Romantic Conception of Authorship

Romanticism is an intellectual, spiritual, and literary movement that begins at the start of the nineteenth century and concludes at the beginning of the twentieth century. Of the many characteristics that are associated with Romanticism, the characteristics that are most evident in literature from this period are the characteristics of individuality and imagination. The author Edgar Allen Poe exhibits these characteristics in his works “The Black Cat”, and the “The Raven”.

Biographical criticism is used to identify and establish certain aspects of stories from an author’s experience. Most authors have demonstrated this theory by writing from their own personal memories. From Emily Dickinson to Stephen King, countless authors have either written from their own background or put him/herself into a story. Some have even re-written a terrible memory into the way they wanted that moment to turn out. John Updike and T.C. Boyle brought this theory to life in their works “A&P” and “Greasy Lake”. By reading these stories, one can feel a personal connection to them because they feel so profoundly relatable. Therefore, in “A&P” and “Greasy Lake”, one can grasp the actuality of the stories by putting themselves in the author’s shoes and remembering their youth.

While doing some research on psychological criticism, I found that Arnold Friend in Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been by Joyce Carol Oates and notorious murderer Charles Schmid of The Pied Piper of Tucson by Don Moser have characteristics of being a psychopath, motive for killing, similar comparisons of innocence taken by an evil mind, and how Oates wrote her story based upon Schmid’s personality. Psychological criticism as explained in Retellings by M.B. Clarke and A.G. Clarke states “psychological criticism looks at internal influences on an author’s creation and our reception of it…whether the words and images can be read symbolically” (Clarke A-46). Throughout the paper, I will be addressing the psychological criticism of the schools of literary criticism from Retellings. I will be introducing a fictional character and a non-fictional character, a long with their characteristics, comparisons between Oates character with Moser’s, and ideology based upon the non-fictional character.

Romanticism was a period time 1750 to 1870 in Europe, Latin America and The United States. Romantic Movement didn’t reach to France until the 1820’s. Romanticism main spirit was against of rule, law and formulas that classicism the different characterized of general in 18th century. Imagination, Subjectivity of approach, freedom, Expression and the idealization of nature will be focused in movement of Romantic Literature. In this period industrial revolution with the social and political norms form as age of enlightenment and against of scientific rationalization of nature. Some Literature element of that period will be emotional, imagination and suspense. Romanticism movement brings some of different writes such as John Keats, Blake William, Wordsworth William and other. They came with the different illustrated, poetry that expresses the language, emotion and imagination. Romanticism is a phenomenon characterized by subjectivity of approach and reliance on the imagination, An Idealization of nature and freedom of though and expression.

Written by Jeffrey Eaton, an Open Letters editor, this source is reliable because the magazine speciality is to critique many works of art and literature. Rather than merely summarizing the main events of the memoir, Eaton actually expresses his dislike about it by providing

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.

This paper will cover this topic by using the main aspects of Reader-Oriented Criticism, so it will also evaluate a few essays, reviews, or analyses on the book. Considering that there are two possible angles to interpret the book (idealistic or cynical), it is ultimately the readers who decide how they find its meaning, and their past experiences can influence that decision. In fact, these past experiences can also affect their character as a whole, possibly determining their attitudes towards life or the world. When analyzing the sources, this paper will focus on the parts of the book that people tend to reference most often when explaining their interpretations. It’s essentially important to see whether the readers from both sides are referencing the same scenes or different ones. If both “idealistic readers” and “cynical readers” are viewing the same moments from different perspectives, then that suggests their thoughts are essential to forming their interpretations, which supports the ideas of Subjective

M. H. Abrams defines romantic themes in prominent writers of this school in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries as being five in number: (1) innovations in the materials, forms and style; (2) that the work involve a “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”; (3) that external nature be a persistent subject with a “sensuous nuance” and accuracy in its description; (4) that the reader be invited to identify the protagonist with the author himself; and (5) that this be an age of “new beginnings and high possibilities” for the person (177-79).

The concept of the individual is a prominent one in Romantic literature. One of the major themes of individualism in Romanticism is the notion of characters discovering themselves through their experiences. This discovery of one’s self highlights for the reader the author’s opinions on what it means to be an ideal person. Though light and dark Romanticism differ in some small aspects on this topic, the main point is the same. This is illustrated in the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Ralph Waldo Emerson, as both authors profess that a person who has realized their ideal self has grown to possess an education and is willing to sacrifice worldly pleasures for the sake of progress.

This interpretation is supported again by a study of another type of ‘introduction’ text, biography. According to Kim (2016), who analyzed the

One of the potential weaknesses for Narrative criticism is a little concern for authorial intention. It is clear that, someone who engaged in narrative criticism approach and cannot emphasize the plot, the character, and lose the historical background or the historical reference of the text. In addition, in narrative criticism approach there is a high tendency to look scripture as any other literature and fiction, because they used a methodology of the same kind.

How important is an individual that most often than not authors focus on the growth of one over the growth of the many? Is it because the growth of one symbolizes the growth of all? Or is the focus on the individual due to the image it presents which is the growth in us? In any event, this outlook of individualism is widespread in literature and different genres and techniques excavate the development of the individual. Another factor that comes into play in the development of the character is the situation and the effects of the environment. Within William Shakespeare’s play The Tempest and Michael Cervantes Saavedra’s satire Don Quixote are two different characters molded and formed or in both cases malformed to incorporate their

In general, it is helpful to think about Romanticism as an uprising against the Enlightenment standards. From the mechanic, lifeless, science and logic driven culture,

Any literary work is unique. It is created by the author in accordance with his vision and is permeated with his idea of the world. The reader’s interpretation is also highly individual and depends to a great extent on his knowledge and personal experience. That’s why one cannot lay down a fixed “model” for a piece of critical appreciation. Nevertheless, one can give information and suggestions that may prove helpful.

Through the late 1700s and early 1800s, the period of Romanticism blossomed. “Romanticism” very loosely describes the era in which modern culture began to take shape. During the Romantic era, many advancements were made in all aspects of people’s lives and cultures. One aspect in particular has held great value even to this day. That aspect being the expansive amount of literature created during the era. The era of Romanticism had its name for a reason. It can be greatly attributed to the romantic style or genre of literature that defined the period. Romantic writers wove many tales of admiration, longing, and aspirations. They were fantastical, in a sense, and almost the antithesis of realism, even. Amidst the great breadth of literature