The Romantic Movement: The Rise Of The American Renaissance

The first thing we must look at is characteristics of American Romanticism typical in the story and in the protagonist. Initially, the issue of this story is that a minister, Father Hooper, that one day comes to a sermon with a black veil covering his face. The outcome of this was a whole controversy in the little town, though does not show signs of discomfort. The characteristics focused on in this parable are from the view of "adulthood as corruption and betrayal,"(source 3) to an " individual separate from the masses,"(source 3), and "feelings, emotions, and imagination take priority over logic and facts.(source 3) The view of adulthood can be seen on page 3 when he gives the psalm with the black veil on,"Did he seek to hide from the dread

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).

American Romanticism illustrates the first purely American literary movement that began alongside the beginning of a new nation. American Romanticism appeared in response to the rationalists, such as Ben Franklin, which the American Romantics believed to be too single-minded and not as expressive. Therefore, this literary movement turned away from the corruption of cities and the physical world and focused on nature and imagination. Washington Irving, in his stories “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “Rip Van Winkle”, displays characteristics of American Romanticism and creates American Romantic heroes.

The romantic period in writing in America was a heavy time of finding values within the people of America. The first example is “Dr. Heidgegger’s Experiment” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. This text speaks as to what humans are capable

The American Romantic period of American literature propagated itself throughout the United States and multiple artistic medium from 1800 to 1850. Despite possible confusion caused by the name’s Western implications, this particular literary style originated in Germany with the publication of Goethe’s “Sorrows of Young Werther”. (11. http://www.westga.edu/~mmcfar/american%20ROMANTICISM%20OVERVIEW.html) Stories originating from this period were typically about improbable feats of adventure which provided readers with euphoric experiences not typically common in everyday life. (11. http://www.westga.edu/~mmcfar/american%20ROMANTICISM%20OVERVIEW.html) Eventually spreading throughout English culture, romanticism soon infected the colossal talents

People now had the ability to see more new and beautiful things that had never been seen before which perpetuated the belief in nature’s divinity. As nature began to be recognized as a divine part of the world, a new philosophy came to fruition which was very connected to the ideals of the Romanticism period. This philosophy was known as Transcendentalism which is another strong example of progressiveness in America. Transcendentalism allowed people to break away from standard values and look inward for their own personal and separate beliefs. Transcendentalists all believed that nature helped them learn better and connect deeper with god. The father of transcendentalism, Ralph Waldo Emerson, wrote an entire book on nature and the importance of it in a man’s life. He said that “nothing can befall me in life, -- no disgrace, no calamity, (leaving me my eyes,) which nature cannot repair.” (Emerson). Emerson believed that nature was the greatest gift God had given to humans, and nature, God, and humans were all part of a sort of “holy

Romanticism in America was an emotional outpouring in reaction to both the new freedom experienced after the Revolution and to the restrictive Puritan ideals. Instead of the repression of the individual, it was the celebration of the individual. This is especially true of the Transcendentalist branch of Romanticism. Transcendentalism revolves around the idea that humans are essentially good and that society is a corrupting force. Ralph Waldo Emerson, a famed Transcendentalist, wrote in his essay, “Self-Reliance”, said, “Every heart vibrates to that iron string,” (Emerson) meaning every man marches to the rhythm of his own drum. Henry David Thoreau, another famed Transcendentalist, in his essay, “Civil Disobedience”, denounced the government as creating unjust laws and supports an uninvolved government. He encouraged people not to eradicate evil from the world, but to not take part in it (Thoreau). Society was evil and man should remove himself from it.

The idea of American Romanticism originated in the early 19th century. It encompassed the revolutionary spirit America was beginning to embody, and sought to break rigid societal norms of conformity by emphasizing the individuals importance, fueled by emotion as movement, in connecting to the world in which one lived. The movement utilized various facets of art to form an identity, which produced an overwhelming appeal to an American society with contradicting mindsets prevalent in trying to form what the said identity looked like. Though perhaps a topic that could be spoke upon to no extent, the American Romantic ideal becomes certainly prevalent while considering the works of Henry David Thoreau and Edward Curtis. Both men use elements

The romantic period was a time where authors thought about and value people’s own intuition and the beauty of nature. They wrote about nature and emotions instead of boring news and things to do with politics. Henry David Thoreau, a writer during this time period, focused on the transcendentalism tenets in his writings. The transcendentalist ideas focus on nature and emotions which is very similar to the romanticism values. Thoreau expresses many transcendentalism tenets throughout his essays, “Walden” and “Civil Disobedience”.

The Romantic Movement, or period, was from the year 1828 to about 1865. The main feature of the American Romantic period was the celebration and praise of individualism. This time is also considered to be the first period of genuine American creativity. Emotion, instead of reason, became the largest source of inspiration and creativity during this period. All of this was a reaction to all of the constraints that were forced on people during the era of Realism. At this time in history, America was in a great period of expansion, the writers of the American Romantic period were discovering that could create a new and vastly different voice for this new era in

During the years leading up to 1800, America had gained its political freedom from England. Establishing a cultural independence was just beginning. American Literature while closely tied to English literary influences was finding its own voice known as American Romanticism. Romanticism as a literary movement originated in Europe at the end of the 18th century. From this early stage, Romanticism quickly spread to England in 1789 with Wordsworth’s publication of Lyrical Ballads and jumped almost immediately to America. Some of the Romantic elements featured individualism, nature-worship, philosophic idealism, religious mysticism, opposition to political authority and social convention, and a continuing interest in the supernatural. It was

The Romantic Movement, which originated in Germany but quickly spread to England, France, and beyond, reached America around the year 1820. Romantic ideas centered on art as inspiration and spiritual movements. (IIP Digital)

The Romantic era started in Europe in the 1700s, but did not reach American shores until the 1830s and continued until the 1870s. The movement was strongly based in the German Sturm und Drang movement, which favored intuition and emotion. Ideologies from the French and American Revolution played a large role in the movement. American Romanticism highlighted the emotions of the average person. It rejected rigid structures, and instead, placed great emphasis on the individual. Unique art styles

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

At the beginning of the 1800’s, the romantic era of literature grew popular as “a reaction against the rigidity of Enlightenment thought, raising questions about the use of reason and rationality” (Taylor). While this age of literature was mostly demonstrated in England, it also travelled to America. These authors did not agree with the new way of how their society rationalized and began to write more novels with themes