Romanticism

To gain an understanding of any literary era, one should be exposed to the language of its time and place in history. This is especially critical when considering the innovations in creativity introduced during Europe’s Romantic era. Romanticism: Keywords offers readers an invaluable collection of 73 key terms most frequently discussed by authors of the Romantic period – and most often deliberated and debated by contemporary critics and literary historians of the era. From Abolition and Allegory through Madness and Monsters to Vision and Vampires, each entry is accompanied by an in-depth description of the term’s direct meaning and connotations in relation to its usage and thought in British literary culture. Collectively, the terms represent a time capsule of the ideas and concerns that shaped the literature of an age of revolution, social and political reconstruction, impassioned individualism, and probing subjectivity. In introducing and defining the terms that characterized the era, Romanticism: Keywords is an indispensable resource for developing a conceptual understanding of Romantic aesthetics – and provides deep insights into the political, social, and cultural climate of one of the most expressive periods of Western literary history.

Introduction IX A 1 Abolition 1 Allegory 6 Antiquarianism 10 Art for Art’s Sake 14 Associationism 17 Autobiography 21 B 27 Bardolatry 27 Bluestockings 30 C 34 Childhood 34 Colonialism 38 Crime 43 D 47 Dandyism 47 Dialectics 51 Dreams 61 E 66 Ekphrasis 66 Eroticism 73 F 80 Folklore 80 G 84 Genius 84 Gothic 88 Grotesque 92 Gusto 99 H 103 Harlequinade 103 Hellenism 106 Higher Criticism 111 Homosexuality 114 I 119 Illusion 119 Imagination 123 Imitation 127 Incest 131 Inspiration 137 M 143 Madness 143 Medievalism 147 Melancholy 150 Melodrama 154 Mesmerism 157 Metaliterature (Metapoetry, Metafiction, Metadrama) 162 Metonymy 171 Monsters 176 Mythopoeia 180 N 185 Nature 185 Necessitarianism 189 Negative Capability 192 O 196 Organicism 196 Orientalism 200 P 206 Pantheism 206 Parody 210 Passion 213 Pathetic Fallacy 217 Picturesque 221 Poetic Form 225 Prometheus 229 R 234 Reflection 234 Reform 238 Religion 242 Revolution 250 Rights 255 Romantic Irony 258 Romanticism 267 Ruins 272 S 278 Satire 278 Science 282 Sensibility 293 Solitude 296 Sublime 301 Supernaturalism 306 Symbol 312 Sympathy 316 T 321 Transcendentalism 321 Translation 325 Travel 330 V 338 Vampire Aesthetics 338 Vision 342 W 347 Women’s Rights 347 Index 353