The Lawspeaker
11-04-2011, 02:49 PM
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The Romantics - BBC documentary - Liberty
The 18th century was a time of opulence and privilege for some. Europe was dominated by the twin authority of the Church and King - but beneath the surface, new forces were gathering to challenge their absolute rule.
The French philosopher, Denis Diderot insisted that men must reason for themselves. His friend, Jean-Jacques Rousseau claimed civilization had corrupted mankind - to free themselves, men must listen to their emotions.
Rousseau's writings gave birth to a hope for a new world of liberty, equality and fraternity. These ideas would fuel the greatest social upheaval in history - the French Revolution.
In Britain, these 'Romantic' ideals would burst into the public arena in art and poetry. William Blake's engravings and poetry were howls of revolutionary anger: Blake made the liberation of the human spirit his life's work.
William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote one of the most powerful revolutionary works of the time; Lyrical Ballads. This volume of poetry was considered so dangerous that even as they composed, Wordsworth and Coleridge were being followed by government spies.
This was the greatest period of sustained creativity in English literature - at a time of revolutionary change in which poets had the power to remake the world in their own image.
BhOyI-SjU-g
The Romantics - BBC documentary - Nature (2005)
The Industrial Revolution sought to dominate Nature as a means to create profit. Romantic artists would seek to replace this relationship of domination with one of reverence and understanding.
The poet John Clare sought freedom in exploring the countryside around him. But the lands he loved were increasingly seen as units of production. When such lands were officially enclosed by Act of Parliament in 1809, the freedom to roam the countryside was curtailed.
This shift in attitudes drove John Clare insane. It drove William Blake to write works of protest, such as the raging, tempestuous 'Jerusalem'.
Both William Blake and Samuel Taylor Coleridge sought to understand man's true relation to nature by returning to the source - by observing and writing about the innocence of children. Others sought to reconnect themselves to Nature more directly - such as William Wordsworth, who wrote of his travels to the Alps, the Lake District and the Wye Valley.
The ideas of the child, nature and scientific progress would collide in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. This book is a Romantic manifesto - a warning that nature is not to be trifled with, that children are sacred, and science can corrupt our world. It is also a work of prophecy, still relevant in the 21st century.
V3lBUvbLYMU
The Romantics - BBC documentary - Eternity (2005)
After the revolutions of the late 18th century, people had to define who they were without regard to the sanctions of religion or the Church.
The Romantics would delve into the uncharted depths of the unconscious to find the keys to their identity: they would emerge with new ways of thinking and of leading their lives.
John Keats would forge poetry of genius from a life of tragedy. His work is a unique statement of human fragility. Keats died from tuberculosis, the archetype of the artist as bohemian outsider.
Lord Byron's personal life and political ideals became the subject of scandal in his own lifetime: his self-mythologizing swagger and satirical genius ensured his place in history. Lord Byron created the figure of the self-legislating individual - a man arrogant enough to live by his own rules.
Shelley was an atheist and an exponent of free love - a man consumed by the search for experience and understanding. The search ended on 8th July 1822, when Shelley drowned off the coast of Italy. His body was cremated, but the heart emerged from the flames - a symbol of religious power for an age without religion.
The Romantics - BBC documentary - Liberty
The 18th century was a time of opulence and privilege for some. Europe was dominated by the twin authority of the Church and King - but beneath the surface, new forces were gathering to challenge their absolute rule.
The French philosopher, Denis Diderot insisted that men must reason for themselves. His friend, Jean-Jacques Rousseau claimed civilization had corrupted mankind - to free themselves, men must listen to their emotions.
Rousseau's writings gave birth to a hope for a new world of liberty, equality and fraternity. These ideas would fuel the greatest social upheaval in history - the French Revolution.
In Britain, these 'Romantic' ideals would burst into the public arena in art and poetry. William Blake's engravings and poetry were howls of revolutionary anger: Blake made the liberation of the human spirit his life's work.
William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote one of the most powerful revolutionary works of the time; Lyrical Ballads. This volume of poetry was considered so dangerous that even as they composed, Wordsworth and Coleridge were being followed by government spies.
This was the greatest period of sustained creativity in English literature - at a time of revolutionary change in which poets had the power to remake the world in their own image.
BhOyI-SjU-g
The Romantics - BBC documentary - Nature (2005)
The Industrial Revolution sought to dominate Nature as a means to create profit. Romantic artists would seek to replace this relationship of domination with one of reverence and understanding.
The poet John Clare sought freedom in exploring the countryside around him. But the lands he loved were increasingly seen as units of production. When such lands were officially enclosed by Act of Parliament in 1809, the freedom to roam the countryside was curtailed.
This shift in attitudes drove John Clare insane. It drove William Blake to write works of protest, such as the raging, tempestuous 'Jerusalem'.
Both William Blake and Samuel Taylor Coleridge sought to understand man's true relation to nature by returning to the source - by observing and writing about the innocence of children. Others sought to reconnect themselves to Nature more directly - such as William Wordsworth, who wrote of his travels to the Alps, the Lake District and the Wye Valley.
The ideas of the child, nature and scientific progress would collide in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. This book is a Romantic manifesto - a warning that nature is not to be trifled with, that children are sacred, and science can corrupt our world. It is also a work of prophecy, still relevant in the 21st century.
V3lBUvbLYMU
The Romantics - BBC documentary - Eternity (2005)
After the revolutions of the late 18th century, people had to define who they were without regard to the sanctions of religion or the Church.
The Romantics would delve into the uncharted depths of the unconscious to find the keys to their identity: they would emerge with new ways of thinking and of leading their lives.
John Keats would forge poetry of genius from a life of tragedy. His work is a unique statement of human fragility. Keats died from tuberculosis, the archetype of the artist as bohemian outsider.
Lord Byron's personal life and political ideals became the subject of scandal in his own lifetime: his self-mythologizing swagger and satirical genius ensured his place in history. Lord Byron created the figure of the self-legislating individual - a man arrogant enough to live by his own rules.
Shelley was an atheist and an exponent of free love - a man consumed by the search for experience and understanding. The search ended on 8th July 1822, when Shelley drowned off the coast of Italy. His body was cremated, but the heart emerged from the flames - a symbol of religious power for an age without religion.