By:
Amalia Lestari 10211144032/3H
ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE STUDY PROGRAM
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND ART
YOGYAKARTA STATE UNIVERSITY
2012
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background
Romantic period was begun from 1798 to 1832 or it lasts about 34 years. It was also divided into three reigns which the first reign was led by George III, the second reign was led by George IV, and the last reign was led by William IV. People argue that Romantic Period started from French Revolution to Reform Act; therefore, it also titles Age Revolutions. After the revolution that happened in America and France, English people hoped for change and revolution in England. Throughout Romantic period, there were many inventions and changes in some aspects of English people’s life. The changes occurred in society, such as transforming rather industrial than agricultural. Many inventions were found: the steam engine, spinning jenny, the power loom, and so on. The establishment of factory system also marked the development of economic system. People from countryside massively moved to city to get better life because they were poor as an impact from industrial England. Actually, the changes that were made were slow, and many people were suffering since the changes of social and economic condition brought its problems: many people were unemployed, war between social classes at home grew, and the worst example was the Peterloo massacre of 1819 when government soldiers attacked a large group of protesters. It killed eleven people and injured about four hundred.
Great development also happened in intellectual life and literature. Particularly in literature, Romantic writing is mostly poetry. For the changes occurred in almost all aspects of life, the literature fields also were expected to transform especially by Wordsworth and Coleridge. They wanted to contrast the poetic language and