romantic writers in english literature

Romanticism in Literature: Definition and Examples

Finding beauty in nature and the common man.

Apic / Getty Images

• Authors & Texts
• Top Picks Lists
• Study Guides
• Best Sellers
• Plays & Drama
• Shakespeare
• Short Stories
• Children's Books

• B.A., English, Rutgers University

Romanticism was a literary movement that began in the late 18th century, ending around the middle of the 19th century—although its influence continues to this day. Marked by a focus on the individual (and the unique perspective of a person, often guided by irrational, emotional impulses), a respect for nature and the primitive, and a celebration of the common man, Romanticism can be seen as a reaction to the huge changes in society that occurred during this period, including the revolutions that burned through countries like France and the United States, ushering in grand experiments in democracy.

Key Takeaways: Romanticism in Literature

• Romanticism is a literary movement spanning roughly 1790–1850.
• The movement was characterized by a celebration of nature and the common man, a focus on individual experience, an idealization of women, and an embrace of isolation and melancholy.
• Prominent Romantic writers include John Keats, William Wordsworth, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Mary Shelley.

Romanticism Definition

The term Romanticism does not stem directly from the concept of love, but rather from the French word romaunt (a romantic story told in verse). Romanticism focused on emotions and the inner life of the writer, and often used autobiographical material to inform the work or even provide a template for it, unlike traditional literature at the time.

Romanticism celebrated the primitive and elevated "regular people" as being deserving of celebration, which was an innovation at the time. Romanticism also fixated on nature as a primordial force and encouraged the concept of isolation as necessary for spiritual and artistic development.

Characteristics of Romanticism

Romantic literature is marked by six primary characteristics: celebration of nature, focus on the individual and spirituality, celebration of isolation and melancholy, interest in the common man, idealization of women, and personification and pathetic fallacy.

Celebration of Nature

Romantic writers saw nature as a teacher and a source of infinite beauty. One of the most famous works of Romanticism is John Keats’ To Autumn (1820):

Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they? Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,– While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day, And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue; Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn Among the river sallows, borne aloft Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;

Keats personifies the season and follows its progression from the initial arrival after summer, through the harvest season, and finally to autumn’s end as winter takes its place.

Focus on the Individual and Spirituality

Romantic writers turned inward, valuing the individual experience above all else. This in turn led to heightened sense of spirituality in Romantic work, and the addition of occult and supernatural elements.

The work of Edgar Allan Poe exemplifies this aspect of the movement; for example, The Raven tells the story of a man grieving for his dead love (an idealized woman in the Romantic tradition) when a seemingly sentient Raven arrives and torments him, which can be interpreted literally or seen as a manifestation of his mental instability.

Celebration of Isolation and Melancholy

Ralph Waldo Emerson was a very influential writer in Romanticism; his books of essays explored many of the themes of the literary movement and codified them. His 1841 essay Self-Reliance is a seminal work of Romantic writing in which he exhorts the value of looking inward and determining your own path, and relying on only your own resources.

Related to the insistence on isolation, melancholy is a key feature of many works of Romanticism, usually seen as a reaction to inevitable failure—writers wished to express the pure beauty they perceived and failure to do so adequately resulted in despair like the sort expressed by Percy Bysshe Shelley in A Lament :

O world! O life! O time! On whose last steps I climb. Trembling at that where I had stood before; When will return the glory of your prime? No more—Oh, never more!

Interest in the Common Man

William Wordsworth was one of the first poets to embrace the concept of writing that could be read, enjoyed, and understood by anyone. He eschewed overly stylized language and references to classical works in favor of emotional imagery conveyed in simple, elegant language, as in his most famous poem I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud :

I wandered lonely as a Cloud That floats on high o'er vales and Hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden Daffodils; Beside the Lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Idealization of Women

In works such as Poe’s The Raven , women were always presented as idealized love interests, pure and beautiful, but usually without anything else to offer. Ironically, the most notable novels of the period were written by women (Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, and Mary Shelley, for example), but had to be initially published under male pseudonyms because of these attitudes. Much Romantic literature is infused with the concept of women being perfect innocent beings to be adored, mourned, and respected—but never touched or relied upon.

Personification and Pathetic Fallacy

Romantic literature’s fixation on nature is characterized by the heavy use of both personification and pathetic fallacy. Mary Shelley used these techniques to great effect in Frankenstein :

Its fair lakes reflect a blue and gentle sky; and, when troubled by the winds, their tumult is but as the play of a lively infant, when compared to the roarings of the giant ocean.

Romanticism continues to influence literature today; Stephenie Meyers’ Twilight novels are clear descendants of the movement, incorporating most of the characteristics of classic Romanticism despite being published a century and half after the end of the movement’s active life.

• The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. “Romanticism.” Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 19 Nov. 2019, https://www.britannica.com/art/Romanticism.
• Parker, James. “A Book That Examines the Writing Processes of Two Poetry Giants.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 23 July 2019, https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2019/07/how-two-literary-giants-wrote-their-best-poetry/594514/.
• Alhathani, Safa. “EN571: Literature & Technology.” EN571 Literature Technology, 13 May 2018, https://commons.marymount.edu/571sp17/2018/05/13/analysis-of-romanticism-in-frankenstein-through-digital-tools/.
• “William Wordsworth.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/william-wordsworth.
• An Introduction to the Romantic Period
• A Classic Collection of Bird Poems
• Romanticism in Art History From 1800-1880
• 14 Classic Poems Everyone Should Know
• A Brief Overview of British Literary Periods
• Personification
• Poems of Protest and Revolution
• 42 Must-Read Feminist Female Authors
• Biography of Mary Shelley, English Novelist, Author of 'Frankenstein'
• What Was the Main Goal of Mary Wollstonecraft's Advocacy?
• Inexpressibility (Rhetoric)
• A Guide to Wordsworth's Themes of Memory and Nature in 'Tintern Abbey'
• William Wordsworth
• A Collection of Classic Love Poetry for Your Sweetheart
• How to Find the Main Idea - Worksheet
• William Wordsworth's 'Daffodils' Poem

10 of the Best Poems by English Romantic Poets

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

English Romanticism tends to be dominated by a few names: Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, Keats. Here, we’ve tried to strike a balance and offer ten of the very best Romantic poems from English literature, which ensures that these canonical figures are well-represented, while also broadening that canon to include some important but slightly less famous voices.

We hope you like this short introduction to Romanticism told through ten classic Romantic poems…

1. William Wordsworth, ‘ My heart leaps up ’.

My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky: So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a man; So be it when I shall grow old, Or let me die …

This simple nine-line poem describes how the poet is filled with joy when he sees a rainbow, and how he hopes he will always keep that sense of enchantment with the natural world. Wordsworth observes a rainbow in the sky and is filled with joy at the sight of a rainbow: a joy that was there when the poet was very young, is still there now he has attained adulthood, and – he trusts – will be with him until the end of his days.

If he loses this thrilling sense of wonder, what would be the point of living? In summary, this is the essence of ‘My heart leaps up’.

The poem contains Wordsworth’s famous declaration, ‘The Child is father of the Man’, highlighting how important childhood experience was to the Romantics in helping to shape the human beings they became in adult life. ‘My heart leaps up’ is a small slice of Romanticism which says more about that movement than many longer poems do.

2. William Wordsworth, ‘ I wandered lonely as a cloud ’.

I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o’er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze …

Often known simply as ‘The Daffodils’ or ‘Wordsworth’s daffodils poem’, this is also one of the most famous poems of English Romanticism, and sees Wordsworth (1770-1850) celebrating the ‘host of golden daffodils’ he saw while out walking. The poem was actually a collaboration between Wordsworth, his sister Dorothy (whose notes helped to inspire it), and Wordsworth’s wife, Mary.

On 15 April 1802, Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy were walking around Glencoyne Bay in Ullswater when they came upon a ‘long belt’ of daffodils, as Dorothy put it memorably in her journal.

Dorothy  Wordsworth wrote of the encounter with the daffodils , ‘I never saw daffodils so beautiful they grew among the mossy stones about & about them, some rested their heads upon these stones as on a pillow for weariness & the rest tossed and reeled and danced & seemed as if they verily laughed with the wind that blew upon them over the Lake, they looked so gay ever dancing ever changing.’

The influence of this passage from Dorothy’s journal can be seen in Wordsworth’s poem, which he did not write until at least two years after this, in 1804

3. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, ‘ Frost at Midnight ’.

The Frost performs its secret ministry, Unhelped by any wind. The owlet’s cry Came loud—and hark, again! loud as before. The inmates of my cottage, all at rest, Have left me to that solitude, which suits Abstruser musings: save that at my side My cradled infant slumbers peacefully …

So begins this great meditative poem. Wordsworth’s great collaborator on the 1798 collection Lyrical Ballads was Coleridge.

Written in 1798, the same year that Coleridge’s landmark volume of poems, Lyrical Ballads (co-authored with Wordsworth), appeared, ‘Frost at Midnight’ is a night-time meditation on childhood and raising children, offered in a conversational manner and focusing on several key themes of Romantic poetry: the formative importance of childhood and the way it shapes who we become, and the role nature can play in our lives.

4. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner .

‘God save thee, ancient Mariner! From the fiends, that plague thee thus!— Why look’st thou so?’—With my cross-bow I shot the ALBATROSS …

Written in 1797-8, this is Coleridge’s most famous poem – it first appeared in Lyrical Ballads . The idea of killing an albatross bringing bad luck upon the crew of a ship appears to have been invented in this poem, as there is no precedent for it – and the albatross idea was probably William Wordsworth’s, not Coleridge’s (Wordsworth got the idea of the albatross-killing from a 1726 book, A Voyage Round The World by Way of the Great South Sea , by Captain George Shelvocke).

The poem is one of the great narrative poems in English, with the old mariner recounting his story, with its hardships and tragedy, to a wedding guest.

Variously interpreted as being about guilt over the Transatlantic slave trade, about Coleridge’s own loneliness, and about spiritual salvation, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner remains a challenging poem whose ultimate meaning is elusive.

5. Charlotte Smith, ‘ Sonnet on being Cautioned against Walking on a Headland ’.

Is there a solitary wretch who hies To the tall cliff, with starting pace or slow, And, measuring, views with wild and hollow eyes Its distance from the waves that chide below …

English Romanticism wasn’t entirely dominated by men, although it’s true that names like Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley, and so on tend to dominate the lists. But as Dorothy Wordsworth’s role in inspiring ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’ demonstrates, Romanticism wasn’t quite an all-male affair.

This poem by Charlotte Turner Smith, a pioneer of Romanticism in England who was born before Wordsworth or Coleridge, is that rarest of things: a Gothic sonnet. This needn’t surprise when we bear in mind that the sonnet’s author, Charlotte Turner Smith (1749-1806) was associated with English Romanticism and was also a key figure in the revival of the English sonnet.

6. John Clare, ‘ The Yellowhammer’s Nest ’.

Just by the wooden brig a bird flew up, Frit by the cowboy as he scrambled down To reach the misty dewberry—let us stoop And seek its nest—the brook we need not dread, ’Tis scarcely deep enough a bee to drown, So it sings harmless o’er its pebbly bed …

John Clare (1793-1864) has been called the greatest nature poet in the English language (by, for instance, his biographer Jonathan Bate), and yet his life – particularly his madness and time inside an asylum later in his life – tends to overshadow his poetry.

Like Charlotte Turner Smith, Clare is still a rather overlooked figure in English Romanticism and nature poetry, but he’s been called England’s greatest nature poet and the best poet to have written about birds.

‘The Yellowhammer’s Nest’, although not Clare’s best-known poem, shows his wonderful sensitivity to vowel sounds, as he explores the patterns found within nature by focusing on the nest of the bird, which is described as ‘poet-like’.

7. Percy Shelley, ‘ Mont Blanc ’.

The everlasting universe of things Flows through the mind, and rolls its rapid waves, Now dark—now glittering—now reflecting gloom— Now lending splendour, where from secret springs The source of human thought its tribute brings Of waters …

The Romantics were greatly interested in a quality that Edmund Burke called ‘the Sublime’: that peculiar mixture of awe and terror we feel when confronted with great forces of nature. Percy Shelley’s poem about Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the Alps, is a classic example of Romantic poetry about the Sublime – an ode to nature as a powerful and beautiful force.

Shelley composed ‘Mont Blanc’ during the summer of 1816, and it was first published in Mary Shelley’s History of a Six Weeks’ Tour through a Part of France, Switzerland, Germany and Holland (1817), which – beating Frankenstein by a year – was actually Mary’s first book .

Immediately in the first two lines of ‘Mont Blanc’, Shelley foregrounds the key thrust of the poem: the relationship between the natural world and the human imagination. The ‘everlasting universe of things’, which recalls Wordsworth’s talk of the ‘immortality’ of the earth in his ‘Ode: Intimations of Immortality’ (which we’ve analysed here ); Shelley notes that this ‘universe of things’ flows through the (mortal) mind. These external influences are variously light and dark, vivid and obscure.

8. Percy Shelley, ‘ To a Skylark ’.

Hail to thee, blithe Spirit! Bird thou never wert, That from Heaven, or near it, Pourest thy full heart In profuse strains of unpremeditated art …

Shelley completed this, one of his most famous poems, in June 1820. The inspiration for the poem was an evening walk Shelley took with his wife, Mary, in Livorno, in north-west Italy.

Mary later described the circumstances that gave rise to the poem: ‘It was on a beautiful summer evening while wandering among the lanes whose myrtle hedges were the bowers of the fire-flies, that we heard the carolling of the skylark.’ The opening line of the poem gave Noel Coward the title for his play Blithe Spirit .

Shelley asks the bird to teach him just half the happiness the bird must know, in order to produce such beautiful music. If the skylark granted the poet his wish, he – Shelley – would start singing such delirious, harmonious music that the world would listen to him, much as he is listening, enraptured, to the skylark right now. We have analysed this poem here .

9. John Keats, ‘ Ode to a Nightingale ’.

My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk, Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk …

From its opening simile likening the poet’s mental state to the effects of drinking hemlock, to the poem’s later references to ‘a draught of vintage’ and ‘a beaker full of the warm South’, Keats’s ‘Ode to a Nightingale’ is one of the most drink-sodden poems produced by the entire Romantic period.

‘Ode to a Nightingale’ is about the poet’s experience of listening to the beautiful song of the nightingale. Keats has become intoxicated by the nightingale’s heartbreakingly beautiful song, and he feels as though he’d drunk the numbing poison hemlock or the similarly numbing (though less deadly) drug, opium. He is forgetting everything: it’s as though he’s heading to Lethe (‘Lethe-wards’, as in ‘towards Lethe’), the river of forgetfulness in Greek mythology.

The contrast between mortality and immortality, between the real world and the enchanted world the nightingale’s song seems to open a window onto (like one of those magic casements Keats refers to), is a key one for the poem. We have analysed this poem here .

10. Lord Byron, ‘ Darkness ’.

This poem was inspired by a curious incident: the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia, which drastically altered the weather conditions across the world and led to 1816 being branded ‘the Year without a Summer’. The same event also led to Byron’s trip to Lake Geneva and his ghost-story writing competition, which produced Mary Shelley’s masterpiece Frankenstein .

For Byron, the extermination of the sun seemed like a dream, yet it was ‘no dream’ but a strange and almost sublimely terrifying reality. Another example of the Romantic concept of the Sublime, brought to us by one of English Romanticism’s best-known figures. It begins:

I had a dream, which was not all a dream. The bright sun was extinguish’d, and the stars Did wander darkling in the eternal space, Rayless, and pathless, and the icy earth Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air; Morn came and went—and came, and brought no day …

10 thoughts on “10 of the Best Poems by English Romantic Poets”

There are several I need to read among these. I would add the Solitary reaper, by Wordsworth, and his sonnet Calm is all nature… (but really, selecting just a few of his is difficult – same as for Keats), Coleridge’s Dejection and some of keats’s sonnets, maybe What the lark said.

All excellent suggestions – this needs to be a top 20 list rather than top 10! I must blog about ‘The Solitary Reaper’ soon.

Byron’s ghost story competition produced not only ‘Frankenstein’ but ‘The Vampyre’ a novella by Dr John William Polidori (Byron’s personal physician) which if it did not invent,certainly introduced the Romantic Vampire (based on Lord Byron) to English literature, and was the origin of ‘Carmilla’, ‘Dracula’ and even possibly, sadly, Edward. I mention it because I feel poor Polidori never get the credit that was his due.

Indeed. I talk about Polidori’s short novel in my book, The Secret Library. One of a number of Gothic horror classics that have been somewhat written out of the history of the genre.

• Pingback: 10 dos melhores poemas de poetas românticos ingleses - Universo pro

I do so love “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”! My fav Keats poem is “Ode on a Grecian Urn”. It’s a fun one to teach.

• Pingback: 10 of the Best Poems by English Romantic Poets | collect magazine
• Pingback: #Sunday Post – 29th July, 2018 #Brainfluffbookblog | Brainfluff

The selection is an interesting one but Keats Ode on a Grecian Urn would have been more representative entry of him. I like this blog for a fair and easy touch with literature.

Just want to tell everyone the rainbow is what God made for Noah as a token that he promised noah that he would never destroy the world by flood ever again

Comments are closed.

Discover more from Interesting Literature

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Type your email…

Continue reading

British Literature Wiki

The Romantics

The romantic period.

One impulse from a vernal wood May teach you more of man, Of moral evil and of good, Than all the sages can. ~from “The Tables Turned,” William Wordsworth, 1798.

Background & Literature

Romanticism is the term applied to the literary and artistic movement that took place between 1785 and 1832 in Western Europe. Occurring in the context of the Industrial Revolution, the French Revolution, and the social, political, and economic changes that occurred following the Augustan Age , Romanticism moved away from an emphasis on the importance of an empirical, materilal worldview and looked to the imagination and nature as sources of insight. Writers expressed a great reverence for nature and believed that intuition, emotion, and imagination were more instructive than empiricism and reason. The Romantic Period overthrew the values instilled during the Augustan Age and strove to sever itself from the rigid writing styles of the ancient, classical examples of Virgil, Horace, and Homer. Instead, poets and authors were inspired to write in their own individual and creative voices.

Watch this video featuring professor Charles Robinson of the University of Delaware discussing the imagination in Romantic literature.

Here’s a discussion of the Romantics and their ideas of transcendence:

The Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was a transformation for Britain in the 18th century. In terms of economic growth and technological advances, England was the first country to become industrialized. Machines were changing the agricultural economy of the past that relied on manual labor to this new industrial economy. It led to larger cities, new products, and a better manufacturing process. The growing population, and consequently the growing literacy rate, would also prove to create a huge change in communication as well as politics, technology, religion and society in general. More . . .

The French Revolution

Beginning in 1789 and ending in 1799 the French Revolution played a crucial role in transforming the political and social systems in France. During the revolution, France changed from a monarchy to a republic of free citizens. This Drastic move not only changed the political and social systems, but it also has a huge impact on the literary world. Writers like William Blake saw the revolution as society falling back into perfection where people could express their own opinions. More . . .

The Enclosure Acts

Between 1760-1820, agricultural land in Britain was consolidated and made more compact. “Wasteful” land was then taken from Lords and villagers in order to increase the efficiency of farming, to increase the productivity of the land, and ultimately to increase profits. These Enclosure Acts had many effects on English society, including many Romantic writers. More. . .

Cultural and Literary Contexts

• Transitions from Augustan Literature to the Romantics
• Aeolian Harps and the Romantics
• The Romantics and the Sonnet
• The Coleridge-Wordsworth Friendship
• Political Unrest and Social Reform

Romantic Authors

• William Wordsworth
• William Blake
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge
• Percy Bysshe Shelley
• Jane Austen
• Mary Shelley
• William Hazlitt

Brians,Paul. “Romanticism.” 11 Mar. 1998. 6 Mar 2008 < http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/hum 303/romanticism.html>.

Goodvin, Renee. http://literaryexplorer.blondelibrarian.net/litpdstxt.html

“Industrial Revolution,” Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2007 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2007

“The Stour-Valley and the Church of Dedham”: https://sites.udel.edu/britlitwiki/files//2018/06/FileJohn_Constable_-_The_Stour-Valley_with_the_Church_of_Dedham_-_WGA5184.jpg

Robinson, Charles. Video Interview. Produced by Julie Wigley. May 2008.

Contributors: Alexandra Conway, Lauren Stotz, Julie Wigley

romanticism

What is romanticism definition, usage, and literary examples, romanticism definition.

Romanticism  (roe-MAN-tuh-SIZZ-um) was a literary movement that emphasized individualism and emotion. The Romantic era lasted from the end of the 18th century to the middle of the 19th century, but its effects are still evident throughout modern literature.

Romantic works were a reaction to the  Age of Enlightenment  and the advancing  Industrial Age , a time in which science and rationalization began to take firmer hold in the public consciousness. Romantic literature challenged this new wave of ideas by telling stories rooted in emotion, nature, idealism, and the subjective experiences of common men and women.

It’s important to note that romanticism, as a literary movement, is not the same thing as the literary genre of romance novels. Romanticism may be an influence on today’s romance novels, but romance novels do not typically possess all the elements central to Romantic-era literature. Also, the term  Romantic  does not refer directly to romantic love. It comes from the medieval French  romaunt , the term for an epic, chivalrous quest told in verse.

The History of Romanticism

Romantic literature emerged at a time when the world was undergoing a sea-change of thoughts and ideas. The Age of Enlightenment produced a new breed of philosophers and scientists who challenged long-held ideas about how humans thought, lived, and came to be. The Industrial Revolution, quite naturally, was hot on the heels of the Enlightenment. The ideas and theories formed in the latter now came to life in exciting new inventions that changed the way people lived and worked.

There is always some degree of nostalgia for “the old days” when new ways of life come into fashion, and it’s this phenomenon that gave birth to romanticism. The movement harkened back to a time when things were simpler and more straightforward. Life and literature depended on the heart and one’s more primitive emotions—not science or theory or overt religiosity.

The romantic movement began in Germany. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s  The Sorrows of Young Werther  was a seminal early romantic work infused with a sense of nationalism, which became a hallmark of German romanticism. As romanticism spread throughout Europe and beyond, however, it didn’t concern itself with any explicitly nationalist tendencies.

English romanticism began in Great Britain, with the emergence of poets like Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Lord Byron, and Percy Bysshe Shelley. The 1798 publication of  Lyrical Ballads  included works by Wordsworth and Coleridge and launched the English movement. During the peak of the English romantic era in the 1810s, the works of Jane Austen took centerstage.

Dark romanticism is a subset of romantic literature that also started in Germany. These works feature elements of the macabre, grotesque, or demonic. They are similar to gothic fiction, but while gothic works are largely horror-centric, the spookier elements of dark romanticism don’t overshadow the romantic characteristics. Dark romantic writers include E.T.A. Hoffmann, Edgar Allan Poe, and Nathaniel Hawthorne.

American romanticism generally held the same ideals as English romanticism: individualism; a rich, emotional, isolated life; the beauty of nature; and moral uprightness. One of the first notable American romantic works was William Cullen Bryant’s  poem  “To a Waterfowl” in 1818. Other American romantic authors, like Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, and Emily Dickinson, followed.

The Elements of Romanticism

There are six elements common to most romantic works: the common man, the idealization of women, individuality, isolation, nature, and pathetic fallacy.

The Common Man/Woman

Romantic writers felt that the average reader should be able to understand and enjoy their works. This sentiment often extended to the relatability of characters they created. Heathcliff Linton from Emily Brontë’s  Wuthering Heights , for example, is a servant; Charlotte Brontë’s titular protagonist in  Jane Eyre  is a governess. Virtually all of Jane Austen’s heroines were average young ladies, usually looking for love. While Romantic characters may have uncommon adventures or exceptional experiences, they are not larger-than-life personalities of towering might or intellect.

The Idealization of Women

The exception to the common woman in romantic literature was the idealized woman. Romantic writers would represent certain female characters as innocent, naïve bundles of perfection that needed sheltering and, in some cases, outright worship. Their admirers were nothing short of haunted by them. Take Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “ Annabel Lee ”:

For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes

And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side

Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,

In her sepulchre there by the sea—

In her tomb by the sounding sea.

Poe’s narrator puts his lover on a pedestal, enamored by her beauty and, in many ways, he was obsessed with their “love that was more than love.” Not even death can keep Poe’s narrator from loving and glorifying Annabel; he even insinuates that angels were so jealous of the love he and Annabel shared that they killed her.

Individuality

Characters and their internal lives were a priority for Romantic writers. They gave readers access to the characters’ innermost thoughts and desires, emphasizing the minutia that made them tick. This hyper-focus on subjective thoughts and experiences opened the doors for an increased perception of the spiritual—and, sometimes, the supernatural.

Wuthering Heights  is a classic example of Romantic individualism, most notably in Heathcliff. He is an example of a Byronic hero—a figure in Romantic literature who is miserable yet affectionate, moody yet proud and defiant. Heathcliff is so passionately in love with Cathy that even after her death, he can think only of being with her:

You know I was wild after she died; and eternally, from dawn to dawn, praying her to return to me her spirit! I have a strong faith in ghosts: I have a conviction that they can, and do, exist among us! The day she was buried, there came a fall of snow. In the evening I went to the churchyard. It blew bleak as winter—all round was solitary. I didn’t fear that her fool of a husband would wander up the glen so late; and no one else had business to bring them there. Being alone, and conscious two yards of loose earth was the sole barrier between us, I said to myself—“I’ll have her in my arms again!”

Heathcliff’s loss leads to become a tortured, vengeful man, and much of  Wuthering Heights  focuses on his evolution from a solitary youth to a besotted young man, to a bitter, heartbroken individual.

Isolation and its accompanying melancholy played a key role in the experiences of romantic characters and, often, their authors. This loneliness and estrangement from the rest of humanity gives the character a way to express the uniqueness of their experiences and thoughts.

John Clare, often called the quintessential romantic poet, wrote about the beauty of isolation and nature on the farm where he spent his life in the poem “I Am!”:

I am—yet what I am none cares or knows;

My friends forsake me like a memory lost:

I am the self-consumer of my woes—

They rise and vanish in oblivious host,

Like shadows in love’s frenzied stifled throes

And yet I am, and live…

Clare characterizes himself as a long-forgotten entity who receives no regard except from himself. As such, it’s almost as though he doesn’t even exist—his emotions dissipating to nothing for no one is there to experience them.

Nature was a source of endless inspiration and beauty for romantic writers. They often viewed nature as a teacher; a living, breathing entity; a god or goddess; or some combination of them all. For example, in the poem “Auguries of Innocence,” William Blake celebrates nature and its awe-inspiring majesty:

To see a world in a grain of sand,

And heaven in a wild flower,

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,

And eternity in an hour.

This kind of reverence for nature is what makes Mary Shelley’s  Frankenstein   a prominent example of romantic writing.

Pathetic Fallacy

This is an offshoot of the reverence for nature characteristic of romantic works. Pathetic fallacy is a type of personification where romantic writers attributed human feelings and thoughts to aspects of nature. In the poem “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud,” with the title itself giving human characteristics to a cloud, William Wordsworth writes about coming upon a field of daffodils:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee…

The Function of Romanticism

Literary romanticism honors universal human emotions like love, loss, triumph, and failure. These works did not center on bold religious statements or scientific theories; instead, they highlight a collective sense of morality and right versus wrong. They existed as accessible pieces of literature that featured the common man as a character to attract the common man as a reader. The result was that ordinary people were considered worthy of respect and even celebration. Romantic works also underscored the value of nature in the richness of the human experience, as well as the need for isolation to attain emotional or spiritual growth.

Romanticism and Other Literary Movements

Romanticism vs. Naturalism

Naturalist  works use scientific theories of observation and detachment to tell their stories. This approach is, in many ways, the opposite of romanticism, which concentrates on emotions, feelings, ideals, and the singularity of lived experiences.

Naturalist literature is usually gritty and intense, and outside forces like heredity and environment determine the fate of the characters. In romanticism, destiny and spiritual guidance influence what happens to the characters.

Romanticism vs. Realism

Realism  and naturalism share some qualities, but realism is more about writing style, whereas naturalism is a writing philosophy. Put another way: Realism is a technique to describe the way things are, and naturalism examines why things are the way they are.

Works of realism do not embellish, adorn, or attempt to romanticize characters, situations, or experiences; they reflect reality. Works of romanticism are typically idealist in nature, with a sentimentalized worldview and overly descriptive  prose .

Romanticism vs. Transcendentalism

Emotions drive romanticism, which places the movement somewhat at odds with the aims of transcendentalism. It is intuition, not emotion, that is the overarching theme for many transcendentalist works.

Transcendentalist writers believed that people and nature were innately good, and autonomy and independence were crucial for individual freedom. Again, this theory contrasts with romanticism, which often pits good characters against evil characters and features deep, sometimes obsessive, love and codependence.

Writers Known for Romanticism

• Jane Austen,  Pride and Prejudice ,  Sense and Sensibility
• William Blake,  Songs of Innocence and of Experience
• Charlotte Brontë,  Jane Eyre
• Emily Brontë,  Wuthering Heights
• Robert Burns, “A Red, Red Rose,” “To a Mouse”
• John Clare, “I Am!,” “Autumn”
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge,  The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
• James Fenimore Cooper,  Leatherstocking Tales ,  The Last of the Mohicans
• Emily Dickinson, “Because I Could Not Stop for Death,” “‘Hope’ Is the Thing with Feathers”
• Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,  The Sorrows of Young Werther
• Nathaniel Hawthorne,  The Scarlet Letter
• T.A. Hoffmann,  The Sandman
• Washington Irving,  The Legend of Sleepy Hollow ,  Rip Van Winkle
• John Keats, “Ode to a Nightingale”
• Lord Byron,  Don Juan
• Edgar Allan Poe, “Annabel Lee,”  “The Raven”
• Walter Scott,  Rob Roy ,  Ivanhoe
• Percy Bysshe Shelley,  “Ozymandias,”  “To a Skylark”
• Mary Shelley,  Frankenstein
• William Wordsworth, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud,” “The Prelude”

Examples of Romantic Literature

1. Edgar Allan Poe, “ The Raven ”

Poe’s 1845  poem  is about a man pining for his lost love, Lenore. Caught in a state between wakefulness and sleep, the man notices a raven perching on a bust over the door. He begins talking to this bird, who only ever utters the same word in response: “Nevermore.”

           Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer

Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.

           “Wretch,” I cried, “thy God hath lent thee—by these angels he hath sent thee

           Respite—respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore;

Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!”

           Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

Slowly, the narrator loses his grip on sanity and sees the bird as a supernatural visitor. In the above stanza, he hallucinates, thinking angels have sent the raven to make him forget Lenore.

2. Mary Shelley,  Frankenstein

Shelley’s 1818 novel centers on Dr. Victor Frankenstein and his attempts to reanimate a corpse. After his first successful experiments, Frankenstein reflects on his creation:

No one can conceive the variety of feelings which bore me onwards, like a hurricane, in the first enthusiasm of success. Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world. A new species would bless me as its creator and source, many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me. No father could claim the gratitude of his child so completely as I should deserve theirs. Pursuing these reflections, I thought, that if I could bestow animation upon lifeless matter, I might in process of time (although I now found it impossible) renew life where death had apparently devoted the body to corruption.

Frankenstein starts to feel guilty that he carelessly brought new life into the world, and he flees in disgust, ashamed of what he has done. This reaction leads to the novel’s devastating events, as the Creature seeks revenge against Frankenstein for creating him and then relegating him to the life of an outcast.

3. Emily Dickinson “‘Hope’ Is the Thing with Feathers”

Dickinson’s poem, published after her death, is a testament to hope:

“Hope” is the thing with feathers –

That perches in the soul –

And sings the tune without the words –

And never stops – at all –

And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard –

And sore must be the storm –

That could abash the little Bird

That kept so many warm –

I’ve heard it in the chillest land –

And on the strangest Sea –

Yet – never – in Extremity,

It asked a crumb – of me.

Dickinson imbues the short piece with many of the hallmarks of Romantic literature: a reverence for nature, a connection with emotions (in this case, a desire for comfort and optimism), personification of “the little Bird,” and a deep sense of isolation from the rest of the world.

Further Resources on Romanticism

SkyMinds has an in-depth look at  romanticism in art and literature .

The British Library explains the central ideas and influences of  British romanticism .

Pubstarr has a short video on  the Romantic Era  and its impact on art and literature.

The Britannica website discusses  romanticism in French literature .

A University of Houston website considers  romanticism  as a period, movement, style, and genre.

Related Terms

• Characterization
• Figurative Language
• Narrative Poem
• Perspective

The 23 Main Authors of Romanticism and their Works

The Authors of romance Major and most outstanding emerged in Europe at the end of the eighteenth century. They were the most important representatives and exponents of an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement that reached its greatest splendor between the years 1800 and 1850.

The emphasis on emotion, individualism, as well as the glorification of the past and nature were characteristic features of this movement, which tended towards the medieval rather than the classical.

Its emergence can be considered a reaction to the Industrial Revolution, the scientific rationalization of nature, and the aristocratic social rules during the Age of Enlightenment. Its most visible manifestations were in the visual arts, music and literature, although it also had an impact on historiography, education and the social sciences.

He shares his etymology with terms like romance and romance. In the middle of the eighteenth century, the term romantic had a similar meaning in both English and French (romantic versus romantique), both used to refer to the exaltation of natural phenomena such as landscapes and sunsets.

Romanticism extolled the figure of the hero or genius and emphasized his internal passions and challenges. The artist's conception as an extremely individualist creator whose creative spirit was more important than strict adherence to traditional rules and procedures was a hallmark of the period.

The movement arose in Germany, nevertheless they were authors Anglo-Saxons most prolific and celebrated during this period.

Who were the main exponents of Romanticism in English-speaking literature?

You may also like This list of western writers .

The main writers of Romanticism

1- jane austen.

(1775-1817) Filled with comedy, romance, wit and satire, the six novels of this English author were also a striking reflection of the social and territorial situation that England lived in her time.

He began to write being very young, with the constant support and promotion of his family and friends. His first work, Sense and Sensibility (1811) took ten years to be published. He followed Pride and Prejudice Two years later, which according to her own work would be preferred. His last two works would be published after his death at age 41.

You can know more about the author by reading the article" Jane Austen's Top 51 Phrases ".

William Blake

(1757-1827) This London author is known for being a poet, painter and original and creative thinker, but his work was virtually ignored while he lived. The third of six brothers, claimed to have been visited by bright angels in their childhood.

He designed a technique of visual poetry that combined his texts with illustrations of his own authorship. Among his works stand out The Marriage of Heaven and Hell and Songs of Innocence .

In" William Blake's Top 100 Phrases "You will know even better his work.

3- Charlotte Brontë

(1816-1855) Author renowned for her passionate novel Jane Eyre (1847), also published poems and three more novels. Born in England, third of six siblings, she was five years old when her mother died.

He spent part of his life devoted to teaching and his unbridled love for the director of the school where he worked inspired his novels Villette and The Professor .

4- Emily Brontë

(1818-1848) His most recognized work was Wuthering Heights (1847), but also wrote more than two hundred poems that were described by his sister Charlotte as"of a particularly wild, melancholy and uplifting musicality."

Supported by her sister, she published a collection of poems in 1846. After her early death due to tuberculosis, a novel she left unfinished was destroyed by Charlotte.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

(1806-1861) One of the most praised poetesses of her time. Born in England, she is best known for her work Sonnets from the Portuguese , A collection of love poems written for her husband Robert Browning. He died in Florence, Italy.

6- Robert Burns

(1759-1796) Born in Scotland, he received a good education in mathematics and English literature, although from an early age he had to serve on the family farm. His work Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect Was published in 1786 and gave him fame.

(1788-1824) Dedicated to freedom of thought and action, anarchic in his political stance and personal morality, the English poet and adventurer was the personification of the romantic hero.

After touring multiple Mediterranean countries, he returned home to publish Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1812), which was an instant success. It was Don Juan , Published in 1819, his most recognized work.

8- Lewis Carroll

(1832-1898) The pseudonym used by the English mathematician Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, which he used for the first time in publishing his famous children's novels.

His fondness for paradox and nonsense as well as his appreciation for childhood led him to write his most famous novel, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland In 1865 and its sequel, Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There In 1871.

9- Samuel Taylor Coleridge

(1772-1834) One of the most emblematic and controversial figures of the Romantic period. His career as a poet and writer was established after publishing Lyrical Ballads In 1798. His best-known work is The Rime of the Ancient Mariner .

10- Charles Dickens

(1812-1870) Author of 15 novels and countless essays and short stories, this celebrated English author generously promoted the careers of other novelists in his weekly columns and became involved in social issues. He stood out for writing about London and his grotesque and comic characters. Oliver Twist , Nicholas Nickleby , David Copperfield Y Big hopes Are among his most famous titles.

Discover with" Charles Dickens' Top 87 Phrases "The literary potential of this genius.

11- George Eliot

(1819-1880) It was the pseudonym of the novelist Mary Ann Evans. After a difficult childhood, managed to settle in London, where it was related to the poet George Henry Lewis, that motivated to write fiction. His most famous book, Middlemarch , Was published in eight episodes between 1871 and 1872.

12- Elizabeth Gaskell

(1810-1865) Better known as the author of Cranford and North and South , As well as for being the biographer of her friend Charlotte Brontë. His most famous works were written in reaction to the industrialization of Manchester, where he spent most of his life.

Following the tragic death of his young son in 1845, he took refuge in writing and published anonymously Mary Barton , A work praised by Charles Dickens.

13- Thomas Hardy

(1840-1928) Poet and novelist, is perhaps most famous for his powerful visual novels, worried about the inexorable human destiny. He retired from the architecture after publishing Far From The Madding Crowd In 1874. Between 1874 and 1895 he wrote more than a dozen novels and compilations of short stories.

14- John Keats

(1795-1821) Keats' poetic achievement in as little as six years can be classified as astonishing. However, during his lifetime, the critics were about to overthrow him.

His first poems received harsh criticisms, although in 1818, with Endymion , Achieved greater success. The second half of the century finally brought him fame, praised by Lord Tennyson, is today one of the most cited and beloved poets of the English language.

15- Christina Rossetti

(1830-1894) Her reputation as a lyrical poet who stood out for her direct and captivating style has grown over the years. Goblin market, In The Bleak Midwinter Y Remember Are today among the most appreciated English poems.

He learned to write poetry by imitation, experimenting with different styles of verse. He died of cancer in 1894 and his brother William published an almost complete collection of his poems entitled Poetical Works In 1904.

16- Mary Shelley

(1797-1851) Author of Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus , Was daughter of the radical philosopher William Godwin. At age 16 he fled to Italy with the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, who praised the irresistible and wild sublimity of feelings.

Both promoted the literary work of the other and were married in 1816. Frankenstein Is considered the first work of science fiction. It was based on the destructive nature of power when it encountered wealth. Its mythology lasts until our days.

17- Percy Bysshe Shelley

(1792-1822) Born in Sussex, England, he was the heir to his grandfather's considerable fortune as well as a position in parliament. He went to Eton College, where he began to write poetry, and to Oxford University.

His first published work was the gothic novel Zastrozzi In 1810. He married Mary Godwin, later named Mary Shelley. During the last years of his life, he produced his most notable works including The Masque of Anarchy .

18- Robert Louis Stevenson

(1850-1894) This Scottish novelist, essayist and poet is probably most famous for his children's book The island of the treasure . Educated as an engineer and later as a lawyer, he was always inclined towards writing.

He published several essays and dramas. Its fame grew after the publication in 1883 of The island of the treasure . Then he wrote and published The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde In 1886.

19- Alfred Lord Tennyson

(1809-1892) Considered the venerable master of Victorian poetry, famous for In Memoriam A.H.H., The Idylls of the King and Maud and Other Poems . The fourth of 12 children, born in Lincoln in 1809, attended Cambridge University.

His early novels received venomous critics, which disappointed him at first and then made him perfect his technique. His poems were inspired by even royalty, praised by Queen Victoria, who named him Baron in 1883.

20- Anthony Trollope

(1815-1882): One of the most prolific authors of the nineteenth century, his works include Barsetshire Chronicles And T He Way We Live Now . His illustration of ordinary life enlivened by humor won him the readers' affection and assured him continued popularity.

His extensive production is impressive given that at the same time he maintained a successful career in the postal service.

It produced 47 novels, an autobiography, two plays, short stories, travel books, articles, essays and speeches. Proud of his talent, he boasted of always having a pen at hand and giving himself to the work of writing, just as a mechanic or a shoemaker does.

21- H. G. Wells

(1866-1946) Acclaimed as a scientist and social prophet, Herbert George Wells was a prolific novelist, famous primarily for his science fiction works but also for his comic realism.

His zoological studies inspired him to write science fiction. The time Machine (1865) was the first of his very famous works and the pioneer of the genre called"scientific romance".

He lived to see the end of the Second World War and his defense of human rights had a definite influence on the formation of the United Nations.

22- Oscar Wilde

(1854-1900): Born in Dublin, Ireland, he was an exuberant and flamboyant playwright, poet and critic. He was a leading proponent of aesthetics, the controversial theory of art. He published his novel The Portrait of Dorian Gray In 1890 and fell in love with the very young Lord Alfred Douglas.

Since then he has lived a double life, publishing very successful social comedies, such as The Ideal Husband Y The importance of being called Ernesto At the same time that he spent his time visiting male brothels.

After being accused of indecent behavior, Wilde spent two years in prison, where he wrote two novels that were published after his death: De Profundis Y The Ballad of Reading Gaol . Ruined economically, repudiated by society and in poor health, he spent the rest of his life in Europe. He died in Paris on November 30, 1900, at 46 years of age.

Know the Best phrases and the work Of Oscar Wilde to know better the author.

23- William Wordsworth

(1770-1850) This English poet, born in Cockermouth, was inspired by the dramatic landscapes of the Lake District to write his poetry. Following the death of their parents, William and his sister Dorothy settled in the West Country, where they met the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, with whom he would publish Lyrical Ballads In 1798.

After receiving payment of a debt to his father, the poet was able to marry and settle. He continued his poetic work, publishing The Excursion In 1814 and The river Duddon In 1820, although the conservative of his work at this stage annoyed his more radical friends. After his death in 1850 he published his autobiographical poem The Prelude , In which he worked since 1798.

Recent Posts

Romanticism in English Literature | Characteristics of romanticism

Romanticism was a wide artistic and intellectual tendency that emerged in the late eighteenth century and reached its peak during the early Nineteenth Century. Romanticism was in a way a response to the absence of human passion and emotions of the Enli ghtenmen t and Neoclassicism.

Neoclassicism stressed on decorum, reason, and rationality, in contrast, romanticism stressed on subjectivity, passion, and feelings. Romanticism dismissed neoclassicism by producing a work of art that was very subjective and emotional. The aims of romanticism comprised an extreme concentration on individuality, worship of nature, which was projected as a massive repository of symbols, of human feelings and desires, and of naturalness. Generally, the Romantic period is noticeable for some major disruptions for instance the French Revolution, Industrial Revolution, the rise of nationalism, and so on. 

Table of Contents

The French Revolution and Romanticism:

The French Revolution played a big part in impacting Romantic writers. As the revolution started to escalate, the autocratic kingship that had governed France for years fell down in just three years. This led to a complete change in society. Before the French Revolution, compositions and literature were generally written about and to noblemen and churchmen and hardly ever for and about the common man. But when the monarchy collapsed due to the French Revolution, and with the arrival of Romantic writers, the way of writing literature also changed. Romantic poets such as Wordsworth , Coleridge , Shelley, and Byron began writing for the common man. 

Read More: Summary of Preface to Lyrical Ballads

Industrial Revolution and Romanticism:

In reaction to the growing cities and industrialization in Britain, romantic writers produced works determined by and in condemnation of the Industrial Revolution. For example, Shelley in his poem “Ode to the West Wind” spoke against the cruelty of urbanization. In this poem, the wind, which symbolizes Mother Nature and its seasonal variation, gives birth to life wherever it goes. On the other hand, the industrial revolution with its low living conditions, ill-treatment of children, and demolition of nature bring downfall wherever it goes. In his poem “The Chimney Sweeper” Blake gives importance to the child-like and innocent satisfaction that turns up from nature. The children are rescued from the laborious work as chimney sweepers by an angel, who rescues them to nature. This depicts that nature is the only place where we can escape from the cruelty of this industrial revolution. 

Read More: Hellenism in John Keats’s poetry

Characteristics of Romanticism

Many romantic thinkers such as William Blake, William Wordsworth , and P.B Shelley rebel against the industrialized, ambitious pattern of cities to what Shelley entitled the ideals of “unity” and “ calculation” . Instead, for spiritual relaxation, romanticists shifted to nature, to Rousseauistic ideals of basic, primary, and pure lifestyle. Wordsworth maintained that the poet should use the language of rustic life. Wordsworth, together with William Blake and S. T Coleridge, glorified the innocence of childhood and revived old forms of verse namely the ballad and the folktale.   

The concept of nature for the romantics was completely different from that of the neoclassicists. For the neoclassicists, the term “nature” intended ‘general human nature’ or the universal characteristics of men of all time. For them, it might also signify the everlasting, irreversible, and principle order of the universe. But for the romantic thinkers, nature was transformed into a living power that interconnects all things. According to Coleridge, nature was a “language of God”.  

Read More: A Tale of Two Cities as a Historical Novel

Major Romantic Poets and their works:

The first leading representative of English Romanticism was William Blake. According to him, the world in which we live is full of oppositional forces and contradictions and it is the poet’s job to harmonize. But the English Romantic Movement reached its highest level in the works of William Wordsworth and S.T Coleridge. 

Read More: Coleridge’s concept of imagination

William Wordsworth: Wordsworth’s “ Pr eface to Lyrical Ballads ” can be considered as a manifesto of the Romantic Movement. In this work, Wordsworth maintained that poetry is that feeling and emotion which is spontaneous and it should employ the language of rural life. Wordsworth rejected the neoclassicists who focused more on reason, decorum, and order instead he emphasized more on subjectivity, emotion, and feelings. Wordsworth felt that neoclassical poetry was beyond the understanding of common people and their language was extremely pretentious and refined. Accordingly, Wordsworth proposed a new kind of language i.e. the language of humble and rustic people. Some famous romantic poems by Wordsworth were “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” , “The Prelude” , “Lines written a few Miles Tintern Abbey” , “The Solitary Reaper” and so on. 

Samuel Taylor Coleridge : In his most influential work “ Biographia Literaria” , Coleridge analyzed his concept of imagination and fancy . According to him, there are chiefly two kinds of imagination: primary imagination and secondary imagination. Primary imagination functions in our daily perception, uniting the diverse inputs collected through the senses. This primary imagination assists us to formulate an understandable outlook of the world. On the contrary, the secondary imagination is creative. It creates new combinations and syntheses. Some famous romantic poems by Coleridge were “ The Rime of the Ancient Mariner ”, “ Kubla Khan ”, “ Dejection: An Ode” and so on. 

Characteristics of Romantic poetry:

• Romantic Poetry is the intense and creative expression of the unconstrained and spontaneous feeling in man. At the same time, romantic poetry is related not with a man in his pretended, unnatural, boasting social life but with a man in his basic modesty, simplicity, innocence, and untouched by the good and bad of society. Hence, romantics such as Wordsworth and Coleridge greatly idealized childhood and often used it as a subject matter in their poetry. 
• Nature is the dominant theme of romantic poetry. Romantic poets approach nature as a living spirit. To Shelley and Wordsworth, nature appears to have been imbued with a soul that connects all things and circumstances and provides the objects a continuation and a movement. 
• The elements of nature are shown in romantic poetry not only as the framework or backdrop to convey human impression and sentiment but as an infinite source of delight and pleasure. Nature is not only a living spirit but also a teacher, guide, and protector. Wordsworth defines the role of nature as an educator of man:

“Knowing that Nature never did betray

The heart that loved her-

One impulse from a vernal wood

May teach you more of man

Of moral evil and of good,

Than all the sages can.”

• Justify the title Pride and Prejudice
• The use of irony in Austen’s Pride and Prejudice
• Women Characters in Pride and Prejudice
• The Monk in “The Canterbury Tales”
• Charles Lamb as an essayist

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

• school Campus Bookshelves
• menu_book Bookshelves
• perm_media Learning Objects
• login Login
• how_to_reg Request Instructor Account
• hub Instructor Commons
• Download Page (PDF)
• Download Full Book (PDF)
• Periodic Table
• Physics Constants
• Scientific Calculator
• Reference & Cite
• Tools expand_more
• Readability

selected template will load here

This action is not available.

1.1: Introduction to the Romantic Period

• Last updated
• Save as PDF
• Page ID 138833

Learning Objectives

• Trace the political and philosophical roots of Romanticism.
• Compare and contrast neoclassicism and Romanticism.
• List and define characteristics of Romanticism.
• Explain the significance of Wordsworth’s and Coleridge’s 1798  Lyrical Ballads , and outline the major tenets of Wordsworth’s 1802 Preface to  Lyrical Ballads .
• List, define, and give examples of typical forms of Romantic literature.

The Roots of Romanticism

Tintern Abbey and the River Wye in Tintern, Wales.

Often the term  Romantic  literature, particularly poetry, evokes the connotation of nature poetry. Although nature is an important component in much Romantic literature, Romanticism is much more than recording the beauties of the natural world. And  Romanticism  is certainly not what modern readers usually think of when we hear the words  romance  and  romantic ; Romanticism does not refer to romantic love.

Romanticism  grew from a profound change in the way people in the Western world perceived their place and purpose in life. Events such as the American Revolution in 1776, the  French Revolution  in 1789, and the  Industrial Revolution  restructured society and the way individuals viewed themselves and their relationship to each other and to the social order.

In the late 18th and early 19th century, concepts such as the Great Chain of Being, which had long represented the way humans thought of themselves and their roles in society, crumbled in the wake of new ideas about democracy. Rather than placing themselves above or below other individuals in a hierarchy, people began to believe that all men are created equal. Although it took more time to be accepted, the idea that women and people of color are also created equal germinated in the fertile environment of democratic ideals.

Nature and Spirit

European philosophers such as  Rousseau  and  Spinoza  maintain that innocence and the potential for human goodness are found in nature; human institutions, such as governments, produce pride, greed, and inequality. Thus nature, and people close to nature, becomes the ideal for Romantic writers.

Nature takes on additional significance with the ideas of philosophers such as  Schelling  who posits an identity of mind and nature: “Nature is visible spirit.…” For poets such as Wordsworth and Coleridge, nature is a source of divine revelation, a visible veil through which God may be discerned. For others such as Shelley, nature is the means to tapping into the collective power of the human mind, what American writer Ralph Waldo Emerson refers to as the Over-Soul. Nature is the source of human innocence and goodness because nature is a manifestation of the Divine.

For Romantic writers, then, the source of poetry is not a conscious crafting of lines of a certain number of syllables in a certain metrical pattern and rhyme scheme, like the 18th-century heroic couplet. Instead, the source of literature is the inspiration that comes from connecting, through nature, with the divine or the transcendental properties of the human mind. Romantic writers use the term  Imagination  to refer to this connection. The power of God to create nature is parallel to the poet’s power to create through the Imagination. In his  A Defence of Poetry , Percy Bysshe Shelley states that the Imagination “strips the veil of familiarity from the world, and lays bare the naked and sleeping beauty, which is the spirit of its forms.” In his “Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey,” Wordsworth writes of “A motion and a spirit, that impels / All thinking things…” that he finds in nature. In his “The Eolian Harp,” Coleridge pictures all of nature, including humans, as harps creating music when touched by the breeze of Imagination, the “One life” that is “in us and abroad.”

Sturm und Drang

One facet of Romanticism also recognizes the dark side of the human mind. Originating in Germany, the  Sturm und Drang  (usually translated “storm and stress”) movement pictures an anti-hero, a character dark in appearance, mood, and thought, in rebellion against the restrictions of society.  Ann Radcliffe  and others wrote  Gothic novels  that typically feature picturesque yet haunted medieval castles and ruins, supernatural elements, death, madness, and terror. Gothic elements appear in many Romantic works: Heathcliff and the ghost of Catherine in Emily Brontë’s  Wuthering Heights , the mad wife in Charlotte Brontë’s  Jane Eyre , Mary Shelley’s  Frankenstein . Jane Austen’s  Northanger Abbey  delightfully parodies the Gothic novel. In poetry, Byron’s narrative poems feature dark, brooding anti-heroes called Byronic heroes, a role Byron played himself in his personal life. The Tate Britain provides  an online tour  through a previous exhibit of paintings that illustrate Romantic Gothic art.

Romanticism and Neoclassicism

Romanticism is a reaction against many facets of Neoclassicism. The following chart lists contrasting views of Neoclassicism and Romanticism.

Characteristics of Romantic Literature

• medievalism —Rather than looking for forms and subject matter from classical literature, Romantic-era writers prefer nostalgic views of the Middle Ages as a simple, less complicated time not troubled by the complexities and divisive issues of industrialization and urbanization. Often a Romantic medieval vision is not realistic, ignoring the violence and harshness of the Middle Ages with its religious persecution, political wars, poverty among the lower classes in favor of a fairy tale view of knights in shining armor rescuing beautiful damsels in distress. Or, from another perspective, the castles and mysterious aura of the so-called Dark Ages provide an ideal setting for Gothic literature.
• mysticism —Romantic mysticism is the belief that the physical world of nature is a revelation of a spiritual or transcendental presence in the universe. Mysticism is not pantheism (worshipping nature). Romantic writers would worship not the tree, but the spiritual, sublime element manifested by the tree. Romantic literature, particularly poetry, is often characterized as nature poetry; mysticism explains the evident love of nature. Romantic writers love nature not only for its beauty but primarily because it is an expression of spirituality and the Imagination.
• sensibility —When Jane Austen titled her novel  Sense and Sensibility , she set up the dichotomy between rationalism and the emotional enthusiasm that was a reaction, often an exaggerated reaction, to the reason and logic prized in neoclassicism. In his  Preface to Lyrical Ballads , Wordsworth defined poetry as the “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.” The overwhelming emotional reaction to nature seen in Wordsworth’s poetry, the emotional sensitivity to other individuals and their circumstances, particularly those from the lower socio-economic classes, and the supernatural evocation of terror in Gothic literature all are expressions of sensibility.
• primitivism and individualism —Arising from two sources, philosophical theories that posit innocence is found in nature and the ideals of democracy, Romanticism values the primitive individual, the person who does not have the artificial manners of high society, the cultivated façade of the aristocracy. Individuals who are closer to nature are better able to recognize and exemplify goodness and spiritual discernment. Wordsworth espouses the common man and incidents from ordinary life as the appropriate subject for poetry. Romanticism places the individual in the center of life and experience.

Lyrical Ballads

Lyrical Ballads  is a collection of poems written and jointly published by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1798. The volume is of such importance that its 1798 publication date is often considered the beginning of the Romantic Period. The poetry in  Lyrical Ballads  marks a distinct change in both subject matter and style from the poetry of the 18th century.

William Wordsworth’s Preface to  Lyrical Ballads

In the 1802 edition of  Lyrical Ballads  Wordsworth includes a  Preface , an introductory explanation, to  Lyrical Ballads  to explain his theory of how poetry should be written.

The following points from the Preface delineate the characteristics that make these poems markedly different from poetry of the preceding century:

The language of poetry should be real language spoken by common people.

During the 18th century, many poets used what Wordsworth called “poetic diction,” flowery or ornate words for ordinary things such as feathery flock instead of birds or finny tribe instead of fish. Wordsworth protests that people don’t use such expressions; therefore poetry shouldn’t either. Notice also that much of Wordsworth’s poetry rejects the uniform stanzas and line lengths that were popular in the 18th century. Much of his poetry is free in form—lines and stanzas of varying lengths in the same poem, more like the “selection of language really used by men.”

The subject of poetry should be events from the real lives of common people.

Wordsworth believes that common, ordinary situations are worthy topics for poems, events such as farmers plowing their fields. He further believes that through the Imagination he could make his audience more aware of the significance of common scenes that they might otherwise take for granted.

• “ All good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings ” and “takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.” Thus Wordsworth identifies sensibility rather than reason as the source of poetry.
• A poet is a “man speaking to men” but an individual who is extraordinarily perceptive.  Wordsworth believes that the power of the Imagination enables poets to perceive the spiritual dimension found in the ordinary, in, as Coleridge says, all of animate nature. Sensibility allows the poet to understand and to convey the inner being of man and nature.

Forms of Literature

A  novel , as famously defined in the Holman/Harmon  Handbook to Literature , is an “extended fictional prose narrative.” The novel flourished in the Romantic Period, encompassing novels previously listed by Anne Brontë, Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë, Mary Shelley, and Ann Radcliffe;  Sir Walter Scott ‘s historical novels, known as the Waverly Novels, set in medieval times and glorifying Scottish nationalism; and Jane Austen’s novels of manners, portraying the genteel country life of the Regency era.

Lyric Poetry

A  lyric  is a brief poem, expressing emotion, imagination, and meditative thought, usually stanzaic in form.

Romantic Ode

As used in the Romantic Period, the  ode  is a lyric poem longer than usual lyrics, often on a more serious topic, usually meditative and philosophic in tone and subject.

A  ballad  is a narrative poem or song. Ballads originated as songs that were part of an oral culture, usually simple and regular in rhythm and rhyme. The typical ballad stanza is 4 lines rhyming abab. Because of their simplicity and their role as part of folk culture, ballads were popular with many Romantic writers.

Key Takeaways

• Romanticism grew from a political and philosophical milieu which promoted democracy, equated nature and spirit, and valued sensibility over reason.
• Lyrical Ballads , published in 1798, is often considered the beginning of the Romantic period because Wordsworth’s and Coleridge’s poetry marks a distinct change in form and subject matter from neoclassical poetry.
• In his Preface to the 1802 edition of  Lyrical Ballads , Wordsworth delineates the principles that define Romanticism and distinguish Romantic poetry from neoclassical poetry.
• Important forms of Romantic literature are the novel, lyric poetry, odes, and ballads.

General Information

• British Women Romantic Poets 1789–1832 . University of California, Davis. an electronic collection of texts.
• “ Nineteenth-Century Literature .”  Literary History.com . Jan Pridmore.
• Romantic Circles . Neil Fraistat and Steven E. Jones, editors. University of Maryland.
• “ Romanticism .”  I Hear America Singing . Profiles: Artists, Movements, Ideas. Thomas Hampson. PBS.
• “ Romanticism .” Lilia Melani. English Department. Brooklyn College. City University of New York.
• Women Poets of the Romantic Period 1770–1839 . Special Collections. University Libraries. University of Colorado at Boulder.

French Revolution

• “ The French Revolution .”  The National Archives .

Industrial Revolution

• “ 1770s .” English Language and Literature Timeline. British Library.
• “ The British Industrial Revolution .” Pamela E. Mack. Clemson University.
• “ Child Labor .”  The Victorian Web . David Cody. Hartwick College.
• “ The Life of the Industrial Worker in Nineteenth-Century England .”  The Victorian Web . Laura Del Col. West Virginia University.

Gothic Novels

• “ Ann Radcliffe: An Evaluation .”  The Victorian Web . David Cody. Hartwick College.
• “ Gothic Nightmares: Fuseli, Blake, and the Romantic Imagination .” Tate Britain. images of paintings in the Tate Britain museum displayed for an exhibit on Romantic Gothic art.
• Mary Shelley’s Hand-Written Draft of Frankenstein .  Shelley’s Ghost: Reshaping the Image of a Literary Family . Bodleian Libraries. Oxford University Exhibit in partnership with the New York Public Library. virtual book with turnable pages and slideshow.
• “ Sublime Anxiety: The Gothic Family and The Outsider .” University of Virginia Library.
• “ Lyrical Ballads .” Dove Cottage and the Wordsworth Museum. Wordsworth Trust.
• “ Lyric .”  Literary Terms and Definitions . Dr. L. Kip Wheeler. Carson-Newman College.
• “ Lyric .”  The UVic Writer’s Guide . The Department of English. University of Victoria.
• “ The Meditative Romantic Ode .” Lilia Melani. English Department. Brooklyn College. City University of New York.
• “ Novel .”  The UVic Writer’s Guide . The Department of English. University of Victoria.
• “ Ode .”  Literary Terms and Definitions . Dr. L. Kip Wheeler. Carson-Newman College.
• “ Ode .”  The UVic Writer’s Guide . The Department of English. University of Victoria.

Join Discovery, the new community for book lovers

Trust book recommendations from real people, not robots 🤓

Blog – Posted on Tuesday, Mar 19

The 25 best romance authors (and their most swoonworthy reads).

Romance is one of the most popular genres in literature today, both for readers and writers of romance novels . And it’s no wonder why: romance is exciting, sexy, and compulsively readable. Luckily, there are tons more books coming out all the time! So to help you get a handle on the genre, we’ve compiled this guide to the 25 best romance authors, along with the love stories they’ve written that are sure to make you swoon. 😍 (By the way, the list is in alphabetical order, so if you’re searching for your own favorite author, you’ll know exactly where to look.)

If you're feeling overwhelmed by the number of great romance authors out there, you can also take our 30-second quiz below to narrow it down quickly and get a personalized romance book recommendation  😉

Which romance novel should you read next?

Discover the perfect romance book for you. Takes 30 seconds!

Carolyn Brown

Brown has been writing romance for twenty years now — her debut novel Love Is came out in 1999. Since then, she’s produced a great deal of both contemporary and historical romance. However, Brown’s real niche is cowboy romance: stories that are typically set in the southern United States and feature a tall, dark, troubled rancher. Meanwhile, the strong-minded heroine isn’t looking for love — she’s too focused on her child, and/or trying to shake the memories of a good-for-nothing ex — but damn if she doesn’t find it under the boiling hot Texas (or Tennessee or Oklahoma) sun after all.

Must-read: Long, Hot Texas Summer

When Loretta Bailey caught her husband Jackson kissing another woman, she turned her back on Lonesome Canyon Ranch forever. That was seventeen years ago… and now Loretta and Jackson’s daughter wants to drop out of college to marry a rancher. Naturally, Loretta is dead-set against the idea. But in order to combat it, she’ll have to return to the ranch and work together with Jackson, who’s just as wily (and devilishly handsome) as ever.

Catherine Bybee

Bybee is the queen of Amazon’s contemporary romance charts, with her bestselling Weekday Brides and Not Quite series (and their spinoffs). She also dabbles in historical and paranormal romance , and is especially skilled at synthesizing her own traumatic experiences into her work: not only is she a survivor of child abuse, she also endured a terrible accident when she was working as an ER nurse. Bybee began to write during her recovery, remembering the solace that romance books and love stories brought her when she was young — and eventually turned out some of best titles on the market today.

Must-read: Wife by Wednesday ( Weekday Brides #1)

Wife By Wednesday introduces us to Samantha Elliot, the head of a matchmaking firm consulted by millionaire Blake Harrison… who’s intent on having Sam pose as his wife. And though Sam never meant to matchmake herself , how can she resist his $10 million offer? But while their deal is supposed to be all appearances, Sam finds herself confusingly attracted to Blake, which spells double trouble when his ex gets involved.

Looking for something new to read?

Trust real people, not robots, to give you book recommendations.

Or sign up with an email address

Since 1980, Carr has made quite a name for herself in romance — particularly with her Virgin River series, which follows various love affairs unfolding at a forest outpost in California. From the gruff marine who gets in touch with his softer side to the burned-out sous chef who has to contend with a pretty steamy dish (if you know what we mean), Virgin River supplies a stream of near-endless romantic possibilities. Not to mention it’s slated for a Netflix series starring Alexandra Breckenridge !

Must-read: Virgin River ( Virgin River #1)

After unexpectedly becoming a widower in her thirties, nurse practitioner Melinda Monroe jumps at the chance to move to woodsy, secluded Virgin River, only to realize it’s not what she expected. Between her shabby accommodations and the local doctor’s icy attitude, Mel’s just about ready to pick up and leave — until she meets a retired marine who convinces her to stay.

Alyssa Cole

Alyssa Cole is a uniquely impressive contributor to the historical romance subgenre. She specializes in American Revolution and Civil War-era stories, and has done wonders for diversity in romance: many of her characters are women of color, and much of the drama in her narratives stems from the challenges of interracial love and marriage in the past.

Must-read: An Extraordinary Union

This award-winning novel takes place during the Civil War and follows Elle Burns, a former slave who goes undercover to spy for the Union. She soon meets Malcolm McCall, a Pinkerton detective who shares her motives to bring down the Confederacy… but their political inclinations aren’t the only mutual feeling between them. When things start to become truly dangerous, Elle and Malcolm must decide what’s most important: their country or their love.

Lauren Dane

Lauren Dane is a New York Times and USA Today bestseller, known for her Brown Family and Chase Brothers series. Dane began writing in 2005 and has since turned out over 60 books. (Yes, you read that correctly!) Besides being one of the most prolific authors on this list, she’s also one of the most risqué — so if you like your romance on the steamier side, consider adding her to your list.

Must-read: Laid Bare ( Brown Family #1)

Seriously, hold onto your hats because this one is shamelessly immodest. Laid Bare begins with police officer Todd Keenan and rock musician Erin Brown, whose old flame is rekindled when they meet again in Seattle… but which threatens to burn them up after a ménage à trois with one of Todd’s best friends. There’s no telling where this relationship of sorts will lead, but one thing is for sure: it’s going to be one wild hell of a ride.

Tessa Dare is another NYT bestseller, but in a very different category: classic “bodice rippers” that focus more on smoldering sexual tension itself than the resolution of said tension. Indeed, Dare’s titles clearly indicate her propensity for Regency romance — from Romancing the Duke to Say Yes to the Marquess , her books are the perfect form of escapism into another time and place.

Must-read: Do You Want to Start a Scandal ( Castles Ever After #4)

This one is part history, part mystery, part love story! At the Parkhurst ball, young Charlotte Highwood is implicated in a scandal that makes it look as though she’s involved with Piers Brandon, Lord Granville — and now she’ll have to marry him if she can’t prove her innocence. Which would be inconvenient indeed, since she doesn’t even like the guy. But as the two of them set out to uncover the true scandal-makers, Piers proves himself a surprisingly useful accomplice. Soon Charlotte’s growing attraction to him makes her wonder if she even wants to complete their mission…

Madison Faye

For a quick rebound to the erotic, Madison Faye’s books are even more salacious than Lauren Dane’s. If you were a fan of Anne Rice’s Sleeping Beauty Quartet , you’ll love Faye’s similarly sexy fairytales: a series of five works fittingly titled Possessing Beauty . Or if fairytale retellings aren’t your thing, you can always turn to Dirty Bad Things or Her Daddies (again, you read that correctly), two other mega-popular works by Faye. Hailed as “quick and filthy,” these white-hot erotic romances will just about melt your Kindle clean away.

Must-read: Beasting Beauty ( Possessing Beauty #1)

Logan is the callous, cursed Prince of Torsund. Isla is the sweet youngest princess of Avlion. When they meet at a ball held by her father, sparks fly — and clothing flies off. Logan certainly is a beast in the bedroom, but that doesn’t mean Isla can’t find a way to tame him. Sweet, sexy, and savage all at once, this just-under-100-page novella is the perfect remedy to spice up a regular night in.

Pippa Grant

Pippa Grant is another reigning ruler of the Amazon charts whose specialty is, for lack of a better term, total jerks. The heroes in her stories are anything but heroic: we’re talking possessive exes, egocentric hockey players, and horrible bosses. Or at least they start off that way. With the help of their leading ladies — who are sometimes sweet, sometimes saucy, but always totally irresistible to the main guy — they turn over a new leaf and become much better humans . How’s that for an HEA? (Romance slang for “happily ever after.”)

Must-read: The Pilot and the Puck-Up

NHL player Zeus Berger is as cocky as his Greek god namesake, and he’s never failed to satisfy a woman… until he meets Joey Diamonte, former military special ops pilot and self-made businesswoman, who matches him in confidence and thoroughly surpasses him in smoothness. Unfortunately, their first encounter doesn’t quite go as Zeus planned. Now determined to prove to Joey that he’s more than one-night-stand material, Zeus will try anything to show her what he’s made of (besides muscle, that is).

Lorraine Heath

Lorraine Heath is an absolute staple of the romance genre. Since 2001, she’s turned out over a dozen different series in every subgenre from historical to paranormal. However, despite their quantity, her works never sacrifice quality — Heath has been especially praised for the genuine emotional depth and strong characterization in her writing. So if you’re looking for story-based drama rather than its cousin smut, you can’t go wrong with Heath's love stories.

Must-read: In Bed with the Devil ( Scoundrels of St, James #1)

Lucian Langdon, aka Luke, is scorned in London as the “devil earl” for his atrocious reputation. Lady Catherine Mabry needs help so desperately that she’s willing to strike a deal with him. Thus begins their relationship as co-conspirators… which of course, soon turns into something more. The delicious slow burn between the scoundrel and the lady also includes a pretty meaty social plot, peppered with plenty of tongue-in-cheek Dickens references .

Beverly Jenkins

Jenkins is a true trailblazer of diverse romance — she’s been writing since the nineties, and her books almost always feature African-American main couples, often set in times when that experience was overlooked. However, Jenkins makes a point of not writing exclusively about slavery. In order to represent a genuinely wide range of black history, most of her books take place between the Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil Rights Movement.

Must-read: Bring on the Blessings ( Blessings #1)

Though Jenkins is known for (and very talented at spinning!) her historical romances, this contemporary work is a great intro for first-time readers. In Bring on the Blessings , 52-year-old Bernadine Brown takes her wealthy, adulterous husband to court — and wins. A $275 million settlement, to be exact.

Adamant to “pay forward” her good fortune, Bernadine decides that her next project of choice won’t just be one man, but an entire town: Henry Adams, Kansas, which was founded by freed slaves after the Civil War. After purchasing Henry Adams on the Internet, Bernadine must work together with its stubborn mayor Trent July to bring the town back to its former glory… and perhaps find some glory in each other as well.

Lisa Kleypas

When it comes to historical romance, no one quite compares to Kleypas: she started writing in 1985, when she was only 21 years old, and hasn’t looked back since. Beginning with a few quick duologies, Kleypas eventually escalated to elaborate multi-book series, her most famous being The Wallflowers and The Hathaways . These books follow the members of various families in mid-19th century London as they attempt to find love in one way or another. Each story is also wrapped in a well-woven tapestry of historical context; indeed, one of Kleypas’ greatest strengths is her intimate knowledge of the era.

Must-read: Mine Till Midnight ( The Hathaways #1)

Amelia Hathaway has an awful lot on her plate. She’s figuring out her place in aristocratic society (which she’s just joined after a surprise inheritance), taming her wild younger siblings, and most recently dealing with her feelings for upper-class bad boy Cam Rohan. Cam, like Amelia, comes from not-so-noble stock — unlike her, however, he longs to return to it. This plan is complicated by only one thing: his desire for Amelia. And when she asks him for help in a sticky situation, he can’t say no to her…

Lauren Landish

Landish specializes in “sexy-as-hell book boyfriends,” as she says on her Goodreads page — one look at her rippling-muscle covers and you know you’re in for a good time. Her works can get pretty explicit, but she’s also got plenty of fun romantic devices to keep readers happy: meet-cutes, fake relationships, and reunited high school sweethearts abound, especially in the stunningly sexy Irresistible Bachelors series.

Must-read: Mr. Fixit ( Irresistible Bachelors #5)

Expert handyman Caleb Strong ( get it? because he’s strong? ) and Cassie White have been friends for over a year now, ever since they met in Hawaii. So when Cassie needs help renovating her childhood home, it’s only natural that she turn to Caleb. But actually having to watch him work proves a challenge in the self-control department… especially when she starts fantasizing about him working on something else. In other words, this book is pretty much the written equivalent of that Fifth Harmony song — if you liked that video, you’ll love Mr. Fixit .

Adriana Locke

On the other hand, if you prefer flawed, vulnerable heroes to totally confident ones, Adriana Locke might be more your speed. Locke has been in the romance business for just a few years, but she’s already turned out numerous series full of bad-boys-with-serious-damage (though of course, none of that stops them from eventually finding love).

Must-read: Crank ( Laundry Family #7, Gibson Boys #1)

Sienna Landry gets off to a bit of a rocky start with small-town mechanic Walker Gibson — namely, she busts up the front of his truck. For a guy like Walker, there’s nothing worse… except maybe the attraction he feels to this girl who’s just destroyed his most prized possession. Conflicted over Sienna in more ways than one, Walker still can’t seem to avoid her, and the shimmering tension between them mounts until it’s practically leaping off the page. But there’s something he’s not telling her — not least because he doesn’t want to think about it himself.

Julianne MacLean

Julianne MacLean (not to be confused with the next entry on our list) writes primarily historical romance, though she’s also branched out into contemporary on occasion. She’s best known for her American Heiress and Pembroke Palace series, which are sure to please fans of Downton Abbey and other early 20th century tales. Or if you’re a fan of Outlander , check out her excellent Highlander trilogy: a slow, sexy burn that includes Captured by the Highlander, Claimed by the Highlander, and Seduced by the Highlander .

Must-read: The Color of Heaven ( Color of Heaven #1)

Like Jenkins’ Bring on the Blessings , MacLean’s Color of Heaven series doesn’t exactly represent her larger body of work. However, it’s a good entry point for new readers — if also quite an emotional one. The Color of Heaven follows Sophie Duncan, a woman whose life goes off the rails when her daughter is diagnosed with leukemia and her husband cheats on her. But after a terrible accident, Sophie’s eyes open to everything she does still have, and she embarks on a newly buoyant journey of life, love, and revelation.

Sarah MacLean

Sarah MacLean has also found her niche in historical romance, but of a more traditional sort: she tends to stick to the Regency/Victorian periods, and she’s absolutely mastered the niche. As the author of over a dozen high-profile historical romances, and winner of several awards given by the Romance Writers of America, she’s one of the leading voices in the romance genre. Along with Lisa Kleypas (and Julia Quinn and Nora Roberts, both of whom we’ll get to soon), Sarah MacLean is essentially a founding mother of the historical subgenre as we know it today.

Must-read: Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake ( Love by the Numbers #1)

Lady Calpurnia Hartwell is sick and tired of her title, especially since she’s never been able to live up to it. She’s more than ready to break the rules of ladyhood… but she can’t do it alone. And who better to recruit as her “accomplice” (the Regency equivalent of friends-with-benefits) than Gabriel St. John, a marquess and fellow eschewer of society? Of course, as Callie and Gabe grow closer, she realizes that she might not be such a nontraditional girl after all. The only question now is: can she tell him?

Courtney Milan

Milan is another prominent writer of WOC characters in romance, particularly characters of Asian descent. Though she’s also got quite a few “classic” historical romances in her repertoire, her most interesting and dynamic works to date include the Cyclone series, with an upcoming work entitled Show Me that will be an LGBT romance between two women of color. In the meantime, though, she has plenty of other captivating titles for readers to explore.

Must-read: Hold Me ( Cyclone #2)

This pitch-perfect amalgam of classic romantic setups involves both a) an enemies-to-lovers transformation, and b) a case of secret identities, as our main couple (unbeknownst to them) chats anonymously online!

Jay na Thalang and Maria Lopez have been running in the same Bay Area circles for ages, but that doesn’t mean they actually like each other. On the contrary, Jay’s misogynistic attitude gets Maria all riled up, and Maria’s apparent ditziness causes Jay to dismiss her. But as with just about every romance, things are not as they seem… as secrets are unveiled and revelations occur, Maria and Jay get thrown into a completely unexpected romantic odyssey.

Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Susan Elizabeth Phillips has been hot on the romance scene since the early eighties, and is credited with creating “sports romance,” in which the characters and plot revolve around some sort of athletics. She’s also been called the “Queen of Romantic Comedy” within the genre — at a time when most romance writers took the historical route, Phillips wasn’t afraid to get a little goofy. As the Nora Ephron of romance novels, Phillips is an essential addition to any self-proclaimed romance lover’s reading list.

Must read: It Had to Be You ( Chicago Stars #1)

New York girl Phoebe Somerville has just inherited the Chicago Stars — an entire football team of sexy-but-also-sex ist men, the worst of whom is head coach Dan Calebow. Dan isn’t exactly happy with Phoebe’s takeover, nor does Phoebe appreciate Dan’s constant snide remarks… yet neither of them can stay away from each other long enough to stop bickering. With warmth, humor, and irresistible chemistry, It Had to Be You is a veritable Super Bowl of a novel.

Julia Quinn

Like so many of the authors on this list, Julia Quinn has a fascinating origin story. In the early nineties, she decided to attend medical school; as she studied for the necessary prerequisites, she started writing romance novels on the side. She was then admitted to Yale Medical School, but realized she had already found her true calling. So she dropped out to become one of the most eminent historical romance writers of her generation — and is still writing today!

Must-read: The Duke and I ( Bridgertons #1)

It’s the ultimate high-society scheme: Lady Daphne Bridgerton and Duke Simon Basset are only pretending to court, so that Simon can avoid the clutches of actual marriage and Daphne can attract jealous men. (Exactly what you want in a partner, right?) Except now, Daphne is starting to have second thoughts about Simon — especially when they’re pressed together on the ballroom floor, and she can hardly keep dancing for desire. This Regency twist on the “fake relationship” trope will definitely make classic romance fans swoon.

“All the heat, all the heart,” is Rai’s signature slogan, and her brilliant, steamy, and wonderfully diverse books certainly live up to it. Though Rai is a relative newcomer, she already has five series under her belt and a reputation in the contemporary romance world for her innovative premises and vivid characters. (It hasn’t been released yet, but look out for her upcoming novel The Right Swipe , about two rival dating app creators who fall in love!)

That was the deal. Every year, Livvy Kane and Nicholas Chandler would share one perfect night of illicit pleasure. The forbidden hours let them forget the tragedy that haunted their pasts—and the last names that made them enemies.

Until the night she didn’t show up.

Now Nicholas has an empire to run. He doesn’t have time for distractions and Livvy’s sudden reappearance in town is a major distraction. She’s the one woman he shouldn’t want . . . so why can’t he forget how right she feels in his bed?

Livvy didn’t come home for Nicholas, but fate seems determined to remind her of his presence—and their past. Although the passion between them might have once run hot and deep, not even love can overcome the scandal that divided their families.

Being together might be against all the rules . . . but being apart is impossible.

Must-read: Hate to Want You ( Forbidden Hearts #1)

Just like so many of our couples, Livvy Kane and Nicholas Chandler have a deal. Except theirs is limited to just one night of guilty pleasure a year — guilty because of the animosity between their families. They’ve been secretly hooking up for ten years, and each looks forward to that night of mind-blowing passion… until Nicholas gets too busy running his own family’s empire. Of course, Livvy’s not going to let him slip away that easily. Laden with passion but also profound emotion, Hate to Want You is Rai’s superb answer to sexy yet realistic romance.

Alexa Riley

Riley is another big Amazon chart-topper — unusual for a romance author with mostly standalone and short-series books. However, Riley’s edge over other authors might come from the fact that “she” is actually two writers, a duo of anonymous friends who have put out over 100 titles (!) since 2015. Also, similar to Madison Faye, Alexa Riley’s books are best described as quickies: many are 100 pages or less, but what they lack in length, they make up for in heat.

Must-read: PS... You're Mine by Alexa Riley

This Valentine’s special features a schoolteacher named Katie Lovely and a marine named Mark Gunner (did we mention that almost all Riley characters have hilariously tongue-in-cheek names?). In any case, Katie’s class is doing a pen pal project with overseas Marines, and she accidentally signs herself up, too… only to find her correspondence with Mark is, well, different than she anticipated. So don’t worry just because they don’t see each other in person (at least not at first) — those letters get hot and heavy pretty quickly.

Nora Roberts

If there’s one author on this list who’s a recognized household name, it’s Nora Roberts. Since 1980, Roberts has written and published an astounding number of romances — her website claims the number stands at over 215!

But this incredibly prolific production has not come at the cost of quality. Over the years, Roberts has been praises for her creative storylines, her wry sense of humor, and for pioneering the “dual shifting perspectives” style (i.e. two different narrators who switch back and forth) that has come to define the genre. She’s also been the recipient of countless Golden Medallion and RITA Awards from the Romance Writers of America, and she’s had several of her books adapted into movies, including Montana Sky and High Noon .

Must-read: Born in Fire ( Born in Fire Trilogy #1)

It’s impossible to say that Born in Fire is the only Nora Roberts must-read, but it’s certainly one of her best. It centers on Maggie Concannon, a fierce-minded, free-spirited woman living in Ireland. And while she may work with glass for a living, Maggie is not easily shattered — until she meets money-minded gallery owner Rogan Sweeney, who wants to manage her career. The two butt heads as their working relationship progresses, but can’t deny their attraction — which grows even hotter than blown glass over the course of this story.

Nalini Singh

Singh is another very exciting new voice in the romance genre. She mostly writes paranormal romance, but of a particularly debauched variety; she’s especially known for her Psy-Changeling and Guild Hunter series, both of which are rife with racy scenes.

Nalini Singh dives into a world torn apart by a powerful race with phenomenal powers of the mind-and none of the heart.

In a world that denies emotions, where the ruling Psy punish any sign of desire, Sascha Duncan must conceal the feelings that brand her as flawed. To reveal them would be to sentence herself to the horror of \'rehabilitation\' - the complete psychic erasure of everything she ever was...

Both human and animal, Lucas Hunter is a changeling hungry for the very sensations the Psy disdain. After centuries of uneasy coexistence, these two races are now on the verge of war over the brutal murders of several changeling women. Lucas is determined to find the Psy killer who butchered his packmate, and Sascha is his ticket into their closely guarded society. But he soon discovers that this ice-cold Psy is very capable of passion - and that the animal in him is fascinated by her. Caught between their conflicting worlds, Lucas and Sascha must remain bound to their identities - or sacrifice everything for a taste of darkest temptation.

Must-read: Slave to Sensation ( Psy-Changeling #1)

This remarkable hybrid of paranormal romance and science fiction establishes the world of the “Psy”: a ruling race that prohibits emotions (sort of like in The Giver , but much worse). Sascha is one of the few Psy who still feels pain and desire — but she can’t reveal this to anyone, lest she be forced into “rehabilitation.” Meanwhile Lucas Hunter is a part-human, part-animal changeling who needs Sascha’s help. Their connection grows and they soon find themselves struggling to resist the sensation between them… though they know it could be deadly.

Susan Stoker

Susan Stoker’s series are famous for adapting the classic damsel-in-distress scenario to the modern day. Her heroines are victims of spousal violence, sex trafficking, terrorism, you name it — but there’s always a valiant hero there to save the day. And while it might seem to contradict the rules of feminism for the men to be constantly rescuing the women, we’re actually grateful for a series that promotes men protecting their partners, when so many romances blur the line between abuse and love.

Must-read: Rescuing Rayne ( Delta Force Heroes #1)

As a flight attendant, Rayne Jackson’s whole life is up in the air — with the exception of the occasional down-to-earth tryst. One particularly memorable night was with Keane “Ghost” Bryson, a rugged, reticent Delta Force member. Of course, Rayne doesn’t know that, since Ghost kept his true identity hidden from her. But when their paths cross again under the most dire of circumstances, Ghost must put everything on the line to protect Rayne: not just his secrets, but his life.

Lauren Willig

The final historical romancer on our list, Lauren Willig has been writing since 2005. Her speciality is the Napoleonic era, and her works take particular inspiration from The Scarlet Pimpernel — another historical novel written by a woman almost exactly a century before Willig herself started writing. However, don’t worry about her work being derivative. Willig is most definitely one of a kind, and the rich history and complex characters in her books make for top-notch romance.

Must-read: The Secret History of the Pink Carnation

With a frame narrative reminiscent of Susanna Kearsley, Willig tells this story through Eloise Kelly: a 21st-century American college student who goes to England to finish her dissertation. There she finds much more than academic motivation in the form of the “Secret History of the Pink Carnation” — a book about England’s most cunning spy during the Napoleonic Wars, and the thrilling romance that involved them.

We’ll round off this list with some good old-fashioned… erotica! Zane has been a prominent author in the erotic romance subgenre since 1997, when she started writing steamy stories for her own entertainment. Over two decades later, she’s now the publisher of Strebor Books with Simon & Schuster, and her works have been turned into a TV series and even a feature film.

Must-read: Addicted

Zoe Reynard is a successful businesswoman, a loving wife, a devoted mother… and a sex addict. No matter how she’s tried, she’s never been able to shake her “fatal attraction.” Now, as Zoe confesses to her therapist, she delves into her sizzling sexual history and dark childhood.  But her romance with her husband is still front and center — hence what makes this a genuinely gorgeous work and not just a salacious romp (though it has that going for it, too).

Continue reading

More posts from across the blog.

The 100 Best Classic Books to Read

If you've always wanted to tackle the classics but never knew quite where to begin, we've got you covered. We've hand selected 100 classic books to read, from authors spanning continents and millennia.

20 Amazing Dragon Books for Fantasy Fans

With Game of Thrones finally reaching the end of its epic eight-season run, public interest in dragon books (and their adaptations) is arguably at an all-time high. L...

40 Haiku Poem Examples Everyone Should Know About

In this post, we’ve put together 40 haiku poem examples everyone should know about

Heard about Reedsy Discovery?

Or sign up with an

Or sign up with your social account

• Submit your book
• Reviewer directory

Capture hearts with your book

Use our three-act template to plan an unputdownable romance novel.

University of Pittsburgh Library System

• Collections

Course & Subject Guides

Romantic literature - oakland campus.

• Romantic Writers
• Women Writers
• Journals & Databases
• Google Scholar
• Citation Help
• Requesting Material

• PittCat Access PittCat directly or use the ULS homepage.

William Wordsworth

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

William Blake

Percy Bysshe Shelley

• << Previous: Print Books
• Next: Women Writers >>
• Last Updated: Sep 27, 2023 12:02 PM
• URL: https://pitt.libguides.com/romanticliterature

Romanticism In English Literature – All Important Romantic Writers

Romanticism is an artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The movement was a reaction against the Industrial Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment which focused more on reason and scientific discoveries.

In literature, Romanticism is characterized by an emphasis on emotion, individualism, and nature. Romantic literature often features heroes who are misunderstood and rebellious, while also celebrating imagination, creativity, and the supernatural.

In this article, we will explore Romanticism in English literature, including its key features and famous writers.

Key Features of Romanticism in English Literature

Emphasis on emotion and individualism.

Romantic literature often focuses on intense emotional experiences and the inner lives of characters. Writers during this time were interested in exploring the human psyche, including the darker and more mysterious aspects of the human experience. Many Romantic writers also celebrated individualism and the unique qualities of each person, emphasizing the importance of personal freedom and expression.

Connection with Nature

Romantic writers were fascinated by nature and often used it as a way to explore their own emotions and experiences. They saw nature as a source of inspiration, beauty, and renewal, and many Romantic writers celebrated the natural world as a reflection of the divine.

Interest in the Supernatural

Romantic literature often included supernatural elements such as ghosts, magic, and the occult. These elements were used to explore the mysterious and unexplained aspects of life and to challenge the scientific and rationalistic worldview of the Enlightenment.

Famous Romantic Writers in English Literature

William wordsworth.

Wordsworth is often considered the father of English Romanticism. His poetry celebrated the beauty of nature and emphasized the importance of individual experience and emotion. His most famous works include “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” and “Tintern Abbey”.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Coleridge was a poet and philosopher who is best known for his poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”. His work explored the supernatural and mystical elements of life and often challenged traditional ideas about morality and religion.

Mary Shelley

Shelley is best known for her novel “Frankenstein”. The book explores themes of creation, the dangers of knowledge, and the limitations of science. Shelley’s work also challenged traditional gender roles and explored the idea of female empowerment.

Byron was a poet and writer known for his rebellious nature and controversial personal life. His poetry celebrated individualism and the beauty of nature, while also exploring themes of love, loss, and personal identity.

Final Words

Romanticism in English literature was a movement that celebrated emotion, individualism, and nature. Writers during this time were interested in exploring the human psyche and the darker, more mysterious aspects of life. Famous writers from this period include William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Mary Shelley, and Lord Byron. Romanticism continues to be an influential movement in literature and art, inspiring writers and artists to celebrate the beauty of nature and the power of the human imagination. Also check our other articles on Characteristics Of Romantic Period In English Literature and Cultural Studies In English Literature

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

How to Read and Enjoy the Classics

• Thoughts on the Greats
• How to Read Poetry
• How to Read Fiction
• Why Literature?
• Lists and Timelines
• Literature Q & A

English Romantic and Regency Literature: 1789-1832

Following is a list of the most famous and noteworthy literature from the English Romantic and Regency Era, which we can loosely date from 1789-1832. Before you dive into the detailed commentary on this list of works, go to this post on Reading English Romantic and Regency Literature: Nature and Revolution  to get at overview and important background on literature from this amazingly productive era.  There is more information about each of these authors in this post.

Index to Literary Timelines and Reading Lists on Read Great Literature

Reading Resources:

Most works on this Reading List can be found at one of the following sources:

www.poetryfoundation.org

https://poets.org

https://www.bartleby.com/sv/welcome.html

Significant Historical Dates:

1789: French Revolution begins; Storming of the Bastille on July 14. 1793-4: French Reign of Terror under Robespierre; 1793: King Louis XVI executed 1804: Napoleon crowned Emperor of France. 1807: Slave Trade Act makes trading slaves illegal, although slavery as an institution continues. 1811-20: The Regency: George, Prince of Wales, acts as regent for George III, declared insane. 1820: Accession of George IV. 1830: Accession of William IV. 1833: Slavery Abolition Act outlaws slavery in most British territories.

Dove Cottage, the English Lake District home of William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy

ANNOTATED READING LIST

Traditional Ballads: “Barbara Allen,” “Patrick Spens,” “The Daemon Lover (James Harris).”

According to the blog Interesting Literature , traditional ballads date to the 14th century. However, ballads are important to the development of English literature in the Romantic Era. Many poets of this era loved traditional ballads and were inspired to adapt the form for their own work. Along with other antiquarians, Romantic authors wrote down and published collections of ballads to preserve them for the culture.

Ballads are usually composed in quatrains of alternating lines of 4 and 3 iambs with an ABAB rhyme scheme– a simple danceable and singable meter. Poets like Burns, Scott, Wordsworth, and Keats took inspiration from both ballad form and subject matter of these traditional songs, which always told a melodramatic and unforgettable story.

Listed are three lovely and powerful examples to check out.

Barbara Allen

Sir Patrick Spens

James Harris, The Daemon Lover

Robert Burns: “Scots Wha Hae [Robert Bruce’s March to Bannockburn”],” 1793; “My Love is like a Red, Red Rose” 1794; For a’ That and a’ That, 1795; “To A Louse,” 1786, “Auld Lang Syne,” 1786 [means “Long ago”] “To A Mouse,” 1786.

Burns was a self-educated Scotsman who became one of the most influential poets of the Romantic era, and is still considered the national poet of Scotland. Widely beloved by readers and writers of his own era, Burns’s work has also garnered fans through the years as diverse as Abraham Lincoln and Bob Dylan. Dylan named “My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose” as the work that had influenced his own work the most.

Many of Burns’s poems are written in Scottish dialect about humble people; most celebrate the dignity of each individual and the importance of liberty. “Scots Wha Hae” commemorates Robert Bruce who led the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314; in the poem, Bruce exhorts his soldiers to fight to the death for liberty from England:

“By Oppression’s woes and pains, / By your sons in servile chains! / We will drain our dearest veins, / But they shall be free.”

Anna Letitia Barbauld: “The Mouse’s Petition,” 1773; “A Summer Evening’s Meditation,” 1773; “Epistle to William Wilberforce,” 1791; “The Rights of Woman,” 1792; “The Caterpillar,” ca. 1816.

Ana Letitia Barbauld received an unusually broad education in the home of her father, a dissenting minister. Later she married and kept a school, where she wrote many works for children. Later she contributed poetry to her brother’s Monthly Magazine, where she published “Epistle to William Wilberforce” attacking British involvement in the slave trade. (Wilberforce, a member of the House of Commons, fought a long battle to end the slave trade and abolish slavery.)

“A Summer Evening’s Meditation” follows an “excursion-and-return” structure that anticipates a structure that many subsequent romantic poets were to utilize, including Wordsworth and Keats. But here, the meditation is from a feminine point of view.

“The Rights of Woman” is a response to an attack by Mary Wollstonecraft on an earlier Barbauld poem, “To a Lady with some Painted Flowers,” that she alleged made women look too frivolous. In her response, Barbauld agrees that women should assert their rights, but that through mutual love, “separate rights” can soften into equality. “The Caterpillar” is a charming and thoughtful meditation on why the speaker decides not to harm a caterpillar.

Charlotte Smith

Charlotte Smith: “Written at the Close of Spring, 1784; “To Sleep,” 1784; “To Night,” 1788; “On Being Cautioned against Walking on an Headland Overlooking the Sea, Because It was Frequented by a Lunatic,” 1797.

The 14-line sonnet was an unpopular form in 18th century poetry, but Coleridge and other literary historians give Smith’s melancholy sonnets credit for making the form popular again with British readers. Her sonnets were among those he praised for connecting Nature with “moral Sentiments, Affections, or Feelings.” Later Romantic poets were to write many more sonnets in this vein. Take a few minutes to check out these quiet and lovely poems.

William Blake: “Songs of Innocence and Experience,” 1789 and 1794; “The Book of Thel,” 1789-91; “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell,” 1790-93; “Auguries of Innocence,” 1803 (pub 1863).

Like his fellow poets Romantic Wordsworth, Shelley, and Byron, William Blake was passionate about humankind’s universal fight for freedom from tyranny and the plight of the poor. However, of all poets of this era, Blake had the most abstract, prophetic, and far-reaching vision of how humans functioned psychologically, and how modern life and mistaken morals fractured and squelched the potentially divine human spirit.

Blake’s later prophetic work can be confusing, since he created a whole series of “prophecies” to explain how people in the modern world had become fractured psychologically. Blake believed that the four natural human energies, or “Zoas,”as he called them–reason, imagination, body, and love/passion—had become split apart, with some kinds of energies given too free a range while others were harmfully suppressed. In his current society, he felt that Reason was worshipped while Imagination was ignored.

Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience: Title Page Engraving, hand-colored.

A reader coming fresh to Blake does not need to understand his mythological system in detail to love and appreciate his earlier works, especially the lovely and deceptively simple Songs of Innocence and Experience . These books contain two sets of short lyrics “shewing [Blake wrote] the two contrary states of the human soul.”

Songs of Innocence are poems written seemingly from the point of view of an innocent, happy child, while Songs of Experience offer poems from the point of view of an angry cynic, whose more extensive life experience has given him a dim view of the world. Which does Blake represent as the “true” view? Neither seems truer than the other, since companion poems offer a tempering perspective on each other. Read together, for instance, the two famous poems “The Lamb” and “The Tyger,” both attempts to define God by examining the qualities of animals He created. Readers vibrate back and forth between contrary views that are paradoxically both correct and simultaneously both exaggerated.

“The Book of Thel” is a mythological tale about a young Shepherdess who leaves her flock to explore the world of nature. She seems upset that everything in nature seems transitory, and quizzes a series of natural objects about this problem. Each object in turn, from a cloud to a clod of dirt, attempt to explain why it is good, not bad, to be ephemeral, but Thel remains unconvinced, and flees from embracing this knowledge. Read this lovely little poem and see what you think of it.

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell , ironic, thoughtful, and often funny, describes a walking tour through Hell. The traveler in the poem, however, does not see what most of us would expect to see in either of these realms. In Blake’s vision, devils are not all bad, and angels aren’t all good. Instead, they merely represent two different kinds of energy, both needed for humans to be fully themselves. Throughout the poem, Blake questions the thoughtless moral platitudes of his age, urging readers to redefine good and evil by different criteria.

“Auguries of Innocence” became newly famous recently as the source of many of the epigraphs in Olga Tokarczuk’s 2018 Nobel prize-winning novel Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead . The title of the novel is from The Marriage of Heaven and Hell .

Blake began his artistic life as a trained artist and engraver, only later becoming a poet. He produced most of his poetry in conjunction with beautiful engravings which he hand-printed and hand-colored, stitching them together to make hand-produced booklets. Only a few of each of these booklets are still in existence. To fully enjoy and understand Blake’s poetry, read it side-by-side with the moody and beautiful artwork that accompanies it, which you can do online at the links below, as well as other sites. Often, his visual art undermines or contradicts the verbal art it accompanies, making meaning both larger and more complex than might at first appear.

Resources for Reading Blake or seeing his art:

Text for Songs of Innocence and Experience Art for Songs of Innocence and Experience 

Text for Book of Thel

Text for Marriage of Heaven and Hell Art for Marriage of Heaven and Hell

Text for Auguries of Innocence

William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth:

Published in 1798: “We Are Seven,” “Lines Written in Early Spring,” “Expostulation and Reply,” “The Tables Turned,” “ Lines (Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey).”

Published in 1800: The Lucy Poems: “Strange Fits of Passion,” “She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways,” “Three Years She Grew,” and “A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal.”

Published in 1807: “Resolution and Independence,” “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud,” “My Heart Leaps Up,” “Ode: Intimations of Immortality,” “Solitary Reaper,” “London, 1802,” “The World is Too Much With Us,” “She Was a Phantom of Delight.”

Published 1835: “Steamboats, Viaducts, and Railways.”

No Romantic poet had greater influence on both his contemporary and poet-descendants than William Wordsworth. Together with Coleridge, he forged the Romantic manifesto that described why he rejected the formal language and general, cultured themes of poems of past centuries, instead focusing on simple tales about common people and descriptions of the powerful effects of nature on soul and spirit, rendered in simple, common speech.

You can read more about his ideas in “Preface to Lyrical Ballads,” 1798, but it’s more fun to go to direct to full immersion into his lovely and accessible works listed above.

The first cluster of listed works were published in the seminal work Lyrical Ballads in 1798. They feature two of Wordsworth’s most prominent life-long themes: the innocent simplicity of children, and the powerful and wholesome effect of Nature on the human soul and spirit. Wordsworth asserts that immersion in nature is joyful, healing, and even morally instructive—certainly a better tutor than books, as he discusses in “Expostulation and Reply” and “The Tables Turned. ” See this post for a discussion of “Lines” about Tintern Abbey .

The lovely Lucy poems are among my life-long favorites. In each, the speaker meditates on the girl he loves, a simple country maiden often referred to as Lucy. In one poem, he relates a sudden fear that she will die; in another, she has passed on, and her lover reflects on her obscure yet precious life and death. These poems, as do those published in 1807, continue reinforcing the theme that simple lives lived close to Nature are valuable and authentic.

“Solitary Reaper” draws from the Romantic era’s enthusiasm for ancient ballads and depicts the way these ancient songs bring a mysterious magic to people from one generation to the next.

Check out this post for a discussion of the significant “Ode: Intimations of Immortality. ”

“She Was a Phantom of Delight,” a sweet and personal poem, was written about his wife Mary, whom he admired as “A Perfect Woman, nobly planned,” having both homely sensible virtues and as angelic spirit.  See more about this poem HERE .

On the one hand, Wordsworth worries that the exploding urban landscapes prevent people from living close to Nature, the source of spiritual peace and moral growth (see this post for discussion on “The World is Too Much With Us” ). But in later years, as in “Steamboats, Viaducts, and Railways,” he wrote how human contributions to the landscape are not always foreign or unwelcome additions to nature. Who has not enjoyed gazing at a railroad bridge integrated prettily into a natural setting?

If you find you are a Wordsworth enthusiast, dip into the much longer work known as The Prelude, or Growth of the Poet’s Mind . In this poem, Wordsworth traces his significant life experiences from childhood to later youth that formed his mind and character into the poet he became. This poem among many others from the era testifies to the new interest in inner psychology, subjective perception, and personal modes of thinking that influence how each mind encounters the sensual world.

Wordsworth wrote the first version of The Prelude in 1805, but kept revising the poem throughout his career; later versions change or add material not in the original.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge: “The Eeolian Harp,” 1796; “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” 1798; “Frost at Midnight,” 1798; “This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison,” 1800, “Dejection: An Ode,” 1802; “Kubla Kahn,” 1816, “Christabel,” 1816; Chapter XIV, Biographia Literaria , 1817 .

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Along with his collaborator William Wordsworth, Coleridge defined poetic Romanticism, not only through example, as in his stunning poems like “Kubla Kahn” and “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” but also in his writings on poetic theory, as in the famous Biographica Literaria .

In Chapter XIV of Biographica Literaria, Coleridge explained the role that supernatural narratives would play in their joint project Lyrical Ballads :

In this idea originated the plan of the ‘Lyrical Ballads’; in which it was agreed, that my endeavours should be directed to persons and characters supernatural, or at least romantic, yet so as to transfer from our inward nature a human interest and a semblance of truth sufficient to procure for these shadows of imagination that willing suspension of disbelief for the moment, which constitutes poetic faith.

To enjoy the results of Coleridge’s plan, read “ The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” a beautiful yet spooky tale about the need to revere nature’s creatures. Other works with supernatural elements are “Kubla Kahn” and “Cristabel.”

Coleridge also mediated on our human relationship to simple Nature itself, as in these poems:

“This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison” shows his kinship to Wordsworth at the time it was written; it is a meditation on how even the smallest contact with the natural world can soothe and improve the soul, and how previous experiences of stunning natural encounters can lighten the soul when remembered.

 “The Eeolian Harp” is a meditation what can happen when Nature interacts with a creative poet’s mind.

In “Frost at Midnight,” Coleridge prays his infant will grow up amid scenes of Nature that will teach him the language of God and eternity.

Mary Robinson: “London’s Summer Morning,” “The Poor Singing Dame,” “The Haunted Beach,” all published 1800.

Mary Robinson lived an unusually varied life, from wife of a law clerk who later deserted her, to Mistress of George, Prince of Wales, to famous actress, to mistress of a member of Parliament. When all those means of support failed, she turned to writing. Both her novels and poems sold well. The selections given here are charming and varied in mood; Robinson could paint beautiful scenery and tell haunting emotional tales in a few harmonious words.

George Gordon, Lord Byron: Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, A Romaunt, Canto the First, 1812; “She Walks in Beauty,” 1815; “When We Two Parted,” 1816; Manfred, 1817; Don Juan, Canto 1, 1818; “So We’ll Go No More A-Roving,” 1817 .

Said by his former lover Lady Carolyn Lamb to be “mad, bad, and dangerous to know,” George Gordon, Lord Byron, is the most glamorous poet of the Romantic Era. He is also one of the most readable. Fluid and lovely lines of poetry seem to have just poured out of him, touching many subjects and many moods—melancholy, philosophical, satirical, dramatic, romantic, and comic.

Byron was a larger-than-life figure—his living riotous, his physical accomplishments impressive (achieved despite a lame foot), his love affairs notorious. His life as well as his poems and dramas, many of which featured heroes resembling himself, created the archetype now known as the Byronic Hero, who is talented, sensitive, powerful, and attractive, but alienated and solitary—a man with a secret guilty past who chooses to live and judge himself by his own rigorous rules, well outside of the morals dictated by society.

Many of Byron’s poems are quite long, so dip into a few to see what strikes your interest. Begin with the lovely short lyrics listed above, “She Walks in Beauty,” “When We Two Parted,” and “So We’ll Go No More A-Roving,” to get a taste and find how lovely Byron’s poems can be.

Then dip into Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage , written as a semi-autobiographical poem. Like the poem’s hero Childe Harold, Byron had left England to escape debt and other entanglements. The poem follows the travels of the young Harold through many lands, including Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Greece. Harold comments on all the various places and cultures he visits. For the most part, he is less than impressed. When published, Canto the First was so immediately popular, Byron joked that he awoke the next day to find himself famous.

Most Romantic poems are not funny, but many of Byron’s are, especially his grand mock-epic satire Don Juan , in which he traces the hapless amorous adventures of his own version of the well-known Spanish libertine. In Byron’s version, however, sophisticated seducer Don Juan becomes “Don Joo-un,” a naïve but naturally sexy young man who is more seduced than seducing.

Don Juan is quite long: there are sixteen finished sections (Cantos) and a seventeenth unfinished one, each focusing on a self-contained episode. I suggest you read just the first canto, which can stand alone. It tells how the 16-year-old Juan, raised to be ignorant of the “facts of life” gets seduced by an older woman anyway. The Canto is fun reading, full of satire, irony, humor, and just a little pathos. Read it to see how Byron gets so much humor out of his handling of the intricate ottava rima poem form, which has 8-line stanzas in an ABABABCC rhyming pattern. He often uses the final “CC” rhyming couplet to ironically undercut what was said in the first six lines. It is funny.

Percy Shelley: “Mutability,” 1816; “To Wordsworth,” 1816; “Mont Blanc,” 1817; “Ozymandias,” 1817; “Hymn to Intellectual Beauty,” 1817; “England in 1819,” 1819; “Love’s Philosophy,” 1819; “Ode to the West Wind,” 1820; “To a Sky-Lark,” 1820; “When the Lamp is Shattered,” 1822.

Shelley may be the most intellectual of the Romantic poets, making some concepts in his poems more abstract and taking a bit more thought to understand than those of his fellow Romantics. That should not discourage you from exploring his works, however, because his poetry is lovely and readable, wistful, and often melancholy.

“Mutability” is a short poignant work on one of Shelley’s prominent themes, the impermanence of everything in this life.

In “ To Wordsworth,” Shelley deplores how in his later years, Wordsworth departed from his direct focus on Nature as the source of divinity and moral teaching.

“Ozymandias” has to be one of the most anthologized poems in English. It shares its theme with “Mutability” but instead portrays it through a highly visual moral tale, relaying the message that nothing lasts by painting a vivid scene in words. The technique of this poem anticipates the Imagists who will write after the turn of the 20th century.

In “Mont Blanc,” Shelley confronts a scene of awe-inspiring natural beauty whose power dwarfs any human who contemplates it. Yet within the very first stanza, he reflects that “The everlasting universe of things,” represented in this case by the sublime mountain scene, “flows through the mind,” which answers with its own response that gives shape and meaning to the raw natural phenomena, even though the mind’s response is a “feeble brook” compared to the power of the mountain scene with its raging river below.

“Mont Blanc” is a meditation on the nature of the relationship between mind and nature, a topic also precious to poets of the Romantic Era such as Wordsworth and Coleridge. Wordsworth poses that the mind can come into inspired harmony with nature. Shelley’s response is more complex: the sublimity of the scene suggests a kind of vast reality and awareness that is beyond the human mind. And yet he ends the poem by reflecting that the same “secret Strength of things / Which governs thought” is the same law that bounds this natural scene.

Raw nature, however powerful, might be nothing if it were never present “to the human mind’s imaginings.” Perhaps Nature needs a human mind to give it meaning and purpose, Shelley asks. This is a difficult poem, but worth reading and pondering to get another view of our human relationship to the vast powers of nature.

“Ode to the West Wind,” “To A Skylark,” and “Hymn to Intellectual Beauty” all explore one of Shelley’s dominant themes: how to find transcendence over the mutability of life. He turns to Nature to help him reach ideal realms and higher states of mind, which he calls “Intellectual Beauty.” His poems express such longing for this state of mind, which he has reached from time to time, but also uncertainty that he can reach or sustain these states at will.

“Love’s Philosophy” finds Shelley in a more playful mood in this playful love poem.

John Keats: “On First Looking Into Chapman’s Homer,” 1816; “[A Thing of Beauty] excerpt from Endymion, 1818; “When I Have Fears that I May Cease to Be,” 1818; “The Eve of St. Agnes,” 1819; “Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art,” 1819; “La Belle Dame sans Merci: A Ballad,” 1819; “Lamia,” 1819.

The Great Odes of 1819: “Ode on Indolence,” “Ode to Psyche,” “Ode to a Nightingale,” “Ode on Melancholy,” “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” “To Autumn,” 1819.

Singing Nightingale

I love the poetry of John Keats and have so much to say about it I am struggling to say just a little. It is beautiful, melancholy, passionate, and filled with wonder that Beauty can lift us, however temporarily, above sorrow and loss.

Of the poems listed here, “The Eve of St Agnes” and “Lamia” are narratives. “The Eve of St. Agnes tells a brief “Romeo and Juliet” type tale; in this version, the young man escapes with his lady, but the poem is ambiguous about how happy the couple will be, or how much it matters, given that everything will die.

“Lamia” is about a type of mythical creature that is a woman trapped in the body of a snake. In Keats’s tale, she gets Hermes to turn her into a woman so she can captivate Lycius, the young man she loves. Sadly, the philosopher Apollonius “outs” her as a serpent, and the romance crumbles.

The other poems are shorter lyric poems. The “Great Odes” are some of the most famous poems in English literature, so I hope you will sample them for yourself. See the end of the post on Reading 19th Century English Romantic Literature for more information on the work of Keats.

Felicia Hemans: “England’s Dead,” 1822; “Casabianca,” 1826; “The Homes of England,” 1827; “Indian Woman’s Death Song,” 1828.

Mostly unknown today, Felicia Hemans’s poetry was very popular in her day, both in England and America. According to The Norton Anthology of English Literature, “Her books sold more copies than those of any other contemporary poet except Byron and Walter Scott” (Norton Anthology of English Literature. Vol. D. 9th ed. 884).

Hemans’s poetry often celebrates the so-called “cult of domesticity,” what we might call motherhood and family values. Many poems also have patriotic themes. On the surface, these poems are readable and apparently simple, though many point out that they may have subtle implications that undercut the surface message. Look at this selection and form your own opinion.

John Clare: [869] “First Love,” “Autumn,” “Pastoral Poesy,” 1824-32, “The Nightingale’s Nest,” 1825-30; “I Am,” 1842-46; “The Peasant Poet,” 1842-64; “The Dying Child.”

Unlike almost every other poet of the Romantic era, John Clare came from a peasant background with very little formal education. Known as the Northamptonshire Peasant Poet, his first collection of poetry, Poems Descriptive of Rural Life and Scenery, won him acclaim with both critics and the public. Sales of subsequent collections were less and less strong, but he continued to write beautiful, simple, moving poetry through his life. Many poems are based on detailed observations of rural life and human struggles he experienced as a farm laborer and poor family man.

I find Clare’s poetry lovely and poignant. His descriptions of nature and celebrations of natural beauty are joyous; poems about personal struggles, as in “I Am,” and about tragedies of common life, as in “The Dying Child,” are powerful yet winsome and sweet. I highly recommend your dipping into some John Clare and see whether your spirit is touched and softened by their simple beauties. Search for titles on poetryfoundation.org .

Fiction and Other Prose

Thomas Paine, “The Rights of Man,” 1791.

The writer of “Common Sense,” the pamphlet that helped catalyze American opinion in favor of revolution, later wrote this work in the context of the French Revolution.

“The Rights of Man” is an argument against Edmund Burke’s assertions that people do not have natural rights to choose their own government. On the contrary, Paine argues, people have two classes of rights:

Natural rights “are those which appertain to man in right of his existence. Of this kind are all the intellectual rights, or rights of the mind, and also all those rights of acting as an individual for his own comfort and happiness, which are not injurious to the natural rights of others.—Civil rights are those which appertain to man in right of his being a member of society. Every civil right has for its foundation, some natural right pre-existing in the individual, but to the enjoyment of which his individual power is not, in all cases, sufficiently competent. Of this kind are all those which relate to security and protection.”

Read the whole work “The Rights of Man” here .

Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Women , Excerpt, 1792.

In this long prose work, Wollstonecraft, the mother of Mary Shelley, who wrote Frankenstein, argues that neither men nor women play moral and fulfilling roles within the society that denies women the right to educate themselves, own property, conduct business, enter professions, and look after their own children. Her current culture’s emphasis on making women devote themselves to pleasing men is good for no one.

You can get a taste of her arguments in the excerpt linked above. This excerpt ends with Wollstonecraft’s vision for a better future for both men and women, if only women were granted equality:

Would men but generously snap our chains, and be content with rational fellowship instead of slavish obedience, they would find us more observant daughters, more affectionate sisters, more faithful wives, more reasonable mothers-in a word, better citizens. We should then love them with true affection, because we should learn to respect ourselves; and the peace of mind of a worthy man would not be interrupted by the idle vanity of his wife, nor the babes sent to nestle in a strange bosom, having never found a home in their mother’s.

Anne Radcliffe, Mysteries of Udolpho , 1794.

Anne Radcliffe’s popular Mysteries of Udolpho follows the fortunes of Emily St. Aubert, whose father dies while they are on a trip through the Pyrenees Mountains, leaving her unprotected except by her unreliable and self-serving Aunt. What doesn’t happen to Emily in this novel? She meets Valancourt and falls in love, is forced to break her engagement to move to an isolated Italian castle with her aunt and her aunt’s mysterious new husband Montoni, is nearly forced to marry an untrustworthy friend of the brigand Count Montoni, has supernatural experiences in the castle, suspects Montoni of murder, and more. Read the novel to find out.

This is the novel that all the young ladies are reading in Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey, which pokes some fun at the outsize effects this Gothic work has on the main character.

Maria Edgeworth, Castle Rackrent , 1800.

Maria Edgeworth was highly educated for a woman of her time, owing to a father who had progressive views toward women. She wrote many instructive books for children and their parents and teachers, and four novels about her experiences living on their Anglo-Irish family’s estate in Ireland.

Castle Rackrent follows the fortunes of the successive inheritors of the Rackrent Estate, most of whom do the best they can to mismanage it. That sounds depressing, but it isn’t—the novel is very fast-paced and often funny, narrated by a great “unreliable” narrator “Honest” Thady, the longtime steward of the estate.

I highly recommend that you check out this novel. It gives a shrewd and, I imagine, faithful picture of all the various Irish people in all walks of life as they interact within the community of this estate and surrounding village. Some call this the first “upstairs/downstairs” style novel in English literature, showing the servant and peasant class interacting with the upper classes.

Peel House in Scotland near Scott’s native Selkirkshire.

Sir Walter Scott, Waverley , 1814; Rob Roy , 1818; Ivanhoe , 1819; The Lay of the Last Minstrel , 1805.

Reading Scott’s novels is not easy, at first. The pace of events may seem slow, the plots are interwoven with many actual historical events, and many characters speak in accurately rendered dialect. But if you read along for awhile to become accustomed to Scott’s style, the rewards are big.

In these fictions, Scott invented the new genre of historical fiction, which enthralled readers from the first. He also promoted Scotland, its culture, and its people; readers fell in love with his descriptions of its Romantic landscapes and its brave people of strongly marked character.

Scott’s novels focus on different historical times and places, but most feature a naïve, sensitive but unformed young man as central character. This young man sets off on some purposeful journey on behalf of family or their desire for him to see more of the world, during which he gets caught up in whatever factional conflict is going on at the time. This character usually gets captured at some point, or tossed back and forth between factions, thus able to see the strong points of each side. Along the way, he meets one or even two maidens, falls in love with one or both, and ultimately gets the girl, plus an estate thrown in.

The overall message of most of the novels is a humane one: whatever side people may take in any political or cultural battle, Scott shows them all to be just people at heart, all with some reason for holding the opinions they do. That message alone is enough to make reading one of the novels worthwhile.

Waverley was Scott’s first novel, and it was immediately popular. It focuses on the Jacobite uprising of 1745, as well as the tribal culture of the Scottish Highlanders and their interactions with the Lowland Scots. Edward Waverley has adventures with all sides of every struggle, so readers learn a lot of history and culture in the process. (Jacobites were supporters of the line of King James II, who was deposed in favor of William and Mary, James’s daughter, in the “Glorious Revolution” of 1688. James II was deposed because his militant Catholicism alienated the Anglicans who had majority political power.)

Rob Roy may be the most fast-paced novels, full of incident. It features the Robin-Hood-like character Rob Roy, who steals only from the rich. The narrator is another ingenue character, Frank Osbaldistone. Because of disagreements with his father, he exchanges places with his cousin Ranleigh, who takes Frank’s place in the father’s business. Ranleigh turns out to be a bad guy, and Frank has to save the day, with the help of Rob Roy. Note: the plot of this novel is nothing like the plot of the 1995 Liam Neeson film.

Unlike most Scott novels, Ivanhoe is set in England shortly after the Norman Conquest, when tensions between the conquering Normans and the Saxon nobility are at their height. Ivanhoe is a young knight from the Saxon line, but he is at odds with his family for having gone to the Crusades with Richard, a Norman, whose exploitative brother John is now on the throne. This is not too long of a novel and has a lot of fun incidents and characters. Lovely ladies Rowena and Rebecca are in it; Robin Hood is in it. What’s not to like?

If you liked the novels listed above, try this one: The Tale of Old Mortality , 1816 , which focuses on the two sides of the Jacobite uprising of 1715, an event that also occurs at the end of Rob Roy. If you want to try a longer narrative poem, read “The Lay of the Last Minstrel,” the poem that first made Scott’s fame as a writer.

Evidently there was a resurgence of Walter Scott novel reading in 2021, mostly by people who were taking Scottish “staycations.” Scott’s novels are perfect accompaniments to a stay in beautiful Scotland, explains this article .

Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility , 1811; Pride and Prejudice , 1813; Mansfield Park , 1814; Emma , 1815; Persuasion and Northanger Abbey , both published posthumously, 1817.

Jane Austen

Who among English-reading people has not heard of Jane Austen? She is among the most famous ever of writers who have written in English. Of course, Austen’s works are not everyone’s cup of tea (at least, so I have been told)—but for the life of me, I can’t understand why. Her work is delicate, observant, humane, and often, really really funny.

Austen’s novels are all about love, and how hard it can be to live with the foibles of other people, and the struggle to achieve independence and a strong sense of self while coping with unreasonable strictures society so often enforces. Though times have changed and the rules of romance are now different, these are still all enduring human quandaries.

Note: Though Sense and Sensibility was published first, Northanger Abbey was written first. You could read them in the order Austen wrote them. If you want to make sure you cover the most famous ones, I suggest you read the novels in this order:

Pride and Prejudice : The incomparable Lizzy Bennett really hates the supercilious and rich Mr. Darcy—until she doesn’t. In the meantime, she must support her beloved sister Jane in her bumpy love with Mr. Bingley, endure her silly mother’s attempts to marry her to silly men, manage her foolish sisters, and keep her self-respect throughout encounters with the condescending Lady Catherine DeBourgh.

Emma: First line of this famous novel: “Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.” Emma is proud of her ability to manage everyone and everything around her, especially to prompt her friends and family to fall in love with the right people. She thinks she is always right, but as readers and Emma herself are to learn, she is wrong about pretty much everything.

Northanger Abbey: A naïve country girl meets less naïve friends while visiting Bath. She allows her fascination with the latest Gothic fiction novel to lead her astray in her judgment of all her new acquaintances, mistakenly seeing them all like the characters in the book she is reading.

Sense and Sensibility : Two sisters, Eleanor and Marianne, could not be more unlike. When Eleanor loses in love, she tells no one of her sufferings, not wishing to burden them with her troubles. When Marianne loses in love, she shows it to everyone, even people who will think less of her for her feelings. What is the best course, the right way to live? Austen explores and ponders in this novel.

Mansfield Park : Fanny, the heroine at the heart of Austen’s most weighty novel, is a gentle, humble soul from the poor branch of a big family. Brought up among her rich cousins, she sees herself almost as an upper servant to her relatives. She is quiet, timid, and self-effacing, but also a keen observer of all the secrets and undercurrents in the household, especially romantic ones. Will the eligible young man she loves, as well as her whole family, come to appreciate her quiet virtue, or will flashier but less honest personalities mislead them?

Mary Shelley, Frankenstein , 1818.

Actor’s portrayal of Frankenstein’s monster.

Mary Shelley’s original novel Frankenstein is a little different from the versions enshrined in generations of world-wide cinema. Victor Frankenstein, the student of “natural philosophy” and chemistry obsessed with learning the secret of creating life, is there. The monster he creates from stitched-together body parts, and then immediately abandons, is there. The deaths of his brother William, his friend Henry, and his bride Elizabeth at the hands of this monster are there.

But what is missing from most later versions of this tale is the monster’s side of the story. Spurned by everyone who sees him, even by his own creator, the monster is left to assemble his personhood all on his own. Through the monster’s story, Shelley speculates on what makes someone human, and what truly makes someone a monster.

The whole complex tale is wrapped in a dramatic frame which begins near the end of the tale, wherein sea captain Robert Walton rescues Victor from an ice floe near the North Pole, where he has been chasing the monster to destroy him. Surprisingly, when Victor dies, the monster appears by his side to weep over him.

In short, there is a lot more to the novel than you may have supposed. In Frankenstein , Mary Shelley not only created a cultural icon that lives beyond its pages; she asks enduring questions we still wrestle with: how far should people seek to manipulate Nature? What are our responsibilities toward our creations? What does it mean to be a fully human, and humane, person?

William Hazlitt, “My First Acquaintance with Poets,” 1823.

If you want to get a view of what it was like to meet Wordsworth and Coleridge in person, this essay will deliver. Hazlitt, who became and essayist and literary critic, in this essay relates his meeting with these two influential poets. I found it fascinating reading.

Glenridding in Cumbria, in England’s Lake District

Read this Post to learn about overall trends and themes in English Romantic and Regency Literature.

Photo Credits:

John Keats by Hilton.

Dove Cottage .  Antiquary, CC BY 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons.

Charlotte Smith.  George Romney, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Songs of Innocence Title Page.  William Blake, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Wordsworth .  By Benjamin Robert Haydon oil on canvas, 1842 49 in. x 39 in. National Portrait Gallery, Public domain.  {{PD-US-expired}}.

, via Wikimedia Commons.

Coleridge.  Peter Vandyke, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Byron.   Richard Westall, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. {{PD-Art}}

Mont Blanc. 

Nightingale. Noel Reynolds, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons.

Peel House, Scotland . Jim Barton / Peel House, Ashiestiel.

Jane Austen.

Frankenstein’s Monster .  Derrick Tyson, CC BY 2,0, , via Wikimedia Commons

Glenridding in Cumbria , Lake District. Diliff, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons.

Never Miss a Post!

CLICK HERE to sign up for a newsletter alerting you to our latest posts. Newsletter is sent no more than once per week. Unsubscribe at any time.

Email Required. First and Last Name are optional.

Click here for a sample of what you will receive: Sample Weekly Email

Privacy Policy

Search the Site

• Reading Fiction
• Reading Poetry
• Uncategorized

Recent Posts

• Reading English Victorian Literature: A Brief Guide to the Classics
• Reading 19th Century English Romantic Literature: Nature and Revolution
• Distinguishing Tone in Fiction: Tragedy, Pathos, Comedy, Irony
• Reading Restoration and 18th Century English Literature
• The Virtues of a Quiet Christmas: What Vintage Writers Tell Us
• August 2022
• September 2021
• February 2021
• December 2020
• October 2020
• September 2020
• February 2020
• January 2020
• December 2019
• September 2019
• February 2019
• October 2018
• August 2018
• February 2018
• January 2018
• December 2017
• November 2017
• October 2017
• September 2017
• August 2017

Privacy Policy: Click Here

Cookie policy: click here, newsletter sign-up.

Get email alerts of our latest posts.

Click HERE to sign up.

Author Login

• Entries feed
• Comments feed
• WordPress.org

Email Read Great Literature

© read great literature and mary jane brown, 2017-2023..

Unauthorized use and/or duplication of any of the content on this site without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts of four sentences or fewer and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Read Great Literature with appropriate and specific direction to the original content, including a link to the content on this site.

Read Great Literature is written for the purpose of informing readers about classic literature and helping them enjoy it more. All views expressed on Read Great Literature are those of M. J. Brown and guest writers only, representing our own knowledge, opinions, and research. They do not represent the views of any other entity with which we may be associated.

The authors of this site are not to be held responsible for misuse, reuse, recycled and cited or un-cited copies of content within this site by others.

Contact: [email protected].

© 2024 Read Great Literature

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑

DON’T MISS A POST!

Get EMAIL ALERTS with links to OUR LATEST.

Delivered no more than once per week.

First and Last Name Optional. Unsubscribe at any time.

CLICK HERE for SIGN-UP FORM

Link to Privacy Policy in Website Footer.

Privacy Overview