Rhythm:
The sound pattern made by the rise and fall of the unstressed and stressed syllables in a verse line or speech.
Romanticism:
A doctrine of art and literature that involves high imagination, love of nature, spontaneity, - simplicity, subjectivity, individuality, supernaturalism, strong revolutionary desires, subjectivism, and Hellenic aestheticism. It is opposite to classicism or neoclassicism. The French Revolution influenced it. Romanticism first appeared in the Elizabethan Age; Wordsworth and Coleridge initiated its revival in England in 1798.
The main features of romanticism are elaborated here:
a) High imagination: Romanticism involves high imagination. It seeks an ideal condition for mankind in high soaring imagination. It rejects the fact that writers should be earth-bound, realistic and factual.
b) Love of nature: This doctrine has a strong liking for nature both for the beauty of its external objects and for the meanings underlying those objects. It emphasizes sense-perceptions of natural objects and interpretations of the underlying truths of those objects.
c) Primitivism or spontaneity: The doctrine advocates for inherent human qualities. It prefers natural, elemental human qualities to those which are artificial.
d) Interest in the remote: Romanticism has a nostalgic tendency. It involves the past, especially the ancient myths and medieval legends.
e) Simplicity in expression: It supports the use of simple, everyday language and discourages unnecessary use of figures of speech, sonorous words and artificial expressions. f) Revolutionary zeal: It defies social restrictions, opposes harmful traditional beliefs and hopes for an absolutely free society.
g) Individualism: Romanticism attaches more importance to an individual than to the society or state. For this reason, subjective perception is very important in it.
h) Supernaturalism: Dealing with the unseen and mysterious powers is an important aspect of romanticism.
i) Experiment and innovation: Experiments with the literary forms and techniques are a feature of romanticism. In romantic tradition, innovation has been given much importance.
j) Art for art's sake: Art for art's sake is the slogan of romanticism.
k) Hellenism: The aesthetics of the ancient Greeks, especially the sense of beauty, is also a feature of romanticism.
It should be remembered that all these features are not found in every romantic poet. Blake's poetry reflects simplicity of language and desire for a better society; Wordsworth's poetry is known for love of nature and common man; in Coleridge's poetry supernaturalism is a dominant feature; Keats' poetry reflects Hellenism; in Shelley and Byron revolutionary zeal is remarkable. What is common in all these poets is high imagination, simple language and sympathy for common people.
There are contradictions among the features of romanticism. It is because romanticism accommodates multiplicity of views.
Round character:
A round character is usually the main character who changes in course of the narrative of a fictional work of literature. The features of a round character are:
a) He or she changes with the progress of the plot;
b) He or she is complex in nature;
c) He or she plays the role of the protagonist;
In Dickens' Great Expectations, Pip is a round character in that he is complex, plays a main role and keeps on changing. Similarly, in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet are round characters since they change and play most significant roles in the novel. [see Flat Character]
