Re-envisioning the Romantic Era through Eco-Gothicism and Eco-Altruism

Abstract: This paper attempts to explore the Romantic Era through the holistic structure of eco-gothicism and eco-altruism, using Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and William Wordsworth’s The Prelude as primary texts that state the emerging ecological sensibilities. Despite their shared appreciation of nature, the two poets in defining the relationship between nature and mankind take distinct emotional and philosophical stances. Coleridge’s Mariner depicts ecological sin and punishment through a Gothic lens, transfiguring nature into a moral and responsive force. The killing of the albatross manifests a violation of an ecological balance where it causes environmental destruction that this paper considers an eco-gothic element. Coleridge manifests a dark and gloomy moral ecosystem through the Mariner's despair and penitence, wherein isolation, guilt, and salvation symbolize humanity's precarious relationship with the natural world. On the other hand, Wordsworth’s The Prelude portrays a situation of eco-altruism, where it is observed that harmony with nature assists moral development and creative and spiritual awakening. According to Wordsworth, nature is an efficient teacher that shapes a poet’s emotional and spiritual entity. His self-reflective representation portrays an inextricable connection between the well-being of the environment and mankind. A complementary vision of ecological awareness is reflected in both the poets’ works: one through awe, dread and fear, the other through affection, warmth and reverence. By inspecting Coleridge’s and Wordsworth’s works through these perspectives, this paper places the argument that Romanticism predicts contemporary ecological discourse, combining aesthetics with environmental ethics. Thus, reevaluating the Romantic Age from the viewpoint of eco-gothicism and eco-altruism will generate environmental awareness even in the modern time. Keywords: ecological awareness; ecological discourse; Gothic lens; Romanticism; spiritual awakening;