Web Exploration 1 American Romanticism

The romantic period emphasised the self, creativity, imagination and the value of art. This is in contrast to the Enlightenment emphasis on Rationalism and

Since the Enlightenment, western society began to massively shift in norms and behaviors. Authoritarian governments and the heavily religious society began to die away to make way for more enlightened leadership. As art is one of the major definitions of society, art went through drastic changes as well. Instead of focusing on nationalism, religion, and the positive effects of the enlightenment, artists began to depict the more dark and abstract sides of society. Artists of many future movements and styles would depict the negative changes in society in their works, and their ideals and emotions through unconventional ways, namely in abstract art. These movements and styles were very out of the societal norms at the time. However, as the movement continued, more and more viewers began to warm up to these movements, and their fame and popularity would raise.

Romantic literature has made a stunning impact throughout modern culture. It can be seen throughout poetry, books, and even movies today. Even though this style of writing is not perfect, one can still glean information from this style. Romantic literature can be defines in several ways, romantic literature possesses unique characteristics, and Romantic literature has made an impact on American culture.

First of all, the Romanticism Period is all about the ideas of nature, beauty, fantasy, and love, not necessarily having to do with a boy and a girl. As for Realism behind all the weird and beautiful ideas to live happily ever after, the people realized the problems were not fixed with the Civil War. Therefore, the people started to convert into Realism seeing the world focusing on details, facts, and the people. The two periods follow each other because the time the world came to a revolution which the people know till this day. Such as William Cullen Bryant, who was a Romantic writer of “To a Waterfowl” and believed, creating a natural scene to teach a lesson. “Thou’rt gone, the abyss of heaven hath swallowed up thy form; yet, on my heart,” (Bryant) which the critics have suggested, “a more universal image to help in conveying his theme of the poem by blending the scenes from his reflection.”(Philip) Leaving a clear view of something floating over things and vanishing through the horizon. Other Romantic writer is Edgar Allan Poe, which wrote “Annabel Lee” a poem about his love one that passed away. He believed that even as children he and his Annabel Lee love for each other was strong that even angels wanted love like it. For example, “And so, all the nigh-tide, I lie down by the side of my darling, my darling, my life, and my bride. In her sepulcher, a monument there by the sea, in her tomb by the side of the sea.” (Locklear) Is creepy, weird and the most romantic idea

The American Romantic era occurred in the early to mid-1800s and influenced many lives then and even now. Writers started to write more about themselves and their feelings and not so much plot based. They would go into more detail about the nature and the setting around them as well as write more about their doubts. An important genre of this time is the gothic genre. One of the most popular American writers of the gothic genre is Edgar Allan Poe. He used dark themes throughout his writings that also incorporated nature, doubt, and self. Poe’s use of gothic style makes him an example of an American Romantic writer.

Not many people know or remember what Romanticism in American Literature is exactly. A good majority of the American population has already learned about Romanticism in some type of English class they took in high school, but not many, just like myself, remember it entirely. Most of the population, as a whole, should know about Romanticism in American Literature since it was a major part in our Literature history while also having a brief recap of the history that follows with Romanticism.

During the nineteenth century, the population of Europe doubled in size. At the same time, material culture changed more radically than it had in the previous thousand years. “The application of science to practical invention, begun in the eighteenth century, had already sparked the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution, the mass production of material goods by machine.” (Page 210) The first phase of industrialization occurred in mid eighteenth century England, with the development of the steam engine and the machinery for spinning and weaving textiles. Monopolized by the English for a half century, the Industrial Revolution spread to the rest of Europe and to the United States by the 1830s. As increasing production of coal, iron, and steel

American romanticism was an important time for poetry and its development. There were many themes throughout the romanticism that most poets touched on in their work. There was nature, breaking free, individualism, democracy, radicalism and the figure of the outcast. Ralph Waldo Emerson touched on a few of the themes in many of his poems, but touched on individualism especially in “Hamatreya”. Another poet that touched on themes of the American romanticism was Walt Whitman, in his poem “Song of Myself”. He also promotes individualism, but also touches on unity unlike Emerson. Both poets were very well known for their time. The themes intertwined into a poet’s poem’s tell a lot about their life and what they were trying to convey.

For many years, this period and these writers were known as the American Renaissance, a coin termed by F.O. Matthiessen in his book of that name in 1941. This book set the parameters of how to read and connect these writers until relatively recently, when its limitations, especially in terms of defining the "canon" of literary giants and what made them (all male) "giants" have been recognized and challenged. However, the term is still useful to some degree. It is a misnomer, if one thinks of the period as a time of rebirth of some earlier literary greatness, as the European Renaissance, because there was nothing to be "reborn." The great writers of this period, roughly 1840-1865 although more particularly

The Romanic period held great tools in which to develop personal expression within poetry – As popularity shifted from Neoclassism, a rigid writing form whereby poets and writers were encouraged to copy those who also shared the poetic platform, to an increased in the importance of the individual capabilities. Critic Christopher John Murray argues that “The idea of poetry as the sincere personal expression of the individual author emerged as central to the Romantic lyric and to aesthetics and hermeneutics more generally connected to the increasingly important idea of genius as a uniquely personal power of creative imagination and expression.” This confirms my theory that there during the Romantic Period there a shift from more social values in literature to a focus now on personal ability .

The Romanticism art movement in Europe blossomed during the late 18th century and stressed the importance of individuality and emotions. With the advent of this revolutionary style of painting, it would later provide a basis for future works of art. Romanticism occurred as a response to the societal norms of the century and the Enlightenment, a previous intellectual movement. The characteristics typical of Romanticism consists of landscapes, freedom, and beauty. John Martin 's "Ruins of an Ancient City," completed around 1810-1820, depicts desolate ruins that remind us that a civilization will eventually collapse due to the passage of time. In its wake, a new culture will grow out of the previous one, but it will require knowledge of the past to develop. All knowledge of civilization is not erased completely from history; it is documented through the use of observation, preservation, and artwork.

The key figures in Romanticism addressed many of the same issues. Such connectivity is marked in William Blake’s poems “Infant Sorrow” and “On Another’s Sorrow”, and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Shelley, like Blake, argues for continual development of innocence to experience, and through the character of Victor Frankenstein’s creation, Mary Shelley suggests the equilibrium of innocence and experience offers insight into the human condition. The shift is distinguished by what Blake states in plate 3, stanza 2 of “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell”: “Without contraries is no progression” (112). Any event, idea, or emotion that is contrary to the innocent human conscience is a progression to experience. In Frankenstein, the balance and shift of

The nineteenth-century was eventful decade for the British society. Its technological and political advancement brought along fundamental changes into Britain. The Romantic movement comes as a response to the dynamic changes which reformed the British social structure. Based on A Survey of British Literature and Cultural History: The 19th Century, VL, given by Professor Barbara Schaff, the essay discusses the historical background of the 19th-century Britain, the definition of Romanticism as a literary movement, the biography of Percy. B Shelley and George G.N Byron, who have a massive impact on Mary Shelley´s Frankenstein, and the literary aspects of Frankenstein (1818).

Romanticism was a specific, complex, widespread movement in thought and culture. It continues to have a huge influence on our own era’s poetry, novels, songs, films and sometimes our entire philosophy of what life is about. This kind of Romantic is always written with a capital “R”- don’t confuse it with the the narrower, Hollywood style, small ’r’ idea of romantic” that means related to being in love! Romantic (capital ‘R’) thoughts and values are something different and further-reaching.

The romance, as a literary creativity, is known to date back to the ancient Greeks - during the second and third centuries - whose works were written in prose to describe how two lovers overcome difficulties before they were eventually united. A similar experience was faced by the knights of the Middle Ages and was immortalized by romances narrated in verse and distributed by the troubadours throughout Western Europe about ten centuries later. And, in England, a group of poets came to revive the spirit of the knights of those romances and dominated the literary scene in the nineteenth century when they countered the rationality established by neoclassicism during the era of the Enlightenment.