Lesson 1, British Literature after 1800

Lesson Objectives
 Identify the major political, economic, and social upheavals of the Romantic
Period.
 Explain how the literary movements of this period occurred as a reaction to
these political, economic, and social changes.
 Evaluate Jane Austen's themes and explain her current popularity.
 Analyze the rhetoric of Mary Wollstonecraft and its effect on the women's
movement.
 Identify characteristics of Gothic literature.

In this lesson, you are responsible for knowing the definitions

of the following terms:
Define

Novel of Manners- a novel dominated by social customs, manners,

conventions, and habits of a definite social class. In the true novel of manners,
the mores of a specific group, described in detail and with great accuracy,
become powerful controls over characters.. It is a work of fiction that re-creates
a social world, conveying with detailed observation the complex of customs,
values, and mores of a stratified society. The behavioural conventions (manners)
of the society dominate the plot of the story, and characters are differentiated by
the degree to which they meet or fail to meet the uniform standard of ideal
social behaviour, as established by society. (Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice,
William Makepeace Thackeray’s Vanity Fair and Works by Edith Wharton).
Tuttleton favors limiting the definition to novels “concerned about how manners
reflect the moral condition of humanity” and concludes that in the novel of
manners, “the manners, social customs, folkways, conventions, traditions, and
mores of a given social group at a given time and place”

Polemic-a speech or piece of writing expressing a strongly critical attack on

or controversial opinion about someone or something. expressing or constituting
a strongly critical attack on or controversial opinion about someone or
something; polemical. A piece of writing can be a polemic, as long as it gets
someone's goat. Polemic comes from the Greek polemikos meaning "warlike,
belligerent." It's like challenging someone to a duel of ideas. These days a
polemic is usually a piece of writing, such as if the Grinch published a powerful
polemic against Christmas.

Gothic-is a term used to describe literary works that make extensive use of
primitive, Medieval, wild, mysterious, or natural elements. Gothic novels like
Frankenstein are often set in gloomy castles where horrifying, supernatural
events occur. relating to the Goths or their extinct East Germanic language,
which provides the earliest manuscript evidence of any Germanic language (4th–
6th centuries AD). of or in the style of architecture prevalent in western Europe
in the 12th–16th centuries, characterized by pointed arches, rib vaults, and
Lesson 1, British Literature after 1800

flying buttresses, together with large windows and elaborate tracery. Gothic
literature is a genre that originated in the 18th century and was popular through
the 19th century. It's characterized by supernatural and sentimental elements,
often set in claustrophobic spaces like castles, monasteries, and crypts. Common
plot elements include imprisonment, murder, and vengeful persecution, and the
stories often use framing devices like discovered manuscripts or changing
narrators. The depiction of horrible events in Gothic fiction can be a way to
express psychological or social conflicts. Gothic literature also often uses literary
devices like foreshadowing, such as visions, omens, and curses, to hint at events
to come.

Study Questions
- Romantic poets are primarily Poets of imagination
1. How did the American and French Revolutions affect society
during the Romantic Period?
The American and French Revolutions were driving forces of change
during the Romantic Period (1798–1837), influencing the literary
landscape and inspiring Romantic writers. The revolutions' social
transformations and ideals of freedom inspired Romantics to value
individuality and seek direct communication with nature. Romanticism was
also a reaction against the Age of Enlightenment's emphasis on order and
reason.
French Revolution: The revolution's social transformation inspired
Romantic writers, especially with its emphasis on freedom. Romantic
literature shows the influence of the revolution's social turmoil. The French
Revolution also ushered in democratic principles that seemed radical to
the English.
American Revolution: The war influenced political ideas globally, as a
small nation won its freedom from a great military power. The revolution
also led to the end of mercantilism and opened new trade relationships.
Social change: The Romantic Period saw increased calls to abolish
slavery, and more open writing about objections to it. The Agricultural
Revolution led to people moving to cities for Industrial Revolution jobs,
and the spread of technological innovations.
Romanticism: Romanticism was an intellectual, artistic, literary, and
musical movement that emerged in Europe. Romantics rejected social
conventions and valued subjectivity, imagination, and nature. They
treated humans as unique individuals, not subject to scientific rules.

2. What radical societal changes caused the Industrial

Revolution?
Industrialization is the process of social and economic change that
transforms a culture from being an agrarian (agricultural) society into an
industrial one. The Industrial Revolution started in Great Britain around
1770 when textile makers began using new machines to make thread
more quickly than before.. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon
Lesson 1, British Literature after 1800

Collection (B1986. 29.390) The most important of the changes that

brought about the Industrial Revolution were (1) the invention of machines
to do the work of hand tools, (2) the use of steam and later of other kinds
of power, and (3) the adoption of the factory system. By the late 1700s
many people could no longer earn their living in the countryside.
Increasingly, people moved from farms and villages into bigger towns and
cities to find work in factories. Cities grew larger, but they were often
dirty, crowded, and unhealthy. Machines greatly increased production.
Three reasons that led to the Industrial Revolution was the emergence of
capitalism, European imperialism, and The Agricultural Revolution. The
Agricultural Revolution contributed to the Industrial Revolution by creating
low food costs so families had money to spend elsewhere. The Industrial
Revolution began in the 18th century, when agricultural societies became
more industrialized and urban. The transcontinental railroad, the cotton
gin, electricity and other inventions permanently changed society. Reform
efforts during this time gave birth to a number of important changes in
the United States and Great Britain. These included mandatory public
education, child labor laws, and eight-hour workdays. Reforms also
addressed minimum wage, compensation for workplace accidents, and
improved sanitation infrastructure. Workers were forced to migrate to
urban areas in search of jobs. They worked long hours, were poorly
nourished, and lived in overcrowded conditions, leading to disease and
stress.

3. How did industrialization force changes in economic and

political policy?
The Industrial Revolution spurred widespread economic and political
change, including the rise of an industrial class, new policies, and the
growth of labor movements. The Industrial Revolution brought about
sweeping changes in economic and social organization. These changes
included a wider distribution of wealth and increased international trade.
Managerial hierarchies also developed to oversee the division of labor.
Economic changes: The Industrial Revolution shifted economies from
agrarian to manufacturing, with machines replacing manual labor. This led
to increased production and cheaper goods, but also long hours and
dangerous working conditions for many. The wealth generated created a
middle class and managerial hierarchies.
Political changes: Industrial magnates gained political power, and
governments adopted policies like tariffs and land grants to support
industrial development. The Industrial Revolution also led to the
replacement of mercantilism with laissez-faire policy, and the rise of
capitalists as government leaders instead of aristocrats.
Labor movements: In response to poor working conditions, labor
movements organized unions and pushed for reforms, including legislation
to shape workers' rights and welfare. These reforms focused on labor
rights, women's rights, social welfare, and ending slavery.
Urbanization: The shift to factory production and mass immigration led
to rapid urbanization, with people moving from farms to cities for work.
This caused housing shortages and poor living conditions for many.
Lesson 1, British Literature after 1800

Communication advances: The need for efficient long-distance

communication led to advances in communication methods, including the
patenting of the first commercial telegraphy system in 1837.
Agricultural: power was beginning to shift away from the land-holding
agricultural society to the industrialized larger cities.

4. How did romantic literature respond to and shape these

social and political upheavals?
It was in the fields of philosophy and literature that Romanticism — as a
broad response to Enlightenment, neo-Classical and French Revolutionary
ideals — initially took root. In general, this period can best be seen as one
in which the major upheavals such as the French Revolution, the Industrial
Revolutions, the revolutions of 1830 and 1848, along with the growth of
nationalism, impelled the bourgeois classes toward political, economic,
cultural and ideological hegemony. It was their world-view — broadly,
rationalist, empiricist, individualist, utilitarian, and economically liberal —
which dominated the thought and practice of this period, and which
spawned various oppositional movements such Socialism, anarchism,
cults of irrationalism and revivals of tradition and religion. Romanticism
cannot be placed within any set of these movements since it effectively
spanned them all. Romanticism is the term applied to the literary and
artistic movement that took place between 1785 and 1832 in Western
Europe. Occurring in the context of the Industrial Revolution, the French
Revolution, and the social, political, and economic changes that occurred
following the Augustan Age, Romanticism moved away from an emphasis
on the importance of an empirical, materilal worldview and looked to the
imagination and nature as sources of insight. Writers expressed a great
reverence for nature and believed that intuition, emotion, and imagination
were more instructive than empiricism and reason. The Romantic Period
overthrew the values instilled during the Augustan Age and strove to
sever itself from the rigid writing styles of the ancient, classical examples
of Virgil, Horace, and Homer. Instead, poets and authors were inspired to
write in their own individual and creative voices. From the increased
attention to the transcendent spirit of the natural world and the growing
sense that societal institutions corrupt human nature, Romantic writers
turned away from classical themes to those concerned with primitive
cultures and medieval legends, from urban societal settings to images of
rural life and common people, from the experience of adulthood to the
innocence of childhood.

5. How did male and female authors respond differently to

themes of imagination in their literature?
Source: (https://www.easternct.edu/speichera/understanding-literary-
history-all/the-romantic-period.html)
MALE
Coleridge and Wordsworth were very good friends and the two often
influenced each other. While Wordsworth was much more meditative
and calm, Coleridge was the opposite and lived a more uncontrolled life.
Of his three major poems only one is complete: The Rime of the Ancient
Mariner (1798). This poem tells the story of a sailor’s journey and his
Lesson 1, British Literature after 1800

experiences on the ship. The sailor is cursed by supernatural powers and

is only able to return home when he appreciates the animals and nature
around him. He is forced to wander the Earth sharing his story due to his
earlier mistakes. His two other long form poems are Kubla Khan (1816)
and Christabel (1816). According to Coleridge, his poem Kubla Khan came
to him in an opium-induced dream after reading a work about Chinese
emperor Kublai Khan. He was never able to finish the work. Christabel tells
the story of the title character meeting a stranger named Geraldine who
asks for Christabel’s help. Ignoring the supernatural signs, Christabel
rescues and takes her home, but it appears that the stranger is not
normal. Coleridge was only able to finish two out of his five intended parts
to the poem.
Lord Byron’s work was heavily influenced by the satire and wit from the
previous period and infused this in his poetry. His satire Don Juan
(1819-1824) is told in 17 cantos, divisions of long poems, and is based
on the traditional legend of Don Juan. Byron changes the original telling of
the story and instead of creating a womanizing character, he makes Don
Juan someone easily seduced by women. The cantos follow his character’s
journey as he travels throughout Europe meeting several women and
continually trying to escape from trouble. Byron’s other notable work is
Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage (1812-1816), another lengthy narrative
poem. This poem was largely biographical and discusses many of Byron’s
personal travels. It describes the reflections of a young man who is
seeking new beginnings in foreign countries after experiencing many
years of war. This poem is significant because it introduced the Byronic
hero, typically a handsome and intelligent man with a tendency to be
moody, cynical, and rebellious against social norms.
John Keats is still one of the most popular of these poets, with his work
continually read and analyzed today. Keats aimed to express extreme
emotion in his poetry, using natural imagery to do this. He is well known
for his odes, lyrical stanzas that are typically written in praise of, or in
dedication to, something or someone that the writer admires. These odes
followed the genre of lyrical poetry and focused on intense emotion using
personal narrative. Among these odes, “Ode to a Nightingale” (1819) and
“Ode on a Grecian Urn” (1819) are most famous. Keats was preoccupied
with death and aging throughout his life, which is shown in each of these
two odes. “Ode to a Nightingale” discusses the temporary status of life
and beauty, but in “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” he explores the artistic
permanence of the images on the urn.
FEMALE
Jane Austen’S Writing toward the end of the period, Austen did not
always adhere to the strict Romantic Period guidelines and mocked some
of the more extravagant plots of previous writers. Instead, Austen chose
to highlight the everyday lives of average people, making a turn toward
social realism. Her novels include relatable heroines with adventures that
the ordinary reader would likely encounter. She was also able to better
depict the lives of women in this way. She understood that women had
very little class mobility at the time and used many of her novels as a way
to show this. Some of her famous novels include Sense and Sensibility
(1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), Emma (1815),
Lesson 1, British Literature after 1800

and Northanger Abbey (1817). Pride and Prejudice is still widely read
today and tells the story of Elizabeth Bennet, the second eldest daughter
among five. When Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy move into the neighborhood,
the Bennet family hopes they will wed two of the unmarried daughters.
Although Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy clash heads early on in the
novel, they eventually fall in love and get married. Austen’s novel Emma
is also very popular and shows the consequences of meddling with love.
Emma thinks that she could be a matchmaker, but her efforts ultimately
fail and lead to heartbreak along the way. Although in the beginning of the
novel she vows never to marry, by the end she realizes she is in love with
Mr. Knightly and the two do get married.

6. How did themes of nature in literature reflect the treatment of

nature by modern industry?
Source: https://www.eh-resources.org/romanticism-and-nature/
Population movement from the land, and rational search for economically
efficient production methods (involving division of labour, timekeeping
and mechanisation) led, according to the Romantic Movement, to
spiritual alienation of the masses from the land and nature. As Marx and
Engels perceived it, they became units of production: cogs in an
impersonal productive machine. People and nature were objectified, and
reduced to commodity status. This was regarded as undesirable and
leading to the degradation of the humans. According to the
romantics, the solution was “back to nature” because nature was seen as
pure and a spiritual source of renewal. It was also a way out of the fumes
of the growing industrial centres for the new industrial rich. Inspired by
the works of romantic authors and poets such as Wordsworth, Keats and
Shelly, they hopped on the newly developed railways and travelled to the
Lake District. This led in the end to an appreciation of the landscape,
described in terms as the “Sublime” and also “Delight” (in the landscape).
Spoliation of a pure natural landscape was regarded as undesirable and
destructive. These ideas are still with us and led the way for modern day
conservation and environmentalism as well as outdoor recreation and
appreciation for natural and historical heritage.

Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice:

 Do you despise or pity Mrs. Bennett's obsession with meeting the new visitor?
No, I see it as the “question of the times”. Mrs. Bennett is a mother, as all
mothers worry about their daughters, Mrs. Bennet is worrying about whether
if her daughters will be married anytime soon, she worries if they will be
cared for, women could not work at this time, and if they did get work, it was
more so work in writing, or a sweat factory working long hours for very little
pay, much less pay than what a man could work for, it would be worth it for a
young woman to marry a wealthy man than work at a clothing factory for 14-
16 hours a day. And during that time, women could not announce their selves
to men’s houses without a man to first introduce them.
Lesson 1, British Literature after 1800

 What do you think of the opening line? Do you think it will serve as a theme
for the novel?
I Do, in fact, the first line of the book sets the precedence of the theme,
“wealthy men need to marry, and single women need to accept marriage or
they will be deemed a burden to society.”
 Why do you think Mr. Collins assumes his proposal will be accepted?
As a woman, I have noticed that men assume their advances will be accepted
with pleasure and positivity, when they are rejected, they get angry, or deny
the rejection, aka “not taking no for an answer.” Mr. Collins assuming his
marriage proposal will be accepted is based on the fact that he did what was
asked of him by Miss De Bourgh. She states that he “must marry, a
clergyman like you must marry. -Chuse properly, chuse a gentlewoman for
my sake; and for your own, let her be an active, useful sort of person, not
brought up high, but able to make a small income go a long way.” Which he
took at face value. Mr. Collins, assumed that one of his cousins- Ew would
agree because he chose the one who was most outspoken, witty and possibly
young and beautiful. But when he was rejected, he tried to comeback by
saying: “oh dear no you must be doing that girly thing and reject me on the
first time so you can make me chase you more ahhaha silly girl.”
 Does Austen's humor mask a deeper social commentary about the limited
roles for women?
Austen’s humor in the dialogue of the rejection sets up the question for the
limited roles for women of her time. “I could reject a man and mean it? I don’t
need to worry about being a burden to society? I can be a spinster and an old
maid? I could be poor or homeless, on purpose?” the “humor” is more so a
witty, slap in the face of the times at hand, a gossip, a woman rejecting her
place in society, is a woman who shouldn’t be around at all.

Now that you have been introduced to Jane Austen, what do you think of her? Was
she, as her critics have charged, oblivious to the social upheavals of her time? Why
do you think she is so loved today? I believe she is so loved today because the
stories set a timeline of woman’s suffrage and teaching society that woman could
be more than the wives of men. The obliviousness to the social upheavals of her
time is why she is so loved today.

Mary Wollstonecraft
Mary Wollstonecraft wrote her famous Vindication of the Rights of Men in direct
response to Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790).

“A Vindication of the rights of women”

- Wollstonecraft argues that women should NOT have the right to vote.
Lesson 1, British Literature after 1800

1. How does Wollstonecraft compare denying women political and civil rights to
tyranny and slavery?
Tyrants and slave owners claim that they usurp their authority for the good of
all, but in the end, their tyranny degrades both master and servant.

“Do you not act a similar part, when you force all women, by denying them
civil and political rights, to remain immured (confined against their will) in
their families groping in the dark?”
“They may be convenient slaves, but slavery will have its constant effect,
degrading the master and the abject (experienced bad to the maximum
degree, without pride or dignity) dependent.”
“But, if women are to be excluded, without having a voice, from a
participation of the natural rights of mankind, prove first, to ward off the
charge of injustice and inconsistency, that they want reason–else this flaw in
your NEW CONSTITUTIONb will ever shew that man must, in some shape, act
like a tyrant, and tyranny, in whatever part of society it rears its brazen front,
will ever undermine morality.”

By excluding women from political and civil rights, they isolate them to the
kitchen, forcing them to stay ignorant and stupid, it forces half a population
to revoke their own rights, which men believe women have none. However, in
the remaining of that letter, she states that women, who like to gossip, will go
against the wills and wishes by sneakily involve themselves in political
discussions and panels or conventions to learn more, to speak more, and to
make more change. Tyranny being an oppressive government or rule, the
men being the tyrants, the governments being the slave masters against the
women who just want to read to be “better companions to their husbands”
which I believe is both truth and lie, by saying what

2. How does Wollstonecraft argue that education and equal treatment will
promote chastity and faithfulness in men and women?
Women cannot be respected unless they are valued for more than their
fleeting physical beauty. Married men need a companion with “variety” and
are forced to look for this outside of marriage when they are married to
women who only have acquired “personal accomplishments” of the domestic
realm. Consequently, “faithless husbands will make faithless wives.”
A woman who has lost her honour, imagines that she cannot fall lower, and
as for recovering her former station, it is impossible; no exertion can
wash this stain away. Losing thus every spur, and having no other
means of support, prostitution becomes her only refuge, and the
character is quickly depraved by circumstances over which the poor wretch
has little power, unless she possesses an uncommon portion of sense and
loftiness of spirit. Necessity never makes prostitution the business of
men’s lives; though numberless are the women who are thus rendered
systematically vicious. This, however, arises, in a great degree, from
the state of idleness in which women are educated, who are always
taught to look up to man for a maintenance, and to consider their
persons as the proper return for his exertions to support them.
Meretricious (apparently attractive but having in reality no value or
Lesson 1, British Literature after 1800

integrity) airs, and the whole science of wantonness, have then a more
powerful stimulus than either appetite or vanity; and this remark gives force
to the prevailing opinion, that with chastity all is lost that is respectable in
woman. Her character depends on the observance of one virtue,
though the only passion fostered in her heart – is love. Nay, the honour of a
woman is not made even to depend on her will.
In one argument, she states that women who are not educated, and have lost
their husbands, either through divorce, death, or infidelity, have become
prostitutes, and the men she visits disrespects all women because of her
prostitution. Because a man only cares for one virtue in a woman, which is
her chastity, but Wollstonecraft argues that if a woman was better educated,
she wouldn’t have to turn to prostitution, because she would have more
options, wether it be education for a job, or be a teacher to educate young
minds and be a better wife to a present or future husband.

3. What is the “hasty conclusion” that has caused so much harm to women?
That women are not seen as humans, but as a separate creature from men—
a creature that lacks reason and virtue.
I have turned over various books written on the subject of education, and
patiently observed the conduct of parents and the management of schools;
but what has been the result?–a profound conviction that the neglected
education of my fellow-creatures is the grand source of the misery I deplore;
and that women, in particular, are rendered weak and wretched by a variety
of concurring causes, originating from one hasty conclusion. The conduct and
manners of women, in fact, evidently prove that their minds are not in a
healthy state; for, like the flowers which are planted in too rich a soil,
strength and usefulness are sacrificed to beauty; and the flaunting leaves,
after having pleased a fastidious eye, fade, disregarded on the stalk, long
before the season when they ought to have arrived at maturity.–One cause of
this barren blooming I attribute to a false system of education, gathered from
the books written on this subject by men who, considering females rather as
women than human creatures, have been more anxious to make them
alluring mistresses than affectionate wives and rational mothers; and the
understanding of the sex has been so bubbled by this specious homage, that
the civilized women of the present century, with a few exceptions, are only
anxious to inspire love, when they ought to cherish a nobler ambition, and by
their abilities and virtues exact respect.
That women are empty headed animals that are for childbearing and are
obsessed with love and their looks, until they have children, then they
become obsessed with their children, simple animals that don’t have other
thoughts in their head other than their shallow obsessions.
4. What does Wollstonecraft understand the term “masculine” to mean?
General human virtues
“Having those talents and virtues, the exercise of which ennobles the human
character.”
5. In what two categories does she place women in her arguments?
1) as part of the human family and 2) as females

6. Which social class of women is least corrupted, according to Wollstonecraft?

Lesson 1, British Literature after 1800

Women in the middle class, because they are in the most “natural” state.
Upper class women live only to please their own vanity.
I wish also to steer clear of an error which many respectable writers have
fallen into; for the instruction which has hitherto been addressed to women,
has rather been applicable to ladies, if the little indirect advice, that is
scattered through Sandford and Merton,a be excepted; but, addressing my
sex in a firmer tone, I pay particular attention to those in the middle
class, because they appear to be in the most natural state. Perhaps
the seeds of false- refinement, immorality, and vanity, have ever been shed
by the great. Weak, artificial beings, raised above the common wants and
affections of their race, in a premature unnatural manner, undermine the
very foundation of virtue, and spread corruption through the whole mass of
society! As a class of mankind they have the strongest claim to pity;
the education of the rich tends to render them vain and helpless,
and the unfolding mind is not strengthened by the practice of those
duties which dignify the human character.–They only live to amuse
themselves, and by the same law which in nature invariably
produces certain effects, they soon only afford barren amusement.

Middle Class

7. Notice the traits and virtues Wollstonecraft compares and contrasts. Look at
the following pairs of words—which does she believe has more value than the
other? Can you find other contrasting pairs in your reading?
love/respect
reason/refinement
adoration/friendliness
masculine/feminine
elegance/virtue (Virtue)

Mary Shelley and Gothic Literature

As your text points out, Gothic themes permeate the Romantic period, and its
influence is still felt today. Possibly no Gothic creation of the Romantic era has
stood the test of time as well as Frankenstein (1818) by Mary Shelley—daughter
of Mary Wollstonecraft and Percy Byssche Shelley. In her introduction to the 1831
edition, Mary Shelley documented the origins of the novel. Here is a brief
excerpt:
In the summer of 1816, we visited Switzerland, and became the neighbours
of Lord Byron…It proved a wet, ungenial summer, and incessant rain often
confined us for days to the house. Some volumes of ghost stories… fell into
our hands…'We will each write a ghost story,' said Lord Byron; and his
proposition was acceded to…I busied myself to think of a story…One which
would speak to the mysterious fears of our nature, and awaken thrilling
horror-one to make the reader dread to look around, to curdle the blood, and
quicken the beatings of the heart…I thought and pondered vainly. ..Have you
thought of a story? I was asked each morning, and each morning I was forced
to reply with a mortifying negative…Many and long were the conversations
between Lord Byron and Shelley, to which I was a devout but nearly silent
Lesson 1, British Literature after 1800

listener. During one of these, various philosophical doctrines were discussed,

and among others the nature of the principle of life…When I placed my head
upon my pillow, I did not sleep, nor could I be said to think. My imagination,
unbidden, possessed and guided me, gifting the successive images that
arose in my mind with a vividness far beyond the usual bound of reverie. I
saw—with shut eyes, but acute mental vision—I saw the pale student of
unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together.

More Info on Gothic Literature here:

https://go-gale-com.ezp1r.riosalado.edu/ps/i.do?
p=UHIC&u=mccweb_riosalado&id=GALE|
CX3279300020&v=2.1&it=r&sid=summon&asid=806ca160

Check Your Understanding

To check your knowledge of the Gothic influences and to prepare for future
assessments, complete the following un-graded quiz.
The Gothic influence originated during the Romantic Period. FALSE

1. The Gothic movement during the Romantic period began with the remodeling
of Strawberry Hill. TRUE

2. Gothic literature was seen as too dark and disturbing for women to be
involved in. FALSE

3. The Gothic influence is limited to the novel form. FALSE

FEEDBACK:
The key to success with these 25 point exercises is the development of good
answers that include evidence of critical thinking and analysis. In other words,
there should be more to your response than just a repetition of the information in
the text.
Your answers should be thoughtful, well organized, and thorough. Answer the
question directly and then use excerpts from the selections as examples to
support your analysis. Include a short quote to illustrate your point, but
remember to document any quote correctly (author's Last Name page
number). You can also conduct research about the selections to help you
to develop your answers thoroughly. Practicing this kind of
answering technique will help you as you prepare for the tests.

The industrial revolution was a time of upheaval. This era shifted the economy
from an agrarian one that was controlled by wealthy landlords to a
manufacturing one controlled by industrialists. It’s no surprise then that the
Romantic period which praised all things natural felt that this focus on industry,
with its factories and pollution, “scarred previously rural communities”.
The Romantic poets believed in innocence, the power of Nature - that it “never
betrayed the heart that loved her” – the innocence of the ‘savage’ natural man
and of children. Their poetic voices were a clear revolt against the confining
strictures and the structure of Neoclassic movement.
Lesson 1, British Literature after 1800

This is when literature moved away from the rational thinking of the Age of
Reason and toward to the 'almost anything goes' natural ideas of the first
generation of Romantic poets. They were on the cutting edge of their time and
focused their appreciation on the common man. In fact, any novels of the time
were about manners and common life rather than the life at court.
Gothic literature could, perhaps, be described as dark romanticism, and Mary
Shelley’s work “Frankenstein” remains today as an authentic representation of
gothic literature. At that time it was not all about horror and blood and gore.
However, while it does create an atmosphere of fear, and horror, it is also highly
imaginative, and thus fits in with the Romantic ideal.

 Who is the speaker in this poem? – remember that this is not the poet.
 Who is the audience?
 What is the situation (time and place) and how does that effect the message?
 What is the poem’s central idea or theme in a singular sentence.
 What is the tone of the poem? (The writer’s attitude toward the subject)How
is it achieved?
 How does word choice (diction) affect the message of the poem?
 What examples of figurative language can you find? How do the effect the
poem’s message?
 Metaphors
 Similes
 Imagery
 Allusions
 Personification
 Symbols