THE ROMANTIC AGE

THE ROMANTIC AGE

1760-1837

new social and environmental landscapes

AGRICULTURE

in the past aristocracy owned the most of the land (crops/livestock) 18th/19th cent. NEW FARMING SYSTEMS REVOLUTION: new tools, new fertilisers, new harvesting techniques HIGHER PRODUCTIVITY/PROSPERITY

MASS PRODUCTION

STEAM POWER (replaces water/animal power)NEW MACHINERY/TECHNOLOGY "SPINNING JENNY" (James Watt): REVOLUTION in the COTTON MILLS MANCHESTER: Britain's leading cotton-producing city the world's FIRST INDUSTRIALISED CITY

METAL INDUSTRY

in the WEST part: BLACK COUNTRY: foundries/furnaces COAL a prime factor Improvement in MINING TECHNOLOGY Construction of railways/steamships

new employment opportunities (people moved from the countryside to the manufacturing towns) industries: source of wealth factory workers earned higher salaries than farm workers mass production lowered the cost of clothing, tools... higher employment in different jobs growth of urban middle class

POSITIVE ASPECTS

NEGATIVE ASPECTS

overcrowded cities (boom in construction, but CRAMPED SHANTY TOWNS)poor quality living: problems with sewage/sanitation systems higher risks of diseases (tuberculosis, typhus, cholera..)

exploitation of natural resources (water/minerals): water/air pollution factory workers earned more, but oppressive working conditions exploitation of women/children no social welfare/protection

NEGATIVE ASPECTS

NATURE

ENLIGHTENMENT

ROMANTIC AGE

You CAN'T fully understand nature; FULL OF MYSTERIESINTUITION helps you

nature can be studied; concept of SIMMETRY, ORDER, HARMONY,CLASSIFICATION

VS

NATURE: SOURCE OF SPIRITUAL RENEWAL; a PLACE TO ESCAPE from cities

natural landscapes: SUBLIME, DELIGHTAGAINST the destruction of the environment

LITERARY BACKGROUND

TWO PHASES

1760-1801ANTI-CLASSICAL TENDENCIES PRE-ROMANTIC

1801-1837ROMANTIC AGE

1801 "Preface to the Lyrical Ballads" by W.WordsworthMANIFESTO of English Romanticism

Info

important role of IMAGINATION in the process of artistic creationfeelings, emotions, irrationality, supernatural elements

reaction to the role of the REASON in the Enlightenment

NEW IDEA: ROMANTIC

marked by feelings

melancholy, loneliness

related to love, having a strong effect on someone's feelings