Romanticism & Realism (1804 – 1887). Romanticism Professor A. D’Ascoli.
Romanticism
Transcript of Romanticism
Romanticism
Early Nineteenth CenturyHawthorne & Poe
Elements
Frontier: vast expanse, freedom Optimism: no geographic limits Experimentation: in science, in
institutions Growth of industry: North becomes
industrial, South remains agricultural
Romanticism
A literary, artistic, and philosophical movement originating in Europe in the 18th century and lasting until
the mid 19th centuryA reaction against the
Enlightenment and Age of Reason
Romanticism
Emphasis is on emotion instead of reason
Seek reality through intuitive perception
Feeling and imagination
Expression of self is the most important
Uniqueness: Each person should be himself and pursue happiness in his own way
Romanticism
Belief in divinity of humans: God is in every person• Individuals have divine power of
creation• Individual spirit creates its own world
Emphasis on feeling, love, the heart, youth
Romanticism
Romantic is engaged in a quest for a higher truth• cannot be found through scientific
method, but through emotion and perception
• poet or writer tries to present ordinary things of life through imagination
Subject Matter
The American Past
Death Quest for Beauty Escapism The use of the far-
away and non-normal
Individual vs Society
Nature:• for its beauty• source of
knowledge• refuge• revelation of God
Writing Techniques
“Willing suspension of disbelief” Improbable plots Unlikely characterization Subjective narrator Remote settings (time and place) Experimentation in new forms
(short story, detective story)
Flowering of American Literature
1850 Hawthorne• The Scarlet Letter
1851 Melville• Moby-Dick
1852 Stowe• Uncle Tom’s Cabin
1853 Douglass• Heroic Slave
1853 Brown• Clotel: Or, The
President’s Daughter
1859 Wilson• Sketches from the
Life of a Free Black
Hawthorne
Born July 4, 1804, in Salem, MA Died May 9, 1864 Wrote historical fiction, mostly
17th c. Puritain life Emphasizes the darker side of
human nature Most important work: SL
Hawthorne
The Unpardonable Sin:• To sin against the human heart by
attempting to judge it• Judgement comes from reason:
scientists, intellectuals, clergy• One should be content to identify and
study wickedness in humanity
Edgar Allen Poe
Jan. 19, 1809 to Oct. 7, 1849
Last words: “God help my poor soul”
Mother and foster mother died of T.B.
First publication in 1827
1833 story won $50 1835 editor of
Southern Literary Messenger
1845 published “The Raven”
Edgar Allen Poe
“Father” of the short story• creation of a singular or unique effect
1841 “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” begin the genre of the detective story
Obsession with death and contacting the dead