Elements of Romanticism What is Romanticism Romanticism was

Elements of Romanticism

What is Romanticism? Ø Romanticism was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe toward the end of the 18 th century and in most areas was at its peak around 1800 -1850.

Why did Romanticism start? Ø The Romantic Movement was a revolt against the Enlightenment of the late 17 th and 18 th century and its focus on rational and scientific thought.

Characteristics and focuses of Romantic literature include emphasis on: Ø Emotions Ø Morality Ø Nature Ø The “everyday man” Ø Subjectivity and the individual Ø Imagination Ø Gut feelings/intuitions Ø Experimental trial and error Ø Spontaneity

Meet the Grand-daddies Ø Romanticism started mainly in Britain and then migrated over to America, so we need to begin with the “grandfathers” of Romanticism.

First Generation- Wordsworth and Coleridge Ø Men meet at Cambridge Ø Publish Lyrical Ballads in 1798 Ø Seek to abandon formal language of 1700’s Ø Balance between poet’s influence and “real language” Ø Balance between commonplace and supernatural

Second Generation: Byron, Shelley, and Keats Ø All have tragically short lives Ø Byron and Shelley both aristocrats, well-educated; leave England under pressure; see themselves as outcasts Ø Byron is popular while Shelley is misunderstood Ø Keats produces poetry at 24 and dies at 25

American Adoption of Romanticism Ø As we adopted romanticism, America focused on the “everyday man”, individualism, nature, revolution, and revolted against the strict religious traditions of early settlers. Ø This gave rise to New England Transcendentalism, which had less restrictive relationships between humans, God, and universe.

Some American Romantic Poets Include: Edgar Allan Poe (1809 -1849) Emily Dickinson (1830 -1886) Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 -1882) Ralph Waldo Emerson (18031882) Walt Whitman (1819 -1892) Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804 -1864) Herman Melville (1819 -1891)