Romanicism In 19th Century Lit

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#1) If one were to look up realism in the thesaurus, romanticism will be found as the antonym. However in the works of Harriet Prescott Spofford and Kate Chopin these two elements go hand in hand. Focusing on Spofford’s short story, “Circumstance,” and Chopin’s short story, “The Storm,” these two selections maintain a smooth transition between realism and romanticism.
In Harriet Prescott Spofford’s “Circumstance” she tells of a woman who is visiting a sick neighbor. Where they live neighbors are miles apart, with the woods between being home for many wild animals, as well as Indian tribes. The woman stays with the neighbor too long and does not realize night is approaching, and she hurries home. Spofford begins the story in a very realistic tone. On her way home she is attacked by a sort of mountain lion. Spofford gives a romantic description of the beast, never giving the exact name of the animal. “Suddenly, a swift shadow, like the fabulous flying-dragon, writhed through the air before her, and she felt herself instantly seized and borne aloft. It was that wild beast- the most savage and serpentine and subtle and fearless of out latitudes- known by hunters as the Indian Devil.” (86) In her definition she keeps the beast from being real. Describing the animal as a beast, a flying dragon, and a devil gives the reader a mysterious impression of the animal, rather than being realistic and calling this flying dragon ...

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