Romanticism in Literature: Key Features and Influence

Romanticism

Romanticism was a cultural and political movement that took place in both Germany and England. The great majority of critics and historians agree that the Romantic period began in 1798, when Wordsworth and Coleridge published Lyrical Ballads. This period would last until 1837, with the beginning of the Victorian Era. Romanticism arose as a reaction against the rationality of the Enlightenment and neoclassical precepts. Thus, this movement can be understood as a break with reason.

Romanticism in the Arts

Romanticism reached preponderance in all artistic facets. Although the name "romantic" has been given to people of those times, the word is anachronistic; in other words, these people did not consider themselves as Romantics. This term began to be used in 1860 to include Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, and Keats. While the first two authors belonged to the first generation of Romantics, "the Lake Poets", the last three belonged to the second, greatly influenced by their predecessors and with openly radical political tendencies.

Philosophical Approach to Literature

During Romanticism, there was a philosophical approach to literature. We must point out that the main issue of Romanticism, in literary terms, was to ask big questions, concretely, “Who Am I?” It is focused on subjectivity, in a philosophical way, as opposed to identity, which is a mixture of social and philosophical. Romantics thought that it was better to live among ideas rather than by rules. It was a movement, as we have mentioned before, which questioned the norms and traditions from the Enlightenment. It is important to note that their revolution was only philosophical, owing to the fact that they did not take part in politics or other active disciplines. Although they were involved in the political reforms of England, which they agreed to, as we can see portrayed in the Peterloo Massacre. Their vision of reality was both philosophical and individualistic.

Luddism

Moreover, during Romanticism, Luddism, a social movement, was present. Luddites fought against machines by entering factories at night to destroy them. This movement arose due to the fact that industrialization was regarded as destroying nature, and that meant destroying God. As a matter of fact, Luddites were considered dangerous since they could start a revolution; therefore, the death penalty was given to those who practiced Luddism.

Features of Romanticism

• Between the features of Romanticism, we can see that there was a clear supremacy of feelings over reason.
• There was a general awareness of the “Self” as an autonomous entity, which means that individualism was greatly encouraged, giving more value to the local.
• The Romantics did not care what reality was like, but how they looked at it.

Imagination and Nature

Furthermore, imagination is one of the main concepts of Romanticism. Romantics thought God was the one who inspired them. Imagination is obtained through Nature, which was God’s creation. In other words, there is a divine, to be neglected at humankind's peril. Much of their poetry celebrated the beauty of nature or protested the ugliness of the growing industrialization of the century: the machines, factories, slum conditions, pollution, and so on.