The Exploration on the Formation of Wordsworth’s View on Nature

王晓晶 王春秀

【Abstract】The thesis aims to explore Wordsworths formation of romantic view on nature. The thesis illustrates this point into three parts. The thesis first states the influence that the French revolution exerted on Wordsworth. Then， the thesis states the influence of German classical philosophy to Wordsworth. Finally， the thesis introduces Rousseaus “back to nature” theory and his influence on Wordsworth.

【Key words】French revolution； German classical philosophy

Wordsworth is the leading figure in the literature of romanticism that always puts his eyes on the harmonious nature. The poet has described beautiful scenery by using simple and easy language. In fact， there are three major events that exerted great influence on the formation of Wordsworths view on nature.

1. French Revolution and its Effect on Wordsworth

In 1789， the French revolution was in a heated situation. Wordsworth was very passionate about the French revolution. Wordsworth believed that the French revolution can present the integrity of the human personality，and he considered the French revolution as the heroic movement，which had a great influence on the creation of Wordsworth. On the one hand， the free and the democratic ideas in the French revolution made the poet full of passion in his poetry-creating. On the other hand， after the revolution， the religious restoring also had a great impact on his creation of poetry. Under such background， Wordsworth had created the idea of pantheism of “man and nature assimilation”

This revolution worked as the enlightenment idea and a political revolution practice， which has brought a lot of changes to French society. Meanwhile， the revolution has also brought something illegal. With the high movement of the revolution， the Jacobins terrorists politics has put him into the deep sadness. The sensational imagination was replaced by the new fight. The freedom was replaced by the autocracy. Wordsworth decided to go back to nature. He wanted the people to go back to nature and get the comfort from nature. Wordsworth thought that only nature can help people to find themselves again. It is just the French revolution made him more decisive about his love for nature and his formation of his romantic view on nature.

2. German Classical Philosophy

Wordsworths formation of his romantic view can also be seen in some point largely influenced by the German classical philosophy.

The German classical philosophy takes the spirit as the source and the self as the core point. The German classical philosophy exaggerates the spirit function and the subjective initiative， which promotes the romanticism literary booming including the romantic view on nature of Wordsworth in the 19th century. In this period， Wordsworths emotionalism is actually influenced by Johann Gottlieb Fichtes “self-philosophy”. In spiritual characteristics， it derived from the same origin from the “self-philosophy”. It insists the critics of the reality and concentrates the ideal and imagination pursuit. His philosophy focused on the obsolete freedom of the self-value and the creation subjectivity， which makes a clear contradiction with the new classical theory.

3. Rousseaus “Back to Nature” Theory

Rousseaus idea of getting back to nature is well inherited and developed by Wordsworth. The core content of such idea is to heal back the human nature. By developing such idea， the poet expressed his great love for nature and felt sympathy for the poor and resented the people who are against the common people.

Rousseau believed in “nature is god”. He believed that it was great to obey the natural rules. Then he further believed that everything in nature is real. Rousseaus theory is quite influential. Meanwhile， his theory also has a great influence on the formation of the romanticism. Nearly all of the romanticists claimed that they obeyed and followed the theory of “back to nature” of Rousseau， including one of the most famous poets—William Wordsworth. Wordsworths poetry can fully present his cognition towards nature， which is the real description of nature. When we appreciate the poems， we can feel that Wordsworths romantic view on nature has a great resemblance of the theory of “back to nature” of Rousseau. It is just the clear and poetic style of Rousseau that Wordsworth made his great works “To the Cuckoo” and “Tintern abbey”.

When we are back in recalling the history， and when we ponder how the idea of Wordsworth influence the idea and action of people， and when we look at the future， we can see their influence towards nature， which is also very meaningful in the current society. When we read his poems， we can also feel his love towards nature and the common people.