Transcript American Romanticism

American Romanticism
1800-1860
Bell-ringer #1
What comes to your mind when you hear the word
“romantic”?
Stories Covered
Transcendentalism:
“Self Reliance” Emerson
“Walden” Thoreau
Darkness:
“The Devil and Tom Walker” Irving
“The Minister’s Black Veil” Hawthorne
“The Raven” Poe
“The Purloined Letter” Poe
“Ligeia” Poe
“The Lottery” Shirley Jackson
The American Romantic
Period
Stems from a break from the lack of
fantastical and creative artistry of the
Puritans
Reflects the still innocent, pre-Civil
War United States
Prominent Romantics: Hawthorne,
Edgar Allan Poe, Herman Melville,
Washington Irving, Ralph Waldo
Emerson, Henry David Thoreau
Characteristics of Romantic work:
Focus on a love of nature
Focus on the individual
Focus on truth as a universal concept
Imaginative, fantastical settings
Highly symbolic
Features elements of the supernatural
Favors emotion over intellect
Development of national pride
Big Ideas
Optimism and Individualism: Optimism is the belief that the
world around us is always improving. Some American Romantics
presented an optimistic view of human progress.
Kinship with Nature: Many American Romantics believed in
the beneficial effects of a close link link between humanity and
nature.
The Power of Darkness: There was a dark underside to
American Romanticism. It took a variety of forms, including
fascination with disease, madness, death, evil, the supernatural,
and the destructive aspects of nature.
1. Optimism and Individualism
Main author: Ralph Waldo Emerson
This first movement of romanticism occurred toward
the end of the 1700s when new ideas began to
transform European civilization.
Romantic authors shared two important attitudes:
They valued imagination and feeling over intellect.
They believed in the basic goodness and equality of
individuals, and that everyone had the right to govern
themselves. This belief in the value of the individual was
known as transcendentalism.
1. Optimism and Individualism
Transcendentalism: Emerson’s belief in the value of the
individual was shaped by the era in which he lived. In the 1830s,
the influence of Romanticism began to be felt in the US. One
result was transcendentalism, a loosely organized movement that
embodied the ideas of thinkers who were active in new England
in the 1830s and 1840s. Emerson was a leading figure in this
group.
The essence of Transcendentalism was the philosophy known as
Idealism. For idealists, reality is not in material objects but
instead exists in our ideas about those objects. The
Transcendentalists believed that intuition is a more valuable
guide than sensory experience in grasping what nature really is.
Transcendentalism
4 basic principles of Transcendentalism include:
An individual is the spiritual center of the universe—and in an
individual can be found the clue to nature, history and,
ultimately, the cosmos itself. It is not a rejection of the existence
of God, but a preference to explain an individual and the world
in terms of an individual.
The structure of the universe literally duplicates the structure of
the individual self—all knowledge, therefore, begins with selfknowledge.
Transcendentalists accepted the neo-platonic conception of
nature as a living mystery, full of signs—nature is symbolic.
The belief that individual virtue and happiness depend upon
self-realization.
Quiz
1. Who was the main author of the optimism and
individualism movement?
2. What were the two beliefs that the romantic writers
shared?
3. In your own words, briefly define transcendentalism.
4. Can you think of any examples of transcendentalism in
modern music or writing? List a few.
5. What are the four principles of transcendentalism?
Bell-ringer #2
What do you remember about Transcendentalism?
Ralph Waldo Emerson
1803-1882
Emerson was the central figure of American
Romanticism. His ideas about the individual, claims
about the divine, and attacks on society were
revolutionary.
Even though Emerson was a minister’s son, trouble
and hardships caused Emerson to lose faith and leave
the church.
He rejected organized religion, and instead claimed
that truth was found within the individual.
From Self-Reliance, pg. 183
In this essay, Emerson suggests that everybody has the
potential for genius.
In this essay, Emerson argues that people should
recognize their own ideas and follow their convictions.
People should live by their own opinions and stop
imitating the ideas of others.
Self-Reliance Quiz
1. What does Emerson mean by the statement, “In every
work of genius we recognize our own rejected
thoughts?”
2. According to Emerson, what is the cause of our shame?
3. According to Emerson, what is genius?
4. According to Emerson, in what way should a person
approach his or her work?
5. To what does Emerson compare society?
Bell-ringer #3
What things make your life busy?
How can you simplify your life?
Kinship with Nature
Main author: Henry David Thoreau
From Walden pg. 203
Rejecting a life of needless complexity, Thoreau goes
into the woods to live more simply. He belittles those
who complicate their lives by hurrying, working too
hard, and trying to keep track of the latest news. He
believes these things limit the time people have for what
is important. When he leaves the woods, his belief in
simplicity is confirmed and his insight into life is
deepened.
Transcendentalism Today
Watch music videos and annotate lyrics for
trancendentalist thought.
The Power of Darkness
Authors to remember: Hawthorne, Melville, and Poe
Our experience of the life and the world has a dark
side. We fear the evils we know—poverty, violence,
disease, madness, death—and are troubled by nameless
terrors that might lurk in the shadows beyond our
knowledge. Not all important American writers of
Emerson’s time shared his optimism. In fact,
Hawthorne admired Emerson, but thought him
unrealistic. To Herman Melville, Emerson’s optimism
was “nonsense” that ignored the “disagreeable facts” of
life.
Washington Irving
Named after his country’s first president, Washington Irving won
the battle for America’s literary independence. He was the first
American storyteller to be internationally recognized as a man of
letters. During his time, he was both a lawyer and a writer.
The Devil and Tom Walker: One day, the devil offers Tom Walker a
pirate’s treasure. When Tom’s greedy wife urges him to accept
the deal, he refuses out of spite; so she tries to make her own
bargain with the devil—but she disappears. Tom then accepts the
devil’s offer and becomes a rich money-lender who preys on
those in need. When a borrower asks Tome for an extension on a
loan he replies, “The devil take me if I have made a farthing.”
The devil whisks Tom away, and his riches turn to cinders.
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Almost all of Hawthorne’s fiction is based on stories of the past,
particularly the history and legends of his Puritan ancestors in
New England. Hawthorne was drawn to the puritan past as
Gothic writers were drawn to the Middle Ages.
The Minister’s Black Veil: pg. 266—When parson Hooper arrives
in church to preach his Sunday Sermon, he is wearing a black
veil that hides much of his face. His congregation is deeply
troubled by the veil, but no one is willing to ask him why he
wears it. As the years pass, the minister’s veil remains an object
of dread but also makes him a more effective clergyman.
Edgar Allan Poe
Gothic Horror: Gothic horror relies chiefly on
atmosphere, or mood, to achieve its effects. Writers
create an atmosphere of horror through plot,
characters, and settings that most people find chilling.
Edgar Allan Poe was the first American master of this
type of horror. In his poems and stories, Poe often
bettered earlier Gothic writers in achieving spinetingling effects.
“The Raven”
In “The Raven,” the speaker is a melancholy man who
has lost his beloved Lenore. Late one night, while he is
grieving, he is visited by an eerie and mysterious raven.
The man questions the raven about Lenore, but the
raven’s only response is “Nevermore.” The poem shows
how loneliness and excessive grieving drive the man to
madness.
“The Pit and the Pendulum”
A soldier is sentences to death by the Spanish
Inquisition but escapes a sharp swinging pendulum.
Just as he is about to be forced into a pit by heated
metal walls, French soldiers enter the city, and he is
saved.
Bell-ringer
The Gothic Tradition: Dark, mysterious, and often ghastly
settings and subjects are part of the Gothic literary
tradition. In the US Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne
were two of the most famous authors to write in the
Gothic tradition.
How is “The Pit and the Pendulum” an example of the
dark tales of horror that make up the Gothic
tradition?
“The Pit and the Pendulum”
Quiz
1.
To what fate has the narrator been sentenced?
2.
What kind of death does the narrator associate with the pit?
3.
What horror does the narrator face after avoiding the pit?
4.
When in the dungeon, how does the narrator’s description of his
surroundings reflect the Gothic tradition?
5.
“A richer tint of crimson diffused itself over the pictured horrors of
blood.” In this sentence, the word diffused means…
A. to spread widely
B. to appear
C. to bounce back
D. to attach to another object