an introduction to "the romantic age"
DESCRIPTION
This is a brief presentation to introduce The Romantic Age, historical context and main poets in an English Literature ClassTRANSCRIPT
THE ROMANTIC AGE
1760 – 1837
William Blake
William Wordsworth
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
WHAT IS ROMANTIC?
Wanderer above the Sea of Fog
1818
Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows
1831
HISTORICAL CONTEXT.A Time Of Soc ia l And Po l i t i ca l S tab i l i t y
1760 - King George III
ascended to the throne
He ruled Britain for about 50
years
Controversial figure: between
popularity and unpopularity
Officially declared insane in
1811 : his son became regent
until his father’s death - 1820
WINDS OF CHANGE…
1775 – 1783 American War of Independence
1776 American colonies
declare their
independence and
George Washington
becomes the firts
President of the United
States
1789 – 1791 The French
Revolution
«Liberty, equality
and fraternity»
Intellectual circles
Blake, Coleridge
and Wordsworth
Fascination and Fear
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION1760 - 1850
Coal and steam as sources of
power
Steam-powered machines
Mass production Enclosures Acts:
common lands were closed and
assigned to landowners
People moving from the
country to the city
Exploitation of workers >>
Luddite Riots 1811-12
Critical living conditions in
cities
Triumph of scientific, technological
and industrial progress
The Great Exhibition –
1851
BRITISH POLITICS
Domestic Affairs
• 1783 – 1801 + 1804 –
1806
• William Pitt the Younger
Prime Minister
• Reformism and
Conservativism (esp.
after the French
Revolution)
• Repression of protests
• 1801 Act of Union
Loyalist
Propaganda
Nationalism
against France
Financial ability
moral integrity
Peterloo
Massacre 1819
@St Peter’s
Fields
Manchester
BRITISH POLITICSForeign Affairs
Failure of the
French
Revolution1804
Napoleon
Bonaparte
Emperor of France
1800 – 1815
Napoleonic Wars
Many «traitors to the revolution»
executed
Violence and Terror1805
Napoleon
defeated
@
Trafalgar
1815
@ Battle of
Waterloo
1814-15
Congress of
Vienna
Austria –
England –
Prussia – Russia
AFTER GEORGE II I
1811 – 1820 : George IV (Prince Regent > King)
Trade Unions legalised
Reform of the prison system
1830 : King William IV
Whig majority in Parliament > Reformism
1832: first Reform Act > vote for middle-class men
1833 : Abolition of Slavery
Some important facts and
achievements
ROMANTIC LITERATURE
Poetr
y
A reaction
to the
«tyranny»
of Reason
Age
of
Revolution
s
Affirmation
of
individual
subjective
dimension
Intensity
Imagination
POETRY OF CONTRAST
Innocence
Youth
Country
Man
Language
Experienc
e
Age
City
Nature
Expressio
n
Solitude
Wanderin
gs of the
Soul
Sehnsucht
Desire for
sthg distant
unattainable