English Romanticism: The Human Context

Rating:
Summary: Historical and Cultural Basis- English Romanticism 1760-1815
Review: The English Romantic period is conventionally defined as 1760-1815, and spans the reigns of King George III and King George IV, the American War of Independence, the French Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars, and the British Industrial Revolution. My interest was more literary and poetic than historical. I was interested in learning more about the cultural environment that produced poets like Wordsworth, Coleridge, Blake, Shelley, Keats, and Byron.

Professor Marilyn Gaull's text, English Romanticism - The Human Context, was more encyclopedia-like than I had expected. I stayed the course for about 100 pages, but I eventually began to skip around, making good use of the extensive index to find topics of my choosing. Nonetheless, I expect that a student of English literature or English history would clearly benefit from Gaull's detailed, scholarly examination of this critical period in English history.

Although Great Britain did itself escape civil war during this turbulent time, restrictive laws and legislation only delayed social change. Technological advances, increasing secularization, and growing democratic aspirations were difficult to contain.

The Romantic poets championed change, especially the liberal principles espoused during the French Revolution, and they faced continual harassment from both government censors and political opponents. But not all change was equally welcome. These same poets lamented the loss of aristocratic patronage, and their growing dependence on a new, more broadly based reading public. Some poets, like Wordsworth, eventually dismissed this less appreciative public and addressed themselves to posterity.

Although I occasionally found Professor Gaull's text to be rather lengthy and detailed, I expect that it will long serve me as a useful reference tool. It is subdivided into short chapters with subsections that make it easy to browse. I recommend her work for both students and general readers interested in English Romanticism.