The Concept of the Individual in Literature of the...

This essay will explore how the newly important concept of the individual in literature of the Romantic period influenced the genre, and in particular how this was a response to the rationalization of nature and neglect of the individual upheld by the Enlightenment Movement. In order to demonstrate this, a close analysis of some poetic works by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Wordsworth and William Blake will be examined. The Romantic period placed great importance on creativity, imagination and the value of the self, Wordsworth and Coleridge were particularly influential in Britain with regards to the burgeoning of the movement. The movement of romanticism and its concern with the importance of the individual was the†¦show more content†¦We as readers are also allowed access to his imagination and inner progress of thought. The second stanza reflects on childhood experiences and how the sight of the ‘stranger the soot on the bars, reminded him of the fluttering film on the grate he watched as a schoolboy. The memories Coleridge has of his schooldays he recalls somewhat ruefully as he clearly felt disconnected from nature and almost trapped in the city within which he lived, especially after his early memories of the countryside of Devon in which he resided as an infant; With unclosed lids, already had I dreamt Of my sweet birth-place, and the old church-tower, Whose bells, the poor mans only music, rang From morn to evening, all the hot Fair-day, (Coleridge Complete Poetical Works, pg 240) The reflections that Coleridge describes with such poetic intensity is an exploration of the individual. Michael Alexander writes that ‘Imagination was for the Romantics a means of access to truths which were psychic not rational (A History of English Literature, pg 223) Coleridges inner thoughts are portrayed with the vivid use of his imagination and exploration of his psychic depth in order to not only paint a mental picture of his landscape but to also enable his readers access to his past, present and hopes for the future. William Blake was also a Romantic writer that was essential to the exploration of the individual in Romantic Literature, he was deeplyShow MoreRelatedRomanticism : The Age Of Reason1210 Words   |  5 Pagesfine arts and literature that focuses on passion imagination and intuition rather than emphasizing on reason and logic. There are no restraints or order in Romanticism; complete spontaneous actions are welcome in this style of writing. 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