Rationalism In The Devil And Tom Walker And The Masque Of The Red

The Romantic Era began in Germany during the 19th century and greatly influenced literature, art, and music as a reaction to rationalism. Romanticism valued feeling and intuition as oppose to the early Enlightenment ideas of reason in the 18th century. Most importantly, Romantics viewed life as they would like it to be and believed that imagination and emotion were more important than rational thought. Human nature refers to the distinguishing characteristics, and behavioral traits in which all humans tend to share amongst one another. This is portrayed in several different works of literature in the 1800s including Eldorado, Minister’s Black Veil and The Devil and Tom Walker. The authors of these stories and poems both convey different characteristics of human

Washington Irving’s “The Devil and Tom Walker” illustrates how an individual’s corruption results from their ability to resist temptation, the virtue to act generously, and the self-discipline to perform genuinely. Temptation, symbolized by the Devil and characterized by desperation in this prose, is that catalyst that forces Tom’s proverbial ball to roll. First and foremost, Tom chooses a shortcut home out of ease and lack of time that “like most shortcuts... was an ill-chosen route (280);” along his path of “smothering mud (280)” and “half-drowned, half-rotting [hemlocks and pines] (280)” –likely representative of the comeuppances of giving into temptations–Tom confronts the Devil for the first time and eventually ends up selling his soul

Both the short stories “The Devil and Tom Walker” by Washington Irving, also “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” by Edgar Allan Poe, were written in the romantic time period. Romanticism typically contains the ideals of nature worship, nature imagery, as well as nature having an healing effect. Gothic Literature stemmed off of romantic literature which leads to many of the contradictory ideas in both. An example could be that romantics saw imagination while gothic writers saw darkness in the supernatural. Both the authors used very similar elements to make each literary work different but strong in their own way.

In the nineteenth century, growing industrialization led people to impersonal, greedy, and selfish lives. As a reaction against this situation, romanticism emerged; this artistic movement offered people the place away from the corrupted society. During this era, people favored untamed nature instead of unscrupulous society. Upon a people’s encounter with Romanticism, they enjoyed an enthusiastic burst of feelings. This era is characterized by not only an outpouring of emotions but also themes of imagination, fantasy, emotion, nature, superstition, individuality, mystery and the supernatural. Among them, nature, imagination, and superstition theme were the most beloved theme during this period, particularly demonstrated by give stories of The Most Sublime Spectacle on Earth, Nature, The Fall of the House of Usher, and The Devil and Tom Walker.

“The Devil and Tom Walker” by Washington Irving, “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe, and “Prey” by Richard Matheson all utilize grotesque or bizarre occurrences and a mysterious nature as their two themes. These authors used these themes for individual purposes that were not the same but all to give a lesson. Washington Irving wrote about how money can’t buy you happiness, Edgar Allan Poe wrote about how you cannot hold on to the past, and Richard Matheson wrote about how you cannot take control of your loved one’s life.

Most people have never heard of the Rationalist and Romantic movements. They are a major part in today’s literature. The story The Devil and Tom Walker by Washington Irving is a story about a man who is conflicted with the devil and he and his wife search for wealth. The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allen Poe is a short but mind twisting story about the plague of the Red Death, and people trying to use wealth to hide themselves from it. Another amazing short story would be The Devil and Daniel Webster by Stephen Vincent Benét which is inspired by Irving’s story, and it has to do with Jabez Stone who is stuck in a predicament with the Devil and needs to be saved. All of the stories are Romantic movements from various different authors.

“The Devil and Tom Walker” is a short story written by Washington Irving. The short story takes place in Boston Massachusetts with a man named Tom Walker and his wife at a burial ground of an Indian fort in a swamp. While exploring a short-cut home, Tom meets a man known as “The Great Black Man”; who believed in watching over Kidd the Pirate’s treasure. However, the short story portrays components of Romanticism. When analyzing “The Devil and Tom Walker”, characteristics such as feelings over reason, and the power of imagination is found throughout the short story.

convey both the mood and meaning of the narrative. Irving creates a setting that is

The criticism of religion in “The Devil and Tom Walker” “The Devil and Tom Walker” is a short story written by Washington Irving, an author for the Romantic period whose short stories include “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”, His use of satire specifically against the institution of religion is seen multiple times in “The Devil and Tom Walker” from the corruption of a Deacon to the persecution of Quakers and Anabaptist to to becoming extremely religious out of fear. Irving criticized the religious establishment at the time by portraying them as hypocritical immoral people. In the story “The Devil and Tom Walker” Washington Irving criticizes religion by depicting a Deacon a member of the clergy as a tree beautiful on the outside

With Romanticism came a new style of beliefs known as Transcendentalism. This is similar to Puritan beliefs in that it focuses on living simply. Romanticism deals with issues concerning the conflict between the spirit and the body, nature as being good or evil, experience as mystical, the nature of reality, and the equality of men. Romanticism supported abolition and believed in the "manifest destiny" of the United States. This literature pays close attention to setting, nature, nonconformity, and the mood and tone of a piece. Romantics also made use of gothic elements in their literature, such as the supernatural, abnormal psychology, mysticism, and spiritualism. Romantic poets were fond of musical rhythmic verse, and they liked to break free of forms, making

American Romanticism is a literary movement that flourished in the nineteenth century as a product of European Romanticism. Though American writers emulated the writing styles and ideas of European romantics, the ascent of American Romanticism is unique in that it was a response to the rationalists, Calvinists, and societal changes of the newly-formed nation. Similar to the New England Transcendentalists, the romantics believed that spiritual truths are found in human experiences, feelings, and intuition. Notable romantics of the era include Washington Irving, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Romantic ideas of paramount importance comprise of nature’s goodness against civilization’s evils, the rejection of science, and individualism.

If we never had the outstanding Dark Romanticists Edgar Allen Poe, Herman Melville, or Nathaniel Hawthorne, we would not have the million horror films and stories we do today. The birth of this creepy literature known as Dark Romanticism started roughly in the late 19th century. In this type of writing, the sinful are properly punished and the good are rewarded. The Romantic Movement began in protest against the ideas of the Enlightenment period with the values of emotion, intuition, imagination, and sensibility. Many Romanticists incorporated their love for nature, interest in the past, mysticism, and/or individualism into their pieces. Edgar Allan Poe’s The Masque of the Red Death exemplifies these romantic characteristics by personifying Red Death as a human, emphasizing the senses with imagery through out the

Romanticism was an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement that originated in Europe toward the end of the 18th century. In this unit I read many poems and short stories. Topics of the readings included death, nature, the revolutionary war, the devil, and human nature. When you think of the word romantic, you think about an expression of love, this wasn’t always the case. I will be examining death, Paul Revere, and about human nature.

Imagine a candle-lit dinner on a starry night in Paris, the Eiffel Tower just in view with dazzling lights shining into the night. This image is probably what you think of when you hear the word “romantic,” correct. However, this image is a stumbling block when people think of the “Romanticism Period” in literature. Where “romantic” means having a lovely time with the person you love the most, “Romanticism” is a piece of literature written with key themes in mind. Those themes tend to be a strong emotion, imagery or worship of nature, and individuality and subjectivity. The peak of inspiration for these pieces was in the years 1800-1850, and there are famous poems that are well loved today from this period. Many of the poets that you enjoy reading and know are, in actuality, Romanticism writers, and instill the themes above in our minds.

American Romanticism is a journey away from the corruption of civilization and the limits of rational thoughts, and toward the integrity of nature and the freedom of imagination. In other words, it is a journey away from industrialism or rationalism, which is working hard and earning money. This movement, originally started in Europe and later reached in America. It can be best defined as a thought that values feeling and intuition over reason. Some of the characteristics include the importance of feeling and intuition over reason, placing faith in inner experience and the power of imagination, preferring youthful innocence over educated sophistication, finding beauty and reality in exotic locales. It encouraged people to enjoy the integrity of nature and freedom of imagination. It also encouraged one to have faith in imagination and inner experience. In addition, romanticists found inspiration in myth, legend, and folk culture and found poetry as the highest expression of imagination. Romanticists believed that the landscape was regarded as an extension of the human personality, capable of sympathy with man 's emotional state, whereas nature was regarded as a vehicle for spirit just as man; the breath of God fills both man and the earth. However, romantics would create chaos when the issues were connected with human rights, individualism, and freedom from oppression (Arpin 138-150).