English literature in the romantic period

Tesina che offre un quadro generale della letteratura inglese nel romanticismo, con autori importanti e temi. (5 pagine formato doc)

Appunto di darklady1987
English literature in the Romantic period English literature in the Romantic period Historical Events The Industrial Revolution in 1769 and The American war of Independence in 1776, influenced England from a political and economic point of view; instead the French Revolution Influenced the ideology of the British.
The feelings caused by these three events are expressed in the Romantic period. Etymology Romanticism comes from the adjective “Romantic” used in the 17th century with a negative mean to indicate fantastic and unrealistic things. In the 18th century with the revaluation of supernatural it acquires a positive mean in contrast with reason and rationality of the Enlightment.
Themes The main themes of the author in this period are: Individual relation between Man and Nature Imagination as a way to escape from the real World Artist as an original creator, a natural genius free from any neo-classical rules So the Romantic poets wrote poetry that expresses a feeling of nostalgia through introspection and melancholy. The periods We usually divided the Romantic poets in three different generations: The Early Romantic poets They are: Thomas Chatterton (1752 - 1770) Robert Burns (1759 - 1796) William Blake (1757 - 1827) The First generation They are: William Wordsworth (1770 - 1850) Samuel T. Coleridge (1772 - 1834) The second generation They are: Lord Byron (1788 - 1824) Percy B. Shelley (1792 - 1822) John Keats (1795 - 1821) Important events: In 1798 Wordsworth and Coleridge published “The Lyrical Ballads”, (manifesto of English Romanticism). In the preface of this opera Wordsworth established the basis of Romanticism; in particular he answered to these questions: What is poetry? “I have said that poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity” What is a poet? “He is a man speaking to men: a man, it true, endued with more lively sensibility, more enthusiasm and tenderness, who has a greater knowledge of human nature, and a more comprehensive soul; a man with his own passions and volitions” What is the best language to describe both of them? “The principal object was to choose incidents and situations from common life in a selection of language really used by men to throw over them a certain colouring of imagination” “Low and rustic life was generally chosen, because in that condition, the essential passions of the heart find a better soil and speak a plainer and more emphatic language” Some notices about W. Wordsworth He was born in Cocker mouth, near Lake District, and in the peace and the beauty of this country he found inspiration for his poetry. His works are: “The Prelude”; “Poems in two volumes”; “The excursion”. His themes are: Nature as: Countryside opposed to the town Active force Source of feelings Child: according to Rousseau's ideas he thought that during t