In

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In British Lit.
The Romantic Period
The Romantic Period in British Literature was a
time of nature-inspired poetry, political
questioning, and individualism. To understand the
power of the poetry, the inclination of the
poets, and the world to which it was responding,
you could read hundreds of poems and literary
criticisms. Or, you can just get the basics. If
youre interested in the basics, then read on!
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WHEN?
Dating the Romantic Period in British Literature
is easy. Scholars attribute the onset of the
period to a poet named William Wordsworth who co-
published a new kind of poetry with his friend
Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Their work entitled
Lyrical Ballads was published in 1798. Thats
the beginning of the Romantic Period according to
some scholars.
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Its roots?
A German literary movement called Sturm und Drang
had already popularized the concept of a
suffering main character or poetic voice- one
who was a martyr, a rebel, an iconoclast going
against the assumptions and expectations of a
society.
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Its roots?

• The Romantic movement in British literary
  history shares this ideal we may call it the
  first of a few characteristics we will name -
  Romantic literature questions authority and
  values individuals who question authority.
  Anything that infringes on personal liberty is
  suspect in this tradition.

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Byronic Hero
- Hey, Johnny, What are you rebelling
against? Movies such as Marlon Brandos Wild
One have popularized the ideal of an
irresistible bad boy. This bad boy stereotype
first entered our English culture in the Romantic
poetry of Lord Byron.
Marlon Brando in The Wild One
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NATURE
The poets who chose the Romantic style at this
time investigated many topics. They wrote of
time, love, death, art, and religion among other
topics. But one topic in particular was a
favorite among the Romantics - nature. There have
been poems about nature written before, but these
nature poems were somehow different.
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NATURE

• These poems were not quaint, predictable,
  over-simplified glorifications of Nature on a
  purely observational level. These poems were
  designed to communicate Natures transformative
  power. Nature is portrayed as omnipresent and
  capable of altering human perception and
  perspective. The settings of these poems,
  therefore, are picturesque and exotic.

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ORDINARY EXTRAORDINARY
The personal experiences documented in the
Romantic literature of this time are epiphanies
that alter the life of the speaker. But the
catalysts for such events may have been ordinary,
mundane, or less than remarkable. This ability to
describe ordinary events as extraordinary is a
characteristic of Romantic literature.
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EMOTIONS RULE
Because the Romantic poetry valued individual
experience, the rationalism previously admired
was replaced by a trust in ones emotions. The
literature in England prior to this movement was
witty, intellectual, and social. Romanticism
rejects the social us and embraces the me!
Intuitions, feelings, and emotions ruled.
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Simple Language
The Romantics searched for personal experiences
and strove to communicate their power in
meaningful ways. To achieve this, they employed
simple and direct language. This was another way
to reject the Neoclassical movement that hoped to
emulate the ancient writers in lofty styles and
language.
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Another characteristic of Romantic literature is
the inclusion of supernatural elements.
Perhaps, for the Romantics, Nature was so
powerful that it could not be contained. Nature
becomes a mysterious, supernatural element.
Supernatural
Natural
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Lyric Poetry
British Romantic poetry most frequently took the
form of lyric poetry. This genre employed rhythm,
repetition, and sometimes rhyme to give the poem
a lyrical or musical effect. Sometimes the
speaker was a narrator of sorts, or in other
instances, the speaker is the voice of the poet.

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Poets

• A study of the most popular and important
  Romantic poets would include Lord Byron,
  William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge,
  Percy Bysshe Shelley, Keats, and Alfred Lord
  Tennyson.
• Although poetry was the most expected Romantic
  genre, Romantic novels were also written. A
  popular novel by Mary Shelley - Frankenstein - is
  also representative of the period.