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Grace Berg, Courtney Crapser, Kimmy Hong English 11 Honors Mrs. Kelly Period 2 9 May 2014 Romantic Period The Romantic Period was a time when authors and poets such as Longfellow, Bryant, Irving, and Wadsworth wrote stories and poems to illustrate the American Dream in a new light of love, freedom, and adventure. The will to succeed through feelings rather than intuition was evident throughout the Romanticism period, shown by authors through such characters as the Romantic Hero; tones of achieving reflected the American Dream shared among the people through stories and experiences. During the Romantic Period, the American Dream could be characterized as the time to find success and self-realization through extreme effort, which was shown through such acts of stories and poems. People were exhausted of conforming to the social norm, in order to display their true self, they carved, wrote, and performed their beliefs into their works for everyone to see. “Romanticism, more than anything else, is the cult of the individual--the cultural and psychological nativity of the i--the self--the inner spark of divinity that links one human being to another and all human beings to the larger truth” (Romanticism 1). Romanticism could be seen as relating to the counterculture of the 1960s, those who were against the government and more about the happiness of the individual. Longfellow, Bryant, Irving, and Wadsworth were all poets during the Romantic period, along with others, they were shortly joined by a group called the Fireside Poets; these poets not only shared their stories, but shaped in the Romantic Period. They published many different stories for the people in the Romantic era to read and conforme into what they should be. A way tha... ... middle of paper ... ...ny risk in saving the damsel in distress. A damsel in distress is a young, beautiful, helpless woman that is in the need of being saved because she got herself in the wrong type of situation that she is not able to get herself out of on her own. A prime example of literature that has the Romantic hero and the damsel in distress is the movie The Last of the Mohicans, Natty Bumppo being the romantic hero and the damsel was Madeleine Stowe waiting for Natty to come and save her from the Indians that had kidnapped her. The movie allowed the viewer to get all points of view giving them the chance to see the hero and damsel in distress, letting the viewer truly get the concept of the Romantic Period. Over the years, the classic man saving the helpless woman routine, has evolved into a more feminist view where the woman saves the man, for example .
Romanticism is an essential part of the early forms of American literature. Romantic’s, who value feelings and intuition as opposed to reason, seek to reveal higher truths through their writings. One way to reveal these truths is by the use imagination, as Washington Irving and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow do. Through the utilization of imagination, Washington Irving and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow reveal distinct truths about life.
American Romanticism was a time period of the 18th century that allowed authors to break away from traditional literary styles and explore new ideals within their writing. Rather than science and reason, the focus of Romantic writing is centers around aspects such as feeling and insight. Specifically Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Ralph Waldo Emerson, are two of the many authors who demonstrated ideas of Romanticism within their works. Both Longfellow as well as Emerson exemplify the use of nature in their literature with the purpose of displaying specific truths about life.
In the Romantic Era, known as the reaction to the age of reason, the emotional aspect of humankind was explored and embraced. Many writers used different types of characters and rhetorical devices to convey individual beliefs of human nature. Washington Irving and Edgar Allan Poe were famous for their works of romanticism. While Irving creates a humorous tone through his setting and characters, Poe’s mood is one of despair to convey the human condition.
Romanticism is the style of writing that the author uses to express each poem and the elements that are involved within such as nature, emotion, individualism, nationalism, idealism, and imagination. What makes a poem romantic is “The ideas around art as inspiration, the spiritual and aesthetic dimension of nature, and metaphors or organics” (Spanckeren 2). Poets that are associated with romanticism are Walt Whitman, Edgar Allen Poe, and Emily Dickinson. Whitman’s poem is “When I heard the learn’d astronomer”. Poe’s poem is “Annabel Lee”. Dickinson poem is “The Soul Selects Her Own Society”. The American Romantic Movement is fully represented by Dickinson, Poe, and Whitman.
Walt Whitman described Henry Wadsworth Longfellow as the “universal poet of young people” (Kunitz 10). He is the “poet of the sympathetic gestures” whose poetry was a “universal pastime and delight” (Kinsella 256). During the early 1800s, the literary movement Romanticism became popular in literature. It emphasized passion over reason, imagination over logic, human feelings and individual freedom. Economic and social reform were emphasized and writers, like Longfellow, would base their writings off of medieval times, folklore and legends, nature and common people (Lipking 18/19). With the ambitious vibes and beliefs of the Romanticism period, along with his great childhood and calm nature, Longfellow became one of the most sought after writers of all time (Kinsella 256).
The Dark Romantics or Gothic Fiction was part of the Romanticism Movement that emphasized the use of primitive, medieval, wild and mysterious elements including supernatural events and horrifying situations. The Dark Romantics took place in the eighteen hundreds and started as a reaction to the Transcendentalists, but did not entirely embrace the ideas of Transcendentalism. The Dark Romantic works were less optimistic than the transcendental works that believed that knowledge could be arrived at not just through the senses, but also through intuition and contemplation of the internal spirit. The Romantics took on a shadowy approach to the fantastical with the use of creepy symbols, horrific themes, and psychological effects of guilt and sin.
A time in literary history, where one writes with the mindset that consists of augmenting the truth and creating an ideal world through literature, is known as the Romantic period. The Romantic period started in the early 1800s and continued throughout the 1860s. Throughout this era, the efforts of great writers are seen and admired. Nathaniel Hawthorne is a well known writer during the period. He is an example of a writer who understood the idea of Romanticism and incorporated it in his works of literature. Through his writing he embodies romanticism by putting an emphasis on the sinful nature of humans and how it affects the sinner and the people around them, and this is done through symbolism. Symbolism is an important element in the writing
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.
It will be interesting to discover how Romantic literature in England and the United States parallel one another and what origins caused the two to be diverse and distinctive. Some possibilities are varying history, culture, and geography. Writers looked to the past for inspiration in their works; this shaped their views and how their writing was carried out. With America being a newly democratic nation free from upper class nobles, a sense of being limitless and unrestricted was created. While on the other hand, England had been ruled by a king for hundreds and hundreds of years, and many writers were influenced by the ideals of the French Revolution. The diverse nature of the United States also plays into the experimentation and unique character in literature during the Romantic Period. There
William Wordsworth, like Blake, was linked with Romanticism. In fact, he was one of the very founders of Romanticism. He wrote poems are about nature, freedom and emotion. He was open about how he felt about life and what his life was like. Also, Wordsworth wrote poems about the events going on around him ? for instance the French Revolution. Mainly, Wordsworth wrote about nature, however, rarely used simple descriptions in his work. Instead, Wordsworth wrote complexly, for example in his poem ?Daffodils?.
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.
The political, ideological, and economic climate of the late 18th and early 19th centuries was ideal for allowing the Romantic Revolution to take hold and flourish. It began primarily in England and France, but soon spread to much of Europe and to the United States. This essay will focus on the Romantic’s relationship with the natural world, their distaste for the Industrial Revolution, and how the Romantic poets valued imagination and emotional connections. The Romantics had a lasting impact on European and American society, political ideals, and the regard we hold for ideals and values such as nature and childhood. The Romantic’s ideas ran counter to much of the thinking of the intellectual community and to the values of industry and government of the time. By changing and challenging the minds of the masses to think differently they created a revolution in literature.
To the Romantics, the imagination was important. It was the core and foundation of everything they thought about, believed in, and even they way they perceived God itself. The leaders of the Romantic Movement were undoubtedly Samuel Taylor Coleridge and his close friend, William Wordsworth. Both were poets, and both wrote about the imagination. Wordsworth usually wrote about those close to nature, and therefore, in the minds of the Romantics, deeper into the imagination than the ordinary man. Coleridge, however, was to write about the supernatural, how nature extended past the depth of the rational mind.
The age of Realism brought together intellectuals such as the father of modern short stories, Henrik Ibsen, and famous musicians such as Scott Joplin. This exact movement communicated an abandonment from the influences of both the intellectual and romantic movements that came before it in America. Some of the most recognized works of American music and literature were produced outside of the period of Realism.
William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge are two of the major figures of the Romantic period and their writings had a great impact on people and the anti-revolutionary spirit.