Romanticism A Movement Across the Arts American Romanticism:

Why Romanticism?  It is called the Age of Romanticism because of the ‘romantic view of the writers and thinkers of the time towards nature and mankind, not love.

Definition  Romanticism refers to a movement in art, literature, and music during the 19 th century.  Romanticism is characterized by the 5 “I”s  Imagination Imagination  Intuition Intuition  Idealism Idealism  Inspiration Inspiration  Individuality 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.  Nature was highly idealized as well, seen as a source of inspiration and truth.

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…”

The Dark Side of Romanticism  Edgar Allen Poe, Herman Melville, and Nathaniel Hawthorne all reacted against the highly idealized nature of the Romantics notion of Transcendentalism.  These writers recognized evil, negativism, and the dark side of life. They saw power in acknowledging sin and the darkness of man.

Gothic Romanticism, continued  For Dark or Gothic Romantics, the natural world is dark, decaying, and mysterious; when it does reveal its truth to man, its revelations are evil and hellish.  Whereas Transcendentalists advocate social reform when appropriate, works of Gothic Romanticism frequently show individuals failing in their attempts to make changes for the better.

Major Motifs of Romanticism  Nature  A concern with natural surroundings, delight in rural life, understanding of “the other,” idealization of farm life  Lure of the Exotic  Foreign, unfamiliar, distant lands  The Supernatural  Ghosts, mysterious, the unexplained

Primary Creative Elements of Romanticism  Setting  Isolated, undesirable, picturesque, larger- than-life, supernatural elements, weather/lighting  Mood  Created through narrator’s thoughts, setting, vivid details  Suspense  Sequential, mix of physical and psychological, relies on imagination, ‘what if’ scenarios

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 Neoclassical Art Romantic Art

Your turn to be a Romantic… Please create a half-page description of a place that utilizes the traits of Gothic Romanticism as articulated on earlier slides. Specifically, you should incorporate suspense, weather, dark and foreboding nature, a sense of imagination, and/or the supernatural. You may describe a real place or an imagined one. Be creative! Use vivid imagery and language.

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.

Music  “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

Music: Components   Classical music emphasized internal order and balance.   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 G-d was in nature, unlike “Age of Reason” writers like Franklin and Jefferson, who saw G-d as a “divine watchmaker,” who created the universe and left it to run itself.