To this day man finds himself asking, "What is beautiful?" Many would point to nature when pressed with such a question; however, few realize that a similar question was asked and a similar answer was given in Romantic Britain, but on a whole new level. British Romanticism was a reaction against technology and a cry back to the beauty of nature, and its supporting troops held nothing but pen and paper in their hands (Lorcher). Authors of the Romantic Era used literature to open the eyes of a society mired in the chaos and disorder of daily life, and the ideas they promoted still influence humans today. The Romantic movement spans approximately 1783 to 1832 (Bernbaum). This was a time of political change as the Act of Union 1800 united the Irish Parliament with the Parliament of Great Britain to form the United Kingdom; but Britain's economy experienced even more drastic turbulence than its government (Biagini). The Industrial Revolution, Romanticism's archenemy, also affected this period, starting around 1780, when the use of technology increased and Britain's economy became increasingly industrial. With all kinds of new technologies have come more efficient ways of producing goods. To give just one example, British production of crude iron jumped from 30,000 tons per year in 1760 to one million tons per year in 1810 (Dewald)! This is the atmosphere that Romanticism entered, both as a strong reaction against the encroachment of the world of technology and as a call to return to simpler times when nature was still revered. Romanticism was far from an anti-modern, nostalgic belief that simply wished to return to the "good old days"; it was much more. Douglas Bush offers one of... half of article......: Gale Research, 1992. Gale Biography In Context. Network. April 9, 2011. "Jane Austen." Encyclopedia of World Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Gale biography in context. Network. April 8, 2011. "John Keats." Encyclopedia of World Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Gale biography in context. Network. 10 April 2011.Lorcher, Trento. "British Romanticism: Characteristics of the Romantic Poets". Brighthub.com. 20 January 2010. Web. 08 April 2011. "Percy Bysshe Shelley." Young adult authors and artists. vol. 61. Gale, 2005. Gale Biography in Context. Network. April 9, 2011. “Samuel Taylor Coleridge.” Encyclopedia of World Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Gale biography in context. Network. 9 April 2011. "Wordsworth, William (1770-1850)." Encyclopedia of World Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Gale biography in context. Network. April 9. 2011.