The Romantic period writers were influenced by the religious traditions which impacted all parts of life as shown by Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter and Washington Irving’s The Devil and Tom Walker. In sharp contrast modern musicians in the 21st century create music as they wish, without any thought of who might be offended or religious structure, from ACDC’s Highway to Hell to I will Worship (you are worthy of my praise) by Passion, each with a fan base who support them. The contrast between the two time periods alone can be seen in the titles of the works produced by them.
The American Romanticism literary period occurred between 1800 and 1860. (Arvin, p. 162) it is said that the Romantic writer helped America begin to develop its own cultural identity. (Arpin, p. 162) “Romanticism is the term given to those schools of thought that value feelings and intuition over reason.” (Arpin, p. 164) These writers were searching for “ higher truths” and did this in two ways. The first was to use the setting, using the past to get away from the current Industrial Age. They also used the supernatural in their works. The second thing they did was to “ reflect on the natural world” (Arpin, p. 166-167) in class we learned that the Romantics believed in the natural goodness of people. (class
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notes) Washington Irving and Nathaniel Hawthorne are two writers who are examples of Romanticism literary writers. Romantic writers like Hawthorne and Irving use the areas that they grew up in, the religious Puritan beliefs and the history of the area to write pieces to show human emotion, guilt, sin, symbolism and the impact on society. The Romantic period of literature in America occurred during the American Renaissance in literature. American Romanticism helped America begin to develop its own identity. These writers “changed the way Americans viewed themselves, their society, and the world of nature” (Aprin, p.162) Washington Irving and Nathaniel Hawthorne “published works that embodied concepts of freedom, religious piety and independence that characterized the country.” (Thomson, Gale) In the Romantic literary period, writers used the past as a setting, for example the time of the Puritans in The Scarlet Letter to ground their work. This would provide a known time period, with religious values and concepts of freedom that the reader of that day would have understood. There was a lot going on in America during the Romantic period. The country was optimistic because of expansion to the west, but the issue of slavery was becoming a problem between the North and the South. “Politically the time was ripe. The 18th century left a heritage of optimism about man’s possibilities and perfectibility. The lofty ideals of democracy asserted the values of individuals regardless of class and education…. In fact tensions were building which cried out fro creative release. Inequality, not equality was the rule for many, especially women and slaves. The clash of these realities with the idealistic rhetoric led writers to take extremes, championing individualism yet also seeing the darker side of a fragmenting society.” (Woodlief, Ann) Writers would have had an imperfect situation instead of an idea democracy, although there were many promising things happening in the country during this time. In the society there were problems because of slavery. However people were beginning to have more money and business was getting bigger. “Economically America had never been wealthier. But the rising materialism and focus on business at the cost of them ind and the spirit was spawning reform movements all over America. Over 150 intentional communities--from the Shakers to Oneida to Brook Farm-- were formed by people disillusioned by the materialistic values and inequities of American society.” (Woodlief, Ann) This can explain why some of the literary works of Romanticism was set in the past. People were looking back at what they thought was a simpler time with less value placed on money. Religion has always been important in America, but some had begun to question how rigid and harsh it was. In addition new discoveries in science made it seem like the it questioned religious beliefs. “Connected to this was the rise and professionalization of science, which seemed to many to conflict with religion. Many felt a psychic dislocation, that the bottom had dropped out of their world since traditional values and conventional reality were just not enough for them. They tried to impose meaning individually, for institutions and dogmas seemed to possess little truth.”(Woodlief, Ann) People’s lives had been ruled by religion in America, depending on the community that the person lived in. The Puritan faith (and some other denominations) would have controlled the entire structure of village life. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is set in the past, in a Puritan settlement of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It tells the story of how Hester Prynne and her daughter Pearl, as she goes through life with the shame of a scarlet letter for the sin of adultery. It shows how judgement and guilt are born by the people involved with this sin. “The tale is one of sin and redemption and the tragic consequence of hypocrisy and concealed guilt.” (textbook, p.250) “All the world frowned on her- for seven long years it had frowned upon this lonely woman - and she bore it all, nor even once turned away her firm sad eye.” (Hawthorne Chpt. 17.4, p.153) The author shows how the town has punished Hester and her daughter for the sin of her adultery. She bears the guilt alone because she will not tell who the other person was. The Massachusetts Bay colony that Hester lives in would most likely have been a Puritan community and as such would have been governed by those beliefs. The punishment of wearing a scarlet letter would have been an actual punishment used in that time. “The punishment of the scarlet letter is a historical fact.” (Hawthorne, Julian) It is hard to believe that a community would have such a harsh punishment, but this would have reality during the time. Punishment was sever and it was hoped that it would deter others from doing wrong. The Scarlet Letter is set in a Puritan town where all must comply to the religious rules and regulations of that faith.
Those who do not are punished, left out and made to feel unwelcome. “In all her intercourse with society, there was nothing that made her feel as if she belonged to it. Every gesture, every word, and even the silence of those with whom she came in contact, implied and often expressed, that she was banished, and as much alone as if she had inhabited another sphere…”(Hawthorne, p.66) This quote shows that those in the community basically shunned the condemned. If one did not live up to the standards that society had set, then they would act as if you did not
exist. Author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, had a family history of Puritan ministers, including one who had taken part in the Salem witch trials. To distance himself from this part of his family history he added a w to his name. “It is fueled by the guilt that accompanies a Puritan conscience” (text, p.249) “The source of the darkness is thought to lie in Hawthorne’s illustrious ancestors. William Hathorne, a soldier and judge, came to Massachusetts Bay colony in 1630. William Hathorne’s son John was also a judge. During the Salem witch trials of 1692 he played a minor role in sentencing nineteen of the accused to death.”(text, p.249) If you change your name to distance yourself from what your ancestors have done, shows the shame you feel for their actions.
In America, the period of Romanticism brought up many depictions of society that held their place in America many decades ago. This society was made up of Puritans who held a strong belief system and was even their form of governing. Romantic authors like Washington Irving, who wrote “The Devil and Tom Walker”, and Nathaniel Hawthorne, who wrote The Scarlet Letter included Puritans in their stories to convey a message. In both works, the authors focus on Puritans in their stories to convey an image of who Puritans were and what they did, though not in a positive light through the use of the devil and the setting of a forest. This is because of how Romanticism generally satirized Puritans and tried to portray them as completely contradictory
Washington Irving’s “The Devil and Tom Walker” includes great examples of Romanticism, such as symbols in nature having links to the supernatural, the importance of the inner nature, and the emphasis of the individual. In the story, Tom Walker is a selfish man who cares more about money than he does about anyone else, including his wife. One day, while he is walking through the woods, Tom Walker comes across the Devil, who makes a deal with him to exchange his soul for the treasure that is buried in those woods. Tom declines and returns back to his wife and tells her that he has passed on an opportunity that could bring them lots of money. Tom’s wife, outraged by his actions, decides to strike a deal of her own with the Devil and after several attempts, she never returns from the woods. The next time Tom goes to the woods he finds that his wife had been killed by the Devil. He finally agrees to make the deal with him, now that Tom doesn’t have to share anything with his wife. Tom ignores the Devil’s suggestion of becoming a slave-trader and becomes a moneylender instead. He gets wea...
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is one of the most respected and admired novels of all time. Often criticized for lacking substance and using more elaborate camera work, freely adapted films usually do not follow the original plot line. Following this cliché, Roland Joffe’s version of The Scarlet Letter received an overwhelmingly negative reception. Unrealistic plots and actions are added to the films for added drama; for example, Hester is about to be killed up on the scaffold, when Algonquin members arrive and rescue her. After close analysis, it becomes evident of the amount of work that is put into each, but one must ask, why has the director adapted their own style of depicting the story? How has the story of Hester Prynne been modified? Regarding works, major differences and similarities between the characterization, visual imagery, symbolism, narration and plot, shows how free adaptation is the correct term used.
The Scarlet Letter: Romanticism and Intuition During the romanticism period, Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote the novel, The Scarlet Letter, which used the romanticist idea of deep intuition and inner feelings, allowing the characters to have insight of the plots and secrets hidden in the strict Puritan community that they lived in. Throughout the novel many of the characters have this intuition, making the book more alluring to readers when trying to figure out what each character really knows. At the beginning of the novel, we are shown Pearl's natural child-like instincts for the Preacher, who is actually her father. When Pearl was first a baby, Hester and she were shamed on the scaffold while Reverend Dimmesdale, her father, preached to the awed crowd of the deep sin committed by Hester. Pearl reached out for him, "and held up its little arms," (pg. 68) as if reaching for
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.
To start with, Romanticism was the first writing movement of the nineteenth century. It originated at the close of the eighteenth century in Europe, but was popular from the 1800s to 1850s. This movement was a revolt against the political and social standards of the Age of Enlightenment and a reaction to the reasoning of nature through science. Romanticism’s characteristics came from philosophical sources and, because it is a reaction against reasoning, it focuses on intuition, nature, and human emotions. The philosophical background of this movement came from an author named Jean-Jacques Rousseau who emphasized the individual and the power of inspiration. Romanticism later then broke off into another two movements called Parnassian and Realism.
Romanticism has been described as a “‘Protestantism in the arts and letters’, an ideological shift on the grand scale from conservative to liberal ideas”. (Keenan, 2005) It was a movement into the era of imagination and feelings instead of objective reasoning.
Romanticism was a literary movement that occurred in the late eighteenth century to the mid nineteenth century which shifted the focus of literature from puritan works, to works which revolved around imagination, the beauty of nature, the individual, and the value of emotion over intellect. The ideas of the movement were quite revolutionary as earlier literature was inhibited by the need to focus on society and the rational world it effected. Romanticism allowed writers to be more creative with there stories and to explore an irrational world which before, would have been at the very least frowned upon if not outright rejected. The short story, “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne is an example of a romantic work because it showcases the individual over society, exalts emotion and intuition over reason, and keeps a strong focus on nature throughout the story.
The American Romantic period was essentially a Renaissance of American literature. “It was a Renaissance in the sense of a flowering, excitement over human possibilities, and a high regard for individual ego” (English). American romantics were influenced by the literary eras that came before them, and their writings were a distinct reaction against the ideology of these previous eras. In this sense, American Romanticism grew from “. . . the rhetoric of salvation, guilt, and providential visions of Puritanism, the wilderness reaches of this continent, and the fiery rhetoric of freedom and equality . . .” as they eagerly developed their own unique style of writing (English). American romantic authors had a strong sense of national identity and
The Romantic era’s new “American identity” was realized by the 18th-century’s literary, social, and artistic push for the creation of a culture that was unique to American society and the expansionist urge to expand America’s political realm of power. This was achieved with the influence of manifest destiny and expansionism, the emergence of transcendentalism and transcendentalist literature, and the identity of the American man being characterized by the traits of the “common man”, and the exploration of nature and the frontier through art.
The Scarlet Letter is about the Hester Prynne, a woman who was married, but got pregnant while the husband was away. This causes the town to ostracize her, especially because she does not reveal the identity of the baby's father. Then, Hester's husband comes back to town and tries to weed out the priest who has been the father the whole time, and make him sick with guilt. This book has many Romantic concepts throughout. The importance of the individual and the significance of nature are both very Romantic ideas that are strewn all throughout The Scarlet Letter. Romanticism was a movement that originated in the late 18th century. It was a reaction to the Industrial Revolution and the Age of Reason. Romanticism is mainly about the primacy of the individual and the importance of nature . Much of the big plans in the plot are made in the forest. Hawthorne almost always spends a little bit more time talking about nature when it appears. “This rose-bush, by a strange chance, has been kept alive in history; but whether it had merely survived out of the stern old wilderness...” (42) Nathaniels spends about half of a page describing the past of the rose-bush. This shows how he cares about the importance of nature, which is one of the main concepts of Romanticism. The way The Scarlet Letter is written in first person-omniscient also shows how Hawthorne believes in the primacy of the individual. The focus on Hester explains the way this book has the Romantic concept of the primacy of the individual. Although the story is mainly focused on Hester, Arthur Dimmesdale, the adultering priest has many Romantic themes about him.
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is considered to be a work of romanticism. Romanticism, a movement in art and literature throughout the 19th century, is a collection of ideas or values including individualism, imaginative idealization of childhood, families, love, nature, and the past (Craig White). Hawthorne uses strong feelings, interest in the common man and childhood, celebration of the individual, awe of nature, and importance of imagination throughout his novel to add interest and individuality to the story.
The Romantic period was an entirely unique era in American history that produced new life philosophies through the focus of nature and exploration resulting in the evolution of the American Dream. Consequently, some of the world’s greatest advancements in arts and literature were accomplished during this time period. Authors such as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, James Fennimore Cooper, and Oliver Wendell Holmes sparked the imagination of American audiences through newfound literature such as lyrical poetry, myths, legends, folklore, and the new American novel. Romantic age writers emphasized nature, especially in poetry, as an inspiration for imagination and emotion. The American Dream during the Romantic era was to lead a life of emotion and intuition over reasoning through exploration of the countryside and the recognition of natural beauty displayed by imaginative literature that reflected this American Dream.
Romanticism is an influential literary movement in America that changed literature permanently from the drastically modest and structured ideals of Puritanism. Two contrasting types of authors, Romantics and Dark Romantics, introduce new, meaningful literature to America; while Romantics see the light and airy side of the world, Dark Romantics see the darker more horrific side. This drastically modified literary period is influenced by Europe and was revolutionary for America from the moment it arrived. American Romanticism rejects the normal, rational thought and praises the unpredictability and complexity of emotion. Romanticism has changed American literature forever.
When many hear “Romanticism” they think of love, but Romanticism isn’t mainly about love. Yes, it may have some love, but it’s also about reasoning, nature, imaginations, and individualism. Like American Romanticism, that occurred from 1830 – 1865. It was actually caused by Washington Irving and James Fenimore Cooper. For Americans, “it was a time of excitement over human possibilities, and of individual ego. American writers didn’t know what “America” could possibly mean in terms of literature, which was American and not British. It questioned their identity and place in society, creatively” (Woodlief). It was characterized by an interest in nature, and the significance of the individual’s expression on emotion and imagination; good literature should have heart, not rules. Some of the most famous authors who wrote during American Romanticism were Nathaniel Hawthorne, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Henry David Thoreau, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. American Romanticism is important because it was the “historical period of literature in which modern readers most began to see their selves and their own conflicts and desires”. Romanticism was a literary revolution.