The Romantic Time Period
1800-1860
Pretend you are describing the image (Crossing the Plains or The Oregon
Trail by Albert Beirstadt) to a blind person whose final wish is to know what
this scene looked like. Write about the scene above in a descriptive
paragraph using vivid imagery.
Example:
As men, women, and children make the pilgrimage into the unknown wild west, the red
and orange hues of the evening sun shine in their faces and light the sky with a glorious
sunset as they journey. The travelers will soon run out of daylight, so they are preparing
to set up camp for the night. The travelers’ carts and covered wagons are packed to the
brims with supplies to sustain themselves during their trek westward. However, due to
limited space, the people had to leave behind many valuable things with the hopes that
once they reach their final settling place, the material possessions they once had will no
longer be important. The vital animals the travelers brought with them are feeding on the
surrounding fields for strength and energy required to meet their demands. To the left,
the full and looming trees provide shelter from the unknown wilderness of the frontier land
and cast dark shadows on the grazing area of the animals. The forest on the far left is
dark, which the people are avoiding. Instead, they sit on their horses in the last remaining
shred of sunlight socializing and enjoying their rest after a hard days’ journey. The dark
forest represents what has passed behind them- the miserable and depressing conditions
of the East. The travelers now head into the still-lit promise of the majestic white
mountains that lie ahead, representing the promise of a fresh start and wealth in the
west. The light reflecting off the mountains shows the optimism carried by the journeyers
as they head into the unknown land.The path ahead at the bottom of the mountain range
is clear, which indicates that nature provides a safe path for them to travel and complete
their quest. The scene is peaceful to indicate that nature is encouraging the travelers to
continue, almost as if approving of their actions. Nature will allow them safe, happy, and
peaceful traveling.
What does “Romantic” mean to you?
✤
Romantics value feeling and intuition over reason and
logic.
✤
Started in Europe and migrated to America
✤
In Europe, started as a reaction to rationalism
What got it started?
✤
In the midst of the Industrial Revolution, the living conditions in the cities
were unbearable.
✤
People started to realize the limits of reason and turned to the use of the
imagination
✤
Romantics believed that the imagination could come to better truths that
the rational mind could not.
✤
✤
truths accompanied by powerful emotion associated with natural,
unspoiled beauty.
Placed importance on intuitive “felt” experiences to make art, or writing
What was their
objective?
The romantics wanted
to rise above the dull
realities of life to reach a
higher truth
How did they reach their objectives?
✤ They
did this in two ways:
for exotic settings in the more “natural”
past by searching for a world removed from the
miserable conditions of the cities of the industrial
age.
✤ 1-Searched
✤ They
would look to discover the world in the
supernatural realm or in old legends or folklore
✤ 2-
Tried to reflect on the natural world until dull reality
fell away to reveal underlying beauty and truth.
✤ Typically,
the writer would see an ordinary object or
scene. A flower or bird overhead would bring the
speaker to some important, deeply felt insight
✤ Similar
to the way the Puritans drew meaning from
nature
✤ Puritans
found God, Romanticists found a less
clearly defined divinity in nature.
✤ Led
to a more generalized emotional and intellectual
awakening
What was different about America
from Europe?
✤
America had yet to be fully discovered, whereas
Europe was already completely settled
✤
American romanticism coincided with westward
expansion, the growth of a nationalist spirit, and rapid
spread of new cities.
✤
This made American romanticists idealize the frontier
life
✤
American romantic heroes were different than European
heroes.
✤
European heroes were typically high-ranking,
sophisticated individuals
✤
✤
Can you think of modern-day European Romantic
Heroes?
American romantic heroes?
✤
youthful, innocent, intuitive, and close to nature
✤
Can you think of modern-day American romantic
heroes?
What is important to remember?
✤
✤
Reflects on nature’s beauty as a path
to spiritual and moral development
✤
Looks backward to the wisdom of the
past and distrusts progress
✤
Finds beauty and truth in exotic
loacales, the supernatural realm, and
the inner world of the imagination
Values feeling and intuition over
reason
✤
Places faith in inner experience and
the power of imagination
✤
Shuns the artificiality of civilization
and seeks unspoiled nature
✤
Prefers youthful innocence to
educated sophistication
✤
Sees poetry as the highest expression
of the imagination
Champions individual freedom and
the worth of the individual
✤
Finds inspiration in myth, legend, and
folklore
✤
“I unsettle all things. No facts
are to me scared; none are
profane; I simply experiment,
and endless seeker, with no
Past at my back.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Transcendentalism
True Reality is Spiritual
What’s that all about?
✤
Transcendentalism is a movement in America during
the romantic period
✤
Transcendental refers to the idea that in determining
the ultimate reality of God, the universe, the self, and
other important matters, one must transcend, or go
beyond, everyday human experience in the human
world.
Who were these people?
✤
A group of people that looked beyond the “black and
white” reasoning of the times past.
✤
They saw the world with color and deep meaning to
gain divine intervention or come to a deep, meaningful
conclusion about the world and the purpose of it.
✤
They believed in human perfectibility, and worked to
achieve this goal by connecting with nature to have
divine intervention.
Where did they get these whacky
ideas?
✤
The Puritans!
✤
Seriously!
✤
Specifically Jonathan Edwards
✤
The Puritans would look to nature and find evidence of God and
signs that God was with them.
✤
The transcendentalists didn’t necessarily see God in nature, but they
still saw spiritual meaning in all natural things.
✤
Emerson says: “Every natural fact is a symbol of some spiritual fact”
What ideals set the Transcendentalists
apart from the Romantics?
✤
✤
✤
Everything in the world,
including human beings, is a
reflection of the Divine Soul
The physical facts of the
natural world are a doorway to
the spiritual or ideal world.
People can use their intuition
to beyond God’s spirit
revealed in nature or in their
own souls
✤
Self-reliance and individualism
must outweigh external
authority and blind conformity
to custom and tradition
✤
Spontaneous feelings and
intuition are superior to
deliberate intellectualism and
rationality.
Who wrote this stuff?
✤
There were several writers of the time, but the two
most famous and influential are:
✤
Henry David Thoreau
✤
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo
Emerson (18031882)
A little about Emerson…
✤
Born in Boston in 1803 to a cultured but poor family
✤
Father was a Unitarian minister, who died when
Emerson was eight
✤
He had 5 siblings when his father died, leaving his
mother to care for all of them
✤
She opened a boarding house to support her family
✤
Was essentially raised by his aunt, Mary Moody Emerson
✤
Aunt Mary emphasized self-sacrifice and drove the
Emerson boys to achievement.
✤
Emerson describes his aunt: “She had the misfortune
of spinning with a greater velocity than any of the other
tops.”
✤
Emerson was expected to go to Harvard and become a
minister like the eight generations before him
✤
He wasn’t really feeling the whole minister thing, he
wanted to establish and identity of his own.
✤
Started at Harvard at age 14
✤
After college, took a job at his brother’s school and prepared
to enter the Unitarian ministry.
✤
In 1829, at age 25, he accepted a post at Boston’s Second
Church and soon got married to 17-year-old Ellen Tucker
✤
Who, seven months later, died from Tuberculosis
✤
Her death pushed him away from God and his ministry
✤
Resigned from the church in 1832 and set out for a tour
across Europe
✤
Met with highly influential romantic writers from Europe
So, what happened next?
✤
Came back to the United States in 1833 to Concord
Massachusetts
✤
Married Lydia Jackson
✤
Started giving lectures as his job, referred to it as “his new pulpit”
✤
Emerson denied the importance of the past
✤
✤
In speech, he demanded that American scholars free
themselves from the shackles of the past.
Emerson’s influence began to boom.
A little outspoken…..
✤
He called for a rejection of institutional religion in favor
of a personal relation with God.
✤
Gave this lecture to a group of divinity students at
Harvard University
✤
This did not go over so well
✤
He was prohibited from speaking at Harvard for 30
years.
A little out there….
✤
Believed in the existence of the “Over-Soul” which was a large
entity in which each soul belonged
✤
Believed nature and man were a part of the same idea in which
man could see their souls reflected in nature
✤
Believed that God works through nature, and even the natural
events that are most tragic can be explained on a spiritual level
✤
If we trust ourselves we can develop a personal relationship with
God and realize that we are all a part of the divine soul, the
source of all good
Growth and Fame
✤
People traveled from all over to Concord to hear him
give lectures
✤
Truth-seeking young people saw Emerson as their
guru.
✤
Everyone loved Emerson’s optimistic view of society
and the world
Tragedy Strikes
✤
Emerson’s son, Waldo, died at age 5 from scarlet fever in 1842
✤
This event killed most of Emerson’s optimism about the world.
✤
He was very close and emotional outward with his son, and when he
died he couldn't share his emotions with anyone, and sank into a deep
emotional shell.
✤
This tragedy struck
✤
In the fall of 1881, Walt Whitman visited with Emerson and described
him as completely silent but looking as good as ever. Six months later
Emerson died from pneumonia on April 27th, 1882.
Pretend you are describing the image (Crossing the Plains or The Oregon Tr
ail by Albert Beirstadt) to a blind person whose final wish is to know what thi
s scene looked like. Write about the scene above in a descriptive paragraph
using vivid imagery. Be sure to include at least TWO characteristics of trans
cendental writing.
Example:
As men, women, and children make the pilgrimage into the unknown wild west, the red
and orange hues of the evening sun shine in their faces and light the sky with a glorious
sunset as they journey. The travelers will soon run out of daylight, so they are preparing
to set up camp for the night. The travelers’ carts and covered wagons are packed to the
brims with supplies to sustain themselves during their trek westward. However, due to
limited space, the people had to leave behind many valuable things with the hopes that
once they reach their final settling place, the material possessions they once had will no
longer be important. The vital animals the travelers brought with them are feeding on the
surrounding fields for strength and energy required to meet their demands. To the left,
the full and looming trees provide shelter from the unknown wilderness of the frontier land
and cast dark shadows on the grazing area of the animals. The forest on the far left is
dark, which the people are avoiding. Instead, they sit on their horses in the last remaining
shred of sunlight socializing and enjoying their rest after a hard days’ journey. The dark
forest represents what has passed behind them- the miserable and depressing conditions
of the East. The travelers now head into the still-lit promise of the majestic white
mountains that lie ahead, representing the promise of a fresh start and wealth in the
west. The light reflecting off the mountains shows the optimism carried by the journeyers
as they head into the unknown land.The path ahead at the bottom of the mountain range
is clear, which indicates that nature provides a safe path for them to travel and complete
their quest. The scene is peaceful to indicate that nature is encouraging the travelers to
continue, almost as if approving of their actions. Nature will allow them safe, happy, and
peaceful traveling.