British Romanticism1798 - 1832

LITERATURE BEFORE 1798

Seventeenth Century PoetryBen Johnson: strove for

perfection and harmony; writing very classical

John Donne: cerebral writing (metaphysical poetry)

John Milton: religious and classical (Puritan poetry)

Cavalier poetry: classically inspired

The Age of Reason/Enlightenment17th century movement around

parts of EuropePromoted reason and scientific

advancementWriters focused on harmony,

restraint, and clarityNeoclassical writers imitated

writers of ancient Greece and Rome

Focused on generalities

The Eighteenth Century: SatireAlexander Pope

◦ An Essay on Man◦ The Rape of the

Lock◦ Popular critic and

satiristJonathan Swift

◦ Gulliver’s Travels◦ Criticized

merchant class◦ Bitter satirist

HISTORICAL INFLUENCES ON ROMANTICISM

The Industrial RevolutionBy 1750 Britain had begun to

industrialize.Mills and factories caused

pollution.Men, women, and children

worked in factories for more than twelve hours a day.

Poor people had trouble finding work, and crowded cities, creating slums.

The Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution“Progress”

seems to be bring misery.

People lose faith in the power of human reason.

Writers turn away from neoclassicism.

Writers simplify their language and put new emotion into poems.

Thomas Gray was a pre-Romantic poet who began to change poetry .

The French RevolutionGreat influence on

British RomanticismBegins in July 1789France becomes a

constitutional monarchy

British nobles feel threatened by events in France

Many British intellectuals supported the French Revolution’s democratic ideals

The storming of the Bastille, a French prison, on July 14, 1789 began the French Revolution.

The Reign of TerrorChaotic phase of the

French RevolutionJacobins gain control

of France, abolish the monarchy, and declare the nation a republic

Mob violence breaks out

Louis XVI is executed for treason in 1793

Over one year, 17,000 people are executed.

Maximillien Robespierre was the radical leader of the Jacobins. He was executed in 1793.

War Between France and Britain

1793: France declares war on Britain

War lasts until 1815

Admiral Lord Nelson is a famous military hero from this war who broke the French navy at the Battle of Trafalgar.

British ReactionThe British turned against the French

Revolution following the mass executionsCrackdowns on reformers in Britain begin.Britain did not want any other European

nation to control too much of the continent or have too much influence there

Government outlaws talk of parliamentary reform outside of Parliament, banned public meetings, and suspended certain basic rights.

Society’s ProblemsDuring the wars, the British

government ignored domestic dissent and the problems caused by the Industrial Revolution:◦Overcrowded factory towns◦Unpleasant and unsafe working conditions◦Long working hours◦Low pay

Working class grows restless, protest in riots, and begin to form unions.

Society’s ProblemsGovernment sided

with factory ownersAttempts to form

unions are crushed, leading to frequent riots

Two camps form in society: working class who demanded reform and ruling class who resisted reform

British soldiers march on an assembly of cotton workers, killing some, at the Peterloo Massacre in 1819.

The Beginnings of Reform1820’s: new generation of

government officials (Tories) begin a few reforms

1824: labor unions are permitted to organize

1829: Catholic Emancipation Act restores economic and religious freedom to Roman Catholics.

Serious ReformToward the end of the Romantic Era,

the new Whig government enacts serious reforms.

Reform Bill of 1832: middle class men get the right to vote, which threatened the traditional dominance of land-owning nobles

The reforms begun at the end of the Romantic Era continued into the next era as well.