The Impact of French Revolution in the Romantic Era
A long time before Wordsworth began writing, Early Romantic Poets like James Thomson(1700–48), Oliver Goldsmith(1728–74), Thomas Chatterton(1752–70), Thomas Gray(1716–71), William Collins (1759), William Cowper(1731–1800) and William Blake(1757–1827), deviated from the traditional Neoclassical Rules.
Wordsworth is probably the Romantic poet who made his poetic experience as the locus of criticism and critical discourse. Unlike Coleridge, Wordsworth was not a theorist. So henceforth, Wordsworth’s literary criticism used to criticize in the most literal sense.
Wordsworth definition of Poetry
Wordsworth’s definition of poetry states: Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of emotions recollected in tranquility. It means the that poets that is a matter of passion, mood and temperament. Poetry cannot be restricted to ground rules that the classicists put forward. It is spontaneous as the soul of the poet.
The French Revolution was a global phenomenon in 1789, not a domestic one. It not only affected France, but the rest of Europe and the world. It exerted a profound influence not just on a political level to a whole of Europe, but also influenced the intellectual, literary and political spheres almost throughout Europe,but also influenced the intellectual, literary and political spheres almost throughout Europe.
On 14 July 1789, a state Paris prison, located on the east side called the Bastille, was attacked by an aggressive mob. The prison was a symbol of monarchy’s dictatorial rule, and this event became a profound influence of the French Revolution.
Bastille, a medieval fortress, Bastille is eight 30 meter- high towers, which was dominated by Parisian skyline. When the prison was attacked only seven prisoners, but the mob wanted to gather ammunition for the prisoners walls. When the prisoners refused to comply, the mob charges and after murderous battle, the governor was seized and killed. The storming of Bastille ,overthrew the monarchy and a republic.
Parallelism of Romanticism in The Tale of Two Cities
The popular novel of Charles Dickens’ shows that moderation is necessary for a person to lead a meaningful life. There will be negative outcomes if there are no moderation. This is visible in Dickens A tale of two cities.
In the novel, the author makes a comment about the effects of excess
in a society. The paradox used in this novel illustrates the fact that everything should be balanced. A character like Sydney Carton expresses this idea. Carson realized that Lucie Manette does not return his feelings, but he later takes his own life.
S.T Coleridge and the French Revolution
Coleridge was greatly influenced by the French Revolution and the revolution and the legendary by Wordsworth. When the Bastille was barged opened and the prisoners was set he wrote:
Liberty the soul of shall reign
Shall throbs in every pulse, shall flow through every vein.
Stoppard A. Brooke remarks, “Almost all his best poetic work coincident with French Revolution. “The weakness of will was doubled.” Coleridge was the first to be ashamed when England declared war on France earlier than Wordsworth.
Akshinta Das
Citations
https://sites.google.com/site/nmeictproject/collections/3-2-3-definition-of-poetry
