American Romanticism Refers to a set of attitudes

American Romanticism Refers to a set of attitudes toward art, nature, and humankind, not to romantic love. Roughly 1820 -1860 (19 th c. )

Debunking Misconceptions About Romanticism • It is NOT about romantic love (not romance novels) • It is not about a “happy” view of the world – It is often melancholic- Romantics find inspiration and beauty in loss and tragedy

Characteristics of Romantic Literature • Turns to the past for subject matter • Prioritizes imagination and intuition over fact and reason: the former bring one closer to truth and knowledge – not the latter. – Look for noble heroes/heroines who are intuitive, imaginative, passionate, and creative

Characteristics Continued • Prioritizes the senses and emotions over intellect: again, the former bring one closer to understanding the universe, God, human nature, other philosophical ideas, etc. The intellect is limited and can never fully enlighten. – Paints passion and emotion positively

Characteristics Continued • Encourages individualism and self reliance: the individual experience is more important than the group or community (not that these don’t matter!). – Romantics distrust civilization – Romantics are skeptical of (and commonly defy) tradition, rules, intellectualism, and the upper class

Characteristics Continued • Interested in the supernatural, mystic, strange and mysterious (there is truth in these things) • Represents nature positively (though paradoxically) – Nature is a refuge – Nature is a source of knowledge – Nature has healing powers – Nature nurtures the individual spirit

How is nature paradoxical? • Can be dark and melancholic • Can lead one astray

1) "The universe is a single unified whole. " 2) "The universe is full of values, tendencies, and life. " 3) Reason, objectivity, and analysis radically falsify reality by breaking it up into disconnected lifeless entities. "

Characteristics continued Romantic Hero • Celebrates individual goodness of humans (do NOT think this means that all characters are good!)

How is Hawthorne unconventional for a Romantic? • Darker than most • Rather preoccupied with sin (because of his family history) o. Changed his name from Hathorne to Hawthorne to distance himself from an ancestor who was a judge at the Salem witch trials.

Conventional Romantic Literature “Daffodils” (1804) William Wordsworth I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the milky way, They stretched in never-ending line Along the margin of a bay: Ten thousand saw I at a glance, Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. The waves beside them danced; but they Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: A poet could not but be gay, In such a jocund company: I gazed--and gazed--but little thought What wealth the show to me had brought: For oft, when on my couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood, They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude; And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils.