A comparison of Enlightenment and Romanticism Thought

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A comparison of Enlightenment and Romanticism
Thought
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• Romanticism, (Conservatism and Idealism) was a
  reaction to the philosophes
• It emphasized feelings, imagination, emotions and
  inuition

• The Enlightenment, (Liberalism or Neo-Classicism)
  was an outgrowth of the ideas of the philosophes
• Advocated for reason, logic and common sense
• Stressed order, harmony and emotional restraint

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Jean-Jacques Rousseau

• I know the feelings of my heart, and I know men.
  I am not made like any of those I have seen. I
  venture to believe that I am not made like any of
  those who are in existence. If I am not better,
  at least I am different. Confessions, 1781
• Eccentricity is okay

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on nature and the natural world...

• The universe is giant mechanical clock with all
  parts working harmoniously and simultaneously
• Man's passions are not good and must be
  subordinated to social rules
• Deism saw God as the Great Planner who
  assembled the Universe, wound it up and leaves it
  alone.

• Criticized mechanism -fitting all people into a
  mechanical framework diminished their unique
  individuality
• Machines are soul-less -without souls/spirit
• Nature is The Sublime -lofty, noble majestic
• Pantheism-the presence of God in nature

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on scientific rationalism...

• the scientific method crushes emotions, feelings
  and impedes creativity.
• Lord Byron

• use the scientific method to discover and
  understand the natural world and Man.

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William Blake

• The Reasoning Power of Man is an incrustation
  (scab) over my immortal spirit.

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on the classical world...

• use the Greek and Roman achievements in the arts
  as examples of perfection to be studied and
  emulated
• Follow established norms
• Conformity in society

• We do not want either Greek or Roman models, but
  should be just true to our own imaginations.
• Victor Hugo

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on Christianity...

• rejected Christianity and all religions for their
  reliance on faith and superstition
• miracles defy reason and logic

• viewed God as a spiritual force that inspired
  people and enriched life.

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on the Middle Ages ...

• The Dark Ages a period of decay and ignorance
  in which superstition and fanaticism reigned
• Medieval institutions and traditions stopped
  human progress

• An Age of Faith - a time of deep religious
  faith that nurtured social harmony

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on the concept of history...

• it provided examples of human folly in the past
  and helped people prepare for a better future.

• each historical period is unique to a given
  time, place and people with its own
  soulzeitgeist.
• Georg W.F. Hegel

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on imagination ...

• the imagination of the individual should
  determine the content and shape of mans
  creations and self-expression

• it distorts reason and ignores common sense

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William Wordsworth

• imagination and feelings, not mathematics and
  logic, yield the highest truth.

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• I am certain of nothing but of the holiness of
  my hearts affections and the truth of
  imagination.

John Keats
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on human feelings...

• feelings are an obstacle to clear thinking and
  hide the truth.

• feelings are the avenue to truth-spontaneous
  human emotions reveal the inner self.

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The approach to literature

• rules and formulas were introduced for the
  perfect play, poem or piece of music
  26 rules for tragedy
• 25 rules for comedy
• 24 rules for epic poetry

• Express yourself, listen to your inner voice.
• you cant learn to write poetry from a textbook

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Victor Hugo, 1802-1885

• Freedom in our art!... Let us take a hammer to
  the theories, to the rules and the formulas .
• American Romanticists-
• Edgar Allen Poe
• Walt Whitman
• James Fenimore Cooper
• Nathaniel Hawthorne

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on folk and cultural traditions...

• the philosophes ridiculed and dismissed folk
  traditions as peasant superstitions which stood
  in the way of human progress

• Romanticists viewed native languages, songs and
  legends as the unique creations of a people and
  their deepest expressions of national feelings.
• folk traditions were the spiritual force of a
  peoples identity and creativity.

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on works of art...

• to attempt to portray, as accurately as possible,
  the subject and its surrounding environment.
• Greek and Roman subjects
• Used as propaganda, to teach or inform

• Paintings are not mere imitations of nature but
  authentic and spontaneous expressions of the
  artist's feelings, intuition, fantasies and dreams

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gt calm grandeurgt noble simplicitygt realistic
detailgtcontrived, stage-like and stiff frozen
in timegt figures are solid but immobile

• The Death of Socrates

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• Achilles receives the ambassadors of Agamemnon

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• Napoleon crossing the St. Bernard Pass

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• Napoleon Crossing the Alps

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• Hamlet at the gravesite of Yurick

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Tintern Abbey (A Gothic ruin in Wales)
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• Raft of the Medusa, 1819, Gericault

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• Boat in a Maelstrom

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• Saturday Afternoon, Constable

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• Monticello, Jefferson 1784

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• Nuschwanstein Castle, Ludwig II, 1864

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Any Questions?
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a self-quiz
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• The Oath of the Horatii

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• Zeus and Thetis

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• Liberty Leading the People, Delacroix 1830

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• Town On A River, Schinkel 1815

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• Palace de Pena, Portugal

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• Palacio de Pena

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• The Sabine Women, David

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• Vergil Reading to Augustus, Ingres

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• A Mountain Stream

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• The Boatmaker, Constable

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• U.S. Capitol

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Any Questions?