American Romanticism

1
American Romanticism

• 1800 - 1840

2
Romanticism and Democracy

• Growth of Democracy in politics corresponded with
  the rise in Romanticism.
• Common person acquired new importance.
• Nation expanding physically, economically, and
  politically.
• Growing sense of nationalism.
• Humanitarian reforms.

3
American Romanticism

• Placed central importance upon the emotions and
  the individual.
• Emphasized intuition.
• Key to the inner world is imagination.
• Less of a philosophy -- more of changing
  attitudes.
• Dignity and worth of the common individual.

4
Characteristics of Romantic Attitudes

• 1. Nature
• 2. The Past
• 3. The Inner World of Human Nature

5
Nature

• Emphasized beauty, strangeness, and mystery of
  nature.
• Constant development and change reflecting our
  own inner changes.
• Reflects the emotional state of the writer.
• Definite connection between the human imagination
  and nature.

6
The Past

• Dramatic incidents from our early history became
  standard literary material.
• Legend and folklore became the unofficial record
  of American character and belief.
• Developed a sense of national past and of an
  emerging national character.

7
The Inner World of Human Nature

• Emphasis on emotions, intuition, and the
  individual encouraged exploration and expression
  of writers most private inner being.
• Not ruled by reason but intense feeling.
• Carried exploration of inner self to its greatest
  depths, sometimes to the point of madness.

8
Romantics with a Darker Vision

• Not all writers shared the strong optimism.
• Examined the darker facets of humanity, such as
  greed, vanity, guilt.
• Narrators who were criminals or insane.
• Psychological effects of evil, terror, and grief
  on the human soul.

9
The American Romantics

• Authors
• Washington Irving
• Nathaniel Hawthorne
• Edgar Allan Poe

10
Washington Irving1783-1859

• Short story writer, essayist, poet, travel book
  writer, biographer, and columnist
• Has been called the father of the American short
  story
• The first American to make a living solely from
  writing
• Best known stories include The Legend of Sleepy
  Hollow, The Headless Horseman.

11
Nathaniel Hawthorne1804 - 1864

• Descendant of the hanging judge at Salem witch
  trials.
• Unhappy childhood.
• Worked in isolation for twelve years.
• Major work The Scarlet Letter 1850

12
Edgar Allan Poe1809 - 1849

• Tormented through-out his life with loss,
  bitterness, and depression.
• Lived in poverty most of his life.
• Married his 13-year-old cousin.
• Dead in a gutter at 40, drunk or rabies?

13
Edgar Allan Poe

• Brilliant talent for investigating the dark side
  of humanity.
• Revenge, terror, lost love, insanity were common
  themes.

14
Edgar Allan Poe

• Credited with defining the short story.
• Father of modern detective fiction story and of
  the horror tale, as well.