The Romantics

Literary Techniques

·         Experiment with new forms of poetry 

·         Use of symbols and Classical (Greek, Roman, Egyptian, etc) mythology

·         Use of everyday language

·         Individualism, Experimentation, Power of the Imagination

·         Rediscover Mystery and wonder of the World > tap more elusive levels of human experience

·         Life of ordinary people is the best subject for poetry

·         Everyday language best conveys their feelings

·         Expression of feeling is more important in poetry than development of action

·         Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings

·         Romanticised experiences of Simplicity and Naturalness

·         Emotion recollected in Tranquility

Socio-Historical Tradition

·         Reaction against Agricultural, Industrial revolutions, Reign of Terror

·         Celebrate ideals of French and American Revolutions

·         Attacks on evils of Industrialism & tyranny

Please be careful, the Romantics are a collection of authors, it does not mean they only wrote about romance and love.

Frankenstein

(Mary Shelley)

Dr Frankenstein represents the hard-nosed, rigorous scientist who used to believe in the absolute power of modern science, but abandoned it to escape to the safety of family life in the countryside.  While he believed in the power of science to create life, he created the creature in the bowels of the university city at Ingolstad.  It is this creature which he now calls a monster, which has killed his young nephew and will ultimately cause the death of his nephew's beloved nurse, Justine, as well as that of his childhood friend, his wife, his father, and eventually cause Frankenstein's own death aboard a ship heading for the North Pole.  Quite obviously, modern science has failed Frankenstein horribly.

But human society has also failed the creature.  Instead of being welcomed and cared for, the creature has been abandoned, betrayed, hunted and alienated simply because of his looks: features that Frankenstein forced on him.  Shelley is taking a dim view of man's ability to play God and create life.  Does this have some relevance to genetic and cloning studies today?

In the original work, the creature's arguments and character are powerful, convincing, and humbling, while Frankenstein appears helpless and petty in comparison.  The creature tracks Frankenstein to his safe place in the mountains and confronts him. 

My Heart Leaps Up

(William Wordsworth)

My Heart Leaps Up

My heart leaps up when I behold

                     A rainbow in the sky:

 So was it when my life began;

             So is it now I am a man;

             So be it when I shall grow old,

                     Or let me die!

             The Child is father of the Man;

                     I could wish my days to be

             Bound each to each by natural piety.

                                                                     1802.

Wordsworth was the leading figure of the Romantics.  He developed their philosophy to literature in his preface to the Lyrical ballads, a collection of poems which he published with his friend Samuel Taylor Coleridge.  This poem is said to be a summary of Wordworth's philosophy about poetry: The rainbow is a symbol from nature of a connection or bridge between God and man; the child is a symbol of the innocent and complete joy at nature which the man in his educated, wealthy, powerful development needs to retain. 

The central paradox: The child is father to the man could mean (1) the child is the teacher of the adult, teaching him how to respond naturally to simple beauty, or (2) the child develops into a father who will in turn have a child who will become a man - a cycle of generations which shows the importance of passing down inherited knowledge and wisdom and not allowing it to be lost in the modern industrial age.

I wandered Lonely as a Cloud

(William Wordsworth)

An excellent example of the Romantic techniques being applied to poetry.  As Wordsworth is resting, he remembers a scene of golden daffodils he saw while out walking.  

The point is the analogy he's making with daffodils.  He's comparing them to people and pointing out that whenever he feels vacant or pensive, the memory of these happy, singing, dancing people restores his mood.

Classwork

 “My Heart Leaps Up”

1. What does the rainbow represent?   (2)

2.      Explain what Wordsworth feels about nature and the countryside? (2)

3.      What lessons does this poem hold for society?  (2)

4. Paraphrase the poem.        (8)

 “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”

1. What does the title suggest about the speaker’s mental state at the start of the poem?        (2)
2. What does the word “golden” (line4) suggest about the daffodils or the people he’s comparing them to?     (2)
3. Is it appropriate to compare the daffodils to both a “crowd” and “stars”?  What could he be suggesting about them?     (2)
4. Describe the motion of the daffodils.        (3)
5. How are these two poems examples of Romantic poetry?    (3)

Blake is another Romantic poet and artist whose work featured in the recent film "Red Dragon".  Try this link: http://www.artcyclopedia.com/red-dragon-william-blake.html

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Last modified: Friday January 10, 2003.