Percy Bysshe Shelley

Romantic elements
 Satire
 Imagination
 Subjectivity
 Revolutionary ideas
 Subjectivity
 Hellenism
 (1813) Queen Mab: A Philosophical Poem
 (1817) Hymn to Intellectual Beauty (text)
(1817) The Revolt of Islam, A Poem, in
Twelve Cantos
Ode to the West Wind (text)
The Necessity of Atheism 
 Percy Bysshe Shelly is a renowned English
romantic poet, who was born in 1792, and
died in1822, at a tender age of 29 by
drowning
 He belongs to 2nd generation of romantic

poets
 When Shelly started writing, the French
Revolution had already become as historical
incident. However the spirit of revolution
breathes vigorously in his poetry.
 In all his important poems , such as The
Revolt of Islam, Queen Mab, Prometheus
Unbound and Ode to West Wind breaths a
revolutionary spirit having desire for
emancipation of men from all kinds of
shackles- political, social and even moral.
 Love and Liberty are two ruling deities in
Shelly's hierarchy of values.
 The French Revolution had failed miserably in

the implementation of its three slogans:

 Liberty , Equality, Fraternity. But Shelly always

envisioned ahead a real revolution which

would rectify all wrongs once and for all.
Samuel taylor coleridge(1772 1834)

 Coleridge was a romantic as well as a

revolutionary poet in the History of English
Literature. He was a best friend of William
Wordsworth. Coleridge, Wordsworth and
Southey were called “Lake poets” by one of
the Scottish magazines just because of their
visits to a lakeside in England
 He wrote poetry, essays and criticism during
the late 18th century and early 19th century.
 His criticism most notably Biographia Litereria

had profound influence upon 19th & 20th

century school of critical thought. He defines
the nature of poetry and imagination.
 The first important expression of
Romanticism in the form of Lyrical Ballads
(1798) is also one of the greatest contribution
of Coleridge
  His thoughts are philosophical. But his style
is simple and clear. Supernaturalism is his
special field. He writes about supernatural
elements and events and describes what is
unseen and beyond nature. But he describes
them in such a way that they appear natural
and life like.
 Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poems “The Rime
of the Ancient Mariner”, ‘kubla khan’ and
“Christable” are the precious assets of the
English literature for supernatural elements.
These are the poems that made him immortal
in the world of literature.
 George Gordon Byron
1788
 George Gordon Byron also well-known as Lord Byron. He
was an intelligent child of John Byron, a British army
officer.
 He got education from Trinity College, Cambridge. It was
the time he started documenting his literary ideas on papers.
 Lord Byron is a prolific literary figure. Sadly, his life is
marred by a series of love affairs.
 he married Anne Isabella.
  He died of illness on the 19th of April in 1824 in
Messolonghi, Greece, where he had traveled to support
Grecians in their fight for independence from Turks
  In 1807 he published “Hours of Idleness” followed
by English Bards and Scotch Reviewers. These
publications brought him into the limelight and he
became known among the literary circle of that time.
  He successfully used blank verse and satire in his
pieces to explore the ideas of love and nature. Although
he is known as a romantic poet, his poems, “The
Prisoner of Chillon” and “Darkness” where attempts
to discuss reality as it is without adding fictional
elements. The recurring themes in most of his pieces
are nature, the folly of love, realism in literature, liberty
and the power of art.
 Major works

 Hours of Idleness (1807)
 English Bards and Scotch Reviewers (1809)
 Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1818
 The Prisoner of Chillon (1816)
 The Dream (1816)
 Don Juan (1819)
 Darkness (1816)
 Manfred (1817) 
 Lord Byron's Poems Themes

 Liberty
 Several of Byron’s poems, particularly those based on

his travels, raise the problem of oppression throughout

Europe and defend the necessity of human liberty. 
Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage often digresses into long
tirades against oppressors. These poetic reflections bear
witness to Byron' experience with battlefields of old,
such as Waterloo, and present struggles such as the
Greek struggle against Ottoman/Turkish occupation.
 Perhaps his most powerful statement against
oppression is found in “The Prisoner of Chillon,” in
which he traces the eventual mental oppression of a
patriot who stood against the oppression of his people.
To Byron, liberty is a right of all human beings, while
the denial of liberty is one of mankind’s greatest
failings.
 The power of Nature

 To Byron, Nature was a powerful complement to human

emotion. Byron saw Nature more as a companion to
humanity. Certainly, natural beauty was often preferable
to humanbut Byron also recognized Nature’s dangerous
and harsh elements. “The Prisoner of Chillon” connects
Nature to freedom, while at the same time showing
Nature’s potentially deadly aspects in the harsh waves
that seem to threaten to flood the dungeon. Childe
Harold’s Pilgrimage looks to Nature as a refuge from
human conflict, but sees there, amid the avalanches and
volcanoes, the seething fury of the natural world.
 Realism in literature

 Although he was a Romantic poet, Byron saw much of

his best work as descriptions of reality as it exists, not
how it is imagined. Thus, the subjects of many of his
poems come from history and personal experience. “The
Prisoner of Chillon” was inspired by the real-life
imprisonment of Francois de Bonnivard, while Childe
Harold’s Pilgrimage is more biographical travelogue
than adventure tale. Even the apocalyptic “Darkness”
was written to reflect the mass hysteria that arose out of
superstitious prophetic interpretations related to the
natural disaster of a volcano’s eruption.
Sir Walter Scott
A Historical novelist
 Sir Walter Scott (1771 1832) was a Scottish
historical novelist, poet, playwright, and
historian. Many of his works remain classics of
both English-language literature and of 
Scottish literature. Famous titles include 
The Lady of the Lake (narrative poem) and the
novels Waverley, Old Mortality (or The Tale of Old
Mortality), Rob Roy, The Heart of Mid-Lothian, 
The Bride of Lammermoor, and Ivanhoe.
 Walter Scott's really known for, and that's
his historical novels, or a fictionalized novel
set in a real historical period. 
 The Kite Runner are more recent historical

novels. He was really at the forefront of that

genre, so he's an important figure in
literature
 Scott didn't start off writing historical novels.
Actually, in the time period that he wrote -
the early 19th century - novels were
considered an inferior form of literature for
expressing important historical stories;
poetry, especially epic poetry, really
dominated that role.
  he published his first novel in 1814. Maybe
he's not quite as brave as I'd like to believe,
because he did publish it anonymously. 
 This novel Waverley was so popular that Scott

was able to kick out a new novel every one to

two years for a while, and they kept selling,
which is great because making a living as a
writer is not easy at any time in history.
 Novels
 1814: Waverley
 1815: Guy Mannering
 1816: The Antiquary
 1816: The Black Dwarf and Old Mortality 
 1817: Rob Roy
 1818: The Heart of Mid-Lothian –
 1819: The Bride of Lammermoor 
 1820: Ivanhoe
 1820: The Monastery
 1820: The Abbot
 1821: Kenilworth
 1822: The Pirate
 1822: The Fortunes of Nigel
 1822: Peveril of the Peak
 1823: Quentin Durward
 1824: St. Ronan's Well 
 1824: Redgauntlet
 1825: The Betrothed
 Jane Austen1775 –1817
  Jan was an English novelist. Noted for her
witty studies of early-19th-century English
society.  Austen portrayed the quiet, day-
to-day life of members of the upper middle
class.  Her works combine romantic comedy
with social satire and psychological insight.
  she was known primarily for her six major
novels, which interpret, critique and comment
upon the British landed gentry at the end of
the 18th century.
 Austen's plots often explore the dependence

of women on marriage in the pursuit of

favorable social standing and economic
security. 
  Because of her sensitivity to universal
patterns of human behavior, Austen was one
of the greatest novelists of the 19th and 20th
centuries
The first period of her writing lasted from
1795 to 1798. During this time she wrote the
first versions of: 
 Sense and Sensibility
 Pride and Prejudice (First Impression)
 Northanger Abbey
  Austen’s second important period of writing
lasted from 1811 to 1816:
 Sense and Sensibility

Pride and Prejudice

Mansfield Park (1814)
 Emma(1816)
 Persuasion (1818)
  Pride and Prejudice is a complex novel
mixing romance with realism.  Austen used
a variety of features to make this novel seem
more realistic and relevant to the period of
the 19th century.  At the same time it has
also the touch of romance.
 The plot of Pride and Prejudice is like the plot
of a romance.  The social reality for women
during 19th century was that it was almost
impossible to survive without a man’s care,
so it was typical for a young woman to live in
her father’s house until she moved into her
husbands.
 The plot of Pride and Prejudice is like the plot
of a romance.  The social reality for women
during 19th century was that it was almost
impossible to survive without a man’s care,
so it was typical for a young woman to live in
her father’s house until she moved into her
husbands.
 Austen addresses the social realities of the
time and also satisfies the reader’s desire for
romance by having Jane and Elizabeth’s
suitors not only be rich but also be dashing,
attractive and moral.
 Novels
 Sense and Sensibility (1811)

 Pride and Prejudice (1813)

 Mansfield Park (1814)
 Emma (1815)
 Northanger Abbey (1818)
 Persuasion (1818)
 Sir Frances Bacon
An Essayist
1561 – 9 April 1626
What is an Essay?
 The essay is a loose sally (flow) of mind, an
irregular, indigested piece, not a regular and
orderly composition. (Dr.Johnson)

 A genuine expression of an original

personality- an artful and enduring kind of
talk. ( J.B.Priestly)
 A short discursive article on any literary,
philosophically or social subject, viewed from
personal or historical standpoint.
 ( J.H.Lobban)
 However, the first real essayist who employed
the term ‘essay’ for his composition was
Bacon.
 He borrowed the general conception of the

essay from French writer Montaigne whose

essays had appeared in 1580, seventeen
years from the first of Bacon’s.
Bacon called his own essays ‘dispersed (single)
meditation’ indicating their lack of method
and organization. They are according to him,
‘ certain brief notes set down rather
significantly than curiously.
Distinct features
 Impersonalness

 We do not find in them the same warmth of

personality and subjectiveness as we find in
the essays of Lamb.
 He is a teacher rather than a companion. He

calls his essays ‘counsels civil & moral’

. His constant effort is to train the reader .
2. as regards his use of language, Bacon uses
short, and pithy aphorisms
 (a saying embodying a general truth) packed

with the worldly wisdom and experience of

lifetime.

 The use of weightiest and simple words and

persistence avoidance of superfluous words.
 They are loaded with wisdom of experience and
observations conveyed through short,compact and
terse sentences.

 They present all aspects of human life and cover

topics like truth,religion,beauty, friendship,marriage
and architecture.


Metaphors can be found in his essays. For example-

In “Of Studies”,he compares our natural abilities to
the growth of a plant. As a plant needs pruning, our
natural qualities are also guided by studies.
 His essays begin with either a catchy phrase
or a question. We can also see the use of
figurative language in his essays.
 . Of Truth
   2. Of Death
   3. Of Unity in Religion
   4. Of Revenge
   5. Of Adversity
   6. Of Simulation and Dissimulation
   7. Of Parents and Children
   8. Of Marriage and Single Life
   9. Of Envy
   10. Of Love
   11. Of Great Place
   12. Of Boldness
   13. Of Goodness and Goodness of Nature
   14. Of Nobility
   15. Of Seditions
   16. Of Atheism
   17. Of Superstition
   18. Of Travel
   19. Of Empire
   20. Of Counsel
 Of Friendship
  Of Studies
CHARLES LAMB AS AN ESSAYIST

 Charles Lamb (1775 –1834) was an English

essayist & poet, best known for his Essays of
Elia and for the children's book 
Tales from Shakespeare, co-authored with his
sister, Mary Lamb (1764–1847).
CHARLES LAMB AS AN ESSAYIST

Charles Lamb is a shining star in the sky of English

essay. He is called the prince among English essayists.
His essays are the finest in English prose.
 Lamb's readers appreciate him for his wisdom, for his

humanity, for his friendly humour, for his profound

pathos (sorrow), for his sweet temperament and for his
style.
 Born in a lower class family, Lamb came in contact
with Cole ridge. He started his career as a poet but
could not succeed. He wrote under the pseudonym of
Elia. His first essay appeared in the London Magazine
in 1820. The first volume of his essays was published
in 1823 as Essays Of Elia and the second as the Last
Essays Of Elia in 1833.
 Each essay of Lamb is a little wonder. Here we find a
fine combination of wit, fancy, anecdote (sketch) and
reflection. According to Cazamian, he is above all an
artist.
PERSONAL AND AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL
ELEMENT

 Lamb's essays are personal and autobiographical. They

reflect his nobility of his soul, his good nature, his
simplicity, his geniality and his charity. Lamb talks
about his relatives, friends and acquaintances
  But he is silent about the murder of his mother for the
sake of his sister. It was she who killed Lamb's mother.
He often changes the name of his relations and
mystifies the character by blending facts with fiction.
Such deviations do not alter the truth. He is friendly
and intimate with the reader. He takes him into his
confidence on private affairs. He frankly tells us about
his childhood, his boyhood and his manhood.
 Throughout his essays he remains uniquely personal
and autobiographical. His humanity is visible
everywhere. Though the essays are autobiographical,
Lamb never gives the impression of being vain or
proud. He is greatest egoist without the touch of
egotism.
 VARIETY OF THEME
  Lamb's essays exhibit infinite variety. Here is God's
plenty. His essays satisfy the appetite of every taste. In
his essays Lamb reveals himself. He is a visualiser of
memories. His essays give a glimpse into his life and
thought. The essay 'Dream Children' is noted for its
autobiographical description. It is a reverie (day-
dreaming). The reason behind the creation of this essay is
the death of his brother John. It unveils the author's soul.
It is full of pathos. ' A Bachelor's Complaint' is also an
autobiographical and humorous essay. Here Lamb
describes various oddities of the married couples.
 HUMOUR AND PATHOS
  As a humorist Lamb is unsurpassable in English prose.
There is no humorist more original than Lamb. His
style is an expression of his humour. He often
interrupted a grave discussion with a light jest. His
essays are marked with all shades of humour and
delicate irony. Funny situations and boisterous laughter
usually occur in his essays.
The Note of Familiarity
 Lamb’s contribution to the English essay lies
in the changing the general tone from
formality to familiarity. This change was
acceptable by all the essayist to follow.
 He often addresses the reader ‘Dear Reader’

as if he was addressing a bosom friend.

No Didacticism
 He is a friend and not a teacher. Lamb shed
once and for all the didactic approach which
characterises the work of most essayists
before him
CONCLUSION 
  Lamb is the finest and most charming of all English
essayists. He brought perfection to art of essay writing.
In short, Lamb's essays have been a lasting source of
interest and delight to all the readers of English literature.
 Lamb remains one of the best-loved essayists of English
literature not only for the nobility of his life and
gentleness of heart but also for producing a body of
literature unique in value.