The Romantic Period 1798 1832 Romantic Period During

The Romantic Period 1798 -1832

Romantic Period During this time period Mary Shelley published Frankenstein (Published in 1818)

Romantic Period /You may be wondering: What does the word “ ROMANTIC ” mean in the context of this period?

Romantic Period /The word “romantic’” comes from the term “ROMANCE, ” and romance was one of the most popular genres of medieval literature.

Romantic Period /Medieval Connection: /Romantic writers self-consciously used the elements of romance in an attempt to go back beyond the refinements of neoclassical literature to older types of writing that they saw as more “genuine”

Romantic Period /The romance genre allowed writers to explore new, more PSYCHOLOGICAL AND MYSTERIOUS aspects of human experience.

Romantic Period /The writers of the Romantic period lived in England during a time of SOCIAL UPHEAVAL. /The INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION in England changed the way people lived, where people lived, and how business was done. (England changed from an agricultural society to an industrial nation w/ almost everyone living in the city)

Romantic Period /Writers before this time period tended to rely on SCIENCE and REASON to base their writings on…(This period was called Restoration, Englightenment or “Age of Reason”) /Writers soon after this time period, such as the Victorian era, wrote to AFFECT CHANGE in society.

/In Romantic Period contrast, the Romantic writers focused on PERSONAL EXPERIENCE and IMAGINATION in their work. (This change in thinking was thought to be NEEDED b/c of all the political, economic, and social changes taking place…remember… INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION) Thus, they were not as concerned with “REASON”… Imagination was superior!

Characteristics of Romanticism /The predominance of imagination over reason and formal rules /Primitivism /Love of nature /An interest in the past /Mysticism

/Individualism /Idealization of rural life /Enthusiasm for the wild, irregular, or grotesque in nature /Enthusiasm for the uncivilized or “natural”

/Interest in human rights /Sentimentality /Melancholy /Interest in the gothic

/Mary Romantic Period Shelley’s Frankenstein calls into QUESTION THE AIMS and METHODS OF SCIENCE…we’ll explore this more while we study the novel…. . Muah Ha HA HAAA

Romantic Period /Romantic literature that included the elements of mystery, horror, and the supernatural is known as GOTHIC /Frankenstein Novel is a Gothic

Gothic Context /The gothic was first used as Medieval architectural term to describe a style of building that included gargoyles, scenes from Hell, and souls in torment

Gothic Literature /The characters’ INNER EMOTIONAL LIVES receive a lot of attention.

Gothic Plot Elements /Ancestral /The Curse current generation suffers for the evil deeds of ancestors /Example: Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher"

/Body-snatching /Stealing corpses from graves, tombs, or morgues /Illicit trade in cadavers /Violation of religious space /Commercially motivated by science /Example: King's Pet Semetery

/Dreaming/Nightmares /Dredge up strong emotions: ecstasy, terror, joy /Reveal urges, impulses, desires, even truths about oneself that one tries to hide /Reveal the future; premonitions /Example: Freddy Krueger

Signs/Omens /Reveal the intention of cosmic forces /Often represent psychological or spiritual conflict

/Entrapment/Imprisonment (often physical but sometimes psychological) /Being confined or trapped, shackled to a floor or hidden away in a dark cell /Heightens the psychology of feeling there is "no way out" /Example Saw movies

/Setting and "gadgets" /Physical elements allowing supernatural to display uncanny presence and abilities /"Supernatural props": vocal and mobile portraits, animated statues and skeletons, doors (portals) which open and close independently, secret passageways, secret messages & manuscripts, forbidden/sealed chambers, etc

/Gothic Counterfeit /Playful fakery of authenticity /The text is presented as a discovery or recovery by the editor, sometimes of an ancient or forgotten text /Cloaks the real writer's authorship /Complicates the point of view (makes things fun and intriguing)

/The Grotesque /Mutations, deformities /A mix of two separate modes, such as comedy and tragedy, creating a disturbing fiction, in which comic circumstances often preclude horrific tragedy or vice-versa. /Example: The Hunchback of Notre Dame

/Mystery /An event or situation that appears to overwhelm understanding /Example: Sherlock Holmes' mysteries, elements of The Picture of Dorian Gray and Frankenstein

/Necromancy /The dark art of communicating with the dead /Examples: Ouija boards, "Bloody Mary", séances /Also may involve journies to Hell: Odysseus, Dante, among others

/Revenge /Examples: Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado" or Inigo Montoya in The Princess Bride /Somnambulism /Hidden (sleepwalking) sources of stress may be revealed or acts of guilt replayed /Superstition /Considered a belief in the supernatural or mystical and valuing ritual or miracles

/Supernatural /Events or phenomena that defy the rules of natural law /More often (and intriguingly) could be explained or dismissed by the laws of everyday reality (however ambiguously)

/Transformation /A striking change in appearance; a change in form or function of an organism by a natural or unnatural process /Example: Stevenson's Mr. Hyde, King's It, Count Dracula

Gothic Characters /Devil /spirit of incarnate evil /Ranges from: /tragic villain-hero /punisher of sinners /tempter and deceiver /pure evil

/Doppelganger /German: doublegoer /Ghostly counterpart of another person /Body double, alter ego, identical other person /Example: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

/Assorted monsters (supernaturally malignant beings) /The Pursued Protagonist /a force relentlessly, terminally and unavoidably pursues, persecutes or chastises another for a real or imagined wrong /Crime and retribution cycle /Hero-villain can be both pursued and pursuer

/Unreliable narrator /Narrator's ability to accurately relate events is suspect /Narrator makes incorrect assumptions or conclusions, or misunderstands situations or other characters /Example: Poe's "Tell-Tale Heart"

/Villain /The Hero villain poses as a hero at the beginning of the story or. . . /The villain possesses enough heroic qualities to be seen as more than just a bad guy. /Example: Dexter

/The /A Pursued Heroine virtuous, idealistic and usually poetic young woman is pursued by wicked older, potent aristocrat /The pursuit threatens the young lady's morals and ideals (and often her virginity) /She usually responds with passive courage /Modified: Twilight series

/Revenant /the return of the dead upon the living /a ghostly being who returns to life

Settings /Cemetery /Haunted house, castle, estate /Presence of mist/fog

Other components /Often for the protagonist is searching /Forbidden Knowledge or Power/ Faust Motif /Attempts to turn himself into a godfigure /This usually causes the protagonist to become a "Fallen Man "

That’s all folks… THE END Any Questions?