Compare And Contrast Victorian And The Romantic Era

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The Romantic VS. the Victorian
In the world of poetry, there are several viewpoints on every single topic that can be thought of. One major topic is that of Nature. When it comes to William Wordsworth and Lord Alfred Tennyson there is an immense amount of differentiation on their interpretations of the subject because they wrote in separate eras. The Romantic age it characterized by a strong belief in finding truth in nature, while the Victorian age is narrow minded and finds the opposite. This allows for a complete separation of ideas between the eras. So, when comparing Wordsworth’s view of nature to Tennyson’s it is idealistic and highly romanticized.
William Wordsworth is known for being vastly inspired by the beauty of Nature. When readers …show more content…

He was its ultimate worshipper and he wanted to share his admiration with others, so they could see its greatness. It is not unusual to see this as he was a part of the Romantic age. There was a focus on the human being, and this also went along with the idea of trying to reconnect with the outside world. Much of this was an inspiration to Wordsworth, except sometimes he would make it seem as if there was no other option, but than to turn to the outdoors. He made good points of course, by showing that it helps when wanting to find serenity. There were also times where he showed that it was like finding someone to go back to when help was needed, but to say that it was the only way to reconnect with one’s self comes off as idealistic and highly romanticized to many. “The mind of Wordsworth was singularly narrow; his range peculiarly limited; the object he proposed to himself unusually distinct” (Jump). The counteraction to this was the Victorian age. The poets from that age believed that there should be more of a focus on …show more content…

He believed what he said was too perfectionist. Tennyson is also known for being more close minded, so he wrote what he felt. For example, in Mariana, he showed that instead of being healing, Nature was deteriorating. He showed the contrasting side of what had been mainly prominent in the Romantic era. “Where Wordsworth saw the bountiful lavishness of Nature in the leafy forest gemmed with life, the meadow starred with daffodils, Tennyson found material for dark and troubled thought in the desperate waste of Nature” (Benson). Most romantics tried to treat the Natural world, as a higher deity, but the Victorians like Tennyson showed that it wasn’t so godly. He proved that the natural world could bring feelings of sorrow and death. It wasn’t always restorative, it could also make one feel like they have nothing in life worth living for, much like the young woman in Mariana, waiting for her long lost lover. Whatever solemn characteristics he could find to put in poems, he made sure he exposed them and this made Wordsworth’s poems seem

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