William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth

Many people think of the Romantic age as a period of change. The writers were characteristically plagued with their personal struggles which manifested in their writing. The strangest thing about the Romanticism movement was the writers' love for their relatives. Strangest of all was William Wordsworth. By far the most famous writer in his time, Wordsworth had a bizarre personal life. He wrote of unattainable love which coincided with his love for his mother. There were many accounts of an incestuous relationship with his mother and their strange relationship played a big part in his various stories.

Wordsworth was sent away to school at a very young age before forming a relationship with his mother. Upon graduation, he returned home and became close to his mother (too close in my opinion). He had sexual relations with his mother which -resulted in a child. Incidentally, not only was he the child's father, but he was also his brother. In the Romantic age, incestuous relations were not completely uncommon; however, this was scandalous even by romanticism standards. In my opinion this, by far, is the most outrageous relationship recorded. The relationship with his mother and their "forbidden" love was reflected in his stories. Throughout many of his stories there are accounts of lovers that perished and were - unattainable. Consequently, his stories became famous during his time. He was the only romantic writer to become famous during his own lifetime. This took a huge toll on him. He was constantly striving to live up to his reputation and it wasn't long before he lost his mind.

After Wordsworth's novel, Mutability, was published, he was elected to St. Margaret's Court (a prestigious group of writers who were published monthly). Once a member, his writing style changed dramatically. Previously, he averaged about one novel every one and a half years, but after induction into St. Margaret's Court, he was under a time constraint of a month to write and edit. His stories were far-fetched and more outrageous as the months went by. Still, he was kept a member of St. Margaret's. Although he was very popular at the start of his career, Wordsworth's professionalism diminished significantly when he asked a street walker to write down his thoughts, and proceeded to publish that in his monthly publication. His