Romanticism lecture- guest speaker





Prometheus

The guest lecture was based around the concept of Romanticism and how many writers in the 19^th century were heavily influenced by the classical mythological God, Prometheus. Prometheus stole fire to give to people in society and was named the “bringer of fire”. For his actions he was punished by Jupiter and chained to a rock where a vulture attacked his liver for 30 years. It was this act of heroism that inspired many writers to celebrate his life and to an extent Prometheus brought together the ideas of Romanticism and shaped the way people viewed the movement. Writers such as Mary and Percy Shelley and also Ludwig Von Beethoven viewed Prometheus as the God of romanticism and there are many works of literature and art celebrating his actions. To them he symbolised freedom and resistance to tyranny and oppression as he tried to help society no matter what the consequences were and he can be seen as the spirit of “liberty, egality and fraternity”. This school of philosophy is called Promethenism and there are two main ideas: political and aesthetic Promethenism.         

Political Promethenism is best highlighted in the sonnet Ozymandias by Percy Shelley which was written in 1818. Ozymandias or Rameses II as he is also known was a 13^th century Egyptian ruler who was considered the “king of kings” due to his tyrannical approach to ruling Egypt. Shelley’s inspiration for writing the sonnet came from a visit to the British Museum in London where he saw a sculpture of Ozymandias. The sculpture was broken and stood alone in a cabinet and this is reflected in the poem. Instead of presenting Ozymandias as a hero and placing him on a pedestal which is a classical feature of a sonnet, Shelley undermines his strength and power as a king and highlights his downfall as due to his tyrannical actions he became a weak and broken person.

The Townley Vase, housed in the British Museum

Aesthetic Promethenism can be best seen in John Keat’s poem Ode to a Grecian Urn written in 1820. Keat’s inspiration came from a Townley Vase which he also saw in the British Museum like Shelley. The urn was a Roman vase which was found at a villa near Monte Cagnolo near Rome and can be seen as a paradox as the outside of the urn depicts figures and landscape which are typical subject matters of the Romantic movement whereas the inside of the vase shows images that can be associated with death and suffering.  The carvings on the vase demonstrate skill and Keats argues that this skill should be celebrated and this is reflected in the ode.  The urn is presented as having human qualities through the use of personification and it is suggested that the urn is a supreme object as it will outlive human mortality and its beauty will live on forever. The ode can also be viewed as a protest by Keats against the devaluation of art in the industrial society during the 19^th century when the industrial revolution was fully underway in England.