A Reaction Against Rationalism Romanticism A Reaction Against Rationalism

What is “Romantic”? Puritans = Faith Deists = Reason Romantics = EMOTION! (heart rules!) This is not romantic such as roses on your anniversary…so what do we mean?

Reaction against Rationalism 1. Feeling rather than logic 2. Imagination/self expression 3. Interest in faraway times and places 4. Idealize common man and simple life 5. Idealize primitive and picturesque

6. Interest in supernatural, mystical 7. Adore nature 8. Feeling of independence/ individualism 9. Mood of optimism

Romanticism began in Europe 1785-1830 1. Romantic movements in France, England, and Germany 2. A group of Romantic poets and writers wrote about rebellion, emotion, and sensuality. 3. They became celebrities in their time!

The U.S. had a natural tendency toward Romanticism at this time, as a reaction against the extreme reason of the Deists

Art Art searched for magical and irrational reactions to experience

Explored the darkness of human behavior Explored grim and horrible aspects of life

Interest in ever changing nature, its various forms, colors, lights, rhythms, & movements Pastoral scenes

Struggle of life and death Intensity of light, dark, and color

Interest in classical world Plight of the sick, poor, and weak Color, emotion, passion REPLACE line, form, intellect of neoclassic art

Music Germany the leading country of 19th C. composers Beethoven provided transition from classical to romantic – symphony, chamber music (Symphony #5) Mendelsson – leading conductor in early 19th C. Liszt – piano virtuosity Wagner – music drama, opera

Architecture England the leader with Gothic towers & medieval castle-like features Eiffel tower finished in Paris 1889

Borrowed a lot from other times & cultures (Indian & Chinese)

Why was U.S. ready for Romanticism in 1815 1. U.S. had a democratic society with emphasis on liberty, equality, brotherhood 2. Emphasis on individual self-reliance, encouraged by an expanding western frontier 3. Mood of optimism in a land of expanding opportunities 4. Religious spirit – traced to early Amer.

5. After the War of 1812, American was in an adolescent period - Deists somewhat de-emphasized religion, but it always remained important to Americans 5. After the War of 1812, American was in an adolescent period Everything seemed “dandy” Physical expansion Population increasing (immigration) Railroads, Erie Canal manufacturing

6. Pride in region and state (sectionalism) South: economy based on slavery, cotton, plantation life “Democratic West”: expanding frontier, gold in California, rapid settlement, still agricultural “European East”: old world influence, industrialized

7. Nationalism Began with War of 1812 and Creation of Uncle Sam Manifest Destiny (US expansion & power) Patriotism spread to other areas: education, humanitarian reforms (ie. prison reform), women’s rights, abolishing slavery… Era of the “Common Man”

Subject Matter of Romanticism 1. The American Past: interested in past events such as Puritans, Native Americans, George Washington, etc.

2. Nature Spiritual resource Nature as source of man’s vitality: a revitalizing force “Wild” nature of the frontier was especially attractive

3. Common man Plain folk, rustic living, natural, early man Democratic ideals Death Miscellaneous - beauty - youth - strange and distant places - personal feelings and events

Romantic Literary Style Literature as self expression More personal autobiography Personal essays Lyric poetry with immense range of emotion Life and art should be individual Most romantics were careful and deliberate craftsmen in spite of their theories Use of symbols to make the abstract more understandable

Poet or writer tries to present ordinary things of life in a new way, through imagination Music was held in high esteem Addition of strangeness to beauty Often looked toward the foreign and strange--mystical