How Did Coleridge And Wordsworth Portray Children During The Romantic Period?

During the eighteenth century, children were expected to be seen and not heard. Society believed all children should be angelic, submissive and in fear of God. Many of the Romantic writers challenged these ideas in their prose and poetry. Some of the more interesting and controversial thoughts come from such writers as Blake, Coleridge and Wordsworth. The romantics esteemed children because they were innocent and close to nature. Youngsters had tended to be included in family groups, dressed as young adults in order to appear as a miniature of their parents. However, the Romantic approach was to depict them as real children, and to encourage society to be more child-centred.

One of the main ways in which to portray children during the Romantic period was to see them as victims of the
This point of view completely go against the typical belief that children and innocent and spiritual (Holt McGavran, 57). Wordsworth allows the child in We are Severn to be interpreted by their interrogator the childs true opinions are not shown but can be viewed through the adults experienced eyes. Thus not giving the reader a true interpretation of the child in question. In Wordsworths poem, We are Seven written in 1978. He writes about an encounter with a simple (We are seven, 1) maid (We are seven, 13) who talks about her brothers and sisters. Despite the narrators protests the little girl insists on counting little Jane (We are seven, 49) and my brother John (We are seven, 56) who both went away (We are seven, 54). Wordsworth uses the same idea as Blake in which we must suffer in this world in order to go to heaven. However, he does not question it as much as Blake but just seems to accept it as the truth, where as Blake asks why God would wish for his Children to suffer when he supposedly loves us unconditionally and gave us his son in order to redeem our