The Romantic Period1798-1832

BEAUTY IS TRUTH, TRUTH BEAUTY

Rulers of the Era (1798-1832)•George III – 1760 – 1820• Lost the American Revolution•Declared insane – 1811• Son named Prince Regent – Regency Period•George IV – 1820 – 1830• Scandalous reputation•William – 1830-1837• Brother of George IV• 10 illegitimate children – no legitimate heir

Ruler of the Next Era•Victoria – 1837 - 1901•Daughter of youngest brother• Came to throne at age 18•Determined to restore morality and decency• Period called The Victorian Era

Major Happenings• The American Revolution (1776): • Loss of British prestige, confidence and economy• The French Revolution (1789):• Ruling class fears an overthrow of the King and the rise

of the lower classes• Napoleonic War (1793-1804):• Results in war between France and England (again);

great suspicion of French spies; agitators held in prison without trial.

• Industrial Revolution Continues• Urban population lives in appalling conditions; good

produced by machine and not by hand• Laissez Faire Business/ Government Principles• The rich get richer and the poor get poorer

Society – the haves and have nots• Inhuman working conditions•Slave wages •Moral collapse•Disease• Squalid living conditions

Why Romanticism• A rebellion against the age of reason – too scientific• A reaction to society’s ills brought on by industrialization• Belief in trusting one’s emotions•Questioning tradition and authority

•Remember – Romanticism doesn’t imply love stories but only an optimistic, idealistic outlook on life

What Romantics Wrote About• Faraway places• Inspiration through nature• Forbidden ancient knowledge• Fantasy and escape• Praise of the common man•Glorification of the social outcast – the rebel• Exploration of the dark side of life

Writers of the Era – The Poets•William Wordsworth• The World is Too Much with Us• John Keats•On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer•Robert Burns• To a Mouse•William Blake• The Tyger / The Lamb• Lord Byron (George Gordon)• She Walks in Beauty

Writers of the Era – The Poets•Percy Shelly• To a Skylark•Samuel Taylor Coleridge• The Rime of the Ancient Mariner• Kubla Khan

Writers of the Era – the Novelists• Jane Austen•Pride and Prejudice•Henry Fielding•The History of Tom Jones – a Foundling •Mary Shelly•Frankenstein•Sir Walter Scott• Ivanhoe