Discussion Topic
Characteristics of Romantic Literature
Summary:
Romantic literature, emerging in the late 18th to mid-19th century, emphasized individualism, emotion, and nature, contrasting with the rationalism of the Enlightenment. Key characteristics include a deep appreciation for nature, often depicted as a source of spiritual renewal; an exploration of the supernatural and gothic elements; a focus on personal freedom and intense emotions; and a celebration of the past, particularly medieval times. Romanticism also prioritized simplicity, idealized the common person, and often critiqued industrialization and organized religion.
What are the six main characteristics of Romantic literature?
The Romantic movement lasted from about the 1770s to the 1850s. While the Romantic sensibility permeated multiple artistic mediums, in literature, it often manifested in passionate poetry and stories of individualism, the sublime, and heightened emotion.
Here are some key characteristics of the movement.
A love of the natural world: Nature was often lionized in Romantic verse. The Prelude by William Wordsworth is perhaps the most famous example of the Romantic appreciation of the spiritual renewal to be found by spending time in the countryside.
An emphasis on the supernatural: Gothic literature came into vogue during the early years of the Romantic movement with Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto. Later gothic novels such as Matthew Gregory Lewis's The Monk would refine Walpole's formula, emphasizing the presence of demons, angels, ghosts, and other beings beyond the corporeal world.
A celebration of one's inner world, emotions, and individuality: For the...
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Romantics, the individual's feelings and experiences were of the utmost importance. A novel like Goethe'sThe Sorrows of Young Werther focused on the intense emotional pain felt by a young man experiencing unrequited love. The mystical poems of William Blake emphasized an inner world totally freed from worries about convention.
Critical attitudes toward organized religion: Many Romantic writers were critical of organized religion, often finding it oppressive and inconducive to true transcendence or experience with the divine. Some such as Percy Shelley were open atheists, but others like William Blake were unconventional in their spiritual beliefs.
Fascination with the past: For the Romantics, the past was seen as free of the corrupting influence of modern industrialization. As a result, Romantic novels and poetry were often set in antiquity or the middle ages.
Critical attitudes toward industrialization and the city: Hand in hand with their love of nature, the Romantics abhorred industrialization's effects on the natural world as well as its effects on the health of the human psyche. After all, if nature is a spiritual restorative, then an industrial world is its antithesis, as seen in the nightmarish urban cityscape of William Blake's poem "London."
Videos
The following are courtesy of my AP Senior English teacher, Andrelle E. McKinsey, more than a decado ago (and I still use them when I teach seniors for a nice reference)...
Characteristics of the Romantic Age & Romantic Literature
1. Individuality/Democracy/Personal Freedom
2. Spiritual/Supernatural Elements
3. Nature as a Teacher
4. Interest in Past History/Ancient Greek and Roman Elements
5. Celebration of the Simple Life
6. Interest in the Rustic/Pastoral Life
7. Interest in Folk Traditions
8. Use of Common Language
9. Use of Common Subjects
10. One Sided/Opinionated
11. Idealized Women
12. Frequent Use of Personification
13. Examination of the Poet's Inner Feelings
Romantic poetry became popular in the latter part of the eighteenth century.
Poetry of the Romantic period typically demonstrated the following
qualities:
An appreciation of nature: In Romantic poetry, nature is sometimes
depicted as calming and joyful, such as in William Wordsworth's "The
Daffodils," and sometimes as dark and mystical, as in John Keats's "Ode to a
Nightingale." Nevertheless, people engage with nature in ways that define and
shape their character and conflicts.
Introspection / focus on emotions: A wide range of
emotions are explored in Romantic poetry as speakers reflect on various
challenges. The speaker of "My Heart Leaps Up" by Wordsworth finds incredible
joy when beholding a "rainbow in the sky." The speaker of "Annabel Lee" by
Edgar Allan Poe grieves the loss of his beloved, who "lived with no other
thought / Than to love and be loved by me." The emotional landscape of Romantic
poetry is varied, demonstrating the wide range of the human experience.
Attention to the supernatural or gothic: Romantic poets didn't shy away
from exploring themes of the supernatural. Poe's poetry leaned toward gothic
themes, portraying dark settings and mysterious conflicts. This is evident in
"The Raven," which is set on a dreary December evening around midnight and
features a bird who taunts the speaker by repeating only one word:
"Nevermore."
Celebration of creativity: Romantic literature followed the period of
the Enlightenment, which celebrated reason and logic. Instead of embracing
logic, Romanticism turned its focus toward possibility and imagination. Thus,
William Blake's poem "The Tyger" uses extended metaphors to examine the
relationship between God, evil, and humanity; furthermore, the poem raises more
questions than it answers. Keats's poem "When I Have Fears That I May Cease to
Be" examines the possibility of dying young and before one has the opportunity
to fulfill their creative potential.
Characteristics of the Romantic period include:
- a return to (or respect for) nature
- idealization of women and children
- an interest in the past (especially medieval)
- championing personal freedom
- melancholy
- the supernatural and the occult
- imagination and emotion
There are variations on these characteristics, and some reviewers will include more or fewer. This is what I have used in the classroom.
The respect for nature (or a return to nature) was driven by the Romantics distress over seeing the environment spoiled and polluted by factories and mining in England's Industrial Revolution. Personal freedom was something most Romantics supported, especially the American and French Revolutions. Melancholy, or sadness, is also often seen in the poetry of the Romantics. Changes to the world around them (nature) and the plight of the less fortunate would have been some causes for melancholy.
Those less fortunate were the poor, and women and children, who had no rights and were often victimized. These were the people who worked for pennies in the many factories springing up as a part of industry. They were forced to work long hours. And poverty was such that losing a job was the difference between life and death. Even if a woman was pregnant, to stop working was not an option. In coal mining, exploitation was rampant. Children, because of their small size, would climb into hard to reach spaces. The loss of a hand or foot—or life—was not unusual among the children—however, working any number of years would many times lead to death caused by breathing coal dust.
An interest in the past (especially the Middle Ages) hearkened back to a time when honor guided the lives of Arthur's knights (as Romantics saw it)—when chivalry and love were infused in Arthurian tales (such as those collected and translated by Sir Thomas Mallory).
Interest in the supernatural and the occult, as well as the use of imagination or presence of emotion, are closely linked. "Supernatural" referred to anything above or beyond the norm in this world. Supernatural things today often include ghosts, poltergeists and aliens. During that time, God was considered to be supernatural, as well as ghosts, witches, spirits, etc.
The imagination was also often a major element in poems of the Romantic writers.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, an epic poem that includes a majority of the characteristics of Romantic writing. For example...
At length did cross an Albatross (62)
This refers to the bird the mariner (sailor) kills. This is a violent act against nature, for which the mariner will be punished. Coleridge also goes to great lengths to describe the beauty and majesty of nature on the mariner's journey. All of this shows a respect for nature.
"Life-in-Death" is a supernatural character in the story. She is the "mate" of Death; she saves the mariner from death when the other sailors die:
The Night-Mare LIFE-IN-DEATH was she,
Who thicks man's blood with cold. (190-191)
Other-worldly creatures and the description of the living things under the water are a few examples of imagination in the poem.
The Wedding Guest, to whom the mariner tells his tale, experiences melancholy:
He went like one that hath been stunned,
And is of sense forlorn:
A sadder and a wiser man,
He rose the morrow morn. (619-622)
Knowledge brought him sadness.
These elements are not present in every poem, but generally, many are included in Romantic poetry.
References
One of the most significant aspects of Romanticism was its emphasis on the strange and the mysterious. To a large extent, Romanticism was a reaction against the rationalism of the Enlightenment, which had privileged reason as a source of knowledge about ourselves and the world around us. Most Romantics welcomed the progress that the Enlightenment had made in getting rid of some of the fanaticism, superstition, and obscurantism—the deliberate withholding of knowledge from people—associated with various pre-modern authorities, most notably the Catholic Church.
Yet there was also a widespread consensus among Romantics that the Enlightenment had gone too far in its project of disenchanting the world. Even with all the huge strides that had been made in natural science, Romantics insisted that there was a still a lot about the world that we could not know and indeed never would.
The world was full of mystery, and Romantic art, in all its various forms, sought to explore this mystery in considerable depth. Whether it was through Gothic novels such as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, the poems of Wordsworth (which presented nature as deeply infused with a sublime, almost supernatural force), or the spiritual landscapes of the German painter Caspar David Friedrich, Romantics wanted to draw our attention to a world of mystery, a world which stubbornly defied all attempts at categorization by the thinkers of the Enlightenment.
Artistic (including literary) movements tend to be a response to the times in which they occur. In this case, Romanticism (late eighteenth century to mid-nineteenth century) was a response to the Industrial Revolution and the Enlightenment period.
Hallmarks of Romanticism in literature are the prioritization of emotion, individuality, and nature. There was a belief that nature was inherently good, whereas people and society tended more toward corruption. This was a rebuke of tradition and norms of "civil" behavior, allowing for more free expression. The resulting literature was much more emotional and intense than what had come before.
Horror was also very popular. This allowed for the Gothic and "dark Romantic" literary genres to flourish during this time, as readers and writers alike were looking for works that drew upon heightened, intense emotional response.
During this period, there was a strong inclination toward nostalgia. Anything medieval was perceived as inherently authentic, versus the increasing modernity of the industrial age.
Realism was the movement that followed, focusing on more ordinary subjects and presenting them with truth and accuracy.
Romanticism was one of the major movements in literature and the arts in late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Europe, Britain, and North America. It defined itself to a large degree as a rebellion against the neoclassicism of the preceding Augustan period and the hyper-rationalism of the Enlightenment. Rather than valuing symmetry, careful craftsmanship, and formal perfection, the Romantics emphasized intense emotions, individuality, and transcendence.
In poetry, the Romantics rejected the heroic couplet practiced by the British Augustan poets and the French alexandrine in favor of looser, more irregular forms such as the ode. Thematically, while Augustan work favored heroic epic, satire, and philosophical essays in verse, the Romantics wrote about nature, farm life (as opposed to a more idealized pastoral with nymphs and shepherds), the supernatural or fantastic, love, and the sublime.
One consistent theme in Romantic literature is that of the beauty of untamed nature. Another is that of the "Romantic hero," generally a solitary, angst-ridden creative genius, more at home in nature than society. Finally, the Romantics value creative imagination and deep emotion over reason and tradition.
References
What are the characteristics of Romanticism?
Excellent question, highlighting as it does a key literary period. Before starting my answer, I have included some links below that you may find helpful in answering your question. To understand Romanticism one of the best ways is to read some of the works of the Great Romantics such as Wordsworth and Coleridge. A key word to focus on is nature. To understand the concept of nature in the poetry of Wordsworth and Coleridge you need to understand that Romanticism was a kind of revolt to Classicism - the literary movement that came before Romanticism. Romanticism therefore moved away from focussing on reason and man's ability to work out situations and focussed more on the restorative power of nature and how it provides balm to us as mankind. Key to the poetry of Wordsworth is the location of the Lake Distict in England, UK, a place of great natural beauty, where Wordsworth in particular spent lots of time. You may want to read poems such as "Tintern Abbey" and consider what it says about nature. These pointers combined with the links below should help you towards an answer.
While romanticism can be applied to a time period and a range of expressions (general attitudes, literature, art, etc.), a common way to explain the characteristics of romanticism is to apply it to the literature of the time.
The previous literary time period was the Age of Reason. As the name implies, logic and reasoning were placed above all else. It makes for some cold reading. That said, some wonderful writers and works were produced during that period, including Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, and Thomas Paine to name a few.
Romantic literature is a sort of revolt against the Age of Reason. Unlike the name implies, romanticism is not focused on romantic love. Romanticism instead focuses on the senses, feelings/emotions, and imagination. Another shift is in the subject matter of romantic literature. While the Age of Reason tended toward society (cities), romanticism shows a definite focus on nature, so much so that nature itself became more important or powerful than man. Art from that period illustrates this concept because while a human might be in the scene, he or she is usually not the focal point of the art nor are they painted/drawn very large.
Nature essentially became a source of divine inspiration and revelation for romantics. In a way, it's a bit New Age. They attempted to experience a "oneness with nature," to use a cliche.
The Romantic movement in England focused on one's connection to nature. In particular, poets like Wordsworth and Coleridge felt that you could have a very personal connection to nature through imagination and emotion--very convenient if you happen to be a poet! While there are a variety of characteristics to what people refer to as Romantic, the key components are: a reflection on the individual (this might be in the form of dialect, subject matter, or perspective), nature (in the power of nature, but also human nature), and what Coleridge called "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" or emotions. This might seem to encompass quite a bit of material--and it does. Percy Shelley takes a more classical approach in poetry, but his wife Mary writes one of the most important Romantic works in novel form, Frankenstein. While both Shelleys write in clearly different forms using entirely different approaches, each are considered Romantic because they satisfy the three basic requirements (a focus on the individual, nature, and emotions) and turn away from the literary style of The Age of Reason.
Concerning the characteristics of Romanticism (it's a proper noun, so it's capitalized), the enotes Study Guide on the subject says this:
Romantic literature is characterized by several features. It emphasized the dream, or inner, world of the individual. The use of visionary, fantastic, or drug-induced imagery was prevalent. There was a growing suspicion of the established church, and a turn toward pantheism (the belief that God is a part of the universe rather than separate from it). Romantic literature emphasized the individual self and the value of the individual’s experience. The concept of “the sublime” (a thrilling emotional experience that combines awe, magnificence, and horror) was introduced. Feeling and emotion were viewed as superior to logic and analysis.
Romanticism was, of course, a reaction against the Enlightenment, the Age of Reason, the Neoclassical period. In addition to the above, some specific characteristics of poetry prevalent in the works of romantic poets are:
- poetic diction more closely related to common language
- medieval allusions (although many still placed great emphasis on the classical)
- common themes of childhood, unrequited love, and exiled heroes
Finally, if the preceding period was the age of satire, Romanticism was the movement of the lyric.
What are the main characteristics of Romantic period literature?
Romantic literature in all its many forms was primarily concerned with expressing subjective emotion. This represented a radical departure from the previously dominant Neo-classicism aesthetic, which held that works of art, including literature, should reflect timeless, universal truths. In other words, art should reflect reality, what was "out there" in the world, instead of giving expression to the individual artist's soul.
For the most part, Romantic writers sought to rediscover the truth-telling power of the emotions, a power that had been almost completely lost since the age of the Enlightenment, when reason had been privileged over the emotions. In getting in touch with their emotions, the Romantics believed that they would rediscover what it is that unites human beings with Nature. Modern science had separated man from nature, turning the latter into an object of study and exploitation. But man's emotional life could give him a completely different perspective, allowing him to feel his kinship with the world around him, to feel within his soul the essential oneness that unites every living thing in a comprehensive whole.
Literature in all genres was composed during the Romantic period. Perhaps the form of literature most associated with the Romantic movement is poetry. Romantic poets composed long narrative works, such as Byron’s Bride of Abydos, The Giaour, and Don Juan or Wordsworth’s Prelude, but are also renowned for shorter pieces that have become classics school texts such as Shelley’s “To a Skylark” or “Ozymandias” or Coleridge’s “Kubla Khan.” The Gothic novel of authors such as Anne Radcliffe’s Udolpho and Walpole’s Castle of Otranto. What many of these have in common is exotic settings, intense emotional peaks, and protagonists or narrators with an unusual or “outsider|” viewpoint. Distinguished non-fiction authors include Thomas de Quincey and Leigh Hunt.
What are the characteristics of Romantic literature?
I think that there are some fundamentals of all literature that hails from the Romanticist school of literature. In my mind, the most fundamental element would be the emphasis on the subjective voice of experience. The Romantic thinker and the literature that comes from out of it is one that emphasizes the personalized and the individualized experience. For Romantics, the notion of the self receives the most amount of emphasis. Along these lines, Romantic thinkers were also very passionate about the natural setting and the realm of nature. Finally, I think that another characteristic of Romanticism would be how the individual is set apart from the social order. Romantic thinkers like to praise the individual as being distinct from society, which they saw as conformist and an element that denied individual identity.
What are six main characteristics of British Romantic literature?
Romanticism was a literary movement that lasted from the late eighteenth century to the middle of the nineteenth century. The Romantics rebelled against the conventions of neoclassicism and advocated for individualism; they rejected the principles of absolutism and favored spontaneity of thought and action.
It's generally understood that British Romantic poets were at the forefront of the literary movement. These poets included William Wordsworth, William Blake, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
Below are six of the main characteristics unique to British Romantic literature:
- the importance of the individual: English Romantics defended personal experience as a valid means of attaining wisdom. In fact, the English poets saw themselves as prophetic figures who, through their imaginations, could derive rare insights to share with the rest of humanity. They reveled in self-expression and rejected social, political, and religious conventions.
- a high regard for the supernatural: While American Romantics focused on ghosts and occultic phenomena, British Romantics highlighted the connection between nature and human creativity. Coleridge, for instance, saw nature as a "great Universal Teacher" who could help the world transcend its ignorance and degradation. British Romantics saw nature as a fusion between "the familiar and the strange."
- a reverence for democratic thought: British Romantics valued accessibility in prose. They rejected the elitism of earlier poets. Wordsworth, for instance, derided highbrow or overly formal language that made important subject matters inaccessible to the common man.
- a rejection of idealized heroic virtues: British Romantics rejected the "perfect hero" and championed the "Byronic hero," a brooding, cynical, and impulsive character whose emotional complexity seemed more realistic and accessible to the common man. In short, British Romantics rejected the idealized heroic virtues of strength, courage, and self-mastery.
- a repudiation of neoclassical thought and conventions
- support for social justice issues. For instance, Percy Bysshe Shelley's commitment to the social justice issues of his day were apparent in his writing.
References