Romanticism

It is connected with the first half if the 19th century. The period of enlightenment was eventually succeeded by romanticism. The writers of the period turned away from the values and ideas of the "age of reason"(разум) toward what they perceived as a more individual and imaginative approach to both literature and life. In general the romantic writers placed the individual rather than society at the centre of their vision. They tended to be optimistic about the possibility of progress of humanity. Thus supporting the development of democratic values. Whereas the writers of the age of reason tended to regard evil as a basic part of human nature, the romantic writers generally saw humanity as naturally good, but corrupted by the institutions of religion, education and government. The literature of this period has the sense of uniqueness of any human being and inerest in mysterious and mystical laws by which the inner world of a human being is organized.

Romanticism as a literary current can be regarded as a result of two historical events: The Industrial Revolution, the French Bourgous Revolution (1789). Romanticists were dissatisfied with the present state of things. Some of the writers were really revolutionary ( George Gordon Bayron, P.B. Shelly) they denied the existing order forced upon people to struggle for a better future. These writers shared the people's desire for liberty and personal freedom. They also supported the national liberation wars on the continent.

Revolutionary romanticsits

G. G. Bayron (1788-1824) was born London and inherrited the title of lord. He studied at Cambridge but left it because he was dissatisfied with his studies. His first book of poems "Hours of idleness" was severely criticized and as a reaction he wrote a verse satire "English bards and scotch reviewers" and dropped writing for a time. From 1809 to 1811 he travelled through Southern Europe. In 1812 he published the first two parts of his famous " Childe Harold's pilgrimage". Between 1813 and 1816 he mostly composed his "Oriental tales" which embody his romantic individualism. The hero is usually a rebel against society, a man of strong will and passionate. He is also proud and conceited, that is why he rises against tyranny and injustice to gain his personal freedom and happiness. This revault is too individualistic and therefore it is doomed to failure. In 1815 Bayron had to leave England for ever. He went Switzerland where he finished his "pilgrimage" (the book) and lyrical drama "Manfred". In 1817 he went to Italy to take part in a civil war there. Italian period is greatly influenced by revolutionary ideas. The most prominent work of the period is the poem "Don Juan". In 1823 Bayron went to Greece to join the struggle for national independence and died there of fever.

Percy Bysshe биш Shelly (1792-1822) was born in Sussex in a wealthy family. He was educated in Iton from which he was expelled for writing a pamphlet "the necessaty of atheism". Shelly was interested in relationship between England and her parts (Ireland and Wales) he believed that the Irish were oppressed by the English rulers and tried to rouse the Irish to rebel against England. He wrote "Queen Mab" (1813) - a revolutionary poem which attacked both political tyranny and christianity. After 1818 Shelly into permanent exile in Italy where he wrote his most important works of which "Prometheus Unbound" is the most prominent. Shelly's poems are emotionally direct but difficult to understand intellectually. His spiritual attitudes were intensely personal and tended to oppose traditional Christian views. Shelly felt that's spiritual truth was not based on either supernatural revelation (откровение) or natural experience, instead he thought the truth could be understood by the imagination only.

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