Romanticism Questions
Bring on the tough stuff. There's not just one right answer.
- British Romanticism developed on the heels of the Enlightenment—a period in European history when huge advances in the sciences were made and when there was a lot of emphasis on order, reason and rationality. How can we view and understand Romanticism as a reaction against the values of the Enlightenment?
- The major poets of British Romanticism are often divided up into two generations (William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Blake make up the older generation, and John Keats, Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley make up the younger one). What are the similarities in the work of these two generations? How is the younger generation different from the older generation?
- Why do the Romantics put so much weight on emotion? How do the Romantics understand the difference between emotion and reason, and what can emotion give us that reason can't?
- Romanticism wasn't just a literary movement confined to Britain. It swept through many parts of Europe: there's German Romanticism and French Romanticism, for example. What are the common characteristics that we might find in different national versions of Romanticism? What are some of the differences?
- The Romantics loved and valued nature, and believed in the importance of maintaining a connection to nature. How does their poetry and literature relate to debates about the environment nowadays? Think of climate change as an example.
- Heroism is a big theme in Romantic literature. The "Romantic hero," or the "Byronic" hero (as Lord Byron's characters like Don Juan and Childe Harold are referred to), is one of the hallmarks of Romanticism. Why do you think the Romantics placed so much weight on heroism? What does the concept mean to them, and how did they transform the idea of the "hero"?
- One of the catalysts for the development of British Romanticism as a movement was the French Revolution, with its ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity. Why do you think the values of the French Revolution appealed so much to the Romantics?
- The root of the word "Romantic" can be found in the word "Roma," Latin for Rome, capital of the ancient Roman empire. The connection between "Rome" and "Romanticism" may seem like a coincidence, but the ruins of ancient civilizations—Roman, Greek, Egyptian—are a favorite theme of the Romantic poets. Why do you think the Romantics were so obsessed with the ancient past? What does this tell us about these poets' relationship to time?
- The "sublime" is a big concept in British Romanticism. Why do you think the Romantics find the sublime so inspiring?
- Romanticism is very closely associated with poetry (although there were some Romantic writers, like Mary Shelley, who wrote in other forms such as the novel). Why do you think the Romantics were more drawn to poetry, as opposed to other forms of writing, like prose? What could poetry allow them to do that other forms couldn't?