Title: An Intellectual Movement: Romanticism and Its Characteristics - Art Hearty
Headings: An Intellectual Movement: Romanticism and Its Characteristics
An Intellectual Movement: Romanticism and Its Characteristics
Romanticism
Emergence of the Romantic Movement
Did You Know?
Features of Romanticism
Literature and Romanticism
Love of Nature
Emotions Vs. Rationality
Artist, the Creator
The Romantic Perception of the Artist
Nationalism
Exoticism
Supernatural
Gothic Romance
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Content: Though Romantic elements had been present in art and literature for several centuries, it was the publication of ‘Lyrical Ballads’, a collection of poems by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in 1798 that ushered forth the Romantic period. Features of Romanticism
Literature and Romanticism
Literature was the first branch of art to be influenced by the waves of Romanticism, although the concepts remain the same in all the art forms. Love of Nature
The Romantics greatly emphasized on the importance of nature and the primal feelings of awe, apprehension and horror felt by man when in communion with the sublimity of it. This was mainly because of the industrial revolution, which had shifted life from the peaceful, serene countryside towards the chaotic cities, transforming man’s natural order. Nature was not only appreciated for its visual beauty, but also revered for its ability to help the urban man find his true identity. Emotions Vs. Rationality
Unlike the Age of Enlightenment, which focused on rationality and intellect, Romanticism placed human emotions, feelings, instinct and intuition above everything else. While the poets in the era of rationality adhered to the prevalent rules and regulations while selecting a subject and writing about it, the Romantic writers trusted their emotions and feelings to create poetry. This belief can be confirmed from the definition of poetry by William Wordsworth, where he says that “Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings ; it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.”