Romanticism

Romanticism (or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, and intellectual

movement that originated in Europe at the end of the 18th century.
The Romantic movement developed in western Europe and involved, not only
literature, but also philosophy, science, religion and art.
It was mostly a reaction against the ideology of the Enlightenment period
that dominated Europe from the mid-17th century until the close of the 18th
century.
There is no generally accepted definition of the word Romantic. The term
first appeared in England in 17th century in the sense of extravagant, unreal;
but at the end of 18th century it had already assumed a different meaning
and it was particularly connected with feelings, imagination and emotion.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The period from 1776 to 1830 was marked by some important events:
1. The declaration of American Independence (1776);
2. The British colonies became free nations;
3. The French revolution (1789);
These historical events inspired ideals of freedom and democracy in many
poets and writers.
ROMANTICISM IN LITERATURE
As a literary movement English Romanticism presented a clear and sharp
break with the rationality, common sense and realism that had characterized
the Augustan Age.
The Romanticism affirmed the supremacy of feeling and emotions against
the faith in reason.
There was a new sensibility based on introspection, nostalgia, emotionalism
and individualism. The classical view of nature as an abstract and
philosophical concept, was replaced by the view of nature as something real
and living.
Another element typical of Romanticism was the revival of the past, opposed
to the present reality. There was the rediscovery of the arts, legends and
popular traditions of the Middle Ages.
IMAGINATION AND CHILHOOD
Imagination had a key-role as expression to emotional experience against the
rationalism.
The poet presented himself as a link between the ordinary man and the
divine. Imagination was seen as the power to see beyond appearance into
the real nature of things.
Childhood was seen as the age of innocence, admired and cultivated
because the child was considered pure and unspoilt by civilisation.

INDIVIDUAL
Romanticism encouraged individualism and the free expression of personal
feelings, and turned to emotion and imagination as sources of inspiration.
The philosophical thought of such French writers as Voltaire and Rousseau,
with their attacks on privilege and social stratification and their concern with
nature and mans emotional and imaginative powers, emphasized the value
of the individual, opposed to rationalism.
The individual was seen in a solitary state. The hero of the romantics was, in
fact, a solitary rebel, outcast and atypical.
Romantic poets didn't feel at ease in the society of their time. They lived in
isolation enjoying the loneliness of the countryside, far from urban life. The
country was preferred to the industrial town, because, here, they could be in
relationship with nature, which filled them with pleasure and put them in
strict relation with human soul.
Jean Jacques Rousseau said that the conventions of civilisation and society
were evil and represented a restriction on the individual personality,
because they corrupted man's natural behaviour that was, in origin, good.
POETRY
The English romantic period was dominated above all by poetry, since it was
in poetry that the renewed interest in imagination and the emotions found its
ideal vehicle.
Romantic poets are usually divided into two groups conventionally defined as
First Generation and Second Generation.
FIRST GENERATION
WORDSWORTH and COLERIDGE Lake Poets (so called because they
lived in the English Lake District). They emphasized the importance of the
self and its relationship with Nature.
The LYRICAL BALLADS
The two poets wrote together a collection of poems called LYRICAL
BALLADS (1798), which also contains Wordsworths famous Preface
(1800) that became the Manifesto of English Romanticism, considered
the beginning of a literary revolution.
SECOND GENERATION
BYRON - SHELLEY - KEATS All died very young. The relationship between
LIFE and ART was fundamental for their poetry. Byron and Shelley embodied
the typical rebel poet who is rejected by the society he despised and
against which he fights.
Romantic poets only wrote for their own pleasure without worrying about the
reaction of the public and disregarding any form of criticism.