The Romantic Period

What are the milestones (pietre miliari) of Romanticism?

• Passion
• Feelings
• Nature
• Man
• Subjectivity - everyone is different by others - The I was very important à imagine of the hero ( in Byron it became egoistic)
• Religion (God is always important à creator of nature)
• Imagination à which created in England gothic romance. It had a special role for the Romantics because they viewed the artist as a creator who used his imagination to explore the unfamiliar and the unseen.

Patriotism was not a milestone of English Romantic Age like in Germany because England was already united.

The Romantic Age was typical for all Europe. The reasons are:

It was a reaction to the previous age: the Enlightenment=Ragion Age (Illuminismo), in which reason, rationality, science and rules was very important. Now people wanted to revaluated passions, emotions, subjectivity (not only in individual but also in nation, who had different languages, ideas, traditions..The nation became a big identity).

Preromantic movement: at the beginning this reaction was particularly strong. In Germany burnt "Sturm (storm) und Drang (passion)", in which passions are violent, exaggerated, in fact often characters choose to die to not do something.

These characters can't accept rules, limits, because now there are no rules, the important is refusing rules and institutions.

In Romantic Age nature was something who we can also control, on the contrary in Preromantic movement nature is a violence, exaggerated ad powerful nature without control. Typical settings are night, storm, high mountains, chasms (abissi).

Then Preromantic ideas calm down and burn Romantic Age.

The French revolution, who was a rebellion to rules to get freedom, had an influence on Romantic Age. The poet of Romantic Age when they were young believed in principles of French revolution, but when they got old all of them was disappointed.

Industrial revolution, because it had spoilt the landscape and the nature that before it were unspoilt. The social prize for the progress was high: many people lived and worked in terrible conditions.

These social problems produced an atmosphere of turbulence and instability in which a strong desire to break with the past emerged.

After the French revolution England was involved in Napoleonic wars in which Nelson defeated Napoleon at Trafalgar in 1805 and that finished in 1815 with the English victory at Waterloo.

In 1820 and in 1848 there were political unrests in Europe to get union and social rebellions.

England was ahead: it was united yet and it had a constitutional monarchy (the first in Europe) in which there wasn't an axolutely king or queen, but all was decided from parliament and king.

So in England the situation was not so difficult like in other states of Europe.

In spite of this working classes, the most of population, lived in bad conditions in working slums where hygienic conditions were not so good, in fact there was no water, a lot of people lived in an only room, there was children's mortality, crime (in fact people stole money to earn some of that), exploitation of children (they worked like chimney sweepers or in mines).

à The working classes started to rebel to get better condition in protests. In 1819 at Peterloo, people were protested against the rise in the prise of bread when the army decided to interview and eleven persons were killed.

à The situation was getting more difficult, so to avoid rebellions the monarchy starts a period of reforms, the most important are:

The Factory Act in 1833 who limited working hours and forbid work of children under nine.

Trade Unions were recognised in 1825 and workers can formed their associations.

Reform Bill in 1832 which give right to vote to a lot of people à like businessman & industrialists.

In 1829 Robert Peel established a police force.

In 1934 set up a system of national primary education.

After all these reforms, Great Britain was becoming most powerful states in the world and two classes are getting more important: medium class and working class.

England had also got a lot of colonies that were very useful because they produced raw materials at low costs that, after they have been worked in England, they were selling to colonies.

To transport raw materials à birth of railway.

The Romantic Age

A typical idea of the Romantic Age was that the poet is a prophet who can see the unseen and use his imagination to explore the unfamiliar. The poets had this skill because they had a lot of imagination. They had an important role: to show the truth and teach it to common people.

Poets of the Romantic Age considered himself like Creators: like God had created the world, they could create fantastic world.

An important poet of Romantic Age was William Blake

Who Was William Blake?

William Blake was born in London in 1757. He came from a simple family, so he didn't attend famous school or university but he received very little formal education. He showed early signs of artistic talent and, at the age of fourteen, he became an apprentice in an engraver's shop.

We remember him especially for two collection of words: "The Songs of Innocence", that was published in 1789, and "The Songs of Experience", published in 1794. These two masterpieces of him must be read in parallel, because they showed two different world which are ed.

The songs of innocence - In this work he described an ideal world, uncontaminated and uncorrupted before industrial revolution.

Most of characters are children, and they are very optimist, in fact The songs of Innocence are about childhood.

The style of the story is very simple, the language is like the story is tell by a children. These poems represent a world of Good where purity and innocence triumph. The Lamb is a symbol of innocence and purity.

The songs of experience - Blake describe the world like it really is in his opinion. After the industrial revolution world is became corrupt and contaminated, where the wickedness and the unhappiness triumph.

In this world the children are not innocent but the are spoilt by the institution and the experience. Blake condemned this world who exploit children. The lamb, symbol of innocence now become a tiger, the new symbol of world. Now the language and the symbol are more complex.

William Wordsworth

He was born in the Lake District in 1770, one of the most beautiful area in England when there's still unspoilt nature.

He attended Cambridge university but he wasn't particularly interested in his studies and then he went to a Grand Tour of France, that was typical of young nobleman because they often went to visited the places where in the past there were ancient civilisations. Often romantic writers went to a Grand Tour (Goethe was the first) which is usually in France, Italy, Switzerland. They were interested in nature but also in civilisation.

When he got back to London he met Coleridge. This is an important meeting because they started to talk about poetry, about the role of the poet and at the end they decided to write a collection of words together: "The Lyrical Ballads", which was published the first time in 1798.

There was a second edition in 1800 that was more important then the first, indeed it includes a preface, the manifesto of English romanticism in which the two authors wrote what the features of poet should be.

Wordsworth had a lot of familiar problems, the friendship with Coleridge broke down, from a revolutionary he became a supporter of the conservative part because he was disappointed of French revolution. He also received the title of Poet Laureate by the King.

Preface to "The Lyrical Ballads"

They theorized:

Rebellion against formal language: of Enlightment, they must use words which reflect passions, feelings, abstract things and not a scientific language because the language of the poetry must be simple.

Subjects once again the poet had to take subjects from the common life like simple people against the main characters of the previous period that were heroes.

Reveal the inner truth: poets writing their poems wants to awake men form the lethargy in which they were fallen because so they couldn't see the beauty. Poet is the only one which can go beyond appearances and still perceive the inner truth.

The poet is a man speaking to men: all the common people should be able to read poems.

Emotions recollected in tranquillity

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

He was a poet of the first generation. We don't know so much about his life, only his meeting with Wordsworth. He wasn't a brilliant student and he was influenced by the idea of the French Revolution.

Whit another poet he ned to established an utopian community in USA in which all is in common and where there wasn't private propriety.

He spent a lot of time with Wordsworth, he also got married with a woman but he wasn't so happy and he had a lot of healthy problems. He became addicted to opium which is used to cure nervous breakdown, he wrote a lot of poems under the influence of the opium.

He also broke put his friendship with Wordsworth.

He travelled to Germany, he studied German and he was fashinated of German philosophy. He wrote "Biografia Literaria" which is a sort of milestone which contains a lot of reflections about poetry.

He was also one of the discovers of Shakespeare, he revaluated this important author.

He contributed to "Lyrical Ballads".

He also wrote The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

The Rime is a ballad which is a typical fix form. It is characterised by a strong rhythm. At beginning it was accompanied by music and it was oral, not written. Poets started to write them in 1800.

There are a lot of repetitions because so people can remember all the ballad. In ballads prevail dialog and narration, very often the ballad is a dialog in which there is a very minimum description because at the audience isn't interested in details.

Ballads are often tell about a particularly moment in the life of the main characters. Original ballads hadn't a moral and the story teller didn't take any position, he only told about the story (the narrator is impersonal)à Now the moral is very important because it can help men. The narrator uses an archaic language to make the story more simple than original ballads.

Ancient Mariner à there are a lot of representative elements: long grey bears, glittering eye, skinny hand à Symbol of old age that is a symbol of wisdom and knowledge. He looks like a ghost; he's very mysterious and he makes us think about dead. Dead and life are basic theme of life.

There is something that we don't know about him, in fact he is mysterious. He has a hypnotic eye and a magic look that are a symbol of something magic has happened. The Wedding Guest is spellbound by the eye of the old man and continued to hear his story. POWERFUL EYE.

The Wedding Guest is a young man that is very impatient, ingenuous and interested in joint.

When the mariner starts to tell his story, he's telling us about a journey that is started like a real journey with specific geographic references but than it continue little by little in a soprannatural world where happened a lot of strange things. The narrator continues to change from simple past to simple present because the more important is what is happening now between the old man and the Wedding Guest

The story in the story: the narrator tell the story of the Wedding guest and the ancient mariner, that tell his story. Three level: frame, second level: introduction, third level: real story.

At beginning the journey is real: there are a lot of geographic and realistic elements: the Sun, the ocean, the harbour.. Everything seems to be in favour of this journey. But than the atmosphere changes and we are waiting for something of unusual happen.

In all the ballad natural element are personify and there are a lot of interruption by the wedding guest to improve suspense. At beginning he couldn't understand because he's young and interested in superficial things. The worried character of the mariner is in contrast with the happy situation.

We don't have precise connotation because the author wants to made an universal story.

There are a lot of verbs that give us an idea of the power of nature that is stronger than man.

The arrive of the albatross is an important event, because after days and days of solitude, it is the first animal in few days that they can see. It is a symbol of God, a symbol that harmony from man to God is still exist. We don't know where it cam from, in fact it seems that it is sent by God, everything is so mysterious. It is a positive element because the ship that before its arrive was stopped by ice now is managed to broke it. And so the journey continue.

The Albatross is often associated at the world cross.

The Albatross stay for nine days with the ship: nine is a symbolic number of bible and than an irrational action happens: the mariner kill it. It is the brake that previous a tragedy à It represent the story of man: he refuse God like a saver.

There is something negative because the bird was been killed. Something was lost, a sense of lost is felt by the other mariners that become angry whit the sailor. But a few days after the mist disappear and the other mariners give up to be angry with the sailor and they starting to think that the Albatross obstruct the Sun. They continue to change their opinion but in this way the become accomplices to the killed of the bird.

Now the situation changes again: the breeze stops to blow and the ship is still in a silent ocean. They are surrounded by water but they can't drink it and the sun is unbearable. Mariners decides that the pain of the sailor must be to have the Albatross hung on his neck like a cross. It is a brand of infamy and everybody can see his guilty.

After a long time (the author use a long stanza to give sensation of a very long time) something important happens. The narrator want to keep curiosity and went on to repeat the same things changing only some things or some words.

A ship is coming towards the ship of the sailor and all the mariners are getting over when they feel that there is something wrong: this is a ghost ship and they are afraid of this ship that exhale a sence of death.

The mariner don't has any certainty and he starts to answer questions: who is on this ship? Is Death? There is a woman on the sip? Is she a nightmare?

The sun set and the night came quickly. All the mariners are afraid and one by one they died in the night.

Only the sailor don't die. The night is the positive moment because all positive things happened in night. The sun is always associated with a terrible silence

The mariner try to pray but he can't, he can't talking too. The ancient mariner is alone in the middle of the sea. At one moment he notes that the moon is moving in the sky. This is the firs sign of move. There are a lot of water-snakes that are swimming in the sea. At beginning the ancient mariner thinks they are horrible but then he notes their beauty and he blesses them. In the same instance he can pray and so the albatross throw away from his neck à prayers and the free neck are elements of purification.

Another element of purification is sleep: before the ancient mariner can't sleeping but now he can do it. A good breeze starts blowing and the ship returns to move again. Mariners stand up and start to do their ordinary works, but they are spirits, they aren't still living.

Now all stops again: the ancient mariner faints and he hears two voices, they are two spirit which are following the ship and they are saying: "this is the man who has killed the albatross, he has suffer for his action" "Yes, but he must suffer again".

God loves Albatross which loves men, a crime versus nature is a crime to God.

The mariner wakes up and the moon bright in the sky. All the other mariners are looking him with bad eyes. Once again starts an unnatural breeze and the ships stats to move again quickly and softly. Now we see the same elements that we had seen at the start of the journey but in an opposite way. We are returning to reality.

He sees the harbour and he enter in it now with him on every corpse there is an angel and not a spirit.

An hermit orders to a guy to go to rescue the ship of the ancient mariner. The hermit, in opposite to the mariner is in contact with nature and God. The mariner is rescue by the hermit but the guy go crazy when he see the sailor because he's like a demon. Something great happens when the little ship arrives near at the ship of the sailor: the ship burnt and sink.
The hermit says to the sailor: "I can absolve you but you must remember that your crime was so big. I give you a pain: you must travel around the world telling to people your story teaching them the lessons. You'll never die."