Romanticism 18th Century Revolution Analysis

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Recommended: Beginning of american and french revolutions

Oscar Chavez
Dr. Hanvey
English 46B
01 October 2014
“Romanticism: An 18th Century Revolution”
Romanticism is the evolution of literary ideals resulting from the American and French Revolution that took Western Europe by storm from 1785 to 1832. The Romantic period during the late 18th century, was designed to bring upon a new understanding to the average reader such as you and I, challenging the ideals of classicism and shedding a new light on simplistic literature that has influenced today’s literary culture. William Wordsworth and his colleague Samuel Coleridge, challenged their neoclassical predecessors and taught us to glorify our spontaneous overflow of emotion, as a source for inspiration. As a result, Romantic artists emerged to follow …show more content…

Overall, her purpose was to break down the dominant ideology that women were vastly inferior to men, and to enlighten women that it is their human right to experience life to its fullest. Wollstonecraft explains that a woman 's role in life, or society, was prescribed by men. Throughout history, man has condemned women to a role in society that is equivalent to that of an animal. Women were nothing more than a docile, innocent, and weak objects for their husbands to control. However, Wollstonecraft aims to shatter that ideology in which she explains that women, even though they are physically weaker than men, have the same natural rights as men. She emphasizes that women were placed here on Earth to explore their full potential, and Wollstonecraft hopes to encourage women to become more educated to enable their own free will. It is significant to consider the time in which Wollstonecraft wrote "Vindication of the Rights of Woman" as well. It was written during the period of the American and French revolutions, which both revolutions were established under the ideology of freedom. Specifically, the American Revolution strongly professed the ideals of liberalism, republicanism, and that all men are created equal. "Vindication of the Rights of Woman" coincides with that notion in which all men are created equal; however, Wollstonecraft debates that "men" have been the only ones to benefit from equality. Women, she believed, were excluded from this revolutionary idea of freedom, and she hoped to bring women 's right to that

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