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)