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ROMANTICISM

Emanuele-Gaia-Losanna-Tommaso

ROMANTICISM Emanuele-Gaia-Losanna-Tommaso

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ROMANTICISM

Emanuele-Gaia-Losanna-Tommaso

Characteristics in England and Italy Romanticism in England It lasted from the second half of the 18th century to the beginning of the 19th century. The main characteristics were: Nature was the perfect place to live; Men despised the progress; Imagination was used to understand the beauty of universe and to create the truth; Spontaneity played an important role in poetry; The humans' passion was exalted in poetry; Poetry was used as an instrument to tell facts about reality; Romantic authors exalted the inner world.

Romanticism in Italy It started in 1816. The main characteristics were: Contemporaneity as one of the main themes in italian Romanticism; Research of a common language for the entire country; Poetry based on the truth (real facts); Diffusion of new principles in favour of progress.

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ROMANTICISM

Emanuele-Gaia-Losanna-Tommaso

Romanticism: definition and characteristics Romanticism is a literary and cultural movement that developed since XVIII century in Europe. It centred attention on the emotions and the spirituality against classicist and illuminist rationalism.

ROMANTICISM vs ENLIGHTENMENT Enlightenment Control of reality through reason; Nature like a field of investigation and researches; Proclamation of laicism; Reason dominated sentiment.

Romanticism Interest towardsďťż the irrational aspects of reality; Nature like a source of feelings and emotions; Revalutation of religion and Christian faith; Celebration of sentiment, passion, sadness and many other feelings.

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Literary genres

Cellai, Braconi, Cappelletti, Tagliaferri

Literary genres Cellai, Braconi, Cappelletti, Tagliaferri

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Literary genres

Cellai, Braconi, Cappelletti, Tagliaferri

Literary genres THE GENERATIONS OF ROMANTIC POETS In Britain Romanticism developed as a reaction against the French Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars and the Industrial revolution. The most important features of Romantic literature are: Themes Types of poem Poetic forms Language

Romantics write about a variety of themes such as the individual and his role in the universe.

Romantics tend to write long poems, narrative poems, romances and ballads.

Romantics used blank verses.

The use of common language was typical of romantic poems.

The concept of

For Romantic authors beauty was associated with the

beauty

sublime, the exotic or the irregular.

ROMANTIC POETRY English Romantic poets can be divided into two main groups: the First Generation of Romantics and the Second Generation of Romantics.

THE FIRST GENERATION OF ROMANTIC POETS The two main authors were William Wordsworth (1770-1850) and Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834).

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Literary genres

Cellai, Braconi, Cappelletti, Tagliaferri

Wordsworth marked the birth of English Romanticism with the publication of the "Lyrical Ballads" (1801). For him the poet feels emotions in nature and keeps them in his mind, then the poet uses words to express his purified emotion, in this sense for him his poetry is the "re-creation" of an emotion, whose he is the creator. Wordsworth in this period represents the poet of nature.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Coleridge's works speak about mysterious characters and supernatural events. His most important work is "The rime of the Ancient Mariner" (1798). Coleridge represents the poet of supernatural.

THE SECOND GENERATION OF ROMANTIC POETS The poets of the second generation were very different from each other:

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Literary genres

Cellai, Braconi, Cappelletti, Tagliaferri

P.B. Shellley

Percy Bysshe Shelley was a poet who took part in political rebellion and his poems celebrate happiness and freedom.

Lord Byron

Lord Byron's poetry mirrored his sense of rejection of social conventions and moral limitations.

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Literary genres

Cellai, Braconi, Cappelletti, Tagliaferri

John Keats explored the nature of sensations and beauty.

All these poets were attracted by Italy and its art and they all died young.

Shelley, Byron and Keats were key figure of English Romanticism.

ROMANTIC FICTION The most important types of romantic novel were: The Gothic novel, the novel of manners, the novel of purpose and the historical novel The term "Gothic" refers to the architectural style of the Middle Ages. In literature when we talk about "Gothic revival", we refer to tales, short stories,

and

novels

about

intriques,

criminal

acts

and

supernatural

apparitions. The first Gothic novel was Horace Walpole's "The Castle of Otranto". Edgar Allan Poe was strongly influenced by this style, exploring the dark sides of the human mind. The aim of these novels was to provoke contrasting feelings in readers.

Click here to get information about the Gothic novel!

The novel of manners: Jane Austen's novels such as "Sence and Sensibility" (1811), "Pride and Prejudice" (1813) and "Mansfield Park" (1814), focused on characters who interacted in England. She was completely untoched by the Romantic debate about literature. Her novels, also called "novel of manners", faced themes as the contrast between individual freedom and social conventions and the relationship between marriage and love and friendship. Her writing style was chacterized by irony.

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Literary genres

Cellai, Braconi, Cappelletti, Tagliaferri

The novel of purpose was developed mainly by Mary Shelley and it had the aim

to

spread

philosophical

or

political

ideas.

In

her

masterpiece

"Frankenstein" and in her other novels, she used ďťżGothic elements (monstrous creatures, dead bodies) and she anticipated the trend known as science and horror fiction.

The historical novel, developed by Walter Scott, combined the interest for the past and popular traditions. Scott described rebellions and battles that caused the creation of Britain. His masterpiece, "Ivanhoe" (1820) also inspired Manzoni's "I Promessi Sposi" (1827).

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Nature and William Wordsworth

Davide Castellana, Michelangelo Nieri, Alberto Marzi, Alessia Palloni

Nature and William Wordsworth Davide Castellana, Michelangelo Nieri, Alberto Marzi, Alessia Palloni

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Nature and William Wordsworth

Davide Castellana, Michelangelo Nieri, Alberto Marzi, Alessia Palloni

Wordsworth's life and nature William Wordsworth was born on 7 April 1770 in the Lake District National Park in the North-West of England. His parents died when he was very young.

He graduated at Cambridge University. Then, he spent some years in France where he supported the Republican ideals. He came back to England and he met Samuel Taylor Coleridge; in 1798 the two men published a collection of poems, the " Lyrical Ballads" that marked the beginning of the Romanticism in England. A second edition was published in 1800 and it included a Preface, which is considered the Manifesto of English Romantic Poetry. In this period Wordsworth wrote some of his most famous poems such as "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud". He died on 23 April 1850, when he was 80 years old.

The poet has the task to show the truth of things to other men and to teach them to improve their feelings and their ethics.

An essential component of his poetry is nature, that establishes a profound continuity between man and God. This refers to another typically romantic element, the reason for the return to childhood, a period in which the sensory experiences are more alive and you are able to intuit the mysteries of the world, an attitude that man loses over time (compare with Pascoli's idea of fanciullino).

Wordsworth's characters are often humble people (the reaper, the small blind mountaineer), who live in harmony with nature.

"I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" is a typically romantic text, characterized by the relationship between man and Nature and by the conception of poetry as a reminder of a vivid and intense emotion.

The text is based on an autobiographical experience: a walk in the countryside with his beloved sister Dorothy, during which the poet finds himself in front of a multitude of daffodils along the Lake District.The poet attributes also human qualities to the flowers and the importance of God in

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Nature and William Wordsworth

Davide Castellana, Michelangelo Nieri, Alberto Marzi, Alessia Palloni

every element of nature. Wordsworth will edit the text for a second edition in 1815.

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Nature and William Wordsworth

Davide Castellana, Michelangelo Nieri, Alberto Marzi, Alessia Palloni

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud I wandered lonely as a cloud that floats on high o'er vales and hills, when all at once I saw a crowd, a host, of golden daffodils; beside the lake, beneath the trees, fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the milky way, They stretched in never-ending line Along the margin of a bay: Ten thousand saw I at a glance, Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: A poet could not but be gay, In such a jocund company.

I gazed - and gazed - but little thought What wealth the show to me had brought: For oft, when on my couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood, They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude; And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils.

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Nature and William Wordsworth

Davide Castellana, Michelangelo Nieri, Alberto Marzi, Alessia Palloni

Wordsworth vs Leopardi Click here to see the difference between two of the most important authors: Giacomo Leopardi and William Wordsworth.

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Acting against Nature, the case of Frankenstein

Sabrina, Giada, Samuele e Filippo

Acting against Nature, the case of Frankenstein Sabrina, Giada, Samuele e Filippo

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Acting against Nature, the case of Frankenstein

Sabrina, Giada, Samuele e Filippo

Acting against Nature, the case of Frankenstein ďťżNature is one of the themes analysed in the Romanticism. In this period the concept of Nature changed: it became the expression of infinity, the origin of everything and the man had to defend it.

Mary Shelley is a Romantic author who wrote the novel "Frankenstein". In this book she wanted to centre attention on the negative effect of industrialization on nature.

Victor Frankenstein is a scientist who wants to defeat death creating a monster composed of dead bodies' parts, because he is tired of seeing his relatives die. Victor, shocked by the result of the experiment, rejects the monster, who is not accepted by the society too. At first the creation was quiet, but when he notices the revulsion reactions that he causes in people, he modifies his kind nature, turning into a murderer, killing his creator.

The monster is the "child" of an unnatural procreation for two reasons: woman becomes unnecessary and he comes alive from other human beings' bodies.

The idea of "Frankenstein" developed out of a dream, influenced by a conversation about the theory by Erasmus Darwin, Charles Darwin'ďťżs grandfather. The intention of his experiments was to revive inorganic matter.

The author raises philosophical and moral consideration about the origin of life, the role of science and the influence of society, which can corrupt the original human character. .

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Acting against Nature, the case of Frankenstein

Sabrina, Giada, Samuele e Filippo

A passage "Whence, I often asked myself, did the priciple of life proceed? It was a bold question, and one which has ever been considered as a mystery; yet with how many things are we upon the brink of becoming acquainted, if cowardice or carelessness did not restrain our inquiries."

"Da dove, mi chiedevo spesso, deriva il principio della vita? Era un interrogativo ben arduo, uno di quelli che sono sempre stati considerati senza risposta, e tuttavia di quante cose potremmo venire a conoscenza se codardia e negligenza non ostacolassero la nostra ricerca!"

Mary Shelley, "Frankenstein"

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