Romanticism in English Literature: History and Features 

Romanticism in English Literature was a powerful literary movement that began in the late 18th century and lasted through the 19th century. It focused on emotion, imagination, nature, and individual freedom. Romanticism played a major role in changing the way literature was written and understood, making it more personal and emotional. In this guide, we will explain to you the key features, themes, and importance of romanticism to help you understand its impact on English literature. 

What is Romanticism in English Literature?

Romanticism was a major literary movement that began in the late 19th century, mainly in England and America. It emerged as a reaction against the strict rule, logic and order of the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution. Instead, Romantic writers celebrated imagination, emotion, and the beauty of nature. 

Romanticism writers frequently included autobiographical aspects, which meant including their personal ideas, feelings, and life experiences in their works. This was somewhat different from the typical style of older literature, which was more concerned with public concern and formal structure. 

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Beginning of Romanticism in Literature

Romanticism in Literature emerged in the late 18th century as a reaction to the Neoclassical age, which focused on logic, reason, and strict rules. The new movement’s writers desired to break free from this formality and portray emotion, creativity, and the beauty of nature.

William Blake was a prominent Romantic Period writer. Blake believed in spiritual and political liberty, and he frequently wrote about these topics in his works.

The official start of Romanticism is often marked by the publication of William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s Lyrical Ballads in 1798. The movement was influenced by major events like the French Revolution of 1789, which promoted ideals of freedom, equality and individual rights. 

The beginning of Romanticism marked a turning point in English literature. It opened a space for emotion, death, imagination, and a deep love of nature, giving rise to some of the most loved poets in English history: Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, and Keats. 

Characteristics of Romanticism in Literature

Here are some main and important characteristics of Romanticism in English Literature: 

• Love and worship of Nature: Romantic writers saw nature as a powerful, inspiring force. They wrote about its beauty, wildness, and ability to heal the human spirit. For example, William Wordsworth’s poem ‘Tintern Abbey’ describes how nature brings peace and joy to the soul. 
• Focus on Individual and Spirituality: Romanticism believed in the importance of individual and personal freedom. They valued subjectivity and self-expression over following traditional rules or authority. The Romantic movement valued personal experiences, thoughts, and dreams. Writers explored the self and inner life. 
• Creativity and Imagination: Romantic writers encourage creativity and the use of imagination. They often wrote about dreams, legends, and the supernatural. It allowed writers to go beyond the real world. 
• Use of Personification and Pathetic Fallacy: Romantic writers often gave human qualities to nature or objects (personification). They also used pathetic fallacy, where nature seems to share or reflect human feelings, like describing the sky as ‘crying’ during a sad scene. 
• Focus on Emotion and Feeling: Romantic writers believed that emotion was more valuable than cold logic. They expressed joy, sorrow, passion, and even madness. Romantic literature is full of strong feelings, love, fear, awe, and even horror. 
• Idealisation of Women: Romantics often portrayed childhood as pure and innocent. Women are the symbols of beauty and inspiration in romanticism. 

End of Romanticism in Literature

Romanticism in literature ended around 1837, when the Victorian era began. The Romantic period in English literature ended in the mid-19th century, around 1837, which also marked the start of the Victorian Era in Britain. Several significant changes in society, politics, and literature contributed to the fall of romanticism. 

One key reason was the Industrial Revolution, which transformed England’s agricultural civilisation into an urban, factory-based economy. As cities expanded and machinery replaced manual labor, life became more focused on science and technology. This move caused many writers and readers to abandon Romanticism’s emotional and creative subject in favor of real-world issues like poverty, class conflict, and working conditions. 

The deaths of great Romantic writers contributed to the decline of Romanticism. By 1820 and 1830, John Keats, Lord Byron, and Percy Shelley had all died at a young age. Wordsworth, one of the most prominent Romantic poets, continued to write, although his later works took on a more conservative and less emotional tone. This transition represented the Romantic spirit’s loss of energy. Furthermore, by the time Queen Victoria came to the throne in 1837, a new era had begun, one that valued moral duty, scientific discovery, and social reform over emotional expression and individual creative thinking. 

Although the Romantic Movement officially ended, its influence never disappeared. Romanticism influenced later writers, artists, and thinkers to explore the inner state of human emotion, the beauty of nature, and the value of personal liberty. 

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