Attitudes to Nature in the Age of Romanticism - Essay Example

Running Head: ATTITUDES TO "NATURE" IN THE AGE OF ROMANTICISM Attitudes to "Nature" In the Age of Romanticism [The Writer’s Name] [The Name of the Institution] Attitudes to "Nature" In the Age of Romanticism In the age of Romanticism and earlier in the 18th century, nature got a significant place in the world of art, literature and history. The life style changed. Rural landscape and urbanisation was visible on an extensive scale. In such atmosphere there were various attitudes towards Nature. These were versatile and dissimilar. Besides this, the question of change and continuity also rose at this specific juncture of time. There is no doubt; change has always been welcomed by artists, literary genius and intelligentsia. So, it was change that got the most significant place during this era. Throughout the eighteenth century an innovative approach of thinking revealed which is called the time of romanticism. It was a global philosophical, literary and artistic movement, which reshaped, reformed redefined the fundamental ways in which people in the Western cultures, thought about themselves and about their world. This movement actually commenced in 1770's and it sustained till the second half of the nineteenth century. Originally, the age of Romantic conceptions and occurred at the same period when the "age of revolution" took place. Revolutions in America took place in 1776 while in France it happened in 1789. It is considered a phase of turmoil in economic, political, and societal conventions. The nucleus of the Romantic Movement as observed was a radical vigour. The concept of nature got the focal point during both the era i.e. the age of Romanticism and earlier in the 18th century. Another important debate prevalent in that age was the issue of ‘change’ and ‘continuity’. There was a fairly diverse and more precise convention of rural history budding. The costs of this alteration were stumpy since the previous structure was more or less ended anyhow, and borne in all probability only by a minority of the contemporary rural and rustic population countryside around. Definitely there was no prevalent rank of peasant farmers who were driven out of their birthright along with their property and land, and expelled, as proletarians, into the small and big cities of the industrial revolution. In this case the losses tolerated by the rural poor community were more than rewarded for by improved employment. Beckett point out that, “this system, established by the 1830s and 1840s weathered the century well, carrying on in a more or less unscathed, if modified form, through the crisis of the period 1870-1900 - which so damaged mainland European farmers, to form the basis of our current highly productive agriculture.” (Beckett, 1990, 109-12) The description of the 'agricultural revolution' as the extensive disposession of an indigenous peasantry trailed by swiftly waning living standards was fundamentally a trendy one, and that adaptation of history was conceded into the new cities of the two industrial revolutions by rustic emigrants who made it an indispensable part of their metropolitan radicalism. Barrell says “In radical agrarianism, the idea that the land had been stolen from the ‘people’ was a key element in the radical movements of the period 1830-50”. (Barrell, 1980, 54-56) William is of the opinion that “The emphasis on distinctiveness and individuality led to the abandonment of the eighteenth-century canon of art and a new appreciation of the diversity of styles in the different periods of the history of art. Instead of fixed ideals, what was now valued was the expression of distinctness and individuality, be it in individual artists, periods, or countries.” (Vaughan, 1994, 73-80) Discussing change and continuity issue, Williamson narrates, “There were certain eighteenth century traditions in which landscaped gardens embodied a precise set of values and reflected the social, economic and political power of their owners. (Williamson, 1998, 36) In the early 19th, a new era of poets known as the 'Romantics'. Romanticism is always trying to recover from what has been lost. During the age of industrialisation, people only considered science or the "reason" important and the emotion need of human are forgotten. With leaders such as William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the world of poetry bursted with what these poets considered as 'real emotions'. Their idea of poetry, in contrast to the previous neo-classic poets, allowed for the free flow of sentiment, which encouraged a response from the soul, not the brain. In their poems, the poets created vivid images using simple middle class language, with tasteful descriptions. Coleridge arose from the same time-period known as the Romantic era. He explored the lives of the middle or lower class people, and opened their eyes to the nature that was living around them. These Romantic poets also worked endlessly at creating a certain mood, or atmosphere that lingered through their poems. The context of Coleridge's poems can be interpreted as viewing nature as an equal with God, which can be seen through the two poems Kubla Khan, and Rime the ancient mariner. Symbolism is used frequently in the Rime the Ancient Mariner. Albatross, the bird of good fortune symbolised imagination and inspiration. The boat symbolic of the main streams society and its action mirrors the process of industrial revolution in the 18th century. After the Albatross been killed, the boat entered a dead sea, and finally been personified as a skeleton structure. This subtly suggested that once human destroys or cut off imagination and what nature gives us we will be punished. Only if we open our subconscious to nature we will then discover truth. The idea of romanticism was created as a way of combating the rationalist and formalist ideas of 18th century Europe. Also, it can be said that the roots of romanticism first took foot at the end of the French Revolution. People were unhappy with the popular philosophies of life at the time and they felt like they needed something new. They thought that there was more to life and nature than the physical and tangible beauty of things. (Bronowski, 1978, 110-16) The philosophy of romanticism was more focused upon the emotions and feelings of people. Also, the French Revolution changed the way people thought about how to go about social change. They began to favour a more natural, progressive method to change rather than the swift and bloody revolutions that began in France. This can all be seen through the music, poetry, and other arts of the philosophy. Romantic ideals can be seen very well in poetic form through the words of a Scottish poet, Robert Burns. He was born in a rural village and idealized nature and the rustic rural life. He wrote to a field mouse which he had found while plowing a field, "Wee, sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous beastie." This shows that he both admires the natural "beastie" in the mouse, but he still calls it small and scared. Henry David Thoreau's writings at Walden Pond are perfect examples of the glorification of nature in romanticism. He wrote while living alone in a small shack near a pond in New England. He completely surrounded himself with nature and that was all that his writing reflected. Wolfgang von Goethe was a romantic writer who lived in Germany. He searched for happiness and wisdom his entire life, and created many great works in the progress. Many painters caught the romantic spirit. The list of romantic painters includes John Constable, Camille Corot, and George Innes the elder. They all painted great landscapes. Those paintings were revolutionary in the sense that they were completely devoted to the beauty of the nature, which was the subject. Also, people began to become interested in gothic architecture once again. The French re-realized the beauty of their gothic structures and monuments and even England decided to use the gothic style when they built their new Parliament House. Musicians were not left untouched by romanticism. Beethoven was greatly influenced by romantic ideals. He was the first of the great composers to stray from the classical form of music. He tried to express individuality and emotions in his work. Franz Liszt was another musician known to be a romantic. He was a concert pianist who was glamorous, sensational and emotional about his work. Liszt also played many songs of Hungarian folk music, which shows his feelings about nationalism. Perhaps the greatest example of a romantic composer is Frederic Chopin. He was extremely talented; able to write anything from uplifting waltzes to deep, sorrowful, powerful, patriotic concertos. During the romanticism time period the size of the orchestra changed dramatically. The tuba was added to the brass section, and most brass instruments were given valves for more flexibility in the pitch. (Clark, 1973, 19-34) The valves added a lot more brass instruments to the orchestra making it much larger. The composers wrote pieces for woodwind instruments with multiple parts. Also the piccolo, the bass clarinet, and the double bassoon were added. With such a large orchestra the string section was increased in size to balance out the sounds. With the new improvements people could now write their music with a whole new sound, combining instruments that never had been combined before, new piano pieces, and large extravagant compositions. Most of the large pieces were done by, Wagner, Berlioz, Mahler, and Strauss. The composers of the romantic period were looking for a way to combine the harmony of Haydn and Mozart with their own musical scales. This came to the invention of the chromatic scale. It was considered any musical scale that had more than one subsequent half-step note. As music, art, and literature started to relate with one another composers started writing program music. Program music is music that tells a story, which is the total opposite of absolute music, which has no story line. There are three types of program music when it comes to an orchestra. The Program Symphony, which has a recurring musical, beat throughout the song. Much like a story line with a repeating lesson over and over again. The Concert Overture, which was a one-movement piece that is intended to be played at a performance. The Symphonic Poem, which was invented by Liszt, had a changing them throughout the song. The melody was always changing. The opera of the romantic period tended to be influenced by baroque and classical music. It was more of a combination of the two styles and formed one. Soon subjects in operas started becoming popular especially in Italy. Also tenors were now playing the heroic part in the opera. The new story line idea in the opera was having a realistic topic, no more fantasy or dream kind of things that wouldn't happen. (Osbourne, 1970, 150-54) Imagination became a huge factor in the romanticism, where artists could even be accepted for speaking their mind, even if it were from past personal experiences. The barrier of rules for art was slowly breaking down, and imagination in collaboration with art is just one of many examples of this. Another change that had shown during the romanticism era was with the subjects researched in science. As the era shifted from Neoclassicism to Romanticism, scientists shifted their studies from subject like astronomy to subjects like evolution. (Buie, et al, 2001, 459-65) This was because this era dealt with real issues, something that people could grasp and understand, and most importantly; something to relate to. Romanticism quickly spread throughout Europe. Its ideals were prime for a society ready to reject the rationalist and formalist movements of the time. Also, many of the things that went into romanticism can be seen as coming out of the lessons learned during the French Revolution. Artists of all forms embraced the philosophy of romanticism. Its influence is seen in literature, poetry, art, and even mildly in architecture. In the eighteenth century, people became smarter, they recognized and believed in the ability to reason of human rather than believed in the God’s power as the previous times. Science, technology, industry has been developed; In the book Culture and Values A Survey of the Humanities, Lawrence Cunningham said: “It had trust in science and in the power of human reason, belief in a natural order, and an overriding faith in the theory of progress that the world was better than it had ever been and was bound to get better skill” (Lawrence, 2002, 413). However, in this century, there were many bloody conflicts between every estate in the society too “the eighteenth century was marked by pervasive resentment and dissatisfaction with established society” (Lawrence, 2002, 413). As the result, people come to art to escape from the realistic, the real life that they could not tolerate and accept. Basing on a part of Baroque style, Rococo style was born, as Henry M. Sayre mentions in his book A World of Art : “The Rococo was deeply indebted to the Baroque sensibility; it was in some sense, the Baroque eroticized, conceived to lend an erotic tone to its environment” (Sayre, 2006, 486). Rococo style is “one of the most popular artistic style of the period, the rococo, was characterized by frivolity and light heartedness. Rococo artists deliberately aimed to create a fantasy world of pleasure into which their patrons could escape from the problems around them.” (Lawrence, 2002, p. 413) We can easy to see clearly the “fantasy world” insight each product of Rococo. The artists blow the dreaming wind into their paintings to make the pleasure soul for their works. (Butler, 1981, 55-60) That makes people imagine about a peaceful place without mess of the society, without the bloody revolutions between people and people that they called human being; and that help people relax from the stress of the chaotic place where they were living. Rococo style is an indispensable way to help people escape from the reality. (Morse, 1981, 73-80) If in the eighteenth century, Rococo style is one of the most popular styles of art, which was recognized by the “fantasy world”, the illusionism, unreal things inside each painting; in nineteenth century, Romanticism had a big influence on every aspect of the society as Lawrence Cunningham said in his book Culture and Values A Survey of the Humanities: “romanticism, eventually dominated virtually every aspect of nineteenth century artistic achievement.” (Lawrence, 2002, 445) There are four elements which contributed Romanticism. “First was the important emphasis they placed on personal feelings and their expression” (Lawrence, 2002, 445), artists have more freedom to express what they feel. “Second, emphasis on emotion rather than intellect led to the expression of subjective rather than objective visions: after all, the emotions known best are those we have experienced.” (Lawrence, 2002, 445), the hope, the fear, the anger, the thinking of people is expressed through the paintings in Romanticism. And the fourth “characteristic of much Romantic art is a mystical attachment to the world of nature that was also the result of the search for new sensations.” (Lawrence, 2002, 445), the biggest point which makes a distinction between Romanticism with Rococo, there is no calculation, arrangement in the products of art, everything come from the nature, the natural expression. People feel free to place their personal feeling, their hope, their anger, their fear on art; and imagination are the key of Romantic art, as Henry M. Sayre mentions in his book A World of Art: “At the heart of this style is the belief that reality is a function of each individual’s singular point of view, and that the artist’s task is to reveal that point of view. Individualism reigned supreme in Romantic art. For this reason, Romanticism sometimes seems to have many styles as it has artists.” (Sayre, 2006, 490) In Modern Era, art also shows the same important role in the society and Impressionism was one of the most popular styles beside Post-impressionism, Fauvism and Expressionism. Impressionism is not a style which created the paintings with carefulness in using colours and elaboration line of drawing to make the viewer impressive at the first look. (Cobbett, 1830, 25-28) In the Impressionism, lines, lay out, images are blurred. As Lawrence Cunningham said in his book Culture and Values a Survey of the Humanities: “the Impressionism concentrated, however, on realism of light and colour rather than realism of form and sought to produce the literal impression an object made on their eyes.” (Sayre, 2006, 491), the artists who follow Impressionism, used their “innocent eyes” to produce their paintings. That means the artists try to capture the first image impact on their eyes, then they draw what they saw but they did not noticed, they just paint their first seeing without imagination. That’s why the painting looks blur. (Gaull, 1988, 190-93) Unlike the other schools of art in the previous times, Impressionism were less interested in social criticism than in depicting in their work the pleasure of life, of simply seeing, as Henry M. Sayre mentions in his book A World of Art: the impressionism’s subject matter sets them apart from the predecessors at least as much as their technique does. (Hobsbawm, 1962, 66-69) Impressionism is characterized by a way of seeing- the attempt to capture the fleeting effects of light by applying paint in small, quick strokes of colour- it is also defined by an intense interest in images of leisure” (Sayre, 2006, 499) To have more views of art, we move to the twentieth century for Cubism and Dadaism to see how they made the revolution in art. Starting in the late eighteenth century, the emerging Romantics embraced lyricism as a means of reflecting their own emotions and ideas upon the reader. Matthew Arnold said, "The true key, to how much in our Byron, even in our Wordsworth, is this: that they had their source in a great movement of feeling, not in a great movement of mind" (Susan, 1986, 1981-91). The conception of the author perceived through his work was a new one for the critics of the time period, and a radical shift in literary criticism evolved. In order to interpret the author's intention, one had to look into the events surrounding his or her life at the moment of composition. Lyrical poetry was popular among the rural areas and rural landscape was presented in a masterly fashion via this mode during the age of Romanticism. Unlike the epic or dramatic poetry, it does not attempt to tell a story. The lyric poet addresses the reader directly, portraying his or her own emotions, state of mind, and perceptions instead of that of a separate character. The word 'lyric' comes from the Greek stringed instrument the lyre, but with the advent of the printing press and mass literacy, few of the poems are meant to be sung. The most popular form of the lyric poem is the 14-line sonnet, either Petrarchan or Shakespearean. Other forms include the ode, the haiku, and the dirge. Starting in the late eighteenth century, the emerging Romantics embraced lyricism as a means of reflecting their own emotions and ideas upon the reader. Matthew Arnold said, "The true key, to how much in our Byron, even in our Wordsworth, is this: that they had their source in a great movement of feeling, not in a great movement of mind" (Susan, 1986, 1981-91). The conception of the author perceived through his work was a new one for the critics of the time period, and a radical shift in literary criticism evolved. In order to interpret the author's intention, one had to look into the events surrounding his or her life at the moment of composition. Western lyrical poetry has traditionally been associated with professions of love, though the genre is by no means limited to this subject. Common themes to be found amongst the lyric poems are religious sentiment, mythology, war and peace, grief and loss, and a reverence for nature. Many poets of the Romantic era used imagery of plants, animals, weather, and other environmental forces as autobiographical metaphors. The poems often dealt with the relationship between humans and the so-called 'natural' world, arguing whether or not the two were separate or parts of a whole. William Wordsworth is arguably the lyrical poet of the early Romantics most often associated with using the natural world as a means of conveyance. His style is one of personal engagement, inviting the reader to come along on his walks amongst flora and fauna. There is a sense of urgency behind his words, and the speaker is an active participant instead of a passive observer of natural phenomena. (Keith, 1981, 148-55) John Keats, in the subsequent generation, called upon the natural world to help express the conflicted nature of human life. In 'Ode to a Nightingale,' Keats focuses on the immediate, concrete sensations and emotions, from which the reader can draw a conclusion or abstraction. In the course of the eighteenth century there had been increasing opposition to the tradition of Dryden, Pope, and Johnson .There had emerged many critical poetic concepts, as well as a number of poetic subjects and forms. What we see first of all in Romanticism is the effect of a profound change, not primarily in belief, but in the spatial projection of reality. The pre-Romantic structure of imagery belonged to a nature which was the work of God. Thus, nature is an objective structure or system for the poet to follow. The appropriate metaphors of imitation are visual and physical ones, and the creative powers of the poet have models outside him. But the Romantic imagination was elevated to a position as the supreme faculty of the mind .This contrasted distinctly with the traditional arguments for the supremacy of reason. The Romantics tended to and to present the imagination as our ultimate "shaping" or creative power. It is dynamic, an active, rather than passive power, with many functions. In the Romantic poetry the free- running imagination is able to capture the attention and enchant the mind. Romanticism changed the perceptions people held of nature, of the importance of spiritual and imaginative enlightenment and allowed people to remove themselves from the rational views of life, to focus on an emotional side of humanity. The Neoclassicist poets that preceded the Romantic Movement were obsessed with reason and commonsense. They believed everything was ordered, logical and correct, which reflected in their highly structured poetry and their use of satire and wit to comment on life. In reaction, Anti-intellectualism emerged - belief that everything could not be rationalized. Nature was seen was the ultimate wonder, not to study but to be appreciated and enjoyed. (Johnson, 1992, 209-14) Writers of the Romantic Age reacted strongly to the events of their time. The city became synonymous with pain and hardship, from the poor conditions for the proletariat during the early stages of Industrial Revolution. Supporters of the French Revolution, who had envisioned a new age of democracy and equality in Britain, were left in a state of bitter disappointment, esp. after its decline into "The Terror". Nature, the literal opposite of the industrial city offered new perspectives on the world, became a symbol of good against the evil that was industralisation and its negative consequences. The emphasized and deepened appreciation of the beauties of nature was believed to inspire. Nature was the medium through which one could express their emotions (a major element of Romanticism) for it was seen as raw and without confinement, without formality of any kind. This was reflected in work of Romantic poets, who often wrote in blank verse, without stresses or rhyming rules. The Romantics were not against progress but feared the effects of Industrialisation and new technology on society. The romantics admired rural communities and country life; the industrial revolution ended the textiles "cottage industry" and forced many working classes to move to the city, where people became deformed by machinery and women and children get most jobs because they were cheaper labour. (Weiskel, 1976, 110-13) City-life was repressive, filthy and unnaturally ugly cities of the Industrial Revolution were often without infrastructure (i.e. sewage) and the working class lived in slums or family/room. They believed that man could create a better world without materialism and he can do so by turning to Nature. The Romantics were against the Enlightenment, with its vision of mankind as being part of a group rather than an individual -> they embraced Individualism and human diversity. Romantics believed in the revitalizing of humankind by the encouragement of the relationship of the heart and the natural world. As it was "God" who created nature, loving and connecting with nature was seen as spiritual enlightenment and a method of being closer to god. Rather than idolizing a God with a face and personality, the Romantics saw "God" as a transcendent force that could be seen in everything. The result of pre-French Revolution society was Primitivism - belief that man was born inherently good but became evil through the influence of society. This went against the traditional teachings of the Church, who claimed that man was inherently evil. Nevertheless, the Romantics believed Christianity to be "the most poetic, most human, the most conducive to freedom, to arts and literature..." of all religions, as written by Rene de Chateaubriand in "The Genius of Christianity". The Romantics believed that science was lacking this element that could benefit humanity. They saw science as too systematic, narrow-minded and downright heartless. By the 1970s, the period of the agricultural revolution had been stretched from the mid-sixteenth century to the mid-nineteenth century. However, the current consensus, based on fresh insights gained from new sources and innovative databases, has reinstated the case for the agricultural revolution taking off in the period after 1750. Mark Overton argues “It was not until after 1750 that the dramatic and unprecedented improvements in output, land yield and labour productivity along with equally dramatic changes in husbandry - were underway on a broad scale. “ (Mark, 1996, 166) References Barrell, John. 1980: The Dark Side of the Landscape: The Rural Poor in English Painting, 1740-1830. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. 54-56 Beckett, J. V. (1990): The Agricultural Revolution (Historical Association Studies) Blackwell Pub: 109-12 Bronowski, J. 1978: The Visionary Eye. The MIT Press, Mass.: 110-16 Buie Harwood, Bridget May, Curt Sherman: (2001) Architecture and Interior Design through the 18th Century: An Integrated History Prentice Hall: 459-65 Butler, Marilyn, (1981): Romantics, Rebels and Reactionaries: English Literature and its Background, 1760-1830: 55-60 Clark, Kenneth. 1973: The Romantic Rebellion. Butler and Tanner Ltd., Great Britain: 19-34 Cobbett, William, (1830) Rural Rides (Penguin): 25-28 Gaull, Marilyn, (1988) English Romanticism: The Human Context: Oxford Press: 190-93 Hobsbawm, E.J., (1962): The Age of Revolution: Europe 1789-1848: 266-69 Johnson, Paul, (1992) The Birth of the Modern: World Society 1815-1830: 209-14 Keith, W.J. The Poetry of Nature: Rural Perspectives in Poetry from Wordsworth to the Present. University of Toronto Press, 1981. 148-55 Lawrence Cunningham and John Reich, 2002.Culture and Values A Survey of the Humanities, Thomson Wadsworth: 413-45 Mark Overton: 1996: Agricultural Revolution in England: The Transformation of the Agrarian Economy 1500-1850 (Cambridge Studies in Historical Geography): Cambridge University Press: 166 Morse, David, (1981) Perspectives on Romanticism: A Transformational Analysis: Oxford Press: 73-80 Osbourne, Harold. 1970: Oxford Companion to Art. Oxford University Press, England: 150-54 Sayre, Henry M. 2006: A World of Art, Prentice Hall. 486-99 Susan Wolfson, The Questioning Presence: Wordsworth, Keats, and the Interrogative Mode in Romantic Poetry (1986) 189-91 The Complete Poems of Percy Bysshe Shelley, with Notes by Mary Shelley. Modern Library Edition, 1994. Vaughan, William: (1994) Romanticism and Art (World of Art): Thames & Hudson Ltd; 2nd Revised edition: 73-80 Weiskel, Thomas, (1976): The Romantic Sublime: Studies in the Structure and Psychology of Transcendence. 110-13 Williamson, Tom: 1998: Polite Landscapes: Gardens and Society in Eighteenth-century England (Country House) Sutton Publishing Ltd; New edition: 36 Read More