The Political and Social Upheavals of the Romantic Era

The Anthology presents Romanticism as an age which has previously been simplified drastically into the Romantic poems of "The Big Six". The Big Six were all British white men who represent only a small aspect of the political, philosophical, and literary era that was Romanticism. The Antholoy argues that Romanticism was equally a time of political change as it was literary. Revolutions help to define the reasonings for both the beginning of the movement and for its philosophy. Both the men and women who wrote within the era were politically shaped by the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution. For many writers of the time the fall of the monarchy in France meant the freedom of all literary forms, including the literary freedom of women. Some women writers were so inspired by the freedom promised in France they moved to Paris to persue proto-feminism such as Mary Wollstonecraft who published A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. However the British ideal of freedom seen in the French fell when the revolution turned into a military dictatorship to fight the violence of the Jacobins. France's fall from freedom to violence quickly turned the ideal of literary freedom in writers into conservatism in the younger Romantics.

The fall of France after the revolution also produced the English belief that Britain was divinely favored and that literary inspiration should instead come from within. This inspiration came in the form of the Industrial Revolution which soon massively overtook Britain. The Revolution changed the landscape and cities of the country quickly enough that Romantic writers would witness the massive transformation within their lifetimes. The Industrial Revolution also gave rich men another strong foothold over their countrymen and women. While these men who had gotten rich off industrial work were not immediately respected like old money families, they still had sway over the economic and political climate of the time. New wealth such as this often makes appearences in Romantic literature such as within Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice in the form of the Bingley sisters who Jane does not respect. However while those with new wealth may not have been as respected, their very existence demonstrates the new social mobility of the time. This mobility would be replicated in various Romantic writings.

Women writers of the time were influenced by these new social freedoms and changes in their literature. The works of Mark Wollstonecraft and other feminist writers -- named the "Bluestockings" -- wrote pieces meant to uplift the social, legal, and economic position of women through education. While these attempts were not successful during their time, works such as Thoughts on the Education of Daughts and The Female Reader began the educational progress of women for generations to come.