Romanticism: Key Themes, Poets, and Literary Works
Key Characteristics of Romanticism
Romanticism emphasized introspection, psychology, and melancholy, alongside a feeling of eternal discontent and the search for identity. A key characteristic was the ability to affect, giving importance to the concept of the sublime, and exploring themes of death, feelings, unattainable beauty, and nature.
Social Concerns in Romantic Poetry
Romanticism questioned societal norms, showing interest in and concern for outcasts such as tramps, beggars, obsessive characters, and the poor.
Revival of the Medieval and Gothic
The Romantics reclaimed ballads and compositions from the Middle Ages, embracing the obscurantism of that time. The Gothic period, developed in the last centuries of the Middle Ages, is closely related to Romanticism, with its artistic parameters standing out during this era.
The Romantic Poet as Hero
Poetry was the predominant genre of the Romantic period. The poet was seen as a hero, rejecting the tyranny of rules and championing imagination over mimesis, subjectivity over objectivity, and feelings over reason.
First and Second Generation Romantic Poets
There were two generations of Romantic poets. The First Generation included William Wordsworth, Samuel T. Coleridge, and Lord Byron. The Second Generation included Mary Shelley and John Keats. All the poets agreed that poetry was an instrument used to teach, but writing styles varied among them.
Wordsworth and Coleridge: A Focus
William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge are central figures. During the Romantic period, debates arose about poetry and poetic language, specifically the “Levelling of Language.”
Arguments Concerning Poetic Language
Romantics addressed three main arguments: the appropriate language for poetry, the poetic imagination and its relation to language, and the relationship between poetic language and politics.
Wordsworth vs. Coleridge on Poetic Language
Both Coleridge and Wordsworth addressed the idea of poetic language. Wordsworth argued against the received idea of poetic language as a refined mode of eloquence available only to those with an education in previous literary models. He argued that the best language for poetry is the most logical (represented by grammar) and universal, rather than socially and politically specific.
William Wordsworth supported the idea of using a language that everyone could understand, as seen in the preface of Lyrical Ballads, while Coleridge held the opposite view, as expressed in his work Biographia Literaria.
Key Works of Romanticism
Notable works include Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus (1918), which explores the limits of science and represents the romantic writer. William Wordsworth is known for Lyrical Ballads and his poem Tintern Abbey. Samuel T. Coleridge contributed The Rime of the Ancient Mariner to Lyrical Ballads.
Conclusion: The Subjective Turn in Romantic Poetry
In conclusion, Romantic poetry shifts the point of interest from an objective concept to a subjective one. It can be compared to a psychic connection, moving from a mimetic movement to an existential one, incorporating both visionary and mimetic elements.