An Age Dominated By Logic And Reason

Turner, was born in London, England on April 23, 1775. His artistic career began when he was sent to live with his uncle in rural England due to the fact he was often sick. Turner was known as a landscape painter who brought luminance and romantic imagery to his works of art. He originally began using a realistic style when painting, which ultimately moved towards something more fluent and poetic in nature. This is why he is considered a predecessor to Impressionism.

The Rationalism era, which is also known as “The Enlightenment” or “ The Age of Reasoning”, is an historic event that took place in eighteenth century in Western Europe, England and American Colonies. At this time, people went from thinking traditionally to thinking more rationally. Thoughts and actions went from religious based to more of a scientific approach. Not only is this an important era for American Literature but also for American History because this is when the Declaration Of Independance and The United States Constitution were written. Writers and readers took notice to “The Enlightenment” and started the historic event, we know today as the “The Age of Reasoning”.

The Romanticism art movement praised imagination over reason, emotions over logic, and literature over science. The Romanticism artists were known for replacing the classical 18th century literature heroes with much more complex and passionate characters. Romanticism focuses on self-expression and individual uniqueness that does not lend itself to be defined nor controlled by society. The landscape on Romanticism was commonly displayed in cool rich colors and untamed peaceful surroundings. In Romanticism, nature was used to represent the extension of the human personality, the capability of feeling love, serenity, and sympathy.

literary movements talk and express nature in some ways similar or different that will be talked about throughout this essay. The excerpt, “Nature” by Ralph Waldo Emerson and “Tintern Abbey” by William Wordsworth both express a sense of passion, love, excitement, tranquility, and happiness of nature in many ways throughout these literary works.

Thirteen colonies, united strong and firm to bring down the King of Great Britain, who had been controlling them for a period of time. In these colonies, various people gathered together and formed a document known as The Declaration of Independence, that broke them free from the king and made them a nation, America. But before becoming America, they were held captive by the King of Great Britain, who did no good for the people and brought them nothing but misery. America slowly, but eventually evolved itself since the mid 1700’s and has become one of the strongest nations even till this day. With all these changes and history this nation has become of, so has it’s actions changed and outgrown throughout these years. The nation created in 1776 can be represented in various characteristics, as when the Age of Reason occurred. The Age of Reason focused on reason, individualism, and skepticism, impacting the society in a variety of ways, creating the colonies to react and show several emotions. During this period of time, people were convinced the reason held by humans could make the discovery of natural laws of the universe and natural rights of mankind. And this conflicted with the religious beliefs because people based on their life from the word of God and didn’t believe a discovery like this would prove God wrong. Above all, the two most important characteristics that best represent America during the Age of Reason are inquisitive

The Romantic Period centered on creative imagination, nature, mythology, symbolism, feelings and intuition, freedom from laws, impulsiveness, simplistic language, personal experiences, democracy, and liberty, significant in various art forms including poetry. The development of the self and self-awareness became a major theme as the Romantic Period was seen as an unpredictable release of artistic energy, new found confidence, and creative power found in the writings of the Romantic poets Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats, and Shelley, who made a substantial impact on the world of poetry. Two of the Romantic poets, William Blake, and Percy Bysshe Shelley rebelled against convention and authority in search of personal, political and artistic freedom. Blake and Shelley attempted to liberate the subjugated people through the contrary state of human existence prevalent throughout their writings, including Blake’s “The Chimney Sweepers,” from “Songs of Innocence”, “London,” from “Songs of Experience” and Shelley’s A Song: “Men of England.”

The Romantic era, occurring roughly from the early to mid 1800’s, was the period of reformation that shaped the society into one that valued latitude over order; this contrasted from the rigid, legalistic Puritan society that had been prevalent prior to the Romantic era. Through the newfound freedom of expression that was introduced during this period, many literary pieces that reflected these ideas began to surface. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter and James Russell Lowell’s The First Snowfall exemplify the romantic element of reverence for nature through the depiction of a placating snowfall and the isolating outskirts of society; these enhance the themes of romanticism by suggesting that reverence for nature may liberate one from his/her nostalgic griefs and suppressed emotions.

Progressivism shaped the United States in so many ways. The progressivism era lasted from 1890-1920, and began after the effect of industrialization and urbanization the era was intended to be a political movement reforming the United States political, social and economy. Progressivism began to emerge as the national movement when the era started to eliminate all of the negative aspects that would effect the country in a negative way. For example progressivism era began by getting rid of all the government corruptions that occurred during the urbanization era. Also began to end women’s suffrage and social welfare, prohibition, and civil liberties. The progressivism era began to create women suffrage associations so that women would have equal rights to voting and working. Direct primary was the reform that allowed people the power to choose who they wanted in office. The progressive public health initiatives and universal education really was an advantage to everyone especially the poor and foreigners. The goals for progressivism was to help make better working conditions so that it will be less poverty and better living conditions ending big businesses so that the American life would be improved. In order to insure that working conditions became better a workers compensation law was passed meaning companies had to buy insurance for their workers safety if anyone was to get injured on the job. One of

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803- 1882) wrote and anonymously published Nature, in which he profiles the basis of transcendental thought: The universe is one great entity, "composed of Nature and the Soul . . . Nature is the symbol of the spirit" (Nature). This essay began the movement known as romanticism, a new philosophy and culture illuminating their interconnectedness of humans and nature and truth that could only be discovered in our connectedness with nature. Emerson writes, “Nature is a vehicle of thought”, a teacher on the road to self-reliance as he considers the transformation of man’s relationship to nature from utilitarian to a spiritual discovery (Emerson 193). The Hudson River School took Emerson’s words and transformed them into paintings to signify the ideas of the 19th Century; Asher B. Durand’s painting Kindred Spirits symbolized romanticism. Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862), a nature philosopher promoted the value of wild nature and nonviolent civil disobedience specifically in environmental protest. God plays less of a role in Thoreau’s writing, he places importance on contact with nature and the patterns of existence hidden by culture (The Roots of Preservation). Thomas Cole (1801–1848), who began to express strong views concerning the negative impacts of industrial development on the raw beauty of the Catskill Mountains, produced a series of paintings known as The Course of Empire. His ambition was to create a “higher style of landscape” that could express moral or spiritual meanings (National Gallery of Art).

In "Lines Composed A Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey", Wordsworth uses imagination to help him and others to live in the physical world peacefully. He recalls playing in Tintern Abbey, a forest nearby there and played in it when he was young. Now he comes back for different reasons. He escapes the world which is individualism and goes to the forest to get away from all the burden. He tells his young sister that she can always come here to get away from her problems as well. In the poem, Wordsworth uses nature to solve problems in life.

Qualities of "reality," the divine, or divinities may be reflected in nature in Romanticism and we can sense God or the gods through our sensing of nature.While in Neo_classicism there is a concern for "nature"--or the way things are (and should be). This relates back to the distrust of innovation and inherent conservatism of neoclassicism. The artistic rules of old, for instance, Pope describes as having been "discovered, not devised" and are "Nature methodized"; so too, "Nature and Homer" are "the same" (Essay on Criticism 88ff., 135). This belief in "nature" implies a conviction that there is a permanent, universal way things are (and should be), which obviously entails fundamental political and ethical commitments. The focus on natural feeling over conventional rules led to an emphasis on the self over the earlier neoclassical emphasis on society. The individual becomes the source of wisdom and morality, displacing the received set of rules and norms given by society. As a result, emphasis is paced on understanding the individual's subjective state, especially as it relates to the outside world. Works ranging from Rousseau's Confessions and Reveries of a Solitary Walker to Wordsworth's Prelude, Coleridge's «conversation» poems, «Dejection», «Frost at Midnight», «Lime Tree Beauty» are examples of the romantic exploration

The beauty of nature is often overlooked and underappreciated in today’s society. The neglect and lack of respect given to such a beautiful creation by members of society is widely reflected in Romantic poetry. The romantic era began in 1798, where writers such as William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge expressed their opinions and feelings towards nature. Overall such writers typically express a positive outlook on the natural world around them, however some stray the other way. Specifically Coleridge and Wordsworth began to express the feeling of disconnect towards nature. Both writers began to feel as though they could not understand nature and cannot connect with the beauty it gives off as expressed in poems such as “Dejection”, “London 1802”, and “Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey”. Not only did some of these writers begin to feel a disconnect but a select few also begin to feel as though people are disrespecting the balance of nature and are trying to disrupt the balance and manipulate it. Writers such as Mary Shelley, author of the novel Frankenstein, expresses the concern of people taking the laws of nature and twisting them. Writers and people living during this time period not only express an appreciation for nature but also the truth about the human relationship with nature. The relationship between humans and nature is on of mistreatment.

William Wordsworth's "Tintern Abbey" celebrates imagination and emotion over rationality and reason, and intuition over science. It is the beginning of English Romanticism in the 1800's and Wordsworth was one of the leading poets of that era. He introduced the readers to grasp nature and fully appreciate all aspects of it. "Tintern Abbey" focuses on Wordsworth's nostalgic experience on returning to the Abbey, but pays much attention to the poem's theme of emotional beauty and nature. In this poem, the reader finds Wordsworth's intense and loving memory of natural scenes.

William Blake, a poet that strongly believed in the power of mind, once wrote, "if we see with imagination, we see all things in the infinite." The Romantic poets use their imagination when gazing at nature, and therefore see and feel the infinite through their poetry. William Wordsworth expresses the serene beauty that nature possesses and its calming effects on the mind. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, one of the poetic geniuses of the age, uses nature and his imagination to create surreal atmospheres. Another Romantic poet, by the name of Percy Bysshe Shelley, shows great longing for the freedom that nature possesses and the freeing effect it has on him. These poets of the Romantic period look at nature from a higher consciousness

One of the most popular themes for Romantic poetry in England was nature and an appreciation for natural beauty. The English Romantic poets were generally concerned with the human imagination as a counter to the rise of science. The growing intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries placed scientific thought in the forefront of all knowledge, basing reality in material objects. The Romantics found this form of world view to be restrictive. They felt that imagination was crucial to individual happiness. The imagination also provides a common human bond; a means of sympathy, of identification. However, the absence of imagination, the Romantics felt, would lead