The Romantic Age: A New Era in Literature and Thought

The Romantic Age emerged as a reaction to the Enlightenment's emphasis on reason and order. This period saw a significant shift in artistic and philosophical perspectives, with a new focus on emotion, imagination, and the individual experience.

Definition: Romanticism is a literary, artistic, and philosophical movement that emphasized emotion, individualism, and the glorification of nature, in contrast to the rationalism and order of the Enlightenment.

Romanticism vs. Enlightenment

The contrast between Romanticism and the Enlightenment is stark and fundamental to understanding the Romantic movement:

• Enlightenment thinkers prioritized reason and rational judgment, while Romantics emphasized imagination and emotion.
• The Enlightenment focused on impersonal and elevated subjects, whereas Romanticism valued subjective, autobiographical material.
• Enlightenment figures were interested in scientific and technological progress, while Romantics were fascinated by the supernatural and the breaking of boundaries.

Highlight: The shift from Enlightenment to Romanticism represents a fundamental change in how people viewed the world, themselves, and the role of art in society.

English Romanticism

English Romanticism was particularly influenced by two major events:

1. The French Revolution
2. The English Industrial Revolution

These events shaped the Romantic perspective, leading to:

• A negative attitude towards existing social and political conditions
• Placing the individual at the center of art
• The belief that poetry should be free from all rules

Example: William Wordsworth as a poet of nature often wrote about the impact of industrialization on rural landscapes and communities, reflecting the Romantic concern with social change.

Characteristics of Romanticism

Key features of Romantic literature and art include:

• Interest in humble and everyday life
• Focus on melancholy, suffering, and death
• Use of creative imagination
• Exaltation of emotion over reason
• New view of the artist as an individual creator
• Fascination with the irrational, the past, and the mysterious

Quote: "The spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility." - William Wordsworth, defining poetry in the Romantic tradition.