Romanticism - English 3

What comes to your mind when you hear the word Romanticism?

Information about Romanticism:

• This refers to a time in American Literature between 1770 and 1860

• What else is going on in American during this time period?

Civil War

Revolutionary War

Forced migration of Native Americans

Influx of immigration

Industrial Revolution

Global Trade

Propaganda

Common Sense

 The American Frontier promised opportunity for expansion, growth, freedom.

 There is an increased spirit of optimism invoked by the promise of new discovery.

 Immigration brought new cultures and perspectives.

 Growth of industry.

 There is an increased need to become more spiritual.

• Some famous “romantic” writers include Washington Irving, Edgar Allan Poe, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathanial Hawthorne, Emily Dickinson, Herman Melville…just to name a few.

• There are several characteristics that mark a “romantic” piece of literature. They are:

1. Emotion

2. Individualism

3. Revolutionary

4. Love of nature and solitude

5. Full of fantasy and/or introspection

6. Subjective perception

7. Right-brained (more creative and emotional than logical and analytical)

8. Strong sense of nationalism

9. Provides an outcast or savage character

10. Mysterious settings

11. Focus on the supernatural

• The Romantic period in American literature brings about the basis for two important literary movements … Gothicism and Transcendentalism.