Being Romantic

"Romantic literature" and "Romantic art" are familiar concepts in the history of culture. But what does "Romantic" actually mean? Were Coleridge and Keats especially dedicated to writing about erotic love? Why would "Romantic" literature emerge during the period of the French Revolution and Industrial Revolution? What does early 19th-century "Romanticism" have to do with the meaning and status of the "Romantic" in our culture today? Readings in British and American writing from Blake and Mary Shelley to Ani DiFranco and Rage Against the Machine.