Notes on Romanticism

In the most basic sense, Romanticism, which is loosely identified as

spanning the years of 1783-1830,1 2 can be distinguished from the preceding
period called the Enlightenment by observing that the one elevated the role of
spirit, soul, instinct, and emotion, while the other advocated a cool, detached
scientific approach to most human endeavors and dilemmas. 3 In short,
Romanticism in literature was a rejection of many of the values movements
such as the Enlightenment and Scientific Revolution held as paramount.
Romanticism, initiated by the English poets such as Coleridge and
Wordsworth, as well as Blake, Keats, Shelley, was concentrated primarily in
the creative expressions of literature and the arts; however, the philosophy
and sentiment characteristic of the Romanticism movement would spread
throughout Europe and would ultimately impact not only the arts and
humanities, but the society at large, permanently changing the ways in which
human emotions, relationships, and institutions were viewed, understood,
and artistically and otherwise reflected. As Bloom and Trilling observe, some
of the most cherished ideals of the Romantic Age have not been lost with the
passage of time. On the contrary, Romanticism [has become] an ageless and
recurrent phenomenon.4

The Enlightenment was the name given to the period that preceded the
Romantic Age, and it is in understanding the key features of the
Enlightenment that one can best understand how the characteristics of
Romanticism came to be, and how they differed so radically from those of the
industrialized era. The Enlightenment had developed and championed logic
and reason above all other qualities and there was little room in this
worldview for the emotion-based nature that would define Romanticism.
According the Enlightenment view, people and their relationships, roles,
institutions, and indeed, their whole societies, could be understood best if
organized and approached with a scientific perspective. 5 During this time, it
was believed that objectivity was not only desirable, but also achievable.
Subjective emotions, contemplation of nature, and the creative impulse felt by
individuals were all of far lesser importance than building the physical and
commercial infrastructure of a country that had new resources, techniques,
and capital with which to experiment.6 The literary products of the period
reflected the priorities and values of the time, focusing mainly on political and
economic themes. Philosophical writings similarly reflected the mechanistic
preoccupations of the age and dealt more so than ever with the individual
human experience as well as personal thoughts.

Romanticism, then, emerged as a reaction against what was perceived to be a

cultural climate that had been lacking in spontaneity, creativity, and
individuality. Indeed, some of the earliest and most profound writings of the
Romantic period were not the poems themselves, but manifestos and
discourses on the nature of human beings and creative expression, such as
Coleridges Biographia Literaria, Shelleys A Defence of Poetry, and
Wordsworths Preface to Lyrical Ballads. In these three exemplary prose pieces,
the Romantic poets promote their vision of what poetry, and by extension,
society, should be. Their vision was quite distinct from that of the
Enlightenment, and in these pieces, the major characteristics of Romanticism
were developed and disseminated. One of these characteristics, as articulated
by Wordsworth in the Preface was the belief that ordinary things [were worth
writing about] and should be presented to the mind in an unusual way. 7 The
Romantics believed that through close attention, the most ordinary, quotidian
objects, emotions, and experiences could be elevated to the extraordinary.

Another characteristic of Romanticism, as expressed by Shelley in his Defence,

was the belief that emotions and relationships were not just important, but
were the very currency of life. Rather than functioning as a cog in a wheel,
mechanically and unaware of the other parts comprising the whole machine,
Shelley argued that: The great secret of mortals is loveand an identification
of ourselves with the beautiful which exists in thought, action, or person, not
our own. A man, to be greatly good, must imagine intensely and
comprehensively; he must put himself in the place of another and of many
others; the pains and pleasures of his species must become his own. 8 While
some of the Romantics were more inwardly focused than the kind of
engagement that Shelley called for so passionately in his Defence, they tended
to agree on the major characteristics of Romanticism: the valuation of
intensely felt emotion, the importance of creative expression, and the
possibility of transcending ordinary experience, which was referred to as
achieving a state of sublimity.9 As Bloom and Trilling explain, the meaning of
sublimity changed between the Enlightenment and Romantic periods: This
sublimity [unlike that of previous eras]is not a Sublime of great
conceptions, before which the self feels small, but rather of a hoped-for
potential, in which the private self turns upon infinitude, and so is found by
its own greatness.10

Romanticism was, above all, an experimental project of self and social quest, a
quest for intense experiences that were felt deeply, a quest for connection, a
quest for transcendence, and a quest to know the selfand, by extension,
othersmore profoundly. The quest did not occur, nor could it have
occurred, by creating a plan to achieve it. Rather, it was through constant
observation and alertness, and the devotion of attention to the most minute
and seemingly unimportant details of daily life, that the self, and therefore
society, had the possibility of transmuting itself into something greater.
Bloom and Trilling refer to Romanticism as a health-restoring revival of the
instinctual life.11 Rather than trust in machines, industry, and scientifically-
based progress, Romanticism encouraged people to look inward, trusting
themselves and their own intuition. Romantics also directed their own and
others attention to nature, where all organic processes could be observed,
celebrated, and from which lessons could be learned. Through these shifts in
focus, the Romantics argued, it would become possible for people to know
themselves and the world better and more fully.

Whereas the preceding age of Enlightenment had promised that reason, logic,
and scientific processes would lead to knowledge, success, and a better
society, the Romantics challenged that notion, and changed the equation. It
was no longer necessary to follow traditional formulae; rather, new literary
forms and new modes of expression could be created. The major Romantic
questers, write Bloom and Trilling, offered through their own examples the
possibility of engage[ing] in the extraordinary enterprise of seeking to re-
beget their own selves, as though through the imagination a man might hope
to become his own father, or at least his own heroic precursor. 12 Perhaps
Romanticism was adopted so quickly and on such a widespread scale across
Europe and then, not long after, to America, because it was an antidote to the
hyper-accelerated period of change that the Industrial Revolutions had
ushered in during the previous epoch. Given that the Industrial Revolution
had caused such dramatic shifts in all aspects of society, changing the ways
that people thought, felt, worked, and related with one another, it would not
be unreasonable to hypothesize that such a shift in paradigm and in practice
created a sort of cognitive dissonance. Such dissonance might only have been
possible to resolve by embracing the backlash that Romanticism represented
to the Enlightenment ideas and ideals. Whereas the Enlightenment could be
interpreted as having drained the creativity and spontaneity out of life,
making tasks and relationships predictable through mechanization,
Romanticism offered the hope of restoration through small and unexpected
pleasures. Romanticism invited people to dream again, to imagine, to give in
to flights of fancy, to explore the border between conscious experience and
unconscious dreams and desires.13

These ideals of Romanticism, first articulated by the English poets, spread to

other artistic genres, including music and the visual arts, as well as to other
countries. For those countries which had not yet coalesced in terms of their
own national identity, the Romanticism offered a creative framework for
defining and expressing what was unique to that region, for Romanticism was
inherently creative and imaginative, inviting its adherents to envision
possibilities that might never have been entertained before. As a result, the
value of the individual, of the arts, and of emotional expression, was able to
regain a place in thought and practice, tempering the logic-bound tendencies
of science with the shifting philosophies of emotion. As Bloom and Trilling
observe, the contributions of the Romantics remain valuable and relevant in
contemporary life. Perhaps, they write, romanticism isendemic in human
nature, for all men and women are questers to some degree.

References

Abrams, M.H. and Stephen Greenblatt, eds. The Norton Anthology of English
Literature, Seventh Edition, Volume 2. New York: W.W. Norton & Company,
2000.

Bloom, Harold and Lionel Trilling. Romantic Poetry and Prose.. New York:
Oxford University Press, 1973.

Longley Arthur, Paul. Capturing the Antipodes: Imaginary Voyages and the
Romantic Imagination. Journal of Australian Studies (2001),
http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5000961987

Richardson, Alan. British Romanticism and the Science of the Mind. Cambridge,
England: Cambridge University Press, 2001
Article by Nicole Smith ~ All Content Copyright 2009 Article Myriad. All Rights
Reserved.

Top of Form

Search
Enter your search terms Submit search form

Web www.articlemyriad.com

* If you are using this article as a study guide or as a resource for your own essays, please
make sure to cite it as your source with proper citation, (even if you are just using a few
important quotes or the same thesis statement or thesis statements) as this essay or article is
copyrighted material. For a short summary of citation guides, please visit the MLA main
website where a synopsis, tips and analysis on how to properly cite references can be found.*

Here you will find one of the many informative random articles, essays, or rants located here
at Article Myriad. Clicking on any of the titles will magically transport you to the land of random
articles, essays, and general tidbits--all of which have been painstakingly written and
researched by one of us here at Article Myriad. A better system of organization of essays and
pieces will eventually develop, we promise, but until that time, just enjoy the hodge-podge
effect and let it help you meander rather than barrel through the site as if you have some kind
of purpose. Because you dont have a purpose here, do you? Youre just procrastinating
putting something off, arent you? .... We thought so.

Again, if you you find an article or essay that makes your life better, easier, or just plain
happier / enriched, please dont hesitate to support your friends here with a small donation. It
keeps us able to write. Visit our homepage for more on that matter and thanks!

The Enlightenment was the name given to the period that preceded the
Romantic Age, and it is in understanding the key features of the
Enlightenment that one can best understand how the characteristics of
Romanticism came to be, and how they differed so radically from those of the
industrialized era. The Enlightenment had developed and championed logic
and reason above all other qualities and there was little room in this
worldview for the emotion-based nature that would define Romanticism.
According the Enlightenment view, people and their relationships, roles,
institutions, and indeed, their whole societies, could be understood best if
organized and approached with a scientific perspective. 5 During this time, it
was believed that objectivity was not only desirable, but also achievable.
Subjective emotions, contemplation of nature, and the creative impulse felt by
individuals were all of far lesser importance than building the physical and
commercial infrastructure of a country that had new resources, techniques,
and capital with which to experiment.6 The literary products of the period
reflected the priorities and values of the time, focusing mainly on political and
economic themes. Philosophical writings similarly reflected the mechanistic
preoccupations of the age and dealt more so than ever with the individual
human experience as well as personal thoughts.

Romanticism, then, emerged as a reaction against what was perceived to be a

cultural climate that had been lacking in spontaneity, creativity, and
individuality. Indeed, some of the earliest and most profound writings of the
Romantic period were not the poems themselves, but manifestos and
discourses on the nature of human beings and creative expression, such as
Coleridges Biographia Literaria, Shelleys A Defence of Poetry, and
Wordsworths Preface to Lyrical Ballads. In these three exemplary prose pieces,
the Romantic poets promote their vision of what poetry, and by extension,
society, should be. Their vision was quite distinct from that of the
Enlightenment, and in these pieces, the major characteristics of Romanticism
were developed and disseminated. One of these characteristics, as articulated
by Wordsworth in the Preface was the belief that ordinary things [were worth
writing about] and should be presented to the mind in an unusual way. 7 The
Romantics believed that through close attention, the most ordinary, quotidian
objects, emotions, and experiences could be elevated to the extraordinary.

Another characteristic of Romanticism, as expressed by Shelley in his Defence,

was the belief that emotions and relationships were not just important, but
were the very currency of life. Rather than functioning as a cog in a wheel,
mechanically and unaware of the other parts comprising the whole machine,
Shelley argued that: The great secret of mortals is loveand an identification
of ourselves with the beautiful which exists in thought, action, or person, not
our own. A man, to be greatly good, must imagine intensely and
comprehensively; he must put himself in the place of another and of many
others; the pains and pleasures of his species must become his own. 8 While
some of the Romantics were more inwardly focused than the kind of
engagement that Shelley called for so passionately in his Defence, they tended
to agree on the major characteristics of Romanticism: the valuation of
intensely felt emotion, the importance of creative expression, and the
possibility of transcending ordinary experience, which was referred to as
achieving a state of sublimity.9 As Bloom and Trilling explain, the meaning of
sublimity changed between the Enlightenment and Romantic periods: This
sublimity [unlike that of previous eras]is not a Sublime of great
conceptions, before which the self feels small, but rather of a hoped-for
potential, in which the private self turns upon infinitude, and so is found by
its own greatness.10

Romanticism was, above all, an experimental project of self and social quest, a
quest for intense experiences that were felt deeply, a quest for connection, a
quest for transcendence, and a quest to know the selfand, by extension,
othersmore profoundly. The quest did not occur, nor could it have
occurred, by creating a plan to achieve it. Rather, it was through constant
observation and alertness, and the devotion of attention to the most minute
and seemingly unimportant details of daily life, that the self, and therefore
society, had the possibility of transmuting itself into something greater.
Bloom and Trilling refer to Romanticism as a health-restoring revival of the
instinctual life.11 Rather than trust in machines, industry, and scientifically-
based progress, Romanticism encouraged people to look inward, trusting
themselves and their own intuition. Romantics also directed their own and
others attention to nature, where all organic processes could be observed,
celebrated, and from which lessons could be learned. Through these shifts in
focus, the Romantics argued, it would become possible for people to know
themselves and the world better and more fully.

Whereas the preceding age of Enlightenment had promised that reason, logic,
and scientific processes would lead to knowledge, success, and a better
society, the Romantics challenged that notion, and changed the equation. It
was no longer necessary to follow traditional formulae; rather, new literary
forms and new modes of expression could be created. The major Romantic
questers, write Bloom and Trilling, offered through their own examples the
possibility of engage[ing] in the extraordinary enterprise of seeking to re-
beget their own selves, as though through the imagination a man might hope
to become his own father, or at least his own heroic precursor. 12 Perhaps
Romanticism was adopted so quickly and on such a widespread scale across
Europe and then, not long after, to America, because it was an antidote to the
hyper-accelerated period of change that the Industrial Revolutions had
ushered in during the previous epoch. Given that the Industrial Revolution
had caused such dramatic shifts in all aspects of society, changing the ways
that people thought, felt, worked, and related with one another, it would not
be unreasonable to hypothesize that such a shift in paradigm and in practice
created a sort of cognitive dissonance. Such dissonance might only have been
possible to resolve by embracing the backlash that Romanticism represented
to the Enlightenment ideas and ideals. Whereas the Enlightenment could be
interpreted as having drained the creativity and spontaneity out of life,
making tasks and relationships predictable through mechanization,
Romanticism offered the hope of restoration through small and unexpected
pleasures. Romanticism invited people to dream again, to imagine, to give in
to flights of fancy, to explore the border between conscious experience and
unconscious dreams and desires.13

These ideals of Romanticism, first articulated by the English poets, spread to

other artistic genres, including music and the visual arts, as well as to other
countries. For those countries which had not yet coalesced in terms of their
own national identity, the Romanticism offered a creative framework for
defining and expressing what was unique to that region, for Romanticism was
inherently creative and imaginative, inviting its adherents to envision
possibilities that might never have been entertained before. As a result, the
value of the individual, of the arts, and of emotional expression, was able to
regain a place in thought and practice, tempering the logic-bound tendencies
of science with the shifting philosophies of emotion. As Bloom and Trilling
observe, the contributions of the Romantics remain valuable and relevant in
contemporary life. Perhaps, they write, romanticism isendemic in human
nature, for all men and women are questers to some degree.

Abrams, M.H. and Stephen Greenblatt, eds. The Norton Anthology of English
Literature, Seventh Edition, Volume 2. New York: W.W. Norton & Company,
2000.

Bloom, Harold and Lionel Trilling. Romantic Poetry and Prose.. New York:
Oxford University Press, 1973.

Longley Arthur, Paul. Capturing the Antipodes: Imaginary Voyages and the
Romantic Imagination. Journal of Australian Studies (2001),
http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5000961987
Richardson, Alan. British Romanticism and the Science of the Mind. Cambridge,
England: Cambridge University Press, 2001