The characteristics of the Romanticism

1. Romanticism
By: Felicitas Donato and Trinidad Torrendell
felidonato

2. Period of Time:
❖ The social advancement frequently appears in
literature.
For example:
> It may be primarily financial as in Charles Dickens’s Great
Expectations
> It may involve marrying someone from your same level,
as in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre.
> It may also be based on education.
❖ The period saw the rise of what constitutes an
“Englishman.” Many colonists and politicians
saw it as their political (and sometimes
religious) duty to “help” or “civilize” native
populations in colonized regions through
literature.

3. Subjectivity:
❖It is an element of poetry and a central philosophical concept, related to
consciousness, agency, personhood, reality, and truth by which the poet goes
into himself and finds his inspiration from his own experiences, thoughts and
feelings.
❖As much as subjectivity is a process of individuation, it is equally a process of
socialization, engaging in interaction with the surrounding world.
❖For example, the “Ode to the Nightingale” by John Keats (1795- 1821) is based on
personal matter. When his brother died, he wrote this poem being annoyed by the
practical world.

4. Imagination:
❖ The Romantic poets believed that imagination can protect a troubled mind. This idea appears in
different poems in the Romantic age. Through imagination, The cold world is changed into something
real and full of life.
Different poets think about the use of imagination in lots of ways such as:
❖ While Coleridge thought that we could transform the given world through imagination.
❖ For Wordsworth's the visionary world is more real than the world of sense.
❖ And For Keats is a power by which he has made more powerful and acceptable than reality.Keat in a letter once said:
“I am certain of nothing but
of the holiness of the
Heart's affection and truth
to the imagination…”

5. Hellenism:
❖By the end of the 18th century neoclassicism.
England became increasingly in love with
Greece and the romantic poets Lord Byron
(1788- 1824), Percy Bysshe Shelley and John
Keats turned to the past and the East for
inspiration.
❖For example, in “The Curse of Minerva” (1815),
Byron criticised Lord Elgin for destroying
Greek statues.

6. Supernaturalism:
❖In a majority of poems from the Romantic
era there is a great use of supernatural and
mythological references.
❖In the poem “The Rime of the Ancient
Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-
1834), the poet shows clearly why he is
considered one of the best of all times. This
poem is not only powerful with supernatural
and mythological elements but it also has
emotional content.

7. Nature:
❖They have frequently used nature in
their poetry. But nature has taken different
shape in different poets. To Shelley nature
was a power. To Keats nature was a beauty
and Wordsworth considered nature
mystically. Coleridge treated nature
supernaturally.
❖Some of them had seen nature as art
and also they use personification.

8. Escapism:
The desire to retreat imaginative entertainment rather than deal with the stress,
tedium and daily problems of the mundane world. Also, it might be written with a
psychological purpose by offering a relief from the stress.
“A great book provides escapism for me. The art
and the creativity in a story are better than
drugs”
Quote: