Concetti Chiave
- Pre-Romanticism emerged in the late eighteenth century as a response to Enlightenment's emphasis on reason, advocating for the importance of emotion and sensory impressions.
- The "sturm und drang" movement aimed to revive emotions suppressed by Enlightenment ideals, emphasizing the value of feelings.
- The classical view of nature shifted to a Pantheistic perspective, seeing nature as a living force with its own life, contrasting the orderly view of Enlightenment.
- Edmund Burke's work emphasized the sublime as a strong emotion akin to horror, contrasting beauty with elements like obscurity and silence that evoke awe.
- Romanticism in English poetry is divided into two generations, with the first focusing on nature and ordinary life, and the second on visionary and supernatural themes.
Pre-Romanticism
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.
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.
Romanticism
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
- Qual è la principale opposizione tra il Pre-Romanticismo e l'Illuminismo?
- Come è cambiata la concezione della natura nel Pre-Romanticismo?
- Qual è il contributo di Edmund Burke al Pre-Romanticismo?
- Quali sono le caratteristiche principali della poesia romantica secondo Wordsworth e Coleridge?
Il Pre-Romanticismo si oppone all'Illuminismo enfatizzando l'importanza delle emozioni e dei sentimenti, mentre l'Illuminismo privilegiava la supremazia della ragione come unica via per la conoscenza e il progresso.
La concezione della natura è passata da una visione classica di leggi stabilite da Dio, controllabili dalla ragione, a una visione panteistica che vede la natura come una forza vivente in cui ogni elemento ha una vita propria.
Edmund Burke ha contribuito con la sua opera "A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful", in cui descrive il sublime come l'emozione più forte che la mente umana possa provare, simile all'orrore o alla paura.
La poesia romantica, secondo Wordsworth e Coleridge, si caratterizza per l'uso di un linguaggio semplice e vicino a quello parlato, la centralità della natura come protagonista e l'attenzione alla vita semplice e rustica.
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