ROMANTIC REVIVAL PERIOD

The Romantic Revival Period begins from the appearance of William Blake’s ‘Songs of Innocence’ (1789) to the death of Sir Walter Scott (1832). This period can also be called pre-Victorian, because first chronologically it precedes the long reign of Queen Victoria from 1837-1901. Secondly, the first three decades of the nineteenth century saw England undergoing an intellectual revolution in consequence of the influence of the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution which changed the physical appearance and social structure of England and gave rise to the development of new ideas in psychology and metaphysics.

The political background – The Romantic Revival Movement began during the reign of King George who had grown senile and was ailing. His eldest son George IV ascended the throne when his father dies in 1820. George IV was notorious for lose living and court morals fell but some steps towards political and economic reforms were taken during his reign.

In 1829, the Catholic Emancipation Act was passed by the Parliament. This Act removed restrictions against Catholics for contesting for membership of Parliament. Capital punishment for theft and other petty offences were abolished as a result of a reform in Penal code. In 1830, George IV died, and he was succeeded by his brother the Duke of Clarren as William the IV. In July 1830, a revolution broke out in France and the French King Charles X was dethroned and Louis Phillipe succeeded him to the throne. This change in French monarchy strengthened the movement in England for Parliamentary reform.

The Tories (the Conservative party) who had ruled for nearly fifty years were replaced by Whigs (money class). Under the leadership of Lord Grey, the ‘Great Reform Bill’ of 1832 was passed. This bill extended various rights of middle class of manufacturers and merchants. Hitherto the aristocracy filled parliament with members of their choice. The reform bill was turning point in the political history of England. It marks the end of old aristocratical order and the beginning of new order of democracy and social equality.

In 1833 the ‘Slavery emancipation Act’ abolished slavery throughout the British Empire. Parliament also passed a Factory Act which prohibited the employment of very young children and reduced the working hours ow women and other children. Parliament sanctioned an annual grant for elementary education of the poor by passing the Education Act. The Poor Law Amendment Act ended the system of ‘doles’ to the poor and provided better method of relief of the poor through workhouses.