Characterization of the Romanticism Movement - Research Paper Example

?Romanticism The origins of romanticism can be traced back to the second half of the eighteenth century to Europe. Primarily romanticism gained momentum as a reaction to the Industrial Revolution’s consequences such as the breakdown of primary relationships, degradation of the family institution and other traditional social institutions as well as the increased mechanization of life. It has also been argued that romanticism can also be seen as a reaction to the previously established aristocratic political and social norms (Levin). The major effect of romanticism can be traced largely to works of art and literature though romanticism did leave its mark on education, natural history and historiography as well. The romanticism movement redefined thinking about the aesthetic experience by bringing forward strong emotion as the real source for the aesthetic experience. The previously used emotions found new additions with the inclusion of trepidation, horror, awe and terror. The basic contention was to bring forth the spontaneity of human nature in an increasingly mechanized world using raw emotion. Previous movements in art and literature favored the use of well-rehearsed ideals but the onset of romanticism enabled the desirability of spontaneity to gain prominence. The imagination of artists and authors was let loose by the romanticism movement to break new ground (Nichols). The works of various authors from the time bring out the ideals of the romanticism movement in literature in detail. Works such as Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark”, Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher”, Walt Whitman’s “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” and Herman Melville’s “Bartleby the Scrivener” provide a strong sense of emerging romanticism from the period. In a sense, the themes portrayed by these works aid in defining the romanticism movement to a large extent. This text will explore the motifs depicted in these literary works that helped to characterize the romanticism movement as a novel origination for its times. The first piece to under analysis is Nathaniel Hawthorne’s romantic short story entitled “The Birth Mark”. The central theme revolves around the concept of perfection within the human self. Like other works by Hawthorne, this piece discusses the psychological impacts of issues in sexual relations. The impacts of the birthmark only become visible to Aylmer after he marries and indulges in a sexual relationship with his wife. In Hawthorne’s words: "...now vaguely portrayed, now lost, now stealing forth again, and glimmering to-and-fro with every pulse of emotion" As the story proceeds, the husband feels troubled by the birthmark of his wife and attempts to remove it by cutting it out. He resorts to these actions even after finding out that the birthmark is actually connected to his wife’s heart. He removes the heart as well in order to remove the birthmark thus killing his wife. The contention in removing the birthmark was actually trying to beautify his wife more but actually Aylmer effectively murders her in the process. The story’s manner is analogous to the criticism diverted at reformation being carried out in the era. It was argued that reformation on scientific grounds was effectively murdering the very need for reformation. Other critics have also argued that the scientific positivism of the era that sought to penetrate the secrets of nature to make it better were effectively murdering it much like Hawthorne’s character Aylmer. Hawthorne has attempted to criticize the spirit and need for reformation on scientific grounds, which is in itself a basic tenet of the romanticism movement (Yellin 148). In contrast to the critique leveled by Hawthorne, the work by Edgar Allen Poe titled “The Fall of the House of Usher” attempts to deal with romanticism in another way. Poe was known and celebrated for bringing out strong emotions in his work. These emotions worked to support the story and to involve the reader in it. Another major aspect of Poe’s work was his ability to use negative emotions such as fear, doom and guilt to adorn his tales. The short story “The Fall of the House of Usher” is no different as it involves the story of a maverick boy suffering from a mysterious disease. The elements of self-fulfilling prophecies are used abundantly in the story such as Roderick’s hypochondriac condition and his burying of his sister alive. As the story proceeds, the House of Usher disintegrates and decays bringing forth a genuine sense of discomfort from the reader’s end. In a highly mechanized life where it was hard to feel anything at all, the use of negative emotions to stimulate the imagination was a unique experiment carried out by Poe (Krutch 77). In somewhat a similar way to Poe, Whitman’s “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” relies on the sadder side of human existence to describe the connection between human beings. While Poe has relied on a number of negative emotions, Whitman restricts himself to the use of loneliness as the main medium to present his work. The poem by Whitman tries to explore the relationship between human beings by removing the barriers of time and space. The intrinsic loneliness of a mechanized life is brought into focus as Whitman considers what his relationship is to the hordes of people he sees when using a ferry to cross Brooklyn. He further asks himself if these people see and in effect experience the same things that he does. With every passing verse, Whitman tries his best to connect himself to a larger group by relying on a shared experience – the experience of crossing Brooklyn by a ferry to go to islands in New York. The constant attempts of the poet to connect himself to a larger self indicate the desperation of loneliness that the poet has to suffer. It is ironic that in the modern age hundreds of thousands of people surround us yet we are unable to share ourselves and our worries. Man’s growing loneliness is yet another facet that defines the need for romanticism because man is unable to share his emotional needs with a collective group anymore. Instead the post Industrial Revolution period has forced man to look for alternatives such as art and literature to deal with his overbearing loneliness. The final work is Melville’s “Bartelby the Scrivener” that depicts the life of a copyist through the eyes of his boss who serves as the story’s narrator. Bartelby is a diligent worker at first but with the passage of time, his work ethics decline along with his urge to live on. Other workers shown in comparison to Bartelby are depicted as procrastinating while Bartelby does his job with reliability. The sudden change in Bartelby’s behavior such as the lack of motivation to work indicates the onset of depression. Bartelby has little in life to live for and he rarely gets any chance to share himself with anyone else. This exacerbates his state until Bartelby stops taking his food and dies out in due course of time. The state of mechanization around Bartelby can be seen as the effective driver of his death. In comparison to Whitman’s work, the piece by Melville is similar in theme and focus and depicts man’s loneliness in an urban jungle full of people. Overall romanticism has done an amazing job of portraying man’s changed emotional states in response to the post Industrial Revolution period. The arguments presented above characterize the romanticism movement as indicative of man’s loneliness, his reliance on negative emotions to stir up imagination and the desecration of previous ideals and traditions by modern reformist movements. Bibliography Krutch, Joseph Wood. Edgar Allan Poe: A Study in Genius. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1926. Levin, David. History as Romantic Art. London: Bancroft, Prescott, and Parkman, 1967. Nichols, Ashton. “Roaring Alligators and Burning Tygers: Poetry and Science from William Bartram to Charles Darwin.” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 149(3) (2005): 304-315. Yellin, Jean Fagan. "Hawthorne and the Slavery Question", A Historical Guide to Nathaniel Hawthorne. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. Read More