Romanticism was a reaction against rationalism and focus on emotions and imagination. Romantic writers were influenced by new ideas from the Industrial Revolution and criticism of the past. They valued individualism, nature, and sentiment over reason. Subgenres included Fireside Poets who emphasized American themes, Transcendentalists who valued spirituality and individualism, and American Gothics who explored human psychology and capacity for evil. Significant American Romantic authors included James Fenimore Cooper, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Henry David Thoreau, and Edgar Allan Poe.

1. Placing a focus on you & your true
feelings!
Romanticism
Lea Drogalis, Abby Mayes, Kelly
Villwock, & Bailey Newman

2. Historical Context
Writers of Romantic time period
were influenced largely by the
Industrial Revolution’s new ideas

3. Romantics
• Romanticism was a reaction to the Scientific
Revolution
- Against rationalizations in nature
- Power of imagination
• Anti-Enlightenment movement
• Writers were influenced by: criticism of
past and respect for new & “pure” nature
• Based writings on sentiment & affection

4. Fireside Poets
• Influenced by politics, American legends &
ideals of American home life
• Fall under romantics through use of
sentiment to force reader to consider issues
on personal terms

5. Transcendentalists
• Influenced by idea that a child is born with
the ability to tell right from wrong
• Must listen to voice of God within
• Reflected in writings through focus on
individualistic qualities

6. American Gothics
• Based on human psychology & emotions,
not reason
• Ideas reflected in writing: used fear to
evoke feelings of the issues during the
time period & build artistic value instead of
materialistic nature

7. Values and Beliefs
"a journey away from the corruption of
civilization and the limits of rational thought
and toward the integrity of nature and the
freedom of the imagination."

8. Romanticism
• emotions and imagination over reason
• natural goodness of humans
• individual freedom and the worth of the
individual
• Beauty of nature as an inspiration

9. Fireside Poets
• Emphasized morally uplifting themes in
work
• Romantically engaging
• Stressed individualism
• Appreciation of nature
• Social reform

10. Transcendentalism
• Emphasized living a simple life
• Close relationship with nature
• Emotions and the imagination
• Individualism
• Inherent goodness of people
• Spiritual well-being over financial well-
being

11. American Gothic
• Did not believe in innate goodness of
people
• Explored human capacity for evil
• Explored characters’ motivations
• Emphasis on emotion, nature and
individual
• Included elements of fantasy

12. Genre & Style
of Romanticism

13. “liberalism in literature”
-Victor Hugo
Puts emphasis on the individual,
beauty, nature, mysticism.
Reactions against characterized
neoclassicism. Expressing unique
feelings.

14. • the abandonment of the heroic
couplet in favor of blank verse
• the sonnet
• experimental verse forms
Style
• the dropping of the
conventional poetic diction in
favor of fresher language and
bolder figures
• renewed interest in classical
writers, such as Shakespeare
and Milton

15. So, romanticism writers were
basically the hipsters of American
literature…
…basically.

16. Significant Authors
• James Fenimore Cooper
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
• Henry David Thoreau
• Edgar Allan Poe

17. References
• http://www.thefastertimes.com/fiction/2011/03/05/edgar-allan-poe-sexy-
blonde-and-tan/
• http://www.blackcrayon.com/people/thoreau/
• http://www.google.com/imgres?
q=james+fenimore+cooper&num=10&hl=en&gbv=2&biw=1440&bih=663&tb
m=isch&tbnid=5QIYucECYD1dhM:&imgrefurl=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fil
e:James_Fenimore_Cooper_by_Brady.jpg&docid=d4kyhldUukSpHM&w=60
0&h=764&ei=I19pTsbQBMPW0QGOoOyABQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=796&
vpy=162&dur=249&hovh=243&hovw=191&tx=83&ty=116&sqi=2&page=1&t
bnh=131&tbnw=99&start=0&ndsp=30&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:0
• http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/henry_wadsworth_longfellow/photo