Post on 11-Jan-2016
transcript
The Romantic Period
1785-1830
France: The House of Bourbon
France: The House of BourbonBourbon Dynasty
1643 - 1715 Louis XIV (the Sun King) 1715 - 1774 Louis XV (the Beloved)
1774 - 1792 Louis XVI
First Republic 1792-1804 [Louis XVII]Bonaparte Dynasty First Empire
1804-1815 Napoleon
Bourbon Dynasty Restored1815-1824 Louis XVIII
England: The House of Hanover
ROMANTIC REVOLUTIONS
American Revolution1775-1783
1763: Britain began to impose taxes upon the colonies which were viewed as illegal Broad intellectual and social shifts
republican ideals: liberty and rights as central values, makes the people as a whole sovereign, rejects aristocracy and inherited political power, expects citizens to be independent and calls on them to perform civic duties, and is strongly opposed to corruption.
liberal democracy: representative democracy (with free and fair elections) along with the protection of minorities, the rule of law, a separation of powers, and protection of liberties (thus the name liberal) of speech, assembly, religion, and property.
Colonies’ alliance with France 1776: Declaration of Independence 1787: Constitution and Bill of Rights
Tom Paine1737-1809
Quaker Met Ben Franklin in London –
who advised him to move to America
1776: Common Sense: attacked British monarchy and argued for American independence
1787: Returned to Britain 1791: The Rights of Man: proposed
universal male suffrage, progressive taxes, family allowances, old age pensions, maternity grants and abolition of House of Lords
1792: Became a French citizen and elected to National Convention – opposed execution of Louis XVI
1794: Age of Reason: questioned truth of Old Testament and Christianity
1802: returned to America Auguste Milliere, Thomas PaineNational Portrait Gallery, London
French Revolution and Napoleon1789-1815
1789: Fall of Bastille and Declaration of the Rights of Man 1792: September Massacres of imprisoned nobility 1793: The Reign of Terror
Execution of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette France declared war against Britain
1794: Fall of Robespierre 1804: Napoleon crowned Emperor of France 1815: Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo
Jean-Pierre Louis Laurent Houel (1735-1813), Prise de la Bastille ("The storm of the Bastille").
Official British Reaction to the French Revolution
Curtailment of civil liberties and harsh repression suspension of the writ of habeus corpus advocates of political change charged with
treason 1791: Rejection of a bill to abolish the slave
trade 1793: declaration of war against France
Edmund Burke1729-97
Anglo-Irish statesman and philosopher
1756: A Vindication of Natural Society: A View of the Miseries and Evils Arising to Mankind: treatise on anarchy
1757: A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful: treatise on aesthetics
1765-94: Whig member of House of Commons
Opposed absolute monarchy and supported American colonies against the king
1790: Reflections on the Revolution in France: saw French Revolution as a violent rebellion against tradition which would end in disaster.
Joshua Reynolds, Edmund BurkeScottish National Portrait Gallery
Mary Wollstonecraft
1759-97
Professional writer, philosopher and feminist
1790: Vindication of the Rights of Men: response to Burke in defense of the ideals of the French Revolution
1792: A Vindication of the Rights of Women
1794: An Historical and Moral View of the French Revolution
1796: Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark
1797: married William Godwin
Died of childbirth fever 1798: William Godwin
published Memoirs of the Author of a Vindication of the Rights of Woman
Eugene DelacroixLiberty Leading the People
1812: Napoleon in his study
1800: Napoleon at St. Bernard 1804: The coronation
Images of NapoleonByJacques LouisDavid
1797:The Young General
Jacques Louis David, 1805-07 The coronation of the Emperor Napoleon I
Napoleonic Wars1805-1815
William Sadler, The Battle of Waterloo
Industrial Revolution
Power-driven machinery replaced hand labor 1765: James Watt – the steam engine
Industry moved from homes and workshops to factories
Population moved from agricultural countryside to industrial cities
Enclosure of “commons” into privately owned estates
Laissez faire economic policy – free operation of economic laws –governmental non-interference 1776: Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations
Scientific Advances:An Age of Wonder
The possibility of flight: hot air balloons Astronomical discoveries Electricity Chemistry Emphasis on experimentation and applied
science Public interest ignited by demonstrations
and lectures
Montgolfier Hot Air Balloon
November 21, 1783 – first manned flight in a balloon designed by the Montgolfier brothers Paris, above the Seine 70 feet high powered by a 6
foot brazier with burning straw
Aeronauts – Pilatre de Rozier and Marquis d’Arlandes
Charlière Hydrogen Balloon
1768 -- Discovery of hydrogen by Henry Cavendish and Joseph Priestly, named hydrogen by Antoine Lavoisier
December 1, 1783 – first manned flight in a hydrogen balloon launched by Jacques Alexandre Charles wickerwork basket for
passengers impermeable balloon made of
silk coated with rubber controllable gas valve ballast bags that could be
jettisoned by the aeronaut
Interest in Meteorology 1804 -- Guy-Lussac ascended
23,000 feet above Paris – establishing the limits for human to breathe
1804 – Luke Howard published On the Modification of Clouds classifying 4 basic cloud types: cumulus, stratus, cirrus, and nimbus
Fascination with clouds both scientifically and aesthetically
First mapping overview of the earth – earth as a giant organism
The calm Philosopher in ether sails,Views broader stars and breathes in purer gales;Sees like a map in many a waving line,Round earth’s blue plains her lucid waters shine;Sees at his feet the forky lightning glowAnd hears innocuous thunder roar below.
Erasmus Darwin
Astronomy and the Herschels
William Herschel, 1738-1832 Caroline Herschel, 1750-1848
Great 40 FootTelescope
Astronomy and the Herschels William Herschel: composer and musician turned
astronomer and telescope builder 1781: discovered the planet later named Uranus 1782: appointed “the King’s Astronomer” 1785-89: built Great 40 Foot Telescope Deep sky surveys: Catalogue of One Thousand New Nebulae and Clusters of
Stars (1786),Catalogue of a Second Thousand New Nebulae and Clusters of Stars (1789, Catalogue of 500 new Nebulae, nebulous Stars, planetary Nebulae, and Clusters of Stars (1802)
Determined that the solar system is moving through space
Caroline Herschel: singer turned astronomer and comet-hunter Discovered 8 comets 1798: Catalogue of Stars published by Royal Society 1828: Awarded the Gold Medal by Royal Astronomical Society for work with
nebulae
Electricity and Galvanism
1771: Luigi Galvani discovered that electricity causes twitching of frog’s legs:“animal electricity”
1800: Allesandro Volta invented the voltaic pile, the first electrochemical battery.
1803: Giovanni Aldini demonstrated electro-stimulation of deceased limbs on anexecuted criminal at Newgate Prison in London “On the first application of the process to the face, the jaws of
the deceased criminal began to quiver, and the adjoining muscles were horribly contorted, and one eye was actually opened. In the subsequent part of the process the right hand was raised and clenched, and the legs and thighs were set in motion.”
Dissections, Body Snatchers, Reanimations and Frankenstein
Chemistry and Sir Humphrey Davy
1799: ‘Researches, Chemical and Philosophical, chiefly concerning Nitrous Oxide and its Respiration
1801: Became assistant lecturer in chemistry, director of the chemical laboratory, and assistant editor of the journals of the Royal Society: popular public lectures on galvanism and chemistry.
Pioneered electrolysis to isolate elements: discovered sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, boron, and barium.
The Davy Lamp: safety lamp for coal miners
1778-1829
CLASSICISM vs. ROMANTICISM
Neo-Classicism vs Romanticism
Greek/Roman influence Emphasis on Society Age of Reason
Rationality Philosophy Deism
Euro-centric Cities Enlightenment
Science
Medieval/Oriental influence Emphasis on Individual Age of Passion
Emotion Imagination Spirituality: Vitalism
Interest in the Exotic Nature: pastoral and wild Revolution
Social Justice
NATURENeo-Classical Romantic
Universal Subject to human control Gardens Source of peace and
tranquillity Untamed nature:
dangerous/evil
Particular Beyond human control Mountains, oceans,
forests Source of inspiration and
spirituality Untamed nature:
exhilarating/sublime
Gainsborough, St James Park
Friedrich, Solitary Tree
LOVENeo-Classical Romantic
Universal Subject to human control Marriage
Social Contract Economic Contract Attraction between social
and intellectual equals Source of peace and
tranquillity
Particular Beyond human control Passion
Individual choice Search for soul-mate Forbidden attractions:
social, exotic, incestual Source of inspiration,
exhilaration and despair
Gaspar NetscherA Musical Evening
John Smibert, Dean George Berkeley and His Family
Caspar David Friedrich, Woman at Sunrise
William BlakeThe Enslavement of Experience
The Transcendance of Imagination
Neo-Classical
Artist Social Arbiter of Taste Elitist Moral Intellectual Critic
Louis Michel van Loo Portrait of Diderot
Romantic Artist
Loner Unconventional Amoral Genius Prophet
George Gordon Lord Byron
Romantic Drama
Influences
17th c. French Neo-Classical and English Restoration drama of wit and manners became 18th theatre of sensibility
18th –19th c. German Romantic Theatre Revival of Shakespeare Rise of “star system”: actor-managers Technical advances in staging and lighting
German Romantic Theater
“Stürm und Drang” Looked to Shakespeare for
models Sweeping historical and
tragic dramas Began to emphasize
historical accuracy in costumes and settings
Improved theatrical effects -- footlights, revolving stages, theatrical machinery
Schiller and Goethe
French Romantic Drama Revolt against Neo-Classicism fueled by French Revolution Action – Passion– Human Nature Alexander Dumas, pere, 1802-1870
Henri III et sa cour (Henry III and His Court, 1829) For Antony (1831) La Tour de Nesle (1832) Novelist: Three Musketeers, Count of Monte Cristo
Alfred de Vigny, 1797-1863 1820s: Alexandrine verse adaptations of Romeo and Juliet,
The Merchant of Venice and Othello La Marechale d’Ancre (1831) Quitte pour la Peur (1833 Chatterton (1835)
Victor Hugo, 1802-85
1827: Cromwell1829: Marion de Lorme –
banned by the censors1830: Hernani –caused a riot at
Theatre Francais1832: The King Takes his
Amusement – banned by the censors -- Verdi’s Rigoletto
1833: Lucrece Borgia and Maria Tudor
1835: Angelo1838: Ruy Blas1843: Les Burgraves
Scene from Hernani painted by L. Ceosio
Poet, Novelist, Dramatist -- best known for his novels, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831) and Les Miserables (1862)
English Closet Drama
Closet drama: drama meant more to be read than performed Prominent in the early 19th c. when melodrama and burlesque
dominated the theater, and poets attempted to raise dramatic standards: Joanna Baillie: Plays on the Passions, 1798-1812 Samuel Taylor Coleridge: Remorse, 1813 George Gordon Lord Byron: Manfred, 1817 Percy Bysshe Shelley’s The Cenci and Prometheus Unbound,
1819 Robert Browning’s Strafford (1837) and Pippa Passes (1841)
Manfred on the JungfrauFord Madox Brown1842
Melodrama Comes from "music drama" –
music was used to increase emotions or to signify characters (signature music).
Theatre of sentimentality -- emotional appeal
Simplified moral universe: good and evil embodied in stock characters Heroes and villains -- and
lily-pure heroines Sensationalistic: fires,
explosions, drownings, etc. Wide popular appeal
George L. Aiken’s was the most popular--1853. Six acts, done without an afterpiece – established the single-play format. 325 performances in New York.
In the 1870’s, at least 50 companies doing it in the U.S. In 1899: 500 companies. In 1927: 12 still doing it. 12 movie versions since 1900. The most popular melodrama in the world until the First World War.
Uncle Tom’s Cabindramatizations
based on novel by Harriet Beecher
Stowe
Romantic Prose Genres
Literary criticism Autobiography The Novel
Historical novels Novels of manners Novels of sensibility Gothic novels
Literary Criticism Literary critics became
the arbiters of taste Debate over the artistic
value as well as the utilitarian value of critical literature
1802: Edinburgh Review
1809: Quarterly Review
William Hazlitt
Charles Lamb
Thomas DeQuincy
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Autobiography The term was first used by the poet Robert Southey
in 1809 in the English periodical Quarterly Review Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Confessions
(1781-88) Dorothy Wordsworth, The Grasmere Journals
(1799+) Thomas De Quincey, Confessions of an Opium
Eater, 1822 Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of
Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, (1845)
Historical Novels
Novels that reconstruct a past age, often when two cultures are in conflict
Fictional characters interact with with historical figures in actual events
Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) is considered the father of the historical novel: The Waverly Novels (1814-1819) and Ivanhoe (1819)
Jane Austen and the Novel of Manners
Novels dominated by the customs, manners, conventional behavior and habits of a particular social class
Often concerned with courtship and marriage
Realistic and sometimes satiric Focus on domestic society rather
than the larger world Other novelists of manners:
Anthony Trollope, Edith Wharton, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Margaret Drabble
Novels of Sentiment Novels in which the characters, and thus the
readers, have a heightened emotional response to events
Connected to emerging Romantic movement Laurence Sterne (1713-1768):
Tristam Shandy (1760-67) Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832):
The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774) Francois Rene de Chateaubriand (1768-1848):
Atala (1801) and Rene (1802) The Brontës: Anne Brontë Agnes Grey (1847)
Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights (1847), Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre (1847)
Laurence Sterne bySir Joshua Reynolds
The BrontësCharlotte (1816-55), Emily (1818-48), Anne
(1820-49) Wuthering Heights and Jane
Eyre transcend sentiment into myth-making
Wuthering Heights plumbs the psychic unconscious in a search for wholeness, while Jane Eyre narrates the female quest for individuation
Brontë.info: website of Brontë Society and Haworth Parsonage
The Victorian Webportrait by Branwell Brontë of his sisters,
Anne, Emily, and Charlotte (c. 1834)
Gothic Novels
Novels characterized by magic, mystery and horror
Exotic settings – medieval, Oriental, etc. Originated with Horace Walpole’s Castle
of Otranto (1764) William Beckford: Vathek, An Arabian
Tale (1786) Anne Radcliffe: 5 novels (1789-97)
including The Mysteries of Udolpho Widely popular genre throughout Europe
and America: Charles Brockden Brown’s Wieland (1798)
Contemporary Gothic novelists include Anne Rice and Stephen King
Frankenstein Mary Wollstonecraft
Shelley1797-1851
Inspired by a dream in reaction to a challenge to write a ghost story
Published in 1817 (rev. ed. 1831)
A Gothic novel influenced by Promethean myth
The first science fiction novel
Lyric Poetry Search for an authentic language of feeling rather than
artifice Wordsworth: “the spontaneous overflow of powerful
feelings recollected in tranquility” 1st person voice of the poem – during this period usually
associated with the poet – sometimes biographical and confessional
Revived older poetic forms: blank verse: unrhymed iambic pentameter the sonnet the ballad the ode
The Poet as Rock Star
Keats Coleridge
WordsworthByron
Shelley
The Poet as Rock Star
Leopardi Heine
PushkinNovalis
THE TRANSCENDENTALISTS
America in the early 19th Century
Transcendentalist Movement
Began September 8, 1836, when a group of prominent New England intellectuals, led by poet-philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, met at the Transcendental Club in Boston.
A philosophical movement protesting the state of culture – especially political parties and organized religion.
Advocated individual self-reliance and independence – humans are inherently good.
Major figures in the movement were Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, Margaret Fuller and Amos Bronson Alcott (father of Louisa May Alcott).
A reaction against 18th century Rationalism and New England Puritanism, it was influenced by German Idealism (Immanuel Kant) and Vedic (Indian) spiritualism.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882
Essayist, lecturer and poet
Founder of Transcendentalism – expounded principles in the essay, “Nature,” 1836
Encouraged and critically supported Thoreau and Whitman
Henry David Thoreau, 1817-1862
Poet, philosopher, naturalist, abolitionist
Best known for his books, Walden and Civil Disobedience
Although not highly regarded by his contemporary critics, Thoreau has had a profound effect on such varied figures as Tolstoy, Ghandi, John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King as well as a wide range of 20th century authors.