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 …show more content…
During the 19th century, American romantic writers were trying to disconnect themselves from past literary styles; writers often added a “theme of unusual remoteness regarding time and space” to make this disconnect literal and obvious to the reader (Deter). In “Ligeia,” Poe accomplishes this by making the narrator lose track of time. The narrator cannot even remember how he knows his wife or when or where they met: “I cannot, for my soul, remember how, when, or even precisely where, I first became acquainted with the lady Ligeia.” (Deter). He doesn’t even know his beloved wife’s last name. Ligeia has completely taken control of the narrator’s mind and altered his perception of time and events. In this sense, she is supernatural and can control time, at least for the opium-addicted narrator, anyway. Furthermore, Ligeia’s identity has no clear-cut beginning (since we don’t know when or how she met the narrator) or end (since she never really dies in the mind of the narrator). Additionally, we don’t know how Ligeia is able to manipulate time and space to come back to life in the body of another woman. It appears that under the influence of drugs, the narrator epitomizes romantic idealism. He takes no note of time when observing Ligeia’s revival: “It might have been midnight, or perhaps earlier, or later, for I had taken no note of time, when a sob, low, gentle, but very distinct, startled me from my revery (sp) . . .” (Lombardi). Without a sense of time, space, or reality, the narrator’s first-hand account is questionable at best, but serves its mysterious and misleading purpose. It’s this sort of innovation and defiance of other 18th-century writer’s philosophies that makes Poe a
Although the eras of romanticism, realism, and reason differed in many ways, they each individually influenced change in the three main components of American literature; style, theme, and literary devices.
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.
"From the first day that the United States won its independance, thoughtful Americans have attempted to define the new national identity" that decolonization invited. Becoming an independant political nation forced citizens to suddenly devise a "community and character" (Finkelman, 63) worthy of this newborn America. It was believed that, once free from Birtish fetters, a unique American character would emerge automatically. But this was not so, and it was left up to the artits, politictians, scientists, businessmen and women, and every other citizen to contrive the American identity. Those who were most accomplished at scrutinizing the American identity and what it was, were the many authors and writers of the 19th century.
The Romantic Movement, or period, was from the year 1828 to about 1865. The main feature of the American Romantic period was the celebration and praise of individualism. This time is also considered to be the first period of genuine American creativity. Emotion, instead of reason, became the largest source of inspiration and creativity during this period. All of this was a reaction to all of the constraints that were forced on people during the era of Realism. At this time in history, America was in a great period of expansion, the writers of the American Romantic period were discovering that could create a new and vastly different voice for this new era in time.
The author regresses back to a state of mind where Ligeia existed in which he cannot stop his mind from wandering to that state. As humans,
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 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
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 mirroring, or doubling, of Ligeia and Rowena in Edgar AIlan Poe's "Ligeia" is more than a technique used to give symmetry and balance to a horror story about the dying who refuse to stay dead. The two women also become emblems of the "real" world and the "dream" world, serving as emissaries and guides to the narrator and reader who mirror both worlds and must choose one. Thus, Ligeia is the dark dream-world personified, a gate to the opium-laden existence the narrator craves, just as Rowena is the fair epitome of the bland, light-infused world of reality, an anchor to the mundane world the narrator literally goes insane to avoid. In order to illustrate the ethereal gating quality of Ligeia and the deadly anchoring quality of Rowena, I will first establish them firmly within their respective realms of fiction and fact. In order to illustrate the "double doubling" of the narrator, I will explore how Ligeia and Rowena interact with him, pushing him to extremes of dreaming and reality, and the deadly choice he must make.
In the late eighteenth century the French Revolution had begun and England was finishing up its quest to build a world empire. England had captured many countries during the seven year war including Canada and India, but had lost its colonies in the War of Independence in America. Life was changing rapidly by the end of the eighteenth century with the beginning of industrialization. Out of the ashes of all the war and turmoil throughout the world at that time, an art form we now refer to as Romantic Poetry was born. Young writers were trying to escape from life that in their mind did not make any sense. They had enough of scientific knowledge, factual data, and intellectual reasoning. Their focus and interests were on people's feelings, their emotions, and a love for nature. This was also a close connection to the French Revolution and the reasoning behind the war, to place the focus on the people. Their written words were simplistic and easy to understand by most. You could compare the Romantics to the hippie movement of the sixties; the romantic writers wanted a change of pace from the thinkers and scientists from the Age of Enlightenment.
In the story of Ligeia, Poe uses intensely descriptive passages detailing both the characteristics of Ligeia and the setting in which the story takes place. This attention to detail is used in order to enhance the story and the mood. For instance, the narrator gives us a lengthy description of Ligeia’s “larger than ordinary eyes” that are “blacker than the raven wings of midnight” (Poe, “Ligeia” par 3,29). This, along with the usage of opiates, is used to develop the mystery at the conclusion of the story.
Edgar Allan Poe spent so much of his life dealing with loss and death of family, that it is no wonder that his poetry and stories absorbed those experiences. His writings reflect what he experienced in his life through supernatural and exaggerated plots, settings, and especially characters.. The tone of his writing is known to be dark and ominous and often had a recurring theme of death. He also often wrote about love, but they were generally not happy stories. His personal experience with love, bot familial and romantic, often ended with death and substance abuse. The effects of his life seem especially prevalent in the characters of his story “Ligeia”. Each of the three characters contains a reflection of his life, in both positive and negative ways. Trying to understand the characters and their roles within the stories can bring out many connections and similarities Poe’s personal life that would otherwise go unnoticed. At first glance, the narrator, Ligeia, and Rowena are not particularly complex characters, however when you compare them to the people in Poe’s past, they become much more than just their face value.
The Dream of American Romanticism The Romantic Movement seized America from 1800 to 1860. A romantic is the name given to those who value feeling and intuition over reason (Arpin 162). During this time period, Americans were migrating westward to explore the land of America. Moving towards the countryside, they pursued beauty and tried evading their daily troubles. Romantics argued that art rather than science could best express universal truth (The Romantic Period, 1820-1860: Essayists and Poets). The romantics took a less rational approach with their beliefs. Rationalists and romantics had a very different look on cities. Rationalists looked at them as a place for success. Romantics ran from these cities viewing them as a place of poverty and death. During this time Americans felt a sense of freedom from English rule. Frontier promised opportunity for expansion, growth, freedom; Europe lacked this element (American Romanticism Overview). Americans felt the need to explore science and the land of North America. This movement brought literature of fireside poetry to the American Hero. Over the course of the American Romantic Period, focusing on emotions, changed the way Americans comprehended upward mobility in the American dream, which in turn changed the way authors wrote and lived their lives. The numerous characteristics of the romantic period helped shape the era. Romantics obsessed over the idea of individuality. They felt the need to have self-expression. They felt that they could do anything with self-reliance. “One could live without fear not because it was possible to control events but because it was possible to achieve self-control” (Cullen 71). Henry David Thoreau expressed himself by getting away from everybody and ...
The American Romantic movement influenced many writers to write novels and poems, including Edgar Allan Poe, who is well-known for his short stories, poems, and critics. His writing made major impacts on American and international literature. Many Romantic writers wrote about the beauty of nature while Poe wrote about dark romanticism. He incorporated horror, mystery, and love into his poems. Poe wrote astonishing poems, including “Evening Star,” “A Valentine,” “The Bridal Ballad,” “You Left Me,” and “Beauty, Love, and Loss.” These poems share a common idea that connects to the Romantic period. Poe talks about a type of romance that turned gothic because his emotions interacted with the problems during the Romantic Era.
At the turn of the 20th century, the American people experienced a turbulent change in the way they viewed the world. During the preceding Romantic Period, originating in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, literature and thought had been geared towards hopeful longing, romantic optimism and an abundant use of flowery, complex language, both in the spoken and written word. Romantic poets such as John Keats and William Wordsworth used intricate metaphors and descriptive imagery to give vast, inspiring meaning to their works, which usually encompassed topics such as love, life and belonging. To describe the beauty and spiritual gravity of this time period, French poet Charles Baudelaire stated, "To say the word Romanticism is to say modern art - that is, intimacy, spirituality, color, aspiration towards the infinite, expressed by every means available to the arts."