American Romanticism 1800 - 1860 A Reaction to Puritanism and Rationalism.

American Romanticism1800 - 1860

A Reaction to Puritanism and Rationalism

Swinging Pendulum

Each new movement in part a reaction to the previous

The rationalistic view of urban life (from Federal period) replaced by the Romantic view

Rationalists: cities as a place to find success and self-realization

Romantics: the city as a place of moral corruption, poverty, and death

Signing the Mayflower CompactSigning the Mayflower Compact

Puritanism: c1620-1700

Purpose for Literature: Provide spiritual

insight and instruction Mostly sermons,

theological studies, and hymns

Puritan Style Simple, Spare,

Straightforward

Neoclassic Rationalism: 1750-1800

Founding FathersEmphasized reason, harmony, and

restraint

Introduction to Romanticism An international movement arising as a response to Enlightenment ideals and the French revolution Rationalism and materialism of Enlightenment rejected for an almost religious appreciation of nature and worship of the individual misunderstood hero. The initial strongholds of Romanticism were England and Germany. Nationalism was a key element in romanticism.

● English, German as well as American movements all had nationalistic trends.

Characteristics of Romanticism in General

Values feelings over intellectValues the power of the imaginationSeeks the beauty of unspoiled natureValues youthful innocenceValues individual freedomValues the lessons of the pastFinds beauty in exotic locales, the

supernatural, and in the imaginationValues poetry as the highest expression of the

imaginationValues myth, legend, and folk culture

Rejection of Belief in Total Depravity

People naturally People naturally benevolentbenevolent

Mind a Mind a tabula rosatabula rosa at at birthbirth

Corrupted by institutions Corrupted by institutions that sought to that sought to dehumanize individualsdehumanize individuals

Those closest to Nature Those closest to Nature best living examplesbest living examples““Noble savage”Noble savage”

Journey to the Countryside

The Romantics: the country = independence, moral clarity, and purity

The Gothic Romantic: the country as a place of delusion (phantasm)

The Pastoral Romantic: the country as idyllic and an escape

American Literature Comes of Age with Romanticism

Finally, America had a literature worthy of international recognition

Finally, America had a distinctly American literature rather than an imitation of British literature

American Romanticism grew from Puritan visions and rhetoric of salvation and guilt; the wilderness; fiery rhetoric of freedom and equality

A Renaissance in the sense of a flowering, an excitement over human possibilities and a high regard for individual ego

Characteristics of American Romanticism

Places faith in inner experience and power of imagination

Shuns the artificiality of civilization; seeks unspoiled nature

Prefers youthful innocence to educated sophistication

Champions individual freedom and the worth of the individual

Contemplates nature’s beauty as a path to spiritual and moral development

American Romanticism

Traditional literary forms mattered much less than inspiration, enthusiasm, and emotion

Good literature should have heart, not rules Immersion in nature and its wild aspect:

Nature for itself, for beauty Nature as source for the knowledge of the

primitive Nature as refuge Nature as revelation of God to individual

Frequent emphasis on fantastic aspects of human experience

The Romance as Prose Epic

Romance: Less formal version of epic poem Noble character on a series

of adventures Pastoral setting Love interest and the

idealization of women According to William

Gilmore Simms, the romance does not confine itself to what is known or even probable: "it grasps at the possible."

Romance versus the Novel

Reality not as central as in a novel Characters generally not as complex Relationships narrowly or obsessively

involvedOrigins of characters irrelevant, often a

mystery Plot highly colored, featuring astonishing

events of symbolic or allegorical import Mythic, allegorical, or symbolic forms;

heightened diction (more flowery language)

Gothic

Gothic writing used the supernatural in nature and/or in folk legends

Gothic novels wild, haunted landscapesGothic concept roots in France,

Germany, and England Edgar Allan Poe Gothic Romanticism’s

first great American writer

American Romantic Poetry

Fireside Poets—Boston group composed of Longfellow, Whittier, Holmes, and Lowell–widely read and loved in America

Families gathered around the fireside to be entertained by their poetry

Subject matter comfortable and instructional

Praised during the time but not as highly regarded today

The means of knowing TruthGod reveals himself solely through

NatureNature becomes a moral teacher

Eden-like and untouched by Adam’s fall A retreat for humanity

U.S. literature different in the sense of wild Nature vs. Europe’s cultivated Nature

Nature

Cultivated Nature

Wild Nature

Wilder Nature

Romantic Heroes

Dark HeroDangerousMysterious

Noble Savage Heroadventurousindependent

Strong Silent Hero

admirable/attractive

Romantic Heroines

BlondesPure, innocentVirtuousNeed protection

BrunettesPassion, experienceDangerousSexy

Bibliography Faber, Doris, and Harold Fabor. Great Lives. New York:

Simon & Schuster, 1988. 179-185. Woodlief, Anne. “An Introduction to American

Romanticism”. 18 August 2001. 30 September 2007. <http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/eng372/intro.htm>