The Romantic Period in England

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THE ROMANTIC PERIOD IN ENGLAND

Meaning of the word “romantic”
The word “romantic” has several meanings; it derives from “Romance” –Romances were called the languages descending from Latin- and for a period this word suggested a revaluation of local cultures.
Later it was associated with the extravagant and the imaginative.

Historical and social background
The French Revolution (1789), advocating freedom and equality, at first appeared to support the reaction against past conventions and ideals.
Later, however, the tyranny and the imperialistic aims of France put an end to this country’ s influence.
The Industrial Revolution –which saw the rise of mass society and loss of individuality- together with scientific discoveries and and tecnological improvements, contributed to favour, by contrast, a general desir to transcend reality and escape from contemporary society.

What the Romantics reacted against
The Romantics reacted against the neo-classical tradition of the 18th century.

What they believed in
The Romantic Period saw an interest in personal values, in the exploration of the human mind, in individual consciousness.
The Romantics exalted Imagination as the supreme human faculty, the faculty which possesses cognitive power.
They did not trust reason, society, civilization, in the firm belief that they spoil natural innocence and instinct for good.
The child and the savage are uncorrupted, unspoil by civilised life, and therefore holier and closer to God than the other men.
They had phanteistic view of Nature, which represented a source of understanding and a means of communion with God.
They saw in the past, particularly in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, a manifestation of spontaniety and creative freedom.
Exotic places represented another way of escape from contemporary society.

Themes
The natural evironment / the supernatural / exotic places and people / exaltation of freedom and regeneration / exaltation of Beauty and Art: these are frequent themes in Romantic poetry.

Literary form
English Romanticism saw the prevalence of poetry, which best suited imagination and feeling.
The Romantic poets were versatile in metre and stanza form, and their works range from ballads to sonnets, odes, epics, narrative poems, etc.

Style
Wordsworth maintained that poetry should be written in simple language, easily understood by large numers of people. The second generation marked a return to more complex versification.