Compare And Contrast Romanticism And The Enlightenment

The Romantic era began in 1770, with its peak being from 1800 to 1850. With emphasis on the imagination and emotion, Romanticism emerged as a result of the Enlightenment period, which heavily placed values upon reason and order. Thus, Romanticism depends heavily on “the practical accomplishments of the prior un-Romantic era— a relationship between material wealth and scientific knowledge on one hand, and personal, spiritual, or emotional transcendence on the other, that twenty-first century Americans continue to manage.” The simplest explanation for what is Romantic is “‘anything but the here and now’ or whatever is not realistic” (“Romanticism”). The

For centuries people had little clear understanding and knowledge about nature. Most theories in physics, astronomy, chemistry, and medicine were based on old concepts from Aristotle, Ptolemy, or Galen. The religion authority at that time much contributed to a slow advancement in these fields. Anatomy dissection was forbidden by the Church, and in astronomy, their believes could not be challenged.

Both the Enlightenment and the Great Awakening are well known throughout history. The Great Awakening had huge consequences that helped shaped America. Although the Enlightenment did contribute to the Great Awakening, it had minor consequences. Without the Great Awakening some major events and changes would’ve never happened. The American Revolution, different perspectives on religion, divisions between colonist, new schools showing up, and more were all outcomes of it.

From 1450 to 1750 C.E., the Europeans were beginning to settle in the Western part of Europe in places such as: France, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and many more. Like many other of the surrounding countries and empires, the Europeans began to question many of the hierarchies in Europe at the time such as the Catholic Church by asking “Should we trust their process or attempt to reform?” or even “Should we ignore the intentions of the church and start something completely new that we believe is better for the people?” The development of both the Protestant Reformation and the Age of Enlightenment began to answer these questions and enforce their beliefs in European society. Through the inspiration of the “needed” change of tradition in European society the Protestant Reformation sought to bring back the early versions of Christianity, while the Age of Enlightenment sought to abandon Christianity and move forward. But both the Protestant Reformation and the Age of Enlightenment sought to focus on similar moral tenants such as the belief of individualism and the use of reason to analyze text. Overall, both the Protestant Reformation and the Age of Enlightenment in Europe desired to move away from the selfish, incompetent, and lazy Catholic Church of that time, and either move forward or reform to stabilize European thinking for centuries to come.

Although art and music before the Enlightenment era provided an outlet for emotionally intense and dramatic performances which people looked to for entertainment, the Enlightenment period in Europe from the 16th to 18th centuries created a turning point for art and music by adding a level of complexity, a sense of balance, and by incorporating ideas from reality into the art piece which embellished the fine arts genre throughout Europe.

Adam Smith, of Scottish origin, was fortunate enough to be born and educated at a time when the Age of Enlightenment was its peak, thus exposing him to the

The Enlightenment was a period in the eighteenth century where change in philosophy and cultural life took place in Europe. The movement started in France, and spread to Great Britain, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Germany at more or less around the same time, the ideas starting with the most renowned thinkers and philosophers of the time and eventually being shared with the common people. The Enlightenment was a way of thinking that focused on the betterment of humanity by using logic and reason rather than irrationality and superstition. It was a way of thinking that showed skepticism in the face of religion, challenged the inequality between the kings and their people, and tried to establish a sound system of ethics. The ideas behind the

The Enlightenment era was a new intellectual movement that stressed reason and thought and the power of individuals to solve problems. Even though different philosophers approached their goal differently, they achieved it none the less. They all approached their goal differently due to their different upbringings, their different backgrounds, and most importantly their different environments. A few among the many enlightened thinkers were Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Baron Do Montesquieu, and Jean Jacques Rousseau. While some of their idea’s are not used in modern society, they were all instrumental to the modern society we live in today.

The styles we call High Renaissance, Baroque style, Scientific Reformation, The Enlightenment Era, and The Romantic Era are all shaped by historical forces, the most significant being the Protestant Reformation’s successful challenge to the spiritual and political power of the Church. Martin Luther, son of a rural coal miner had a mass impact in all these eras but Scientific Reformation was more prominent than the rest. Luther was a German monk and Professor of Theology at the University of Wittenberg. Luther’s studies were put on hold by a political crisis in Augustinians. He found himself agitated due to the corruption and lack of spirituality he saw in Rome. He saw openly corrupt priests who would taunt the rituals of their faith. Luther sparked the Reformation in 1517 by posting his "95 Theses" on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. The 95 theses were a list of statements which expressed Luther's concerns about many Church practices. These ‘Theses’ traveled around Europe. He felt in a manner, that the church was not always right. He did not believe that the Pope was spiritual heir to Saint peter. The Church known now as the Roman Catholic Church was very powerful politically and spiritually in Western Europe. I believed that Martin Luther Help spark the Scientific Era was due to the fact when he mad the 95Theses people began to second guess themselves. People began to have changes in thought & belief.

The Enlightenment and Romanticism periods are two historical periods that consist of some of the world’s greatest work. The Enlightenment Era evolves around the time of the mid 1600’s, to the late 1700’s. This period of time has beliefs of cause and effect and determinacies to explore human existence (The Norton Anthology p.4). The literary piece that I have chosen for the Enlightenment age is titled Tartuffe, by the Author Jean-Baptiste Moliere. This play has several characteristics pointing toward the Enlightenment period, including the desire for equality. On the other hand, you have the opposite of the Enlightenment, which is the Romanticism period. Indicated by The Norton Anthology, the duration

The Enlightenment is also referred to as the Age of Reason. These names describe the period in America and Europe in the 1700s. During this period, man was emerging from the ignorance centuries into one that was characterized by respect for humanity, science, and reason. The people involved in Enlightenment had the belief that human reason was useful in discovering the universe’s natural laws, determining mankind’s natural rights, and thereby, unending knowledge progress, moral values, and technical achievement would be attained. John Locke and Isaac Newton are some of the people who played a great role during the Enlightenment period (Wuthnow 41). This paper aims at discussing the political, cultural, religious, intellectual, and economic impacts that were realized during the period.

The Enlightenment era also known as the age of reason, this era has changed the society in different aspect, in political movement, social, cultural, philosophical and literature. This era was the main spark for the democracy and science today. This era has started in England but the real development happened in France. The concept

Artists and paintings can have a significant influence over the general attitude of a time period by spreading a certain sentiment throughout their paintings, and overall these artists played a major role in the spread of romanticism during the late eighteenth century. The romantic movement defined Europe by shifting the focus from rationalism and classicism of the Enlightenment towards emphasizing the expression natural human emotions and imagination in art. Romanticism in general can be characterized as a sort of rebellious reaction to the Enlightenment and Neoclassicism, and the movement produced a new aesthetic form of art based around addressing human nature. In this way, romantic works successfully stood as sort of refreshing contrast to the overdone impressions of classicism. In the late eighteenth century, romanticism would continue to emerge as a literary, artistic, and musical movement throughout Europe.

The Great Enlightenment caused a great influx of independent thinkers and progressive ideas in the Western world. Through new philosophies coined by Locke, Voltaire, Descartes, Montesquieu, and many others, a new age in society was jumpstarted. Through the Age of Enlightenment, many revolutions were sparked in several areas of life. Enlightenment was a loose revolution made of scattered “philosophes” that caused a change in life as it was known. The Age of Enlightenment could easily be defined as the most pivotal event in history due to its mass effects on education, individuality, and theoretical advancements.

Despite its name, Romantic, the Romantic age had only a few things that was related to the real meaning of romance known now, however, love had been the main subject of most of the age's art. The age was actually a great achievement of art and philosophy that resulted in the western societies to change the way they thought about themselves and their surroundings as mentioned in the article "Romanticism" Adapted from A Guide to the Study of Literature. Differing from the classical age the romantic age has given artists of that period more freedom and creation. Music for instance was of great value in terms of the way it expresses. Composers of the age used music along with freedom in expression to express nationalism and hence proving their