The Romantic Movement of the late 18th century and early 19th century represented a shift from the Age of Reason and a profound change in sensibility and ways of thinking and feeling. The Romantic writers, in particular Mary Shelley author of "Frankenstein" and William Blake author of "Songs of Innocence" and "Songs of Experience" had three central preoccupations during this period. These were nature and feeling, human vision and aspiration and the role of art. By highlighting these three main issues Romantic writers were encouraging readers to rebel against the changing society and recapture the essence of the earlier world and rebel against the Age of Reason.
The first predominant feature of romantic literature is a focus on human vision and human aspiration. This was an attempt of Romantic Writers to highlight the poor goals of society in the changing society of the Age of Reason and to encourage a recapture the prior essence of a Golden Age.
Steel engraving (993 x 71mm) for frontispiece to t...
William Blake's portrait in profile, added later t...
William Blake's frontispiece for Songs of Innocenc...By comparing the poem The Lamb with its accompaniment The Tyger Blake highlighted that corruption is created through interaction with society. This was achieved by the different tones created. The immediate impression that was given from The Lamb was one of peace and security in lines such as 'softest clothing woolly bright.' In The Tyger the world is threatened and insecure shown in the line 'what shoulder & what art could twist the sinews of thy heart?' Blake wanted the readers to understand that the harsh experiences of adult life destroy what is good in innocence.
The corruption of purity by society is also shown through Shelley's "Frankenstein". The Creature named 'wretch' or 'daemon'- which uses the technique of descriptive word choice- is effectively an innocent in the world and is symbolic of what is considered to be the natural...