American Romanticism What are the origins of

American Romanticism

What are the origins of Romanticism? • The Romantic movement is a movement that began in Europe in the late 18 th century • The Romantic period was an intellectual and artistic movement—this includes literature, visual art, music and architecture • The Romantic movement flourished in Britain— we still read many of the British Romantic poets such as William Blake, William Wordsworth, John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron.

American Romanticism • The movement began in America in 1828 (roughly) • It ended in 1865 with the onslaught of the Civil War, which led to the Age of Realism.

The Characteristics of Romanticism • Romanticism is a direct reaction to the Revolutionary period (Britain: Age of Enlightenment), a period that focused on reason, traditional forms of poetry and science. • An emphasis on the beauty and purity of nature • Emphasis of emotion over reason • Belief in the natural goodness of man • Belief that nature and simplicity= purity and cities and sophistication= corruption • Belief in “The 5 I’s”- Imagination, Intuition, Innocence, Inner Experience, and Inspiration from nature/supernatural

Characteristics of Romanticism • Another integral part of the Romantic period is the concept of the Romantic hero, a concept that emerged during this movement and still exists today

The Romantic Hero • The Romantic Hero valued emotion rather than rational thought, he often lived excluded from society, and became one with the natural world. He was youthful, innocent, intuitive, close to nature, and hopelessly uneasy with women who represented the trappings of civilization. • The “Noble Savage” – an idealization of the Native American as the epitome (best example) of simplicity, innocence and closeness with nature.

The Romantic Hero

Famous Romantics and their Works • Washington Irving– “Rip Van Winkle” The Legend of Sleep Hollow • James Fenimore Cooper—The Last of the Mohicans • William Cullen Bryant (poet)- “Thanatopsis” • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow- “Evangeline” • Edgar Allan Poe- many poems and short stories • Herman Melville- Moby Dick • Nathaniel Hawthorne- “The Scarlet Letter”, short stories

The Dark Romantics • Emphasizes the supernatural, grotesque, the gloomy and the morbid. • Unlike the Romantics, the Dark Romantics acknowledged the evil of man and the horror of evil. • The Dark Romantics- Edgar Allan Poe ( the father of the horror genre), Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville.

Note • Remember: The Romantic period is not about Romantic love! It is a literary movement and has nothing to do with the romance novel.