2. Factors leading to the rise of
Romanticism
Proliferation of Protestant
denominations
Independence in religion and politics
Egalitarianism
Rise of representative government
Expansion in the ―new world‖
―Evil‖ of industrialism and urbanization
Significant rise in literacy
3. Factors leading to the rise of
romanticism
Confusion generated
by science
• Darwin’s Origin of
Species stated
humanity’s mean
origins
• Marx’s Das Kapital
predicted capitalism’s
decay and a
triumphant working
class
4. The Spirit of the age
(1790 – 1860)
A sense of a shared vision among the
Romantics.
Early support of the French Revolution.
Rise of the individual = alienation.
Dehumanization of industrialization.
Radical poetics / politics = an obsession
with violent change.
5. A growing distrust of reason
Enlightenment Early
19c
Romanticism
Society is good, curbing Civilization corrupts!
violent impulses!
The essence of human experience is
subjective and emotional.
Human knowledge is a puny thing
compared to other great historical forces.
―Individual rights‖ are dangerous efforts
at selfishness = the community is more
important.
6. The romanticism Movement
Began in the 1790s and peaked in the 1820s.
Mostly in Northern Europe, especially in
Britain and Germany.
A reaction against classicism and rationalism
of the Enlightenment
The ―Romantic Hero:‖
• Greatest example was Lord
Byron
• Tremendously popular among
the European reading public.
• Youth imitated his haughtiness
and rebelliousness.
7. Characteristics of romanticism
Individualism
• Emphasis moved from:
• the stability of the community to the fulfillment
of the individual.
• the universal to the particular, for humankind to
nations and ethnic groups
• ―Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness‖
was a new ideal in the world.
• During this time period, Women’s Rights
and Abolitionism were taking root as major
movements.
8. Characteristics of romanticism
Individualism: The ―Rugged‖ Hero
• American literature created this unique
person. He was:
• Youthful, innocent, intuitive
• One with nature
• Loner, and uneasy around women
• Handsome, brave, moral and honorable
• In James Fenimore Cooper’s
Leatherstocking Tales, Nattie Bumpo is an
example of this new American hero
9. Characteristics of romanticism
Individualism: The ―Engaged &
Enraged Artist‖
• Self-realization comes
through art
• The artist as:
• apart from society
• social critic/revolutionary
• genius
• the true philosopher
• Individuals have unique,
endless potential
Wandering Above the Sea of Fog
Caspar David Friedrich, 1818
10. Characteristics of romanticism
Emotionalism:
• Imagination, intuition and inspiration
• Feeling, not reason, became the test of
authenticity.
• Romantic love became a subject of poetry and
drama.
• Poetry is a form of emotional
communication.
• Painful and pleasurable emotions are equally valid
to Romantic poets.
11. Characteristics of romanticism
Emotionalism:
• Backlash against the rationalism
characterized by the Neoclassical period or
―Age of Reason‖
• Imagination was considered necessary for
creating all art
• The Romantic artist, musician, or writer, is
an ―inspired creator‖ rather than a ―technical
master.‖
• Romanticism emphasized going with the
moment, or being spontaneous, rather than
being precise, controlled, or realistic.
15. Characteristics of romanticism
Rejection of Traditional Authority
• Influenced by the American & French
Revolutions
• Government hierarchies, notions of
sovereignty and aristocracy, and systems of
distinction all fell.
• Romantics believed that authority derives
from the self, not from authority.
• Newness itself was a value.
• Political statements were popular in art
17. The Return of the (Jewish) Volunteer From War
Moritz Oppenheim
18. Ossian Receiving the Ghosts of French Heroes
Anne-Louis Girodet de Roucy-Trioson
19. Characteristics of romanticism
Nature: Mysticism
• Romantics loved, and were spiritually
involved, with nature
• Romantic writing looked for comforting or
exotic settings from the past
• This was found in the supernatural, in
nature, and/or in folk legends
• Romantics glorified the
awesome, horrifying, overwhelming power of
nature
20. Characteristics of romanticism
Primitivism: The Noble Savage
• Romanticism: ―civilization corrupts;
institutions have rippling effects‖
• The child raised with the greatest possible
freedom will develop in more admirable
ways.
• Youth and infancy are valued above wisdom
of old age; holy wisdom is lost as we age.
• Innocence is more valued than experience.
• Humans are born into innocence, not
innately depraved.
21. Characteristics of romanticism
Nature: Romantic Escapism
• Urban vs. Rural Settings
• The Romantic journey is to the countryside
• The Industrial Revolution caused Romantics
to associate cities with
corruption, greed, poverty, slums and
dehumanization
• Nature = escape from the abuses of industry
• The Romantics associated the country with
independence, moral clarity, and purity
• The Gothic Romantic, Edgar Allan Poe, saw the
country as a place of phantasm
• Washington Irving saw the country as idyllic and
as an escape
44. Characteristics of romanticism
Nature: Revival of Things Past
• Gothic & Romanesque revival.
• ―Neo-Gothic‖ architectural style.
• Medieval ruins were a favorite theme for art
and poetry.
• Romanticism fed the development of the
Gothic novel
45. Characteristics of romanticism
Nature: The Gothic Novel
• The Gothic novel had wild, haunted
landscapes
• It had supernatural events in the plot
• It was often mysterious
• The Gothic concept had roots in
France, Germany, and England
• Edgar Allan Poe was America’s greatest
Romantic Gothic writer
52. Characteristics of romanticism
Gothic Mysticism in Art & Literature:
The Exotic, Occult & Macabre
• In keeping with gothic themes, Romanticism
was obsessed with the supernatural
• Ghosts, fairies, witches, demons.
• The shadows of the mind—dreams &
madness.
• The romantics rejected materialism in
pursuit of spiritual self-awareness.
• They yearned for the unknown and the
unknowable.
72. The Age of the Great Novel
Gothic Novel:
• Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte (1847)
• Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte (1847)
Historical Novel:
• Ivanhoe - Sir Walter Scott (1819)
• Les Miserables - Victor Hugo (1862)
• The Three Musketeers – Alexander
Dumas(1844)
73. The Age of the Great Novel
Science Fiction Novel:
• Frankenstein - Mary Shelley (1817)
• Dracula – Bramm Stoker (1897)
Novel of Purpose:
• Hugh Trevar - Thomas Holcroft (1794)
Folklore
• Grimm’s Fairy Tales - Jacob and Wilhelm
Grimm (1814)
74. The Age of the Great Novel
The American Novel
• Most American Romantic writers imitated
the European writing style
• American Romantic novelists broke away
from the European tradition and
discovered uniquely American topics and
settings
• American novelists explored the vast
unknown lands – something the
Europeans could not do
75. The Romantic Poets
The Great English Romantic Poets
• Percy Byssche Shelley
• Lord Byron (George Gordon)
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge
• William Wordsworth
• John Keats
• William Blake
79. The Romantic Poets
The American Romantic Poets
• Most Romantic poets worked within
conventional European literary
structures
• They proved that American poetry
could reflect American subject
matter, yet still hold to conventional
poetic style
• Most American Romantic poets wrote
about the past
80. The Romantic Poets
The American Romantic Poets
• The Fireside Poets, a Boston group of
Longfellow, Whittier, Holmes, and
Lowell, were widely read and loved in
America
• They were the television of the
American Romantic period and
families gathered around the fireside to
be entertained by their poetry
• Their subject matter was comfortable
and instructional
81. Consequences of Romanticism
• Violent outcomes of Romantic ideals
• American Revolution (1775 – 1783)
• French Revolution--storming of the Bastille
in 1789
• The French Revolution derived from and
generated Romantic ideas.
• Both revolutions developed from strong
convictions about the innate rights of
individuals.
82. Consequences of Romanticism
• Movement from rural to urban settings
• There was a move to city for industry and a
corresponding romanticizing of the country.
• Cities were often filled with
congestion, poverty, and misery.
• Educated men and women expressed a
nostalgia for rural landscapes.
83. Consequences of Romanticism
Political Implications
• Romanticism could reinforce the greatest
themes of political liberalism or political
conservatism
• Contributed to growing nationalist
movements
• The concepts of the ―Volk‖ and the ―Volkgeist‖
• The uniqueness of cultures was emphasized
84. Bibliography
CGFA: A Virtual Art Museum.
http://cgfa.sunsite.dk/fineart.htm
―Romanticism‖ on Archive.
http://artchive.com/artchive/romanticism.html
Susan M. Pojer’s presentation:
―Romanticism: The Artisitic Expression of Liberalism‖ for
Horace Greeley HS, NY
www.huffenglish.com/powerpoints/Romanticism.ppt
