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Lyrical Ballads Captures The Hour of Feeling Essay

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Lyrical Ballads were written in a time of great change. They were dominated by the French Revolution and both Wordsworth and Coleridge felt great impact from this. There was disruption all over with the American War of Independence and other wars worldwide. Britain itself was changing rapidly due to colonial expansion, which brought new wealth, ideas and fashion, and there was much disturbance to both the people and the land with the act of enclosure, which may have meant more effective farming but less work. The introduction of the Poor Laws meant that landowners paid their remaining staff very little knowing that they would be supplemented by poor relief. However the conditions stated by the Laws before aid would be given were very …show more content…

The middle of the eighteenth century was the height of what became known as the ?Age of Reason?, where people believed that thoughts and actions should be based on the material world. This supported John Locke?s theories that a populace could legitimately revolt against a tyrannical government. This would have greatly appealed to British people at a time where the government has become increasingly oppressive due to their fear of an uprising. The desire for stability was shown in the Church. However this gave many people more reason to feel the need for change as it said that salvation lay in duty and obedience and that children were merely blank pages to be educated and therefore gain decency and social responsibility. Dreams and imagination were distrusted and discouraged. Lyrical Ballads broke through all this, encouraging imagination and telling us to learn from the simplicity of children, therefore appealing to many people. The 1780?s saw lots of inspired political and social movements with people hoping to rid the world of slavery, promote women?s rights, protect workers, increase suffrage, promote tolerance and greater sexual freedom. Many of these issues are present in Lyrical Ballads. ?Mad Mother?, ?The Thorn?, ?The Female Vagrant? and ?The Forsaken Indian Woman? all call for better rights for women as it was society that really caused their suffering in these poems. In ?The Thorn? the woman may never had killed her child with more

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