Romanticism

(1776-1861)

*this is what wars are good for

Factors leading to Rise of Romanticism

• Proliferation of Protestant denominations• independence in religion and politics• egalitarianism• rise of representative government• expansion in the “new world”• evil of industrialism and urbanization• significant rise in literacy• and . . .

confusion generated by science

• Darwin’s Origin of Species stated humanity’s mean origins

• Marx’s Das Kapital predicted capitalism’s decay and a triumphant working class

Traits of Romanticism1. Individualism

Emphasis moved from the stability of the

community to the fulfillment of the

individual.

“Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”

was a new ideal in the world.

Emphasis moved from the universal to the

particular, for humankind to nations

and ethnic groups.

2. Rejection of Traditional Authority

• Government hierarchies, notions of sovereignty and aristocracy, and systems of distinction all fell.

• Romantics believed that authority derives from the self, not from authority.

• Newness itself was a value.

3. Emotionalism

• There was a new emphasis on imagination and feeling.– Feeling, not reason, became the test of

authenticity.– Romantic love became a subject of poetry and

drama.– Poetry is a form of emotional communication.

• Painful and pleasurable emotions are equally valid to Romantic poets.

The Raft of the MedusaTheodore Gericault

Death of SardanapalusEugene Delacroix

4. Natural Mysticism

Romantics loved and were spiritually involved with nature.

5. Primitivism (“noble savage”• Enlightenment:

“society is good, curbing violent impulses”

• Romanticism: “civilization corrupts; institutions have rippling effects

•The child raised with the greatest possible freedom will develop in more admirable ways.

•Youth and infancy are valued above wisdom of old age; holy wisdom is lost as we age.

•Innocence is more valued than experience.•Humans are born into innocence, not innately

depraved.

Consequences of RomanticismThe era was obsessed with the fact of violent

change.

•American Revolution--1775

•French Revolution--storming of the Bastille in 1789

•The French Revolution derived from and generated Romantic ideas.

•Both revolutions developed from strong convictions about the innate rights of individuals.

There was a move to city for industry and a corresponding romanticizing of the country.

• Cities were often filled with congestion, poverty, and misery.

• Educated men and women expressed a nostalgia for rural landscapes.

The Course of Empire: the Arcadian or Pastoral State

Thomas Cole