Industrial Revolution and its effect on romantic literature

Industrial Revolution mainly started from about 1760-1850 in Britain. It was a transition to a new kind of manufacturing process which was from hand production methods to machine and factory production and basically implied “the substitution of Man by the machine in the economic process and the mass production of consumption of goods” ( Cutitaru ). Industrializing first started in Britain because of three main reasons, firstly Britain had enough natural resources which was needed to power machines, secondly Britain was politically well-settled and thirdly Britain colonized many country so they had a huge market for their machinery products. This revolution influenced on the every sectors of society and this also brought some consequences which was progressive as well as regressive. It dramatically transformed England from rural agriculture to urban Industrial society. It was not only a sudden transformation the landscape of English society with technical, economical and political growth but also It helped to increase  child labour, class division, and women abuse.
This spirit of revolution served as the inspiration, setting and background of many literary works. It mainly influenced the literary periods from romantic and Victorian to late Victorian era. Most of the works of this periods reflected the effects of industrial revolution. 
Heath said “Romanticism was a direct response to the industrial revolution”. He was not wrong at all. Romanticism can be seen as a reaction to the aristocratic, social and political norms that emerged due to this revolution. Romanticism rejected this age of enlightenment and scientific rationalization of nature and all components of modernity. This reaction was strongly characterized through many art forms such as literature, painting, music, architecture, criticism and historiography. William Wordsworth, S.T. Coleridge, William Blake, John Keats, P.B. Shelley, Lord Byron were the famous exponents of that period. All of them emphasized on a new kind of aesthetic categories of the sublimity and beauty of nature and also emphasized on emotion and individualism and glorification of the past but that was only from medieval rather than calm, harmony, balance and rational which we find in classicism. Their piece of work was to aware the people about the unjust of urban life which started to change the scenario of social behavior.
The book of poems, entitled “Lyrical Ballads” which was jointly published by Wordsworth and Coleridge introduced a new perspective regarding poet and poetry. Wordsworth wrote his poetry on nature and its beauty. In “Preface” to the second edition(1800) of ‘Lyrical Ballads’  Wordsworth described poetry “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity”. This tranquillity he found in the midst of nature. He always wanted to stay out of the chaotic industrialized city life. He chose for the subject of his poetry not only the nature but also the rural sufferer people who were the victims of the rude society. He wrote in ‘Prelude’, “What we have loved, others will love, and we will teach them how the mind of a man becomes a thousand times more beautiful than the earth on which we dwells”. He actually felt himself as a responsible one for society and tried to diminish poverty rather than the involvement of government and also wanted to find way out of those poor souls who were the victims of revolution. He told in ‘Tintern Abbey’ that “The best portion in Good man’s life: his little nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love” and which he thought only could provide happiness and encourage to perform more charitable act in further. In ‘Tintern Abbey’ he talked about vivid memories of childhood which was lost by the time in his later life, “That time is past; and all its aching joys are no more”. In ‘Ode on the Intimation’ he lamented by saying, “There was a time when meadow, grove and stream… But yet I know, where’er I go; that there hath past away a glory from earth”. Wordsworth actually worried about the changing society and time done by industrialization. He realized that urban life is different and difficult from childhood pastoral life and also realized the idea of prosperity collapsed with the immorality of human where “nature never did betray”. Wordsworth’s poem “Composed upon Westminster Bridge” describes the beautiful view of the city while standing on Westminster. He said, “open unto the fields and to the sky” but for the industrial growth people was too busy to notice this beauty of nature.
S.T. Coleridge devotion towards nature is visible through his poem such as ‘Rime of Ancient Mariners’, ‘Frost at Midnight’ and ‘The Nightingale’; these poems reflect the fact of his rejection to the industrial revolution. In ‘Frost at Midnight’ he found the beauty even in simple frost. He wanted to leave the city where this kind of beauty of nature was getting lost with industrial growth. He hoped that his son might get chances to see beauty of nature that was very rare in the city life . He realized that the confined life of urban society could not provide that recreation which nature could provide.
William Blake who was a pre-romantic poet, had also showed his concerns towards the sufferer of society and exposed the ruthless face of the society which was due to the transformation from rural to urbanization life, innocence to experience. Blake gave the image of the society of that time through his poetry and painting. In his ‘The Chimney Sweeper’ he showed how the life was changed by the industries grown all over country. A poor father sold his son to a chimney owner because of money but the boy was too young to do any labour work. No one paid any attention towards the little boy because all were busy chasing success. The poem showed one example of the victim of industrialization that compelled readers to think the impact of this revolution. The biased cruel society did the same thing with many poor child. Blake pointed out at the matter where industrial revolution created a competition of success that were far from humanity and went lost from divinity and turned into selfish, materialistic and cruelties.
From the above discussion, we can say, the reflection of industrial revolution which we found in literary piece was more of social criticism. The modern life and advance products are the blessing of Industrial Revolution but the society of England had gone through a drastic transformation which has been depicted through this romantic literature.