Romanticism

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Romanticism, also known as the Romantic era, is an idea that spread throughout many facets of the arts and culture. Romanticism rejects the ideas of order, harmony, balance, idealization and the rationality of the ideas of the Classical era that came before it. Romanticism is a reaction against the Enlightenment and the idea of physical materialism. The key characteristics of Romanticism are the deepened appreciation of nature, choosing emotion over reason, and the senses over intellect. Romantics had a heightened look into the inside of a person looking into the imagination as a means to transcend experience and spiritual truth.

The first phase of Romanticism in English literature began in 1790 with the Lyrical Ballads of William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Romantic Literature in Germany began with the innovations in the content and style of literature and an obsession with the mystical and supernatural. The second phase of Romantic thought in literature was marked by a the emergence of cultural nationalism and attention to national origin. The new appreciation of history led to the creation of historical novels which are thought to be invented by Sir Walter Scott. About the Same time English Romantic Poetry had reached its peak with works by John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley. A notable novel made as a result of the Romantic fascination with the supernatural is the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. In the later second phase of Romanticism it was less universal and began to focus more on the individual nations culture and history and began to examine the struggles of extraordinary individuals.

Art in the Romantic era was greatly influenced by nature because of its uncontrollable raw power and potential for ...

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...ver the previous thought process of strict formal rules and reason. The literature in the Romantic period emphasized a love of nature and idealized the lives of those in the country believing that that faults in society are caused by urbanization.

Works Cited
"Characteristics of Romantic Literature." Odessa.edu. Odessa College, n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.

The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. "Visual Arts." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.

Galitz, Kathryn Calley. "Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History." Romanticism. Department of European Paintings, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.

"Music Traits of the Romantic Period." Music Traits of the Romantic Period. Georgia Regents University, n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2014.

"Romanticism." Romanticism. English Department, Brooklyn College, n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.

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