Romanticism essay

Adam Ridley
Guerrero
Humanities
March 13, 2009
Romanticism
Thin layers of clothing cover the child in the cold winter evening in the factory. He works hard making sure no cotton gets caught in the machine’s gears, his fingers grow numb from the hard work and the cold. He is motivated to feed his family and earn enough money to keep them warm from the cold nights. He is only eight year’s old working for no more than 50 cents an hour. Many people have been told that industries have good pay and that it’s the best way to go when it comes to making money but in reality some factories have children sign contracts that forced them work for a certain amount of time with very little pay. The novel Frankenstein is an example of the Romantic Movement’s hostile feelings toward industrialization.
Industrialization
The Industrial Revolution was a period in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when changes in manufacturing, agriculture and transportation had changed Europe, North America and eventually the world. When the Industrial revolution came about factories started appearing and where there are factories there is work. Unfortunately most of this work was dishonest because the people that employed them took advantage of them by giving them very difficult work with very little pay along with an unsanitary work place. Children were among these workers because they had tiny fingers that could get into tiny machines but unfortunately children were taken advantage of and were like slaves. They would have contracts with the factories owners they would work for up to 10 years even their entire lives and would get barley enough for room and board. Furthermore Forest were chopped down to build houses make paper and wood had many other uses. This can also relate to Frankenstein, Dr. Frankenstein used non-living parts to make a living creature so it was a technological breakthrough but in the long term the monster killed all of his friends and family sort of like these factories they help in the short term but since they cut down trees eventually we might run out of trees and since trees make oxygen if they all get cut down then we won’t be able to breathe. So therefore many of the wild life lost their homes, a lifetime to build a moment to abolish.
Romantic Movement
The Romantic Movement was people who “didn’t believe” in the Industrialization of America and were the ‘hippies’ of the time. People have been disappointed because of the revolution had places to work men usually worked there and then women had to take the man’s job at home such as plowing the fields and paying bills. Most of the time factories had a place where the workers would sleep and eat so they rarely left the factories. While the Industrial Revolution meant that more goods could be produced for human consumption, it also meant that more pollution would be emitted into the sky and more natural resources would have to be exploited in the production process. (The Environment) Because factories polluted and made people’s lives miserable people tried revolting an example of this is the strikes. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labor became important in factories. People in the factories would try and go on a strike and so they don’t work and try to motivate people to not work with them until the companies would pay a fair wage. Some strikes succeded by increasing pay and improving working conditions and lower working hours while others ended in a pink slip and the company just fires every one and hires new people. In most countries, they were quickly made illegal, as factory owners had far more political power than workers. Most western countries partially legalized striking in the late 19th or early 20th centuries. (Forces of labor) In the introduction of Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein the book says that the Romantic Movement was a “rejection of the order, calm, and rationalism of the enlightenment in favor of innovation and emotional expression”. This was a time when people believed in human utopia but the reality of the events that happened to them made them pessimistic about human nature.
Frankenstein
In the book Frankenstein Dr Frankenstein creates a monster but its only monster in everyone else’s eyes but Dr Frankenstein gives him a heart of gold but since every one judges him on appearance every one thinks he’s a monster and treats him like one. He eventually goes and kills people that are close to his creator because he wants revenge. This can be related to when people would work really hard in factories and get paied very little and they sometimes even lose body parts to the cold and the hazards of the machines. The creation of Frankenstein’s monster ruined his life even though he thought it would be a great invention that would help bring dead people to life.
Conclusion
In conclusion people can work together to revolt against factories and their jobs even if they do it in different ways. The novel Frankenstein is an example of the Romantic Movement’s hostile feelings toward industrialization just like in the book people can work together like when they send search parties for Frankenstein’s creation they can also work together and strike against the companies. There was a strong belief that they could change their lives for the better by representing their ideas and working together.

artist statement.

Industrial Revolution
Adam Ridley, Aldo Romero, Christian Cacho, Jonathon Wallach, Nohemi Hernandez
Photograph
This photo was based on the 18th century industrial revolution period. In the photo people are dancing and ignoring the smoke in the background pollution the world. Also in the front of the picture there are little kids working at very dangerous machines. In this time period children worked the big scary machines because they had small hands and could get into small spaces. Somewhere in the middle of the picture Frankenstein is representing a scientific breakthrough but even though its super advanced technology and everything they are still unaware that they are polluting the world.
In this photo some of the steps we took was we got cardboard and then wrapped them in aluminum foil to make them to look like machines. For the machine in the front we put colorful construction paper and cut them into circles to make buttons. And got toilet paper rolls to make the joystick.