Romanticism 1798-1837 (mostly 1800s) It’s not love & roses…

Literary Movement Began in 18th Century Western Europe Grew during Industrial Revolution: reaction against cold & harsh industrial world (reliance on machines) & revolt against an overly rational & scientific society (in an attempt to stave off the loss of humanity and remain in touch with the sense of humanity) Movement in art, literature, and music

Romanticism in the U.S. Spread to America in the late 1700s Migration from farm life to urban settings Population growth, urban sprawl, & industrialization Rejected Rationalism and religious intellect Refreshing concept Spontaneity Ready for change: independence from Britain led to optimism about forging a new national identity

Characteristics/Values Emphasis on intuition, imagination (leading to fiction and poetry), & feeling Celebration of emotions rather than rejection of them (like Rationalism) Passion, pathos, & personal feelings Nature! Sheer power and beauty of nature Vast descriptions of the natural world, especially the untamed & disorderly City = corruption (rejects industrialization) To “romanticize” is to idealize On a “quest for beauty”--even found examining darkness The idealized past Youth & Beauty

Values, continued Celebration/valuing of the common person & the marginalized Including women & children Underserved society members EVERYBODY has a story to tell Perfectibility of humankind All equal at birth, regardless of gender or race Totally unprecedented Individuality & self-reliance Form that identity (just as America was doing for herself after the Revolutionary War)! Personal expression vs. group expression

Writing Conventions/Style Extremely ornate & even flowery language Figurative language Elevated Language Lengthy description Language itself as a form of expression and beauty. Example: Extremely long sentences with complex syntax and high level language

Three Main Branches Idyllic Gothic/Dark Transcendental - There will be an additional PowerPoint on this branch, as it is sometimes seen as a separate movement.

Idyllic Romanticism Idyllic: serenely beautiful, untroubled, & happy, especially with a rural charm Idyll: short poem or piece of prose describing a scene like the one described above (a simple, peaceful, and/or rural scene) Major Idyllic Romantic Writers Lyric poetry: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, William Cullen Bryant Fireside poets: John Greenleaf Whittier - “Snow-Bound: A Winter Idyll” (poem) Washington Irving: “Rip Van Winkle” (short story) James Fenimore Cooper: The Deerslayer (novel) William Cullen Bryant: “Thanatopsis” (poem)

Gothic: “Dark Romanticism” Dark side of human existence & human nature (unlike the optimism of the Idyllics and Transcendentalists), but like the other Romantics, value intuition and mysticism (melancholy & mysticism from the Puritans) & see signs and symbols in human events Fiction & poetry characterized by gloomy, sinister, & remote settings Setting extremely important Wild, primitive nature Explores the conflict between good and evil & reveals darker aspects of the human mind/humanity, such as the psychological effects of guilt, sin, pain, & madness/derangement in the human psyche Emergence of psychology as a science Deeply psychological: dark journey of the mind Grotesque or even filled with horror Use of the odd or unusual Often include monsters or demons as symbolic explorations of the human mind or emotions Suspend disbelief (example: Frankenstein’s monster) Dark Romanticism isn’t all love and roses, unless the roses come alive and choke you to death!

Gothic, Continued: The Dark Romantics Edgar Allan Poe: “The Raven” (poem), “The Fall of the House of Usher,” (short story), “The Tell Tale Heart,” (short story), “The Cask of Amantillado” (short story) Nathaniel Hawthorne: “Young Goodman Brown” (short story), The Scarlet Letter (novel) Herman Melville: Moby Dick (novel) Washington Irving: “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” (short story) “headless horseman”

Transcendentalism Value nature, autonomy/individualism/self-reliance, & intuition/emotion Typically more political than the other branches Optimistic Based on ideas from Europe and Asia Rooted in Puritanism (mysticism & symbolism), the German philosophy of Immanuel Kant (one must transcend, or go beyond, everyday human experience in the physical world to determine the ultimate reality of God, the universe, and the self), the Idealism (true reality involves ideas rather than the physical world as perceived through the five senses) of Greek philosopher Plato Spiritual philosophy about how people derive truth - In ourselves (using intuition) & through communion with nature (the physical facts of the natural world are a doorway to the spiritual/ideal world) - All people are part of the grand cycle of nature; nature is God (we can find God in nature or ourselves using our intuition), and God is & is revealed through nature (and God is good) - we can be good/perfect, or we can be evil if we are separated from a direct, intuitive knowledge of God - Everything in the world, including human beings, are part and a reflection of the Divine Soul, the source of all good - death is a part of life

Transcendentalism Continued… Major Transcendentalist writers - Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Self-Reliance” & “Nature” (essays); leader of the utopian group called the “Transcendental Club” who inspired many reform movements - Henry David Thoreau: “Resistance to Civil Government” (essay), Walden (novel) - Walt Whitman: Leaves of Grass (poems)

Context: The American Renaissance Renaissance = “rebirth” Based on the European Renaissance of the 14th-16th centuries American Renaissance in mid 19th century America Mostly Gothic Romantics & Transcendentalists Nathaniel Hawthorne & Herman Melville insisted that America would produce great writing Americans found their place in literature distinct from European models (explosion of American literary genius) by producing a remarkable body of work (a national literature/national masterpieces)

Context: New England’s Social & Intellectual Life Intellectual & social ferment in northeast America Lyceum movement = organizations with goals to improve American society through reform Social causes, i.e. improving public education, improving living conditions for the mentally ill, ending slavery, increasing women’s rights, etc. Utopia = perfect society (goal)

Romanticism rules! The end