Romantic Period Flashcards
(35 cards)
1
Q
Robbie Burns
A
- 1759-1796
- Cusp of romantic age; symbol of Scottish literature
- Farmer, honored heritage with Scottish dialect
- Collected 300 folk-songs and rewrote, added music
- How people “really are,” common human experiences
- Wrote “Poems: Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect”
2
Q
William Blake
A
- 1757-1827
- Poet and artist; mystic with spiritual world connections
- Born into poverty/no formal education, engraver at 14 and became professional (created new method)
- Married and stayed that way
- Rejected organized religion
- “Songs of Innocence” and “Songs of Experience”
3
Q
William Wordsworth–Personal Life
A
- 1770-1850
- Lake District: Romantic poets gathered and wrote poems
- Went to school in NW England, father died 2 uncles guardians
- Degree from Cambridge; traveled in 1781 to France and has affair/child/figures out wants to be poet
- 1793: Returns to England and reunites with Dorothy and leaves family
4
Q
William Wordsworth–Career
A
- Collaborates with Samuel Coleridge
- Known for nature poetry/simple delight; spontaneous overflow of poetry; people should be immersed in nature
- Best poet of age; Poet Laureate in 1843; believes poets of value must be thought over long and deeply
5
Q
Percy Shelley–Career
A
-1792-1822
-Religious, political rebel born into upper class
-Byronic hero; went to Oxford and got expelled for atheist pamphlet
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6
Q
Percy Shelley–Personal Life
A
- Estranged from father, eloped with sister’s best friend Harriet Westbrook to live in Europe
- Meets political radicals William Godwin and Mary Woolenstonecraft; falls in love with Godwin’s daughter
- Elopes with Mary to Switzerland and brings Jane; denied custody of children
- Percy dies after storm on Mediterranean (refused to be rescued), washes up with Sophocles and Keats
7
Q
Percy Shelley-Career
A
- Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein
- Did most famous work in Italy; wrote critical commentaries and “Adonis” and “Promethueus”
8
Q
George Gordon Byron–Personal Life
A
- 1788-1824
- Born in House of Lords with strict Calvinistic parents (father was a sea captain with two wives at same time)
- Byron had club foot, diabetes, prone to obesity; however athletic and determined to prove himself
- Title at age 10; romantic private life, went to Cambridge and had live bear as pet
- Traveled through Europe, Middle East; celebrity in 1812
- Numerous sexual affairs, relationship with 1/2 sister Augusta
- Pro-French Rev., however left England in 1816 because of views and affair
- Moves to Switzerland with Shellleys
- Died fighting with Greek nationalists against the Italians
9
Q
George Gordon Byron–Career
A
- Wrote mostly satire, “Don Juan” (satirical epic)
- Considered Neo-Classics
- Took on Wordsworth and Coleridge
10
Q
John Keats–Personal Life
A
- 1795-1821
- Life plagued with trouble: Father died when 8, mother of TB, family finances unavailable, apprenticed to apothecary and in 1816, decided against it
- Fell in love with Fanny Brawn after death of brother; too sick to marry
- Went for hike in Lake, came back with TB
11
Q
John Keats–Career
A
-Finished apothecary studies in 1816 and quit
-1817: First book of poetry, not received well
Brother Thomas died of TB in 1818
-Determined to become poet, however was hack writer
-Found appt. with artist and died of TB
12
Q
Samuel Coleridge
A
- 1772-1834
- Humble origin; father died and Coleridge sent to boarding school
- 1792: Cambridge, disliked it, wanted utopian community i US
- 1793: Army, discharged
- 1794: Back at Cambridge, no degree
- Supported French Rev.; radical lectures, collaborated with Wordsworth
- Rheumatoid arthritis, marriage collapses, addicted to laudanum and life spirals out of control
- Expert on Shakespeare; Biographia Literaria
- “Rime of Ancient Mariner”
13
Q
Romantic Age
A
- 1798-1837
- Monumental upheaval in political, economic, social, and philosophical systems creating new literature
14
Q
Political Background
A
- 1800s: French situation dominated England’s foreign policy; French Rev. as protest against royal despotism
- 1760-1820: George III King of England
- 1793-1794: Reign of Terror (rev. gov’t. Robespierre)
- 1793-1815: Napoleonic Wars (England v. France)
- 1804: Napoleon emperor of England, defeated 1805 at Trafalgar
- Duke Wellington beat in Spain; Battle of Waterloo
- Absolute monarchies restored
15
Q
England Politics/Government
A
- Severe domestic political problems
- 1760-1820: George III, insane
- 1820-1830: George IV; political repression and Tories
- 1830: William IV; first Reform Bill (allowed well-to-do to vote)
16
Q
Industrial Rev.
A
- Began in 1760s, new machines replaced hand tools, became urbanized and industrialized
- Working class developed
17
Q
Regency
A
- 1811-1820
- Time of extravagance and social display; rich
- Men’s styles were influenced with dark clothing (Brummel)
- Women wore high-waisted, flowing gowns
18
Q
Liberals and Changes
A
- Lord Byron and William Godwin; members of Church of England
- Growing humanitarian feeling
- Slave trade in British colonies illegal in 1807; abolished 1833
19
Q
Scientific Achievements
A
- Geology, chemistry, physics, astronomy
- Reduction of death rate
- Hygiene still not understood
20
Q
Romantic Writings
A
- Emphasize human adventure, passion, delight, love of splendor, extravagance, and of supernatural
- Classicism or neoclassicism
21
Q
Neoclassical
A
-Largely rational, logical, intellectual
22
Q
Romanticism
A
-Experimental, individualistic, imaginative, and nature
23
Q
“The” 3 Romantics of 1700s
A
- Thomas Gray
- William Blake
- Robert Burns
24
Q
Shapers of Romanticism
A
- French Rev.
- Industrial rev.
- Jean Jacques Roussea (1712-1778); rebelled against cold logic and championed freedom and experimentation
25
Lyrical Ballads
- 1798; began Romantic Age with collaboration with William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge
- Revolutionized poetry
- Wordsworth claimed poetry should reflect spontaneity and emotions; depicted commonplace situations
- Coleridge focused on supernatural
26
Romantic Interests with Culture
- Ancient Greece over Ancient Rome
- Renewed interest with Middle Ages
- Paid attention to Shakespeare, Spenser, Milton
27
1st Gen. Poets
Wordsworth and Coleridge
28
2nd Gen. Poets
Percy Shelley, Byron, John Keats
29
Essayists
Charles Lamb and William Hazlitt
30
Drama
- Not popular
| - Drury Lane and Covent Garden licensed; main type was simplistic, extreme melodrama
31
Closet Drama
Poetic drama written to be read rather than produced; Shelley's tragedy The Cenci, Byron's Manfred, Coleridge's Remorse
32
Gothic Novel
- Involved supernatural and was set against foreboding backgrounds
- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
33
Scottish Sir Walter Scott
- Wrote novels of adventure; father of historical novel
- Set many novels in England Scotland of old
- Ivanhoe
34
Jane Austen
- Plots concerned domestic literary influences; manners
- Pride and prejudice
- More of a neoclassicist
- Helped develop modern novel
35
Novel of Manners
-Realistic intone, graceful, and deliberately decorous in fashion
