American Romanticism

American Romanticism

Approximate years:1790-1860

A New Philosophy

• Romanticism: school of thought that valued feeling and intuition over reason and logic• Began in Germany in the 1750s• Strong influence on literature, music and art• Developed as a reaction to

Rationalism/Deism• Romantics believed that there were limits to

reason and logic and that imagination was more powerful than both

A New School of Thought

• Romantics believed that poetry was the highest form of art and the most perfect example of imagination

• Romantics sought wisdom in natural beauty• Some even believed it was the only

place where man could truly connect with God

Characteristics of Romanticism• Values feeling and intuition over reason• Places faith in experience and imagination• Rejects civilization in favor of nature• Prefers youthful innocence to educated

sophistication• Champions individual freedom• Looks to the wisdom of the past• Finds beauty and inspiration in myth and the

supernatural

Romantic EscapismTwo Types of Romantics in AmericaType I: Gothic Romantics• Romantics wanted to rise above “dull

realities” to a realm of higher truth• Sought to understand the psychological

aspects of the human mind, especially how we deal with guilt and loss

• Known for stories with• Exotic settings• Supernatural elements• Folktales and legends

Examples of this type of Romanticism? Gothic Romantics—Poe, Hawthorne, Irving, Melville

Romantic EscapismTwo Types of Romantics in America

Type II: Natural Romantics• Consisted of Romantic Poets, James Fenimore

Cooper and Transcendentalists• Typical romantic poem: speaker focuses on some

object in nature which brings about some insight for the speaker

• Cooper introduces the American Romantic Hero• Transcendentalists were philosophers who believed

Nature was the doorway to the spiritual world

James Fenimore Cooper and The Leatherstocking Tales

Invented American persona/hero for the world• Europeans saw Americans as boorish and

unsophisticated• Cooper embraced this concept but turned it on its

head—saw the virtue in American innocence• Wrote five novels chronicling the adventures of

Nathaniel “Natty” Bumppo− Child of white parents, raised by Native Americans− Most famous books in the series: The Deerslayer

(book 1) and Last of the Mohicans (book 2)

Cooper’s impact on Romanticism• Characteristics of American Romantic

Hero• Young, or possesses youthful qualities• Innocent and pure of purpose• Sense of honor based on his own code of

moral conduct• Intuitive knowledge of people and life, not

based on formal learning• Loves nature and avoids civilization• Quests for some higher truth in the natural

world

Washington Irving

• Wrote under several pseudonyms• Diedrich Knickerbocker• Geoffrey Crayon

• First found success as a satirist• A History of New York: funny, fake history that

ridiculed America’s past

• Influenced by British Romantic, Sir Walter Scott• Encouraged Irving to read German folklore and

legend for inspiration• Began writing folktales based on German tales with

American twist

The Devil and Tom Walker

• Archetypal plot pattern: Faust story• Man sells his soul to devil for personal

gain during his life on earth• Each retelling puts its own spin on the

ending

The Devil and Tom Walker

• Symbolism• Trees in swamp: symbolize the men whose names

they bear• Look healthy and prosperous, but are rotten inside

• Ax: woodsman (old scratch) is instrumental in the downfall of the “trees”. Their deaths are fuel to him, like logs on a fire

• Cautionary Tale—What is Irving satirizing in this story?• False piety/hypocritical religious beliefs• Excessive greed

“The Devil and Tom Walker”• Table work

• Analyzing imagery• Identify the imagery in the following passages• Explain how imagery supports 1 of the following

− Characterization− Plot− Theme

• Description of the marked trees (p.353)• Description of Tom’s search for his wife (355-356)• Description of Tom’s house, horses, and carriage

(p357-358)• Description of Tom carried off by Devil (p 359)

Edgar Allan PoeHistorical/Biographical Info

• Father deserted family when Poe was 3• Mother, Eliza, well known actress who contracted TB and died

soon after Poe’s father left• Placed in foster care with Frances and John Allan (childless

couple); separated from siblings; brother eventually dies of TB as well• Foster mother, Frances, contracted TB when Poe was in college

• John Allan carried on numerous affairs during his wife’s illness, fathered several illegitimate children, and eventually disinherited Edgar

• After leaving UVA (debt) and West Point (gambling and debt), he found a home with his aunt, Maria Clemm and cousin Virginia• Married Virginia when she was 13 and he was 26

• She too, contracted TB and died soon after…she was the inspiration for some of Poe’s greatest poetry (The Raven and Annabelle Lee)

Edgar Allan PoeHistorical/Biographical Info

• Supported family as literary editor for various magazines

• Wrote his own novels, poems, and short stories without the backing of a publisher• Created the “detective story” genre with character of

sleuth C. Auguste Dupin• Explored the criminal mind and the psychology of a

killer with stories like “Tell Tale Heart” and “Hop-Frog”

• As a writer, he was the master of the psychological thriller—wanted to discover the unsettling truth in the dark, irrational depths of the mind

Edgar Allan Poe“The Masque of the Red Death”

• Literary focus: allegory• Allegory: a story in which the people,

objects and events symbolize abstract qualities• Abstract qualities?

− Freedom, selfishness, curiosity, innocence, desire, loneliness

• The story is an allegory for TB (Red Death) and the devastating effects of TB on a community


• Allegory analysis• Prince

• Fallibility of leaders− “Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious.”− Attempts to protect his chosen ppl but ultimately cannot

• Selfishness:− “The external world could take care of itself. In the

meantime, it was folly to grieve, or to think.− wants to party while the rest of his ppl die outside the abbey

• Moral lesson(s): • Leaders cannot always protect you• Those with resources should use them to help others


• The abbey• Protection, safety, security

• “A strong, lofty wall girded it in. This wall had gates of iron…The abbey was amply provisioned.”

• Moral Lesson• No matter how protected you feel, you

cannot avoid the fate we all share: death.


• The series of seven rooms• The life cycle

• “…the eastern extremity was hung, for example, in blue….but in the western or black chamber…”− Each of the seven rooms colors represent the

movement of the sun across the sky, from sunrise to sunset.

• Moral Lesson: The life cycle of anything doesn’t stop until death.


• The clock• The passage of time in one’s life

• “while the chimes of the clock yet rang, it was observed that the giddiest turned pale…”

• Moral Lesson• Time waits for no one. You never know

when your time will be up.


• The Stranger• The “red death”—TB

• “His vesture was dabbed in blood…”

• Moral Lesson:• Death will always find you.

Edgar Allan Poe“The Raven”

• Background on Poem• Wrote poem while wife, Virginia, was dying of TB• Imagined the desperation and loneliness he might

feel after her death• Speaker questions the existence of the afterlife

• Wonders if he and Lenore will ever be reunited

• Style and Structure• Wanted to create a poem with a deliberate dark mood

• Considered using an owl or a parrot in place of a raven• Uses dashes or other interrupters in sentences to suggest

hurried/excited speech

Edgar Allan PoeFall of the House of Usher

• Fall of the House of Usher• House of Usher: sounds like European

aristocracy…why?•Satire of European Aristocracy?−Both Madeline and Roderick

suffer from genetic diseases•Poe is commenting on incest among aristocracy or fearing for himself?


• Basic Plot• Exposition: Narrator comes to visit old friend, Roderick.• Rising Action:

• Roderick explains his illness to narrator and the illness of his sister, Madeline, who is close to death.

• Roderick and Narrator spend time together reading, playing music, and painting

• Usher announces Madeline is dead and must be buried immediately• After a week, on a stormy night, Roderick is acting strange; narrator

reads him a story.• Climax: Madeline enters the chamber and she and

Roderick die in each other’s arms• Resolution: the narrator escapes as the house collapses on

itself.


• Group Activity• Each table group will analyze and

discuss a specific part of the story and present their analysis to the class. Make sure your group finds specific examples from the text (in the form of quotations) to support your opinions

Nathaniel Hawthorne(1804-1864)• Descendent of Judge Hathorne (Salem

Witch Trials)• Heavily influenced by his Puritan ancestry—

felt so guilty about family involvement in SWT that he changed the spelling of his name

• Short stories and novels deal with sin and redemption• First success was a collection of short

stories— Twice Told Tales 1837• Achieved literary popularity with The Scarlet

Letter in 1850

Nathaniel Hawthorne“Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment”

• Moral lesson: humans display no ability to benefit from mistakes of the past

• Heidegger as protagonist• He motivates the action of the story—offers the water

but has no intention of drinking• Is a scientific observer who sits in moral judgment

upon vain and sinful people• Romantic Elements

• Allegory: each of the characters in this story are symbols for some negative human character trait

• Description of the study—book of magic• Elements of fantasy—Fountain of Youth• Gothic element: moral dilemma—can we ever learn from

the mistakes of our past?

Nathaniel Hawthorne

• “The Minister’s Black Veil”• Parable: short stories often from religious

scripture that teach a moral lesson—the meaning is often ambiguous

• Hawthorne calls this a parable to make it clear that this is NOT realism—this is a story with a moral lesson

• Symbol: a person, place, thing, or event that has meaning in itself and also stands for something more than itself

Nathaniel Hawthorne

• “The Minister’s Black Veil”• Symbolism—THE VEIL

• Hooper explains that it is a symbol of “universal secret sin”− Why black?—inspires dread in his

congregation− Why wear it?—Hooper declares his kinship

with all people as a secret sinner– Makes congregation uncomfortable

because it reminds them of their own secret sins

Fireside Poets

• Wanted to prove that American poets were not unsophisticated hicks• Proved this by copying European literary

traditions• Used English themes, meter and imagery

Who were the Fireside Poets?Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Greenleaf

Whittier, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and James Russell Lowell

Fireside Poets

• Most popular poets in American History• Traditionalists who relied on past

literary forms• Subject Matter of Poetry?

• Love, patriotism, nature, family and religion

• Why called Fireside Poets?• Poems were read aloud at the fireside for

family entertainment

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow1807-1882

• Most popular American Poet of the 1800s

• Aware of opposites in life• Something beautiful is created only at the

expense of great pain and suffering• “Sunshine and Shadow”

− “Sunshine” represented positive feelings and experiences that cannot exist without “shadow”—the inevitable negative experiences of human life

Longfellow“Psalm of Life”

• Celebrates an optimistic view of life• Reflects American sentiment in a time of prosperity and

peace• Table Work: analyze the following elements of the poem

• Rhyme scheme• Meter

• What effect does the stanza length, rhyme scheme, and meter have on the tone of the poem?

• Metaphor—identify the metaphor in lines 17-18 and explain the meaning

• What, according to the speaker, is our destined purpose?

Longfellow

“The Cross of Snow”• Romantic poets use nature to mirror or

express painful emotions• this poem is an expression of Longfellow’s

grief over the death of his wife• What images in nature can be used to

describe grief?• Grief is__________________________

Longfellow

“The Cross of Snow”• Sonnet

• Rhymed 14 line poem• Usually written in Iambic Pentameter

(10 syllables per line)• Five Iambs (syllables) are stressed, five

are unstressed

Longfellow

“The Cross of Snow”• Sonnet: Two Types

• Shakespearean (Elizabethan)• 3 groups of 4 lines each—quatrains• Followed by two final rhyming lines—couplet• Rhyme Scheme abab,cdcd,efef,gg

• Italian (Petrachan)• First 8 lines are grouped together—octave• Last 6 lines are grouped together—sestet• Rhyme scheme abba, abba, cde, cde Which type of Sonnet did Longfellow use for “The

Cross of Snow”?

Longfellow

“The Cross of Snow”• Italian sonnet

• Octave—what is the subject of the first 8 lines?

• Poet’s sleepless nights and memories of his dead wife

• Sestet—what comment is made on the subject of the octave?

• The changeless cross of snow has become the symbol for the grief he feels over his wife’s death

Oliver Wendell Holmes1809-1894

• Descendent of first American poet, Anne Bradstreet

• During medical school, wrote “Old Ironsides”—saved USS Constitution from destruction

• Wrote poetry for fun; worked as a physician

Oliver Wendell Holmes

• Content of his poetry• Generally light and comic• Commentaries on social and

intellectual shortcomings of other poets

• Literary devices• Apostrophe: a direct address to an

object or to someone who is not present


“The Chambered Nautilus”


“The Chambered Nautilus”• Literary Devices

• Extended Metaphor− A comparison between two unlike things that

is developed throughout several lines or an entire work

What is the extended metaphor in this poem?The creature building its nautilus shell is a metaphor for the human soul striving for heaven


“The Chambered Nautilus”• Other metaphors in the poem

• “stately mansions” (nautilus chambers)=spiritual achievements of the soul

• “low vaulted past” (previous chambers)=earlier, less spiritual state of the soul

• “each new temple” (individual chambers)=step toward heaven

• “outgrown shell”=the body after death• “unresting sea”=life


“The Chambered Nautilus”• Other Literary Devices

• Apostrophe: a direct address to an object or to someone who is not present− Where does the apostrophe in “The

Chambered Nautilus” begin?– Stanza 4: he address the nautilus– Stanza 5: he is speaking to his soul


“The Chambered Nautilus”• Theme—what is the message of this

poem?• Throughout our lives, we outgrow things

and move on to new ones: as we learn more about ourselves and the world, we are challenged to widen our perspectives

William Cullen Bryant1794-1878• Inspired by European Romantic

Poets William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge

• Also inspired by Deist belief that God can be found in Nature

• Wrote “Thanatopsis” at age 16, after the death of a friend

William Cullen Bryant

“Thanatopsis”• Subject: the natural cycle of life—

birth, growth, death, rebirth• Title origins

• Thanatos—Greek for death• Opsis—Greek for seeing

William Cullen Bryant

“Thanatopsis”• Original poem was only lines 17-72

• Lines 1-17 and 73-81 were added 10 years after original publication− Lines 1-17: Address the subject of death and tells

how the reader can find the answers− Lines 17-30: Speaker changes—THE VOICE OF

NATURE: those who die become part of nature's rebirth

− Lines 31-72: we are not alone in death; our resting place will be magnificent; and we will lie down with the great of past generations

− Lines 73-81: returns to original speaker who advises the reader to live life so that they will be able to accept death

American Romanticism

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