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Romanticism in English literature
Romanticism in English literature
Mary Wollstonecraft's contribution to women's rights and their education
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The Spirit of the Romantic Period
The Romantic Period in English literature was an era that brought forth profound literary rebellion. Romantics were truly rebels. They were in total defiance of the morals set by the movement known as the neoclassical period. The Romantics were also idealists, who believed in change. These idealists wrote about the change they wanted, socially as well as politically. Nature, both human and natural, and childhood and social conditions were of the many themes literary artists of this time chose to focus on. Mary Wollstonecraft, William Blake, and William Wordsworth were among the literary artists who have done just this. In creating works such as, “A Vindication of the Rights of Women”, “The Garden of Love”, and “She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways”, one can see the spirit of this era is well depicted.
Mary Wollstonecraft can be noted as the women’s advocate of her day. In her “Vindication”, she proclaims that just as men, women have rights. For centuries women had very little or no rights at all. Women were treated as if they were mere objects of beauty and they were expected to yield to the every demand of man. “The conduct and manners of women, in fact, evidently prove that their minds are not in a healthy state.” In a sense, women have been brain washed. They are taught from the womb by their mothers that they are to only maintain their appearances and be sweet and submissive. They are taught to spend their time questioning for love because the only way to get ahead is through marriage. Women never reach the realization that there is more to life.
Women shouldn’t feel inferior to men because they too are mortal beings. Instead of spending time on beauty and frailty, wom...
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... when she ceased to be. No one cared that she existed. However, it made a difference to Wordsworth. Even if no one cared, he did and that made the difference.
It appears as though Wordsworth is describing the struggle of the lower class people to exist. One cannot live in loneliness and despair. Wordsworth seems to be revealing the callous attitude of society at that time.
In composing their works, it is safe to assume that the Romantics shared a common interest. That interest was change. Mary Wollstonecraft, William Blake, and William Wordsworth are among the true rebels of their time. Through literary works such as “A Vindication of the Rights of Women”, “The Garden of Love”, and “She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways”, we can see that these literary artists took no boundaries in challenging standards set by the church, government, and society in general.
In the late eighteenth century arose in literature a period of social, political and religious confusion, the Romantic Movement, a movement that emphasized the emotional and the personal in reaction to classical values of order and objectivity. English poets like William Blake or Percy Bysshe Shelley seen themselves with the capacity of not only write about usual life, but also of man’s ultimate fate in an uncertain world. Furthermore, they all declared their belief in the natural goodness of man and his future. Mary Shelley is a good example, since she questioned the redemption through the union of the human consciousness with the supernatural. Even though this movement was well known, none of the British writers in fact acknowledged belonging to it; “.”1 But the main theme of assignment is the narrative voice in this Romantic works. The narrator is the person chosen by the author to tell the story to the readers. Traditionally, the person who narrated the tale was the author. But this was changing; the concept of unreliable narrator was starting to get used to provide the story with an atmosphere of suspense.
Indisputably, Mary Wollstonecraft was one of the most influential figures of Enlightenment, also considered the ‘first feminist’. It is certain that her works and writing has influenced the lives of many women and altered the outlook of some societies on women, evolving rights of women a great deal from what they used to be in her time. It is clear that Wollstonecraft’s arguments and writing will remain applicable and relevant to societies for many years to come, as although there has been progression, there has not been a complete resolution. Once women receive so easily the freedom, rights and opportunities that men inherently possess, may we be able to say that Wollstonecraft has succeeded in vindicating the rights of women entirely.
Some men believe women are inferior to the male species; however, that is not the case. Both men and women are both capable of achieving greatness if given half the chance to do so, unfortunately, this means equality. In “From A Vindication of the Rights of Women”, Mary Wollstonecraft dispenses her thoughts on how unfairly women are treated in the 1700s, in addition to expressing her opinion on the issue in her essay. Wollstonecraft stated that “Men and women must be educated, in a great degree, by the opinions and manners of the society they live in.”, this statement is very true, no matter what times you are living in. Women are unique and equal creatures that can offer many things to society if given the same proper education and training
Mary Wollstonecraft, a writer in the 18th century was a victim of an abusive father. She was also left destitute by a man after falling pregnant. She fell pregnant again with the father unconventionally marrying her but she died after childbirth complications at the age of thirty eight. The events of abuse shaped her life. Mary Wollstonecraft’s most influential writing ‘A Vindication of the Rights of Women’ (1792) discusses how women were treated within a social context. This significant and well-known book was considered one of the earliest writings within the feminist philosophy. This involved the way females were taught to behave. Wollstonecraft’s main idea throughout her writing, looks at the question – “how many generations may be necessary to give vigour to the virtue and talents of the freed prosperity of abject slaves?”, which is still relevant today (Wollstonecraft 1792, p.6). She argues against the ...
Women in the Romantic era were long away from being treated as equals, they were expected by society to find a husband and become a typical housewife and mother. So what happens when women get tired of being treated horribly and try to fight back towards getting men to treat them as an equal? Both Mary Robinson’s “The Poor Singing Dame” and Anna Barbauld’s “The Rights of Women” show great examples on how women in the Romantic Era were disrespected and degraded by men, whereas all they wanted was to be treated as equals with respect and dignity.
The Romantic period was an entirely unique era in American history that produced new life philosophies through the focus of nature and exploration resulting in the evolution of the American Dream. Consequently, some of the world’s greatest advancements in arts and literature were accomplished during this time period. Authors such as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, James Fennimore Cooper, and Oliver Wendell Holmes sparked the imagination of American audiences through newfound literature such as lyrical poetry, myths, legends, folklore, and the new American novel. Romantic age writers emphasized nature, especially in poetry, as an inspiration for imagination and emotion. The American Dream during the Romantic era was to lead a life of emotion and intuition over reasoning through exploration of the countryside and the recognition of natural beauty displayed by imaginative literature that reflected this American Dream.
Romanticism was an artistic and philosophical time period that occurred in Europe during the late 18th century. Many forms of art were introduced at this time, as were forms of poetry and unorthodox ideals coming from the creators of these pieces. The poetry of Blake, Wordsworth, and Keats all shared aspects of nature and their personal emotions displayed through literary allusions. They break away from social norms, and even artistic norms, which was the aim of the artists during this part of literary history.
THE ROMANTIC MOVEMENT I. INTRODUCTION In an attempt to analyze music in the Romantic Movement, we will look at the following areas: the effects of the Industrial Revolution in music and instruments, the rise of the middle class and its effect on music, interest in nationalism and exoticism, the romantic style and expression in music and the role of men and women in music in the nineteenth century society. II. ROMANTIC MOVEMENT The dawning of the nineteenth century brought with it a change in the political and social climate, the world was ready to usher in a new era of artistic thought.
Throughout history society has been controlled by men, and because of this women were exposed to some very demanding expectations. A woman was expected to be a wife, a mother, a cook, a maid, and sexually obedient to men. As a form of patriarchal silencing, any woman who deviated from these expectations was often a victim of physical, emotional, and social beatings. Creativity and individuality are dirty, sinful and very inappropriate for a respectful woman. By taking away women’s voices, men were able to remove any power that they might have had.
Mary Wollstonecraft was a self-educated, radical philosopher who wrote about liberation, and empowering women. She had a powerful voice on her views of the rights of women to get good education and career opportunities. She pioneered the debate for women’s rights inspiring many of the 19th and the 20th century’s writers and philosophers to fight for women’s rights, as well. She did not only criticize men for not giving women their rights, she also put a blame on women for being voiceless and subservient. Her life and, the surrounding events of her time, accompanied by the strong will of her, had surely affected the way she chose to live her life, and to form her own philosophies.
Romanticism was a reaction to the Enlightenment as a cultural movement, an aesthetic style, and an attitude of mind (210). Culturally, Romanticism freed people from the limitations and rules of the Enlightenment. The music of the Enlightenment was orderly and restrained, while the music of the Romantic period was emotional. As an aesthetic style, Romanticism was very imaginative while the art of the Enlightenment was realistic and ornate. The Romanticism as an attitude of mind was characterized by transcendental idealism, where experience was obtained through the gathering and processing of information. The idealism of the Enlightenment defined experience as something that was just gathered.
Stephen Gill, editor. The Oxford Authors: William Wordsworth, pp. 67-80. New York: Oxford University Press, 1986.
The Industrial Revolution during the late 1700's was a time of great change. People were moving into cities, and watching the rural countryside evolve into a great monstrosity. This happened so fast that the city couldn’t keep up with the growth and the conditions within the city were atrocious. This change made them rethink city life, the all in one location scenario wasn’t appealing anymore. They saw the countryside rural and beautiful, which made it very powerful and surreal. Literature was very pre-defined and boring, but now writers use everything happening around them to create inspirations and to let their imaginations run deep. This change during this time period was known as Romanticism or the Romantic Movement. The Romantic Movement is by far the most important literary period. It empowered writers to act on their emotions and tell the story as it was not as it needed to be. This new form of writing encouraged men and women of all classes to explore novels. Everyone felt involved, like they were a part of the novel, they understood emotion and nature.
In Mary Wollstonecraft 's A Vindication of the Rights of Women, she contemplates the subordinate role of women in society and the many factors, natural and artificial, that contributes to this inequality of power among the sexes. She advocates for the equal playing field of education. Women are only educated to the degree of what is seen as useful to what is considered their natural, sexual character. She says virtue cannot be held to different standards or criteria because that would make virtue relative. Although there are obvious differences and physical inequalities between the sexes, these cannot make one sex superior to the other because what truly sets mankind apart from other brute creatures is our ability to reason. All of mankind
During the mid 1800’s was a remarkable era called the Romanticism. Some political and social milestones of this era included The American Revolution, The French Revolution, and The Industrial Revolution. During these events, the “theme” more or less was a type of laissez faire which means, “let the people do as they please.” WIlliam Blake was a famous poet in this time period, as well as Samuel Coleridge, William Wordsworth, and George Gordon. Novels and poems were written in this time to express the ways Romanticism was shown and how melancholy was trending.