The French Revolution and the British Revolutionary Controversy

This video introduces the French Revolution and the fierce controversy over it which ensued in Britain during the 1790s. Exploring the debate’s major contributors, arguments, its development, and its visual dimensions, the video shows how Romanticism was shaped by and responded to the tumultuous political events in Britain and Europe. It reveals how key Romantic writers such as Wordsworth and Shelley, as well as central concepts and developments, such as feminism, the imagination, the inner life, nature, poetry, and rebellion, were powerfully influenced by the initial controversy.