ROMANTICISM

ROMANTICISM

1. originated in Europe toward the end of the 18th century (Germany: "Sturm und Drang")

2. Characteristics

   • emphasis on intense emotion and individualism
   • glorification of past/nature
   • reaction to Industrial Revolution (1820-1840)/Age of Enlightenment (focus on reason)/scientific rationalization of nature
   • heroic individualists and artists
   • content of the art had to come from imgaination of the artist -> concept of genius
   • distrustful of the human world -> close connection with nature is healthy -> inspiration for poetry
   • favor of intuition and emotion -> also Poe's characters are dominated by their emotions
   • setting: obscure or unknown place -> timelessness
   • ordinary speech
   • Greek and Roman ruins
   • rebellion
   • sense and sensuality (not the mind)

3. Dark Romanticism

   • literary sub-genre
   • fascination with melancholia, insanity, crime, ghosts, irrational
   • self-destruction and human fallibility
   • nature in a sinister light -> Transcendentalism: nature is universal, divine
   • death, supernatural force, loss of love, flawed society, evils of human nature