The imprtance of Nature, Emotions, the Individual, and the Supernatural to the Romantic Author - Essay Example

? The Importance of Nature, Emotions, the Individual, and the Supernatural to the Romantic Romanticism may have less to do with issues thought to be romantic, but love is occasionally the subject in most romantic arts. During the romantic period, which was between 1789 and 1832, rigid ideas on structure and function of society and the universe at large were coming to an end. Romantic literature as written by romantic authors attaches importance to several elements as discussed below. Nature Nature has various meanings in as far as romantic authors are concerned. However, nature was regularly presented as a work of art formed by a divine imagination and in symbolic language (Levin 56). For instance, Whitman in his novel Song of Myself attempted to present commonplace objects in terms of nature, for instance, grass is represented as a natural hieroglyphic (world’s handkerchief). Other perspectives perceive nature in different ways, for instance, as healing power, source of image and subject, and as a refuge from artificial mechanisms of civilization. Hence, this presents nature as an organically united whole. However, Romantic authors disagreed with the rationalist view of nature as a machine with the symbol of organic image or mankind itself. Additionally, romantic authors gave a lot of attention to expressing nature accurately and capturing its sensuous nuance (Levin 66). The romantic writers highly emphasized the significance of nature; hence one of the characteristics of romantic poetry is the attractiveness of nature found in the universe. The emphasis on nature in art was found important after the industrial revolution which turned man’s natural order to emphasizing city life. The romantic writers emphasized nature due to its ability to help people in the urban areas establish hi/hers true identity. Emotions Romantic authors give great attention to emotions as an important supplement to purely reasonable reason. With the application of emotions to writing poetry, there was a shift of focus which emphasized the use of emotional feeling. Wordsworth has defined a good poetry as one with spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings (Forest 35). The use of emotions by the romantic authors marked a point of difference in the history of literature. In the modern world, unlike in the neoclassical era, romantic authors realized the significance of emotions in the way they appeal to the readers’ feelings. Romantic authors established that it is the emotional feeling that the reader experiences reading certain literature that encourages him/her to develop interest in it (Levin 76). Romantic authors trust their feelings and emotions in creating literatures works such as poetry. The emphasis of emotions by the romantic authors has also spread to music as seen in the music composed by Weber, Schumann and Beethoven. Individualism The romantic writers also emphasize the significance of the individual to the uniqueness and their strange being. As a result, they opposed the personality typology of neoclassical dramas suggested by Forest (46). They created their own literary varieties including heaven storming types ranging from Prometheus to Ahab and the outcast types ranging from Cain to the ancient mariner. There was also Faust who has been winning salvation every season from Goeth’s great drama. As far as style is concerned, romantic writers favored boldness as opposed to the earlier ages’ need for restraint. They also preferred the suggestive as opposed to neo-classical model of clarity and free experimentation as opposed to the guidelines of composition, decorum and genre. Romantic authors in as far as individual is concerned have emphasized perception of an artist as inspired creator rather than as maker. Despite that in England and Germany there was persistent interest in the primeval classics, most romantic writers associated themselves with forms of literature that neoclassic did not handle. Despite the fact that interest in religion and faith were outstanding during the Romantic period, the romantic writers resisted the absolute systems in the preference that each individual must create the system they live in. The idea of individualistic romantic writing was made more attractive by the changing economy. Romantic writers found this important as there were free markets where they could get sympathetic listeners to pay them for their works. As a result, romantic writers could pursue individual preferences in a manner which was not possible during the renaissance. Individualism became important to romantic writers both during the romantic period and during the industrial revolution. For instance Bryon (literature) and Beethoven (music) are good examples of romantic individualists according to Forest (967). Various options have led to the significance romantic authors attach to the individual at the societies and tradition levels. These notions include fascination of self-definition and invention, the notion that the government exists to serve the individual, adolescence is a time when individuals realize themselves, and the idea that the best way to faith is to live according to personal choice. Supernatural The Romantic authors also believe in the supernatural as they attach importance to it and involve it in their works. The appeal for the strange and the unreal has also led to the growth of the Gothic romance (Levin 56). The romantic authors have extensively dealt with the supernatural. The idea of describing characters as witches engages with the supernatural in a better way. Supernatural elements of romantic writers are evident in the work of Keats “La Belle Dame Sans Merci”. The use of supernatural elements in literature has been popular with most romantic authors. As a result, the use of magic and other worldly forces have played important roles in literature for the romantic authors. The romantic writers in many cases claim that human beings are surrounded with supernatural beings that humans cannot see. However, by the romantic authors opening up to the possibility of the existence of these forces, they help the audience realize things that should not exist. In conclusion, since there is no single romantic author who followed any specific rules, it is difficult to accurately define the use of the elements discussed above in as far as romanticism is concerned. The use of these elements to show romanticism helped in portraying the world, and particularly human beings, in different ways. Works Cited Forest, Pyle. The Ideology of Imagination: Subject and Society in the Discourse of Romanticism. Stanford University Press. 1995. Levin, David. History as Romantic Art: Bancroft. Prescott and Parkman. 1967. Read More