British Romanticism Movement

The British Romanticism movement was a literary movement that started in the late 18th century and is estimated to have ended in the 1830's. This period was defined by an increased interest in the individual in literature, the awe of nature, Gothic writing style, and the celebration of creativity. Key authors in this period are William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Lord Byron, William Blake, Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Shelley (Poetry Foundation). Many scholars debate that Lyrical Ballads by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge was the start of the Romantic period. Though William Blake had published Songs of Experience prior to Lyrical Ballads, the latter established the characteristics of Romanticism whilst straying from the sophistocated and exquisite diction of the Neo-Classicism movement (Allegretti).  

The Second Generation Romantics established a different tone for the period, such as Lord Byron's satirical and seductive poetry, establishing the Byronic Hero, a new archetype in literature that deviated from the typical hero role (Poetry Foundation). Mary Shelley established the Gothic novel during this era with her publishing of Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus in 1818. Her husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley focused on poetry that touched on death, nature, and emotion, all defining traits of the movement itself (Allegretti). 

 

 

Allegretti, Catherine. "The Romantic Period." Eastern Conneticut State Universityhttps://www.easternct.edu/speichera/understanding-literary-history-all/t...

"British Romanticism." Poetry Foundationhttps://www.poetryfoundation.org/collections/152982/an-introduction-to-b...

Wordsworth, William and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Lyrical Ballads. Project Gutenburg, 10 October 2003. 

Associated Place(s)

Event date:

circa. 1798 to circa. 1832