IV. Literature of the early 19th century

ROMANTICISM

The Romantic period lasted about thirty years, from the last decade of the 18th century to the 1830s. Romanticism in literature was a reaction of different strata of society to the French Revolution and to the Enlightenment associated with it. The people were disappointed with the outcome of the Revolution. The common people did not obtain the liberty, fraternity and equality they had hoped for; the bourgeoisie found that the reality was not what the En­ lighteners had promised it to be, although the Revolution had paved the way for capitalist development.

Quite naturally, the reactionary feudal class was dis­ contented, because the Revolution had made it much we­ aker.

The progressive minds of Europe expressed this general

discontent, because the influence of the French Revolution was felt all over the world. The new trend in literature (Romanticism) reflected it. The Revolution brought new problems for progressive-minded writers, who were faced with the necessity of finding an answer to such questions as their attitude to the feudal state, to the revolution, to the national liberation movements, to the relations between the individual and society, to the common people, to historical development.

The Romantic period in England had its peculiarities. During the second half of the 18th century economic and social changes took place in the country. England went through the so-called Industrial revolution that gave birth to a new class, that of the proletariat. The Industrial revo­ lution began with the invention of a weaving-machine which could do the work of 17 people. The weavers that were left without work thought that the machines were to blame for their misery They began to destroy these machi­ nes, or frames as they were called. This frame-breaking movement was called the Luddite movement, bec nsc ilte name of the first man to break a frame was Ned Ludd. The

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further introduction of machinery in different branches of manufacture left far more people jobless.

It was during those years that the "Correspondence Societies"* were founded in England. Organized in differ­ ent localities, they united tradesmen of different profes­

sions and interests. As a rule, the societies were headed by well-known progressives, who struggled for revolutionary changes and improvements in the social order.

The re<lctionary ruling class of England was, however,

decisively against any progressive thought influenced by the French Revolution; as a result the last decade of the

18th century was subjected to a rule that became known as the "white terror" Progressive-minded people were perse­ cuted and forced into exile, as was Thomas Paine ( 1737-

1809), the author of the Rights of Man, who had to flee to

France.

The Industrial revolution in England, as well as the

French Revolution, had a great influence on the cultural life of the country In addition to the problems that their European contemporaries were facing, the English writers of the period had to find answers that arose in their own country, such as the growth of industry, the rise of the working class movement and the disappearance of the peasantry

Some of these writers were definitely revolutionary:

they opposed the existing order, called upon the people to struggle for a better future, shared the people's desire for liberty and objected to colonial oppression. Furthermore, they supported the national liberation wars on the con­ tinent against feudal reaction. Such writers were George Gordon Byron ( 1788-1824) and Percy Bysshe Shelley ( 1792-1822).

Others, though they had welcomed the French Revo­

lution and its slogan of liberty, fraternity and eguality, later abandoned revolutionary ideas. They turned to nature

and to the simple problems of life. They tried to avoid the contradictions that were becoming so great in all the spheres of social life with the development of capitalism. They looked back to patriarchal England and refused to

accept the progress of industry; they even called on the

Government to forbid the building of new factories which,

• The "Correspondence Societies" got their name from the facl that their members corresponded with the ".Jacobin Club" in France. "Jaco­ bin" was the name of an extreme democratic club established in Paris in 1789 in an old convent that bore the name "Jacobin".

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they considered, were the cause of the workers' sufferings. Among these writers were the poets W i II i a m Words­ w o rt h ( 1770-1850), Sam u e I T Co I e ridge ( 1772-

1834) and Robert Southey (1774-1843), who formed

the "Lake School", so called because they all lived for

a time in the beautiful Lake District in the north-west of England. They dedicated much of what they wrote to Na­ ture, especially Wordsworth. They showed the life of the common people in the English country side that was over­ looked by their younger revolutionary contemporaries. The "Lake" poets resorted to popular forms of verse that were known and could be understood by all.

One of the first works, published by W Wordsworth and S. Coleridge in 1798, was a collection of poems under the title of Lyrical Ballads. In the foreword W Words­ worth wrote that these ballads were written for every­ body, in a language that everybody could understand.

A. S. Pushkin, who appreciated Wordsworth's poetry, considered this very important. He wrote that the creations of the English poet were full of deep feeling. These feelings, he said, were expressed in the language of the honest common man.

The romanticists paid a good deal of attention to the

spiritual life of man. This was reflected in an abundance of lyrical verse. The so-called exotic theme came into being and great attention was devoted to Nature and its elements. Description became very rich in form and many-sided in content. The writers used such means as symbolism, fanta­ sy, grotesque, etc.; legends, tales, songs and ballads also became part of their creative world.

The romanticists were talented poets and their contri­

bution to English literature was very important.

I. What werthe charact ristic features of Romanticism"2. What were the dilferences between the revolutionary romanticists of England and the poets of the "Lake School"? 3. What themes did the "'Lake" poets choose for their verses? 4. How did A. Pushkin appreciate the works of William Wordsworth?