The Romantics 1800 - 1860

American Romanticism can be described as a journey away from the corruption of civilization and the limits of rational thought and toward the integrity of nature and the freedom of the imagination Typical journey is to the countryside; although, Gothic-influenced journeys are to the country of the imagination

Escapism Is a Major Influence Searched for exotic settings in the more “natural” past or in a world far removed from the grimy and noisy industrial age. Also utilized the supernatural realm, or old legends and folklore Tried to contemplate (reflect upon) the natural world until dull reality fell away to reveal underlying beauty and truth

Characteristics of American Romanticism Values feeling and intuition over reason Places faith in inner experience and power of the imagination Shuns the artificiality of civilization and seeks unspoiled nature Prefers youthful innocence to educated sophistication Champions individual freedom and the worth of the individual Contemplates nature’s beauty as a path to spiritual and moral development

Characteristics of American Romanticism Looks backward to the wisdom of the past and distrusts progress Finds beauty and truth in exotic locales, the supernatural realm, and the inner world of the imagination Sees poetry as the highest expression of the imagination Finds inspiration in myth, legend, and folk culture

Development of the novel What differentiated American writers from their European counterparts? The idealization of frontier life This idealization is reinforced by westward expansion, growth of nationalism, and rapid spread of cities James Fenimore Cooper changed image of American as unsophisticated and uncivilized

James Fenimore Cooper Cooper broke free of European constraints placed on novels. He explored uniquely American settings and characters: frontier communities, American Indians, backwoodsmen, and the wilderness of the west Most of all, he created the first American heroic figure: Natty Bumppo (also known as Hawkeye, Deerslayer, and Leatherstocking)

American novelists looked to westward expansion and the development of the frontier for inspiration, creating subject matter that broke with European tradition. They created the American Romantic Hero, whose qualities of youthfulness, innocence, intuitiveness, and closeness to the natural world set him solidly apart from the hero of the Age of Reason.

Natty Bumppo & the American Hero Young, or possess youthful qualities Innocent and pure of purpose Sense of honor not based on society’s rules, but on higher principles Knowledge of people and life based on deep, intuitive understanding, not from formal learning Loves nature and avoids town life Quests for higher truth in the natural world Handsome and brave

Fireside Poets “We watched the first red blaze appear, Heard the sharp crackle, caught the gleam On whitewashed wall and sagging beam, Until the old, rude-furnished room Burst, flower-like, into rosy bloom; While radiant with a mimic flame Outside the sparkling drift became, And through the bare-boughed lilac-tree Our own warm hearth seemed blazing free.” from Snow-bound, John Greenleaf Whittier

What and Who Were the Fireside Poets? First group of American poets to rival British poets in popularity in either country. Notable for their scholarship and the resilience of their lines and themes. Preferred conventional forms over experimentation. Often used American legends and scenes of American life as their subject matter. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow John Greenleaf Whittier James Russell Lowell William Cullen Bryant Oliver Wendell Holmes

Lasting Influence of Fireside Poets Longfellow remained the most popular American poet for decades. When Poe criticized him, he was all but ostracized. Longfellow remains the only American poet to be immortalized by a bust in Westminster Abbey’s Poets’ Corner They took on causes in their poetry, such as the abolition of slavery, which brought the issues to the forefront in a palatable way. Through their scholarship and editorial efforts, they paved the way for later Romantic writers like Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Walt Whitman.

The Dark Romantics… These writers include Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allen Poe They didn’t disagree with the Transcendentalists (although they were sometimes called the “Anti-Transcendentalists”) ~ they agreed that spiritual facts or ideas lie behind the appearance of nature BUT they were not optimistic by nature ~ they didn’t think the spiritual facts were necessarily good or harmless

They explored the conflicts between good & evil; the psychological effects of guilt & sin…and madness in the human psyche They saw the horror of evil that can hide behind the mask of social respectability