1. Romanticism
It ain’t love & roses…

2. Literary Movement Began in 18th Century Western Europe
Grew during Industrial Revolution
Reaction against cold & harsh industrial world
Revolt against an overly rational & scientific society
Attempted to stop/slow down the loss of humanity
Art, literature, and music

3. Romanticism in the U.S. Spread to America in the late 1700s
Migration from farm life to urban settings
Population growth, urban sprawl, & industrialization
Rejected Rationalism and religious intellect
Refreshing concept
Spontaneity
Ready for change: independence from Britain

4. Characteristics/Values
Emphasis on intuition, imagination, & feeling
Celebration of emotions rather than rejection of them (like Rationalism…)
NATURE RULES!
Sheer power and beauty of nature
City equals corruption
To “romanticize” is to idealize…
On a “quest for beauty”--even found examining darkness
Individuality & self-reliance
Perfectibility of humankind
All equal at birth, regardless of gender, race, or economic status.
Totally unprecedented

5. Values, cont. Celebration of Underserved society members
Including women & children
EVERYBODY has a story to tell
Vast descriptions of the natural world
Especially the untamed & disorderly
Passion, pathos, & personal feelings
Form that identity! (Just as America was doing for herself after the Revolutionary War…)
Personal expression vs. group expression

6. Written Conventions Extremely ornate & even flowery language
Language itself as a form of expression and beauty.
Example:
Extremely long sentences with complex syntax and high level language

7. Three Main Branches Idyllic Gothic/Dark Transcendental
We will cover this one in a separate, entire unit…

8. Idyllic
Definition of “idyllic”: serenely beautiful, untroubled, & happy, especially with a rural charm
Idyll: short poem or piece of prose describing a scene like the one described above
Major Idyllic Romantic Writers
Lyric poetry: Longfellow, Bryant
Fireside poets: Whittier
Washington Irving: “Rip Van Winkle”
James Fenimore Cooper: The Deerslayer
William Cullen Bryant: “Thanatopsis”

9. Gothic: “Dark Romanticism”
Characterized by gloomy, sinister, & remote settings
Setting extremely important
Reveals darker aspects of the human mind
Emergence of psychology as a science
Deeply psychological: dark journey of the mind
Grotesque or even filled with horror
Use of the odd or unusual
Often include monsters or demons as symbolic explorations of the human mind
Suspend disbelief (Frankenstein’s monster…)

10. Dark Romantics
Edgar Allan Poe: “The Raven,” “Tell Tale Heart,” “Cask of Amantillado”
Nathanial Hawthorne: “Young Goodman Brown”
Herman Melville: Moby Dick
Washington Irving: Legend of Sleepy Hollow
“headless horseman”