Romanticism Social Background

Consequences of industrial revolution

The immediate result of industrial revolution led the England to an enormous increase of production and of the total wealthy of the country.

But this period was followed to the alternating of period os depression or over-production of the products, for the Napoleonic Wars which followed the French Revolution, and the conseguent demand or supply of the workers who lived in phases od employment or unemployment.

In this period the corn increased, but this meant new hardship for farm workers, especially in southern of England.

In the south there was build few factories and the industry was not ready to take them over; in th eNorth the situation was better: the concentrating of factories offered more opportunity for work.

But here the workers situation wasn't very happy: in fact the latter, thanks to the 'Lassez-faire' declaimed from the govern, can do all that he wants, so there weren't precise regulations about the hours, condition and wages of work.

To defend their interest the workes turned to combination, but the government made a law called 'Combination Acts', in which said that reunion of workers were illegal. But this law took to disorders between workers that started to attack factories and destroy machinery.

This situation ended with the Peterloo Massacre in which 11 person was killed by soldiers.

Position of Women

The problems of the age also affected the women the were obliged to work in factories with men and to compete with them, being a lower wages then them.

Abolition of Slavery

But not all the women were obliged to work. In fact in the upper and middle class the women were surrounded by a host of servant, and some of them start to writing domestic comedies, and others devoted themselves to humanitarian activities, that will take to the abolition of slavery in 1833.

Literary Production

The word Romanticism appeared in the 17th century in the sense of extravagant, unusual, but at the end of 18th century it was connected to the feelings, emotions and imagination.

In Literature this word was applied to describe a movement that gave a lot of importance to the individualism, the nature and the man, and that was the ideal of French Revolution with his ' Libertč, egalitč, fraternitč', of American Revolution and Napoleonic Wars.

As in all Europe, English Romanticism was a break with the insistence of reason, common sense and realism, so a break with the precedent Enlightenment, and valorized the personal feelings and emotions.

The literary background of Romanticism is complex , but we can find it in:

the philosophical write of Voltaire and Rousseau, that attacked the privilege and social stratification

the Germany literary movement of 'Sturm und Drang', that is a group with a strong nationalism and that was inspired by Rousseau idealism. This moved gave importance to the individual and was against the reason of Enlightenment.

Poetry

The english romantic movement was dominated by poetry, that renewed his interest in imagination and the emotions.

Also the language changed: in fact the new mode to write is made by words really spoken by ordinary people.

The poet of this period feels himself like a God when he made a poem, in the sense that he was free from external rules, but he had only the internal rules of his creative genius; so, in some poets this feeling will take them to Titanism, and other to the exaltation of supernatural.

Also the imagination grew in importance, because the poet used them like a god faculty of re-create the world around him.

In this period there is also an union between the nature and the man that escape from the ugliness ofthe industrial city.

The Romantic conception of nature was influenced by some philosophical theories:

Platonism or Reanssaince Neoplatonism, that saw this world as an image of an ideal world

Pantheism, according to wich, nature was moved by a Mighty Power, an immanent God, whose presence is manifest in every thing.

German Idealism, with three great philosopher like Fichte, Schelling and Hegel.