Arthur Lovejoy attempted to demonstrate the difficulty of defining Romanticism in his article "On The Discrimination of Romanticisms" in his Essays in the History of Ideas (1948); some scholars see Romanticism as essentially continuous with the present, some like Robert Hughes see in it the beginning of modernity, and some like Chateaubriand, 'Novalis' and Samuel Taylor Coleridge see it as the beginning of a tradition of resistance to Enlightenment rationalism—a 'Counter-Enlightenment'— to be associated most closely with German Romanticism. An earlier definition comes from Charles Baudelaire: "Romanticism is precisely situated neither in choice of subject nor exact truth, but in the way of feeling" (Wikipedia). Romanticism, like other movements, was a pulling away from what came before it. In this instance that would be Realism, The Age of Enlightenment, and the Industrial Revolution. Rather than show what was real and finding the beauty in that, writers at this time romanticized beauty, focused on emotions, and showed things from a subjective viewpoint.
John Keats
Keats was very famous as an English poet, but he only got published four years before his death, and only became well-known and respected for his writing after his death. To learn more about Keats and see some of his work, click here.
Keats was very famous as an English poet, but he only got published four years before his death, and only became well-known and respected for his writing after his death. To learn more about Keats and see some of his work, click here.
Victor Hugo
Hugo was wildly famous in France, where he is the most well-known writer of this time. To find out more about this author, click here.
Hugo was wildly famous in France, where he is the most well-known writer of this time. To find out more about this author, click here.
Lord Byron
Perhaps more famous for his lifestyle than his writing, Byron made several contributions to English Romanticism in the areas of poetry and the novel. To find out more about him, click here.
Perhaps more famous for his lifestyle than his writing, Byron made several contributions to English Romanticism in the areas of poetry and the novel. To find out more about him, click here.
William Blake
While unrecognized during his lifetime, Blakes artistic work and poetry became known as pre-Romantic after his death. He was considered crazy by many during his life. To learn more about this writer, click here.
While unrecognized during his lifetime, Blakes artistic work and poetry became known as pre-Romantic after his death. He was considered crazy by many during his life. To learn more about this writer, click here.
