Romanticism

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ROMANTICISM
The Artistic Expression of Liberalism
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The Spirit of the Age (1790-1850)

• A sense of a shared vision among the Romantics.
• Early support of the French Revolution.
• Rise of the individual
• Dehumanization due to industrialization.
• Radical poetics / politics -- an obsessionwith
  violent change.

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1. Emotions! Passion! Irrationality!
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A Growing Distrust of Reason
Early19c
Enlightenment
Romanticism
Society is good, curbing violent impulses!
Civilization corrupts!

• The essence of human experience is subjective and
  emotional.
• Human knowledge is puny compared to other great
  historical forces.
• Individual rights are dangerous efforts at
  selfishness -- the community is more important.

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The Romantic Movement

• Began in the 1790s and peaked in the 1820s
• Mostly in Northern Europe, especially in Britain
  and Germany, then followed to America
• A reaction against classicism/rationalism.
• The Romantic Hero
• Greatest example was Lord Byron
• Tremendously popular among the European reading
  public
• Youth imitated his haughtiness and
  rebelliousness

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Characteristics of Romanticism

• The Engaged Enraged Artist
• The artist apart from (not a part of) society
• The artist as social critic/revolutionary
• The artist as genius

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Wandering Above the Sea of FogCaspar David
Friedrich,1818
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Lady Macbeth Henry Fuseli, 1794
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2. The "Rugged" Individual
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Characteristics of Romanticism

• The Individual/ The Dreamer
• Individuals have unique, endless potential
• Self-realization comes through art
• Artists are the true philosophers

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The Dreamer Gaspar David Friedrich, 1835
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Solitary Tree Caspar David Friedrich, 1823
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3. The Power and Fury of Nature
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Characteristics of Romanticism

• Glorification of Nature
• Peaceful, restorative qualities an escape from
  industrialization and the dehumanization it
  creates
• Awesome, powerful, horrifying aspects of nature
• Indifferent to the fate of humans
• Overwhelming power of nature

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An Avalanche in the AlpsPhilip James de
Loutherbourg, 1803
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Sunset After a Storm On the Coast of Sicily
Andreas Achenbach, 1853
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The DelugeFrancis Danby, 1840
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Tree of CrowsCaspar David Friedrich, 1822
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The Wreck of the Hope (a.k.a. The Sea of
Ice)Caspar David Friedrich, 1821
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Shipwreck Joseph Turner, 1805
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The Raft of the MedusaThéodore Géricault, 1819
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The Eruption of Vesuvius - John Martin
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4. Science Can Be Dangerous!
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Isaac Newton William Blake, 1795
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Dr. Frankensteins Adam Eve??
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5. The "New" Technology Is Dehumanizing
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Rain, Steam, and SpeedJoseph Mallord William
Turner, 1844
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Rain, Steam, Speed(details)
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The Slave ShipJoseph Mallord William Turner, 1842
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The Slave Ship(details)
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6. Romanticizing Country Life
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Flatford Mill John Constable, 1817
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The Corn FieldJohn Constable,1826
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The Hay Wain - John Constable, 1821
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7. The Gothic "Romanticizing" the Middle Ages
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Characteristics of Romanticism

• Revival of Past Styles
• Gothic Romanesque revival.
• Neo-Gothic architectural style.
• Medieval ruins were a favorite theme for art and
  poetry.

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Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishops GroundJohn
Constable, 1825
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Salisbury Cathedral from the MeadowsJohn
Constable, 1831
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Hadleigh Castle - John Constable, 1829
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Eldena RuinGaspar David Friedrich, 1825
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Winter Landscape with ChurchGaspar David
Friedrich, 1811
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British Houses of Parliament1840-1865
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8. The Exotic, the Occult, and the Macabre!
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Characteristics of Romanticism

• The Supernatural
• Ghosts, fairies, witches, demons
• The shadows of the minddreams madness
• The romantics rejected materialism in pursuit of
  spiritual self-awareness
• They yearned for the unknown and the unknowable

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Cloister Cemetery in the SnowCaspar David
Friedrich, 1817-1819
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Abbey in an Oak ForestCaspar David Friedrich,
1809-1810
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Mad Woman With a Mania of Envy TheodoreGericaul
t, 1822-1823
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Pity - William Blake, 1795
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The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with
the SunWilliam Blake, 1808-1810
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Stonehenge - John Constable, 1836
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Nightmare (The Incubus)Henry Fuseli, 1781
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Manfred and the Witch of the AlpsJohn Martin -
1837
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Witches SabbathFrancisco Goya,1798
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Procession of Flagellants on Good
FridayFrancisco Goya, 1793
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Saturn DevoursHis SonFrancisco Goya,1819-1823
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9. Nationalism
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Greece on the Ruins of MissolonghiEugène
Delacroix, 1827
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Liberty Leading the People Eugène Delacroix, 1830
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Detail of theMusket BearerDelacoix, himself
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The Rise of the Cartheginian EmpireJoseph
Turner, 1815
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His Majestys Ship, Victory(Trafalgar) - John
Constable, 1806
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An Officer of the Imperial Horse GuardThéodore
Géricault, 1814
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Napoleonat theSt. BernardPass Jacques-Louis
David,1803
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The Shooting of May 3, 1808Francisco Goya, 1815
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Pandemonium - John Martin, 1841
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10. Interest in Exotic Foreign Lands
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Characteristics of Romanticism

• Exoticism
• The sexy other
• A sense of escape from reality
• A psychological/moral justification of
  imperialism?

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Grand Canal, VeniceJoseph Mallord William
Turner, 1835
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Massacre of Chios Eugène Delacroix, 1824
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The Fanatics of TangiersEugène Delacroix,
1837-1838
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The Sultan of Morocco and His EntourageEugène
Delacroix, 1845
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Women of Algiers in Their ApartmentEugène
Delacroix, 1834
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The Bullfight - Francisco Goya
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Charge of the Mamelukes, May 2nd, 1808Francisco
Goya, 1814
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The Royal Pavillion at BrightonJohn Nash,
1815-1823
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11. Return to Christian Mysteries
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God as the Architect William Blake, 1794
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Elohim Creating AbrahamWilliam Blake, 1805
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Body of Abel Found by Adam and EveWilliam Blake,
1825
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Faust and MephistophelesEugène Delacroix,
1826-1827
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The Seventh Plague of EgyptJohn Martin, 1823
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The CathedralGaspar DavidFriedrich,1818
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The Cathedral(details)Gaspar
DavidFriedrich,1818
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The Great Age of the Novel

• Gothic Novel Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
  (1847) Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
  (1847)
• Historical Novel Ivanhoe - Sir Walter Scott
  (1819) Les Miserables - Victor Hugo (1862)
  The Three Musketeers Alexander Dumas
  (1844)

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The Great Age of the Novel

• Science Fiction Novel Frankenstein - Mary
  Shelley (1817) Dracula Bramm Stoker (1897)
• Novel of Purpose Hugh Trevar - Thomas Holcroft
  (1794)

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Other Romantic Writers
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm - Grimms Fairy
Tales (1814-1816)
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - Faust
(1806-1832)
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British Romantic Poets

• Percy Bysshe Shelley
• Lord Byron (George Gordon)
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge
• William Wordsworth
• John Keats
• William Blake

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George Gordon(Lord Byrons)Poem ThePrisonerof
Chillon
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MaryShelley Frankenstein
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SirWalterScott Ivanhoe
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WilliamWordsworthspoem,TinternAbbey
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Samuel TaylorColeridgesPoem,The Rimeof
theAncientMariner
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American Romantic Writers

• Solidified as a nation during the period
• Intellectual revolution second in importance
  only to the political revolution that brought
  nation into being
• Placed central importance upon the emotions and
  upon the individual

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Emily Dickinsons Poetry
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Edgar Allan Poe
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Nathaniel Hawthornes novel, The Scarlet Letter
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Herman Melvillesnovel,Moby Dick
Captain Ahab
Herman Melville
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Ralph Waldo Emersons Nature
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Henry David Thoreaus Walden
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Walt Whitmans Leaves of Grass
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And finally . . .

• There is a serene and settled majesty to
  woodland scenery that enters into the soul and
  delights and elevates it, and fills it with noble
  inclinations.
• --
  Washington Irving