The Concept of the Individual in Literature of the Romantic Period
This essay will explore how the newly important concept of the individual in literature of
the Romantic period influenced the genre, and in particular how this was a response to the
rationalization of nature and neglect of the individual upheld by the Enlightenment
Movement. In order to demonstrate this, a close analysis of some poetic works by Samuel
Taylor Coleridge, William Wordsworth and William Blake will be examined.
The Romantic period placed great importance on creativity, imagination and the value of
the self, Wordsworth and Coleridge were particularly influential in Britain with regards to
the burgeoning of the movement. The movement of romanticism and its concern with the
importance of the individual was the antithesis of the philosophy of enlightenment and its
concern with such views as held by the Empiricists. Their Philosophical beliefs were
primarily concerned with a theory of knowledge, the notion that experience is crucial to
the formulation of ideas, which gave very little allowance for creative development or
freedom of the human spirit. The Romantics fascination with imagination, art and the self
is a critical response to the almost mechanical viewpoint of many of the figure heads of
the Enlightenment movement. Peter Widdowson writes that the characteristics of
Romanticism in its celebration of nature and the natural goodness of human nature, its
valuing of feeling and emotion over reason, and its propagation of an educational method
in which a pupil would develop freely in accordance with the inclinations of their own
innate nature' (English Literature and its Contexts, pg 91) Jacques Barzun also writes that
Romanticism places a high value upon the individual. According to some, it exaggerates
the worth and power of the individual man' (Classic Romantic and Modern, pg 6) and
while I would agree with the fact that Romantic Literature embraced the idea of the
individual I would disagree that this worth
the Romantic period influenced the genre, and in particular how this was a response to the
rationalization of nature and neglect of the individual upheld by the Enlightenment
Movement. In order to demonstrate this, a close analysis of some poetic works by Samuel
Taylor Coleridge, William Wordsworth and William Blake will be examined.
The Romantic period placed great importance on creativity, imagination and the value of
the self, Wordsworth and Coleridge were particularly influential in Britain with regards to
the burgeoning of the movement. The movement of romanticism and its concern with the
importance of the individual was the antithesis of the philosophy of enlightenment and its
concern with such views as held by the Empiricists. Their Philosophical beliefs were
primarily concerned with a theory of knowledge, the notion that experience is crucial to
the formulation of ideas, which gave very little allowance for creative development or
freedom of the human spirit. The Romantics fascination with imagination, art and the self
is a critical response to the almost mechanical viewpoint of many of the figure heads of
the Enlightenment movement. Peter Widdowson writes that the characteristics of
Romanticism in its celebration of nature and the natural goodness of human nature, its
valuing of feeling and emotion over reason, and its propagation of an educational method
in which a pupil would develop freely in accordance with the inclinations of their own
innate nature' (English Literature and its Contexts, pg 91) Jacques Barzun also writes that
Romanticism places a high value upon the individual. According to some, it exaggerates
the worth and power of the individual man' (Classic Romantic and Modern, pg 6) and
while I would agree with the fact that Romantic Literature embraced the idea of the
individual I would disagree that this worth
Bibliography: Blake, William. Songs of Innocence and Experience Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988. Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. Coleridge Complete Poetical Works Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988. Widdowson, Peter. The Palgrave Guide to English Literature and its Contexts 1500-2000. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. Alexander, Michael. A History of English Literature. Hampshire: Macmillan Press Limited, 2000. See Wikipedia, William Blake, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Blake (as of May. 1, 2007, 19:33 GMT). Wordsworth, William. William Wordsworth The Major Works Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. Barzun, Jacques. Classic Romantic and Modern London: The University of Chicago Press Limited, 1975. Word Count 1835.