American Romanticism Early 1800’s to 1850

Before we look at what Romanticism IS, we have to think about what it IS NOT! Despite the name of the literary period, Romanticism does not deal with sappy love stories. THIS IS NOT THE KIND OF LITERATURE THAT WE ARE GOING TO STUDY. THIS IS THE KIND OF BOOK YOUR GRANDMA READS AT THE BEACH!

So what IS Romanticism? Romanticism is the name for the literary period that followed the Age of Reason in America. Due to the fact that the country was now established, writers moved their focus away from political matters and revolutionary governmental ideas, and began to focus on other aspects of life (emotions, possibilities, imagination etc…)

Types of lit. prevalent in Romanticism… Short stories Romances (book length stories that differ slightly from novels) Poetry Essays

Elements of Romanticism 1. Frontier: vast expanse, freedom, no geographic limitations. 2. Optimism: greater than in Europe because of the presence of frontier. 3. Experimentation: in science, in institutions. 4. Mingling of races: immigrants in large numbers arrive to the US. 5. Growth of industrialization: polarization of north and south; north becomes industrialized, south remains agricultural.

Romantic Subject Matter 1. The quest for beauty: non-didactic, "pure beauty." 2. The use of the far-away and non-normal - antique and fanciful: a Characterization and mood: grotesque, gothicism, sense of terror, fear; use of the odd and strange. 3. Escapism - from American problems. 4. Interest in external nature - for itself, for beauty: a. Nature as source for the knowledge of the primitive. b. Nature as refuge. c. Nature as revelation of God to the individual.

Romantic Attitudes 1. Appeals to imagination; use of the "willing suspension of disbelief." 2. Stress on intuition, emotion, and imagination rather than reason; optimism, geniality. 3. Subjectivity: in form and meaning.

With your partner: (2 minutes) ANSWER THE FOLLOWING: What kind of beauty did the Romantics seek to understand and portray? (subject matter slide) What is the most important Romantic attitude?

Romantic Techniques 1. Remoteness of settings in time and space. 2. Improbable plots. 3. Inadequate or unlikely characterization. 4. Authorial subjectivity. 5. Socially "harmful morality;" a world of "lies." 6. Organic principle in writing: form rises out of content, non-formal.

Representative writers William Cullen Bryant Henry Wadsworth Longfellow DARK ROMANTICS Nathaniel Hawthorne Herman Melville Edgar Allan Poe

Representative works: Hawthorne: The Scarlet Letter, “Young Goodman Brown,” “The Minister’s Black Veil.” Melville: Moby Dick, “Billy Budd.” Irving: “The Devil and Tom Walker” Poe: “The Pit and the Pendulum” and many others… Bryant “Thanatopsis” Longfellow “Song of Life”

BIG PICTURE. Romantic VIEW OF MAN: Focus on the individual and his inner world (imagination and emotions).

BIG PICTURE Romantic VIEW OF NATURE: Nature is beautiful, mysterious, and symbolic. God can be seen in nature.

BIG PICTURE Romantic GUIDE TO TRUTH: Intuition (inner voice or gut feeling) and imagination guides each individual to understanding.

Ticket out the door. Name three Romantic writers (from the list you just copied.) Give the ROMANTIC VIEW OF MAN. Give the ROMANTIC VIEW OF NATURE. Give the ROMANTIC GUIDE TO TRUTH.