Romantic Writers of 1800s
Washington Irving
James Fenimore
Cooper
William Cullen Bryant
Edgar Allan Poe
Washington Irving
• Romantic tales of folklore adapted from
European legends
• set in American landscape
• characterized by American stereotypes
that reveals general truths about human
nature
– Nagging wife
– Battered husband
• Old truths (stereotypes) about human
nature and possibilities of American
landscape (mixes history with fantasy
through use of hearsay)
• Uses humorous tone (satirical at times)
but conveys serious message about
human values
Notable Works
• “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”
– Link to Bartleby
– Link to Video
• “Rip Van Winkle”
• The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.
• A History of New York…by Diedrich
Knickerbocker
Pictured: John Quidor, 1801–81, The Headless Horseman Pursuing Ichabod Crane,
1858, oil
Rip Van Winkle, oil on canvas by John Quidor, 1829; in the Art Institute of Chicago.
“The Devil and Tom Walker”
• Common folktale about selling soul to the
devil
• “Devil will get his due”
• Other Devilish Names
– black man of the forest; black miner; black
woodsman; Old Scratch; Mephistopheles;
Satan; Diablo; Lucifer
Literary Analysis
Be able to provide examples or discuss each
of these as they pertain to the tale.
• Characterization
– Stock, flat characters
• Tone
– Humorous
• Irony
• Style
– Mix of history and hearsay
• Message about human values
William Cullen Bryant
• Poetry reflects Romantic approach to life
• through imagination and intuition one can
learn from Nature great moral and spiritual
truths
• “religion of nature”---natural world is
inexhaustible source of moral and spiritual
lessons
• Observations of nature evoke feelings of self
in oneself.
• Father of American Poetry
By living in harmony with nature,
• man will understand transience (temporary
state) on earth
• accept death
• rejoice in immortality of nature
Notable Poetry
• “To A Waterfowl”
• “Thanatopsis”
– Audio version
Randy Pausch Video
Poetic Devices
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Blank Verse
Free Verse
Caesuras
Foot
Meter
Personification
Imagery
Literary Analysis
• Lesson or truth about life in each poem
• Sentimentalism
Commentary on “Thanatopsis”
• Romantics poets were often concerned
about:
– Death
– Individualism
• Since death is the final restriction upon the
self and its powers, individualism (the
power of the self) became an important
theme in poetry.
Emphasis of the poetry
• Romantics emphasized the organic
process of constant changes in nature:
Every living thing fulfills its appointed life
cycle of birth, growth, decay, and death.
Sentimentalism
• An expression of feeling that is excessive
for the subject and becomes an
indulgence in the emotion for its own sake.
• “Thanatopsis” avoids sentimentalizing
death because it neither disguises it nor
dwells too much upon its sadness.
• Ashes to ashes, dust to dust mentality
Theme of “Thanatopsis”
• By living in harmony with nature, and
realizing that all must come to an end, rather
than fear it, one can come to accept death as
a restful sleep
• If we move away from fear and bitterness
about death, then our broader awareness
about the “consciousness of time” (life
eternal) makes it possible to accept our time
on Earth and the natural completion of death.
Poe
• Romantic view of Nature and the inner self
by depicting irrational characters in a
grotesque reality
• Nature’s greater truth = madness
“Poe myth” vs. Poe’s Reality
• Myth = immoral behavior; fiendish; brutish
• Reality = life was dull, miserable, dreary,
perhaps just unlucky
Accomplishments
• Most important American poet before Walt
Whitman
– Unreal atmosphere and musical effects influenced
French symbolist poets and on all modern poetry
• Literary critic
• Credited along with Hawthorne for giving short
story it modern form
– Poe thought a short story should be short enough to
be read in one sitting so as to achieve and sustain a
single emotional effect
• Inventor of the detective story
Gothic Elements of Literature
• Language
– Everyday language that focuses on nature
– Repetition
• Imagery
• Mystery, horror, violence, grotesque,
supernatural
“The Fall of the House of Usher”
NOTE: Usher was the name of a couple
who took in Poe’s orphaned mother when
she was a child; thus, Poe probably
considered himself to be of the House of
Usher
Literary Analysis
• Be able to find several examples of
symbolism
• Discuss the point of view of the story and
the role it plays in the story
• Discuss specific uses of imagery and the
effect of that imagery in the story