Romanticism

The course is a general introduction to the literary and intellectual history of the Romantic period by focusing on the close textual reading of poetry from 1780 to 1830. We will begin with an investigation of the impact of the French Revolution on the Romantics and of radical developments in religion, philosophy, aesthetics, science, and art. After two weeks on the general topics specified above, we will study William Blake's poetry and illustrations and move on to the literary collaboration between S.T. Coleridge and William Wordsworth. We end the first half of the course with the poetry of Charlotte Smith and Mary Robinson. We will also read some literary/critical prose works by these poets. We will use web recourses and critical essays on the poetry and prose throughout the course.

In the second half of the course, we will examine the poetry and prose by selected writers of the "second generation" of English Romantics. The focus will be on a poetic drama of Byron and selected poems of Percy Bysshe Shelley and John Keats. We will also read critical commentaries on the role of poetry in society by each poet. The course will end with a reading of Mary Shelley´s novel Frankenstein.

Knowledge and understanding:

Students should have a thorough knowledge of:

• the most important literary/critical theories of British Romanticism
• historical developments in the cultural and political period 1780-1830 in England

Skills/proficiency:

Students should:

• present and discuss the knowledge they have acquired in good oral and written English
• be able to explicate texts and develop a responsiveness to cultural and social problems in a particular period in British literary history
• analyze and explicate poetry, fiction, and drama of the Romantic period in Britain

Coursework requirement:

1. The student will explicate a poem in a short essay to be written in class. The exam will take place in the first six-seven weeks of the course.

2. The student will write a 4-6 page essay discussing a thematic or literary technique in English Romanticism.

Students must get both coursework requirements approved to qualify for the final exam.

Coursework requirements are evaluated with approved/not approved.

Assessment method:

6-hour school exam.

Performance in the course will be assessed with the grades A-F. Grades are A-E for passed and F for failed. A re-examination is offered in the event of an F-grade. The deadline to register for re-examination is January 15th for the autumn semester and August 15th for the spring semester.

Romanticism: An Anthology, 2nd ed. Edited Duncan Wu and David Miall. Blackwell Publishers, 2000). ISBN-10: 0631222693 ISBN-13: 978-0631222699

Frankenstein, Mary Shelly. Penguin Classics; New Edition (Jan 2007). ISBN-10: 0140620303 ISBN-13: 978-0140620306.