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“Roses are red; Violets are blue” NOT
ROMANTICISM “Roses are red; Violets are blue” NOT
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Roots in European Romanticism
Begins Germany, late 18th century England: 1798 – 1830s Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats, Shelley, Byron, etc. America: 1800s – 1860s Irving, Cooper, Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Melville, Poe, Whitman, etc. Image: William Wordsworth
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From Rationalism to Romanticism
Challenged Puritan way of thinking that God is active in our daily lives Believed humans arrived at truth by using reason. Journey toward independence, prosperity, and industry. ROMANTICISM Humans arrive at truth through studying nature and thus themselves. Valued feeling and intuition. Journey toward moral clarity, healthful living, and independence in nature.
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The City, Grim and Gray Rationalists believed the city was a place for commerce and thus prosperity. Due to industrialization, the city became a place of filth and disease. Because of overpopulation, living conditions were unsanitary and resources were scarce which caused a spike in the crime rate.
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What about the children?
There were 20,000 homeless children on the streets of New York. Some worked in sweatshops, some sold toothpicks or newspapers, and others turned to petty crime. If the children lived to be twenty, they were lucky. Disease, accidents, overexposure, violence, and starvation often killed them before that time.
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Romantics wanted to escape this horrific city life.
Central Park was Romantic poet William Cullen Bryant’s idea. He searched for a place of peace in the chaos of the city.
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Romantic Escapism Romantics wanted to rise above ‘dull realities’ (the hustle and bustle of city life) Search for Exotic Settings The more ‘natural’ past Away from the grimy and noisy industrial age The supernatural realm Old legends and folklore Reflection in Nature Nature reveals underlying beauty and truth found lessons in nature and therefore God Romantics’ reflections in nature led to more general emotional and intellectual truths.
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The American Novel America provided a sense of limitless frontiers that Europe, so long settled, did not possess. The American Novel coincided with westward expansion, the nationalistic spirit, and the spread of cities. Unique American settings and characters: frontier communities, American Indians, backwoodsmen, and the western wilderness.
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The New American Hero Rational Hero Worldly Educated Sophisticated
Valued civilization Romantic Hero Youthful Innocent Intuitive Close to nature
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Transcendentalism Believed that everything in the world is a reflection of the divine soul. The physical facts of the world are a doorway to the spiritual or ideal world. Intuition allows people to behold God’s spirit (either revealed in nature or their own souls). Self-Reliance and individualism outweigh authority and blind conformity to custom and tradition. Feelings and intuition are superior to intellectualism and rationality.
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What does it mean?
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The Sublime Heightened psychological state
Overwhelming experience of awe, reverence, comprehension Achieved when soul is immersed in grandeur of nature Sense of transcendence from everyday world Image: Wanderer, Caspar David Friedrich
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The Dark Romantics The dark romantics focused on the less optimistic aspects of humanity and nature. The following are some common subjects and settings: destructive underside of appearances conflict between good/evil effects of guilt and sin Nature as scary
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What’s the Difference? Romantics Dark Romantics Transcendentalist
Celebrates feeling over reason Values imagination over science Prefers nature to society Celebrates freedom and the individual spirit. Transcendentalist Mostly the same as the Romantics but with a religious or spiritual twist Found truth in nature Optimistic; God is good; God is present in nature (including humans). Dark Romantics Mostly the same as the Romantics but with a more pessimistic outlook. Religious aspects were focused more on sin, evil, and guilt. (Like the puritans).
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The 5 I’s of Romanticism Intuition is the ability to know things spontaneously through our emotions rather than through our reasoning capabilities. Imagination is the ability to imagine things that are not real or that you have not experienced. Innocence is a lack of experience with the bad things that happen in life. Inspiration is a force or influence from nature that causes someone to do or create something. Inner Experience relates to a person’s mind or spirit.
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