LECTURE 6

XIX CENTURY ENGLISH LITERATURE AND ITS CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES

THE FIRST PERIOD OF ROMANTICISM

Nineteenth century English literature was the literature produced from 1799 to 1900.
Many developments in literature in this period paralel changes in the visual arts and
other aspects of the 19th-century culture.
Romanticism began roughly around the time of the start of the French Revolution in
1789 and finished around 1850.
Romanticisim was an artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that began in
Germany and migrated across Europe toward the end of the 18th century.
Romanticism arrived later in other parts of the English-speaking world.
By the end of the 18th century, the Industrial Revolution had come to England. Cities
like London were full of dirty factories that spit black smoke into the air. The cities
were overcrowded and filled with garbage. These changes took place in the period
between 1750 and 1850. The movement of so many people in England was the result
of two forces: the Agricultural Revolution and the Industrial Revolution.
Romanticism was a reaction against the Industrial Revolution and the
Enlightenment. The Romantics viewed the cities as grimy, ugly and soulless places.
They disagreed with the Enlightenment values of progress and rationality. The
French Revolution was an especially important influence on the political thinking of
many Romantic poets.
Romanticism focuses on the emotional side of human nature, individualism, the
beauty of the natural world and the simplicity of common people. Romantic writers
value sentimental, heartfelt feelings and emotional experiences over historical and
scientific facts.
Some of the main characteristics of Romantic literature focused on the writer’s
emotions and inner world; celebration of nature, beauty and imagination; rejection
of industrialization, organized religion, rationalism; idealization of women, children,
and rural life; inclusion of supernatural or mythologial elements; interest in the past;
experimental use of language and verse forms. The love to nature is indicated in
Romantic poetry.
Characteristics of the Romantic Age and Romantic Literature are:
1. Individuality, Democracy, Personal Freedom
2. Spiritual and Supernatural Elements
3. Nature as a Teacher
4. Interest in Past History and using Ancient Greek and Roman Elements
5. Celebration of the Simple Life
6. Interest in Pastoral Life
7. Interest in Folk Traditions
8. Use of Common Language
9. Use of Common Subjects
10. One Sided, Opinionated
11. Idealized Women.
12. Frequent Use of Personification
13. Examination of the Poet’s Inner Feelings

English Romantic literature is characterized by a love of nature, distrust of reason,

and rejection of traditional authority. It prized nature over the city, emotion over
reason and the individual over the church and state.
Love in nature is indicated in the poems that make up “Lyrical Ballads”, a
collaboration between W.Wordsmith and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, first published
in 1797. The greatest example of the role of emotion in Romantic poetry is the work
of John Keats. His most famous poems “To Autumn” and “Ode on a Grecian Urn”
are full of poet’s emotional reactions to the world around him.
The early Romantic period is often called the “age of revolutions”, including the
American (1776) and the French(1789) revolutions. It was also the age which
witnessed the initial transformations of the Industrial Revolution. A revolutionary
energy was at the core of Romanticism.
The Romantic period includes the work of two generations of writers. The first
generation was born during the thirty and twenty years preceding 1800; the second
generation was born in the last decade of the 1800s. The most famous writers of the
first period were: William Blake,William Worldsmith, Scott and so on. John Keats,
Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron belong to the second period. All three were
influenced by the works of the first generation.
Important forms of Romantic literature are the novels, lyric poetry, odes, and ballads.
WILLIAM BLAKE – BIOGRAPHY (1757- 1827)
“SONGS OF INNOCENCE AND OF EXPERIENCE”(1794)
William Blake was an English poet, painter, printmaker and engraver. He is
considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual arts of the
Romantic Age.
William Blake was born in 1757 in London, England. He began writing at an early
age. He only briefly attended school, being educated at home by his mother.
From early childhood Blake spoke of having visions; at four he saw God put his
head to the window, around nine, while walking through the countryside, he saw a
tree filled with angels. His visions had a lasting effect on the art and writings that
he produced. His artistic ability helped him to become an apprentice of an engraver
at age 14. In 1779 he became a copy engraver working on projects for books and
print publishers. At the same year, he was admitted to the Royal Academy of Arts
Schools of Design, where he began exhibiting his own works in 1780.
Blake became a famous poet, painter and engraver of the late 18th century and early
19th century. He was radical, anti-authority figure. His painting and poetry have
been characterized as a part of Romantic Movement and as “Pre-Romantic”. His
earlier work is primarily rebellious in character and can be seen as a protest against
dogmatic religion especially in “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell”.
In later works, such as “Milton” and “Jerusalem” Blake describes a specific vision
of a humanity rescued by self-sacrifice and forgiveness. Not all readers of Blake
agree upon how much continuity exists between his earlier and later works.
He was the author of lyrics in “Songs of Innocence” (1789) and “Songs of
Experience” (1794). These songs were originally produced as illuminated books,
engraved and hand-printed by Blake himself. He believed his poetry could be read
and understood by common people. His poetry wasn’t well known by the general
public.
“Songs of Innocence” is not merely a collection of poems for children. Several of
poems include an ironic tone, and some has sharp criticism of the society. It is also
a warning to adult readers. “Songs of Experience” followed five years later, and
Blake intended it as a companion piece to the earlier book. Song of Experience
allows Blake to be more direct in his criticism pf society. He attacks church
leaders, wealthy socialites, and cruel parents.
Both Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience contain poems that are
independent. For example: “The Lamb”, “The Shepherd”, “Night” and “The
Tyger”. The Songs presents radically different views of the world. In “Songs of
Innocence”, Blake expresses a simple, childlike view of salvation and the poems
are addressed to children. In “Songs of Experience”, the speaker has been hardened
by his experiences and has seen too much poverty in London to think about
salvation.
“Songs of Innocence and of Experience” is the foundation of the work of one of
the greatest English poets and artists. Blake called them “the two contrary states of
the human soul”. The first poem in the “Innocence” series, “Introduction”,
establishes the pastoral background of most of the poems. The speaker was playing
tunes on a pipe in a pleasant valley when he stopped by a vision of a child on a
cloud, perhaps an angel. The child asks the speaker to sing a song, then he asks that
the songs be written in a book, that all may read. The child disappears, and the
speaker makes a pen from a reed, makes ink by staining water, and writes “happy
songs/ Every child may joy to hear.”
William Blake died in August, 1827, leaving unfinished illustrations to Bunyan’s
Pilgrim’s Progress and an illuminated manuscript of the Bible’s Book of Genesis.
LECTURE 7
GEORGE GORDON BYRON (1788-1824)
Lord Byron was born in 1788, in London. He was one of the leading figures of the
Romantic Movement in early 19th century England. Because of his works, active life,
and physical beauty he was considered as the romantic poet-hero. He spent his
childhood in Aberdeen, and was educated at Harrow school and Cambridge
University. He inherited his family’s English title at the age of ten, becoming Baron
Byron of Rochdale.
Lord Byron was British Romantic poet, satirist, and politician who became a
revolutionary in the Greek War of Independence . He is considered one of the
historical leading feagures of the Romantic movement of his era.
Byron’s first published volume of poetry, “ Hours of Idleness”, appeared in 1807.
In 1806 Byron had his early poems published in volume entitled “Fugitive Pieces”.
In 1809, he left for two-year tour of Mediterranean countries.
In 1809 in Greece he began writing ”Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage”, which he
continued in Athens. The poem describes the travels of a young man who looks
for adventures in foreign lands. He returned to England in 1811, and in 1812 the
first cantos of “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage” were published. And Byron became
famous overnight. In 1818 appeared the remaining two cantos of this great poem.
His other poems of that period are: “The Giaour”(1813); “The Bride of Abydos”
(1813); “The Corsair” (1814); “Lara” (1814).
Byron settled in Italy and started writing his masterpiece, “Don Juan”. It was an
epic-satire novel-in-verse based on a legendary hero. Byron’s “Don Juan”, a
poem spanning 17 cantos, is considered one of the most important long poems
published in England.
He died from fever in 1824, in Greece. His body was brought to England and
burried in Nottingamshire.
CHILDE HAROLD’S PILGRIMAGE – summary
It is a narrative poem. The first section, or canto was published in 1812, the final
one in 1818. The poem consists of four cantoes.
The poem contains of many autobiographical elements. Childe was a medieval title
for a young man who was a candidate for knighthood.
The plot has been written in a form of a travel diary. The plot consists out of a
description of the scenery, personal impressions and encounters with different
cultures. Some parts of the poems are used by the author to describe different
countries, beginning with the description of Spain and Portugal, then Greece,
Turkey and Alabama. The plot of the third part of poem takes place in Belgium,
Switzerland, and Germany, ending with a description of six years spent in Venice.
The fourth part really is written during Byron’s stay in Italy, so the difference in
style is easily noticed.
In first canto, we meet Harold who leaves England. He wants to remove himself
away from the walls and laws of civilization and tries to experience the absolute
freedom. Every other journey, he begins with the leaving his homeland. The people
around him cry as they are his parents, wives and families. But Childe feels no
sorrow about it. He tries to find the comfort in nature, isolating himself from
people and hard feelings. He always wants to find adventure and the meaning of
life. But his running away brings him no peace, because he always keeps his inner
anxiety with him.
DON JUAN – summary
Don Juan is Lord Byron’s epic satirical poem and his satirical masterpiece. It is
long poem of 16,000 lines. The poem consists of sections, or cantos. Each canto
has contained one story. The poem is dedicated to Robert Southey, a fellow poet.
Canto I describes Don Juan’s early life in Seville, which is famous “for oranges
and women”, as Byron says. He was sent away from Spain by his mother. In the
middle of Meditteranean sea the ship wrecks. He and some men took a lifeboat and
are saved. He meets Haidee and falls in love with her. But Haidee’s pirate father
comes home one day and sells Don Juan into slavery. Don Juan is bought by
Turkish princess. But he finally, escapes when Russian army attacks Turkey. Don
Juan fighst against theTurks and becomes a war hero. Catherine the Great falls in
love with him at first sight. Then he was sent to England as an embassador. And
now, Byron starts making fun at the English society.
The poem hadn’t finished because of Byron’s death of a fever.
PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY (1792- 1822)
Percy Bysshe Shelley is one of tne most popular English Romantic poets, and is
regarded as a great lyrical poet in English language. He was born on 4th of August
1792 in England. He received his early education at home. In 1802 he entered Eton
College.
Later he entered the University College, Oxford. In 1811, Shelley anonymously
published a pamphlet “The Neccessity of Atheism” which was brought to the
attention of university administration. This pamphlet resulted in his expulsion from
Oxford.
Shelley supported highly radical social, political views setting him against existing
social norms. Therefore, he did not become popular during his lifetime. However,
the poetry of Shelley gained better recognition following his death.
Percy Bysshe Shelley was a close friend of eminent writers and poets including
Lord Byron. He travelled to Germany, Switzerland and France with his wife. On
their return, he wrote“Alastor” in 1816, his first poen which brought him
popularity and recognition.
Later on, they went to Italy, where he wrote the sonnet “Ozymandias” and
translated Plato’s “Symposium”.
On July 1822, Shelley drawned in a sailing boat accident. However, many people
believe that his death was not accidental, instead a suicide because he was
disheartened at that time.
The best known classic poems of Shelley include “Ode to the West Wind”,
“Ozymandias”, “Music”, “To a Skylark”, “The Cloud”, “The Masque of Anarchy”
and “When Soft Voices Die”. There are also other major works which include
long poems like “Alastor”, “Queen Mab”, “Adonais”, “The Triuph of Life” and
“The Revolt of Islam”.
Shelley wrote several essays on the topic of vegetarianism; two of the most popular
works among them include “On the Vegetable SystemOf Diet” and “A Vindication
of Natural Diet”.
MASQUE OF ANARCHY- SUMMARY
The Masque of Anarchy is a ballad od ninety-one stnzas. It was written in 1819 by
Percy Bysshe Shelley. It wasn’t published in his lifetime until 1832. It was
considered as the greatest political poem ever written in English.
At the beginnig of poem, the speaker is sleeping in Italy when a voice from
England calls him back to England, to see a massacre that had recently taken place.
It was characterised by anarchic murder. Anarchy leads armed forces through
England, scaring the people. Soon, the “seven bloodhunds” get to England, and
start to kill innocent people. They continue to kill peole as they travel through the
land. Finally, they reach London, where the “dwellers” already known about these
masked tyrants try to run away.
Anarchy claims to be God, King, and Law rejecting all traditional sources of
authourity and power. Some people choose to follow him. Finally, Hope revives
and kills Anarchy.
QUEEN MAB – summary
Queen Mab is a philosophical poem written in cantoes by Percy Bysse Shelley and
was printed in 1813. It is Shelley’s first large poetic work. The poem is written in
the form of a fairy tale that presents a future vision of a utopia on earth. It is
considered to be utopian political epic. It exposes as social evils in monarchy,
commerce and religion and describes a visionary future in which humanity is
liberated from them.
Queen Mab, a ruler of fairies, takes the spirit of Lanthe on a journey through time
and space. She shows her vision of the present, past and the future, to show various
human errors in the past and present. The future is given in utopian vision where a
man has finally learned to live at peace with all around him.Two key points are
emphasised:
1. Death is not to be feared;
2. The future offers the possibility of perfectibility.

Humanity and nature can be reconciled and work in harmony. Finally, Queen
Mab returns Lanthe’s spirit to her body. Shelley’s objective was to show that
reform and improvementin the lot of mankind were possible.
LECTURE 8
JANE AUSTEN- biography (1775- 1817
Jane Austen was an English novelist whose books are notable for their wit, social
observation and insights into the lives of early 19th century women.
Jane Austen was born on 16th December 1775 in the village of Steventon in
Hampshire. She was one of eight children of a clergyman and grew up in a close-
knit family. When she was a teenager, she began to write poems, stories and
comic pieces for the amusement of her family . In 1801the family moved to Bath
town. After her father’s death, Jane, her mother and sister Casandra moved to
Chawton, near Steventon.
Jane Austen is known for her six major novels. Jane’s first novel, “Sense and
Sensibility” was published in 1811. Her next novel “Pride and Prejudice”, which
she described as her “own darling child” was published in 1813. “Mansfield Park”
was published in 1814, then “Emma” in 1816. “Emma” was dedicated to the
prince regent, an admirer of her work. All of Jame Austen’s novels were published
anonymously. She gave the novel its distinctly modern character through her
describing the ordinary people in everyday life.
In 1816, Jane began to suffer from ill-health and travelled to Winchester to receive
treatment, and died there in 1817. Two novels of hers “Persuasion” and
“Northanger Abbey” were published after her death and a final novel “Sanditon”
was left incomplete.
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE – summary
In 1813, Jane Austen annonymously published her second novel, “Pride and
Prejudice”. The novel has become a fixture in popular culture and has been
adapted into films and plays. It is a romantic novel of manners.
Jane Austen’s novel “Pride and Prejudice” follows the five Bennet daughters, who
must marry well in order to ensure their financial security. There are three main
points in the novel:
1. Wealthy young men Bingley and Darcy arrive in town, much to the
excitement of the Bennet daughters. However, while Bingley is charming
and friendly, Darcy is cold and prideful.
 2. Bingley begins courting Jane and they fall in love, but he departs
unexpectedly, leaving her heartbroken.
3. Elizabeth meets Darcy again, and he proposes marriage to her, but she
refuses him.

The novel follows the character development of Elizabeth Bennet.The novel’s

main characters, Elizabeth Bennet and Darcy, meet at a village ball. They didn’t
like each other at first sight. Darcy finds Elizabeth shallow and uninteresting, while
Elizabeth finds him arrogant and rude. But as each struggles with suitors,
friendship troubles and family drama, their lives become more interesting and their
relationship develops into mutual respect and love. And they learn that first
impressions aren’t always reliable.
Pride and Prejudice has become “ most loved book” among literary scholars and
the reading public. It has become one of the most popular novels in English
literature.
PERSUASION – summary
“Persuasion” is the last novel fully completed by Jane Austen in 1816. It was
published at the end of 1817, six months after her deaths. This novel is considered
to be the most romantic of Jane Austen’s works.
In the novel, the 27-year-old Anne Russell regrets breaking off her engagement
with captain Frederick Wentworth. She wanted to get married, but her father and
sister didn’t approve of the match. When Anne and Wentworth meet again, it takes
some time to reconcile, but they are happily reunited in the end.
Persuasion summary key points:
1. Anne’s family affected by financial difficulty, has to rent out their estate and
move to a smaller house in Bath town to save money. The couple that rents
their house, Kellynch Hall, is the sister of Captain Wentworth.
2. Anne is staying in a nearby house with her sister and her husband. When
Anne and Wentworthmeet again, Anne finds him unchanged and still loves
her.
3. Wentworth develops flirtation with Anne’s neighbor and sister-in-law,
Louisa.
4. Anne is courted by her cousin, Mr.William Elliot, a widower.
 5. Louisa gets engaged to someone else. Shortly thereafter, Wentworth comes
to Bath town and is jealous of Mr.Eliot’s interest in Anne. But Anne is not
interested in Mr.Eliot.
6. Wentworth writes Anne a long, emotional letter, and soon they are engaged
again.

LECTURE 9
CRITICAL REALISM IN ENGLISH LITERATURE
CHARLES DICKENS- BIOGRAPHY
Realism and Naturalism are a reaction against Romanticism. Realism and
Naturalism are based on the premises that reality can be known and can be
presented objectively. Realism is the fact of being devoted to reality. It was
movement away from romantic illusion, in order to get closer to the social and
psycological reality of the time. It is the belief there can be a correspondence
between reality and its representation.
Reality is a subject of matter: the life of ordinary people in ordinary situations.
Reality is also a matter of verisimilitude: how characters are determined by their
environment, chronological narratives, psychological dimension of characters, and
presence of narrator.
Critical realism of the 19th century flourished in 40s and at the beginning of 50s.
The critical realists set themselves the task of criticizing capitalist society. Their
strong point was their true reflection of life and their sharp criticism of exiciting
injustice.
The realistic novel was quite different than what has been seen with earlier
literature. The most popular forms of literature had always been poetry. The
realistic novel changed that. This form of literature used journalistic techniques in
order to make the literature closer to the real life. The attention to detail was made
just to report the facts.