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ROMANTIC Period
Part Two
Early American Lit
• Romanticism& American Romanticism
Growth
American Romanticism - Literature
5 CHARACTERISTICS
Imagination & Escapism
Individuality
Nature (as a source of spirituality)
Nostalgia/ Past (as a source of wisdom)
Common man (as hero)
Imagination & EscapismIndustrial Revolution
. . . conflicting reactions:
• Time of great progress optimism about future
• People naturally wanted to imagine/ believe
• Time of drawbacksskepticism about present/future
• People naturally wanted to escape
Imagination & EscapismESCAPISM - When the mind allows you to escape harsh conditions by taking you to another place
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before
- Poe, The Raven
Imagination & EscapismESCAPISM - When the mind allows you to escape harsh conditions by taking you to another place
• Romantics embrace escapism – Characters often journey away
from city to countryside
• Place of escape, typically:– Not so realistic, often possessing
improbable, supernatural qualities
Imagination & EscapismESCAPISM - When the mind allows you to escape harsh conditions by taking you to another place
• Imageryoften used by writers to help reader experience unrealistic settings as if they were real
IndividualityFrom Political Independence to Cultural Independence
Romantic Characters :
Don´t follow “European way”
live on outskirts of society
IndividualityTRANSCENDENTALISM – intuition over reason
knowledge from within (Inner Light)
manhood as nonconformity, individualism (Self-reliance)
Individuality1800s-1900
• Immigration & the Melting Pot
• Westward Expansion
– Own Identity
for themselves
for America
Nature (as spirituality) • Puritans:
– escape religious persecution
– deeply spiritual
• Romantics
– Embrace the “spiritual root”established by the puritans but plant it into nature
Nature (as spirituality) • Puritans:
– Saw nature as “savage” (devil behind every tree)
• Romantics
– Nature as source of spirituality (god behind every tree)(as much as the devil, i.e. Poe and dark romantics)
The Past (as wisdom)• Romantic Novels and Short Stories
– Settings reflect past
– Reuse of old Legends
• E.g. Irving´s Legend of Sleepy Hollow
The Past (as wisdom)Romantic Poets
• In contrast, tended to stick to old techniques
• BUT unique content
– looked at American nature/history for inspiration Longfellow´s poem
“Paul Revere´s Ride”
The Past (as wisdom)Fireside Poets
• In the romantic period, sitting by the fire and reading poems was a popular form of evening entertainment
(Like TV today, or stories by the bomb fire when camping)
• Longfellow Whittier Lowell
Common Man (as Hero)• Romantics turn away from the traditional
“sophisticated” hero
.Romantic Hero:
– Loves: nature
– Searches for: “higher” truth
– Flawed/ awkward/ common
. . . But intuitive
Follows a solid moral code (over social norms)