Differences Between The Renaissance And Romantic Period And British Literature

Romanticism can be described as the free expression of an artist. Putting feeling and emotion into poetry or art. Its creators wanted to make natural feelings significant. But some people saw it differently; it was seen as downgrading the power and importance of reason. Before romanticism, ideals were largely based upon intellect and reason. According to William Woodsworth, poetry should begin as "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings," which the poet then "recollects in tranquility". It was an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement that originated in Europe toward the end of the 18th century. It was at its peak between 1800 and 1850. In English literature, the key figures of the Romantic movement are considered to be the group of poets including William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, John Keats, Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and the much older William Blake. The Romantic Period took place during major social change in society. Poets and artists of the era used their work as a revolt against forces like the Industrial Revolution and the political and social standards of the Age of Enlightenment. They wanted to spread a message of peace. Romanticists are spiritual and have a strong connection with nature; they do not attach themselves to the human world. The emergence of Romanticism in Nineteenth Century British Literature provides a clear path for the future of literature.

“The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where one ends and the other begins”(Poe, par. 3). Edgar Allan Poe, as well as many other writers throughout history, have questioned the ideological standards of society. A noteworthy debate that has surfaced time and time again through varying time periods is the dispute of logical and rational intelligence versus the impassioned emotion of one’s inner-self. These two conflicting philosophies divided and defined the different characteristics of literature during the Enlightenment era and the Romantic era. In order to understand why various authors such as Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and John Locke wrote in their differing styles, it is important to understand the historical context that inspired these authors. Although these approaches in style were exceedingly different, remarkable works of literature emerged from both time periods. While the various writers of the Enlightenment era had a more historical motivation for writing, the writers during the Romantic era composed an overall more amusing anthology of literary works.

In the romantic era, British authors and poets focused on nature and its influence. Two of those poets, Charlotte Smith and William Wordsworth, wrote many pieces on the beauty of nature and their personal experiences with the beaches of England. In “Far on the sands” and “It is a beauteous evening,” Smith and Wordsworth describe their respective experiences on the shore at sunset. Both authors use structure, theme, allusions, and imagery to effectively convey their perceptions of nature. While the sonnets share a setting and the topics of nature and tranquility, Smith’s has a focus on introspection and Wordsworth’s is centered around religion. These have different focuses which achieve different effects on the reader.

Literature of the English Restoration offers the example of a number of writers who wrote for a courtly audience: literary production, particularly in learned imitation of classical models, was part of the court culture of King Charles II. The fact of a shared model explains the remarkable similarities between “The Imperfect Enjoyment” by the Earl of Rochester and “The Disappointment” by Aphra Behn—remarkable only because readers are surprised to read one poem about male sexual impotence from the late seventeenth century, let alone two examples of this genre by well-known courtly writers. In fact, Richard Quaintance presents ten more examples by lesser-known poets as he defines the literary sub-genre of the neo-Classical “imperfect

In the romantic era, British authors and poets focused on nature and its influence. Two of those poets, Charlotte Smith and William Wordsworth, wrote many pieces on the beauty of nature and their personal experiences with the beaches of England. In “Far on the sands” and “It is a beauteous evening,” Smith and Wordsworth describe their respective experiences on the shore at sunset. Smith uses tone and theme to convey her feelings of despair and isolation. Wordsworth utilizes various religious images to communicate his awe in the face of the natural world. While the sonnets share a setting and the topics of nature and tranquility, Smith and Wordsworth have different focuses which achieve different effects on the reader.

The Romantic poets sought to write epic poems that incorporated new philosophies, ideals, and literary trends, while also parodying, satirizing and deconstructing the epic poem itself. Rather than merely extend the epic tradition, the Romantic poets subverted the characteristics and tropes attributed to epic poetry, in turn creating an interesting revision of the epic. Two seminal works of Romantic poetry that adequately showcase the revision of epic tradition are William Wordsworth’s introspective epic The Prelude and Lord Byron’s biting epic satire Don Juan. Incorporating either introspection and reflection or irony and satire, both works incorporate themes from the epic tradition while also subverting its significant aspects.

Robert Browning, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and John Henry Newman were all great poets of the Victorian Era. Though all three of these poets were successful and well known, they did have their differences. This paper is going to show the different views each of these poets had on religion. All three of them had different views; some were against the strict religion of the Victorian Era and more open to a relaxed version that would focus more on the body and the spirit and what it wants. Others didn’t have too much of an opinion on them and were open

English authors in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries made extensive use of classical mythology, in drama and narrative poems, as ornaments in lyric poetry, and by means of mythological allusion in prose and verse works.1

Toward the late 1800’s, Europe was plagued with bad news. They had already reached the prime of their empire and were now on their way to the declination of the continent. Later, people like Adolf Hitler would try to bring it back to its full glory, but for now everything was heading south. As usual, the tone of artistic works followed the success of the empire. Many pieces of art and literature became darker. Even poets such as Thomas Hardy and Emily Bronte started to write in a much more serious, somber tone. Their poems started to be drawn to subjects more of things in the past. In Emily Bronte’s Remembrance and Thomas Hardy’s poems The Darkling Thrush and “Ah, are you Digging on My Grave?”, the speakers undergo loss of love, loss of hope, and somber remembrance of things past, respectively.

The Romantic Period of literature took place roughly 200 years ago, but examples of Romanticism can still be seen today. The Romantic authors most certainly had an impact on many artists to come. Edgar Allan Poe is often a name that comes to mind when discussing Romanticism and especially Dark Romanticism and for good reason. Poe exemplifies Romanticism and many examples can be seen in his work, such as the House of Usher. Some traits of Romanticism include high drama, pathetic fallacy, and shocking climax, which are a few pillars of the Romanticism style. These pillars still hold up in modern day art, with many filmmakers, such as M. Night Shyamalan who also exemplifies traits such as high drama, pathetic fallacy, and black and white characters.

John Milton’s ‘Sonnet XIX: When I Consider How my Light is Spent’, uses the literary techniques of metaphorical representations, irony and satire to convey it’s themes of religion, specifically concerning the use of ones God given talents, and the issue of disability upon and individuals religion to an audience in a political climate enduring through a drastic state of change in structure and values in a cultural revolution that valued a persons by their measure such as a poet through their authorial work, yet still remains significant to audiences today through satirical interpretation.

This emphasis to various emotions, almost blurring the intellectual aspect of the text, is another characteristic of Romantic literature, not only of England, but of continental Europe as well. The whole text, instead of just

The English renaissance was specific in its distraction with religion and the place of man in association with God. Britain had experienced a particularly a laden period in its religious feelings with Henry VIII having taken the nation through the reconstruction, the nation having gone from being Catholic to getting to be plainly Protestant, disciples of the recently framed Church of England. Some may guarantee that the King James Bible and Cranmer's Book of Common Prayer remain as specific cases of English renaissance talk that should have been significantly persuasive upon English Literature of the period. For quality, expository virtuoso, passionate intricacy, profundity, and assortment, the stories of the English Renaissance is unparalleled.

Two of most interesting ages in the English literature are the Enlightenment and the Romantic era. They are interesting because the Romantic era followed the Enlightenment era and criticized it.

Letitia Elizabeth Landon is recognized as the most read British poet of the early nineteenth century. Landon is regarded as a renaissance woman—among the first wave of women to gain individual recognition, financial independence, prestigious literary acclaim, and supporters of her unique style of poetry. Landon published an enormous amount of literature from 1820-1838; generating seven book of poetry, creating literary annuals, authoring three novels, several children’s stories, publishing translations, a number of short stories, and providing literary reviews/criticism. The quality of Landon’s work speaks for itself and is consistently reviewed in the literary society. For this paper I intended to compare and contrast the textual similarities and differences of Letitia Elizabeth Landon and George Gordon, Lord Byron—using literary devices and subject matter.