, AND DIRECT LANGUAGE.

Shelleys Frankenstein
5. USING ARTISTIC, CONNOTATIVE EXPRESSIVE LANGUAGE.

1) 2)

POETRY WAS THE MOST DOMINANT GENRE, AND ROMANTICISM IS MAJORLY SHOWN THROUGH POETRY. MOST POETS SHOW THEIR RESPECT TO NATURE, EAGERNESS FOR GREATER FREEDOM & AND BETTER LIFE, DISILLUSIONMENT TO THE NEGATIVE EXCESS OF INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION, REBEL, AND INJUSTICE. (THEIR EMPHASIS ON INDIVIDUAL SPIRIT RATHER THAN AN ORDERED SOCIETY CAUSED THE GOVERNMENT DISLIKE SOME POETS). DRAMA WAS UNPROSPERED. NOVEL GREW FAST AND PROSPEROUSLY DUE TO TWO FACTORS: THE RAPID SOCIAL & POLITICAL CHANGES NECESSITATED WORKS WITH DETAILED RECORDS & EXPLORATION OF CHANGE. WOMAN NOVELISTS BEGAN TO PRODUCE NUMEROUS WORKS. THEIR EMERGENCE WAS PROBABLY SUPPORTED BY THE FACT THAT, UNLIKE WRITING POETRY, WRITING NOVELS DID NOT REQUIRE HIGH EDUCATION.

3) 4)

ROMANTIC POETRY
WILLIAM BLAKE. HE IS CONSIDERED UNIQUE IN ENGLISH POETRY BECAUSE HIS POEMS ARE SIMPLE BUT SYMBOLIC & MYSTICAL. HIS POEMS EXPRESS A VISION OR SOMETHING INVISIBLE TO THE READER. HIS MAJOR WORKS ARE COLLECTED IN SONGS OF INNOCENCE AND EXPERIENCE. IN LONDON HE SHOWS THE BAD IMPACTS OF INDUSTRIALIZATION AND FREE TRADE.

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH. HE IS THE MAJOR POET OF THE ERA. IN THE BEGINNING HE DEEPLY ADMIRED THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. HOWEVER, NAPOLEON WAR DISAPPOINTED HIM. HE OFTEN WENT TO FARAWAY PLACES. HIS POEMS LOOK INWARD, NOT OUTWARD. HE ACCEPTS THE NATURE AS THE REMEDY FOR LIFE AND AS THE DWELLING OF GOD. HIS POPULAR POEMS ARE:

TINTERN ABBEY, THE RAINBOW, SOLITARY REAPER, STEPPING WESWARD,

ETC. S.T. COLLERIDGE. HE IS THE NEAREST CONTEMPORARY OF WORDSWORTH. THEY PUBLISHED A FAMOUS COLLECTION, LYRRICAL BALLADS IN 1800. HE SHOWS HIS ADMIRATION TO FRENCH REVOLUTION IN ODE TO THE DESTRUCTION OF THE BASTILE, BUT HIS ODE TO FRANCE SHOWS HIS DISAPPOINTMENT TO THE NEGATIVE EXCESS.

ROMANTIC POETRY

(CONT.)

LORD BYRON. BORN IN A HARSH ARISTOCRATIC FAMILY, HE GREW UP REBELLIOUSLY. WHEN HE SAW THAT HIS EAGERNESS FOR THE SOCIETYS IMPROVEMENT WAS NOT FULFILLED HE BECAME REVENGEFUL. HIS MANFRED SATIRIZES THE SOCIETY, WHILE DON YUAN SHOWS IRONY TO SOCIAL VALUES. HIS BEST WORK IS CHILD HAROLDS PILGRIMAGE WHICH SHOWS THE BEAUTY OF NATURE. P.B. SHELLEY. SIMILAR TO BYRON, SHELLEY WAS ALSO REBELLIOUS TO CONVENTIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF SOCIETY, LIKE THE CHURCH AND GOVERNMENT. HIS QUEEN MOB ATTACKS RELIGION AND THE MORALS OF HIS TIME. HIS THE MASK OF ANARCHY SHOWS HIS ANGER TO PETERLOO, AND ODE TO THE WIND SHOWS HIS DESIRE FOR GREATER FREEDOM. JOHN KEATS. HIS WORKS ARE INFLUENCED BY WORDSWORTH AND COLERIDGE. HIS MAIN THEMES ARE THE SEARCH FOR LASTING BEAUTY AND HAPPINESS AND FOR PERMANENT MEANING IN THE MORTAL WORRLD. THESE THEME S ARE DOMINANT IN HIS ODE TO A NIHTINGALE AND TO AUTUMN.

I WANDERED LONELY AS A CLOUD

I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high oer vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the milky way, They stretched in never ending line Along the margin of a bay: Ten thousand saw I at a glance Tossing their heads in uprightly dance. The waves beside them dance; but they Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: A poet could not but be gay, In such a jocund company: I gazedand gazedbut little thought What wealth the show to me had brought: For oft, when on my couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood, They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude; And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils. (William Wordsworth)

TO SEE A WORLD IN A GRAIN OF SAND

To see a world in a grain of sand And a heaven in a wild flower, Hold infinity in the palm of your hand And eternity in an hour (William Blake)

NOVELISTS IN ROMANTIC AGE

1) THOMAS LOVE PEACOCK. HIS WORKS TEND TO SATIRIZE SOME OF THE ROMANTIC IDEAS & LIFE STYLES. IN NIGHTMARE ABBEY (1818), HE RIDICULES THE MAIN CHARACTERS WHO ARE BASED ON COLERIDGE, BYRON & SHELLEY. 2) MARY SHELLEY (THE WIFE OF P.B. SHELLEY). SHE CONTINUED WRITING GOTHIC NOVELS. HER FRANKENSTEIN IS THE FIRST MODERN SCIENTIFIC FICTION. IT TELLS ABOUT THE TERRORS MADE BY A MONSTER CREATED FROM THE BONES OF THE DEAD BY FRANKENSTEIN. 3) JANE AUSTEEN. SHE IS UNIQUE AMONG HER CONTEMPORARIES BECAUSE SHE IS INTERESTED IN THE MORAL, SOCIAL, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL BEHAVIOR OF HER CHARACTERS. HER NOVELS COVER A SMALL NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN WHICH THE YOUNG HEROINES GROW UP AND SEARCH FOR PERSONAL HAPPINESS. IN SENSE AND SENSIBILITY SHE CONTRASTS TWO SISTERS: ELINOR WHO IS RATIONAL (SENSE) AND MARIANNE WHO IS EMOTIONAL (SENSIBLE). NORTHANGER ABBEY IS A SATIRE TO THE PLOT OF GOTHIC NOVELS. PRIDE & PREJUDICE, EMMA, AND MANSFIELD EXPLORE THE IMPORTANCE OF SELF-REALIZATION IN MAKING THE RIGHT CHOICES IN LOVE & MARRIAGE.

NOVELISTS IN ROMANTIC AGE

(CONT.)

4) FANNY BURNEY, MARIA EDGEWORTH, ANN RADCLIFFE & CLARA REEFE. THEY, IN ADDITION TO AUSTEEN, ARE THREE IMPORTANT WOMAN NOVELISTS OF THE ERA. BURNEY WROTE ABOUT YOUNG WOMENS EXPERIENCE IN THE SOCIETY OF THEIR DAY IN EVELINA AND CAMILLA. EDGEWORTH, AN IRISH NOVELIST, WROTE ABOUT THE DETAILS OF DAILY PROVINCIAL LIFE. RADCLIFFE & REEFE WROTE SOME GOTHIC NOVELS.

5) WALTER SCOTT. BESIDE A GREAT POET, SCOTT IS ALSO AGREAT NOVELIST. HIS NOVELS ARE CALLED HISTORICAL BECAUSE THEY DEAL WITH REAL HISTORICAL, OLD LEGENDARY, OR BALLAD CHARACTERS AND EVENTS. THE SUBJECT MATTERS ARE MAJORLY REVOLUTION AND CHANGES OF VALUES. SCOTT IS VERY KEEN ON CREATING SETTINGS AND ATMOSPHERES TO SUPPORT CHARACTERIZATION AND IDEAS. MOST OF THE NOVELS ARE RELATIVELY SHORT, AND THIS IS ONE OF THE REASONS WHY MANY PEOPLE LIKE HIS WORKS. HIS WAVERLEY TELLS ABOUT A REBELLION AGAINST ENGLISH KING IN 1745. HIS MOST POPULAR NOVELS ARE GUY MANNERING, THE HEART OF MIDLOTHIAN, THE TALISMAN, AND IVANHOE. ALL OF THEM ARE FIRST INTERNATIONAL BEST-SELLING BOOKS.

THE END

THE ENGLISH DEPARTMENT OF UNINDRA JAKARTA 2006 THANK YOU

THE END

PARLIN PARDEDE

CREATED BY:

THE ENGLISH DEPARTMENT OF FKIP-UKI JAKARTA 2006 THANK YOU

PARLIN PARDEDE

CREATED BY:

FEEDBACK QUESTIONS
(Romantic Period)

1. 2.

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4. 5.

Why is it claimed that William Wordsworths poetry looks inward rather than outward? Support your answer by providing it with one or more example. Why did Wordsworth consider that human memory is very important? Wordsworth and Coleridge are two major romantic poets, but their poetrys subject matters are very different. Explain the difference. Jane Austen and Walter Scott are most important novelists of the romantic age. Mention and explain their notable contributions to English fiction. Why is Shelleys Frankenstein seen as one of the first modern science fiction novels?