How Did London Affect The Works Of The Romantic Period?

The writings of the poets of the Romantic Period were directly affected by the events that took place around them. Most of these writers were deeply associated with London, and as the capital of England, anything that took place affected them most. This was a direct reflection of the subject matter of their various works, from the influence of the Church of England, to the rights of women during that time period. The first work of this time period I will discuss is London from William Blake’s Songs of Experience. In this piece, Blake starts off by the depressing fact that generally all of London is heavily controlled, even the Thames River. The reader can tell that London is not portrayed as a happy place in the poem; everyone that the narrator passes by is in an enslaved
In Pride and Prejudice, she introduced the concept of marriage in very many lights. In England, marriage was not always necessarily about love. Sometimes it was for money, other times it was simply obligatory, and still other times it was a way for women to get out of the shadow of their male family members. Austen used these concepts in a love story, and did so very well. Women had no legal rights, and marriage was the only way to ensure that they lived a comfortable life (that is, if the person they married had comfortable living conditions). If a woman turned 28 without being married, she probably wasn’t going to get married, and she would instead have to live under the care of a brother or uncle. This is why Charlotte (at the age of 27) decides to marry Mr. Collins, even though he’s considered a disagreeable person. Wealth was very important at the time, and trade wealth versus inherited wealth actually drastically changed the value of a person, which is why Darcy seems like the perfect person to marry in the beginning. Austen’s novel showed how practical marriage could really be instead of emotional during this