'Romanticism was revolutionary.' In what ways is this statement true or untrue?
'Romanticism was revolutionary.' In what ways is this statement true or untrue? Before any analysis into the notion of Romanticism being revolutionary can be made, it seems necessary to examine the word revolutionary itself. The dictionary states that the adjective revolutionary means 'involving great changes' but the meanings of words can change over time, so surely we cannot be sure that the word revolutionary held the same implications in the 1800's as it does today. A revolution can be seen as a rebellion, or reaction to something. If we take revolutionary to mean a rebellion against existing beliefs and art forms then Romanticism could be viewed as being a reaction to the Age of Reason, enlightenment and neo-classicism. But it is also possible that revolutionary is a distinctly political term and in this case Romanticism could be seen politically revolutionary in that it forced questions to be answered about the monarchy, the government and organised religion amongst other issues. Blake and Wordsworth are two hugely important writers of the Romantic era. Their poems hold great significance, and although sometimes ambiguous, their views seem to encapsulate the anxieties and concerns that the people of this time must have been feeling. Blake and Wordsworth both lived in a time of turmoil and revolution. The effect of the War of American Independence, which ended in 1783,
"Explore how Donne's poetry was influenced by developments in scientific progressions, exploration and religion." Before becoming a Protestant, John Donne was a Catholic priest and
"Explore how Donne's poetry was influenced by developments in scientific progressions, exploration and religion." Before becoming a Protestant, John Donne was a Catholic priest and therefore had studied Latin. He also lived around the time of Shakespeare, a period of time when literature and writing was extremely popular. It was also a time of discovery, when new places were being found and humans were for the first time beginning to understand and believe in science. John Donne was an egocentric, a very self-centred man. He was also exceptionally sharp and witty, an intellectual. His ability to create seemingly pointless images and weave them into his arguments (as well as making them valid) is unrivalled. One brilliant pun in "A Hymn to God my Father" where he seeks forgiveness for his sins says, "When thou hast done, thou hast not done" (a play on his own name) followed by "For, I have more" [a pun on his wife's name (Anne More), he felt guilty about keeping his wife in a poor condition, both financially and physically. She bore twelve children and died in childbirth]. There is no doubt at all that he was clever. Donne wrote this poem when he was deem of St. Paul's and fearing he was at the end of his life, he was exploring his relationship with God and trying to come to terms with his previous sins "Wilt thou forgive that sin by which I have won others to sin? And made
Analysis of The Abstract Wild by Jack Turner
Analysis of The Abstract Wild by Jack Turner Jack Turner's The Abstract Wild is a complex argument that discusses many issues and ultimately defends the wild in all of its forms. He opens the novel with a narrative story about a time when he explored the Maze in Utah and stumbled across ancient pictographs. Turner tells this story to describe what a truly wild and unmediated experience is. The ideas of the aura, magic, and wildness that places contain is introduced in this story. Turner had a spiritual connection with the pictographs because of the power, beauty, and awe that they created within him upon their first mysterious contact. Turner ruined this unmediated experience by taking photographs of the pictographs and talking about them to several people. His second visit to the pictographs was extremely different- he had removed the wild connection with the ancient mural and himself by publicizing and talking about them. This is Turner's main point within the first chapter. He believes that when we take a wild place and photograph it, talk about it, advertise it, make maps of it, and place it in a national park that we ruin the magic, the aura, and the wildness of that place. Nature magazines, photographs, and films all contribute to the removal of our wild experience with nature. It is the difference between visiting the Grand Canyon after you
How does Bennett deal with the theme of imprisonment in two or more of his 'talking heads'.
Emmanuel Ntombura 01/10/2003 'TALKING HEADS' Coursework Assignment HOW DOES BENNETT DEAL WITH THE THEME OF IMPRISONMENT IN TWO OR MORE OF HIS 'TALKING HEADS' INTRODUCTION This essay will be focussing on the theme of loneliness in monologues. I will be looking at the connections between 'A Lady of Letters,' and 'Playing Sandwiches,' in relation to the theme I'm focussing on. A monologue is a dramatic composition for one character or long speech performed by one character. There are lots of ways in which you can tell what a monologue is. A dramatic monologue always has a speaker and an implied auditor. The auditor often perceives a gap between what the speaker says and what the speaker reveals. The reader also adopts the POV of the auditor/speaker. The speaker also nearly always uses a case-making or argumentative tone of voice. The auditor then completes the dramatic scene from within, using means of interference and imagination. The dramatic monologue presents a 2-step sequence: we enter what looks like a normal situation, but become aware of discrepancies that gradually encourage us to suspect the speaker's reliability, motives and actions. As the self-justifying ("case-making") bombards us with a rationalisation/explanation of his/her actions, the auditor begins to construct a fully detailed alternative vision of the speaker and the events he describes, in effect
Chaucers presentation of Troilus and Criseydes love reflects the insurmountable influences of the conventional social ideologies in a patriarchy. Although the poem has a pre-Christian setting, many argue that Chaucer draws a message of Christian mo
Discuss the treatment of one of the following themes in any of the texts you have studied on this course: a) fate and predestination; b) love; c) honour and reputation. Quod Love, 'I shal telle thee, this lesson to lerne. Myne owne trewe servaunt, the nobel philosophical poete in Englissh, whiche evermore him bisieth and travayleth right sore my name to encrese...' from Testament of Love by Thomas Usk, Book 3 Chapter 4 Chaucer's contemporaries considered him a love poet, a 'true servant' of Venus, exploring all aspects of love: the courtly love tradition, sexual love, friendship, Christian love and divine power.1 For the purposes of this essay, I intend to explore his treatment of love in Troilus and Criseyde, undoubtedly one of his greatest works. Chaucer's poem couples his overriding focus on the universal theme of love with an important moral and philosophical viewpoint, addressed mainly through his narrator. At first the story appears to be a classical setting negotiating the trials of love and war during the siege of Troy; closer reading reveals that it is representative of medieval court romance as it presents a chivalric view. The setting may be the great Trojan war of antiquity but through Chaucer's representation the characters are medieval knights and ladies. Their seemingly 'courtly' behaviour arises out of the contemporary tradition of medieval romance
How is female sexuality portrayed in Hardy's 'Far From The Madding Crowd' and Lawrence's 'The Virgin And The Gypsy'?
How is female sexuality portrayed in Hardy's 'Far From The Madding Crowd' and Lawrence's 'The Virgin And The Gypsy'? 'Is Lawrence really a liberator of sex? Does he grant more independence to the women in his novels than his predecessors or just a little more freedom within confines of established expectations.'1 The same question could be asked of Thomas Hardy, who is believed by some critics such as Rosemarie Morgan, to use female sexuality in a way that is liberating and arguably revolutionary. 'The Virgin And The Gypsy' by D.H.Lawrence, and 'Far From The Madding Crowd' by Thomas Hardy, show a likeness in the fact that both men present sexuality through controversial female protagonists and question the moralities and social expectations of their time. Whilst the two novels were written over thirty years apart, their female protagonists are comparatively alike. Lawrence's protagonist, Yvette, faces a restrictive society that was only just beginning to accept the changing attitudes in female sexuality. Hardy shows a female repressed by society although, the nineteenth century was somewhat more constrained than the mellowing 'roaring twenties.' 'The nineteenth century woman was defined by her adherence to submission and resistance to sexuality. By emphasizing the physical aspect of femininity in [Hardy's] unorthodox representation of the female, Hardy threatens the
Both John Thomas and Tony Kytes are daring characters who try to manipulate the women around them. Yet in the end both are weaker than the women in each story. Compare the two male characters and discuss whether or not you agree with this statement.
Both John Thomas and Tony Kytes are daring characters who try to manipulate the women around them. Yet in the end both are weaker than the women in each story. Compare the two male characters and discuss whether or not you agree with this statement. >>>>>>Essay In Tickets Please by DH Lawrence and Tony Kytes the Arch-Deceiver by Thomas Hardy we are faced by two men who have the power to manipulate women to get what they want from them. Both John Thomas and Tony Kytes initially seem to be manipulative. In a sharp role reversal, the women are able to gain control of the situation; however, they lose this at the end of the stories to the men. Many factors such as the time period in which the stories were written in and the writer's point of view cause an unexpected ending to the stories. It is questionable as the two male characters try to manipulate women and whether they succeed or not. Tickets Please written by D H Lawrence was set in the industrial environment of Nottingham during wartime. Tony Kytes written by Thomas Hardy was set in pre 20th century in the rural area of Wessex. DH Lawrence was obsessed with honesty, particularly with regard to sexual matters. By writing about sex he was breaking social taboos as well as the then laws on decency. DH Lawrence (1885-1930) was one of five children born to a miner and ex-schoolteacher near Nottingham. He managed to avoid
Both John Thomas and Tony Kytes are daring characters who try to manipulate women around them. Compare and contrast the two men with particular reference to their attitude towards women.
Both John Thomas and Tony Kytes are daring characters who try to manipulate women around them. Compare and contrast the two men with particular reference to their attitude towards women. Tony Kytes is the main character of 'Tony Kytes, The Arch-Deceiver', which is a story written by Thomas Hardy in the 1890s - contained in his book titled 'Life's Little Ironies.' (1894) (The story is set in the Midlands during the First World War.) Thomas Hardy was an influence to 20th Century writers, and as recognition of his work his ashes were buried in Poet's corner in Westminster Abbey, and his heart buried in his wife's grave - Emma. DH Lawrence was obsessed with honesty, particularly with regard to sexual matters. By writing about sex he was breaking social taboos as well as the then laws on decency. 'Ticket, Please' isn't as indecent as some of his creations. From this story is the infamous John Thomas, who was created by Lawrence some thirty years after Tony Kytes was discovered. This time difference between the two characters may account for some of their contrasts and indeed the difference between the women of the stories, as the 'Victorian' women were certainly less peremptory than the women of the wartime were. The women of the Victorian era had more respect for the men as a result of their upbringing. From a very young age they were taught that they were inferior to the
Mortality and Immortality in Romantic Poetry
‘When old age shall this generation waste, / Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe / Than ours, a friend to man’ (John Keats, ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’). Discuss responses to mortality and/or immortality in the work of at least two writers of the Romantic period. Eternity and immortality are phrases to which it is impossible for us to annex any distinct ideas, and the more we attempt to explain them, the more we shall find ourselves involved in contradiction – Wiiliam Godwin, Political Injustice. The writers of the Romantic period found in immortality a topic which was not only of great political concern at the time, but would be of human interest indefinitely. The topic leads to suggestion of differences in each writer’s ideas about the role of the poet in relation to both his work and his contemporaries; a dispute as to the future state of poetry; and highlights opposing ideas about the human condition. This essay intends to explore these differences of opinion amongst a key few of the Romantic writers who expressed their beliefs both through their creative and their scholarly works, focusing particularly on the writings of Wordsworth, Keats, Shelley and Byron. It intends to seek differences between the first and second generation of romantics, and see how changes in political viewpoints affected considerations towards life and death. During the 18th
Compare the presentation of changing and contrasting attitudes throughout the First World War through Sebastian Faulk's Birdsong and Poems of the Great War. At the eve of the First World War in 1914
Question: Compare the presentation of changing and contrasting attitudes throughout the First World War through Sebastian Faulk's Birdsong and Poems of the Great War. At the eve of the First World War in 1914, the world was a different place compared to the one we live in today. Great Britain was at the height of its colonial power when the war first began and many men joined the military services in a hope to be a part of this patriotic war of good and evil. This is illustrated by the early literature such as the propaganda poems Flanders Fields and The Soldier. The war was expected to be a short one with a quick victory expected by both sides. However, as the war dragged on many people became disillusioned by it and the pieces of works that were being produced were a negative reaction to fighting for a cause most people had forgotten. "This is not a war this is an exploration of how far man can be degraded." Birdsong is a novel that brings out some of the horrific aspects of soldiery and war. Although Sebastian Faulks uses fictional characters he is able to construct a realistic view of trench warfare and life within the First World War. The novel is based around a central character called Stephen Wraysford and concentrates on his journey through the war. Birdsong is also populated with characters that represent different parts of society during the war period. Poems of