During human history, there were two important time periods. There was the Romantic Period, that lasted 1750 - 1870 A.D, and the enlightenment period that lasted through the 18th century. The Enlightenment focused on science and knowing for certain through rational thinking. The Romantic period was focused on nature and human emotions and was a reaction to the enlightenment. Both periods have different ideals and values. I would consider myself to be a romantic because I agree with a lot of romantic values. I am a romantic because I spirituality and emotions are more important than science and progress. I easily see the danger of progress today through technology. Some examples are when people stay at home watching tv and play on phones …show more content…
instead of having conversations. Inventions such as the tv and the phone come from the enlightenment. Like modern times, the enlightenment was fascinated with inventions mostly for human anatomy and medicine. Some of these inventions were the galvanizer and blood transfusion. Many romantics at the time found these processes to be scary and repulsive. The idea of transfusing blood from another person into your own was very strange. The romantics also recognized the danger of the enlightenment and how detachment from nature and emotions would be a result of progress. As a romantic, I also view modern advancements as dangerous because they make people lose in touch with their feelings and forget how to interact with each other. Too many times, I see people playing on their iPads instead of talking to each other on how their day went. Although I recognize progress as important, it is not nearly as important as the individual and what someone feels. Another reason why I am a romantic instead of enlightenment is the way I can deal with emotional issues.
The enlightenment cannot solve emotional problems at all. The enlightenment is focused on reason, logic, science, and progress. None of ideas focuses on feelings. I am a romantic because the romantic ideals focus on the individual, emotions, and liberty. These ideals are important because I am not concerned about society, but more so how I feel. One effective way that romantics deal with this through nature. Many times, I find going outside to nature very relaxing and liberating. The same type of feeling is captured in Frankenstein. In Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein deals with a lot of stress and anxiety but is able to get away from that through nature, whether it be through hikes or peering over a mountain. I could be looking through my backyard fence into the forest or I could be going to the beach and watching the waves crash on shore, I would still feel at ease. I am not enlightenment because rationale cannot answer questions like, “What do emotions signify” and “What is the appropriate response to emotions?” and “What is the meaning of life”. Being a romantic, I am able to find joy in nature anywhere and can allow my emotions to flow freely. Although I may not find the answer to how I can achieve emotional bliss, I am certain the journey is more important than the
destination.
During the American Renaissance, writers were put into one of two categories. The categories were the Dark Romantics and the Transcendentalists. Some Dark Romantics include Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Washington Irving. The Dark Romantics stories included creepy symbols, horrific themes, and psychological effects of guilt and sin. The Devil and Tom Walker by Washington Irving gives a few examples as to why life is meaningless to some people.Humans are not all good, there are some cruel people in this world. The Pit and the Pendulum tells you exactly why.
The changes beginning in the late 18th century and still augmenting today, shepherd the reaction that was the Romantic Era. What began as a reaction against the intellectualism of the Enlightenment Movement was largely expanded into a crusade against the previously rigid class structure and materialism demonstrated in the Industrialization of Europe. During this period of progress, modern science encouraged the dependence of scholars on factual information. However, the literature of the reactionary period portrays the complete opposite as repudiation of rules is often a foundation of the romantic philosophy. The superseding nature of imagination over reason, emotions over logic, and intuition
European nations began to colonize what now is the east coast of Northern America around the late 16th and then in onto the 17th century. Many proud nations decided to send their fleet of people to the New World especially Great Britain. England established to colonies along the coast that were know as New England and Chesapeake. Between these two colonies we have what are known as the middle colonies. This area was originally settled by the Dutch and was formerly named New Amsterdam and then finally by Great Britain. Although these colonies shared many things in common and were all quite close to each other, they also had major differences.
The Enlightenment period in Europe was a shift in the way that society thought about power and liberty. The ideals of this period helped to inspire the revolutions of the 18th century. The American colonies desired liberty from foreign rule, the French wanted to increase the power of the people in their class structure, and the Haitians fought for representation for the millions of slaves on their island. While the ideas of the enlightenment were not fully employed in each of these revolutions, they brought the nations closer to a fully representative government, rather than one of absolute power.
Romanticism first came about in the 18th century and it was mostly used for art and literature. The actual word “romanticism” was created in Britain in the 1840s. People like Victor Hugo, William Wordsworth, and Percy Bysshe Shelley had big impacts on this style of art. Romanticism is an art in which people express their emotion. Whatever they believed is put into a picture, painting, poem, or book. Romanticism goes deep into a mind. It is very deep thinking and it’s expressing yourself through that deep thinking. Romanticism is the reaction to the Enlightenment and the enlightenment aka the “Age of Reason” took place during the 1700s to 1800s. The enlightenment emphasized being rational and using your mind; on the other hand, romanticism focuses on emotion and imagination. It says don’t just focus on rationality and reason.
The Age of Enlightenment opened the doors to independent thinking and development in areas such as math, astronomy, politics, philosophy and many more. Toward the end of the Age of Enlightenment, the Romantic Era was born and it seemed to be in protest to the ideas that the Enlightenment had brought to society. Although both time periods were established around more independent thinking and growth, The Enlightenment and the Romantic Era contrast significantly. These two periods differed in almost every aspect, including (but not limited to): their beliefs, reasons for coming into being, and the impacts that they have had on society.
The preceding Enlightenment period had depended upon reason, logic and science to give us knowledge, success, and a better society. The Romantics contested that idea and changed the formula...
..., and science. Romantics felt that a scientific worldview was absolutely cold and sterile. The Romanticism felt that science and human law would rob people of their humanity. Both of these movements shatter the establishment norms and authority. Both of these movements encouraged society to take a different perspective. An example is in Candide’s lust and idealistic crush, and Voltaire repeatedly refers Cunegonde as the very lovely Cunégonde. Cunegonde is the daughter of a wealthy German. She is described as very beautiful” (Voltaire. 5) Voltaire throws a undercuts at Candide’s romantic ideals by having him continue to worship Cunégonde even after she faithlessly marries her husband. Voltaire shows in this passage that Romantics shows emotions and intuition are important sources of society.
The epoch known as the Age of Reason, or the Enlightenment, was a secular intellectual movement that looked to reason as an explanation of the world. The Enlightenment began in 1687 with the publishing of Sir Isaac Newton’s Principia and ended in 1789 with the French Revolution (Fiero 134). The epoch of Romanticism was a reaction to the rationalism of the Enlightenment. The movement of Romanticism began in 1760 and ended in 1871. Romanticism as a movement was a reaction to the Enlightenment as a cultural movement, an aesthetic style, and an attitude of mind (210).
Danny Lin Professor Brent English 2850 Spring 2016 Vigée Le Brun: Woman Artist in Revolutionary France I learned that the European Enlightenment was an intellectual development period when numerous new ideas about life and people were being invented. The evolution of the American Thought throughout the Enlightenment and the Era of Romanticism was a continuous process that began way before the American Revolution. Personally, I see the enlightenment as being both a movement, as well as a state of mind. People were discussing multiple new thoughts and concepts about God, the earth, reason, and humanity. These ideas ignited some very revolutionary developments in politics, philosophy, and art.
The Romantic period was a period where people focused on how they felt and their emotions. Many romantic poets talk about the beauty of art and innocence. They discuss the role of the poet, their change to adulthood, and to enjoy their lives while they can.
First, let’s give a little bit of overview about the British and American romance definitions. The British defined Romanticism as “a fascination with youth and innocence as well as a questioning of authority.” Also, “changing tradition for idealistic purposes and an adaptation to change.” p. The American poets defined Romanticism as “a school of thought that valued feelings and intuition over reason.” p. 143. “A Journey away from the corruption of civilization and the limits of rational thought and toward the integrity of nature and the freedom of imagination.” p. 142. American romance also showed a great respect to youth and innocence, just like that of the British. One of the very active British poets of this time, William Blake, wrote a very good poem called “The Chimney Sweeper from Songs of Innocence”, and the following is a quote from the poem, “Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm,
There are many things to consider when contemplating the expansion of mankind, including the principles of reason from the Enlightenment and the romantic emphasis on emotion. These things affected both the general public's welfare and the individual's sense of self. The relationship between the Enlightenment and the Romantic Movement were necessary parts that led to the development and maturity of mankind, both as a whole and the individual self.
Romanticism spawned in the late 18th century and flourished in the early and mid-19th century. Romanticism emphasized the irrational, the imaginative, the personal, the spontaneous, the emotional, the visionary, the transcendental, and the individual. Romanticism is often viewed as a rejection of the ideologies of Classicism and Neoclassicisms, namely calm, order, harmony, idealization, rationality and balance. Some characteristics of Romanticism include: emotion over reason, senses over intellect, love for nature, use of the hero and the exceptional figure in general, emphasis of imagination being the gateway to spiritual truth, and an interest in folk culture. Romanticism was preceded by related developments in the med-18th century referred to as “Pre-Romanticism”. One Pre-Romantic style was medieval romance, which is where Romanticism gets its name from. The medieval romance was a tale that emphasized the exotic, the mysterious, and individual heroism. This style contrasted the then prevalent classical forms of literature such as the French Neoclassical Tragedy. But this new emotional literary expression would be a key part of literature during the Romantic Era (Britannica). Literature during the Romantic Era was influenced by politics and major historical events and social reforms, religion, science, economics, and art and music.
The Romantic Movement pioneered many poets and artists to question the world around them, and it allowed them to rebel against the notions held by others in society. Romanticism sprang up in 1750 and it ended around the 1850's. The movement was in response to the Enlightment Age of the early eighteenth century (Cooksey). During the Enlightenment, a new way of "thinking emerged that stressed thinking critically about the world and about humankind, independently of religion, myth or tradition" (Kleiner, Mamiya 836). There was a renewed interest in science and mathmatiques and the Enlightenment emphasized reason, calculations, and objective nature. There was a renwed interest in the anatomy and astronomy fields. The Enlightenment Era moved away from faith and myth and focused on ideas that were tangible (Kleiner, Mamiya 838). The Romantic movement was the complete op...