American Romanticism 1820-1875

deemed by many critics as the “Renaissance” of American Literature

-a time of growth and appreciation of art and culture, NOT a time of lovey-dovey literature.

Wander. Casper David Friedrick. Germany, 1817-18.

American Romanticism Analyze this painting.

Describe what you see first.

Now read into it: what ideas or ideologies do you think are conveyed by this painting?

Wander. Casper David Friedrick. Germany, 1817-18.

What Is Romanticism?

1. The Age of Reason, or The Enlightenmenta. A time in which empiricism was valued over emotionb. a shift away from Neoclassicism and formality

2. The Puritan Religion a. The religion that started as the protest religion (hence Protestants) turned sour in the new

world. b. strict and hypocritical-- where can spirituality and morality be found now?

3. The American Revolution a. Now that America is a country, what is the nation’s cultural footprint?b. As a former British colony, much of American culture was heavily English-- writers felt a need

to invent a new identity for the new land

Romanticism is a cultural movement that began in Europe and emerged as a response to:

Jacques-Louis David Oath of the Horatii, France

Five Tenets of American Romanticism

All analysis for the texts in this unit should come back to the following five (5) main ideas/characteristics driving this movement:

1. a belief in the value of feeling and emotion over reasona. mostly optimistic, with elements of pessimism

2. profound love of nature- the sublime3. Focus on the self and the individual-- the imagination4. a fascination with the supernatural, mysterious and gothic5. a passionate sense of nationalism -- belief in the importance of establishing

an American literary art

John Constable’s Coast Scene with Breaking Cloud --British

Crafting an American Identity: What characteristics of American Romanticism can you identify?

Emanuel Leutze’s Washington Crossing the Delaware

Thomas Cole’s The Oxbow

The Dark Side of Romanticism: psychological

Henry Fueseli’s The Nightmare

Francisco Goya’s Saturn Devouring His Son

American authors who wrote in the gothic style during this time: Edgar Allan Poe (big surprise). His work would later influence the Southern Gothic writers like Faulkner and O’Connor(next semester).

American Romantic Authors of this UnitWRITERS

Washington Irving (deemed by many as the father of American Literature)

Ralph Waldo Emerson (Transcendentalist)

Henry David Thoreau (Transcendentalist and understudy to above)

Edgar Allan Poe

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Herman Melville

POETS

Henry Wadsworth Cullen (Fireside poet)

Walt Whitman

Emily Dickinson

A little irony , anyone?The American Romantics strove aggressively to create a distinctly “American voice,” seperate from their British colonizers once independence was declared. BUT, guess what? They were LARGELY influenced by the British Romantic poets such as:

● William Wordsworth● Samuel Taylor Coleridge● Alfred, Lord Tennyson (technically Victorian by the 1850s in Britain)

Americans loved British authors so much so that many American writers either mimicked or directly plagiarized British works in an attempt to appease the desired styles of the masses. (Remember, knowing your audience is always key). Irving was the first American writer to craft his own work and find success.

Longfellow’s “A Psalm of Life” (1838)Open your textbooks to page 345 and read the poem.

1. Articulate the theme/meaning of the work

2. Identify characteristics of the Romantic movement within the work

3. Identify literary devices used in the poem and how FULLY explain how they support both the theme and the project of the Romantics

Tell me not, in mournful numbers, Life is but an empty dream!For the soul is dead that slumbers, And things are not what they seem.

Irving’s “The Devil and Tom Walker” (1824)Answer the same questions, only this time, refer to Irving’s short story on pages 349-360.

1. Articulate the theme/meaning of the story

2. Identify characteristics of the Romantic movement within the text

3. Identify literary devices used in the short story and FULLY explain how they support both the theme and the project of the Romantics