ENGH 334: British Poetry of the Romantic Period

ENGH 334-001: British Poetry Romantic Period
(Fall 2013)

03:00 PM to 04:15 PM TR

Innovation Hall 207

Section Information for Fall 2013

Though the Romantic era in England is usually defined as running from roughly 1780 to 1830, the cultural developments of the period were of such significance and influence that many argue we are still living in a “Romantic age.” Amid revolutions abroad, social unrest at home, massive technological and economic shifts, and new ideas about the nature of the self and about the rights of men and women, the writers we’ll study in this course saw the world changing with an unprecedented pace, and felt alternately exhilarated, terrified, enraged and amused by the changes they witnessed. We’ll look at how Romantic writers used experiments in poetic form both to respond to these social and historical contexts, and to address more intimate concerns of love and loss, memory and desire, childhood, imagination and dream. We will read some of the most provocative, most lasting, and most exciting poetry of the period, as well as at least one novel—Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein—in direct dialogue with this poetry. To help us think about the impact of Romantic writing on later writers, we’ll also consider some modern and contemporary responses to Romantic poems and poets.

Course Information from the University Catalog