English Romanticism Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

The article is devoted to the image of Russia and Russian territories in works of William Blake. We consider the possible aspects of the poet's acquaintance with Russia, Russian territories mentioned in his correspondence and writings.... more

The article is devoted to the image of Russia and Russian territories in works of William Blake. We consider the possible aspects of the poet's acquaintance with Russia, Russian territories mentioned in his correspondence and writings. Jack Lindsay wrote that «Russian merchant» James Vine ordered copies of Blake's books; but this merchant he was not Russian, Vine traded with Russia, that probably contributed to his description as a «Russian merchant». Alfred Story mentions that Grodna, the name of Blake’s character, is translates from Russian as ‘land’, that is deeply wrong. The possible Slavic etymology of the name goes back to the town of Grodno (Grodna, Hrodna) in modern Belarus; in times of Blake this city was a part of the Russian Empire. Blake mentions Russia and its separate territories in his great prophecies: he mentions the traditional names for Russian lands, caring little about modern politics: for example, he mentions as equal territories Russia, Poland, (Great) Tartary, Siberia. The last three countries became the parts of the Russian Empire by Blake’s time. Blake has never been to the continent, and his view of Russia was quite vague, as evidenced by references to Russian territories in his prophetic poems.

In his essay, The Language of Paradox, Cleanth Brooks argues that although we tend to see poetry more so as " the language of the soul " rather than " the language of sophistry, " the poet is inevitably forced to approach his truth, "... more

In his essay, The Language of Paradox, Cleanth Brooks argues that although we tend to see poetry more so as " the language of the soul " rather than " the language of sophistry, " the poet is inevitably forced to approach his truth, " …only in terms of paradox " (Brooks 3). This doesn't mean Brooks sees poetry as dealing exclusively in paradox or that poetry involving paradox eschews any sort of emotional outpouring. Rather, he sees paradox as revelatory, insofar as it exposes a new meaning hidden underneath the apparent tension stemming from its configuration. Brooks maintains that by delving into existing paradoxes within a poem, a reader may potentially discover the thrust behind a poem's fervency. Building on this notion, I will argue that not only is there an existing paradox in Browning's " My Last Duchess, " but that beneath the apparent discordance exists the very power by which the reader is affected. Before providing an example to substantiate his case, Brooks concedes that Wordsworth's poetry is known for its simplicity and for its candidness. Few would argue, after a first reading of Wordsworth's oeuvre, that his poetry deals in anything sophistical. Yet Brooks contends that underpinning the typical, simplistic Wordsworthian poem is, " a paradoxical situation " (Brooks 4). He gives us " Composed upon Westminster Bridge " as an example that, through its underlying paradox, we can understand its power and account for its success. On its surface, Worthsworth's poem seems devoid of any paradoxical language. We see the speaker construct a metaphor at the poem's beginning, noting how London's skyline, its,

For Jane Austen's heroines, a ball is a rare chance to mingle with the opposite sex. Austen, by incorporating many nations moving and the traditions related with it into her books, accomplishes three sorts of impacts: first, in reflecting... more

For Jane Austen's heroines, a ball is a rare chance to mingle with the opposite sex. Austen, by incorporating many nations moving and the traditions related with it into her books, accomplishes three sorts of impacts: first, in reflecting reasonably the exercises and estimations of her country upper-class subculture, she empowers the reader to feel comfortable in her fiction; second, the move set, which unites such a significant number of and such changed individuals, accommodates Austen chances to move plot components, typically ones including affection, romance, and marriage game plans; third, the move setting gives various chances to her to characterize and accentuate the individual characteristics of a portion of her characters. A comprehension of the traditions and traditions of nation move and the eighteenth-century dance hall can open up subtleties of implications that would be lost to the uninitiated reader.

Trabajo Literatura Contemporánea.

Manuel Ángel Fernández.

Toy theatres of the nineteenth century frequently depicted famous actors in specific roles, sometimes providing captions beneath characters stating not just the part being portrayed but also the star performer whose face and bodily manner... more

Toy theatres of the nineteenth century frequently depicted famous actors in specific roles, sometimes providing captions beneath characters stating not just the part being portrayed but also the star performer whose face and bodily manner were being copied. These toy theatres performed a valuable service for actors and theatre managers during the time they were in general circulation. They reinforced an iconography of celebrity that linked star actors with the roles they played, generating excitement around individual performers. They also helped to promote the star system that dominated British theatre through most of the nineteenth century.

British Romantic Literature and the Emerging Modern Greek Nation makes an original contribution to the field of British Romantic Hellenism (and Romanticism more broadly) by emphasizing the diversity of Romantic-era writers’ attitudes... more

British Romantic Literature and the Emerging Modern Greek Nation makes an original contribution to the field of British Romantic Hellenism (and Romanticism more broadly) by emphasizing the diversity of Romantic-era writers’ attitudes towards, and portrayals of, Modern Greece. Whereas, traditionally, studies of British Romantic Hellenism have predominantly focused on Europe’s preoccupation with an idealized Ancient Greece, this study emphasizes the nuanced and complex nature of British Romantic writers’ engagements with Modern Greece. Specifically, the book emphasizes the ways that early nineteenth-century British literature about contemporary Greece helped to strengthen British-Greek intercultural relations and, ultimately, to situate Greece within a European sphere of influence.

Work on cognitive literary studies has been one of the approaches revealing new aspects of literary phenomena for some time. The article attempts to use a cognitive terminological framework to discuss the concept of imagination, which is... more

Work on cognitive literary studies has been one of the approaches revealing new aspects of literary phenomena for some time. The article attempts to use a cognitive terminological framework to discuss the concept of imagination, which is perhaps the phenomenon most frequently associated with the nature of literature. It sets out some basic features of the imagination developed throughout history, ending in Romanticism, i.e. in the period during which imagination saw its greatest flourishing, first in the theoretical work of T. S. Coleridge, and then in the poetry of William Wordsworth and the other Romantic poets. Wordsworth’s imagination is characterized as greatly determined by the temporality of his poetic seeing of the world, and is illuminated through the concept of the episodic memory and its role in the construction of the present and the future. It is claimed that the poet selectively re-imagined elements of the past to build an ethically and spiritually charged present and future resulting in the creation of the wholeness of his life. Cognitive analysis of Wordsworth’s poems can thus show the author in a more realistic light, free of the transcendental aura that has often been attributed to him.

"The affections lead us on," Wordsworth writes in "Tintern Abbey." While English is an impoverished language when it comes to love, Reno's focus is on the Spinozan notion of intellectual love. In this philosophy, emotions lead us to the... more

"The affections lead us on," Wordsworth writes in "Tintern Abbey." While English is an impoverished language when it comes to love, Reno's focus is on the Spinozan notion of intellectual love. In this philosophy, emotions lead us to the higher feelings that can improve us. The person who experiences intellectual love interprets life as interconnected, a perspective that "generates critical thought" because it mediates a range of discourses, including science and politics (7). With focus on Romantic poetry, Reno's book interrogates quests for transcendental love in relation to the seemingly contrary pull of human bonds.

By examining what Freud coined “dream-work” and the condensation, displacement, and imagery of the story, one can view the hysteria of Victor and his monster as a delusional dream of Captain Robert Walton and his subconscious desire to... more

By examining what Freud coined “dream-work” and the condensation, displacement, and imagery of the story, one can view the hysteria of Victor and his monster as a delusional dream of Captain Robert Walton and his subconscious desire to have a companion.

(This is an uncorrected proof)

Most readings of Wordsworth’s Adventures on Salisbury Plain focus on the enactment of the Sailor’s guilt of and repentance for the murder he has committed. Without discarding readings with an ethical emphasis, I read Adventures on... more

Most readings of Wordsworth’s Adventures on Salisbury Plain focus on the enactment of the Sailor’s guilt of and repentance for the murder he has committed. Without discarding readings with an ethical emphasis, I read Adventures on Salisbury Plain in terms of the Sailor’s most grievous loss, the loss of his wife and family, and how the realization of that loss through a process of physical trances amounts to the loss of his own life. The convergence of justice, conscience, and, I add, overwhelming consciousness of loss within the poem creates a perfect storm, in which the calamitous outcome through “a rare combination of adverse ... factors” (Oxford English Dictionary) is offset by an earlier use of the phrase in the sense of enlightenment.

This essay explores Nicky Hopkins’ eventful relationship with The Rolling Stones as both band and brand. To do this, it is essential to foreground a marginalised area in popular music studies: disability. I discuss Hopkins’s legacy with... more

This essay explores Nicky Hopkins’ eventful relationship with The Rolling Stones as both band and brand. To do this, it is essential to foreground a marginalised area in popular music studies: disability. I discuss Hopkins’s legacy with the Stones in contexts of disability studies, exploring interactions between impairment (as bodily – including mental – condition, illness or injury) and ‘disability’ (as social responses, or the lack thereof, to bodily ‘difference’).

This article adopts a historical and biographical perspective in order to investigate Percy Bysshe Shelley’s experience of Milan in April 1818. To this end, I trace the Shelleys’ arrival in the city and focus on the places they visited,... more

This article adopts a historical and biographical perspective in order to investigate Percy Bysshe Shelley’s experience of Milan in April 1818. To this end, I trace the Shelleys’ arrival in the city and focus on the places they visited, their contacts, and the encounters they made so as to re- construct the poet’s “Milanese circle”. Subsequently, I focus on “Ode to Naples” and Hellas and argue that Shelley’s references to the medieval and early modern history of the city should be seen as transhistorical allusions to the political contingency of the Lombardo-Venetian capital after the Hapsburg restoration.

To most, Charles Darwin's story is simply the birth of the Theory of Evolution. In reality, the story of how Darwin came to this theory, and the many people who would shape his destiny, is itself a story that needs to be told. Like many... more

To most, Charles Darwin's story is simply the birth of the Theory of Evolution. In reality, the story of how Darwin came to this theory, and the many people who would shape his destiny, is itself a story that needs to be told. Like many superhero movies of the 21st century, Darwin has a " back story " , the tale of how Darwin became Darwin. Darwin's story can appeal to many readers on different levels. On the purely academic level the work traces the influence of Alexander von Humboldt, Goethe and Wordsworth, in addition to Erasmus Darwin, on the development of Charles Darwin's theory of natural and sexual selection. On another level is the story of the development of Darwin's imagination and how this enabled his theories to evolve during the Victorian era when it was difficult to express them, yet at the same time in an era which encouraged them. This was a very contradictory time in history indeed. Charles Darwin's Debt to the Romantics is an attempt to mirror Darwin's own narrative, in which, through his imagination, he engages in conversation with the reader on a journey to discover the laws behind the process in which life evolves. These traces in time, moving both backwards into the past and forwards into the future, are like footprints in the sand, some of which get washed away never to be seen again. What drew me to this research was the Romantic notion of the imagination in which the self is so very much a part of Nature. We try very hard to observe nature objectively, but we can never get away from being subjectively part of it at the same time, just through the very act of observing it through our senses or through the act of remembering what we have seen, or think we have seen. And these footprints, or recreated memories of our past, are there for us to see today in fossils or archaeological remains — a mental map of our descent. What makes all of this so Romantic is the almost terrifying or sublime notion that mind has come from matter — that mind evolved and originated from that which was not mind. This is surely one of the greatest mysteries of our very existence — that science, poetry, literature, language, thought and culture have all ultimately evolved from inorganic nature (and this, of course, is only part of the story, as inorganic nature evolved before this).

This article contends that Wordsworth’s treatment of the Discharged Soldier is influenced by a scandal that followed the publication of William Cobbett’s pamphlet The Soldier’s Friend (1792). Cobbett publicized the mistreatment of... more

This article contends that Wordsworth’s treatment of the Discharged Soldier is influenced by a scandal that followed the publication of William Cobbett’s pamphlet The Soldier’s Friend (1792). Cobbett publicized the mistreatment of soldiers in the secretive British army, calling particular attention to the embezzlement of troops’ salaries by senior officers. The Soldier’s Friend influenced both texts and protests that addressed military conditions in the 1790s. Wordsworth read contemporary pamphlets and knew the circle of Cobbett’s publisher, Ridgway. The behavior of Wordsworth’s Discharged Soldier evokes the demoralized soldiery Cobbett depicts: malnourished, poorly clothed, but unwilling to reveal details of his hardship for fear of recrimination under the Mutiny Act. Wordsworth explores these ideas further in The Borderers, in which Rivers has been corrupted by mistreatment in service and poses a threat to society on his return home, where he replicates the abuse he endured.

Tom Duggett’s Gothic Romanticism is a compellingly ambitious study of the pursuit of a purer and better gothic in late-eighteenth- and early-nineteenth-century England. Focusing on Wordsworth and the Lake Poets’ attempt to refine a... more

Tom Duggett’s Gothic Romanticism is a compellingly ambitious study of the pursuit of a purer and better gothic in late-eighteenth- and early-nineteenth-century England. Focusing on Wordsworth and the Lake Poets’ attempt to refine a coarser, more sensational gothic as set forth in the novels of Radcliffe and Scott and in antiquarian curiosities, Duggett weaves sustained analysis of their poetry with thoughtful commentary on medieval architectural imagery and history, the turn to conservative politics, and educational reform. This multileveled investigation demonstrates in engaging prose the centrality of a cultivated rhetoric of a gothic aesthetic in this period while provocatively suggesting its relevance to a post-9/11 era where architecture “has assumed an importance that seemed without precedent.” Gothic Romanticism goes far in detailing such a poetic, cultural, and historical precedent. - MLA

My theme is ‘life-writing’, understood as the shaping of one's life through the contemplation of values, although this activity is mostly unreflective. To become an art so that one's life can be shaped in greater accord with clearly held... more

This public lesson searches the influence of the Romantic movement in Newman's conception of poetry and it´s capacity of expressing the truth, and studies "Lead, Kindly Light" as a source of knowledge of his spiritual itinerary. Esta... more

This public lesson searches the influence of the Romantic movement in Newman's conception of poetry and it´s capacity of expressing the truth, and studies "Lead, Kindly Light" as a source of knowledge of his spiritual itinerary.
Esta lección inaugural investiga la influencia del movimiento romántico en el concepto que Newman tiene sobre la poesía y su capacidad de expresar la verdad, y estudia el poema "Lead, Kindly Light" como fuente de conocimiento de su itinerario espiritual.

The anarchist philosopher, novelist and historian William Godwin (1756-1836) began life in a devout Dissenting or nonconformist family. As a young man he trained for the ministry, before losing his faith and turning atheist in 1792. Over... more

The anarchist philosopher, novelist and historian William Godwin (1756-1836) began life in a devout Dissenting or nonconformist family. As a young man he trained for the ministry, before losing his faith and turning atheist in 1792. Over the subsequent years of his long life Godwin continued to ponder the moral value of religious belief in general and of Christianity in particular. In his later religious writings Godwin insists that myth, superstition and religious belief are not intrinsically defective but are problematic only to the extent to which they undermine personal integrity and social solidarity.

Wordsworth engages with the Christian wisdom of his day, wherein worldly wishes—for glory or wealth, permanence or improvement, adequate sensory pleasure—give way to super-sensual hope in eternity and infinity. What abides on earth is... more

Wordsworth engages with the Christian wisdom of his day, wherein worldly wishes—for glory or wealth, permanence or improvement, adequate sensory pleasure—give way to super-sensual hope in eternity and infinity. What abides on earth is the cardinal virtue related to hope, magnanimity, the greatness of soul that aspires to great things, as well as the countervailing virtue of humility. While admiring the patriotic magnanimity and modesty of his French acquaintance Michel Beaupuy, Wordsworth also claims that our destiny lies with things unseen and—less conventionally—with an indeterminate, ever-receding future. “Our destiny, our nature, and our home, / Is with infinitude—and only there; / With hope it is, hope that can never die, / Effort, and expectation, and desire, / And something evermore about to be” (6:538-42). Still, tangible things seen, and recalled, can also be our home if we live alongside them with humility and self-distance, welcoming what is given and craving no more. Wordsworth’s near-quietism rises to drama in his verse by its aspirational quality, just as his deathless hope, or hope in deathlessness, finds no secure basis in faith and doctrine until late in the poet’s career.

Designed as an aid to the reading of Shelley's "Prometheus Unbound"