Characteristics of American Romanticism

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Characteristics of American Romanticism
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Feeling and Intuition

• More valuable than reason
• Stick to your guts/conscience over logic/mind

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Faith

• Faith placed in inner expression
• Faith placed in the power of the imagination

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Civilization vs. Nature

• Shuns the artificiality of civilization
• Seeks unspoiled nature

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Innocence vs. Sophistication

• Prefers youthful innocence over educated
  sophistication

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Individuals

• Champions individual freedom
• Promotes the worth of the individual

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Natures Beauty

• Contemplation of nature leads to spiritual and
  moral development

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Past vs. Progress

• Looks backwards to the wisdom of the past
• Distrusts progress

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Beauty and Truth

• Found in exotic locales
• Found in the supernatural realm

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Beauty and Truth

• Found in the inner world of the imagination

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Poetry

• Viewed as the highest expression of the
  imagination

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Poetry

• Used English themes, meter, and imagery
• Used American settings and subject matter

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Inspiration

• Found in myth
• Found in legend
• Found in folk culture

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American Romantic Hero

• Is young or possesses youthful qualities
• Innocent and pure of purpose

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American Romantic Hero

• Has a sense of honor based not on societys rules
  but on some higher principle

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American Romantic Hero

• Has a knowledge of people and of life based on
  deep, intuitive understanding, not formal learning

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American Romantic Hero

• Loves nature and avoids town life
• Quests for higher truth in natural world

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Elements of Early Romantic Literature
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A Kind of Fiction
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Lofty and Elevated Language
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Describes what has never happened nor is likely
to
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Extravagant Characters
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Remote and Exotic Places
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Mysterious or Supernatural Experiences
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Natural, wild, magical landscapes
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Nagging, overbearing wife and her hen pecked
husband
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Innocence
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Journey
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Humor