American Romanticism 1820-1865. National Optimism Rapid expansion of US acreage and population Rapid expansion of US acreage and population Louisiana.

American Romanticism

1820-1865

National OptimismNational Optimism Rapid expansion of US acreage and populationRapid expansion of US acreage and population

Louisiana Purchase and Gold RushLouisiana Purchase and Gold Rush Agricultural advancementAgricultural advancement Industrial advancementIndustrial advancement Frontier Frontier Technological advancementsTechnological advancements

Problems Facing the NationProblems Facing the Nation

SECTIONALISMSECTIONALISM North vs. SouthNorth vs. South

Economic Economic security/superioritysecurity/superiority

Slavery expansionSlavery expansion Political leadershipPolitical leadership

Was American lit. to be Was American lit. to be “strikingly American”?“strikingly American”? Narrower viewNarrower view Resulted in hokey work Resulted in hokey work

that tried to encompass that tried to encompass American in its entirety, American in its entirety, praising its past and praising its past and supposed future greatnesssupposed future greatness

Beginnings of American Literature

Was American writing Was American writing to be universal and to be universal and comparable to the great comparable to the great works of Europe?works of Europe?

Broader view that Broader view that wound up prevailing wound up prevailing

Aided by the Aided by the achievement of achievement of Romantic writersRomantic writers

Or…

Signing the Mayflower CompactSigning the Mayflower CompactPuritan Style

Simple, Sparce, Straightforward.

Purpose for Literature:

provide spiritual insight and instruction

–Mostly sermons, theological studies, and hymns

Puritanism~ 1620-1700

Emphasized reason,

harmony, and restraint

Also some embraced Deism

The Founding Fathers:Neoclassicists

1750-1800Rationalism

American RomanticismAmerican Romanticism

Roots in EuropeRoots in Europe In the U.S., it ran from In the U.S., it ran from

1820-18651820-1865 Of all the literary and Of all the literary and

philosophical philosophical movements, this one has movements, this one has probably most affected probably most affected the perception of the perception of people’s relationships to people’s relationships to others and to God.others and to God.

RomanceRomance: Less formal version of epic: Less formal version of epic Noble character on a series of Noble character on a series of adventuresadventures Pastoral (wilderness) settingPastoral (wilderness) setting Love interest and the idealization of Love interest and the idealization of women women

Characteristics of American Literary Romanticism

1. INDIVIDUALISM1. INDIVIDUALISM Popularized by the Popularized by the

frontier traditionfrontier tradition Jacksonian Jacksonian

democracydemocracy AbolitionismAbolitionism

Rejection of the Puritan belief in total depravity:Rejection of the Puritan belief in total depravity:

People were naturally benevolentPeople were naturally benevolent Mind was a Mind was a tabula rosatabula rosa at birth at birth individuals are born without built-in mental content and that their knowledge comes from experience and perception ("blank slate“)

Corrupted by institutions that Corrupted by institutions that sought to dehumanize individualssought to dehumanize individualsPeople worth highlighting are those People worth highlighting are those closest to Natureclosest to Nature

“ “Noble savage”Noble savage” Truth can best be found in Nature…Truth can best be found in Nature… unadulterated, uncorrupted by manunadulterated, uncorrupted by man … …the purest form of man was the the purest form of man was the most Native.most Native.

2. IMAGINATION2. IMAGINATION Reaction against the earlier age’s emphasis on Reaction against the earlier age’s emphasis on

ReasonReason

3. EMOTION3. EMOTION Feeling is now considered superior to rationality or Feeling is now considered superior to rationality or

intellect, as the mode of perceiving and intellect, as the mode of perceiving and experiencing realityexperiencing reality

Intuition leads one to truthIntuition leads one to truth Truth/reality are now highly subjectiveTruth/reality are now highly subjective

4. NATURE4. NATURE The means of knowing TruthThe means of knowing Truth

God reveals himself solely through NatureGod reveals himself solely through Nature Nature becomes a moral teacherNature becomes a moral teacher

Eden-like and untouched by Adam’s fallEden-like and untouched by Adam’s fall A retreat for menA retreat for men

U.S. literature full of lavish descriptions of NatureU.S. literature full of lavish descriptions of Nature U.S. literature different in the sense of wild Nature U.S. literature different in the sense of wild Nature

vs. Europe’s cultivated Naturevs. Europe’s cultivated Nature

5. DISTANT SETTINGS5. DISTANT SETTINGS Both in terms of time and placeBoth in terms of time and place Used to comment on attitudes of the time periodUsed to comment on attitudes of the time period

Part of the American Romantic Movement

Believed that: Truth could not be perceived with the five senses

Human soul is part of the Oversoul or universal spirit, which it returns to at a person’s death

Held nature in as an object of worship

1840-1855

AntiAnti--TranscendentalismTranscendentalism

Hawthorne and Hawthorne and MelvilleMelville

• Evil Abounds•Not Optimistic

EDGAR ALLAN POE EDGAR ALLAN POE (1809-1849)(1809-1849) In his short stories and poetry applied universal In his short stories and poetry applied universal standards of literary criticism. Developed the standards of literary criticism. Developed the American short story; brevity concept.American short story; brevity concept.

GOTHIC ROMANTICISM

GOTHIC ROMANTICISM

American Authors

1.WASHINGTON IRVING1.WASHINGTON IRVING(1783-1859)(1783-1859)

Not so much fiction as “sketches”Not so much fiction as “sketches” Distinctly American settings and Distinctly American settings and

characterscharacters The History of New YorkThe History of New York

Narrator: Diedrich KnickerbockerNarrator: Diedrich Knickerbocker ““Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of

Sleepy Hollow”Sleepy Hollow”

THE KNICKERBOCKERS

2. JAMES FENIMORE COOPER (1789-1851)

•First successful American author

•Grew up in Cooperstown, NY

•Wrote 32 novels, including The Last of the Mohicans and The Leatherstocking Tales

NEW ENGLAND SCHOOL

(Fireside Poets)

1. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

2. Oliver Wendell Holmes

3. John Greenleaf Whittier

4. James Russell Lowell

5. William Cullen Bryant

The Fireside PoetsThe Fireside Poets

America’s First Literary Stars

We watched the first red blaze appear,Heard the sharp crackle, caught the gleamOn whitewashed wall and sagging beam,Until the old, rude-furnished roomBurst, flower-like, into rosy bloom;While radiant with a mimic flameOutside the sparkling drift became,And through the bare-boughed lilac-treeOur own warm hearth seemed blazing free.

from Snow-bound, John Greenleaf Whittier

What are the Fireside What are the Fireside Poets?Poets? First group of American poets to rival

British poets in popularity in either country.

Notable for their scholarship and the resilience of their lines and themes.

Preferred conventional forms over experimentation. Attention to rhyme and strict metrical cadences made their work popular for memorization and recitation.

Often used American legends and scenes of American life as their subject matter.

Who were the Fireside Who were the Fireside Poets?Poets?

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

William Cullen Bryant

James Russell Lowell

Oliver Wendell Holmes

John Greenleaf Whittier

Henry Wadsworth Henry Wadsworth LongfellowLongfellow

1807-1882 Composed “Song of Hiawatha” “Paul Revere’s Ride”

(ballad – narrative poem)

“Psalm of Life” “The Day Is Done” “The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls” “The Cross of Snow”

(sonnet – 14 line poem – Italian sonnet: octave + sestet)

Translated Dante’s Inferno from Italian into English

William Cullen BryantWilliam Cullen Bryant 1794-1878 Composed “To a Waterfowl”

and “Thanatopsis” One of the founders

of the Republican party and supporter of Lincoln

James Russell LowellJames Russell Lowell

1819-1891 Composed “The First

Snowfall” and “The Present Crisis”

and “Under the Old Elm” Active in anti-slavery

causes Satirist and critic Lyric poet, best

remembered for his nature poems

Oliver Wendell HolmesOliver Wendell Holmes 1809-1894 Son of a Calvinist minister Medical doctor – invented the

term “anesthesia.” one of the founding editors of

the journal Atlantic Monthly in 1857

Composed “Old Ironsides,” which saved the U.S.S. Constitution from the scrap yard

Father of Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

http://www.online-literature.com/oliver-holmes/

John Greenleaf WhittierJohn Greenleaf Whittier 1807-1892 Son of Quakers Little formal schooling Composed Snow-bound , “Maude Muller” and “Barefoot Boy” Devoted to social causes Active in anti-slavery movement helped to found Atlantic

Monthly in 1857 The Civil War inspired the

famous poem "Barbara Frietchie" http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/720

Lasting Impact of Fireside Lasting Impact of Fireside PoetsPoets

Longfellow remained the most popular American poet for decades. When Poe criticized him, he was all but ostracized. Longfellow remains the only American poet to be immortalized by a bust in Westminster Abbey’s Poets’ Corner

They took on causes in their poetry, such as the abolition of slavery, which brought the issues to the forefront in a palatable way.

Through their scholarship and editorial efforts, they paved the way for later Romantic writers like Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Walt Whitman.

TRANSCENDENTAL OPTIMISTSTRANSCENDENTAL OPTIMISTS

RALPH WALDO EMERSONRALPH WALDO EMERSON

Famous for poetry, Famous for poetry, Nature,Nature, and and “ “Self-Reliance”Self-Reliance”Spokesman for transcendentalism Spokesman for transcendentalism

very optimistic about humans’ benevolent naturevery optimistic about humans’ benevolent natureSpent much of his life in Concord, MassSpent much of his life in Concord, MassLectured and made the rounds as a Lectured and made the rounds as a proponent of transcendentalismproponent of transcendentalism (lyceum)(lyceum)

TRANSCENDENTAL OPTIMISTSTRANSCENDENTAL OPTIMISTS

HENRY DAVID THOREAUHENRY DAVID THOREAU

Probably best known for Probably best known for Civil Civil Disobedience Disobedience and and WaldenWaldenPracticed his own preachingPracticed his own preachingInfluenced future leaders Influenced future leaders

WaldenWalden I went to the woodsI went to the woods

because I wished to live because I wished to live deliberatelydeliberately, to front only , to front only the the essential essential facts of life, facts of life, and see if I could not learn and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, not, when I came to die, discover that I had not liveddiscover that I had not lived. . I did not wish to live what I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so was not life, living is so dear, dear, nor did I wish to nor did I wish to practice resignationpractice resignation, unless , unless it was quite necessary. I it was quite necessary. I wanted to wanted to live deep live deep and and suck out all the marrow of suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life . . ." all that was not life . . ."