American Romanticism

1. American Romanticism 1800 - 1840

2. Romanticism and Democracy • Growth of Democracy in politics corresponded with the rise in Romanticism. • Common person acquired new importance. • Nation expanding physically, economically, and politically. • Growing sense of nationalism. • Humanitarian reforms.

3. American Romanticism • Placed central importance upon the emotions and the individual. • Emphasized intuition. • Key to the inner world is imagination. • Less of a philosophy -- more of changing attitudes. • Dignity and worth of the common individual.

4. Characteristics of Romantic Attitudes 1. Nature 2. The Past 3. The Inner World of Human Nature

5. Nature • Emphasized beauty, strangeness, and mystery of nature. • Constant development and change reflecting our own inner changes. • Reflects the emotional state of the writer. • Definite connection between the human imagination and nature.

6. The Past • Dramatic incidents from our early history became standard literary material. • Legend and folklore became the unofficial record of American character and belief. • Developed a sense of national past and of an emerging national character.

7. The Inner World of Human Nature • Emphasis on emotions, intuition, and the individual encouraged exploration and expression of writer’s most private inner being. • Not ruled by reason but intense feeling. • Carried exploration of inner self to its greatest depths, sometimes to the point of madness.

8. Romantics with a Darker Vision • Not all writers shared the strong optimism. • Examined the darker facets of humanity, such as greed, vanity, guilt. • Narrators who were criminals or insane. • Psychological effects of evil, terror, and grief on the human soul.

9. The American Romantics Authors: Washington Irving Nathaniel Hawthorne Edgar Allan Poe

10. Washington Irving1783-1859 • Short story writer, essayist, poet, travel book writer, biographer, and columnist • Has been called the father of the American short story • The first American to make a living solely from writing • Best known stories include “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” & “The Headless Horseman.”

11. Nathaniel Hawthorne1804 - 1864 • Descendant of the “hanging judge” at Salem witch trials. • Unhappy childhood. • Worked in isolation for twelve years. • Major work: The Scarlet Letter 1850

12. Edgar Allan Poe1809 - 1849 • Tormented through-out his life with loss, bitterness, and depression. • Lived in poverty most of his life. • Married his 13-year-old cousin. • Dead in a gutter at 40, drunk or rabies?

13. Edgar Allan Poe • Brilliant talent for investigating the dark side of humanity. • Revenge, terror, lost love, insanity were common themes.

14. Edgar Allan Poe • Credited with defining the short story. • Father of modern detective fiction story and of the horror tale, as well.