American Romanticism 1800-1860

Objectives Understand the historical and social forces that shaped American Romanticism Interpret the way historical context influenced literary works in the Romantic Period Understand the relevance of the Romantic era to our own day

Rationalism Rationalism is the belief that human beings can arrive at truth by using reason, other than by relying on the authority of the past, on religious faith, or on intuition. This way of thinking led to the American Revolution at the end of the 17th century. We did not study much Rational literature because you have studied most of it in American History class: The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, “Common Sense,” the Federalist Papers, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, etc. Rationalists saw cities as a place of opportunity and promise, where dreams can come true.

The City, Gray and Grim In the early 1800’s, the largest cities were Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Charleston, and New York. Cities were overcrowded. Many lived in “tenements”, where 8 people lived in one room with no furniture and as many as 200 people might share one bathtub. The major mode of transport was horses. The streets were littered with horse droppings, and when a horse died, it’s body was left on the curb for days. Cities were plagued by disease, homelessness and crime.

American Romanticism Most students assume that “Romanticism” means that we are studying love poems. THIS IS NOT TRUE!!!! American Romanticism can best be described as a journey away from the corruption of civilization and the limits of rational thought. American Romantics moved toward the integrity of nature and the freedom of the imagination.

The Romantic Sensibility: Celebrating the Imagination Romanticism is the name given to any schools of thought that value feeling and intuition over reason. The repulsive and wretched working and living conditions in the cities showed the limits of reason. The Romantics believed that the imagination could comprehend truths that could not be reached with reason alone. These truths were often accompanied by powerful emotion, and were associated with natural, unspoiled beauty. The Romantics valued poetry above all other works of the imagination.

Romantic Escapism Romantics wanted to rise above “dull realities” to find a realm of higher truth. There were two ways that the Romantics tried to understand higher truths. One was to explore the past, the exotic and the supernatural. The other was to contemplate the natural world.

Characteristics of American Romanticism Find the characteristics of American Romanticism on Page 144 of the textbook. Blue text box in right-hand corner You have three minutes to complete this.

Answers to Fill-in the Blank Feelings and intuition over reason Experience; imagination Civilization; unspoiled nature Youthful innocence; educated sophistication Freedom; individual Beauty; spiritual; moral Past; progress Exotic; supernatural; imagination Poetry Myth, legend, and folk

America vs. Europe Prior to the American Romantic period, nearly all American literature is based on European models. American authors had not yet found a unique and “American” perspective to write from. The American frontier was a unique experience – all of Europe had been settled for hundreds of years. Novels related to westward expansion and the development of the frontier provided the first break from European literature In addition, Europeans tended to view Americans as unsophisticated and uncivilized.

A New Kind of Hero Some people (Like Benjamin Franklin) were offended by the European image of Americans and fought to prove it was untrue. The American Romantics turned the insult on its head They implied that there was more virtue in American innocence than in European sophistication, and more truths to be discovered in the American wilderness than in libraries or cities.

Characteristics of the American Romantic Hero Is young, or possesses youthful qualities Is innocent and pure of purpose Has a sense of honor based not on the rules of society, but on some higher principle Has a knowledge of people and of life based deep, intuitive understanding, not on formal learning Loves nature and avoids town life Quests for some higher truth in the natural world

Romantic Hero Can you think of a character that meets these characteristics? Think about the books you have read, the TV shows you have watched and the movies you have seen. What characters have you seen that fit three or four of the bullets above?

American Romantic Poetry: Read at every fireside While novelists were ignoring (or embracing) European criticisms of Americans, the Romantic poets were attempting to prove that Americans were not unsophisticated hicks. They did this by embracing classical European literary traditions and poetic forms.

Fireside Poets American poetry at this time was so popular that “The Fireside Poets*” of this time are still among the most famous (and successful) American poets. * The Fireside Poets are Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Greenleaf Whittier, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and James Russell Lowell They were called The Fireside Poets because families often read their poetry around the fire as a form of entertainment.