ROMANTICISM

Romanticism

Romanticism

Romanticism is a complex artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Western Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution. In part, it was a revolt against aristocratic social and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment and a reaction against the scientific rationalization of nature, and was embodied most strongly in the visual arts, music, and literature, but had a major impact on historiography, education and natural history. The movement validated strong emotion as an authentic source of aesthetic experience, placing new emphasis on such emotions as trepidation, horror and terror and awe—especially that which is experienced in confronting the sublimity of untamed nature and its picturesque qualities, both new aesthetic categories. It elevated folk art and ancient custom to something noble, made of spontaneity a desirable character (as in the musical impromptu), and argued for a "natural" epistemology of human activities as conditioned by nature in the form of language and customary usage.

And they lived happily ever after.” Romantic stories did not always have a happy ending. In fact, the predecessors of the modern romantic stories were about the evil of human nature. The works of early American writers Irving, Cooper, and Poe show the influence of European Romanticism. Irving would use an emphasis on nature, the supernatural, and superstitions in his stories. Cooper's stories would use the past, exotic locations, and individualism. The supernatural, the emphasis of nature, and exotic locations were used in Poe's works.

Washington Irving would use an emphasis on nature, the supernatural, and superstitions in his stories. His story “The Devil and Tom Walker” depicted nature as mysterious. Tom walked through a swamp that was so thick that when it was noon it would be still be very dark. At times, water logs would look like alligators floating in the water. The supernatural realm also played an essential role in the story. The devil, being the supernatural being, seemed to have the ability to trade riches for a person's soul. Tom, having sold his soul, sought to outsmart the devil by enlisting the help of another supernatural power, God, by carrying a bible. In the end, the devil took his soul and he learned a lesson he cannot forget. Another of Irving's works The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, demonstrates the power than superstition can have over people. Ichabod Crane was a very superstitious man ...