(1) emphasizes the absolute freedom of creation, opposes the discipline of classicism, and requires literature to break through the scope of depicting reality. Hugo pointed out: "Romanticism is only literary liberalism", and its purpose is "only to bring a kind of freedom to the country, that is, freedom of art or freedom of thought". Romanticism had a fierce struggle with classicism in its development.
(2) From the standpoint of democracy or infatuation with the old system, attack the evil phenomena of feudalism or capitalism. Romanticism can be divided into two types of writers: bourgeois tendency and aristocratic tendency.
Love to describe the past history of the Middle Ages. Romantic novelists, from Scott to Hugo and Dumas, mostly describe historical subjects.
(4) Emphasize the description of natural scenery, dislike capitalist civilization and reality, and quote Rousseau's thought of "returning to nature". These people regard nature as a mysterious force or a symbol of a certain spiritual realm.
Wordsworth's Lyric Ballads, published jointly with Coleridge, is a masterpiece of English romanticism, and his preface is regarded as the declaration and program of English romanticism. Mainly embodies the following ideas:
(1) The theme of poetry should be rural life, and the language of poetry should be sincere and simple;
(2) The purpose of poetry is to express emotions and praise nature and humanity. Poetry is an Oracle.
(3) Imagination of poetry and the difference between imagination and fantasy. In his view, imagination is the ability to meditate and express our inner eternal nature, while fantasy is the ability to feel and express the outline and characteristics of the external world. Poetry is the expression of our eternal natural nature, so he regards imagination as the basic driving force of creation.