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Samuel Taylor Coleridge and John Ruskin were two incredibly influential critics of their time. Coleridge was a widely popular critic in the Romantic period. He was a major influence in the life of William Wordsworth. Coleridge, as a part of the Romantic Movement, valued emotion and its relationship to aestheticism. In the time of Victorian England, Ruskin was heralded as a critic and writer. He often worked as an art critic, and he favored a return to a simpler society in which items were handcrafted and unique. Ruskin was adamantly opposed to the Industrial Revolution taking place at the height of his celebrity.

Both Coleridge and Ruskin were vocal about their opposition to slavery. Coleridge’s piece from “On the Slave Trade” was presented as a lecture in 1795 and then published in a periodical the following year. Ruskin’s texts were published decades later. His response to Turner’s “The Slave Ship” was published in 1843, and “The Stones of Venice” found publication in 1851. All of these dates are important in relation to the abolition of the slave trade. The bill passed that emancipated over 800,000 slaves was passed in 1833. Coleridge and Ruskin represent slavery in different manners because they both dealt with slavery in vastly different circumstances. In this essay, I will argue that Coleridge plays on the emotions of his audience and their personal, religious beliefs through his tone and language. Furthermore, the context of the lecture indicates the gravity of Coleridge’s argument against slavery. In contrast, Ruskin implicitly proposes to separate the issues of slavery with aestheticism in his response to Turner’s painting “The Slave Ship.” He also perpetuates an argument that indicates that the presence ...

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... implies a relationship exists between morality and aestheticism. However, I would argue that his beliefs are not consistently represented through both pieces. Ruskin’s central argument proves to be that slavery results in the loss of something precious – aesthetic value. Coleridge, as a Romantic, played to the emotions of his audience. He knew what words or phrases would garner a reaction, and he employs images and tone to achieve this reaction. Ruskin, as a Victorian sage, aligns himself more with the aesthetic value of something, as opposed to the emotional response (or the moral response). These two authors together serve to showcase the ways in which slavery was addressed at two different times in society. While their motivations for ending slavery may differ, there central focus remained the same – the abolishment of slavery was a necessary in English society.