Romanticism
Chapter 23
A reaction against rationalism
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Emphasis on human emotion, senses, passion,
faith
Rejected Enlightenment’s view of nature as a
precise harmonious whole
Rejected Deism (remember German Pietism)
Encouraged personal freedom
Emphasis on feeling = humanitarian
movements: against slavery, poverty, evils of
industry
Embraced History
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Embraced ideals of Middle Ages: Honor, faith,
chivalry
Gothic architecture: British Houses of
Parliament
Gothic Novels Popular in Western Europe
In Central and Eastern Europe: focus on
peasant life, folk tales, folk songs, proverbs
Early Romantic Philosophers
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Rousseau: Social Contract 1762: Society and
materialism corrupted human nature
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Man a “Noble Savage” in the state of nature
Kant: Accepted the rationalism of the
Enlightenment BUT preserved the belief in
human freedom, immortality, existence of God
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Helped to establish philosophy as separate from
religion
Sturm and Drang
(Storm and Stress)
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Used by German romantics to communicate emotional
intensity
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Hegel: German idealist
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The Dialectic:
Thesis: Initial idea
Antithesis: Opposing view
Clash of above =
Synthesis: a hybrid of the 2 ideas
Fichte
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Father of German Nationalism
Anti-Semitic
Address to the German People: Developed a
romantic nationalism promoting the idea that
German culture is superior to all
others…especially to Jewish culture
Romantic Poetry
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Poetry was believed to be the best of all literary
forms because it was the expression of one’s
soul
The English Romantics:
Wordsworth: Tinturn Abby
 Coleridge: Rime of the Ancient Mariner
 Brothers-in-law who collaborated on Lyrical Ballads
Launched the Romantic Period in England
 Hugely influenced by Rousseau
 Used ordinary language to idealize simple subjects
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Sir Walter Scott
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Scottish
Long narrative poems and historical novels:
Rob Roy: Poem about a legendary Scottish folk hero
 Ivanhoe: Novel about a fight between Saxon and
Norman knights in medieval England
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Both represented the Romantic’s interest in
history
Byron, Keats, Shelley
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Lord Byron: Don Juan, She Walks in Beauty…
Fought in Italy against Austria for the Carbonari
 Died fighting in war for Greek independence
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Shelley: Prometheus Unbound: tells the story of a
revolt of humans against an oppressive society
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Keats: Ode on a Grecian Urn: Great example of
use of ordinary language to idealize the ordinary
German Romantics
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Schiller: poem: Ode to Joy
about universal human solidarity
 was incorporated into Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony
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Also wrote about man achieving freedom through
the aesthetic of beauty
 Goethe: Faust
Seemed to criticize the excesses of romanticism
 Faust sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his
experiencing all human experience
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Germans
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continued
Goethe: The Sorrows of Young Werther
Werther personified the Romantic Hero who was
misunderstood and rejected by society BUT stayed
true to his inner feelings
 Then he was rejected by a girl he loved
 Then he committed suicide
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This novel influenced many others of the era with
tragic stories of lovers
Germans
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continued
Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm:
Grimm’s Fairy Tales: a collection of German folk
tales
 Influenced by Herder…Volksgeist
 Shows how German nationalism and romanticism
were tied together
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France
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Victor Hugo:
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
 Les Miserables
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Romanticism shown through strange settings, human
emotion, fantastic characters
France
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continued
Dumas: The Three Musketeers
Historical
 Adventure
 Background: Court of Louis XIII
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England
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George Sand: Female writer.
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again
Themes: romantic love of nature and moral idealism
Mary Shelley Frankenstein:
First Science Fiction
 Frankenstein as “Natural man” misunderstood and
rejected by society and driven to murder
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Romantic Architecture
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Inspired by ideals of the Middle Ages
Gothic style returned: neogothic
Best example: British Houses of Parliament
rebuilt in mid-1800’s
Houses of Parliament
Romantic Art
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Caspar David Friedrich
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Mystical view of the power of nature shown in
many of his paintings
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Wanderer Above the Mist
Wanderer Above the Mist…Friedrich
Eugene Delacroix
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Most famous French romantic painter
Dramatic use of color
Liberty Leading the People
His most famous work
 Depicts the French Revolution of 1830
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Liberty Leading the People
Theodore Gericault
Raft of the Medusa
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The power of nature and man’s attempt to survive its
force
J.M.W. Turner
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Paintings show nature’s power and terror
Wild storms and sinking ships
Landscapes, seascapes, sunrises, sunsets
Turner’s Stormy Sea with Blazing
Wreck
John Constable
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Rural English Landscapes
People are in harmony with their environment
Constable
Music
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Strong connection to emotion
Connection to Nationalism through folk songs
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Ludwig van Beethoven
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The bridge between Classical and Romantic music
 One of the first composers to communicate inner
human emotion through music
 One of the first composers not limited by patronage
 His later works were written when he was deaf
 First to incorporate vocal music in a symphony:
Schiller’s Ode to Joy incorporated into the 9th
Symphony
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Romantic Music
continued
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Franz Schubert wrote hundreds of German
songs (Lieder) that blended music and Romantic
poetry
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Hector Berlioz: founder of programmatic music
which attempted to convey mood, action
through instrumental music
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Symphony Fantastique: The first programmatic
symphony and his masterpiece
Music
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continued
Frederic Chopin Showcased Polish folk songs
and dances
Franz Liszt Showcased native Hungarian music
Hungarian Rhapsody
 Greatest piano virtuoso of the mid to late 19th C.
 Developed the symphonic poem (tone poem): a
single movement symphonic work that was based on
a literary or pictorial idea
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Music
continued
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Antonin Dvorak Folk music of Bohemia
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Giuseppi Verdi greatest Italian opera composer
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Richard Wagner Greatest German opera
composer: German myths and legends
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Along with Verdi, considered the greatest two opera
composers of the 19th century
Romanticism and Revolution
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Romanticism supported revolutionary
movements that would give people more
freedom and control over their own lives
Romanticism supported nationalistic
movements that emphasized cultural tradition
Romanticism idealized revolutionary movements
and had little real connection to political reality
Romanticism and Revolution
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continued
France: Delacroix
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1824 Massacre at Chios Portrays Greek Christians
seeking independence from Ottoman savagery
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1830 Liberty Leading the People Idealized a popular
revolution, and its bourgeoisie and proletariat
revolutionaries
Romanticism and Revolution
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continued
Germany:
Napoleonic Age propelled Germans to a
nationalistic view: individuals would realize
fulfillment by being part of a national culture,
united by common history
Johann Gottfried von Herder: A leader of the
Sturm and Drang movement.
Romanticism and Revolution
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continued
Johann Gottfried von Herder (continued)
Urged Germans to study German literature,
history, language in order to foster German
unity
Believed an individual reached the highest stage
of development by fostering a passionate
connection to his national community:
Volksgeist (Grimm’s Fairy Tales = national
culture)
Romanticism and Revolution
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continued
Italy Popular heroes: Garibaldi & Mazzini and
organizations: Carbonari and Young Italy
inspired idealized nationalism
Giuseppe Verdi: His operas evoked strong
nationalistic feelings
In 1847 one of his operas nearly started a riot
 By 1859 VERDI: an acronym for: Vittorio
Emanuele Re (King) d’ Italia
 12 years later Victor Emmanuel was king of a united
Italy
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The End of Romanticism
 The
failures of so many revolutions in
1848 led to disenchantment with
Romanticism and the rise of Realism.