Romanticism
Social and Political Influence
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Rejection of science & reason
Focus on nature, emotion, & experience
Focus on the rights of the commoners
Time of upheaval, rebellion, & revolution
Country boundaries redrawn
Time of political and social changes
Inspiration for freedom & reform
Romanticism Highlights
• Roots in Enlightenment
– Focus on science & reason
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Believe the power to reason was equal to all
Belief on human dignity and worth
John Locke: right to life, liberty, & happiness
French Revolution: focus on people’s natural goodness
• Revolution in France
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Taxes on poor increased as wages dropped
Food was scarce
Feudalism ended & positive changes began
Reign of Terror began (1793-1794)
• People judged to be enemies to the French republic
• Many people were executed at the guillotine
Romanticism Highlights cont.
• Rise & Fall of Napoleon
– Nationalism rose among the French Republic
– Series of war spread French Revolutionary ideas
– Battle leader, Napoleon, crowned himself Emperor of
France (1804)
– Europe sought allies against Napoleon's conquering
– Napoleon was eventually defeated in Belgium
• Struggles for Independence
– Inspired by French Revolution & Napoleon's invasions
– Greece & Belgium gained independence
– Russia did not & uprising were crushed across
Europe
– Dreams of freedom continued
Romanticism Highlights cont.
• Revolution in Industry
– Britain rebellion was suppressed & the industrial
revolution spread
– Economy went from agricultural to industrial
– Improved people’s standard of living
– Serious problems eventually arose
• Unsafe working conditions
• Child labor
• Unhealthy living conditions
– Reformers tried to correct the problems
• Seen as revolutionaries and crushed
• Realism emerged
– Focus on everyday life
– Brought problems to public attention
Arts & Culture
• Philosophy
– Shift from intellect & reason
– Focus on the individual & imagination
– Belief that experience not reason explain the world
• People experience the world not as it is but have they perceive it to be with
their senses.
• Painting
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Focus on feelings & beliefs; imagination
Beauty of the natural world
Destructive force of the natural world
Exotic subjects and people
• Literature
– Emphasis on emotion, imagination, individuals, and nature
– The workings of the mind & complexity of emotions
• Music
– Addition of personal feeling to classical music: individuality & emotion
– Beethoven helped bridged the classical period into the Romantic era
– Wrote a symphony dedicated to Napoleon but tore up the inscription
when he found out Napoleon had declared himself emperor
Madame Bovary Literary Response Outline
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