Romantics Poetry context
Includes:
Biographical Information, according to each poet
Explanation of the typical Romantic tropes/ themes; Idealisation of Women, Melancholy and Isolation, Nature and Individualism
Political Context
Socio-economic Context
Philosophical Context
The 5 main tropes contribute to the general idea about social emancipation, a value
derived from the French Revolution that Romantic poets idealised:
Nature:
Typically through pathetic fallacy/ the sublime, natural imagery
- The role of nature was seen as acquiring meaningful insight into the human
condition
Individuality:
Typically through themes and of freedom, eg. natural imagery, unrestricted rhyme
schemes
- Ideas about Individuality were derived from the French Revolution: Promoted
personal freedoms and democratic ideals
- Individuality asserts the importance of the individual or the unique and
eccentric
- The “unique and eccentric” is prevalent in Lord Byron’s poetry (Byron’s
romantic hero: The Byronic Hero)
Isolation and Melancholy:
Typically through natural imagery that distances the poets from society and themes
of appearance vs reality, mimicking the unveiling of the reality of society that makes
Romantic poets melancholy
- Isolation was derived from the recognition of the reality of society
- Death was celebrated in Romanticism as a means of that freedom from the
reality of society
Idealisation of women:
Typically through the personification of nature as “she”, greek mythology, natural
imagery and supernatural imagery eg. “moon”
- Beauty was attributed to women and thus nature; Romantic poets cared about
artistic appearance as a response to rationality
, - Enticed objectification, they were to be adored and mourned but never
touched or relied upon eg. nature “moon” creates distance between the poet
and the idealised woman
- Feminst theory: The male gaze: Men perceive women through male
objectification, typically lustful and sexual
ROMANTIC POETS:
Blake
“Through x, Blake challenges the religious and political institutions that formed the
“mind-forg’d manacles” of his society”
Allusions to Milton’s Paradise Lost:
- Blake’s response to Paradise Lost; Lucifer is idealised as a Romantic hero
- In Blake’s reconstruction of Lucifer to be exempt of imperfection, Satan is
presented as a warrior who does not give up
- As supported by anti-authoriatrian and religious dissents
Political Context:
- In both England and France (amidst the French Rev.), political discussions
were made without discussion, implying an enslavement to the monarchy
- Blake supported freedom of speech, through poetry he empowers
marginalised voices
- “Free love” movement: to remove the restriction on sexual relationships,
marriage and adultery: Marriage as a type of enslavement
William Blake, Innocence vs Experience:
- Main Principle: losing innocence of the human soul changes your perception
of the world because of the new knowledge gained from experience
- A necessity for both innocence and experience to coexist
Keats
John Keats, Negative Capability: The appreciation of uncertainty and contradiction,
rejecting logic and reason, Keats as an idealist
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