A Movement Across the Arts Romanticism A Movement Across the Arts

Definition Romanticism refers to a movement in art, literature, and music during the 19th century. Romanticism is characterized by the 5 “I”s Imagination Intuition Idealism Inspiration Individuality

Imagination Imagination was emphasized over “reason.” This was a backlash against the rationalism characterized by the Neoclassical period or “Age of Reason.” Imagination was considered necessary for creating all art. British writer Samuel Taylor Coleridge called it “intellectual intuition.”

Intuition Romantics placed value on “intuition,” or feeling and instincts, over reason. Emotions were important in Romantic art. British Romantic William Wordsworth described poetry as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.”

Idealism Idealism is the concept that we can make the world a better place. Idealism refers to any theory that emphasizes the spirit, the mind, or language over matter – thought has a crucial role in making the world the way it is. Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher, held that the mind forces the world we perceive to take the shape of space-and-time.

Inspiration The Romantic artist, musician, or writer, is an “inspired creator” rather than a “technical master.” What this means is “going with the moment” or being spontaneous, rather than “getting it precise.”

Individuality Romantics celebrated the individual. During this time period, Women’s Rights and Abolitionism were taking root as major movements. Walt Whitman, a later Romantic writer, would write a poem entitled “Song of Myself”: it begins, “I celebrate myself…”

Origins Romanticism began to take root as a movement following the French Revolution. The publication of Lyrical Ballads by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1792 is considered the beginning of literary Romanticism.

The Arts Romanticism was a movement across all the arts: visual art, music, and literature. All of the arts embraced themes prevalent in the Middle Ages: chivalry, courtly love. Literature and art from this time depicted these themes. Music (ballets and operas) illustrated these themes. Shakespeare came back into vogue.

Visual Arts Neoclassical art was rigid, severe, and unemotional; it hearkened back to ancient Greece and Rome Romantic art was emotional, deeply-felt, individualistic, and exotic. It has been described as a reaction to Neoclassicism, or “anti-Classicism.”

Visual Arts: Examples Romantic Art Neoclassical Art

Music Chopin “Classical” musicians included composers like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Franz Josef Haydn. Romantic musicians included composers like Frederic Chopin, Franz Lizst, Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky Mozart Haydn Lizst Tchaikovsky

Music: Components 1730-1820. Classical music emphasized internal order and balance. 1800-1910. Romantic music emphasized expression of feelings.

Literature In America, Romanticism most strongly impacted literature. Writers explored supernatural and gothic themes. Writers wrote about nature – Transcendentalists believed God was in nature, unlike “Age of Reason” writers like Franklin and Jefferson, who saw God as a “divine watchmaker,” who created the universe and left it to run itself.

Important Dates 1775-1783: American Revolution (fighting ended in 1781) 1789-1815: French Revolution 1798: Publication of Lyrical Ballads 1798-1832: Romantic Period

“The Big Six” Romantic Poets William Blake William Wordsworth Samuel Taylor Coleridge Percy Bysshe Shelley John Keats George Gordon, Lord Byron

Other Romantic Writers Jane Austen Leigh Hunt Mary Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft Sir Walter Scott Robert Southey

Lyrical Ballads First published anonymously in 1798 as Lyrical Ballads, with a Few Other Poems by Wordsworth and Coleridge Includes “Tintern Abbey” and “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” In the Preface, Wordsworth writes that good poetry is the “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”

Key Romantic Themes Imagination Egotism The particular The remote The primitive The medieval The East The sublime Nature Irrational experiences (dreams and drugs) Awareness of process and current conceptions of art and introspection Longing for the infinite encounter through intense experiences of sublime nature (storms, mountains, oceans)

Key Events of Romantic Age 1798: Lyrical Ballads published 1812: Byron publishes Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage 1813: Jane Austen publishes Pride and Prejudice 1818: Mary Shelley publishes Frankenstein 1819: Percy Bysshe Shelley publishes “Ode to the West Wind” 1820: John Keats publishes “Ode on a Grecian Urn” 1832: First Reform Act extends voting rights and end of the Romantic Age

Elegy Definition: “An elegy is a lament setting out the circumstances and character of a loss. It mourns for a dead person, lists his or her virtues, and seeks consolation beyond the momentary event. It is not associated with any required pattern, cadence, or repetition.” Examples: “Elegy Written in a Country Courtyard” by Thomas Gray and “Adonais” by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Pastoral Definition: “The pastoral is a mode of poetry that sought to imitate and celebrate the virtues of rural life (a nature poem).” Examples: “To My Sister” by William Wordsworth and “Ode on a Grecian Urn” by John Keats

Ode Definition: “An ode is a formal address to an event, a person, or a thing not present. There are three types: Pindaric, Horatian, and Irregular.” Examples: “Ode to the West Wind” by Percy Bysshe Shelley and “To Autumn” by John Keats

Lyric Definition: “An ancient subdivision of poetry. One of poetry’s three categories, the others being narrative and dramatic. The poet addresses the reader directly and states his own feelings.” Examples: “Frost at Midnight” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and “To Spring” by William Blake

Sonnet Definition: “A sonnet is a poem of fourteen lines, usually iambic. There are two prominent types: the Petrarchan and the Shakespearean.” Examples: “Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802” by William Wordsworth and “Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley

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