Every artistic movement has its respectable name. Thinking of Salvador Dali and his work (who has not seen the infamous 'clocks' painting?) brings to mind one word: surrealistic. It is, in fact, a fairly correct description, as Dali is one of the best known representatives of surrealism. Lev Tolstoy, however, based his novels on everyday life, avoiding exaggeration or idealisation. His way of writing is characteristic for literary realism. Those two examples of thoroughly different artistic movements show that their names actually reflect characteristics of the content their representatives created.
But how should we name something between surrealism and realism? The fascination with the paranormal and imagination, glorious ideas, but also with the variety of human emotions and the need to express them? These are features that connect the work of Juliusz Słowacki, William Wordsworth, John Keats and numerous other writers and poets. The word 'romanticism', first popularized by German poet August Schlegel, seems to describe the movement very well. Although love, usually unrequited, was also present in romantic literature, the name does not origin from unreturned passion, but rather from (not necessarily nihilistic) idea of sadness, hopelessness and heroic fight.
All those features explain why their embodiment - a romantic poet - is also called a doomed artist. This term, however, is not limited to describing poets living and writing between 18th and 19th century, even though they are associated with it most often. In fact, even in modern times, there are many 'doomed' artists - struggling with lack of understanding and acceptance from others, having ideals they firmly stand for, sometimes even, through their art, introducing us not only to their views on the world around them, but to the one they have created themselves.
Yet, as stated above, romantic poets are the most prominent examples of this idea. And, among them, there are those who are 'textbook' doomed artists – one of them being English poet Thomas Chatterton.
He was born and raised in Bristol. His childhood was marked by absence of his father, who died when Thomas' mother was still pregnant. Surprisingly, in the 18th century, the young poet's untimely death – which is considered a suicide, fulfilling the narrative of a misunderstood and depressed artist - was not widely noticed, even though he is now recognized as one of the most famous romantic poets. However, him turning to political journalism by the end of his life, was not the cause of that; instead, it can be explained by the fact that Chatterton was a forger - he published his work under a changed name, pretending to have discovered poems written by a medieval priest, Thomas Rowley.
Despite Chatterton’s legend and talent, there are, undeniably, other English poets that are import_ant figures in romantic literature: John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelly, whose literary work, just like in the young forger’s case, was recognized and acclaimed short before or after their early demises. Moreover, both of them were influenced and in awe of Lord Byron – considered to be one of the most import_ant and widely recognized authors in the history of Great Britain. But it was not only a shared passion for poetry that intertwined their fates – it was the fate of a romantic artist itself.
Keats’ parents struggled with financial problems. When their children were still minors, Mr. Keats died in an unfortunate accident; his death was soon followed by passing of Mrs. Keats. John and his siblings were then placed under the care of their grandmother, yet shortly after he decided to start a career in medicine in order to ensure financial independence. Despite being successful as a young surgeon, Keats’ heart’s biggest desire was to become a poet, which lead to the beginning of his own medical problem, depression – because of his job he did not have enough time to pursue his writing career. The decision to leave the medical field for good caused him some financial problems, and therefore he was forced to move in with his brothers.
Even though his first publication, Poems, received unfavourable reviews by critics, John Keats did not hesitate to keep writing; one of his best known poems remains Ode On An Grecian Urn, a poetical praise of truth and beauty. He put his pen down just few months before his death of tuberculosis at 25. At his deathbed, he asked his friend to engrave, instead of his real name, ‘The Young Poet’ on his tombstone.
Keats fellow writer, however, Percy Shelley, did not experience a troubled childhood, but rather a troubled youth. His poor performance at school, along with some of his physical features, were the cause of him being constantly tormented by other students. This might have triggered his inappropriate, and sometimes even dangerous, behavior, such as causing an explosion at school. Later in his life, he became involved in various love affairs, finally settling down with his sister’s friend, Harriet. They marriage did not last long, mostly because Harriet’s sister negative influence on her, and Shelley ended up leaving his wife while she was pregnant with their second child.
Years later, together with his second wife, Mary (the author of Frankenstein), he met Lord Byron. This encounter had a great impact on Shelley’s style of writing. It is worth noticing that inspiration played a huge role not only in his work, but in romanticism in general – whether it meant admiring other poets, wanting to praise the nature, or being driven by internal struggle, but also overwhelming social issues, as in Shelley’s Masque of Anarchy, later praised by Karl Marx.
His life was cut short when the boat he was navigating sank in the sea. The cause of the accident was never fully understood; some believed he was killed by political opponents, whereas others claim Shelley never recovered from the troubled relationships with others he had in the past, and, just like Chatterton, committed suicide.
Those three indisputably talented poets, along with Lord Byron, can help us understand the true nature of the romantic era, which manifested itself not just as a specific literary style, but mostly as a story of an artists’ life. Chain of events in a romantic poet’s life, who might have been born in a poverty, or a wealthy family, physically healthy or not, always sparked similar outcome – the struggle of being rejected by their environment and society, feeling constantly misunderstood even by loved ones, in many cases because of held ideals, but also when trying to express the blend of emotions, as personality was a factor that shaped the poet as well. Being caring, introverted, engaged in own fantasy were the traits such person seemed to possess, yet I did not mean he or she was weak, but rather vulnerable to the whirl of emotional challenges and demands the world offered them.
It does not, obviously, mean, that romantic poetry is not worth appreciation, as, just like any other literary period, it was the time when a great amount of admirable work was created, and which is enjoyed to this day. It is simply the vital and outward representation of romantic ideals through a person’s life that makes the image of a doomed artist extraordinary and causing a lively discussion today, as well as at the turn of 18th and 19th century.
