
The Dark Romantic Period(1800-1860) PowerPoint By: Sarah Nick And Cameron
Dark Romantic Period • This was around the time of the Civil War, so there were many slaves still in America • The whole United States was almost formed • More and more factories and industries were formed, creating more work, more pollution and a dismal accent to life
Types of Dark Romantic Literature • Short Stories such as Minister’s Black Veil by Nathaniel Hawthorne • Folktales such as The Fall of The House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe • Poems such as The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe • Novels such as The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Edgar Allan Poe-Daddy • Edgar Allan Poe was born January 19, 1809. • His mother died on December 8, 1811. • He was unofficially adopted into the Allan family • The Allan family were tobacco merchants
Edgar Allan Poe cont. • Edgar went to school in England AND Richmond. • Registered into University of Virginia on February 14, 1826. He lived in room 13. • He was an active member of the Jefferson Liberty Society • Passed all of his classes the first semester.
Edgar Allan Poe cont. • Mr. Allan did not pay him enough money for school, then refused to let him return to school. The yelled, fought and then Poe was kicked out. • Poe went to Boston where he wrote Tamerlane and Other Poems • Today, the book itself costs $200,000
Edgar Allan Poe cont. • Edgar enrolled in the U.S. Army on May 26, 1827. He enlisted with the name Edgar A. Perry. He became a Sergeant Major 2 years later. • He discharged from the Army with the help of Mr. Allan, then moved to Baltimore • He lived with his Aunt, living off of money from Mr. Allan sent to him
Edgar Allan Poe cont. • He received appoitnment to the military academy in West Point. • Meanwhile, he published his second book in 1829: Al Araaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems. • After another heated debate with his father, Poe no longer received support money from Mr. Allan and was discharged from the Army.
Edgar Allan Poe cont. • After West Point, Poe created a third volume. • It was called Poems by Edgar Allan Poe, Second Edition. • Some of Poe’s prose tales he had been writing showed up in the morning paper.
Edgar Allan Poe cont. • In December 1835, Poe began editing the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond. • Around this time, he married his cousin, Virginia Clemm in Richmond. • Poe received wonderful reviews and became a widely known author in that area.
Edgar Allan Poe cont. • Not many people know what exactly happened to Poe after he left his job with the Messenger • He moved to Philadelphia for six years then moved to New York. • His book Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque was published in Philadelphia.
Edgar Allan Poe. cont • In 1845, Poe became largely popular through his poem The Raven, which showed up in his last volume.
Edgar Allan Poe cont. • In 1846, Poe rented a cottage where he would live out the last three years of his life. • His wife died in 1847 and for two years Poe lived in agony. • Finally, September 7, 1849, Poe died. • No one knows the true cause of death, but there are many different suspicions.
Herman Melville • Born August 1, 1819 in New York • Born into family of wealthy merchants and heroes of war. • His parents were Allan Melville and Maria Gansevoort. • Because he was a wealthy merchant, Mr. Melville was able to afford basic necessities for his family. After his death, his family moved to Lansinburg.
Herman Melville cont. • In 1835, Melville went to the Albany Classical School for only a year, then moved to Pittfield to work the farm with his uncle • He moved back to New York and then became a cabin boy for a ship on its way to Liverpool, England.
Herman Melville cont. • When his ship arrived after visiting England, Melville worked some dreadful jobs until he boarded the whaling ship Acushnet • He returned to the states in 1844 after being in the Navy • Melville began his job as a writer
Herman Melville cont. • He wrote two quick novels called Typee and Omoo, both set on Pacific Islands. • As more and people baganto reject his novels, Melville grew more and more depressed. • But, he continued writing creating Redburn in 1849 and White Jacket 1850
Herman Melville cont. • Using the money earned from his books, he moved to a farm near Massachusetts. • There he became friends with Nathaniel Hawthorne • Hawthorne influenced him to write his novel Moby Dick
Melville • Moby Dick took up much of his time. • Many people did not notice this books individuality because Melville was not very famous. • In !891, Melville died, unappreciated.
Nathaniel Hawthorne • Born in Salem, Massachusetts, 1804 • One of his Ancestors was one of the Judges in the Salem Witch Trials which made him embarrassed of his family name • Even though he was not born a Puritan, he still felt the embarrassment of his ancestor’s wrongs
Nathaniel Hawthorne cont. • He graduated from Maine’s Bowdoin College in 1825 • He stayed at his mother’s house in Salem and decided to write a novel called Fanshawe • When the book was published anonymously, he burnt most of the copies he could get his hands on out of shame
Nathaniel Hawthorne cont. • For the next nine years, Hawthorne worked on his writing skills in a room in his mother’s house in which he call the “Dismal Room” • Soon, he produced the book Twice-Told Tales in1837 • He was renowned as a very creative artist, giving him encouragement to continue his next writing
Nathaniel Hawthorne cont. • Nathaniel moved out of his mother’s house and onto a farm called Brook Farm where he stayed for only a small amount of time • In 1842 he married Sophia Peabody and moved to Concord, Massachusetts. • Here he was able to publish a second book, Mosses From an Old Manse in 1846
Nathaniel Hawthorne cont. • His daughter, Una, was born in 1846 • He and his new family moved back to Salem • Here he published his greatest novel of all time, The Scarlet Letter in which he received international renown • After this book, he wrote two more: The House of the Seven Gables and The Blithedal Romance
Nathaniel Hawthorne cont. • His college friend Franklin Peirce became president. • While Hawthorne was in England, he was named the American Ambassador • Hawthorne died in his sleep in 1846, leaving four unfinished novels
Characteristics of Writing • Simile- a figure of speech that makes a direct comparison between two subjects, using either like or as. Ex- “Grew pale whenever it struggled out of her heart, like a serpent from its hole.” The Scarlet Letter • Metaphor- a figure of speech in which one thing is spoken of as though it were something else. Ex- “...which evidently found something congenial in the soil that had early borne the black flower of civilized society, a prison.” The Scarlet Letter • Symbolism- to express emotions by using a pattern of symbols. Ex- Pearl’s name is symbolism that expresses how her mother feels about her. The Scarlet Letter
Characteristics of Writing Cont. • Point of View- perspective from which a story is told. Ex- “The Fall of The House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe is told by a first-person narrator. • Imagery- The descriptive or figurative language used in literature to create word pictures for the reader. Ex- “The sexton stood on the porch of Milford meetinghouse, pulling busily @ the bell rope. The old people of the village came stooping along the street. Children, with bright faces, tripped merrily beside their parents, or mimicked a graver gait, in the conscious dignity of their Sunday clothes.” The Minister's Black Veil by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
High Regard For Inner Feelings and Emotions • Edgar Allan Poe-”Beauty of whatever kind in its supreme development, invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears” • Nathaniel Hawthorne-” What we need for happiness is often close at hand if we know how to seek for it” • Herman Melville-” Truth is in things and not in words”
Truth an Happiness Not Always Found in Life • Edgar Allan Poe-” Poetry is the rhythmical creation of beauty in words” • Nathaniel Hawthorne-” Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you” • Herman Melville-” Art is the objectification of feeling”
Inner Workings of the Human Psyche • Edgar Allan Poe-”Stupidity is a talent for misconception” “I wish I could write as mysterious as a cat” • Nathaniel Hawthorne-” Mountains are earths decaying monuments” “What other dungeon is so dark as one’s own heart” • Herman Melville-” It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation” “There is nothing namable but that some men will, or undertake to, do it for pay.
Dark or Macabre Incidents • Edgar Allan Poe-” The death of a beautiful women, is unquestionably the most poetical topic in the world” • Nathaniel Hawthorne-” Cupid in these latter times has probably laid aside his bow and arrow, and uses fire arms” • Herman Melville-” Where do murderers go, man! Who’s to doom, when the judge himself is dragged to the bar”
Torment-Psychological or Physical • Edgar Allan Poe-” I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity” • Nathaniel Hawthorne-” There is no good on earth; and sin is but a name. Come devil, for to thee this world given” • Herman Melville-” To be hated cordially, is only a left handed compliment”
Human Nature as a Mix of Both Good and Evil • Edgar Allan Poe-” We loved with a love that was more than love” “Science has not yet taught us if madness is or is not the sublimity of the intelligence” • Nathaniel Hawthorne-” Let men tremble to win the hand of a women, unless they win along with it the utmost passion of her heart” “Though we speak nonsense, God will pick out the meaning of it” • Herman Melville-” We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men” To the last, I grapple with thee, from hells heart I stab at thee, for hates sake I spit my last breath at thee”