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Literary Period of Romanticism
During this time, England was undergoing an industrial revolution, while revolutions were occurring in America and France. In the Romantic period, poetry was considered the most important genre of literature. Romanticism was a reaction to the Enlightenment era and the Industrial Revolution, which both emphasized logic and reason. It often drew inspiration from nature.
See youtube video here. -
"Songs of Innocence and of Experience" by William Blake is published
This is a collection of poems written and illustrated by Blake. It establishes themes, such as the loss of childhood to the world's corruption, that would be important to Romanticism. -
French Revolution Begins
The traditional monarchy, which held power for three centuries, begins to fall to French Republic. -
"Lyrical Ballads" by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge is published
Among these poems were Coleridge’s "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and Woodsworth’s “Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey.” This is considered the beginning of the Romantic period in England. -
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Romanticism In Art Gains Momentum
Following Romanticism being recognized as a literary movement, Romanticism gained momentum in Britain and France as an artistic movement focusing on imagination and emotion. -
Napoleon comes in to power
Napoleon asserts himself as the new emperor of France. -
Simón Bolívar/ “Él Libertador”
Simón Bolívar leads a series of rebellions for South American independence from Spain -
Snow Storm: Hannibal and his Army Crossing the Alps
This painting by J. M. W. Turner, in which the army is dwarfed by the overwhelming scale of the landscape and engulfed in the swirlof snow, exemplifies the Romantic method of landscape painting -
First 2 Cantos of "Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage" by Lord Byron are published
Harold, based on Byron himself, became known as a "Byronic hero," a proud but cynical type of person. -
War of 1812
The U.S. declares war on Great Britain as Americans felt the British were infringing upon their rights. *This leads to a surge of nationalism which in turn leads to the American Romantic Period. -
Napoleon is defeated
In response to Napoleon’s growing power, British, Dutch and German forces ambush him at Waterloo. -
"Kubla Khan" and "Christabel" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge published
These, among the most famous poems of the Romantic period, were written in 1797, but weren't published until 1816. "Kubla Khan" contrasts a human-made paradise, Xanadu of Mongolia, which was doomed to fail, with a true paradise. -
First Performance of The Barber of Seville
YouTube (Overture)This opera, composed by Gioacchino Rossini, is an example of the "opera buffa" (comic opera) genre popular during the Romantic era. -
Raft of the Medusa
An oil painting by the French Romantic painter and lithographer Théodore Géricault. This painting started a trend of paintings depicting shipwrecks, influencing the Romantic view of the power of nature. -
John Keats writes "Ode to a Nightingale," "Ode on a Grecian Urn," and "Ode on Melancholy"
These odes characterize Keats as a dreamer. In them, he identifies himself with nature and art. -
First 2 cantos of Lord Bryon’s "Don Juan" are published
"Don Juan" was a long satirical poem of the legend of Don Juan, who was an archetype of a seducer and womanizer. The poem was extremely popular and is considered Bryon’s masterpiece. -
Liberation from Spain
More South American countries gain independence from Spain. Simón Bolívar is named president of Colombia. -
Gericault's Portrait of "Alfred Dedreux as a Child"
With the dark clouds in the background and the ominous glare of the child, this portrait shows the romantic idea of reflecting the psychological and emotional states of the person drawn as opposed to creating a simply mirror image. -
"Prometheus Unbound" by Percy Bysshe Shelley is published
Prometheus is the romantic hero in this lyrical drama. -
The Hebrides (Fingal's Cave) - Overture
YouTubeThis concert overture, composed by Felix Mendelssohn, depicts the rocky, wind-swept coast and ancient caverns of Scotland, exemplifying the Romantic interest in the power and beauty of nature. -
Abolition
Slavery is abolished throughout the British Empire -
Revolutions across Europe throughout 1848
Revolutions break out in major cities such as Vienna, Venice, Berlin, Milan, Rome and Warsaw. These revolutions were fueled by aspirations of constitutional, liberal, nationalist or social changes that targeted influential dynastic or religious authorities.
