American Romanticism:
1800-1860
Light Romanticism, Dark Romanticism,
Transcendentalism
Romanticism as a Journey
Away from


Corruption of
civilization
Limits of rational
thought
Romanticism as a Journey
Toward


Source The Deerslayer N. C. Wyeth
Integrity of nature
Freedom of
imagination
Which are you?
Romantic
• Intuitive
• Nature-loving
Rational
• Practical
• Worldly
Imagination
Truth
Beauty
Big Ideas of Romanticism
Intuition
Experience
Individual
Nature
Ideal
source: Skipp, Francis in American Literature
Characteristics of American
Romanticism
 Values
feeling over reason
 Places faith in inner experience and
imagination
 Shuns artificiality of civilization; seeks
unspoiled nature
 Prefers youthful innocence to educated
sophistication
 Emphasizes individual freedom and worth
 Believes nature’s beauty can lead to
spiritual and moral development
Elements of Literature (145)
Characteristics of American
Romanticism
 Looks
backward to the wisdom of past
and distrusts progress (Science)
 Finds beauty and truth in



Exotic locales
Supernatural realm
Inner world of the imagination
 Sees
poetry as the highest expression of
the imagination
 Finds inspiration in myth, legend, and folk
culture
Elements of Literature (145)
A New Hero
 Young
or youthful
 Innocent and pure of purpose
 Sense of honor based on principle higher
than society’s rules
 Understanding of the world is intuitive, not
based on formal learning
 Loves nature
 Quests for higher truth in the natural world
Elements of Literature 149
Legacy
Lasting Effects of American Romanticism

Humanitarian reform



Liberal religious movements



Abolitionism
Feminism
Unitariansim
Universalism
Economic experiments

Communal living (Brook Farm, New Harmony)
James D. Hart, The Oxford Companion to American Literature, 6th ed. (572).
Light Romanticism
 Emily


Dickinson
“Some Keep the Sabbath Going to Church”
Walt Whitman

“Learn'd Astronomer”
Focus on the inherent inner
light of humans, the beauty of
nature, and the perfection of
the universe.
Dark Romanticism
 Nathaniel

Hawthorne
“The Birthmark” (packet 131)
Focus on the inherent inner darkness of
humans, the perverseness of spirit, and
the punishing nature of the universe.
Hudson River Painters
Art as an agent of
moral and spiritual
transformation
Kindred Spirits, Asher B. Durand, 1849
Transcendentalism
 Immanuel
Kant
“…concerned not with objects but with our
mode of knowing objects."
source
Transcendental Beliefs



the spark of divinity lies within man;
everything in the world is a microcosm of
existence
the individual soul is identical to the world soul
(Emerson’s Over-Soul)
By meditation, by communing with nature,
through work and art, man could transcend his
senses and attain an understanding of beauty
and goodness and truth.
source
Transcendentalists
 Belief



in the Inner Light Authority of Self
Ralph Waldo Emerson’s doctrine of SelfReliance
Henry David Thoreau's civil disobedience,
Utopian communities at Brook Farm
source
Transcendentalism
 Ralph

Waldo Emerson
“Self Reliance” (packet 67)
 “Henry

David Thoreau
Walden
 Solitude
(packet 80)
 Conclusion (packet 84)
Built on the idea of the inner
light, but believed that this
was the divine spark, that
humans carry God inside us.
And because we all carry the
divine, we are all capable of
perfection.
Anti-Transcendentalism
Causes
 Opposed the optimism and idealism of
transcendentalists
 Dwelt on guilt and remorse over past sins
 Discontented with circumstances in
America

Women’s rights, slavery, poor educational
system, lack of justice
Key Beliefs/Philosophies
 Belief
in potential destructiveness of
human spirit
 Belief in individual truths, not universal
ones
 Focus on man’s uncertainty and
limitations in the universe
 Nature is vast and incomprehensible
Style
 Man
vs. Nature conflicts – bring out evil in
humanity
 Focus on protagonist’s inner struggles

Usually outsiders who are alienated from
society
 Lots
of symbolism and allegory