Romanticism and Realism: Examples of Mark Twain and Herman Melville Novels

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English Essay Rough Draft Romanticism and realism are two very different styles of writings. They both came about in the 19th century. Writing through romanticism is a way to express your emotions in a deeper way, but writing through realism is a way to express your true feelings about how the world is. In Herman Melville’s Moby Dick he uses romanticism to express his point. In The War Prayer by Mark Twain, the speaker talks about the real aspects of war. 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. Realism started in France in the 1830s. It was very popular there for a long time. A man named Friedrich Schiller came up with the word “realism.” Realism is based on contemporary life. There is a very accurate and honest representation of characters in this style of art. Realism tries to combine romanticism and the enlightenment. Life isn’t just about mind and not just about feelings either, it’s about both feelings and reason together. As said in the na... ... middle of paper ... ...and the way that the opposing sides think of each other is awful. The fact that one side is praying for disaster to come on their enemies isn’t showing God’s love and at the end of the poem it says, “We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love.” It is out of love for their own soldiers but not for the soldiers on the other side. This poem shows the real aspects of people’s feelings about war. Many people don’t want their own side to be crushed, but they don’t care if the other side does get crushed. Romanticism and realism can be presented through poetry, novels, or even paintings. These two styles of art were big in the 19th century. Romanticism is freeing the mind through different types of art. Realism is being real about ones circumstances, even if it’s ugly or not appealing. These two styles of writing are very important in literature.

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