The Romanticism movement arose as a reaction to the enlightenment period; literary works of this time often reflected on a society that was lost to science and pseudo intellectuals. In general, the movement was characterized as the shifted focus from puritan works to works that stressed the importance of imagination and the value of emotion over intellect. Authors of this time period criticized the disconnect between the mind and the soul. The industrial revolution drew people even further away from emotions and the ‘sublime’. It was a chaotic time. Parents sold their children into labor seeking financial relief. Chimney sweeps were left to drown in the ashes of the upper class, paid pennies for hours of hard manual labor and left to rot on
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Unlike Bronte, Shelley holds reality supreme, however he still believes that imagination plays an important role in a person's life, and that reality requires imagination to be perceived to the fullest. In Mont Blanc Shelley elaborates on how he he perceives his environment as being ever changing, because his mind cannot grasp a complete representation of reality: “the everlasting universe of things Flows through the mind, and rolls its rapid waves, Now dark—now glittering—now reflecting gloom—Now lending splendour, where from secret springs” (Shelley 1-5). The splendor that shelley enjoys is lent to him, but is constantly changing, only revealing one aspect of itself at a time. Shelley believes that imagination can fill in the gap of the unknown and the unfathomable, allowing for the clearer perception of the real world. Imagination fuels reality, because it's impossible to perceive reality in its full completeness. Imagination enhances the experience of how things are observed. Shelley finds himself in a trace thats “sublime and strange,” he muses his own “separate fantasy” (Shelley 34-36). When observing a ravine in the poem, Shelley does not see it as a wonder or anything extraordinary, but once imagination takes over it becomes spectacular site. By diving into the imagaintive, Shelley is offered views that he would not be able to experience otherwise. Mont Blanc gives the “wise and great and good” the power to “interpret, or make felt or deeply feel”(Shelley 81-82). Mont Blanc is a portal into the imaginative, and the imaginative deepens the connection to
Unlike Bronte, Shelley holds reality supreme, however he still believes that imagination plays an important role in a person's life, and that reality requires imagination to be perceived to the fullest. In Mont Blanc Shelley elaborates on how he he perceives his environment as being ever changing, because his mind cannot grasp a complete representation of reality: “the everlasting universe of things Flows through the mind, and rolls its rapid waves, Now dark—now glittering—now reflecting gloom—Now lending splendour, where from secret springs” (Shelley 1-5). The splendor that shelley enjoys is lent to him, but is constantly changing, only revealing one aspect of itself at a time. Shelley believes that imagination can fill in the gap of the unknown and the unfathomable, allowing for the clearer perception of the real world. Imagination fuels reality, because it's impossible to perceive reality in its full completeness. Imagination enhances the experience of how things are observed. Shelley finds himself in a trace thats “sublime and strange,” he muses his own “separate fantasy” (Shelley 34-36). When observing a ravine in the poem, Shelley does not see it as a wonder or anything extraordinary, but once imagination takes over it becomes spectacular site. By diving into the imagaintive, Shelley is offered views that he would not be able to experience otherwise. Mont Blanc gives the “wise and great and good” the power to “interpret, or make felt or deeply feel”(Shelley 81-82). Mont Blanc is a portal into the imaginative, and the imaginative deepens the connection to