Book I

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American Literature

• Book I

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Chapter Three

• American Romanticism
• (1820-1860)

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General Introduction

• The term ,Romanticism, is associated with
  imagination and boundlessness, as contrasted with
  classicism, which is commonly associated with
  reason and restriction. The most profound and
  comprehensive idea of romanticism is the vision
  of a greater personal freedom for the individual.
  

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Its origins may be traced to

• the economic rise of the middle class, struggling
  to free itself from feudal and monarchical
  restrictions
• the individualism of the Renaissance
• the Reformation, which was based on the belief in
  an immediate relationship between man and God
• the scientific deism, which emphasized the
  deitys benevolence

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• the psychology of Locke, Hartley, and others, who
  contended that minds are formed by environmental
  conditions, thus seeming to be indicate that all
  men are created equal and may be improved by
  environmental changes
• the optimistic humanitarianism of Shaftsbury
• the writings of Rousseau who contended that man
  is natural good, institutions also having made
  him wicked.

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Romantic Attitudes

• 1. Appeals to imagination use of the "willing
  suspension of disbelief".
• 2. Stress on emotion rather than reason
  optimism, geniality.
• 3. Subjectivity in form and meaning.

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1. Time Range

• From the end of the 18th century through the
  outbreak of the Civil War.

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2. Ideals

• Democracy and political equality became the
  ideals of the new nation.

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3. Social Background

• Economic boom
• Industrialism
• Immigration
• Westward expansion

• optimism and hope among people

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4. Features

• American Romanticism was both imitative and
  independent.
• Imitative
• Independent

English and European Romanticists
Emerson and Whitman
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5. Themes

• home, family, nature, children and idealized
  love, etc.

• Imitative
• Independent

• major problems of American life, like the
  westward expansion and democracy and equality,
  etc.

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Washington Irving (1783-1859)

• Father of American Imaginative literature
• Father of the American short story

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1. Life

• Irving was born into a wealthy New York merchant
  family. From a very early age, he began to read
  widely and write juvenile poems, essays and
  plays.
• Later, he studied law.

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• His first book A History of New York, written
  under the name of Diedrich Knickerbocker, was a
  great success and won him wide popularity.
• In 1815, he went to England to take care of his
  family business there, and when it failed, had to
  write to support himself.

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• With the publication of The Sketch Book, he won a
  measure of international recognition.

Knickerbocker
Rip Van Winkle
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• In 1826, as an American diplomatic attaché, he
  was sent to Spain, where he gathered material for
  his writing.
• From 1829 to 1832, he was secretary of the U.S
  Legation in London.

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• Then when he was fifty, he returned to America
  and bought Sunnyside, his famous home. There he
  spent the rest of his life, living a life of
  leisure and comfort, except for a period of four
  years (1842--1846), when he was Minister to Spain.

View of Sunnyside
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2. Works

• A History of New York from the Beginning of the
  World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty by Diedrich
  Knickerbocker

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The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent
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• Rip Van Winkle
• The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

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• ????????

• c) Bracebridge Hall 1822
• d) Oliver Goldsmith 1840
• e) Life of George Washington 1855-1859

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3. Plot Summaries

• THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW
• RIP VAN WINKLE

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4. Evaluation

• Washington Irving was the first American writer
  of imaginative literature to gain international
  fame.
• The short story as a genre in American literature
  began with Irvings The Sketch Book.
• The Sketch Book also marked the beginning of
  American Romanticism.

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5. Audio materials

• The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
• Rip Van Winkle
• Introduction
• Rip's domestic and public life
• Rip in the Catskills
• After 20 years of sleep
• No longer a subject of George III

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Test Yourself about Legend of Sleepy Hollow

• Quiz I
• Quiz II