"The Age of Romanticism"

The text presents the Romantic Movement as political through the influence that the French Revolution and Industrial Revolution had on the beliefs and works of Romantic writers. The French Revolution inspired the romantics’ ideas and beliefs about freedom, liberty, and equality. While the ideal of the French Revolution disintegrated, the Romantics still clung to the “…spirit of the French Revolution” and it remained a central metaphor for the period (Black XXXVII). The Industrial revolution allowed the Romantics to focus on social status and the change in the social structure, specifically the increased possibility of social mobility. Many Romantic writers also critiqued the Industrial Revolution and the negative outcome it had on the lower class. Both Revolutions influenced the work and inspired the political critiques and debates on women’s education, emancipation, and various other social issues. The philosophical aspect of Romanticism is shown through the ideals of the movement. The importance of the natural world, human passions, individual freedom, the individual mind, and imagination were all aspects of the philosophical side of Romanticism. The literary movement was discussed through the various types of literature that was produced and the advancements in the distribution of those works. The periodicals, reviews, bookshops, book subscriptions, and make-shift book clubs all lead to the increased accessibility to literature.

Women’s role in the Romantic Movement is characterized by the focus on women’s education and the social, legal, and economic position that they held. The text also mentions that while women’s writing has previously been forgotten or ignored, their work was as good as anything written by the men of the period.

The text discuses many different literary works by women in the Romantic Period. Some of these include the novels of Jane Austen, Anne Radcliff, Mary Robinson, Mary Shelley, Maria Edgeworth, and Charlotte Smith. The nonfiction works of Mary Wollestonecraft, the poetry of both Felicia Hermans and Mary Robinson, and the plays of Joanna Baillie are also discussed.

I’m glad that the works of women are getting the recognition that they deserve. I was not surprised by how many Romantic women writers and works there are but I was a little surprised at the active role that they played. The text also made me realize the vital role these women played in the future progress for the political and social status of women.  

Black, Joseph, et al. The Broadview Anthology of British Literature. Peterborough, Ontario: Broadview Pr, 2010. Print.