ENG 272 Timeline - Spring 2026

William Blake

William Blake was a poet, painter, engraver, and visionary in the Romantic Period. He was born on November 28, 1757, and passed away on August 12, 1827. While he was still alive, his work was rejected by society, even though it is now considered an essential part of the Romantic Period in literature. Even with his work being "thrown out," he still believed that his work was really important because of the way in which it was written to be understood by the majority of his readers. He wrote his works to be able to be understood by his readers because he felt like what he had to say was extremely important and "of national importance." 

Examples of his works: Little Lamb, The Tyger, Proverbs of Hell, and Devil's Party. 

“William Blake | The Poetry Foundation.” The Poetry Foundation, The Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/william-blake. Accessed 5 Feb. 2026.

The Most Controversial Queen in History was so Hated

This article goes over a few events and myths about Marie Antoinette. Most myths start right when she becomes queen. The myth I did not know about which the accusation of the 600-diamond necklace it was rumored around in 1785. This was known as The Diamond Necklace Affair. She had accidently ordered this necklace, and it showed up on a merchant boat and was given straight top the palace. The only issue with this was she was apparently using money from the monarchy to buy it. The money was used for the people of France, and she was seen as using it for personal use. 

Lordy Byron's Volatile Affairs

Author Alexander Larman brings to light how Byron interacted with many women, ultimately leading to a tarnished reputation. He notes that Byron’s attitude toward women tended to be “a mixture of contempt, violence and lordly dismissal” (Larman). Each of these women refused to take any of Byron’s impropriety; Caroline took revenge by writing a roman-a-clef (a novel with real people or events with altered names), a few women traveled the world as ‘free agents,’ and even his daughter ended up becoming very successful in mathematics and computer programming. These women prove that despite being torn down by a man, one can still find paths to success and personal fulfillment. Learning about how Byron has treated women, though I still enjoy reading his works, definitely makes me think less of him; it’s easy as readers to heroize authors, but as we are coming to learn, not all of them are saints.

Larman, Alexander. “Byron and His Women: Mad, Bad and Very Dangerous to Know.” Wordsworth Grasmere, 8 Sept. 2016, wordsworth.org.uk/blog/2016/09/08/byron-and-his-women-mad-bad-and-very-dangerous-to-know/.

"George Gordon (1788–1824), Lord Byron" by Richard Westall (1765–1836) is licensed under Public Domain, CC0

Lord George Gordon Byron: Georgian Bad Boy or Simply Misunderstood?

This article was produced by Bianca White Writes, a personal blog written by the author Bianca White. This author posts articles on different historical figures to offer helpful and engaging information about the historical figures and events. The purpose of this specific article is to give an informal introduction to Lord Byron's life and reputation.  It is written for the general public, but most importantly, those who have a higher interest level in history and literature.

What I found really interesting about this article was that while he is often considered to be known for being "the most notorious and flamboyant of the English Romantic poets," he is not actually as scandalous as he is made out to be. Bianca White does not use Lord Byron's behavior against him but rather gives out reasons and examples showing that he is a good person, just misunderstood due to his upbringing. An example of this is her saying that even the majority of today's psychologists would "cite Byron's formative years as the reason behind his unconventional lifestyle." Lord Byron's father, for example, burned through his wife's entire fortune, abandoned him, and died when Byron was only two years old. That would take a huge mental toll on anyone. The article uses examples like that one to say that even though he might be considered to be a "social outcast," it is because of his childhood growing up. Nature vs Nurture

I feel like this article made me sympathize a little bit more with Lord Byron and understand who he was as a person. I feel like I am able to connect to him on a more personal level because of some of my own familial situations. My mom, for example, passed away when I was six because of her drug addiction. Lord Byron's father passed away on the run from his debtors, being a gambling addict.

White, Bianca. “Lord George Gordon Byron: Georgian Bad Boy or Simply Misunderstood?” Bianca White Writes, 19 Apr. 2024, biancawhitewrites.com/lord-george-gordon-byron-gerogian-bad-boy-or-simply-misunderstood/.

Writer Thomas Paine is Arrested in France

Thomas Paine's popular contribution to the pamphlet wars regarding the Revolution Controversy, "Rights of Man," inevitably led to his arrest and conviction in France. During the trial, Paine was tried for treason, or seditious libel more specifically. Paine was not shy about giving his input when it came to other country's affairs, like the American Revolution for example. For a guy who was constantly writing about other country's ways of governance and affairs, he sure had a lot to say! However, as the article notes, it seemed that Paine had gave too much input and continued to speak his mind because he believed that he was helping people. His work was truly based in the interest of helping the middle class and poor by arguing for their rights and his intellectual civil disobedience was something he was willing to go to prison for (even though Monroe eventually bailed him out). While in prison, and following his release, Paine continued to write, leading to his last major work: "The Age of Reason."

HISTORY.com Editors. “Writer Thomas Paine Is Arrested in France | December 28, 1793 | HISTORY.” HISTORY, 13 Nov. 2009, www.history.com/this-day-in-history/december-28/thomas-paine-is-arreste….

John Keats

John Keats was born in London on October 31, 1795, and died in Rome on February 23, 1821, to tuberculosis.

He was of the second generation of Romantic poets, alongside Percy Shelley and Lord Byron. Although having published only 54 poems before dying at the age of 25, his passion for life and the imagination shone intensely. A tragically ephemeral poet himself, his ruminations on life's ironies contrasted with the beauty of art and imagination are seen clearly in the six great odes he wrote in 1819. 

One of the most popular of all Romantic poems, "Ode on a Grecian Urn," belongs to this illustrious list. It is a delightfully complex ekphrasis poem about a speaker beholding the scenes on an urn about lovers, a pastoral procession, and an empty city. Here, Keats notes the wonderful irony of art in which idealistic scenes are trapped in time, much unlike the human observer. It is also where the infamous line "Beauty is truth, truth beauty" can be found, the meaning(s) of which is debated widely. Keats is also the originator of the famous term "Negative Capability," which posits the ability to exist independently, in a "negative" space, of traditional logic and reasoning. It was in a letter to his relative that he claimed great thinkers “capable of being in uncertainties, Mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason.”

Keats stands as a great literary "what if?" whose short life only emphasized the ephemeral themes of his work.

Guthrie, Camille. “John Keats: ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn.’” Poetry Foundation, 13 Sept. 2020, www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/145240/john-keats-ode-on-a-grecian-urn.

(Information) Poetry Foundation. “John Keats.” Poetry Foundation, 2009, www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/john-keats.

(Image) Wikipedia Contributors. “John Keats.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 23 Mar. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Keats.

"The Eolian Harp" Is Published

Written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in Clevedon, Somersetshire, on August 20, 1795, "The Eolian Harp" was published in his 1796 collection of poems. This poem was one of Coleridge's favorites, which he revised many times throughout his life. 

It stands as a beloved example of Coleridge's "conversation poems," a style that aims to be conversational in its everyday topics and language, inviting the reader to share a more intimate role with the speaker. As exhibited in this poem, one can imagine a living human spontaneously orating its contents to the reader in their parlor or at another social gathering. The rhythm of human thought and speech is captured here by Coleridge as it discusses the interaction of wind and harp as symbolic of the interaction of natural and supernatural forces with living creatures. It is representative of Coleridge's fascination with these forces and his method of making the contents of poetry more accessible to the everyman. It also speaks to the larger themes of imagination in the Romantic period, as poets muse on humanity's role in observing and capturing nature's beauty.

Mike White. "It’s Just Us Talking Here: Coleridge’s Conversation Poems." AGNI, It’s Just Us Talking Here: Coleridge’s Conversation Poems | AGNI Online

"Aeolian Harp: The Enchanting Sounds of a Wind-Powered Instrument." Songdio, Aeolian Harp: The Enchanting Sounds of a Wind-Powered Instrument

Mary Shelley's Monster: Politics and Psyche in Frankenstein

This article looks to be produced by an academic institution but written by Lee Sterrenburg. The purpose of the article is to help give a more thorough analysis of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" by talking about the political and psychological themes within the novel. I feel like the intended audience of the article is academics, students, and literary scholars.

I think this article is really interesting because of the way that Sterrenburg looks at the politics from during the time that the novel was written as well as how the politics affected the book. Sterrenburg talks about the French Revolution and the Enlightenment period, as well as how they both influenced Shelley. He also mentions how the monster could have been a metaphor for people who are left out or treated unfairly. I really liked this because it brought out a new viewpoint for me with the book; instead of it being a dark and gloomy book, it was a political move about being fair and what can happen if you become too ambitious and greedy.  Based on what was going on during the time that Mary Shelly wrote the novel, it seems almost as if she was trying to warn people about what can happen if they try to overuse their power.

Overall, I really liked this article. It brought up a lot of insights on the political and psychological issues during the time the novel was written and connects them to the novel itself. It makes the novel more understandable and puts a positive spin on things. Overall, I would rate this article a solid 8/10. I just wish that the article would go into more detail about what was going on during this timeframe.

Sterrenburg, Lee. “Mary Shelley’s Politics and Psyche in Frankenstein.” Knarf.english.upenn.edu, The Pennsylvania Electronic Edition, knarf.english.upenn.edu/Articles/sterren.html.

Portrait of Mary Shelley (1797-1851) by Richard Rothwell is licensed under Public Domain, CCO.

Arthur Hallam Dies at 22

Arthur Hallam, the most dear companion of the poet laureate, died on September 15, 1833, of a stroke at just 22 years old. The two poets and intellectuals experienced four years of deep friendship before Hallam's death. This enormous death, compounded by the death of Tennyson's father and his family's poverty, was cataclysmic to his mental fortitude. He refused to have his work published for the ten years following, but this period of emotional turmoil brought with it some of his greatest works: "Morte d'Arthur," "Tithonus," "Tiresias," and "Break, break, break."

This also included the beginning of a seventeen-year effort pouring his grief about Hallam's death into many unlinked poems that eventually became In Memoriam, one of the most celebrated of all Victorian poems. This poem, comprising 131 sections and nearly 3,000 lines, solidified Tennyson as the poet laureate. Irrevocably saturated with the grief of losing one's closest companion, it also dealt with a myriad of other Victorian issues, including religion, the sciences, the role of art, the relation of the conscious to the unconscious, and many others. Tennyson inherited the laureate title from Wordsworth in 1851, a year after his predecessor's death.

"Alfred, Lord Tennyson." Poetry Foundation, Alfred, Lord Tennyson | The Poetry Foundation.

Blocksidge, Martin. "Arthur Henry Hallam," The Tennyson Society, Arthur Henry Hallam – The Tennyson Society.

The "Mad Scientist" Character Archetype as a Reflection of the Victorian Era

The Figure of the “Mad Scientist” and Victorian Attitudes to Science and Religion – Students as Researchers

This student’s blog post breaks down the character archetype of the “mad scientist” and how it relates to cultural anxiety in the Victorian era. Many people were attached to traditional “moral and spiritual boundaries” that authors in this time period had little issue with crossing. Darwin, for example, was viewed by many as “playing God” for questioning what they were told was God’s intentions. However, this very same idea is depicted in fiction literature as well. The first one she notes that comes to mind is The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide– questioning the limits to ethics and scientific discovery. She also acknowledges that this is exactly the case to be made for Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Though Shelley’s work was originally published in 1818, as Cairns points out, people seemed to become even more drawn to it during the Victorian age where science and ethics were on the forefront of people’s minds. This piece has definitely made me view Frankenstein in a different light and makes me eager to read Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide here soon. I will definitely keep this article in the back of my mind while I read it!

Cairns, Jasmine . “The Figure of the “Mad Scientist” and Victorian Attitudes to Science and Religion – Students as Researchers.” Lboro.ac.uk, 2025, blog.lboro.ac.uk/irph-students/2025/04/16/the-figure-of-the-mad-scientist-and-victorian-attitudes-to-science-and-religion/.

"Charles Darwin Engraving" by C Cook after Elliot & Fry, 1899 is licensed under Public Domain

Treasure Island Author Robert Louis Stevenson Was a Sickly Man with a Robust Imagination

This article was produced by the National Endowment for the Humanities and written by Danny Heitman. The purpose of this article is to provide a further in-depth understanding of the life that Robert Louis Stevenson lived and how his life and health influenced his writing. I feel like the intended audience of this piece is to be students and teachers because of how informational it is.

This article talked about Robert Louis Stevenson's health and how he was very often sick. It contrasted his sickly health with his exciting and adventurous stories. One thing I found very interesting was even though he had very little energy, his imagination and stories he wrote were full of action, travelm and danger. The article uses his book, Treasure Island, as a comparison. I think even the story that we read in class, Jekyll and Hyde, is a good example of how his work contrasts his actual life, but also aids it in a way. I think he used his work as an escape from his real-life struggles. By understanding his health issues, it brings into question whether or not Stevenson used Jekyll and Hyde as a way for him to express how much he wanted to separate his health from himself, just like he tried to separate his evil from his good in his novel. By understanding and knowing about the struggles that Stevenson went through in his life makes Jekyll and Hyde more meaningful and emotional because it allows the reader to be able to connect with the personal struggles and health struggles he might have been going through when he wrote his work.

I believe that this article is very well written and interesting. I love the insight it gives into Stevenson's life and work. I think I would overall rate it an 8/10.

“Treasure Island Author Robert Louis Stevenson Was a Sickly Man with a Robust Imagination.” The National Endowment for the Humanities, July 2015, www.neh.gov/humanities/2015/julyaugust/feature/treasure-island-author-r….

Stevenson in 1893 by Henry Walter Barnett is licensed under Public Domain.

The Trials of Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde is most notable for his works of Earnest and Picture of Dorian Gray, but many believed these works to be larger reflections of his personal homosexual tendencies. After reading The Importance of Being Earnest, I really took interest to the gay subtext of the story and how it related to Wilde's personal life. Wilde himself was not "out" because Victorian culture at the time condemned homosexual behavior, and later even criminalized it. As a part of the 1885 Criminal Law Amendment Act, committing acts of "gross indecency," or engaging in sexual activity with another person of the same sex, became illegal. The father of Wilde's lover (16 years younger than him, mind you) found letters between his son and Wilde and threated to let it be known. Wilde then brought a libel suit against him, claiming that he was trying to damage his reputation. Though this suit would later be dropped, it was ultimately the catalyst for the subsequent suit brought against Wilde that formally accused him of "gross indecency." Wilde's eventual conviction led to his imprisonment, exile, and later death. Though it makes sense that Victorian culture would prioritize formal, traditional relationships, I would also have expected such a progressive time to be progressive toward love and personal life as well (though I understand that it is something societies are still debating/struggling with.)

Bertram, Colin. “How Oscar Wilde’s Libel Trial Backfired and Ruined His Life.” Biography, 15 July 2020, www.biography.com/authors-writers/oscar-wilde-trials-downfall-gross-ind….

"Oscar Wilde and Alfred Douglas, 1893" by Gillman & Co is licensed under Public Domain

Oscar Wilde's Lady Bracknell is Back, With a Slightly Unladylike Air

A festival in Ontario Canada reveals the role of Lady Bracknell is played by a man and not a woman. The actor who portrays her is Brian Bedford is not the first male to portray this role. Countless of other actors have been seen to act her role. The reason Lady Bracknell is played as a man is simply because of her gentlewoman behavior. She also disagrees and has opinions which was not ordinary for her time. In the play, she is also seen as not very lady like and judgmental. Unfortunately after 39 seasons of being Lady Bracknell Bedford died in 2007