Corruption and Social Strictures in Emily Bronte's 'Last Lines' and William Blake's 'The Sick Rose'. Nadja Lovadinov 12th Grade

Poets of the Romantic movement sought to counteract the prevailing political and social viewpoints of the 18th-19th century. Romanticism was a philosophical movement and reaction against the logical enlightenment known as an age of reason which Romantics considered corrupted humanity. Following the Renaissance there was a quest for an advancement in scientific discovery and explanation for the workings of the world through reason and logic- rather than looking through the lenses of God’s power which caused human corruption. Blake uses his poetry to highlight the injustice in his society and Romantics were highlighly concerned with human rights, individualism and freedom from oppression. Blake is therefore able to radically step away from the conventional topics for poetry of the time such as epic narratives or important national figures. Female poets tended to be more subtle and less controversial in comparison to their male counterparts. Women were generally limited in their prospectus and many found themselves confined to the domestic sphere nevertheless they did manage to express or intimate their concerns.

Whilst arguably Bronte’s status as a Romantic poet is debatable, Bronte as a woman in a patriarchal society was keenly...