Economic
Kubla Khan reflects the Romantic perspective of the lassiez faire economy that was a product of Enlightenment ideals. Firstly, the image of Kubla Khan’s “stately pleasure-dome” is accompanied by a sense of it being completely enclosed with “walls and towers girdled round.” This image of fenced-off property reflects the state of the economy within Coleridge’s rapidly industrialising society. The lassiez-faire economy was one in which property was considered vital to efficient production. Kubla’s desire to syphon off ‘twice five miles of fertile ground’ for himself reflects this. The metaphor is extended as Coleridge portrays the Earth as a living, ‘breathing’ being that responds with “ceaseless turmoil” to Kubla’s intrusion. This is reminiscent of the working class uprisings of the period, a movement known as Chartism that was inspired by Thomas Carlyle’s teachings. This connection is further supported by the simile of “huge fragments” of earth being vaulted like grain beneath the flail of a working class harvester. Finally, Coleridge finishes his poem with an idealised image of a peasant- “Abyssinian maid.” Similar to William Wordsworth’s “highland lass” in The Solitary Reaper and to Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s “noble savage”, Coleridge bows to the maid’s connection with a simpler lifestyle in which her creativity flourishes- “Could I revive within me her symphony and song.” Thus, Coleridge’s account of the lassiez faire economy reflects the Romantic views towards the era’s economic situation.
Religious
The desire to escape and recreate an isolated civilisation
where man is free in nature was an ideal carried cautiously throughout the
Romantic era. This poses as a reflection to the growing separation from God
that surfaced era. Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s ‘Kubla Khan’ may be subject to
religious interpretation in the way it repetitiously refers to ‘Alph, the
sacred river’ and its rhythmical depiction of ‘a miracle of rare device,/ A
sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice!’ The idea of a vision within a vision
which is prominent throughout the poem may also represent the disconnection
from God as Romantics began to take responsibility for their movements, no
longer putting their faith in God. This movement was heavily publicised and
effectively influenced Coleridge, after Percy Bysshe Shelley mass produced a
flyer that promoted atheism and the ‘nonsense’ that surrounded God, which saw
him expelled from Oxford University in the early 18th century.
‘Kubla Khan’ promotes spirituality and self exploration as Coleridge uses
alliteration in his plea ‘Could I revive
within me/ Her symphony song,/ To such a deep delight ‘twould win me,’ as he
grows desperate to remember the foundation to his vision. Ultimately, Kubla
Khan explores the religious and morale debate that rose during the 18th
century to which Romantics fought for religious separation in their belief that
God was no longer central to existence.
Philosophical
Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem Kubla Khan adheres to the philosophical values of the Romantic Era. Instead of the needs of the community dominating the individual’s needs and experiences, Romanticism valued individualism, freedom of thought, action and rejection of social restraints as highlighted by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The Enlightenment era valued explaining the world objectively based only on reasoning, facts and logic. It attempted to explain the world through a series of scientifically proven laws that accounted for all facets of life as seen in the work of Newton However, Romantic philosophy heavily altered this highly objective, rational way of viewing the universe. This led directly to the Romantic philosophy of idealism, the belief that the external world is formed and created by the interpretation from the mind. The recurring image of the" sunny dome” and “caves of ice!" Contrast between what man idealizes and what nature creates. By describing the dome as sunny and warm and the caves as cold and icy, Coleridge finds yet another way emphasize the difference between man and nature. But here, we see a harmonious juxtaposition of man and nature-“Through caverns measureless to man”. Thus, the subjective viewpoint became hugely valued and was considered key to understanding the world under idealism. Thus, imagination was given particular importance during this Era. The “caverns measureless to man” serves as a Romantic counterargument to the ideals of the Enlightenment. The caverns are a symbol of the things we can’t conceive within nature. The persona emphasizes the dark and mysterious nature of the caverns through the image of “ceaseless turmoil seething” within the chasm. Thus, Coleridge used his poetry to explore conflicting issues in philosophy and religious piety and interpret Rousseau’s teachings into his poetry.
Scientific
During the Enlightenment era and throughout the Romantic period, both arts and sciences were thought to have common origins in human imagination and human creativity, both wanting to discover vital “powers” within the mind. In providing insight into both the human and physical worlds at work, ‘Kubla Khan’ reveals the dynamic interplay of creative powers that reflect the emerging scientific theories during the Romantic Era.
Romantic poets responded with excitement to the pioneering scientific developments. A common interest was natural history/philosophy/science, especially the field of geology, which along with other areas of natural science transformed the perception of Romantic thinkers. Many forms of Science emerging at this time allowed a restricted place for God within the universe.
This brought extra attention to the history of life and the history of the formation of the earth, thereby starting the debate about "biblical" chronological time versus geological "deep" time, and creating the notion of the depth and immensity of the universe.
Coleridge selected an instance of what was called the sublime, in Darwin, who imagined the creation of the universe to have taken place in a moment, by the explosion of a mass of matter in the womb, or centre of space. Coleridge read widely in the sciences and philosophy including the German Naturphilosophen. Coleridge studied at Göttingen under Blumenbach in Germany. Coleridge was possibly the most scientifically knowledgeable of all the Romantics It is therefore no surprise that Kubla Khan projects a pronounced sense of the new sciences, especially the evolutionary ones related to geology, and chemistry.
Romantic poets responded with excitement to the pioneering scientific developments. A common interest was natural history/philosophy/science, especially the field of geology, which along with other areas of natural science transformed the perception of Romantic thinkers. Many forms of Science emerging at this time allowed a restricted place for God within the universe.
This brought extra attention to the history of life and the history of the formation of the earth, thereby starting the debate about "biblical" chronological time versus geological "deep" time, and creating the notion of the depth and immensity of the universe.
Coleridge selected an instance of what was called the sublime, in Darwin, who imagined the creation of the universe to have taken place in a moment, by the explosion of a mass of matter in the womb, or centre of space. Coleridge read widely in the sciences and philosophy including the German Naturphilosophen. Coleridge studied at Göttingen under Blumenbach in Germany. Coleridge was possibly the most scientifically knowledgeable of all the Romantics It is therefore no surprise that Kubla Khan projects a pronounced sense of the new sciences, especially the evolutionary ones related to geology, and chemistry.