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Romanticism, Gothic, and Transcendentalism: Exploring Literary Movements of the 1800s

This lesson focuses on understanding and recognizing the literary movements of the 1800s, specifically Romanticism, Gothic, and Transcendentalism. Students will discuss the role of nature in their lives and how it affects them, brainstorm related concepts to the literary movements, and analyze examples from literature and art.

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Romanticism, Gothic, and Transcendentalism: Exploring Literary Movements of the 1800s

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  1. Unit 4 – The Individual and the Society Unit E.Q. – How does Romanticism define the individual within the constraints of nature and society? Mr. Bowlin English III Honors & English III Jan 5th, 2017

  2. E.Q. – How did literary movements of the 1800s alter the way people think? • I will understand and recognize the literary movements of the 1800s. • Bellwork - • What is the role of nature in your life? • How are you affected by nature? What does nature teach you? Do you find comfort in it? Do you reflect the moods of nature?

  3. Romanticism, Gothic, and Transcendentalism • What are they? • In your pod group, brainstorm what things you think are related to the Romantic, Gothic, and Transcendental movements. • Use one sheet of paper for your whole group to list your ideas.

  4. Romanticism • Romanticism Song • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suNjiY_Oo1I

  5. Romanticism • Despite the name of the literary period, Romanticism does not deal with sappy love stories.

  6. Romanticism • Romanticism is the name for the literary period that followed the Age of Reason (The Revolutionary Period) in America.  • Due to the fact that the country was now established, writers moved their focus away from political matters and revolutionary governmental ideas, and began to focus on other aspects of life (emotions, possibilities, imagination etc…)

  7. Romanticism • Romanticism was a literary movement that swept through virtually every country of Europe, the United States, and Latin America that lasted from about 1750 to 1870. However, the Romantic Movement did not reach France until the1820's. Romanticism's essential spirit was one of revolt against an established order of things-against precise rules, laws, dogmas, and formulas that characterized Classicism in general and late18th-century Neoclassicism in particular. It praised imagination over reason, emotions over logic, and intuition over science-making way for a vast body of literature of great sensibility and passion. In their choice of heroes, also, the romantic writers replaced the static universal types of classical 18th-century literature with more complex, individual characters. They became preoccupied with the genius, the hero, and the exceptional figure in general, and a focus on his passions and inner struggles and there was an emphasis on the examination of human personality and its moods and mental potentialities.

  8. Romanticism • Classic American Romanticism has qualities we can all relate to such as youth and innocence, forces of nature, purity, intuition, and understanding to paths of higher truth. Even though American Romanticism came in the 1800s it is still carried out in todays society and portrayed through many different ways. 

  9. Romanticism • "Who is that girl I seeStaring straight back at me?Why is my reflectionSomeone I don't know?Must I pretend that I'mSomeone else for all time?When will my reflection showWho I am inside?" -Disney's Mulan

  10. Romanticism • The 5 I’s of Romanticism • Imagination (a valuable source of information that should be explored) • Intuition (emotion or intellect or rationalism. Listen to the “inner voice,” and gut feelings) • Idealism (the world can be a better place. Theory over physical matter) • Inspiration (spontaneous versus technical) • Individuality (”to thine own self be true,” celebration of self)

  11. Romanticism in art • Wanderer Above The Sea of Fog • By Caspar David Friedrich

  12. Pod group • Turn to your pod group and discuss • Would you rather follow all the expectations that society has for you, or create your own path in life? • Is it better to listen to your mind or to your heart? • Is it more important to conform to society, or to stay true to yourself? • When is it better to follow the crowd?

  13. Gothic/Dark Romanticism • Focused on the dark side of individualism and the perceived darkness of the human soul. • Like Romanticism, Gothic writers focused on nature and individuality. • When Gothic writers looked at the individual they saw potential evil. They looked into the darkness of the supernatural. Gothic writing is concentrated on fear, greed, vanity, mistrust, betrayal and mental issues.

  14. Gothic and Dark Romanticism • Gothic themes can be seen in stories like Frankenstein – questioning the value of scientific advancement in light of man’s inherent fallibility, asking the still crucial question, “Can we really control what we create?” 

  15. Gothic/Dark Romanticism • Key parts: • Dreary/remote settings, • violent or morbid plot line, • physically and psychologically tormented characters, • often involve supernatural elements. • Death, sin, madness, darkness, decay, greed

  16. Gothic Art • Death of a Gravedigger • By Carlos Schwabe • How does this picture represent the dark side of Romanticism?

  17. Pod Group • Discuss the themes of Gothic and Dark Romanticism • Do agree or disagree that the natural world is dark, decaying, and mysterious? • Are people inherently selfish? • In what ways would you consider society to be dark, or inherently twisted?

  18. Transcendentalism

  19. Transcendentalism • Transcend (v.): • to go beyond a limit or range, for example, of thought or belief • So, TRANSCENDENTALISM, at its core is about “moving beyond” common experience and understanding.

  20. Transcendentalism • Transcendentalism was based largely on the idea that God is an internal force and that, as His creations, every person and everything has within it a divine spark or an “inner light.” The ultimate goal of the human experience, therefore, was to connect to that inner light, and therefore to the so-called “Over-Soul”—that part of God which unifies all living things.

  21. Transcendentalism • Transcendentalism literature creates an exaggeration on good vs. evil. Wisdom and self-realization are the keys for growth. The lack of self growth and terror amongst fellows generates evil, while happiness and generosity are the good results of an act. • Transcendentalism draws inspiration from the beyond, or external to the human perspective, even beyond reasoning and normal traditions. • They believed that we needed to re-think the way we live our lives in order to reconnect to God, and not through the Church, but instead—yep, you guessed it—through nature.

  22. Transcendentalism • Key Ideas: divinity, nature, and individualism • There is a direct connection between the universe and the individual soul • Inner soul leads to truth • Individual relationship with God • Nature = self-knowledge • Over-soul • Individualism • Goodness of nature

  23. Transcendentalism • One might say, in fact, that the  Transcendentalists were the hippies of their day.  They believed in free love and being close to nature, they turned away from both traditional religion and materialism, and their central goal was self-realization of the individual by transcending the ego to attain union with the whole.

  24. So what’s the difference • The differences between Romanticism and Transcendentalism are that Romanticism emphasizes the importance of emotions and individual freedom, over knowledge. You should follow your feelings, where as Transcendentalism says you should draw inspiration from something external (beyond reason and tradition), like your relationship with nature or God. Thoreau for example- lived on a mountain all by himself.  • Although both movements had surface similarities, such as their reverence for nature, their founding beliefs were quite different: • God as an internal force vs external force • Spirit of perverseness vs inner light • Concern with the physical environment vs the journey of the spirit

  25. Pod Group • Do you believe that truth and purpose are found primarily in oneself, or must you transcend beyond the everyday human experience and natural world. • Why would it matter one way or the other.

  26. Closure • What are the key characteristics that separate the differences between Romanticism, Transcendentalism, and Gothic movements on the 1800s.

  27. https://wheelsms.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/calvin-hobbes-halloween-costume.gifhttps://wheelsms.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/calvin-hobbes-halloween-costume.gif

  28. History of Ideas - Romanticism • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suNjiY_Oo1I

  29. Class Contest! • You will be competing against yourselves and other classes • First we need a class identity

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