2012-3-22 1
Chapter Ⅷ
The Age of Romanticism
1798-1832
2012-3-22 2
By the close of the eighteenth century,the world
had witnessed several major political
1,the American and French revolutions,
2.exceptional social upheavals,
3,prominent changes in philosophical thought,
1,Historical background
2012-3-22 3
A Review of British Literature
French Revolution,
-----The time spirit described by
Charles Dickens,( A Tale of Two
Cities)
2012-3-22 4
It was the best of times,it was the
worst of times,it was the age of wisdom,it
was the age foolishness,it was the epoch of
belief,it was the epoch of incredulity,it was
the season of Light,it was the season of
Darkness,it was the spring of hope,it was
the winter of despair,we had everything
before us,we had nothing before us,we were
all going direct to Heaven,we were all going
direct the other way …
2012-3-22 5
18th century
19th century
Valued order and reason
Emphasized intuition as a
proper guide to truth
Viewed the world as a great
machine with all its parts
operating harmoniously
The world was a living
organism that was always
growing
The city housed the centers of
art and literature and set the
standards of good taste for the
rationalistic mind
A rural setting as a place
where people could discover
their inner self,
Believed that truth could be
attained by tapping into the
core of our humanity or our
transcendental natures,
Empirical and rationalistic
methodologies
2012-3-22 6
2,Romanticism,
In a historical sense,Romanticism was a
movement in philosophy,political theory,and
the arts that developed in France and
Germany in the latter half of the eighteenth
century and flourished in England through to
the first three decades in the nineteenth
century,The most prominent historical event
associated with Romanticism was the French
Revolution (1789-1799),which for many
presaged the end of aristocratic rule and
hereditary social divisions in Europe,
2012-3-22 7
2.1 Origins of Romanticism
The tone of Romanticism was shaped
by the emotionalism of Rousseau,and
the exotic legends and mythology found
in Oriental and Homeric literatures and
17th-cent,travel writers,
2012-3-22 8
2.2 Rene Wellek,―The Concept of
Romanticism in Literary History‖ (1963),
Romanticism is often associated with
the primacy of imagination,the worship
of nature,and the use of natural
imagery and symbolism in myth –
making,
2012-3-22 9
2,3 Common characteristics of the second
generation of British Romantics— Byron,
Shelley,and Keats,
They wrote swiftly,traveled widely,
and died prematurely,They had a new
intuition for the power of the wild landscape,
and the spiritual correspondence between
Man and Nature,
2012-3-22 10
3,William Wordsworth
3,1,Preface to Lyrical Ballads”,
It is Lyrical Ballads that ushers in the Romantic
age in English literature,
Not only does Wordsworth suggest a radical
change in subject matter,but he also dramatically
shifts focus concerning poetry’s ―proper language.‖
Unlike Pope and his predecessors,Wordsworth
chooses ―language really used by [people]’—
everyday speech,Wordsworth redefines poetry itself,
―For all good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of
powerful feelings.‖ Wordsworth highlighted poetry’s
emotional quality,Imagination,not reason or
disciplined thought,becomes its core,
2012-3-22 11
3.2 William Wordsworth,―I Wandered
Lonely as a Cloud‖ (1807)
1,Background of this poem;
2,The poet’s mood is inspired by the
natural scene,but he also seems to
exploit the natural landscape in
retrospect to alter his mood,In this
way,nature serves as a means of self-
expression,but what is expressed often
betokens self-absorption,
2012-3-22 12
4,Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(1772-1834),
Poet,critic,and philosopher of Romanticism,
“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”
At Wordsworth’ s suggestion,Coleridge composed
―The rime of the Ancient Mariner‖,which recounts a
nightmare sea-voyage with powerful metaphysical
overtones,
Rime---- rhyme,rhymed poetry or verse, 诗或韵文
Theme,Exhortation to humanitarianism to animals,
The poem introduces the reader to a supernatural
realm,but it manages to create a sense of reality,
2012-3-22 13
5,George Gordon Byron,Don Juan
(―The Isles of Greece‖)
After Don Juan,legendary 14th-century Spanish
nobleman and libertine
Don Juan, A libertine; a profligate,A man who is an
obsessive seducer of women,
Completed in 1819,published in 1821
allusion,an indirect or inexplicit reference by one
text to another text,to a historical occurrence,or to
myths and legends,
Allusions in ―The Isles of Greece‖,persons,places,
battles,
Byron and China,―The Isles of Greece‖ is full of
Revolutionary zeal,democratic ideal,
2012-3-22 14
6,P,B,Shelley,(1792—1822)
his intellectual courage and originality; his hatred of
oppression and injustice,
Shelley,―Song to the Men of England‖ (1819)
The poet calls the exploiters ―ungrateful drones‖ who
drain the sweat and drink the blood of ―laboring
people‖—―the Bees of England‖,and he illustrates
with concrete examples the relationship of economic
exploitation between the ruling class and the working
people,He called on the producers of wealth to
resist oppression and exploitation,
2012-3-22 15
7,John Keats (1795-1821),
―To Autumn‖,
Image,A word,phrase,or a figure of speech,
a simile or a metaphor that addresses the
senses,suggesting mental pictures of sights,
sounds,smells,tastes,feelings or actions,
Images offer sensory impressions to the
reader and also convey emotions and moods
through their verbal pictures,
Chapter Ⅷ
The Age of Romanticism
1798-1832
2012-3-22 2
By the close of the eighteenth century,the world
had witnessed several major political
1,the American and French revolutions,
2.exceptional social upheavals,
3,prominent changes in philosophical thought,
1,Historical background
2012-3-22 3
A Review of British Literature
French Revolution,
-----The time spirit described by
Charles Dickens,( A Tale of Two
Cities)
2012-3-22 4
It was the best of times,it was the
worst of times,it was the age of wisdom,it
was the age foolishness,it was the epoch of
belief,it was the epoch of incredulity,it was
the season of Light,it was the season of
Darkness,it was the spring of hope,it was
the winter of despair,we had everything
before us,we had nothing before us,we were
all going direct to Heaven,we were all going
direct the other way …
2012-3-22 5
18th century
19th century
Valued order and reason
Emphasized intuition as a
proper guide to truth
Viewed the world as a great
machine with all its parts
operating harmoniously
The world was a living
organism that was always
growing
The city housed the centers of
art and literature and set the
standards of good taste for the
rationalistic mind
A rural setting as a place
where people could discover
their inner self,
Believed that truth could be
attained by tapping into the
core of our humanity or our
transcendental natures,
Empirical and rationalistic
methodologies
2012-3-22 6
2,Romanticism,
In a historical sense,Romanticism was a
movement in philosophy,political theory,and
the arts that developed in France and
Germany in the latter half of the eighteenth
century and flourished in England through to
the first three decades in the nineteenth
century,The most prominent historical event
associated with Romanticism was the French
Revolution (1789-1799),which for many
presaged the end of aristocratic rule and
hereditary social divisions in Europe,
2012-3-22 7
2.1 Origins of Romanticism
The tone of Romanticism was shaped
by the emotionalism of Rousseau,and
the exotic legends and mythology found
in Oriental and Homeric literatures and
17th-cent,travel writers,
2012-3-22 8
2.2 Rene Wellek,―The Concept of
Romanticism in Literary History‖ (1963),
Romanticism is often associated with
the primacy of imagination,the worship
of nature,and the use of natural
imagery and symbolism in myth –
making,
2012-3-22 9
2,3 Common characteristics of the second
generation of British Romantics— Byron,
Shelley,and Keats,
They wrote swiftly,traveled widely,
and died prematurely,They had a new
intuition for the power of the wild landscape,
and the spiritual correspondence between
Man and Nature,
2012-3-22 10
3,William Wordsworth
3,1,Preface to Lyrical Ballads”,
It is Lyrical Ballads that ushers in the Romantic
age in English literature,
Not only does Wordsworth suggest a radical
change in subject matter,but he also dramatically
shifts focus concerning poetry’s ―proper language.‖
Unlike Pope and his predecessors,Wordsworth
chooses ―language really used by [people]’—
everyday speech,Wordsworth redefines poetry itself,
―For all good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of
powerful feelings.‖ Wordsworth highlighted poetry’s
emotional quality,Imagination,not reason or
disciplined thought,becomes its core,
2012-3-22 11
3.2 William Wordsworth,―I Wandered
Lonely as a Cloud‖ (1807)
1,Background of this poem;
2,The poet’s mood is inspired by the
natural scene,but he also seems to
exploit the natural landscape in
retrospect to alter his mood,In this
way,nature serves as a means of self-
expression,but what is expressed often
betokens self-absorption,
2012-3-22 12
4,Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(1772-1834),
Poet,critic,and philosopher of Romanticism,
“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”
At Wordsworth’ s suggestion,Coleridge composed
―The rime of the Ancient Mariner‖,which recounts a
nightmare sea-voyage with powerful metaphysical
overtones,
Rime---- rhyme,rhymed poetry or verse, 诗或韵文
Theme,Exhortation to humanitarianism to animals,
The poem introduces the reader to a supernatural
realm,but it manages to create a sense of reality,
2012-3-22 13
5,George Gordon Byron,Don Juan
(―The Isles of Greece‖)
After Don Juan,legendary 14th-century Spanish
nobleman and libertine
Don Juan, A libertine; a profligate,A man who is an
obsessive seducer of women,
Completed in 1819,published in 1821
allusion,an indirect or inexplicit reference by one
text to another text,to a historical occurrence,or to
myths and legends,
Allusions in ―The Isles of Greece‖,persons,places,
battles,
Byron and China,―The Isles of Greece‖ is full of
Revolutionary zeal,democratic ideal,
2012-3-22 14
6,P,B,Shelley,(1792—1822)
his intellectual courage and originality; his hatred of
oppression and injustice,
Shelley,―Song to the Men of England‖ (1819)
The poet calls the exploiters ―ungrateful drones‖ who
drain the sweat and drink the blood of ―laboring
people‖—―the Bees of England‖,and he illustrates
with concrete examples the relationship of economic
exploitation between the ruling class and the working
people,He called on the producers of wealth to
resist oppression and exploitation,
2012-3-22 15
7,John Keats (1795-1821),
―To Autumn‖,
Image,A word,phrase,or a figure of speech,
a simile or a metaphor that addresses the
senses,suggesting mental pictures of sights,
sounds,smells,tastes,feelings or actions,
Images offer sensory impressions to the
reader and also convey emotions and moods
through their verbal pictures,
