Romanticism Test Review

Romanticism  A Movement in art, literature, and music during the 19 th century  Characterized by the five “I”s  Imagination  Intuition  Idealism  Inspiration  Individuality

Romanticism  Imagination: Emphasized over “reason.” It was a backlash against the “Age of Reason.”  Intuition: Romantics placed value on “intuition,” or feelings and instincts over reason.  Can you think of examples of these two from “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” or “The Devil and Tom Walker”?

Romanticism  Idealism: The concept that we can make the world a better place. It refers to any theory that emphasizes the spirit, the mind, or language over matter- thought plays a crucial role in making the world the way it is.  From “Self Reliance”: “Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.” - Emerson

Romanticism  Inspiration: The romantic artist in an “inspired creator” rather than a technical master.” What this means is “going with the moment” or being spontaneous rather than “getting it precise.”

Romanticism  Example of Inspiration from “Self Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson:  “Ah, so you shall be misunderstood.” Is it so bad to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, [great thinkers whose radical theories and viewpoints caused controversy] and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.”

Romanticism  Individuality: Romantics celebrate the individual. They write about personal feelings and ideas. During this time, Women’s rights and Abolitionism were taking root as major movements.  Example from “Song of Myself” by Whitman: “I celebrate myself, and sing myself…”

Themes in Romantic Literature 1. Individualism (Nonconformity and Self-Reliance) 2. Imagination and the Supernatural 3. Nature vs. City (Simplicity vs. Materialism) 4. Distant or Remote Settings List specific examples of these from the literature we have covered in this unit. The next slide will tell you what literature will be on the test. Try specifically to tackle #3.

Literature Covered TitleAuthor “The Devil and Tom Walker”Washington Irving “Self Reliance”Ralph Waldo Emerson “Civil Disobedience”Henry David Thoreau “Song of Myself” “I Sit and Look Out” “I Hear America Singing” Walt Whitman “The Raven” “Masque of the Red Death” “The Fall of the House of Usher” (Honors) Edgar Allan Poe

The Devil and Tom Walker Tom Walker and his wife are a miserable couple who live in a run down home with their starving horse. One day, Tom takes the long way home through a swamp to avoid his wife. This spooky swamp has a history of pirates, buried treasure protected by the Devil, and Indian sacrifice rituals. Tom stumbles on the Devil. Devil says he will make Tom rich (with the unmentioned price of selling Tom’s soul). Tom is not sure. Tom tells wife. Wife goes to strike deal with Devil. Devil kills wife. Tom then strikes deal with Devil to be a usurer, a money lender who charges high interest rates that unsuspecting clients cannot pay back. Tom is happy with his new job, but as he ages, he becomes more concerned about the deal he has made. He carries a bible in his pocket, and leaves a bible on his work desk. He even prays loudly in church. One day, a client says he cannot pay Tom his money because his family is broke. Tom gets angry and says, “The Devil can take me if I have made a farthing!” The Devil then barges in, swoops Tom onto his horse, and they ride off to Hell. All of Tom’s assets are burned to cinders. THE END.

Self Reliance by Emerson  Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist.  With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall. Speak what you think now in hard words and tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict everything you said today.  A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin [a source of fear or dread] of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.  Notice that Emerson does not criticize all consistency, only “foolish” consistency that does not allow for change or progress.  “Ah, so you shall be misunderstood.” Is it so bad to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, [great thinkers whose radical theories and viewpoints caused controversy] and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.”

Civil Disobedience by Thoreau  I meet this American government, or its representative, the State government, directly, and face to face, once a year--no more--in the person of its tax-gatherer; this is the only mode in which a man situated as I am necessarily meets it; and it then says distinctly, Recognize me; and the simplest, the most effectual, and, in the present posture of affairs, the mode of treating with it on this head, of expressing your little satisfaction with and love for it, is to deny it then. My civil neighbor, the tax-gatherer, is the very man I have to deal with--for it is, after all, with men and not with parchment that I quarrel--and he has voluntarily chosen to be an agent of the government. … I know this well, that if one thousand, if one hundred, if ten men whom I could name--if ten honest men only--ay, if one HONEST man, in this State of Massachusetts, ceasing to hold slaves, were actually to withdraw from this co-partnership, and be locked up in the county jail therefore, it would be the abolition of slavery in America. "That government is best which governs least” "If the law is of such nature that it requires you to be an agent of injustice to another, then I say, break the law."

Walt Whitman Poetry “I Hear America Singing” – An uplifting poem about America’s working class and their contribution to our country “I Sit and Look Out” – An exposure to the negative injustices of America’s working class “Song of Myself” – Taken from his book of poetry titled Leaves of Grass, these poems are all about Whitman connecting himself to nature and the grand scheme of life. He explains that grass represents “the uncut hair” above graves, and that there is no death, only “forward life.” When he dies, he becomes one with the soil, which fertilizes our food, which in turn we digest. So all of us will meet up one day in the ground or in someone’s blood after they have ingested us! This is also where “I sound my barbaric YAWP” comes from in Dead Poets Society.

The Raven by Poe It's late at night, and late in the year (after midnight on a December evening, to be precise). A man is sitting in his room, half reading, half falling asleep, and trying to forget his lost love, Lenore. Suddenly, he hears someone (or something) knocking at the door. He calls out, apologizing to the "visitor" he imagines must be outside. Then he opens the door and finds…nothing. This freaks him out a little, and he reassures himself that it is just the wind against the window. So he goes and opens the window, and in flies the raven. The Raven settles in on a statue above the door, and for some reason, our speaker's first instinct is to talk to it. He asks for its name, and the Raven answers back, with a single word: "Nevermore." The man asks more questions, particularly about his lost Lenore and if he will ever see her again. The bird's vocabulary turns out to be pretty limited, though; all it says is "Nevermore." Our narrator catches on to this rather slowly, and asks more and more questions, which get more painful and personal about Lenore. The Raven, though, doesn't change his story, and the poor speaker starts to lose his sanity.

The Masque of the Red Death by Poe Poe writes about the Red Plague, modeled after the Black Plague happening during Poe’s lifetime. The Red Plague is all about people oozing blood from painful sores and dying in a half an hour. Because of the plague, Prince Prospero decides to host a masquerade party with crazy entertainment, dancing, food and wine. He invites a thousand lords and ladies to attend this party that lasts for months. He shuts everyone into his kingdom, and his home is set up in seven different colored rooms, representing the stages of life. This eerie clock chimes every hour, and the guests get a little nervous about it but the party continues. Little do they know the clock represents their life time running out. When the clock strikes midnight, they notice a grim reaper type figure at the party and the guests get freaked out by this new guy they had not noticed. He starts walking toward the black and red room, so Prospero chases him all the way from the blue room to the black room. When Prospero tries to stab the character with his dagger, the Red Death turns around and Prospero falls dead. The guests become outraged and run toward the Red Death to rip off his mask, revealing nothing. Then, everyone else falls dead and the clock stops ticking. THE END.

The Fall of the House of Usher by Poe The narrator arrives at the House of Usher, a creepy mansion owned by his friend Roderick Usher. Roderick has been sick lately, afflicted by an "acuteness of the senses," or hyper-sensitivity to light, sound, taste, and tactile sensations; he feels that he will die of the fear he feels. Roderick wrote to his friend, the narrator, asking for help. The narrator spends some time admiring the spooky Usher edifice. While doing so, he explains that Roderick and his sister are the last of the Usher bloodline, and that the family is famous for its dedication to the arts. Eventually, the narrator heads inside to see his friend. Roderick attributes part of his illness to the fact that his sister, Madeline, suffers from catalepsy (a sickness involving seizures). He also believes that his creepy house is sentient (able to perceive things) and has a great power over him. He has not left the mansion in years. The narrator tries to help him get his mind off all this death and gloom by poring over the literature, music, and art that Roderick so loves but none of it seems to help.

The Fall of the House of Usher by Poe Roderick then tells the narrator that his sister is dead, and she appears to be dead when he looks at her. Although, she might have just looked like she is dead, post-seizure. The narrator then helps Roderick to entomb her body in one of the vaults underneath the mansion. Then one dark and stormy night, the narrator and Usher find themselves unable to sleep. It does not take long for Usher to freak out; he jumps up and declares that they buried Madeline alive and that now she is coming back. Sure enough, the doors blow open and there stands a trembling, bloody Madeline. She throws herself at Usher, who falls to the floor and, after "violent" agony, dies along with his sister. The narrator flees; outside he watches the House of Usher crack in two and sink into the dark, dank pool that lies before it.