1800-1860. “One’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.” “All that we see or seem, is but a dream within a dream.”

American Romanticism1800-1860

“One’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.”

“All that we see or seem, is but a dream within a dream.”

“Talk not of wasted affection; affection never was wasted.”

Its beginning:Romanticism developed as reaction against

the Industrial Revolution that had been taking place in America. The cities were becoming crowded, dirty, and corrupted—all of these things stemmed from the belief in rationalism and reason. Romantics came to believe that the imagination was able to apprehend truths that the rational mind could not reach. To the Romantic sensibility the imagination, spontaneity, individual feeling and wild nature were of greater value than reason, logic, planning and cultivation.

Description:American Romanticism can best be described

as a journey away from the corruption of civilization and the limits of rational thought and toward the integrity of nature and the freedom of the imagination.

In general, romanticism is the name given to those schools of thought that value feeling and intuition over reason.

Characteristics of American Romanticism:-values feeling and intuition over reason-places faith in the power of the imagination-seeks unspoiled nature over the city life-prefers youthful innocence to educated

sophistication-champions the individual and their spirit-contemplates nature’s beauty as a path to

spiritual and moral development-distrusts progress-finds beauty and truth in exotic locales, the

supernatural realm, and the imagination

Characteristics of the American Romantic Hero

-young, or possesses youthful qualities-is innocent and pure of purpose-has a sense of honor-has an intuitive understanding of people and

life-not formally learned-loves nature, avoids town life-quests for some higher truth in the natural

world

Poetry

-considered the ultimate realization of the beliefs of Romanticism

-Fireside poets- a group from Boston: their poetry was read as entertainment by families. Their subject matter was comforting: love, patriotism, nature and family

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow John Greenleaf Whittier Oliver Wendell Holmes James Russell Lowell

Gothic RomanticismTook a turn toward the psychological

exploration of the human mindBleak or remote settingsSupernatural elementsStrong language full of dangerous meanings

Documents

1800-1860. “One’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.” “All that we see or seem, is but a dream within a dream.”