ROMANTICISM (Literary Movement) 19th Century
Movement of American literature that developed
independently from European influences. A reaction or
rebellion against the formality of the preceding
Classicism/Rationalism period and toward imagination,
emotion and the mystery of nature.
Stressed:
The importance of the individual
Sense of idealism
Imagination
Emotion
The past
Freedom from rules
Spontaneity
Devotion to beauty, love and nature
Subjective interpretation
Intuition
ROMANTICISM OVERVIEW
o Reaction (revolt) in literature, art, philosophy,
religion and politics against Rationalist thought
o “Literature depicting emotional matter in an
imaginative form”
Beliefs:
-Characterized by an emphasis on imagination, emotion
and freedom from rules in literature
-Subjective perspective (open to interpretation) as
opposed to objective perspective (determined by facts,
ideas of only one right/wrong conclusion)
-Emphasis on individualism rather than societal
expectations, obligations or life in society
-Encouraged spontaneity and free thoughts and ideas
-Belief that intuition is superior to reason
-Devotion to beauty, mystery, love and the worship of
nature (man’s relation to the natural world)
Prominent Authors of Romanticism:
o James Fenimore Cooper
o Nathaniel Hawthorne
o Washington Irving
o Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
o Herman Melville
o Edgar Allan Poe
o James Russell Lowell