Romanticism简介

RomanticismI.IntroductionRomanticism(theRomanticMovement),aliterarymovement,andprofoundshiftinsensibility,whichtookplaceinBritainandthroughoutEurope1770-1848.IntellectuallyitmarkedaviolentreactiontotheEnlightenment.PoliticallyitwasinspiredbytherevolutionsinAmericaandFranceandpopularwarsofindependenceinPoland,Spain,Greece,andelsewhere.Emotionallyitexpressedanextremeassertionoftheselfandthevalueofindividualexperience(the'egotisticalsublime'),togetherwiththesenseoftheinfiniteandtranscendental.Sociallyitchampionedprogressivecauses,thoughwhenthesewerefrustrateditoftenproducedabitter,gloomy,anddespairingoutlook.Asanageofromanticenthusiasm,TheRomanticAgebeganin1798whenWilliamWordsworthandSamuelTaylorpublishedLyricalBallads,[inthePrefaceofthe2ndand3rdeditionsofwhichWordsworthlaiddowntheprinciplesofpoetrycomposition,]andendedin1832whenWalterScott(1771-1832)died.AtthebeginningtheliteraturereflectedthepoliticalturmoiloftheagestirredbyFrenchRevolution.ThegloryoftheageisnotablyseeninthePoetryofWordsworth,Coleridge,Byron,ShelleyandKeats,whoweregroupedintotwogenerations:PassiveRomanticpoetsrepresentedbytheLakers/LakePoets—Wordsworth,Coleridge,Burns,andBlakethoughintrospective18th-cent.poetssuchasThomasGray(1716-71)andWilliamCowper(1731-1800)showpre-Romantictendencies,aswellasGothicnovelistssuchasHoraceWalpole(1717-97)and'Monk'Lewis(1775-1818,MatthewGregoryLewis),whoreflectedthoseclasseswhichhadbeenruinedbythebourgeoisie,butlatergrewconservativeandturnedtothefeudalpastandidealizedthelifeoftheMiddleAgestoprotestagainstcapitalistdevelopment;andActive/RevolutionaryRomanticpoetsrepresentedbythoseyoungerpoets—Byron,ShelleyandKeats,firmsupportersofFrenchRevolution,whoexpressedtheaspirationofthelabouringclassesandsetthemselvesagainstthebourgeoissocietyandtherulingclass,astheyboreadeephatredforthewickedexploitersandoppressorsandhadanintensiveloveforliberty.WomennovelistsappearedinthisperiodandassumedforthefirsttimeanimportantplaceinEnglishliterature.MrsAnnRadcliffe(1764-1823)wasoneofthemostsuccessfulwritersoftheschoolofexaggeratedromance.JaneAustenofferedushercharmingdescriptionsofeverydaylifeinherenduringwork.ThegreatesthistoricalnovelistSirWalterScottalsoappearedinthisperiod.HepraisedJane'sintheQuarterlyReviewin1815,andlaterwroteofthatexquisitetouchwhichrendersordinarycommonplacethingsandcharactersinteresting.CharlesLamb(1775-1834),WilliamHazlitt(1778-1830),ThomasDeQuincey(1785-1859)andDavidHume(1711-76)representedromanticproseoftheperiod.II.FeaturesofRomanticwriting1)TheRomanticists'ownaspirationandidealsareinsharpcontrasttothecommonsordiddailylifeundercapitalism.Theirwritingsarefilledwithstrong-willedheroesoreventitanicimages,formidableeventsandtragicsituations,powerfulconflictingpassionsandexoticpictures.Sometimestheyresortedtosymbolicmethods,withtheactiveromanticists,symbolicpicturesrepresentavagueidealofsomefuturesociety;whilewiththepassiveromanticists,thesepicturesoftentakeonamysticcolour.2).Theromanticistspaidgreatattentiontothespiritualandemotionallifeofman.Personifiednatureplaysanimportantroleinthepagesoftheirworks.Terror,passion,andtheSublime(anideaassociatedwithreligiousawe,vastness,naturalmagnificence,andstrongemotionwhichfascinated18th-cent.literarycriticsandaestheticians)areessentialconceptsinearlyRomanticism;asisthesenseofprimitivemysteryrediscoveredintheCelticbardicverseof*Macpherson's'Ossian',thefolkballadscollectedby*Percy,andthemedievalpoetryforgedby*Chatterton(whom*Southeyedited).[Foreignsourceswerealsovital:*Goethe'sTheSorrowsofYoungWerther1774);theghostlyballadsofBurger(*Lenore,1773);theversedramasof*Schiller(TheRobbers,1781);andthephilosophicalcriticismofA.W.*Schlegel.]3)ThetoneofRomanticismwasshapedbythenakedemotionalismof*Rousseau'sJulie,oulanouvelleHeloise(1761),andtheexoticlegendsandmythologyfoundinOrientalandHomericliteraturesand17th-cent.travelwriters.ThestylistickeynoteofRomanticismisintensity,anditswatchwordis'Imagination'.Rememberedchildhood,unrequitedlove,andtheexiledherowereconstantthemes.4)Romanticismexpressedanunendingrevoltagainstclassicalform,conservativemorality,authoritariangovernment,personalinsincerity,andhumanmoderation.TheRomanticssawandfeltthingsbrilliantlyafresh.Theyvirtuallyinventedcertainlandscapes—theLakes,theAlps,thebaysofItaly.Theywerestrenuouswalkers,hill-climbers,sea-bathers,orriver-lovers.Theyhadanewintuitionfortheprimalpowerofthewildlandscape,thespiritualcorrespondencebetweenManandNature,andtheaestheticprincipleof'organic'form(seenattheirnoblestinWordsworth's*PreludeorJ.M.W.*Turner',paintings).Intheircriticalwritingsandlecturestheydescribedpoetryanddramawithnewpsychologicalappreciation(thecharacterofHamlet,forexample);theydiscusseddreams,dramaticillusion,Romanticsensibility,theprocessofcreativity,thelimitsofClassicismandReason,andthedynamicnatureoftheImagination.5)ThesecondgenerationofRomanticistsabsorbedthesetumultuousinfluences,wroteswiftly,travelledwidely(Greece,Switzerland,Italy),anddiedprematurely:theirlife-storiesandlettersbecamealmostasimportantforRomanticismastheirpo