英 国 文 学English Literature 主讲教师：张伯香Chapter 1 Introduction to Romanticism I. Historical Background n1. The Monarchy King George III His antagonist policies towards the colonies was in part responsible for the American Revolution. King George IV Took the throne and held it until his death in 1830 King William IV The brother of George IV ruled 1830 to 18372. The French Revolution The democratic ideas of the French revolution Napoleonic WarsNapoleon Bonaparten3. The Industrial Revolution Social changes within the Industrial Revolution Production Population growth Class conflict Living and working conditions Diseases Problems of child and women labourThe Spinning Jenny1760sSteam Engine: James Watt: 1777, Steam Engine: James Watt: 1777, First used in coal industryFirst used in coal industryTextile mills-late 1800sTextile mills-late 1800sLate 19Late 19thth century coal minecentury coal mineCoal Transport: 1825Coal Transport: 1825 Change from agricultural to industrial society New technology Rise of urban centers of industry Creation of impoverished working class The negative effects of IndustrializationChild laborPeterlooPeterloo Massacre (1819) Massacre (1819) Pressure for Political and Social Reform Hunger riots Machine breaking labor unions movement Womens movement First Reform Bill of 1832II. Cultural Background n1. Romanticism Refers to a literary movement characterized by The idealization of nature Freedom of thought and expression (poetry most exalted form) Heavy reliance on the imagination and subjectivity Romanticism values the particular insight, the visionary glimpse into imaginative union with the universe, the emotional certainty and joy that arises from a feeling of intimate association in a envisioned patterned order. It distrusts any systematic knowledge, any inherited systems of belief, anything not generated by ones own imagination. It rejects any sense of rational limits to what the human imagination might know. The power of the imagination is potentially infinite: “Less than all cannot satisfy man,“ cried Blake. n2. The origin of Romanticism lies in the philosophy of Jean Jacques Rousseau, Immanuel Kant and Wolfgang von Goethe Rousseau championed individualism and freedom of thought: “I felt before I thought.” Immanuel Kants eternal events are merely based on our internal perceptions Goethe advocated inspiration from Shakespeares works, Gothic architecture and German folk tales.Jean Jacques RousseauImmanuel Kant (1724-1804)Von Goethe (1749-1832)n3. Partial reaction against the neoclassicism Reacted against reason, order restrictions, rules and artificial conventions Revolt against authority Reacted against industrialism Search for freedom in personal, political, and artistic life The democratization of poetryn4. Characteristics of Romanticism nIndividualism Stresses individual over society Glorifies desire to go beyond human limits Heroes are isolated nonconformists or guilty outcasts “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” was a new ideal in the world. Emphasis moved from the universal to the particular, for humankind to nations and ethnic groups.Wandering Above the Sea of Fog Caspar David Friedrich, 1818Solitary TreeCaspar David Friedrich, 1823“A magnificent thing it is, in infinite solitude by the sea, under a sullen sky, to gaze off into a boundless watery waste”Heinrich von Kleist, “Feelings before Friedrichs Seascape,” Berlin, Oct. 13, 1810nEmotionalism Feeling, not reason, became the test of authenticity. Poetry is a form of emotional communication, “The spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”. External objects transformed by poets feelings Speaker/hero reflects the poet Poetry about formation of the selfDeath of SardanapalusEugene DelacroixSir Frank Dicksee (1853-1928)SnowstormTurnernImagination The creative imagination occupied the center of Romantic views of art, which replaced the mechanical rules of conventional form with an organic principle of natural growth and free development“ Seeing art as a formulation of intuitive imaginative perceptionsnSpontaneity and Naturalness Age of Reason regarded poetry as an art For Romantics poetry should be spontaneous and inspired Poetry should be free from rules and artful manipulationAurora BorealisFrederic Church (1865) nEmphasis on Nature Nature as it reflects the “Mind of Man” Nature endowed with human qualities Natural objects symbolize greater concepts Divine mysteries reflected in nature See in nature a revelation of TruthAn Avalanche in the Alps Philip James de Loutherbourg, 1803The Deluge Francis Danby, 1840Man and Woman Contemplating the Moon Gaspar David Friedrich, 1825nGlorification of the Commonplace Wordsworths democratization of poetry Express the wonder and divinity of the commonplace turn to the humble people and the everyday life for subjects, Use plain style and comm