Romanticism Essay, Research Paper

When you hear the term “Romanticism”, wouldn?t you think of something that

has to do with romance? That is what I thought when I first heard the word,

but I was foolishly mistaken. Romanticism dealt with placing central

importance upon the emotions and upon the individual. This time period only

lasted about thirty years but greatly changed the and influenced the country in

which we live in today. In the following composition, I will discuss the ideas of

Romanticism and three famous writers of this time and their distinct

subjects.The United States condensed as a nation during the major cultural

change distinguished by the shift from classicism to Romanticism. This change

had an impact on every aspect of culture including arts, philosophy, education

and science.Before all this even happened, an earlier belief known as

“Classicism” was around. This unhealthy culture put reason as their dominating

characteristic of nature and were also bound by strict unchanging laws by the

government. Now, who would want to live under this dull inexpressible culture?

Well, the early Puritans were part of this “Age of Reason” and many a good

man came out of this era. Anyway, it was time for change. People wanted to

start believing in themselves more and having a greater sense or nationalism.

This is where Romanticism came in and replaced classicism. It was the

beginning of a new era and initiated a whole new way of thinking. Romanticism

basically dealt with three attitudes: Nature, the past, and the inner world of

human nature. Although the early Romantic writers varied widely in the forms

that they chose, these certain subjects were characteristics or Romantic

attitudes.The writer who mainly told about nature was William Cullen Bryant.

He became the first national spokesperson for a new religion of nature in

which nature serves as a source of moral and spiritual lessons.One of his

famous poems, “To a Waterfowl”, tells of the journey of a waterfowl during

migration and relates that to the path in which we as humans take in our lives.

He also incorporates some religious attitudes in his works as well and you can

see this at the end of “To a Waterfowl” when he tells you that “God will lead

your steps aright” Washington Irving was a fine example of telling about the

past. He wrote many a folk tales.In the short story “The Devil and Tom

Walker” he Americanizes the devil and gives him qualities that are carried on

with him for generations. The last writer that I will discuss is Edgar Allen Poe.

Now, he is considered to be the most influential writer/poet of this time period.

Unique as they were, his thoughts and powerful writings came from his inner

self. No other writer had anywhere near the imagination as this poet did. He

used his dark gothic mind to create horrifying stories and poems such as “The

Raven”. This is his most famous poem and tells of a man torturing himself on

purpose by asking a raven questions he already knows the answers to. If you

follow Poe?s writings closely, you will see how he uses his technique to create

a whole single effect, and this is what he does so great and is known for.When

I now think of Romanticism, it gives me the feeling of freedom, and this is what

the whole purpose of the Romantic period was. It changed the way people

wrote from then on and also changed the whole lifestyle of man in my eyes.

Maybe another revolution of such beauty as this will one day cross our eyes

and we will be able to experience the radical changes and feelings as the

people of this period once did.