and The American Renaissance The Dark Romantics and The American Renaissance

Romanticism 1800-1860 During the later part of the Romantic period (1840-60) there was an explosion of American masterpieces. This period within Romanticism is known as The American Renaissance. What does the word Renaissance mean?

Two subgenres In this latter part of the Romantic period, writers could be divided into two subgenres: The Dark Romantics & The Transcendentalists This presentation focuses on The Dark Romantics

the Romantics & the Dark Romantics Intuition and feeling over reason Faith in inner experience and intuition Shuns artificiality of civilization Youthful innocence over educated sophistication Individual freedom Nature’s beauty is a path to spirituality Distrusts progress Exotic and supernatural settings Sees poetry as the highest form of expression Finds inspiration in myths, legends, & folk culture The Dark Romantics Valued intuition over logic and reason Saw signs and symbols in human events Used symbolism to great effect Focused on the Puritan emphasis on Original Sin, its sense of the innate depravity of human beings, and its Calvinistic notions of predestination View of existence developed from both the mystical & the melancholy aspects of Puritan thought Explored the conflict between good and evil; the psychological effects of guilt & sin; and even madness and derangement in the human psyche

The Dark Romantics' use of symbolism Writers use symbols to help the reader make connections beyond the story itself. Symbols often reinforce themes

The Dark Romantics' use of symbolism A rose typically symbolizes love and beauty

The Dark Romantics' use of symbolism Make the rose black, and now it can symbolize death, sorrow, darkness

The Dark Romantics' use of symbolism The example of the rose illustrates the differences between Romantics and the Dark Romantics. The Dark Romantics still recognize the beauty of the rose (love, life, beauty) but see it through the dark lens of insanity, death, despair.

The Dark Romantics' use of symbolism Most people are familiar with Edgar Allen Poe’s poem, The Raven. The poem focuses on a man in the depths of despair from the loss of his love; Lenore, who has clearly died. In his despair, he hears the refrain, “nevermore,” seemingly uttered by a raven. Why a raven? A raven is a bird that frequently feasts on dead animals; a dark, sleek bird; boasts a wide variety of calls. The black bird serves as a symbol for the man’s loss as well as a symbol for death.

The Dark Romantics Edgar Allan Poe Nathaniel Hawthorne Herman Melville Ironically, the author now widely recognized for writing one of the great American novels, died in poverty, convinced of his own failure as a writer. While alive, Melville never received recognition for his masterpiece, Moby-Dick. While his early work was acclaimed and successful, he would die, not knowing that his principle novel would one day be heralded as an American masterpiece. Poe had an unfortunate childhood; while still a baby, Poe’s mother was abandoned by his father who was a mediocre actor with a drinking problem. Adopted by the Allans, Poe attended the University of Virginia. Later Poe entered the Academy at West Point. Later, married, Poe began supporting the couple as an editor at various magazines and wrote fiction when he could find time. Hawthorne was an unusually handsome man with a beautiful wife and a successful writing career. Nevertheless, he became increasingly dissatisfied, remote and disappointing to his friends. It was as though his dark insights had cast a gloom over his own life. The source of this darkness is thought to be his Puritan ancestors, one of whom, played a role in sentencing nineteen of the accused in the Salem witch trails.