Concetti Chiave
- Pre-Romanticism emerged in the late eighteenth century as a reaction against the Enlightenment's focus on reason, emphasizing the importance of emotions and senses.
- The movement saw a shift in the perception of nature from a controllable order established by God to a Pantheistic view where nature was a living force.
- Edmund Burke's work on the sublime highlighted the strongest emotions, contrasting beauty with feelings of awe and fear inspired by the infinite and terrifying.
- The English Romantic poets are divided into two generations: the first, including Wordsworth and Coleridge, focused on nature and visionary topics; the second included Byron, Shelley, and Keats.
- The Romantic poets emphasized simple, spoken language and saw nature as the main protagonist in their works, aiming to reveal deeper truths beyond the surface.
What is the contrast with Enlightenment?
Pre-Romanticism is a movement that spread in the late eighteenth century and which clearly opposes the Enlightenment. During enlightenment the people believed that the supremacy of reason was the only way to knowledge and progress, and this had led to the repression of emotion and feeling. As men studied their surroundings, they began to refer to the impressions of their senses and to give importance to their feelings. This caused the "sturm ut drang" movement, that want to take back the emotions that enlightenment put down.
The vision of nature
Besides the concept of nature changed. The classical view of nature as a set of laws established by God, which man could order and control thanks to reason, was slowly replaced by a new Pantheistic view, that describe the nature like a living force in which every element has a life of his own. The most remarkable work on the subject was certainly Edmund Burke's "a philosophical enquiry into the origin of our ideas of the sublime and beautiful", in which Burke say that the sublime is the strongest emotion that human mind can feel: it isn't a pleasure produced by beautiful forms, but a feeling similar to horror or fear created by what is infinite and terrible: while flower-beds are beautiful, obscurity, loneliness, silence, tall oaks are sublime, because causes in a man awe, astonishment, admiration, reverence and respect.
The English Romantic poets
The great English Romantic poets are usually grouped into two generation: the first, often called "the lake poets", included William Wordsworth and S.T. Coleridge; the poet of the second generation are Byron, Shelley and Keats. The poets of the first generation are characterized by the attempt to theorize about poetry. While planning the Lyrical Ballads, they agreed that Wordsworth would write on the beauty of nature and ordinary things with the aim of making them interesting for the reader; Coleridge instead should deal with visionary topics, the supernatural ad mystery. The preface of this work became the manifesto of the romantic poetry. In it they explain the task of the poet, that is considered a vate, divinely inspired to see beyond surface of things; and they say that the nature will be the main feature of their poems and is no longer a decorative element but the main protagonist; that the language will be simple and close to the language really spoken by men; and that the object will be simple and rustic life.
Domande da interrogazione
- How did Pre-Romanticism oppose the Enlightenment?
- How did the view of nature change during the Pre-Romantic period?
- Who were the key figures in the first generation of English Romantic poets, and what were their contributions?
- What were the main themes and stylistic elements of Romantic poetry as outlined in the "Lyrical Ballads"?
Pre-Romanticism opposed the Enlightenment by rejecting the supremacy of reason and emphasizing the importance of emotions and feelings, which the Enlightenment had repressed. This shift led to movements like "sturm und drang" that sought to reclaim emotional expression.
The view of nature shifted from a classical perspective of a set of laws established by God to a Pantheistic view, where nature was seen as a living force with its own life. Edmund Burke's work highlighted the sublime as a powerful emotion evoked by the infinite and terrible aspects of nature.
The first generation of English Romantic poets, known as "the lake poets," included William Wordsworth and S.T. Coleridge. Wordsworth focused on the beauty of nature and ordinary things, while Coleridge explored visionary topics and the supernatural. Their collaboration on "Lyrical Ballads" became a manifesto for Romantic poetry.
Romantic poetry, as outlined in the "Lyrical Ballads," emphasized nature as the main protagonist, used simple language close to everyday speech, and focused on simple and rustic life. The poet was seen as divinely inspired, capable of seeing beyond the surface of things.
Accedi a tutti gli appunti
Tutor AI: studia meglio e in meno tempo
