Transcript Romanticism
Romanticism Late 1700’s to mid 1800’s “America is a land of wonders, in which everything is in constant motion and every change seems an improvement…. No natural boundary seems to be set to the efforts of man; and in his eyes what he has not yet attempted to do.” -Alexis de Tocqueville Location • The United States is expanding as a result of -the Louisiana Purchase, -the Gold Rush, and -the Transcontinental Railroad http://www.cprr.org/Museum/Maps/ Romanticism Slave Narratives Transcendentalism AntiTranscendentalism Romanticism • is a complex artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Western Europe • It was partly a revolt against aristocratic social and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment • reaction against the scientific rationalization of nature, and was embodied most strongly in the visual arts, music, and literature. • Title is misleading because Romantic writers do not necessarily write about love. Characteristics • Writers elevate imagination over reason, intuition, and fact • Reveled in nature (or examine it with imagination not from a scientific perspective) • Writers accent fantastic (supernatural) aspects of human experience Romantic Writers • Washington Irving • William Cullen Bryant • James Fenimore Cooper • Emily Dickinson • Walt Whitman Transcendentalism • The Transcendentalist movement was a reaction against 18th century rationalism and a manifestation of the general humanitarian trend of 19th century thought. The movement was based on a fundamental belief in the unity of the world and God. The soul of each individual was thought to be identical with the world -- a microcosm of the world itself. The doctrine of selfreliance and individualism developed through the belief in the identification of the individual soul with God. Tenets of Transcendentalism • Revered nature; preferred nature over civilization • Offered a spiritual and cultural alternative to American materialism • One must go beyond (transcend) the everyday human experience in order to determine the ultimate reality of God. There is a need to see beyond what is before our eyes, to see a deeper significance, a transcendent reality • Basically religious, emphasized role and importance of individual conscience and value of intuition in matters of moral guidance and inspiration. • Critical of formalized religion. • Insistence on authority of individual conscience • A trust in the individual, democracy, possibility of continued change for the better Transcendentalist Writers • Henry David Thoreau – Withdrew from society to live on Walden pond where he wrote about the power of nature -“Walden” • Ralph Waldo Emerson- according to Emerson, the human mind is so powerful it can unlock any mystery, from the intricacies of nature to the wonder of God. To Emerson “the individual is the world.” He created the idea of the “universal over-soul,” which is the idea that every soul and all of nature are part of a universal spirit. In other words every soul is a part of the mind of God. – Nature, Self-Reliance • These two writers were the main Transcendentalist writers, but they were not the only ones. Lasting effects…. • The influence of Transcendentalists is so woven into the fabric of American culture that it is almost invisible, it is so bountiful that it is often taken for granted. Whenever people celebrate the individual, whenever they look to the natural world as a mirror of human lives, whenever they state a belief in the power of intuition to grasp fundamental truths, they owe a debt to the Transcendentalist movement. Anti-Transcendentalism/ Gothic Romance • Explores the idea that man is prone to sin and self-destruction, not as inherently possessing divinity and wisdom • Evil appears in the forms of Satan, devils, ghosts, vampires, ghouls • Nature is a deeply sinister and spiritual force • Nature is dark, decaying, and mysterious and when it reveals the truth to man it is evil and hellish • Often shows man failing in the attempt to better himself Anti-Transcendentalist Writers • Edgar Allan Poe – “Tell Tale Heart”, “Black Cat”, “Fall of the House of Usher” • Nathaniel Hawthorne – The Scarlet Letter, The House of the Seven Gables , “The Minister’s Black Veil” What Genres? • • • • • • Short stories Novels Essays Magazine articles/stories Poetry Includes all genres that were written during early periods of Amer. literature