The Romantic age, stretching from 1785 to 1830, can arguably be regarded as a turbulent period, rife with historical, political and cultural upheavals. Not surprisingly, echoes of these momentous events can often be found in Romantic Writing, such as in Blake’s “A Song of Liberty”, which interrogates the French Revolution.
For England, however, it was probably the Industrial Revolution with its countless social and labour-related repercussions that played the most pivotal role. Urban manufacturing centres transformed the primarily agricultural society into a modern industrial nation. The mechanization of the working processes, numerous enclosure acts, and resultant unemployment of agricultural labourers, led to a population drift to cities as well as rural pauperization. The end result: three million labouring poor with low incomes from 6 to 15 pounds a year made up the largest section of the British population.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Romantic Writing and the Industrial Age
3. Presentation of Pauperization and Reader Effects
4. Literary Identification and Feelings
5. The Leech Gatherer in William and Dorothy’s Work
6. Dehumanisation vs. Sympathy
7. Conclusion
Objectives & Research Themes
This paper explores how the siblings William and Dorothy Wordsworth address the social challenges of rural poverty and displacement during the Romantic period, analyzing their distinct literary approaches to these issues through their respective works.
- The influence of the Industrial Revolution on social structures and poverty.
- Comparative analysis of William’s poetic depiction versus Dorothy’s journal-based realism.
- The function of literary identification in addressing social vulnerability.
- Autobiographical motivations behind the siblings' focus on indigents.
- The symbolic role of the "leech gatherer" in Romantic literature.
Excerpt from the Book
The Leech Gatherer: Symbolism and Liminality
As such a liminal character who straddles the boundaries between inanimate nature, the animal worlds and that of humans, the leech gatherer becomes a kind of Every(M)an of Poverty who stands for all of his class. I agree with Harrison when he considers both the liminality and commitment of the leech gatherer to work hard instead of relying upon the Poor Laws crucial for the vagrant’s embodiment of the sublime. Harrison extends the sublimity as he imparts the leech gatherer with transcendent powers, which seems to be paradoxical at first glance; the pauper – powerful without ‘power’. However, it is the moral power Harrison alludes to and which induces a status reversal between reader and vagrant. In “Resolution and Independence” the economically deprived leech gatherer “give[s] [William] human strength, by apt admonishment”. According to Harrison the vagrants in William’s poems are supposed to function “as mirror for the [reader’s and author’s] own precarious subjectivity and as reminders of the fragility of [his or her] own social status”. In his poem William reflects on the possible threat that a blissful state of existence may end all of a sudden and that “there may come another day to [him] -/ solitude, pain of heart, distress, and poverty”. Both the Wordsworth siblings illustrate that such a fate cannot only befall those who are low down on the social ladder but also those who are farther up it and who, for the most part, thought themselves as in their place in the social hierarchy.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: Outlines the historical context of the Romantic period and defines the scope of investigating rural poverty in the works of William and Dorothy Wordsworth.
2. Romantic Writing and the Industrial Age: Discusses the transition from an agricultural to an industrial society and the resulting economic hardships for the rural population.
3. Presentation of Pauperization and Reader Effects: Examines how the authors’ distinct styles evoke different emotional responses and perceptions of poverty in the reader.
4. Literary Identification and Feelings: Explores the motivations behind the authors' focus on "common life" and how they utilize their personal circumstances to approach the subject of the poor.
5. The Leech Gatherer in William and Dorothy’s Work: Analyzes the contrast between William’s idealized, symbolic portrayal and Dorothy’s factual, realistic account of the leech gatherer.
6. Dehumanisation vs. Sympathy: Investigates the complex issue of whether these writings contribute to the dehumanization of the poor or offer a sympathetic, humanized perspective.
7. Conclusion: Summarizes the key findings, reiterating that while their methods differ, both authors effectively highlighted the instability of social status during the Romantic era.
Keywords
Romanticism, Industrial Revolution, Rural Poverty, Displacement, William Wordsworth, Dorothy Wordsworth, Grasmere, Social Hierarchy, Leech Gatherer, Literary Identification, Pauperization, Sublime, Vagrancy, Social Critique, British Literature.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary subject of this paper?
The paper examines how William and Dorothy Wordsworth portray rural poverty and displacement in their respective works during the Industrial Age.
What are the central themes explored?
Key themes include the social impacts of the Industrial Revolution, the tension between realistic and poetic descriptions of the poor, and the role of authorial empathy.
What is the main objective of the analysis?
The goal is to analyze the similarities and differences in how the siblings address social poverty, specifically looking at how they bridge the gap between their personal lives and the lives of the indigent.
Which scientific methods does the author use?
The author employs a comparative literary analysis, utilizing historical context and existing secondary literature to critique primary texts.
What does the main body focus on?
The main body focuses on the specific characterization of the leech gatherer in William's poetry versus the female vagrants in Dorothy’s journals, and how these figures reflect broader social anxieties.
Which keywords define this work?
Important keywords include Romanticism, social hierarchy, literary identification, poverty, and displacement.
Why is the "leech gatherer" significant in William Wordsworth’s poem?
He serves as a liminal figure who embodies both human frailty and a transcendent "moral power," acting as a mirror for the narrator’s own existential fears.
How does Dorothy Wordsworth’s writing style differ from her brother’s?
Dorothy’s style is characterized by realistic, matter-of-fact, and unembellished journal entries, whereas William’s poetry often elevates his subjects with symbolic and sublime attributes.
What motivated Dorothy Wordsworth to record encounters with the poor?
Beyond capturing daily life, these recordings served as a means for her to project and express her own deep-seated anxieties regarding financial and emotional security.
Does the author conclude that the siblings dehumanized their subjects?
No, the author argues that both siblings resisted the common dehumanization of their era, instead presenting the impoverished as "normal" human beings.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Kathrin Rosenbaum (Autor:in), 2008, Does Romantic Writing Interrogate the Events of its Timeframe? William Wordsworth’s “Resolution and Independence” and Dorothy Wordsworth’s “From The Grasmere Journals”, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/310539
