1. American Romanticism
Early 1800’s to 1865

2. We will walk with our own feet. We will work with our own hands
We will walk with our own feet. We will work with our own hands. We will speak our own minds -Ralph Waldo Emerson
What type of values might American Romantics embraced, judging from this quote? Shun industrial progress, disliked factory products, were non comformists

3. Before we look at what Romanticism IS, we have to think about what it IS NOT!
Despite the name of the literary period, Romanticism does not deal with sappy love stories.
THIS IS NOT THE KIND OF LITERATURE THAT WE ARE GOING TO STUDY!

4. So what IS Romanticism?
Romanticism is the name for the literary period that followed the Age of Reason (The Revolutionary Period) in America.
Due to the fact that the country was now established, writers moved their focus away from political matters and revolutionary governmental ideas, and began to focus on other aspects of life (emotions, possibilities, imagination etc…)

5. Characteristics of American Romanticism
Values feeling and intuition over reason
Places faith in inner experience and the power of the imagination
Shuns the artificiality of civilization and seeks unspoiled nature
Prefers youthful innocence to educated sophistication
Champions individual freedom and the worth of the individual
Contemplates nature’s beauty as a path to spiritual and moral development
What would have been the subjects of painters of American Romanticism? What might be the topics of writing? Painters- wild landscapes, ominous skies, ancient ruins, rustic scenes

6. Characteristics (continued)
Looks backward to the wisdom of the past and distrusts progress
Finds beauty and truth in exotic locals, the supernatural realm, and the inner world of the imagination
Embraced the antique;nature was an instrument of instruction and delight for the soul

7. A sample of American Romantic art- note the wild landscape, no hint of civilization and ominous clouds.
A sample of American Romantic art- note the wild landscape, no hint of civilization. Ominous clouds

8. Types of literature prevalent in Romanticism…
Short stories
Novels
Poetry
Essays

9. Elements of Romanticism
Frontier: vast expanse, freedom, no geographic limitations.
Optimism: greater than in Europe because of the presence of frontier.
Experimentation: in science, in institutions.
Mingling of races: immigrants in large numbers arrive to the US.
Growth of industrialization: polarization of north and south; north becomes industrialized, south remains agricultural.

10. Romantic Subject Matter
The quest for beauty and does not tell people how to live their lives
Escapism - from American problems. The use of the far-away and non-normal
Interest in external nature - for itself, for beauty:
Nature as source for the knowledge of the primitive.
Nature as refuge.
Nature as revelation of God to the individual.

11. Romantic Techniques Remoteness of settings in time and space.
Improbable plots.
Inadequate or unlikely characterization.
Socially "harmful morality;" a world of "lies."
Organic principle in writing: form rises out of content, non-formal.

12. Representative writers
William Cullen Bryant
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
DARK ROMANTICS
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Herman Melville
Edgar Allan Poe

13. BIG PICTURE.
Romantic VIEW OF MAN: Focus on the individual and his inner world (imagination and emotions).

14. BIG PICTURE
Romantic VIEW OF NATURE: Nature is beautiful, mysterious, and symbolic. God can be seen in nature.

15. BIG PICTURE
Romantic GUIDE TO TRUTH: Intuition (inner voice or gut feeling) and imagination guides each individual to understanding.

16. Dark Romanticism or American Gothic
Edgar Allen Poe with Hawthorne and Melville known as anti-Transcendentalists or Dark Romantics
Had much in common with Transcendentalists
Explored conflicts between good and evil, psychological effects of guilt and sin, and madness
Known as anti- T because of their pessimism
Like the T’s, they valued intuition over logic and reason

17. Dark
Romanticists
Herman Melville
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Edgar Allan Poe

18. Transcendentalism
An important American Literary and Philosophical Movement (though NOT a religion) 1830s to 1860s

19. Transcend (v)
to go beyond a limit or range, for example, of thought or belief
So, TRANSCENDENTALISM, at its core is about “moving beyond” common experience and understanding.

20. Transcendentalism
The idea that in determining the ultimate reality of God, the universe, the self, and other important matters, one must transcend, or go beyond, everyday human experience in the physical world.
Also based on Romantic ideas
Based on intuition; optimistic
Shared the Puritan philosophy that saw signs and symbols in human events

21. Themes of Transcendentalism
There is a direct connection between the universe and the individual soul
By thinking about objects in nature, people can transcend the world and discover a union with their own soul
Follow your intuition and beliefs no matter how much they differ from the social norms
All people are inherently good

22. So who were a few Transcendentalists?
Ralph Waldo Emerson (former Unitarian minister from Massachusetts who became the most well known Transcendentalist.)
Henry David Thoreau (his pupil, the son of pencil maker who dropped out of society to live a solitary and transcendent life).

23. Transcendentalists
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Henry David Thoreau

24. Why did Transcendentalism become popular?
As with Romanticism, Americans felt that there must be more to life than logical, rational experience.
The Transcendentalists sought to regain a spirituality that they thought was missing from current thought and philosophy.

25. Transcendentalism With a partner answer the following questions.
How are you affected by nature? Do you find comfort in it? Do you reflect the moods of nature?
What is the role of nature in your life?
What is meant by an individual’s spiritual side? How do you define it?
What is the connection between the individual’s spirit and nature?
What does it mean to know something intuitively?
How do you demonstrate that you are an individual? Do you think independently of others or do you follow the crowd?