RomanticismA Movement Across

the Arts

American Romanticism: 1830-

1865.

Why Romanticism?It is called the Age of Romanticism

because of the ‘romantic view of the writers and thinkers of the time towards nature and mankind, not love.

DefinitionRomanticism refers to a movement

in art, literature, and music during the 19th century.

Romanticism is characterized by the 5 “I”sImaginationIntuitionIdealismInspirationIndividuality

ImaginationImagination was emphasized over

“reason.”This was a backlash against the

rationalism characterized by the Neoclassical period or “Age of Reason.”

Imagination was considered necessary for creating all art.

British writer Samuel Taylor Coleridge called it “intellectual intuition.”

IntuitionRomantics placed value on

“intuition,” or feeling and instincts, over reason.

Emotions were important in Romantic art.

British Romantic William Wordsworth described poetry as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.”

IdealismIdealism is the concept that we can make

the world a better place.Idealism refers to any theory that

emphasizes the spirit, the mind, or language over matter – thought has a crucial role in making the world the way it is.

Nature was highly idealized as well, seen as a source of inspiration and truth.

InspirationThe Romantic artist, musician, or

writer, is an “inspired creator” rather than a “technical master.”

What this means is “going with the moment” or being spontaneous, rather than “getting it precise.”

IndividualityRomantics celebrated the individual.During this time period, Women’s

Rights and Abolitionism were taking root as major movements.

Walt Whitman, a later Romantic writer, would write a poem entitled “Song of Myself”: it begins, “I celebrate myself…”

The Dark Side of Romanticism

Edgar Allen Poe, Herman Melville, and Nathaniel Hawthorne all reacted against the highly idealized nature of the Romantics notion of Transcendentalism.

These writers recognized evil, negativism, and the dark side of life. They saw power in acknowledging sin and the darkness of man.

Gothic Romanticism, continued

For Dark or Gothic Romantics, the natural world is dark, decaying, and mysterious; when it does reveal its truth to man, its revelations are evil and hellish.

Whereas Transcendentalists advocate social reform when appropriate, works of Gothic Romanticism frequently show individuals failing in their attempts to make changes for the better.

Major Motifs of Romanticism

NatureA concern with natural surroundings,

delight in rural life, understanding of “the other,” idealization of farm life

Lure of the ExoticForeign, unfamiliar, distant lands

The SupernaturalGhosts, mysterious, the unexplained

Primary Creative Elements of RomanticismSetting

Isolated, undesirable, picturesque, larger-than-life, supernatural elements, weather/lighting

MoodCreated through narrator’s thoughts,

setting, vivid detailsSuspense

Sequential, mix of physical and psychological, relies on imagination, ‘what if’ scenarios

Visual ArtsNeoclassical art was rigid, severe,

and unemotional; it hearkened back to ancient Greece and Rome

Romantic art was emotional, deeply-felt, individualistic, and exotic. It has been described as a reaction to Neoclassicism, or “anti-Classicism.”

Visual Arts: Examples

Neoclassical Art Romantic Art

Your turn to be a Romantic…

Please create a half-page description of a place that utilizes the traits of Gothic Romanticism as articulated on earlier slides. Specifically, you

should incorporate suspense, weather, dark and foreboding

nature, a sense of imagination, and/or the supernatural.

You may describe a real place or an imagined one. Be creative! Use vivid

imagery and language.

The ArtsRomanticism was a movement

across all the arts: visual art, music, and literature.

All of the arts embraced themes prevalent in the Middle Ages: chivalry, courtly love. Literature and art from this time depicted these themes. Music (ballets and operas) illustrated these themes.

Shakespeare came back into vogue.

Music“Classical” musicians included

composers like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Franz Josef Haydn.

Romantic musicians included composers like Frederic Chopin, Franz Lizst, Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky

Music: Components1730-1820.Classical music emphasized internal

order and balance.

1800-1910.Romantic music emphasized

expression of feelings.

LiteratureIn America, Romanticism most

strongly impacted literature.Writers explored supernatural and

gothic themes. Writers wrote about nature –

Transcendentalists believed G-d was in nature, unlike “Age of Reason” writers like Franklin and Jefferson, who saw G-d as a “divine watchmaker,” who created the universe and left it to run itself.