1. American Romanticism 1800-1860

2. American Romanticism Celebrating the self and individuality.
Started as a reaction against:
Rationalism of the 18th Century
Strictness of Puritanism
Celebrated emotions and the spirit.
Were optimistic (generally)

3. American Romanticism
Two Branches

4. American Romanticism Transcendentalism
Believed in the truth beyond reason and logic.
Individuals can discover a higher truth through intuition.
Focus on nature—on finding God in nature and the self through nature.
Only do what pleases the self=not necessarily what society dictates.
Never conform to society-remain a nonconformist no matter what!
Anti-materialistic.

5. Transcendentalist Authors
“Any fool can make a rule, and any fool will mind it.”
~Thoreau
“Always do what you are afraid to do.”
~Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Henry David Thoreau

6. American Romanticism Gothic Literature
Focused on the dark side of human nature.
Explored the possibility of humans for evil.

7. Gothic Literature Characteristics: Plots include:
Dark, decaying settings
Extreme situations
Live burials
Physical and/or mental torture
Retribution from beyond the grave
Male characters insane or going insane
Female characters dead or dying
Characters Experiencing:
Extreme emotions

8. Gothic Authors William Faulkner Nathaniel Hawthorne Edgar Allan Poe
“Given the choice between the experience of pain and nothing, I would choose pain”
~Faulkner
Gothic Authors
William Faulkner
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Edgar Allan Poe