Romanticism Dbq Analysis

Analysis of Romantic Literatures Emotion, it is derived from an individual’s soul or inner-self. Emotions and the imagination are reactions to what we interact with in the world. They can be negative or positive and still have important parts in people’s lives. The focus is on the individual’s sentiment and idealistic views with an insufficient reality. Romanticism is a movement of artistic, literary, musical and intellectual views of emotions over logic.

During the early and mid-19th Century, a literature type known as Romanticism evolved in Europe, creating many works of poetry and literature that are still in use presently. Through Romanticism, poets wanted to shed the light on the beauties or the darknesses of human nature and humans themselves with different characteristics that define Romanticism. ¨Dr. Heideggar´s Experiment¨ by Nathaniel Hawthorne and a short story, Nature, by Ralph Waldo Emerson both present the Romantic Characteristic of preferring youthful innocence over educated sophistication. Both pieces advocate a preference for youth, but ¨Dr.

Romanticism denotes that literary and artistic movement which came into being as a reaction against Neoclassicism. It was a movement which brought liberalism into the sphere of art and literature, paving the way for innumerable artists and composers to emphasize the importance of individualism, solitude, freedom from rules and confinements, and spontaneity. Romanticisms renewed the creative minds’ urge to relive the past and remain fascinated by myths and mysticism that were the hallmark of the middle ages. American Romanticism was composed of some specific elements:

Romanticism was an artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe toward the end of the 18th century and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate period from 1800 to 1850. We as the readers see imagination, intuition, idealism, inspiration, and individuality from the authors of the Romantic period. Frederick Douglass wrote an oratory in 1852 called “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July” and what he says is “No nation can now shut itself up from itself from the surrounding world and trot round the same old path of its fathers without interference. The time was when such could be done. Long established customs of hurtful character could formerly fence themselves in, and do their evil work with social impunity...

Tim Blanning is a leading scholar in the Enlightenment through the French Revolution and the Napoleonic era. In his book “The Romantic Revolution” he argues that we must “... Enter the world of the romantics by the routes they chose themselves”. [ Tim Blanning, The romantic revolution, (London, 2010) ] This mean that to fully understand the romantic era we must know or experience it’s many appearances in literature, music and art. His book is filled with references to operas, paintings and novels from the time of the Romantic Revolution.

Romanticism As Americans evolved from Classicism to Romanticism there was much change, especially in literature. Classicism prioritized the idea of reason and valued “clarity, order, and balance” (Hodgins, 119). In contrast, Romanticism emphasized “importance upon the emotions and upon the individual” (Hodgins, 119). Early American Romanticists shared several central attitudes and ideas, including a concern with the “deeper” aspects of the human psychology that lie beyond rational awareness, and a tendency to value individualism over all social forms or systems.

During the period from 1760’s to the 1910’s, the European intellectual viewpoints have evolved over time starting with the Enlightenment, which sparked in the French Revolution. Equality and education became very important to the Europeans along with theories on human behavior and reason. Winding time forward, Romanticism was a movement in the arts and literature that emphasized passion, emotion of the individual, and admiration of nature. This praising of the individual transitioned to imperialism era, which was the colonization by the European powers, USA, and Empire of Japan. Every nation was in a competition to take over the natives’ land first.

The Romanticism period was where artists celebrated what was wild and illogical in humans, especially in America, the constraint of human control of untamed nature. Along with this, spontaneous and natural feelings were highlighted in Romanticism. Some other enormous aspects of Romanticism are the highlighting of heroic icons in these works, the intense emotions, and the exotic settings (MindEdge, 3.09). The French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars were a background for most of the works in this period.

“Written in 1816, when she was only nineteen, Mary Shelley’s novel of “The Modern Prometheus” chillingly dramatized the dangerous potential of life begotten upon a laboratory table. A frightening creation myth for our own time, Frankenstein remains one of the greatest horror stories ever written and is an undisputed classic of its kind” (Bantam Dell, 2002). In her novel, Mary Shelley expresses the worldview of a universe without a supreme God, a world where the race of man have immense power and knowledge and even the ability to impart life to non-life; a world where nature created itself and displays divinity. Although these views do not incorporate the Biblical worldview, several ideas of mankind in Frankenstein do assimilate with the truths of the Bible.

In the introduction Blanning argues that, besides the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution, the Romantic Revolution was as, if not more, important, and just as radical and extensive. He then sets out to prove his point in a very rational setting. In his introduction, Blanning writes that the only way one can hope to understand Romanticism is ‘to enter the world of the romantics by the routes they chose themselves.’ His argument is that in order to fully appreciate Romanticism, one must know, or at least experience, its many appearances in literature, art and music. The book is filled with references to the iconic paintings, operas and novels that were born during the Romantic era.

What’s demonstrably exigent in both Percy and Mary Shelley’s introductions to the latter’s novel is a sort of finite teleological regress; that is to say, a set of creative impetuses that organically, if not inevitably led to the design of Frankenstein as we today know it. On a meta level, the intent here is rather self-evident: these prefaces are meant to help us readers glean some meaningful insight as to the novel’s inception. But brief and relatively non-descript as they are, I find these sorts of exercises – namely, ones which try to plainly enumerate influences and meanings – to be antithetical to the very notion of the artful creative process. And to be clear, I do not blame either of the Shelleys for this, as it’s noted that these intros were written at the behest of publishers. Still, my misgivings abound.

The Romantic movement, starting in 1798 alongside the industrial revolution, was a time when emotion was emphasized because people wanted to escape modern life; not only in literature, but in architecture and music as well. The reader could go back in time, or visit a world where they would surely die, but then go about their normal lives when they finish reading. When standing in a romantic style building, the person can be taken to another era, where there are mysteries, and ghosts, but then go back home where they do not have to worry about getting hurt. The same happened with music in this time period. The person listening can get drawn into a melody; the chords create another world where everything has a song, every struggle is emphasized

The journey of American writing and how it shaped way we think and write. There are so many new things to look forward to and the exciting new adventures that were around in the new country. From Emily Dickinson and her way she discovered her own path to life. She uses romanticism in writing using nature to be a symbol of her freedom. Mark Twain brought a comedic view to the excitement and freedom of the frontier, with his travels throughout the west.

Romanticism and Nature Topic chosen for my research is based on romanticism and nature. Romanticism and nature are almost of same meaning to each other. Romanticism (also the romantic era or the Romantic period) was an artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of 18th century and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate period from 1800 to 1850. To set a typical example we can take it as romantic lyric which suggest a mystical relationship with nature. Many romantic poets has its ability to connect romanticism with nature through their expression of love, imagination and his experience in a natural setting to go beyond his/her everyday life.

The Romantic period believed that emotion was a form of intelligence, and art was a path to transcendence. As a result of the change in beliefs, Romantic poetry is often characterized by nature, imagination, memory, and wisdom. Imagination acts as a source of creativity, and allows us to see what is not immediately apparent. The Romantics believed that we could discover the imagination in nature, which often resulted in a harmony of the two. However, there are times when nature and imagination are in conflict with each other; for example, when imagination acts as an illusion, and distracts us from confronting the issue.