American Romantics

American Romanticism

1800-1860

What does Romanticism Mean?

– Value feeling and intuition over reason.
– Romantic journey is to the countryside, which Romantics

associated with independence, moral clarity, and healthful living.

– Romanticism is “a psychological voyage to the country of the

imagination.”

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The Romantics valued​

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feeling

intuition

reason

science

Characteristics of American Romanticism

– Values feeling and intuition over reason.
– Places faith in inner experience and the power of imagination.
– Shuns the artificiality of civilization and seeks unspoiled nature.
– Prefers youthful innocence to educated sophistication.
– Champions individual freedom and the worth of the individual.
– Reflects on nature’s beauty as a path to spiritual and moral development.
– Looks backward to the wisdom of the past and distrusts progress.
– Finds beauty and truth in exotic locales, the supernatural realm, and the

inner world of imagination.

– Sees poetry as the highest expression of the imagination.
– Finds inspiration in myth, legend, and folklore.

Categorize

Options (14)

Feeling and Intuition

Inner experience

Imagination

Nature

Innocence

Individual Freedom

Wisdom of the Past

Logic and Reason

Educated Sophistication

Society as a Whole

Cities

Technological Advancement

Love Story

Hero's Journey

Organize these options into the right categories

Romantic Lit

Other

5 “I’s of Romanticism

– Innocence

– Imagination

– Intuition

– Inspiration from nature

– Inner-experience

Match

What are the 5 I's of Romanticism? Match the following:

• Innocence

• Imagination

• Intuition

• Inspiration from Nature

• Inner Experience

Pure of Heart, Childlike

Whimsical, creative; In the mind

A gut feeling

Reject city life, influenced by nature

Thoughts and feelings about your life

• Pure of Heart, Childlike

• Whimsical, creative; In the mind

• A gut feeling

• Reject city life, influenced by nature

• Thoughts and feelings about your life

Characteristics of the American Romantic Hero

– Is young or possesses youthful qualities.
– Is innocent and pure of purpose.
– Has a sense of honor based not on society’s rules but

on some higher principle.

– Has a knowledge of people and life based on deep,

intuitive understanding, not on formal learning.

– Loves nature and avoids town life.
– Quests for some higher truth in the natural world.

Modern Romantic Heroes

Modern Romantic Villains

Open Ended

Who is an example of a romantic hero? Why? Think of the 5 I's.

The Dark Romantics…

-Not all writers and thinkers agreed with Romantic worldview.

-Critics refer to Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Edgar Allan Poe as
Anti-Transcendentalists or Dark Romantics.

-These writers DID have much in common with their contemporary authors.

-They too, value intuition over logic and reason.

-They saw symbols and signs in all events.

The Dark Romantics…

-Believed spiritual facts lie behind nature: those facts weren’t harmless, but
sinister or evil.

-They focus on the wickedness of man, original sin, and predestination.

-Work includes the conflict of good and evil; the psychological effects of guilt and
sin; and madness in the human psyche.

Categorize

Options (10)

Innocence: Pure of Heart

Innocence: Naive and taken advantage of

Imagination: whimsical fantasy

Imagination: Full of guilt and fear

Intuition: Follow your heart rather than what logic dictates

Intuition: Something bad is just around the corner

Inspiration from nature: beautiful fields, peaceful woods, sunny skies

Inspiration from nature: Isolation from others, spooky forest, stormy weather

Inner-experience: peaceful, reflective, thinking about the meaning of life

Inner-experience: guilt, sin, regret, obsession

Which characteristic is Romantic? Which is Dark Romantic?

Romantic

Dark Romantic

Poe’s Life

•

Poe was born in 1809 and was an orphan at age 3

•

Mother died—Tuberculosis, Father left

•

Lived with John and Frances Allan—great at first, but bad feelings
developed: seen as ungrateful

•

Went to University of Virginia, turned to gambling to pay the bills

•

Boston: enlisted in the army, tried to publish “Tamerlane and Other
Poems,” which failed

•

Got an appointment at West Point but received a dismissal for "gross
neglect of duty" and "disobedience of orders."

What is Tuberculosis?

– Passed from person to person via droplets

– Coughs, sneezes, or talks, tiny droplets of saliva or mucus

are expelled into the air, breathed in by another person.

– Bacteria are transmitted to the lymphatic system and

bloodstream and spread to other organs occurs.
-Bacteria multiply in organs that have high oxygen
pressures
•upper lobes of the lungs

•kidneys

•bone marrow

•meninges -- the membrane-like coverings of the brain and spinal
cord

Poe Continued

• Baltimore in his youth: lived with aunt, Maria Clemm and her

seven-year-old daughter, Virginia.

• He returned to his aunt's home in 1831, publishing “Poems by

Edgar Allan Poe” and beginning to write short stories in
magazines.

• 1833: he received a prize for "MS. Found in a Bottle," and got a

job at the Southern Literary Messenger.

• 1836: married his cousin Virginia (now 13 years old)

Poe Continued

•Excessive drinking and inability to get along with others cost him multiple jobs

•Lived in Virginia, New York, and Philadelphia trying to publish stories (succeeded
sometimes)

•His wife became ill: killed by tuberculosis

•Alcoholism made him very sick

•Struggled financially and he constantly battled poverty

•Almost starved to death despite “The Raven” being popular and earning some money for
it ($14.00)

•Died near a saloon while on his way to get Mrs. Clemm for his second marriage

Major Themes in Poe’s Work

– Fear of death: he felt that death meant never seeing your loved

ones again

– Dark side of humanity: layers of mankind, look at the levels and

complexities instead of focusing on the good

– Red Death: Tuberculosis, a disease without a cure

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Major themes in Poe's work were

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fear of death

dark side of humanity

Tuberculosis

redemption

faith

peaceful walks in nature