Ppt - The Romantic Age

This presentation examines the importance of the Romantic age in English Literature.

1. HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE The Romantic Age (1798-1830) VIDYA PATIL Assistant Professor in English Government First Grade College, Humnabad .

2. Romantic has come to mean basically two things : 1 . The loving or potentially loving relationships b/w men and women. 2 . A way of looking at the world that looks beyond, or ignores, the world as it is and perceives a visionary world.

3. Romanticism (the Romantic Movement), a literary movement, and profound shift in sensibility, which took place in Britain and throughout Europe from 1770-1848.

4. Intellectually it marked a violent reaction to the Enlightenment. Politically it was inspired by the revolutions in America and France and popular wars of independence in Poland, Spain, Greece, and elsewhere.

5. Emotionally it expressed an extreme assertion of the self and the value of individual experience (the 'egotistical sublime'), together with the sense of the infinite and transcendental.

6. Socially it championed progressive causes, though when these were frustrated it often produced a bitter, gloomy, and despairing outlook.

7. The Romantic Age began in 1798 when William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor published Lyrical Ballads , and ended in 1832 when Walter Scott died.

8. Definition :- “literature depicting emotional matter in an imaginative form…….” “liberalism in literature…….“ Imagination , emotion and freedom are certainly the focal points of romanticism. Romanticism stresses on self-expression and individual uniqueness .

9. Romanticism saw a shift from CLASSICAL AGE faith in reason interest in urban society public, impersonal poetry concern with the scientific and mundane ROMANTIC AGE faith in the senses, feelings & imagination interest in the rural and natural subjective poetry interest in the mysterious and infinite.

10. Romanticism includes…… Subjectivity and an emphasis on individualism Spontaneity Freedom from rules Devotion is superior to beauty Solitary life Imagination is superior to reason Love of and worship of nature Fascination with the past, especially the myths and mysticism of the middle ages.

11. Romanticism is characterized by the 5 “I”s Imagination Idealism Intuition Inspiration Individuality

12. Characteristics of the Romantic Era 1. Common Man and Childhood over Urban Sophistication Romantics believed in the natural goodness of humans, which is hindered by the urban life of civilization. They believed that the savage is noble, childhood is good and the emotions inspired by both beliefs causes the heart to soar. 2. Emotions over Reason Romantics believed that knowledge is gained through intuition rather than deduction. This is best summed up by Wordsworth who stated that “all good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.”

13. 3. Nature over Artificial Romantics stressed the awe of nature in art and language and the experience of sublimity through a connection with nature. Romantics rejected the ideas of the industrial revolution . 4. The Individual over Society Romantics often elevated the achievements of the misunderstood, heroic individual outcast. 5. Imagination over Logic Romantics legitimized the individual imagination as a critical authority.

14. Common features of romantic poetry The romantics cultivated imaginative freedom; Used a variety of poetic forms; Tended to express the feelings of man in solitude as opposed to those of man in society; All the poets, except Blake, described the natural environment; They tended to use language with more freedom and informality than the 18th century poets;

15. They tended to use language with more freedom and informality than the 18th century poets ; They were profoundly affected by the great historical fact of the French Revolution; The romantic poets were deeply interested both in life and art; The most interesting poems were about writing poetry;

16. ROMANTIC THEMES : NATURE LOVE HISTORY LITERARY FORMS LYRIC, BALLAD, SONNET, HISTORICAL NOVEL

17. ROMANTIC ATTITUDES: SENSIBILITY MELANCHOLY INDIVIDUALISM REBELLIOUSNESS

18. THE FIRST GENERATION OF ROMANTIC POETS: W. BLAKE (1757 – 1827) W.WORDSWORTH (1770 - 1850) S.T. COLERIDGE (1772 - 1834)

19. William Blake Born : 28 November 1757 London , England Died : 12 August 1827 (aged 69) London , England Occupation : Poet , Painter , Printmaker Genres : Visionary Poetry Literary movement : Romanticism Notable work: Songs of Innocence and of Experience, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, The Four Zoas , Jerusalem, Milton

20. William Wordsworth William Wordsworth ( 7 April 1770 – 23 April 1850 ) was a major English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge , helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with the 1798 joint publication Lyrical Ballads . Wordsworth's magnum opus is generally considered to be The Prelude , a semiautobiographical poem of his early years. Wordsworth was England's Poet Laureate from 1843 until his death in 1850.

21. Samuel Taylor Coleridge Born: 21 October 1772 Ottery St. Mary , Devon , England Died : 25 July 1834 (aged 61) Highgate , England Occupation : Poet , critic , philosopher Literary movement : Romanticism

22. THE SECOND GENERATION OF ROMANTIC POETS: BYRON (1757 – 1827) KEATS (1770 - 1850) PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY   (1792 - 1822)

23. PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY   Born : 4 August 1792 Field Place ,  Horsham , Sussex, England Died : 8 July 1822   (aged 29) Lerici ,  Kingdom of Sardinia (now Italy) Occupation : Poet, dramatist, essayist, novelist Literary movement : Romanticism

24. JOHN KEATS Born 31 October 1795 Moorgate,  London , England Died 23 February 1821 ( aged 25) Rome ,  Papal States Occupation Poet Alma mater King's College, London Literary movement Romanticism

25. Lord Byron Born : George Gordon Byron 22 January 1788 London Died : 19 April 1824  (aged 36) Missolonghi ,   Ottoman Empire  (Greece) Occupation : Poet ,  politician Nationality : English Literary movement : Romanticism

26. Literary Criticism Literary critics became the arbiters of taste Debate over the artistic value as well as the utilitarian value of critical literature 1802: Edinburgh Review 1809: Quarterly Review William Hazlitt Charles Lamb Thomas DeQuincy Samuel Taylor Coleridge

27. Historical Novels Novels that reconstruct a past age, often when two cultures are in conflict Fictional characters interact with with historical figures in actual events Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) is considered the father of the historical novel: The Waverly Novels ( 1814-1819) and Ivanhoe (1819)

28. Jane Austen and the Novel of Manners Novels dominated by the customs, manners, conventional behavior and habits of a particular social class Often concerned with courtship and marriage Realistic and sometimes satiric Focus on domestic society rather than the larger world

29. To say the word Romanticism is to say modern art - that is, intimacy, spirituality, color, aspiration towards the infinite, expressed by every means available to the arts.

30. Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.”- Wordsworth   “Beauty is truth, truth beauty,’ – that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. “- Keats

31. THANK YOU VIDYA PATIL Assistant Professor in English Government Degree College, Humnabad .