Literary Movements And Romanticism
By Shreya Venkataraghavan
A literary movement is a term that groups together works of literature, poetry and writers themselves into categories based on the virtue of similar themes, symbols, stylistic techniques and motivations. Typically, these movements tend to group together works of a similar time period and geographical location together. Romanticism is one such literary movement that originated in Europe and prevailed towards the end of the 18th century through to the beginnings of the 19th century. This movement was characterized by a shift to pieces that emphasized the idea of the individual and one’s own selfexpression and experience. This is often seen as a response to the previous dominant style of literature. Romanticism was preceded by the Neoclassical movement. Between 1660 AD and 1798 AD, the Neoclassical movement sustained. This movement took place within the Enlightenment era, which was a period fueled by the belief that a primary focus on knowledge and reason was the only way to go. Rationalism and pragmaticism were key. This ideology was reflected in the literary works of the time. Neoclassical pieces show great emphasis on uniform structure and little to no display of emotion. This is reflected in neoclassical poetry, which often showed uniform structure and rhyme scheme and a general neglect of the sentiments/emotions. When romanticism came about, it was seen as a response to the general climate of the time. Early romantics were therefore viewed negatively as rebels since they saw emotions and individualism to be just as important as rationalistic morals and ideas of common sense. Other key characteristics of romantic literature included a reverence for nature, ideas of the supernatural, less rigidity in structure, a love for freedom and the importance of the voice of the writers themselves. Amongst the first generation of romantic poets was William Wordsworth (1770-1850). Wordsworth’s work was heavily tied up with ideas of the individual self as well as a deep, almost religious regard for nature. For instance, one of Wordsworth’s most famous works, ‘I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud’ was inspired by his encounter with a common flower where he lived; the daffodil. It is a piece that glorifies the beauty of daffodils, comparing them to both the vast cosmos and the oceans. This poem, however, also lets the reader in on Wordsworth’s own personal experience with the belt of daffodils that he comes across. It reflects Wordsworth’s view of the daffodil as a form of ethereal, enduring beauty that he seeks solace in when he is down, or when times are tough. We also see Wordsworth openly refer to himself as the “poet” in this piece, which is an example of the emphasis of the poet’s voice in the romantic movement. Although romanticism originated and flourished primarily in Europe, around the year 1820, the American romantic movement began to blossom and lasted till about 1860. American romanticism was very similar in characteristics to European romanticism. A key difference between American and European romanticism was that American romanticism was heavily influenced by the developing philosophical movement of transcendentalism. Transcendentalism originated in the United States around the same time that American romanticism began to spread its roots. It was a primarily religious movement that shared many central ideologies with romanticism. Like romanticism, transcendentalism also placed great emphasis on the individual and revered nature. However, transcendentalists believed in God’s presence in every aspect of life. In a sense, they treated the individual as almost divine since they believed that everyone could connect to God on a personal level based on intuition and the practice of spirituality.
One of the most famous writers of the American romantic movement was Edgar Allan Poe. Many of Poe’s works sought to explore the darker side of the human emotions. Several of his short stories including ‘The Tell Tale Heart’ and ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ delved into the darker facets of romanticism, including death, grief, romantic tragedies and the supernatural. This was very different from previous romantic works which primarily extolled the beauty and virtues of nature rather than discussing darker aspects of the human condition. Romanticism, like all other literary movements before and after it was affected by the environment and time period. It was affected by previous literary movements, parallelly developing philosophical theories, political and societal structures such as class, wealth, gender, etc. It lasted until approximately the early 1830’s before it gradually faded away to give rise to realism and then modernism. It can therefore be said that literary movements are temporary yet vital fixtures in the ever-changing literary culture. They do not exist in isolation but are intrinsically tied to the periods they take place in and hence affect and in turn are affected by the writers within these periods.