British Romanticism

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

Stuart Sillars (University of Bergen)
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Romanticism is the name given to a variety of thought, writing and general artistic world view that became dominant in Europe from the later eighteenth century to the middle of the nineteenth. Some date its beginnings in England from the French Revolution of 1789 and the radical poetry published by William Blake between 1789 and 1795, others to the publication in 1798 of the

Lyrical Ballads

by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, but its origins are probably earlier. Certainly the concept of the “Romantick” is found already in the 1730s. Its ending is generally considered to be some time in the 1830s, with the political changes created by the extension of the franchise in 1832, or the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837. The Romantic novel, perhaps because of developments…

3492 words

Citation: Sillars, Stuart. "British Romanticism". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 September 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1225, accessed 31 October 2024.]

1225 British Romanticism 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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