Romanticism V Victorianism
Lukas Diaz
Professor: Melody Hargraves
English Literature II
23FEB2015
The Romantic Movement and the Victorian era. Literature usually represents the current state of affairs in specific places during specific times. It reflects through the words and expressions of writers who believe in bringing a personal perspective on important subjects that are part of human society. Early English Romantic literature in general focuses on the personal emotions of the writers along with human interaction with the natural world. These and other specific characteristics allowed the Romantic Movement to last for a significant amount of time in which many exemplary literary works represented romanticism at its core. While prominent in English history, several historical events gave end to the Romantic Movement and gave birth to the Victorian era which drastically restructured English literature. While the Romantic Movement managed to remain “alive” and retain some of the aspects that made it famous, Victorian era literature successfully represented the “new” minds and perspectives of many writers. As England changed rapidly as a result of the Industrial Revolution, many aspects of English society changed. Changes such as the increase of human knowledge through science and technology or changes in the religious beliefs of the English people. These changes directly affected the “archaic” beliefs of the romantic era and as a consequence affected English literature as a whole.
Some of the more notorious contrasts between the romantic era and the Victorian era were the type of language used and the emotional restraint adopted by Victorian writers. These changes were in part due to the realization of “realism” in the Victorian era versus the “idealism” of the romantic era. The language used in romanticism was notably emotional and some times over expressive, while the Victorian era brought a more realistic and restrained use of language which in turn allowed writers to represent a
Professor: Melody Hargraves
English Literature II
23FEB2015
The Romantic Movement and the Victorian era. Literature usually represents the current state of affairs in specific places during specific times. It reflects through the words and expressions of writers who believe in bringing a personal perspective on important subjects that are part of human society. Early English Romantic literature in general focuses on the personal emotions of the writers along with human interaction with the natural world. These and other specific characteristics allowed the Romantic Movement to last for a significant amount of time in which many exemplary literary works represented romanticism at its core. While prominent in English history, several historical events gave end to the Romantic Movement and gave birth to the Victorian era which drastically restructured English literature. While the Romantic Movement managed to remain “alive” and retain some of the aspects that made it famous, Victorian era literature successfully represented the “new” minds and perspectives of many writers. As England changed rapidly as a result of the Industrial Revolution, many aspects of English society changed. Changes such as the increase of human knowledge through science and technology or changes in the religious beliefs of the English people. These changes directly affected the “archaic” beliefs of the romantic era and as a consequence affected English literature as a whole.
Some of the more notorious contrasts between the romantic era and the Victorian era were the type of language used and the emotional restraint adopted by Victorian writers. These changes were in part due to the realization of “realism” in the Victorian era versus the “idealism” of the romantic era. The language used in romanticism was notably emotional and some times over expressive, while the Victorian era brought a more realistic and restrained use of language which in turn allowed writers to represent a
Cited: John Keats “Ode to a Nightingale” The Norton Anthology of English Literature (Ninth Edition) Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. 2012. Print Lord Alfred Tennyson “In Memoriam A.H.H” The Norton Anthology of English Literature (Ninth Edition) Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. 2012. Print Walt Whitman “Song of Myself” The Norton Anthology of American Literature (seventh Edition) Nina Baym. Print Robert Browning “Up at the villa-Down in the city”. Poetry foundation. Web. 29 March 2015 Academic Sources Richard Cronin. Reading Victorian Poetry. Wiley-Blackwell, 2012. Digital Isobel Armstrong. Victorian Poetry: Poetry, Poetics, and Politics. Routledge, 1993