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A comparison of Enlightenment and Romanticism Thought.
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Transcript of A comparison of Enlightenment and Romanticism Thought.
A comparison of Enlightenment and Romanticism Thought
• The Enlightenment, (Liberalism or Neo-Classicism) was an outgrowth of the ideas of the philosophes
• Advocated for reason, logic and common sense
• Stressed order, harmony and emotional restraint
• Romanticism, (Conservatism and Idealism) was a reaction to the philosophes
• It emphasized feelings, imagination, emotions and inuition
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
“I know the feelings of my heart, and I know men. I am not made like any of those I have seen. I venture to believe that I am not made like any of those who are in existence. If I am not better, at least I am different.” Confessions, 1781
Eccentricity is okay
on nature and the natural world...
• The universe is giant mechanical clock with all parts working harmoniously and simultaneously
• Man's passions are not good and must be subordinated to social rules
• Deism – saw God as “the Great Planner” who assembled the Universe, wound it up and leaves it alone.
• Criticized “mechanism” -fitting all people into a mechanical framework diminished their unique individuality
• Machines are “soul-less” -without souls/spirit
• Nature is “The Sublime” -lofty, noble & majestic
• Pantheism-the presence of God in nature
on scientific rationalism...
• use the scientific method to discover and understand the natural world and Man.
• “the scientific method crushes emotions, feelings and impedes creativity.”
… Lord Byron
William Blake
• “The Reasoning Power of Man is an incrustation (scab) over my immortal spirit.”
on Christianity...
• rejected Christianity and all religions for their reliance on faith and superstition…
• “miracles” defy reason and logic
• viewed God as a spiritual force that inspired people and enriched life.
on the Middle Ages ...
• “The Dark Ages” a period of decay and ignorance in which superstition and fanaticism reigned
• Medieval institutions and traditions stopped human progress
• “An Age of Faith” - a time of deep religious faith that nurtured social harmony
on the concept of history...
• it provided examples of human folly in the past and helped people prepare for a better future.
• “each historical period is unique to a given time, place and people with its own soul…zeitgeist.”
Georg W.F. Hegel
on imagination ...
• it distorts reason and ignores common sense
• the imagination of the individual should determine the content and shape of man’s creations and self-expression
William Wordsworth
• “…imagination and feelings, not mathematics and logic, yield the highest truth.”
• “I am certain of nothing but of the holiness of my heart’s affections and the truth of imagination.”
John Keats
on human feelings...
• feelings are an obstacle to clear thinking and hide the truth.
• feelings are the avenue to truth-spontaneous human emotions reveal the inner self.
The approach to literature
• rules and formulas were introduced for the perfect play, poem or piece of music 26 rules for tragedy
25 rules for comedy
24 rules for epic poetry
• Express yourself, listen to your inner voice.
• you can’t learn to write poetry from a textbook
Victor Hugo, 1802-1885
• “Freedom in our art!... Let us take a hammer to the theories, to the rules and the formulas ….”
• American Romanticists-Edgar Allen Poe
Walt Whitman
James Fenimore Cooper
Nathaniel Hawthorne
on folk and cultural traditions...
• the philosophes ridiculed and dismissed folk traditions as peasant superstitions which stood in the way of human progress
• Romanticists viewed native languages, songs and legends as the unique creations of a people and their deepest expressions of national feelings.
• folk traditions were the spiritual force of a people’s identity and creativity.
on works of art...
• to attempt to portray, as accurately as possible, the subject and it’s surrounding environment.
• Greek and Roman subjects
• Used as propaganda, to teach or inform
• Paintings are not mere imitations of nature but authentic and spontaneous expressions of the artist's feelings, intuition, fantasies and dreams
> calm grandeur> noble simplicity> realistic detail
>contrived, stage-like and stiff – frozen in time> figures are solid but immobile
The Death of Socrates
Achilles receives the ambassadors of Agamemnon
• Napoleon crossing the St. Bernard Pass
• Napoleon Crossing the Alps
Hamlet at the gravesite of Yurick
Tintern Abbey (A Gothic ruin in Wales)
Raft of the Medusa, 1819, Gericault
Boat in a Maelstrom
Saturday Afternoon, Constable
Monticello, Jefferson 1784
Nuschwanstein Castle, Ludwig II, 1864
Any Questions?
a self-quiz…
The Oath of the Horatii
• Zeus and Thetis
Liberty Leading the People, Delacroix 1830
Town On A River, Schinkel 1815
Palace de Pena, Portugal
• Palacio de Pena
The Sabine Women, David
Vergil Reading to Augustus, Ingres
A Mountain Stream
The Boatmaker, Constable
U.S. Capitol
Any Questions?