Overview
Romanticism was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe toward the end of the 18th century. It was characterized by its emphasis on emotion and individualism as well as glorification of all the past and nature, preferring the medieval rather than the classical.
Core Idea
The core idea of Romanticism is the primacy of feeling. Against the Enlightenment’s focus on reason and order, Romantics championed the imagination, the sublime power of nature, and the depths of the human soul.
Formal Definition
Romanticism is a movement in the arts and literature that originated in the late 18th century, emphasizing inspiration, subjectivity, and the primacy of the individual.
Intuition
If the Enlightenment was a well-ordered garden, Romanticism is a wild forest during a thunderstorm. It values the raw, the untamed, and the mysterious over the cultivated and the rational.
Examples
- William Wordsworth: His poetry celebrated nature as a source of spiritual truth.
- Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”: Explores the dangers of unchecked scientific ambition and the isolation of the individual (the “Byronic hero”).
- Lord Byron: The archetype of the moody, rebellious Romantic hero.
Common Misconceptions
- Misconception: Romanticism is about romance (love).
- Correction: While it includes love, “Romantic” here refers to the “romance” languages and the medieval tales of chivalry, implying a sense of wonder, adventure, and the supernatural, not just dating.
- Misconception: It was anti-science.
- Correction: It was skeptical of the mechanistic view of the universe, but many Romantics were deeply interested in the natural sciences (e.g., Goethe).
Related Concepts
- The Sublime: The quality of greatness, whether physical, moral, intellectual, metaphysical, aesthetic, spiritual, or artistic.
- Gothic Fiction: A genre that combines fiction and horror, death, and at times romance.
- Transcendentalism: An American philosophical movement that developed in the late 1820s and 1830s, influenced by Romanticism.
Applications
- Environmentalism: The Romantic reverence for nature laid the groundwork for modern environmental movements.
- Psychology: The focus on dreams and the unconscious anticipated Freud.
Criticism and Limitations
- Solipsism: Can lead to excessive self-absorption and detachment from social reality.
- Irrationalism: The rejection of reason can be dangerous if taken to extremes (e.g., nationalism).
Further Reading
- The Roots of Romanticism by Isaiah Berlin
- Romanticism: A Very Short Introduction by Michael Ferber