Our e-book about Romanticism

Chapter 1: Historical Background

Quercioli Davide, Cherubini Sebastiano, Giannelli Lapo, Francini Elia

Chapter 1: Historical Background Quercioli Davide, Cherubini Sebastiano, Giannelli Lapo, Francini Elia

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Chapter 1: Historical Background

Quercioli Davide, Cherubini Sebastiano, Giannelli Lapo, Francini Elia

Agrarian Revolution In the beginning of the eighteenth century after a century of decline the economy started to grow, with that also the population started to grow and the percentage of the poor people was starting to decrease in the various states. In some states where the production of food was low these factors made the old agricultural techniques more obsolete.

Until the 17th century agriculture was based on two-field rotations in which half part of the field was planted and half left to lay fallow. In the 17th century all of Europe introduced the three-field system: it divided the field in three parts with one left to lay fallow, one used to plant cereal, such as winter wheat followed by spring barley, and the last one used for legumes such as beans or lentils. In Great Britain with the transition from the open field to the enclosure system, happened in the 17th centuries, around the 18th century they created the four-field system, in this system there is no part of the land lay to fallow, but all field use four different types of crops: cereals, legumins, roots vegetable and fodder crops used for livestocks. The second one was not used in Europe until the 20th century as it turned out the four-field system was more effective and profitable. This brought the poor populations to stock some of the crop and sell the major part of it, limiting their diet to only eating corn and potatoes, bringing various types of food disorders. As a consequence everyone could obtain primary goods, putting the base for the industrial revolution.

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Chapter 1: Historical Background

Quercioli Davide, Cherubini Sebastiano, Giannelli Lapo, Francini Elia

Industrial Revolution Historic contest of Europe In the XVIII century, due to an improvement of the hygienic conditions, there was a fall of disease, a rise in the birth rate and a decrease in the death rate. These were the causes of the "demographic revolution", characterized by a continuous population growth until the XX century. There was also the displacement of large masses of peasants from the countryside to the cities (urbanism) attracted by the economic growth. Poverty and the demand for food increased and to satisfy it the "agrarian revolution" took place.

In this period, Great Britain had the supremacy in international maritime trade due to the victory on France in the "Seven years war". England had also a very extended empire, a lot of raw materials and large capitals available. It practiced the "triangular trade": ships with valuables departed from Europe and arrived in African colonies where goods were exchanged with slaves; then they were brought to America and sold to landowners in exchange for raw materials destined for the home country.

In general, England was more stable than other countries of Europe due to the freedoms given by the Parliament, the absence of wars and threats to the island and the presence of a developed internal transport network.

The birth of modern-day life The Industrial Revolution was the process of transition of agrarian and handicraft economies to industrial and urbanized ones. It took place between 1760 and 1840. His birthplace was England, but, later, it spread in the rest of Europe and the United States.

It was characterized by the birth of the factories, structures where the working phases were concentrated through the use of new machinery. The " factory system" optimized the quantity, quality and the economic performance of the products.

The Industrial Revolution influenced many sectors. In the textile industry, for example, there was the passage from the "domestic system" (where weaving and spinning were carried out by farmers in their own homes, with 3

Chapter 1: Historical Background

Quercioli Davide, Cherubini Sebastiano, Giannelli Lapo, Francini Elia

rudimentary machinery or by hand), to the mechanization of the sector through the use of machinery such as the mechanical loom.

In this period, new energy sources for the alimentation of machinery were discovered. In particular, with the discovery of steam power, factories no longer needed to be located near a river to draw energy from it.

The first steam engine was that of Savery, which was used to extract water from mines.

But the most important steam engine was that of James Watt, which transformed thermal energy into mechanical energy. Thanks to it, the first steam locomotive was invented (by G. Stephenson).

Factory work also had its downsides, which harmed the society. In this period, the assembly line was born: workers were forced to do repetitive and exhausting works for 12-16 hours every day (except Sunday), without holidays or pensions. Child labor was also often used.

The cities were divided into overcrowded working class districts, where workers lived in poverty, with bad hygienic conditions.

Due to these bad life environments, the first violent riots broke out. They were headed by the Luddite movement, which boycotted the machinery and claimed an increase in wages and a decrease in working hours.

Although the protests were suppressed and the Luddites were executed, mutual aid societies were created among the workers.

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Quercioli Davide, Cherubini Sebastiano,

Chapter 1: Historical Background

Giannelli Lapo, Francini Elia

Industrial Revolution, Question.

Fill the gap with the correct answer.

The

Industrial

Revolution

was

and urbanized

ones.

It

took

the

handicraft

place

process economies

of

transition

to

industrial

between

. His birthplace was

of and ▾ and

▾

▾

, but,

later, it hit the rest of Europe and the United States.

It was characterized by the birth of the

, structures

▾ use of new where the working phases were concentrated through the . The "factory system" optimized the quantity, quality and the economic performance of the products.

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Chapter 1: Historical Background

Quercioli Davide, Cherubini Sebastiano, Giannelli Lapo, Francini Elia

American Revolution Before 1760, the British American colonies had enjoyed a high level of autonomy in their internal affairs and were governed locally by colonial legislatures.

In 1765, with the Stamp Act, King George III imposed new duties on corn, paper and tea, to reduce the public debt, increased by the Seven Years War. This new imposition caused fierce opposition in the American colonies.

Tension escalated with other tariffs that led the British government to repeal most of them in 1770. England retained the tea tax to symbolically affirm Parliament's right to tax colonies. The Gaspee Fire in Rhode Island in 1772, the passing of the Tea Act of 1773, and the Boston Tea Party in December 1773 led to a new escalation of tensions. England has enacted a series of punitive laws, such as the closure of Boston Harbor and the consecutive revocation of the Massachusetts Bay Colony's self-government privileges. These events forced twelve of the thirteen colonies to create the Continental Congress in 1774, to coordinate the rebellion against England.

Declaration of Independence (1776)

In 1775 the War of Independence broke out. On July 4, 1776, in Philadelphia, the thirteen representatives of the thirteen colonies signed the Declaration of Independence.

This declaration established, not only the independence of a nation, but also that every man has natural rights, including the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The conflicts ended with the English defeat at Yorktown (1781) and the Treaty of Versailles (1783).

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Chapter 1: Historical Background

Quercioli Davide, Cherubini Sebastiano, Giannelli Lapo, Francini Elia

The new republic of the United States of America became the symbol of a new beginning. They adopted a federal constitution (Bill of Rights) in 1787 and George Washington became the first president in 1789.

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Chapter 1: Historical Background

Quercioli Davide, Cherubini Sebastiano, Giannelli Lapo, Francini Elia

American Revolution, Question.

When did the respresentatives of the thirteen colonies sign the Declaration of Independence?

Choose the correct answer.

A. ○ 1776 B. ○ 1779 C. ○ 1789 D. ○ 1775

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Chapter 1: Historical Background

Quercioli Davide, Cherubini Sebastiano, Giannelli Lapo, Francini Elia

French Revolution During the reign of Louis XIV, the public debt was disproportionately huge.

The taxation system was private, entrusted to bankers, who took as much money as they could and they gave the minimum indispensable to the king keeping the biggest amount of this money. The result was that the Third state, composed of everyone excluding the church people and the aristocrats, paid a lot of money in taxes, but very little money reached the state reserves.

When Louis XIV died in 1715, his son Louis XV, ascended the throne.

Until he reached maturity (then defined as his 13th birthday) on 15 February 1723, Philippe II, Duke of Orléans ruled the kingdom. .

During his regency, John Law, a Scottish economist, was nominated "finance minister". At that period the public debt exceeded ten times the annual revenue of the state, today the Italian three years of income of the state.

John Law thought that he could fix these problems by replacing the coins with paper money.His projects failed due to the bankruptcy of the Mississippi company, of which he was head.

Despite this, the bubble of the Mississippi, first in history, actually paid off a large part of the debt.

However, by the death of Louis XV this had already returned to burden the finances of the state.

Before the Revolution, France was divided into three Estates. The First Estate was the Clergy (the church). It made up 1% of the population. The Second Estate was the Nobles, which also made up 1% of the population.

The other nearly 98% of the population was in the Third Estate.

Representatives of the people from all three estates together made up the Estates-General.

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Chapter 1: Historical Background

Quercioli Davide, Cherubini Sebastiano, Giannelli Lapo, Francini Elia

In May 1789, the king Louis XVI was forced to convene the EstatesGeneral to solve the money problem of the country.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Anonymous_-_Prise_de_la_Bastille.jpg

The members of the Third Estates were upset because they were the only ones to be taxed.

They also wanted votes in the Estates-General, to be more fair (one for each person and not one for each State).

In July 1789 they created the National Assembly.

Frightened by the possibility that the king could close the assembly, many Parisians rebelled and decided to attack the bastille, a symbol of the power of the crown (14 July 1789).

The Members of the Third Estate took over Paris.

The president of the National Assembly became mayor of the city.

In 1792, the Assembly decided to declare war on Austria, to invade the Austrian Netherlands, but, because of the revolution, the army was very weak.

Soon, Prussia joined the Austrian side.

The national assembly soon lost all its powers and it was replaced by the National Convention.

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Quercioli Davide, Cherubini Sebastiano,

Chapter 1: Historical Background

Giannelli Lapo, Francini Elia

At that time many had become suspicious of the king, fearful that he would conspire against the revolution so on 21 January 1793, the King was executed using the guillotine. Marie Antoniette, the Queen, was also executed on the sixteenth of October.

With the king's death and the radicals taking more support, Robespierre and the jacobins seized power arresting many Girondins and by July Robespierre instaureted one man dictatorship, passed in the history under the name of the terror. In 1793 Robespierre created a 12-men committee named the committee of public safety and with the help of the sansculotte

this

group

hunted

down

people

suspected

of

being

anti-

revolutionaries (around 40.000 were executed).

The terror brought France to improve his economy and the army started to see some success entering in Belgium and German soi; this brought the people to think that enforcing this dictatorship was really a good idea.

AT the end of 1795 the same committee of Public Safety turned against Robespierre, sentencing him to the guillotine and leaving France with a huge power gap. This gap was filled by a powerful political group, guided by the high bourgeoisie, which established the thermidorian government formed by the lower house, known as parliament and formed by 500 members, and upper house, known as the senate and formed by 250 members. This new government stabilized more than ever the nation, bringing it back to the period before the jacobin and the terror and introducing the 1795 constitution. In spite of all, this new government was extremely unpopular and in the military was growing a popular name among the people and the soldiers. A young Corsican in 1796 entered Italy with an extremely unsupplied and demoralized army, defeating the piedimont's army and the Austrian army, ending the war of the first coalition all by himself at the age of 28. His name was Napoleon Bonaparte, a brilliant strategist and skilled propagandist and politician at the peak of his popularity he staged a coup against the extremely unpopular government with the help of his brother Lucien and an influential politician Joseph Sieyes. Together they established a three-men dictatorship, which later on became a one-man dictatorship officially ending the revolution.

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Quercioli Davide, Cherubini Sebastiano,

Chapter 1: Historical Background

Giannelli Lapo, Francini Elia

Meanwhile in Italy Pre-French revolution In this period the Italian peninsula was divided by the military or political powerhouse of that period. The north was Austrian territory which was gained by war or by a marriage policy (that is a marriage between two families with the purpose of maintaining a good relationship between two states), or by vassalage to the HRE, Holy Roman Empire.

The territories of the Austrian crown were officially the duchy of Milan, with the marriage policy they acquired the grand duchy of Tuscany, where the younger brother of the Emperor, Lorenzo ofLorena, became one of the enlightened

monarchs

abolishing

the

death

sentence.

There

were

someterritories which were free, such as the kingdom of Piedmont and the two republics of Genoa and Venice. The center was the territory of the papal state, which was still a political powerhouse in Italy. The south was divided into the Republic of Sardinia and the two brother monarchies owned by the bourbons of Spain, the kingdom of Naples and the kingdom of Sicily . in this period the culture of enlightenment spread in all kingdoms and republics, except for the papal state.

French revolution and Napoleonic period

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Chapter 1: Historical Background

Quercioli Davide, Cherubini Sebastiano, Giannelli Lapo, Francini Elia

At the beginning the French revolution was feared by the monarchs, especially the ones under Austrian protection, but with the arrival of Napoleon they cheered him as a savior, opening the city's gates. During this period the borders in the Italian peninsula changed through time and a sentiment of unity and nationality grew with it. After the war of the second coalition the Italian peninsula was totally under Napoleon's control; during this time Napoleon wrote the constitutions of the sister republics which later became vassals of the newborn French Empire and under the direct control of the Bonaparte's dynasty. Only the kingdom of Sicily remained at war through all the Napoleonic era, finally entering the continent only in 1813 with the king of Naples Joachim Murat switching sides. With Napoleon defeated at Waterloo, Europe and Italy entered in a new era called the restoration.

The restoration The Italian peninsula's political borders were almost restored to the time before the French revolution, but with two major changes: 1.

Venice became part of Austria

2.

the republics of Genoa and Sardinia merged with the Kingdom of Piedmont in the kingdom of Sardinia .

Many in Italy started to feel a sense of nationalism and unity especially in the kingdom of Sardinia. In the latest period of romanticism Europe saw a great shift that will put the bases of a united Germany and Italy, paid with the blood of many people who revolt against the restored absolute monarchy. This revolt started in this period and ended with the first war of independence in Italy in 1848.

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Chapter 1: Historical Background

Quercioli Davide, Cherubini Sebastiano, Giannelli Lapo, Francini Elia

Summary scheme

https://www.epubeditor.it/uploaded22/ebook_249765/Schema_Storico_Inglese_Sutori_4.p

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Chapter 2: Romanticism

Leonardo Ciumi, Alberto Girasoli, Andrea Pratesi, Martina Stiacci

Chapter 2: Romanticism Leonardo Ciumi, Alberto Girasoli, Andrea Pratesi, Martina Stiacci

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Chapter 2: Romanticism

Leonardo Ciumi, Alberto Girasoli, Andrea Pratesi, Martina Stiacci

Definition Romanticism is a cultural and artistic movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century, characterized mainly by a reaction against neoclassicism and an emphasis on inspiration, subjectivity, emotions together with a particular stress on the primacy of the individual.

The term romanticism came from the French word romance, which referred to the vernacular 'romance' languages. The word

᠀爀漀洀愀渀琀椀挀✀ was

used during the 18th century to describe the charm of discovering the landscape in its natural state.

The movement was characterized by a celebration of nature and the common man, a focus on individual experience, an idealization of women, and an embrace of isolation and melancholy.

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Chapter 2: Romanticism

Leonardo Ciumi, Alberto Girasoli, Andrea Pratesi, Martina Stiacci

Characteristics, in contrast to Enlightenment The best way to speak about the characteristics of the Romantic period is to compare this one with the Enlightenment.

EMOTIONS In the Romantic period feelings, emotions and imagination were very important, while in the Augustan Age (during Enlightenment) reason, rules, order, and the control of emotions were important.

CHILDREN According to Enlightenment, children had to be disciplined and educated.

However, in the Romantic period, cultured men considered children as the closest creature to God and adults should learn from them.

LITERATURE AND ART While the authors of the Augustan Age used sophisticated language and formal perfection, in the Romantic period authors preferred to use language typical of common usage. Moreover, while Romantic artists loved ruins and nature, the Augustan ones loved monumental architectures.

Image not found https://www.epubeditor.it/By%20me

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Chapter 2: Romanticism

Leonardo Ciumi, Alberto Girasoli, Andrea Pratesi, Martina Stiacci

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Chapter 2: Romanticism

Leonardo Ciumi, Alberto Girasoli, Andrea Pratesi, Martina Stiacci

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Chapter 2: Romanticism

Leonardo Ciumi, Alberto Girasoli, Andrea Pratesi, Martina Stiacci

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Chapter 2: Romanticism

Leonardo Ciumi, Alberto Girasoli, Andrea Pratesi, Martina Stiacci

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Chapter 2: Romanticism

Leonardo Ciumi, Alberto Girasoli, Andrea Pratesi, Martina Stiacci

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Chapter 2: Romanticism

Leonardo Ciumi, Alberto Girasoli, Andrea Pratesi, Martina Stiacci

Development in Europe Romanticism developed in different ways in each country, because there were different political, cultural and social situations.

In Germany Romanticism was anticipated by Sturm und Drang movement; in English literature the Romantic period began in 1798 when Wordsworth and Coleridge published the Lyrical Ballads; in France Madame de Stael spread the notion of Romanticism widely by its repeated use and her publications.

In Italy Romanticism developed through three main authors: Ugo Foscolo, Giacomo Leopardi, Gabriele D'Annunzio.

Ugo Foscolo in his most famous masterpiece "Le ultime lettere di Jacopo Ortis", talked about the concept of Nature as refuge in moments of contemplation and as evidence of contradiction between action and fate.

Giacomo Leopardi in his diary "Zibaldone" spoke about the contraposition between Nature and civilization: the bond with nature is guarantee of fullness of life. In the direct relationship with nature, the adult and the child had totalizing experiences and knew existential completeness.

Gabriele D'Annunzio also created a mysterious correspondence between nature and the poetic world. In the poetries "La sera Fiesolana" and "La pioggia nel pineto", the author immerses himself in nature and a very strong link between poetry and reality takes place.

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Chapter 2: Romanticism

Leonardo Ciumi, Alberto Girasoli, Andrea Pratesi, Martina Stiacci

Ugo Foscolo "Le ultime lettere di Jacopo Ortis"

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Chapter 2: Romanticism

Leonardo Ciumi, Alberto Girasoli, Andrea Pratesi, Martina Stiacci

A new concept of nature and sublime During classicism, nature was an abstract concept, as a set of divine laws and principles established by God, which man could order and control thanks to the faculty of reason.

In 1770 Romanticism introduced a new concept of nature. In this period nature was seen as a pure and spiritual source of renewal, and it was the only way to escape from the fumes of the growing industrial centres for the new industrial rich.

The relationship between man and nature is an important characteristic of the Romantic Age. This is highlighted by the new concept of the "sublime".

The sublime is a feeling connected to a strong emotion we feel in front of intense natural phenomena as storms, hurricanes, waterfalls. It generates fear, but it is also attractive. The origins of this current are mainly German.

The sublime influences late eighteenth-century literature. This current is central in the works of Romantic poets and Gothic novelists, and is used to express passions for extreme sensations.

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Chapter 2: Romanticism

Leonardo Ciumi, Alberto Girasoli, Andrea Pratesi, Martina Stiacci

Turner vs Constable

The sublime influenced the painting: painters like Turner and Constable wanted to express the sublime in visual art. They were landscape painters and, although they painted differently, they stressed the strength of natural elements and studied the effects of different weather conditions on the landscape.

The sublime had different effects: The minor effects were admiration and respect; The major effects were terror and fear.

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Chapter 2: Romanticism

Leonardo Ciumi, Alberto Girasoli, Andrea Pratesi, Martina Stiacci

Exercises 1. Choose the right answer 1. Where did Romanticism develop?

In China In America In Europe 2. When did the romantic movement originate in Europe?

At the end of the eighteenth century At the end of the nineteenth century At the end of the seventeenth century 3. Where does the term "Romanticism" come from?

From the French romantic From Italian romantico From English romantic

4. Among the following, identify an English Romantic painter S. Dalì Smith William Turner

2. Comparison of enlightenment and romanticism. Connect.

Enlightenment VS Romantic 1. During Romanticism the children 2. During the enlightenment the children 3. During the enlightenment the children

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Chapter 2: Romanticism

Leonardo Ciumi, Alberto Girasoli, Andrea Pratesi, Martina Stiacci

4. For Romantic authors:Feelings, emotions and imagination were very important 5. The authors of the Enlightenment 6. In the Augustan Age reason, A. must be disciplined and educated.

B. rules, order, and the control of emotions were important.

C. use sophisticated language and formal perfection.

D. during the romantic age.

E. were regarded by educated men as the closest creature to God and adults must learn from them.

F. prefer to use language typical of common usage.

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Chapter 2: Romanticism

Leonardo Ciumi, Alberto Girasoli, Andrea Pratesi, Martina Stiacci

Conceptual map of Romantic

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Chapter 3: Art

Noferi Daniele

Chapter 3: Art Noferi Daniele

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Chapter 3: Art

Noferi Daniele

Gothic and Sublime Sublime In the 18th century the concept of sublime spread. It was based on the ideas of vastness, awe, natural magnificence and emotion. It became popular thanks to Edmund Burke's treatise "A Philosophical Inquiry Into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful" (1757). It caught the attention of prominent thinkers such as Denis Diderot and Immanuel Kant.

In Burke's essay, his new cultural mentality was perceived: unlike the Illuminists, he defined the observation of natural phenomena as an experience that broke rational criteria and inspired feelings that could not be described or controlled. His intent was to find the differences between the sublime and the beautiful. "Some things that move us are beautiful, others are sublime but the sublime moves us more deeply than beautiful" . He linked: the beauty to virtues, to something delicate and graceful; the sublime, instead, to everything that could be perceived as horrible, even dangerous, but at the same time delightful.

The origin of the ideas of "beautiful" and "sublime", in Burke's opinion, could

be

understood

through

their

causal

structures.

According

to

Aristotelian physics and metaphysics, causation could be divided into: (1) formal, (2) material and (3) final. (1) The formal cause of beauty was the passion of love; (2) the material cause concerned the characteristics of objects such as smallness, smoothness, delicacy; (3) the final cause was God's providence. At the basis of Burke's view of beauty, there is proportion or perfection. The sublime differs from beauty for its formal cause and final cause. In particular, its formal cause is not the passion of love anymore, but instead it is a passion of fear; its final cause coincided with Satan's defeat against God.

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Burke was a British politician, philosopher and writer of Irish descent, as well as one of the main ideological precursors of English Romanticism. He served as a member of Parliament between 1766 and 1794 in the House of Commons of Great Britain with the Whig Party. During his time in Parliament, Burke criticised the British government's actions towards the

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American colonies, its fiscal policies and also supported the rights of settlers to resist authority, although he opposed the attempt to achieve independence. In the 19th century, Burke was praised by both conservatives and liberals. Subsequently, in the 20th century, he became widely regarded, especially in the United States, as the philosophical founder of conservatism.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Causes of the sublime One of the main causes of the sublime is "fear", a strong feeling that can deprive the mind of all its faculties to act and reason. The sublime is considered a fear for what it conveys. There are many animals, even small animals, which are still capable of arousing ideas of the sublime, because they are considered objects of terror; the larger they are, the greater the degree of terror they cause. To make something more terrible, it is necessary to represent darkness. The fascination with fear and mystery became an important feature of romanticism in Great Britain.

In the 18th century, an important element in literature and architecture is love for the gothic ruins and for wild landscapes. These elements were introduced by Italian painters, in particular by Giambattista Piranesi (17201778). Piranesi particularly influenced Horace Walpole (1717-97), the writer who introduced the Gothic into English literature thanks to his novel The Castle of Otranto (1764).

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Artists of this period in Great Britain Turner and Constable

Turner

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Chapter 3: Art

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Constable

Turner and Constable both turned their backs on traditional portraits of historical and religious scenes in favour of landscapes. They wanted to show nature in the face of the encroaching industrial revolution to capture and celebrate it before it changed forever. In the popular imagination, Turner is considered more radical than Constable; he used to represent high drama painting: he represented storms, shipwrecks and fires. He wanted to reflect the great changes of his social-political time, so he focused on representing energy and movement of nature and all the opposition between nature and technology. In comparison, Constable focused on the facts and details of rural life. Turner used colour and light to set the emotional tone of his pictures; he used a new technique of picture known as watercolour. They both painted landscapes but they represented it in two different ways. Turner's painting revolved around the dramatic side of nature, Constable was quieter, more concerned with reality.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Salisbury Cathedral - Constable

In this painting, the subject of the work is not so much the cathedral itself, but the nature that envelops the observer, creating a feeling of harmony.

Indeed, it is possible to notice that the cathedral appears to be enclosed within an arch formed by trees. In this case, nature is represented in a harmonious way, because the relationship between nature, humanity and animals is harmonious too. However, the sense of peace of nature is a little bit broken by the color grey of the cloudy sky: the painter made this choice due to the fact that he wanted to depict a storm.

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Fire in the chamber of the lords - Turner

It portraits the fire of 1834 that destroyed the House of Lords and Commons. The Westminster Bridge marks the horizon suggesting infinite perspective, while another diagonal of boats stops in the centre at the reflection of the flames in the water. It uses huge amounts of colour that suggest the intensity of natural energies, it develops a whirling whirlwind that expands towards the observer who occupies the entire centre of the composition. The painting wants to express the romantic concept of the sublime and, through the colour, it manages to describe the inexorable force of nature. In order to obtain this effect, the painter does not use any chiaroscuro, but a spotted application.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Wanderer above the sea of fog - Friedrich

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Chapter 3: Art

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Friedrich was a German painter whose painting expressed the romantic concept of nature at the highest level. In the "Wanderer above the sea of fog" a man turned from behind is represented, contemplating the immense nature in front of him: neither the character nor the landscape are the protagonists of the picture, but it is the contemplation. The artist invites the viewer and identifies with him by making the height of the observer's gaze coincide with that of the traveller. Man, in this work, is considered as great as nature because, realising how small he is compared to it, he is able to feel emotions, and this is the characteristic that makes him "important".

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Romanticism Explained through Paintings

Final Map

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Chapter 3: Art

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Chapter 3: Art

Noferi Daniele

MULTIPLE CHOICES Choose the correct option.

The main causes of sublime is: 1. ☐

love

2. ☐

fear

3. ☐ happiness 4. ☐

sadness

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Chapter 3: Art

Noferi Daniele

MULTIPLE CHOICES Choose the correct option.

Which treatise made the sublime popular?

1. ☐

2. ☐

3. ☐

4. ☐

"A Philosophical Inquiry Into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful" by Turner "A Philosophical Inquiry Into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Fear" by Burke "A Philosophical Inquiry Into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful" by Burke "A Philosophical Inquiry Into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful" by Constable

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FILL IN THE SPACE Insert the right answer in the spaces. was a German painter whose painting expressed

▾ the romantic concept of nature at the highest level. In the "Wanderer above the sea of fog" a man turned from behind is represented, contemplating the immense nature in front of him: neither the character nor the landescape are the protagonists of the picture, but it is the . The artist invites the viewer and identifies with him by making the ▾height of the observer's gaze coincide with that of the traveller. Man, in this work, is

considered

as

great

as

nature

because,

realising

how

he is compared to it, he is able to feel emotions, ▾ and this is the characteristic that makes him "important".

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Chapter 4: poetry

Gabriele Baccarelli, Giosue Giovannini, Enrico Mencherini, Tommaso Pini

Chapter 4: poetry Gabriele Baccarelli, Giosue Giovannini, Enrico Mencherini, Tommaso Pini

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Chapter 4: poetry

Gabriele Baccarelli, Giosue Giovannini, Enrico Mencherini, Tommaso Pini

Early romantic poetry In the second half of the 18th century, a new sensibility became evident in poetry and a new generation of poets appeared on the cultural landscape.

The new sensibility had its roots in different poetic trends. The most popular trends of this period were: Pastoral poetry Pastoral poetry is known for exploring the relationship between humans and nature, and for romanticizing the ideals of a simple rural life.

The main work of this current is "The Task" (1785) by William Cowper ; in this poem he described and eulogized country life for its simplicity and domesticity.

Nature poetry The most important representative of nature poetry was James Thomson who saw nature in its physical details. He also introduced reflections on the character of the primitive man, in contrast with civilised man.

Ossianic poetry The cult of a simple and primitive life and a growing interest in folk traditions were responsible for the success of Ossianic Poetry. It was a cycle of poems by a legendary Gaelic warrior called Ossian, who lived in the 3 rd century in Scotland.

James Macpherson published "Fragments of Ancient Poetry '' (1760), a work which collected some of Ossian's works.

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Chapter 4: poetry

Gabriele Baccarelli, Giosue Giovannini, Enrico Mencherini, Tommaso Pini

Graveyard poetry - The "Graveyard Poets", also termed "Churchyard Poets", were a number of pre-Romantic English poets of the 18th century characterised by their dark meditations on mortality. They selected cemeteries, ruins and stormy landscapes as the setting of their poems.

Thomas Gray wrote the most important work of this trend, "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" (1751). This poetic current inspired and influenced poets like Foscolo in the 19th century. ....................

William Blake The poet William Blake can be regarded as a forerunner of Romantic poetry because of his interest in social problems and his unique use of symbols.

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Gabriele Baccarelli, Giosue Giovannini, Enrico

Chapter 4: poetry

Mencherini, Tommaso Pini

Exercise 1 - true or false For each sentence choose the TRUE or FALSE option T 1.

2.

"The task" was written by William Cowper James Thomson was part of the current of nature poetry

F

○

○

○

○

○

○

○

○

Graveyard poets were 3.

characterised by their meditations on the beauty of life

4.

Graveyard poets inspired Foscolo

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Chapter 4: poetry

Gabriele Baccarelli, Giosue Giovannini, Enrico Mencherini, Tommaso Pini

Romantic Poetry The Romantic imagination At the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century, English Romanticism saw the prevalence of poetry, which best suited the need to give an expression to emotional experience and individual feelings.

Using the imagination, Romantic poets could see beyond surface reality and discover a truth beyond the powers of reason. Imagination allowed the poet to re-create and modify the external world of experience. The poet held numerous roles: the main role was that of the prophet, whose assignment was to mediate between man and nature to point out the evils of society, to give voice to the ideals of freedom, beauty and truth.

The figure of the child Childhood was considered a temporary but necessary stage in the process leading to adulthood. To a Romantic, a child was purer than an adult because he was untouched by civilisation.

The importance of the individual The Romantics saw man in a solitary state and stressed the special qualities of each individual's mind. They exalted the atypical, the outcast, the rebel. The current of thought led by Jean Jacques Rousseau stated that the conventions of civilisation represented intolerable restrictions on the individual personality: these conventions were the main cause of evil and corruption.

Therefore an impulsive behaviour, also called "natural", is good, in contrast to behaviour which is governed by reason and by the rules and customs of society.

The cult of the exotic This cultural phenomenon is the veneration of what is far away both in space and in time.

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Chapter 4: poetry

Gabriele Baccarelli, Giosue Giovannini, Enrico Mencherini, Tommaso Pini

The view of nature The Romantic poets regarded nature as the expression of God in the universe. Nature became a main source of inspiration, a stimulus to thought.

..... ..................................-................................................................

Poetic technique The Romantic poets searched for a new, individual style through poetry.

More familiar words began to replace the artificial circumlocutions of 18thcentury diction; symbols and images assumed a vital role as the vehicles of the inner visionary perceptions, and therefore they had lost their decorative function.

Two generations of poets The poets of the first generation, were characterised by the attempt to theorise about poetry. Wordsworth wrote on the beauty of nature and ordinary things with the aim of making them interesting for the reader; the themes for Coleridge were, instead, visionary themes: the supernatural and 6

Chapter 4: poetry

Gabriele Baccarelli, Giosue Giovannini, Enrico Mencherini, Tommaso Pini

mystery.

The poets of the second generation, George Gordon Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley and John Keats, experienced political disillusionment which is reflected in the conflict between the ideal and the real. Individualism and escapism were stronger in this generation and found expression in the different attitudes of the three poets: the anti-conformist, rebellious and cynical attitude of the "Byronic hero"; the revolutionary spirit and stubborn hope of Shelley's Prometheus and Keats's escape into the world of classical beauty.

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Chapter 4: poetry

Gabriele Baccarelli, Giosue Giovannini, Enrico Mencherini, Tommaso Pini

Exercise 2 Choose the correct answer What was the role of nature, according to Romantic poets?

A. ○ Nature was only "trees and grass" around the people B. ○ Nature was the main source of inspiration C. ○ Nature was the expression of animals in the universe

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Chapter 4: poetry

Gabriele Baccarelli, Giosue Giovannini, Enrico Mencherini, Tommaso Pini

Exercise 2 Choose the correct answer Who were the poets of the first generation? a. ○ William Shakespeare and Geoffrey Chaucer b. ○ George Gordon Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley and John Keats c. ○ William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge

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Chapter 4: poetry

Gabriele Baccarelli, Giosue Giovannini, Enrico Mencherini, Tommaso Pini

William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth was born in Cumberland (now called Cumbria) in the English Lake District in 1770.

He graduated from St John's college, Cambridge.

In 1790 he went on a walking tour of France and Alps, His contact with the French revolution filled him with enthusiasm for the democratic ideals.

The violent developments of the Revolution and the declaration of war between England and France brought him to the edge of nervous breakdown.

In 1795 he moved to Dorset with his sister Dorothy, who remained his most faithful friend.

In the same year he met Samuel Taylor Coleridge and he wrote a collection of poems called "Lyrical Ballads" with him.

In the following years he wrote some of his famous poems and he finished his masterpiece: "The Prelude". This is a long autobiographical poem which was published only after his death.

In 1844 he was made Poet Laureate.

He died in 1850.

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Chapter 4: poetry

Gabriele Baccarelli, Giosue Giovannini, Enrico Mencherini, Tommaso Pini

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Chapter 4: poetry

Gabriele Baccarelli, Giosue Giovannini, Enrico Mencherini, Tommaso Pini

Lyrical Ballads The Lyrical Ballads is a collection of poems composed by W.Wordsworth and S.T.Coleridge.

Title page of the first edition.

It appeared anonymously in 1798.

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Gabriele Baccarelli, Giosue Giovannini, Enrico

Chapter 4: poetry

Mencherini, Tommaso Pini

The second edition in 1800 also contained Wordsworth's

᠀倀爀攀昀愀挀攀'

, the manifesto of English romanticism.

During the planning of the collection with Coleridge, they decided that he would deal with man, nature and everyday things trying to make them interesting

for

the

reader,

while

Coleridge

should

write

about

the

supernatural and mystery making them seem real.

In his preface Wordsworth explained that the subject matter should deal with everyday situations or incidents and with ordinary people.

The language and the poet: According to Wordsworth, the language should be simple and the objects called by their ordinary names and the poet is a man among men, writing about what interests mankind.

Nature: Wordsworth believed that man and nature are inseparable; man exists not outside the natural world but as an active participant in it. Nature teaches man how to love and act in a moral way. Nature is also a word of sense perceptions: Sensations lead to simple thoughts, which later combine into complex original ideas.

Memory and imagination: Memory is a major force in the process of growth of the poet's mind and moral character. The power of imagination enables him to communicate his knowledge, so that he becomes a teacher showing others how to understand their feelings and improve their moral being.

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Chapter 4: poetry

Gabriele Baccarelli, Giosue Giovannini, Enrico Mencherini, Tommaso Pini

Percy Bysshe Shelley Life: Percy Bysshe Shelley was born in Sussex in 1792.

He was a rebel, indeed in 1811 he was expelled from Oxford University because of a pamphlet in which he challenged the existence of God. In the same year, at the age of 19, he married young Herriet Wetbrook who was only 16. They moved to Ireland where he promoted propaganda against Catholicism and English rule.

By this time the idealistic trust of the French Revolution had already been exhausted, indeed Shelley lived in a conservatism period in which he was against every radical ideas and political moderation.

To the disdain for traditional religion corresponded the interest in the occult sciences and in the science experiment. When he and his wife came back to England, Shelley left Harriet and eloped with Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (daughter of the philosopher William Godwin).

In 1816, after moving to Switzerland, Mary wrote Frankenstein and, on the other hand, Shelley wrote an epic revolutionary poem: The Revolt of Islam, where he said that only love could liberate men from any social claims.

In 1818 the Shelley's family moved to Italy where Percy wrote many of his most popular masterpieces like Ode to the West Wind (1819) and A Defence of Poetry (1821).

Percy Bysshe Shelley died in 1822 in the sea of Livorno during a storm.

Poetry and imagination: In the essay A Defence of Poetry (1821) Shelley expresses his opinion on nature and poetry clearly. Indeed he wrote that poetry is the expression of imagination and it should be able to change the reality of the world.

Interpretation of nature: Shelley believes that nature is only a veil, a fiction that hides the "eternal truth" of the divine spirit.

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Chapter 4: poetry

Gabriele Baccarelli, Giosue Giovannini, Enrico Mencherini, Tommaso Pini

But not only that, for Shelley nature also represents a "shelter" from the daily injustices of the world and the expression of his dreams.

The poet's duty and style: The poet's task is to substantially help humanity to reach an ideal world replacing tyranny with love, freedom and beauty. The poet is a prophet and he has to challenge the cosmo. His verse covered a wide range of metrical form; Shelley used traditional verse forms, like the couplet, blank verse and Dante's "terza rima".

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Gabriele Baccarelli, Giosue Giovannini, Enrico

Chapter 4: poetry

Mencherini, Tommaso Pini

Exercise 3 - fill the text When Shelley and his wife came back to England Shelley left Harriet and eloped with Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin who is daughter of the philosopher . In 1816, after moving to Switzerland, Mary wrote

▾

and, on the other hand, Shelley wrote . In 1818 the Shelby's family moved to

▾

where Percy wrote many of his most popular masterpieces like Ode to the West Wind (1819) and A Defence of Poetry (1821). Shelley believed that nature was not just a kind of a veil which hid the daily injustices.

, but also a

▾

▾ from the

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Chapter 4: poetry

Gabriele Baccarelli, Giosue Giovannini, Enrico Mencherini, Tommaso Pini

Final map TO SEE AND STUDY THE FINAL MAP... SCAN THE QRCODE WITH YOUR PHONE

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