Romantic Literary Criticism Criticism
Romantic literary criticism, primarily shaped by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, represents a transformative period in English literary thought. Wordsworth, in his Preface to Lyrical Ballads, emphasized poetry as the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings," advocating for a shift from mimetic to expressive art. This marked a departure from the classical view, where art mirrored reality, as noted by M. H. Abrams, who explained that Romantic aesthetics often turned inward, reflecting the poet's inner state rather than the external world.
Coleridge echoed these sentiments, critiquing the simplicity of "poetic diction" and arguing for a more natural and expressive language in poetry, as explored by Wimsatt and Brooks. However, Coleridge's critical approaches, as discussed by Timothy Corrigan, often intertwined with theological elements, illustrating a complex blend of literary and spiritual analysis.
The period was also marked by a shift in the nature of literary reviews, as they grew more political, with critiques often reflecting the ideological biases of the reviewers, as outlined by Terry Eagleton. Despite this, the Romantics sought to create a literary critique that was as creative as the poetry itself, defending their artistic innovations and aspirations.
René Wellek and Jochen Schulte-Sasse highlight the influence of German Romantic thought, noting figures like Novalis and Schelling, who laid groundwork for Romantic ideals earlier in the late eighteenth century. These ideas were connected to broader philosophical and cultural shifts, including the anticipation of modern critical theories, such as Derrida’s concepts, as noted by Kathleen M. Wheeler.
While there is a scholarly debate on whether Romantic criticism broke definitively from the past or evolved naturally, critics like Patrick Parrinder argue that Wordsworth and Coleridge represented a cultural revolution, reshaping the foundations of English poetry and criticism by merging creative expression with critical commentary.
Contents
- Representative Works
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Criticism: Background And Overviews
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Romantic Analogues of Art and Mind
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Abrams provides an overview of Romantic aesthetic theory, explaining how it differs from earlier criticism.
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II
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In the following excerpt, Eagleton describes the economic conditions of literary production in the late eighteenth century leading up to the emergence of the professional critic in England and the politically-based criticism of the nineteenth century.
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Stoning the Romance: The Ideological Critique of Nineteenth-Century Literature
(summary)
In the following essay, Cantor summarizes current critiques of Romanticism and the aesthetic theories associated with it, maintaining that such attacks are misguided and biased.
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Romantic Analogues of Art and Mind
(summary)
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Attitudes, Policies, and Practices
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In the following essay, Hayden discusses how Romantic reviewers shared a common sense of duty to influence writers and readers, often emphasizing moral and corrective functions in their critiques, while also addressing the challenges of impartiality, the integration of morality, politics, and religion into literary evaluation, and dealing with contemporary disdain for criticism.
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Criticism: The German Romantics
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The Early Romantics in Germany
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Wellek discusses the critical perspectives of Schelling, Novalis, Wackenroder, and Tieck.
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The Concept of Literary Criticism in German Romanticism
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In the following excerpt, Schulte-Sasse traces the development of German Romantic critical theory from its early stage, associated with the social critique of contemporary conditions, to its later stage when the movement's critical potential was diminishing.
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The Early Romantics in Germany
(summary)
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Criticism: Wordsworth And Coleridge
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Poetic Diction: Wordsworth and Coleridge
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In the following excerpt, Wimsatt and Brooks provide an historical account of Wordsworth and Coleridge's critique of the poetic diction of earlier writers.
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Principles in Literary Criticism
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In the following excerpt, Jackson discusses Coleridge's reaction to what he personally considered to be the poor quality of contemporary literary reviews, and his attempt to establish a set of standards by which literature could more properly be judged.
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Accommodating Aeschylus: Coleridge, Theology, and Literary Criticism
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Corrigan discusses Coleridge's use of theological discourse in the interpretation of literature.
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Coleridge and Modern Critical Theory
(summary)
In the following essay, Wheeler examines Coleridge's narrative strategies, which undermine authority in his works and anticipate concerns associated with twentieth-century critical theories, such as those of Jacques Derrida.
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Poetic Diction: Wordsworth and Coleridge
(summary)
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Criticism: Variations On Romantic Critical Theory
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Shelley and Keats
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In the following essay, Eliot discusses Shelley's views of poetry, which were expressed within the poetry itself, and Keats's critical views, which were expressed in his correspondence.
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Varieties of Romantic Theory: Shelley, Hazlitt, Keble, and Others
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In the following excerpt, Abrams explains the various critical perspectives of a number of Romantic poets and essayists including Shelley, Keats, Hazlitt, and Keble.
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The Romantic Critics
(summary)
In the following excerpt, originally published in a different form in 1977, Parrinder compares areas of agreement and points of contention between the writings of Shelley, Hazlitt, and Keats, and the critical doctrines of Wordsworth and Coleridge.
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Shelley and Keats
(summary)
- Further Reading