The Romantic age: a new sensibility.

The sublime

The sublime is a feeling associated with the strong emotion we feel in front
of intense natural phenomena (storms, hurricanes, waterfalls). It generates
fear but also attraction.

Origin: the term has Latin origins and refers to any literary or artistic form
that expresses noble, elevated feelings.

Distinction between the beautiful and the sublime: first made by Addison
and then by Burke (A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of
the Sublime and the Beautiful). The beautiful refers to the qualities of the
object (the work of art), while the sublime is the sensation felt by the
perceiver.

Different effects of the sublime: minor effects: admiration, respect;

major effects: terror, fear.
• What causes the sublime: fear of pain, vastness of the ocean, obscurity, powerful sources,
the infinite, the unfinished, magnificence and colour (sad, dark colours)

• Influence on late 18° century literature: this feeling is central in the works of Romantic
poets and Gothic novelists, and is linked to a passion for extreme sensations.

• Influence on painting: painters like Turner and Constable wanted to express the sublime in
visual art. They were landscape painters and, although in different ways, they emphasized the
strength of natural elements and studied the effects of different weather conditiond on the
landscape. For some aspects, they influenced the French impressionists.

• (See Turner on page 148-149 and Constable on page 172-173)

What view of the sublime do these pictures convey?
Describe the landscapes…
Find similarities and differences between different pictures…
The Romantic Age: historical background

The age of revolutions (historical, social, artistic)

• American revolution: American War of Independence (1775-83) and Declaration of

Independence from British rule (1776).

• French revolution (1789): new ideas of freedom and social justice spread all over Europe.

• Industrial revolution: it brought about many social changes.

• Ideological and artistic revolution: revolt against classical rules, against authority. In favour
of free expression of personal feelings.
The industrial revolution

• Britain moved from an agricultural to an industrial economy: cities expanded rapidly. Terrible
living conditions of the new urban working-class, pollution.
• British society was soon divided into rich landowners and industrialists on one side and urban
poors on the other.

• Industrial revolution connected to: new sources of power (coal, steam engine),
improvements in transport and communication.

• Importance of the Great Exhibition of 1851, in London: a show of the new inventions of
science and technology, which gave high prestige to Britain.
The French Revolution

At first, the new principles of freedom end equality had many supporters among the English
intellectuals (in particular, the first generation of Romantic poets).
Later, when the period of terror and violence began, intellectuals were disillusioned and no
longer supported the revolution.

Napoleon seized power and began a conquest of Europe, but was defeated by Britain at
Trafalgar in 1805 (by admiral Nelson) and finally at Waterloo in 1815 by the Duke of
Wellington.

In Britain the principles of the French revolution didn’t generate violent insurrections but
only protest movements.
However, the Tory government was afraid that the radicals might start an insurrection, so
they banned revolutionary writings, limited freedom of speech and association and public
demonstrations were broken up by the army.
Important demonstrations in Britain:

• The Luddite Riots (1811-12): workers started to break machines in Nottingham, because they
believed that the introduction of new machines would lead to unemployment.
As a consequence, the destruction of machines became punishable by death.

• The Peterloo Massacre (1819): a crowd of 60.000 people were demonstrating in support of
parliamentary reform in St. Peter field in Manchester. They were dispersed by the army and
11 people were killed).
First Reforms

• After a period of “Regency”, George IV became king in 1820: Trade Unions were made legal
and the prison system was reformed.

• During the reign of William IV (1830 – 37) some important reforms were made:
– First Reform Act (1832): it extended the right to vote to middle class men (however
parliament was still largely controlled by the upper-class)
– 1833: slavery became illegal, also because of a number of slave revolts that exploded
in some British colonies (the first was in the Caribbean). The news of slave massacres
reached Britain and public opinion turned against slavery.
– 1833: the factory Act: employment of children under 9 was forbidden.
The Literary Background

Origins and use of the word “Romantic”

In England: it appeared in the middle of the 17° cent. And meant “typical of the old romances”.
In France: introduced in the 18° cent by Rousseau, it denoted a feeling (related to landscapes).
In Germany: at the end of the 18° cent it acquired a totally positive meaning and denoted a
spiritual and aesthetic value.

Then it defined a literary and artistic movement which spread all over Europe and had as a
common feature the rebellion against classicism.

In Germany it was anticipated by the “Sturm und Drang” movement (introduction of the notion
of “Sensucht”, a feeling of desire for what is unattainable).
In France: M.me De Stael introduced Romantic ideas and ideals.
In England: Wordsworth wrote the preface to the Lyrical Ballads in 1800, considered the
Manifesto of English Romantic poetry, even if there was never a real “literary movement”.
In Italy:Berchet’s Lettera Semiseria (1816): the Manifesto of Italian Romanticism.
Romantic poetry

• Romanticism in England expressed itself especially in poetry. Novels were mainly of two
kinds: realistic/ fantastic (the Gothic novels). No Drama.

• New ideas and new sensibilty:

o Reaction against Enlightment
o Influenced by the ideas of the French and American revolutions
o Emphasis on individual experience (intensity, imagination)
o Feeling of The Sublime (Burke)
Augustan Romantic
• Augustan vs Romantic
•Reason andorder
Reason and order •Feelingfeelings
and intuition
and intuition
•Control
Control ofofemotion
emotionandand imagination
imagintion •Free play
freeof imagination,
play of imagination,desire toto
desire gogo
beyondbeyond
humanhuman
limits.limits
•Children are treated as little adults, •Children are sacred, close to God.
they must be civilised
•Society more important than individual; •Importance of the poet’s inner life; he is
poet expresses social order. a rebel but also a prophet.
•Sophisticated, literary language •Everyday language.
• References to Classical world • Observation of nature and everyday
situations; reference to the Middle-Ages.
The first generation of Romantic Poets

• William Blake: a “pre-romantic”, he created his own symbolic system, based on his theory of
complementary opposites. He was ahead of his time; sensitive to the social changes brought
about by the Industrial revolution.

• Wordsworth: his poetry started from the direct observation of nature, of simple life. He
wanted to show the high moral values present in the life of simple people. Use of common
language.

• Coleridge: his poetry started inside his mind, great power of imagination. He created
fantastic, dream-like worlds and described them as if they were real. He mixed the
supernatural with the real.

Common features: they wrote some “theory” about poetry, they all at first supported the French
Revolution. However, Wordsworth and Coleridge were later disappointed by it.
The second generation of Romantic poets

• Lord Byron: the heroes of his poems are usually handsome, solitary, young heroes who go
against conventions.

• Shelley: a political radical, unconventional, rebel. He saw the poet as a prophet who could
change society.

• Keats: he believed that the power of poetry lies mainly in its eternity, opposed to the
transience of human life. Escape into a world of classical beauty.

They all died very young and away from home, in Mediterranean countries (Greece and Italy),
and experienced political disillusionment. Individualism and escapism were stronger in this
generation.