Poetry in Context - The Romantic Era in England

Romanticism (1780s to 1850s) was a movement emphasising emotion and imagination, rather than logic and scientific thought. It was an artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe and events like the French Revolution (1789 - 1815) had a massive impact on how people viewed the world. Partly a reaction to the Industrial Revolution, it was also a revolt against the aristocratic social and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment and a reaction against the scientific rationalisation of nature. Investigating protests and crimes from this period helps you to better understand the context. 

Poets wrote their short, creative texts in response to the events of this era. We are going to investigate this. 

Romanticism was embodied most strongly in the visual arts, music, and literature, particularly in the poems of Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Keats, Burns, Shelley and Clare, among others. The Romantic Movement brought a change in the way people thought about art, writing, and other creative endeavours. The era of Romanticism began in the 1750s and lasted into the late nineteenth century. The word. Romantic, in this case, refers to a shift in thinking and not a scenario of two singles on a date. The Romantics looked beyond the world around them - with its devastating wars and thousands of smoky factories and imagined a visionary world beyond all this. The writers and artists of the Romantic Movement created work that celebrated nature and the spirit of the individual. Emotion, imagination, and independent thinking are three common ingredients often found in the creative work of this particular era.In fact, with the arrival of the Romantic Movement the stale rules of convention and traditional thinking were quickly tossed out to make way for a whole new approach to artistic creation. 

We don't always associate the late Georgian or Regency period with political unrest or crime. We think of it as being like a Jane Austen novel, but it is important to dig deeper, as authors like the ones who create 'Jane Austen's World' do. 

In Donald A. Low's 'Regency Underworld', there is a detailed and poignant description of the thousands of young, impoverished girls and boys encouraged to steal for a living by older, corrupt individuals. Many tiny, but hardened, criminals were caught and transported to Australia, but many more were sentenced to death before reaching adulthood.

A magistrate from the Union Hall Police Office claimed that many children were deserted by their parents, or badly neglected. Poverty was partly to blame. (Low, p.59)

The Marshal of London listed the offences committed by children as: 

"Picking pockets; taking things off, on their hands and knees, from shops, such as haberdashers and linen-drapers,; in the winter-time, with a knife at the corner of the glass starring it, and taking things out, which has occasioned the tradespeople having so many guard irons; but still there are shops not so guarded, and they can find opportunities of continually robbing: Boys upon all occasions, when there is any thing which excites a crowd, are very active, and many of them extremely clever; they are short and active, and are generally attended by men..." (Low, p 60)

Your task will be to investigate a protest, a murder or a massacre. 

PART A - Read about one (or all) of the following situations and email your teacher with your response to the relevant questions. 

Option 1 - The Luddite Riots

Use this website to answer the following questions.

1. Who were the Luddites?

2.Why did the movement emerge?

3. How was the situation 'resolved'?

Option 2 - The Ratcliffe Highway Murders 

Use this website to answer the following questions.

1. Why were these crimes considered the 'most notorious of their day'? 

2. What do the murders show about the living conditions for most Londoners? 

3. What was one of the major indirect consequences of this kind of crime? 

Option 3 - The Peterloo Massacre 

Use this website to answer the following questions. 

1. What was the background to the massacre? 

2. How many armed soldiers were sent in to arrest the speakers? 

3. What were the outcomes of the massacre? 

PART B - Poetry Analysis 

Choose one of the following poems or narrative extracts related to one of the above events. Write an I.M.P.A.C.T. statement for the poem or narrative extract and email it to your teacher. 

Idea – What is the main idea?

Meaning – What are the themes?

Purpose – Why was the poem written?

Audience – Who was the intended audience?

Context – What was the situation when it was written?

Techniques – How have aesthetic features (e.g. rhythm or metaphors) been used to shape meaning?

Option 1 for the IMPACT STATEMENT - The Luddite Riots relates to 'A Poem by a Luddite' (Jeremiah Brandreth, 1817) 

Every man his skill must try

He must turn out and not deny;

No bloody soldier he must dread

He must come out and fight for bread

The time has come you plainly see

When Government opposed must be!

There is an interesting, supporting article here. 

Option 2 for the IMPACT STATEMENT - The Ratcliffe Highway Murders  relates to: 'Frankenstein' by Mary Shelley (1818) Read Chapter 5 here. She even quotes Coleridge! The Wiki on this one is great; it's here. 

Option 3 for the IMPACT STATEMENT - The Peterloo Massacre relates to: ‘The Mask of Anarchy’ by Percy Byshee Shelley (1819) 

Extract:

And the prostrate multitude

Looked - and ankle-deep in blood,

Hope, that maiden most serene,

Was walking with a quiet mien:

And Anarchy, the ghastly birth,

Lay dead earth upon the earth;

The Horse of Death tameless as wind

Fled, and with his hoofs did grind

To dust the murderers thronged behind.

A rushing light of clouds and splendour,

A sense awakening and yet tender

Was heard and felt - and at its close

These words of joy and fear arose

As if their own indignant Earth

Which gave the sons of England birth

Had felt their blood upon her brow,

And shuddering with a mother's throe

Had turnèd every drop of blood

By which her face had been bedewed

To an accent unwithstood, -

As if her heart had cried aloud:

'Men of England, heirs of Glory,

Heroes of unwritten story,

Nurslings of one mighty Mother,

Hopes of her, and one another;

'Rise like Lions after slumber

In unvanquishable number,

Shake your chains to earth like dew

Which in sleep had fallen on you -

Ye are many - they are few.’

There is some interesting analysis here.

Make sure that you send both Parts A and B to your teacher via email. 

When we investigate poetry in context, we can see how it assists people in expressing themselves. Poems and other creative texts, were and continue to be, an expression of social, political and religious ideology during different periods in history. It is important to appreciate poetry and the life experiences that go hand in hand with expressing moods and events.