ROMANTIC TRAVELLOGUES: WORDSWORTH & BYRON
ROMANTICISM
FIRST GENERATION
SECOND GENERATION
1760- 1837
Theorize about poetry; descriptions of the beauty of nature
Political disappointment; clash between ideal and real
BYRON
WORDSWORTH
WILLIAM WORDSWORTH
Born near the River Wye, which influenced all his productions
His works are a way to represent himself
He wrote a GUIDE BOOK
4 Editions
Big lakes are certainly beautiful and quite adventurous to
cross, but tourists enjoy more visiting landscapes made of small lakes
He says that picturesqueness is more easily perceived in the north of England where mountains are not so high, and the view is not so broken by these imposing mountains.
HE TALKS IN FAVOUR OF NATIONAL LANDSCAPES
He wrote a LETTER to Jacob Fletcher
If compared, he prefers the mountains of his own region
He is conscious that a man cannot be fair when judjing between his own country and a foreign country
He is a romantic poet of British landscapes: he wrote his feelings for his land
He approaches with a new kind of readers: tourists
LORD BYRON
His poems were influenced by his travels
Aristocrat who got involved in the political events of his period.
He is very provocative in his writings
Grand Tour from 1809 to 1811
He went into exile: second journey
Full of adventures
Joined the Shelleys
Then went to Italy
BYRON'S GRAND TOUR
BYRON'S INFLUENCE
CHILDE HAROLD'S PILGRIMAGE
FEATURES
III CANTO
IV CANTO
LETTERS
MANFRED
THE PRISONNER OF CHILLON
EMIC APPROACH
He was attracted by exotic places, such as Albania
He embarked because of Napoleonic wars
He discovered values which were antithetical to the European principles
When he returned to England, he criticized the severing between past and present, done in England
Very popular poetry
His myth was created thanks to the contribution of other poets, such as Rogers and Ruskin
Prompted new habits and gave rise to a new variety of traveller's texts: THE 19TH CENTURY POETIC TRAVEL BOOK
According to his view, people should travel to look back to their country in a different way
Long narrative poem in four parts
Immediate success. This is the
poetical report of Byron’s grand tour
Became the model of the travelogues
CHILDE means a YOUNG KNIGHT, so a person who is not
yet a knight.
Inspired to a medieval setting
The language is emotionally dense.
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I CANTO
Harold is presented as a suffering soul
Embarks to heal his pain
Committed something
The narrator presents, as a mediator, the character of Harold
The narrator is emotionally involved
A landscape of mountains in a storm is described
(STANZA 92-93)The landscape represents Byron's own emotions
Scene set in the Alps
Description that became influential for Victorian Travelers
Emotionally dense
IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND HIS LIFE AND EMOTIONS
LETTER TO HIS MOTHER
LETTER TO MURRAY
LETTER TO MOORE
During the stay in Italy he found himself lost
Experience, inspection and trust are important for knowledge
Life and work are connected
The impressions in Rome are too much
He would like to enter a relationship with an authentic foreign country
He discusses the idea of writing in italian but he is not convinced, as the English people wouldn't understand
He knows not too much about Italy, but asserts that British people don't know the italian culture at all
He feels like he has become part of them
Story of a monk condemnd to prison
Story of comdemnation
THEMES: search for freedom and persecution
Inspired by places and figures
Dramatic work set in the mountains
Inspired by Polidory and Shelley
Manfred was wrongly convicted
Inspired by places
HE TALKS FROM THE INSIDE
HE FEELS AS A PART OF A COMMUNITY
BYRON BECAME PART OF THE VENETIAN SOCIETY AND DESCRIBED IT FROM THE INSIDE
TRAVEL IS A CRUCIAL EXPERIENCE, SOMETHING THAT HELPS TO OVERCOME PREJUDICE, AN EXISTENTIAL NECESSITY
VENICE AND THE POWER OF IMMAGINATION
BYRON AND TURNER'S VENICE
NATURE AND VENICE
MAGIC AND VENICE