Romanticism as a Cultural Movement - Essay Example

Romanticism 2007 Romanticism Romanticism is something which is not only important today, but as well was an incredibly cultural movement that was primarily based on that of the reactions to the onset of the industrial age, and there has been a continuous and incredibly influential growth on romanticism throughout the years, as well as a change in the basic ideas in regards to it as well as the ways in which it manifested itself in European cultural history in the nineteenth century. Romanticism is something which was a key and incredibly significant movement in the Counter-Enlightenment, which was the reaction against the Age of Enlightenment, and not only that, but as well, romanticism was known best for its emphasis on such issues as intuition, imagination, and feeling. In order to be able to truly understand how and why all of this took place, we need to first understand a bit more about romanticism itself and what it is all about, as well as all of the key and related issues in regards to how it changed and how it was grown. By doing this, we will not only be able to better understand the term romanticism, but as well we will be able to understand the reasons why and how it has grown and altered. This is what will be dissertated in the following. Romanticism is considered as being "A movement in art and literature in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in revolt against the Neoclassicism of the previous centuriesThe German poet Friedrich Schlegel, who is given credit for first using the term romantic to describe literature, defined it as 'literature depicting emotional matter in an imaginative form'Any list of particular characteristics of the literature of romanticism includes subjectivity and an emphasis on individualism; spontaneity; freedom from rules; solitary life rather than life in society; the beliefs that imagination is superior to reason and devotion to beauty; love and worship of nature; and fascination with the past, especially the myths and mysticism of the middle ages".1 There are many different and separate issues that are considered to have been incredibly influential on the matter of romanticism, and one in particular is that of the ideologies and the events of the French Revolution. Romanticism basically originated in the 1770s in Germany and England, and by the 1820s it had already swept through Europe and from there it traveled incredibly quickly to the Western Hemisphere, and although this was the beginning growth period for romanticism, it grew even more dramatically and influentially from then on. It was during the last few decades of the 18th century when romanticism really began influencing such ideals as poetry, literary works, drama, painting, sculpture, and ballet, for instance, and it really began connecting even with the politics of that time. In regards to the actual growth of romanticism, there are many different outside issues that were involved here, such as folklore and popular art, for instance, which romanticism not only began to come about and be truly and really recognized, but as well romanticism gained a lot of its growth from ideals such as this. "Whereas during much of the 17th and 18th centuries learned allusions, complexity and grandiosity were prized, the new romantic taste favored simplicity and naturalness, and these were thought to flow most clearly and abundantly from the 'spontaneous' outpourings of the untutored common people".2 Another incredibly distinct contribution in regards to the growth of romanticism is Gothic romance, and "Rejecting the Enlightenment ideal of balance and rationalism, readers eagerly sought out the hysterical, mystical, passionate adventures of terrified heroes and heroines in the clutches of frightening, mysterious forces. The modern horror novel and women's romance are both descendants of the Gothic romance, as transmuted through such masterworks as Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre and her sister Emily's Wuthering Heights".3 There are many different characteristic attitudes that have been placed on the term romanticism, and among these were the following: "a deepened appreciation of the beauties of nature; a general exaltation of emotion over reason and of the senses over intellect; a turning in upon the self and a heightened examination of human personality and its moods and mental potentialities; a preoccupation with the genius, the hero, and the exceptional figure in general, and a focus on his passions and inner struggles; a new view of the artist as a supremely individual creator, whose creative spirit is more important than strict adherence to formal rules and traditional procedures; an emphasis upon imagination as a gateway to transcendent experience and spiritual truth; an obsessive interest in folk culture, national and ethic cultural origins, and the medieval era; and a predilection for the exotic, the remote, the mysterious, the weird, the occult, the monstrous, the diseased, and even the satanic".4 Romanticism can basically be considered as being seen as a rejection of the precepts of order, calm, harmony, balance, idealization, and rationality, of which basically was what was there in order to be able to typify Classicism in general. Not only that, but as well, it was sort of a reaction against that of the Enlightenment and furthermore against that of 18th century rationalism, despair, and physical materialism in general. Romanticism has, ever since it first originated, been an incredibly significant and influential issue, and it is one which absolutely positively affected an incredible number of different life matters, and truly has had a strong recourse to historical and natural inevitability in the representation of its ideas. From this review we have been able not only to conclude this, but as well the fact that romanticism went through an incredibly long and influential period of growth that spanned over several centuries, and which continues to grow and adapt, even today. Romanticism is also something which has greatly affected most parts of life in general and in a positive way at that, and this is why it is truly so crucial and critical to understand what it is, what it is all about, and what uses it has, especially in regards to the world today, and from this review we have been able to clearly see all of this. Works Cited Academic, "Romanticism," http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/rom.html Brians, "Romanticism," http://www.wsu.edu:8080/brians/hum_303/romanticism.html Cuddon, J. A. The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory. London: Penguin Books, 1991. Fiero, Gloria K. The Humanistic Tradition, Book 5: Romanticism, Realism, and the Nineteenth- Century World. McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages, ISBN: 0072910208, 2005. Morner, Kathleen. NTC's Dictionary of Literary Terms. Chicago: NTC Publishing Group, 1997. Pioch, "Romanticism," http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/glo/romanticism/ Reardon, Bernard M. G. Religion in the Age of Romanticism: Studies in Early-Nineteenth Century Thought. Cambridge University Press, ISBN: 0521300886, 1985. Wu, Duncan. Romanticism: An Anthology. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2005. Read More