BBC.The Romantics.1of3 (2008).Liberty.PDTV.XviD.Ekolb

The Romantics (2008)

1of3

Peter Ackroyd explores the turbulent story of these pioneers of modern imagination: their private pleasures, personal dreams and political passions. From revolutionaries to poets, explore the world vision of The Romantics. This three part television series, presented by eminent historical writer Peter Ackroyd, Romantics explores the turbulent story of the pioneers of modern imagination: their private pleasures, personal dreams and political passions.

Between 1760 and 1830 the imaginations of a few individuals re-ordered human perception. English poets such as William Blake and Lord Byron were are the forefront of this movement. It has since become known as the Romantic Revolution. With this revolution God, Church and abolute monarchy would be displaced from the centre of society and replaced by the visions and desires of the individual. Our modern fundamental perceptions spring from this revolutionary period - our ideas of equality and freedom - our notion of childhood - of the unconscious and our belief in the power of words and images to change the world.

The series follows the growth of the Romantic idea through three episodes: Liberty, Nature, and Eternity. The main focus is the work and lives of some of the giants of the Romantic movement, William Blake, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The main character however, is the idea itself, how it is relayed, how it affects change in people and in the world itself.

Part 1 Liberty

This programme in the BBC/OU's Romantics series explores the birth of the individual in modern society.

The 18th century was a time of opulence and privilege for some. Europe was dominated by the twin authority of the Church and King - but beneath the surface, new forces were gathering to challenge their absolute rule. The French philosopher, Denis Diderot insisted that men must reason for themselves. His friend, Jean-Jacques Rousseau claimed civilization had corrupted mankind - to free themselves, men must listen to their emotions.

Rousseau's writings gave birth to a hope for a new world of liberty, equality and fraternity. These ideas would fuel the greatest social upheaval in history - the French Revolution. In Britain, these 'Romantic' ideals would burst into the public arena in art and poetry. William Blake's engravings and poetry were howls of revolutionary anger: Blake made the liberation of the human spirit his life's work.

William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote one of the most powerful revolutionary works of the time; Lyrical Ballads. This volume of poetry was considered so dangerous that even as they composed, Wordsworth and Coleridge were being followed by government spies. This was the greatest period of sustained creativity in English literature - at a time of revolutionary change in which poets had the power to remake the world in their own image.

Format : AVI

Length : 465 MiB for 59mn 1s 152ms

Codec : XviD

Source : PDTV

Language : English UK

Subtitles : None

Genre : Documentary

Video #0 : MPEG-4 Visual at 966 Kbps

Aspect : 528 x 352 (1.500) at 29.970 fps

Audio #0 : MPEG Audio at 122 Kbps

Infos : 2 channels, 48.0 KHz

Enjoy!

Ekolb