The British Romantic period designates the
time period 1785–1830. Romantic poets
and writers would not have considered themselves
similar and many of the writers considered
canonical today were not popular until later
in their careers or after their deaths. This
period, nonetheless, designates a time in
which many writers were responding to similar
events and ideas about the form and function
of literature.
The period was socially
turbulent and imported revolutionary ideas
created social conflict, often along class
lines. The French Revolution
had an important influence on the fictional
and nonfictional writing of the Romantic
period, inspiring writers to address themes
of democracy and human rights and to consider
the function of revolution as a form of apocalyptic
change. In the beginning, the French
Revolution was supported by writers because
of the opportunities it seemed to offer for
political and social change. When those expectations
were frustrated in later years, Romantic
poets used the spirit of revolution to help
characterize their poetic philosophies. The
Industrial Revolution, while bringing about
changes in manufacturing and thus improving
the efficiency of production, brought about
a different and related reaction in literature
that addressed the rights of the laboring
classes and improved labor conditions.
This revolutionary spirit
prompted Romantic poets to posit new theories
about the function and form of poetry. These
arguments are demonstrated in Wordsworth's Lyrical
Ballads and Percy Bysshe Shelley's A
Defence of Poetry. Romantic
poets presented a theory of poetry in direct
opposition to representative eighteenth-century
theories of poetry as imitative of human
life and nature by suggesting that poetic
inspiration was located not outside in nature,
but inside the poet's mind, in a "spontaneous" emotional
response. This new theory of poetry
also posited new possible subjects of poetic
expression in a revaluation of the outcast,
delinquent, and the supernatural. Indeed,
it often reveled in representations that
made the ordinary appear miraculous. This
wonder at the ordinary was often achieved
in making the natural appear supernatural.
Such representations often exemplify the
interest of much Romantic poetry in describing
and depicting alternate states of consciousness.
Literature
also became a profitable business in the
Romantic period with the increase of potential
readership due to education reform and
increased literacy. Improved printing
technology and a new aesthetic valuation
of art and literature for its own sake
contributed to the growth of literature
as a business. Attendant
upon the increased profitability of literature
was the growth of the periodical industry
and the consequent added importance of
the essay as a literary and critical form. Taking
inspiration from their poetic counterparts,
Romantic essayists prized a subjective
viewpoint and often took on an autobiographical
tone.
In addition to the essay,
drama and the novel experienced formal revision
in the Romantic era. Playwrights such as
Shelley and Byron attempted to revitalize
the poetic play, but without much practical
success. Aside from a lack of popularity,
only Drury Lane and Covent Garden theaters
had the right to produce spoken drama thanks
to a licensing act that was not repealed
until 1843. Unlike drama, the
novel increased in popularity and prominence
with two new genres: the gothic novel and
the novel of purpose. While the latter
sought to propagate the social and political
theories of the day, the former was less
didactic and more interested in terror, perversion,
and mystery. William Godwin's Caleb
Williams is an appropriate example of
the novel of purpose. Ann Radcliffe, Gregory
Lewis, and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley all
wrote gothic fiction. Although interested
in historic novels more than gothic or novels
of purpose, Sir Walter Scott also rose to
prominence in this period.