1. American Romanticism
Lima
English 11 Honors

2. The Time Period
During the Romantic movement, people were beginning to expand West towards the frontier
Cities were seen as a source of corruption

3. Six Characteristics of Romanticism
1. Imagination reveals the depth of the human spirit.
2. Enthusiastic about national life and the common man.
General belief that people are good
Focus on moral obligations
3. Celebrates the beauty and mystery of nature.
4. Celebrates and focuses on improving the individual.
Emphasis on the subjective experience
5. Fascination with supernatural, the afterlife, and the gothic.
6. Sense of idealism and optimism or exaggeration.

4. Themes of American Romanticism
City= moral corruption and death
Countryside= independence, straightforward moral certainty, and health
Development of self/self-awareness
According to Romantic theory, self and nature were one
The individual had a moral duty to reform social inequalities and relieve human suffering

5. The Darker Side of Romanticism
The advent of the Industrial Revolution brought on a darker vision of American life.
Looked down on science
Focus on the supernatural vs. the beauty of nature
Also called “The American Gothic”

6. The Darker Side of Romanticism
Writers in the Romantic movement turned towards fiction and began writing poems, short stories and novels
These romantics examined the complex and mysterious forces that motivate human behavior.
Hawthorne defines “Romance” as “a heightened, emotional and symbolic form of the novel.
Romances weren’t love stories but serious novels that used special techniques to communicate complex and subtle meanings
Protagonists are often lonely and pitted against dark fates
Plots are often symbolic

7. Terms to Know
Allegory- a literary work in which most of the people, objects and events stand for abstract qualities (represent something other than themselves).
An allegory usually has a second level in addition to its literal meaning
Some allegories are intended to teach moral lessons

8. Important Writers Nathaniel Hawthorne Edgar Allan Poe
Washington Irving (“The Devil and Tom Walker”)

9. Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)
Born in Salem, Massachusetts
One of his ancestors was a judge in an earlier century and had convicted women of being witches during the Salem witch trials
Guilt over involvement obsession with Puritan culture
Famous for short stories and The Scarlet Letter
Short Stories:
Rappaccini’s Daughter
The Young Goodman Brown
The Minister’s Black Veil

10. Edgar Allen Poe (1809-1849) Credited with redefining the short story
Stories are filled with dark, gloomy characters who never seems to work or socialize
Explores the psyche, madness and extreme emotion
Setting and mood are often in Gothic tradition

11. Nathaniel Hawthorne