Classicism vs Romanticism
Honors American Literature
Classicism (Age of Reason)
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Definition:
Believed that reason is the dominating
characteristic of both nature and human
nature, and both are governed by fixed,
unchanging laws
Classicism
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18th C (1700’s)
Nature= a self-contained machine, whose
laws could be rationally understood
Valued clarity, order, balance
Imagination had to be restrained by
reason and common sense
Classicism
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Upheld tradition
Resisted change
Human limitations
Reason over
Social over
Common over
Imagination
Personal
Individual
all emphasized
by Romanticism
Romanticism
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Definition:
Emphasized the emotions, an individual,
intuition
Romanticism
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1800 – 1830
Imagination gives expression to that which
marks each person’s unique being
All art is the imaginative expression of the
inner essence of the individual/claim for
individual freedom.
Romanticism
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Emphasized the human potential for social
progress and spiritual growth
Reflected political ideas in Decl. of Ind. “all
men are created equal” which led to
emphasis of the dignity and worth of the
common indiv. and to social reforms to
fulfill this ideal of equality
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Romantic writers tried to express their
own intuitive experiences.
Common Romantic Subjects
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Nature
The Past
Inner World of Human Nature
Nature
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Emphasized beauty, strangeness, mystery
of (not rational laws)
Saw as an organic process, constantly
developing and changing
Connection btwn human imagination and
the natural world
The Past
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Later Romantic poets used dramatic
incidents from early American history
Inner World of Human Nature
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The exploration and expression of the
writer’s most private inner being.
Belief that this interior world of intense
feeling is not ruled by reason.
Interested in the irrational depths of
human nature.
A Quick Comparison
Age of Reason
Reason
Social (society)
Common
Common sense
Tradition
Rational law of nature
Human limitations
Romanticism
Imagination
Personal
Individual freedom
Intuition
Social reforms, spiritual
growth (change)
Nature as mystery
Supernatural
Application
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How do the 3 common romantic subjects
apply to “The Devil and Tom Walker” and
The Scarlet Letter?