Title: What is the significance of imagination to the Romantics? Why is imagination important to the Romantics? - eNotes.com
Headings: What is the significance of imagination to the Romantics? Why is imagination important to the Romantics?
Literature
What is the significance of imagination to the Romantics? Why is imagination important to the Romantics?
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Content: David Morrison
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The Romantics didn't see the world in the same way as thinkers and artists of the Enlightenment. The latter tended to see the world as an object to be measured, studied, observed, and controlled through the use of the reasoning faculty. The Romantics, on the other hand, while not necessarily deprecating the use of reason, saw the imagination as providing us with a deeper and fuller understanding of what was, for them, a world full of enchantment and mystery. It was only through the imagination, they believed, that it was possible to begin to plumb the depths of the world around us, a world that, far from being an object of scientific research, was a subject in its own right, a living force. The Romantics further believed that the world around us was, to some extent, shaped by the imagination. In other words, the imagination constitutes reality as well as helping us to understand it. The imagination's creative aspect puts humans on a very high plane indeed, as it means that we share the same kind of creative powers as those enjoyed by God. With these extraordinary creative powers at one's disposal, the artist is able to create enduring works of art that can provide us with a glimpse into what is ultimately real. Last Updated by eNotes Editorial on April 14, 2021
mwestwood, M.A.
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The soul is the center of a person for the Romantics, not the mind as it is for scientists of the previous movement, the Enlightenment. Romantics sought to tap into this soul through intuition and imagination.