Romanticism 1780-1850

1. Romanticism1780-1850 A Movement Across the Arts

2. The Spirit of the Age • In the Romantic Period we see an explosive release of artistic energy, an experimental boldness, and creative power that marks an artistic renaissance • Romantics yearned to reclaim human freedom

3. Romantics saw diversity and uniqueness • Believed the heart has reasons that Reason is not equipped to understand • They rejected materialism and utilitarianism as philosophies • They favored selfless enthusiasm • Emotion was celebrated irrespective of its consequences

4. Characteristics of Romantic Period • Imagination, Emotions, and Intuition. Exaltation of intense feelings. • Descartes: I think, therefore I am. vs • Rousseau: I felt before I thought. • Subjectivity of approach; the cult of the individual; the absolute uniqueness of every individual.

5. Characteristics of Romantic Period Freedom of thought and expression. • A revolt against authority and tyranny, against the ancient regime, whether social, political, religious, or artistic.

6. Characteristics of Romantic Period Idealization of Nature • Embracing the uncivilized, the wild, the pre-civilized. • Rousseau: “Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains.” In other words, civilization is in part the cause of our corruption. • The “noble savage,” and James Fennimore Cooper’s Leatherstocking novels, I.e. The Last of the Mohicans.

7. Two Views of Nature • The first viewed nature as peaceful, calm, nurturing, a source for spiritual renewal. It often showed an innocent life of rural dwellers, a world of peace and harmondy which nurtures and comforts the human spirit. This is very much how Wordsworth viewed nature.

8. But nature could also be frightening in its power, and cause a dizzying sense of awe and wonder.

9. The Romantics opted for a life of the heart

10. Definition Romanticism refers to a movement in art, literature, and music during the 19th century. Romanticism is characterized by the 5 “I”s Imagination Intuition Idealism Inspiration Individuality

11. Imagination Imagination was emphasized over “reason.” This was a backlash against the rationalism characterized by the Neoclassical period or “Age of Reason.” Imagination was considered necessary for creating all art. British writer Samuel Taylor Coleridge called it “intellectual intuition.”

12. Intuition • Romantics placed value on “intuition,” or feeling and instincts, over reason. • Emotions were important in Romantic art. • British Romantic William Wordsworth described poetry as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.”

13. Idealism • Idealism is the concept that we can make the world a better place. • Idealism refers to any theory that emphasizes the spirit, the mind, or language over matter – thought has a crucial role in making the world the way it is. • Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher, held that the mind forces the world we perceive to take the shape of space-and-time.

14. Inspiration • The Romantic artist, musician, or writer, is an “inspired creator” rather than a “technical master.” • What this means is “going with the moment” or being spontaneous, rather than “getting it precise.”

15. Individuality • Romantics celebrated the individual. • During this time period, Women’s Rights and Abolitionism were taking root as major movements. • Walt Whitman, a later Romantic writer, would write a poem entitled “Song of Myself”: it begins, “I celebrate myself…”

16. What was happening in the world during this period? • 1825 - Erie Canal opens • 1838 - Invention of photography • 1846 - Neptune discovered • 1859 - Charles Darwin publishes The Origin of the Species • 1861-1865 - American Civil War

17. 1869 - Transcontinental Railroad completed • 1872 - Brooklyn Bridge opens • 1876 - Telephone invented • 1877 - Phonograph invented • 1886 - Statue of Liberty presented to New York • 1893 - Henry Ford builds first car • 1903 - Wright Brothers first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, NC • 1905 - E=mc2 - Einstein’s Theory of Relativity

18. Famous People from the Era • Charles Darwin • Albert Einstein • Sigmund Freud • Abraham Lincoln • Mark Twain • Alexander Graham Bell • Henry Ford • Booker T. Washington • Karl Marx • Jack the Ripper • Walt Whitman • Ralph Waldo Emerson • Henry David Thoreau • Edgar Allen Poe • Emily Dickinson • Cezanne, Manet, Van Gogh

19. Literature • In America, Romanticism most strongly impacted literature. • Writers explored supernatural and gothic themes. • Writers wrote about nature – Transcendentalists believed G-d was in nature, unlike “Age of Reason” writers like Franklin and Jefferson, who saw G-d as a “divine watchmaker,” who created the universe and left it to run itself.

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