•  Up to this point in our study of American literature, American writers and thinkers have undergone a dramatic evolution.

•  During the Puritan / Colonial Era (1650-1750), many writers were influenced by the authority of the Bible and church.

•  Common beliefs included: –  the idea that a person’s fate is

determined by God. –  all people are corrupt and must be

saved by Christ. –  Witchcraft still existed, and living a

pure, uncorrupted life was the only way to keep the devil away.

American Literary Timeline: Puritan / Colonial Era  

•  During the Revolutionary Era / Age of Enlightenment (1750-1800), writers broke away from religious dogma through the influence of writers and thinkers like Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin, Immanuel Kant, and Thomas Jefferson.

•  Common beliefs included: –  an emphasis of reason and logic

over religious beliefs and superstitions.

–  patriotism and pride as essential in helping shape the new American nation.

American Literary Timeline: Age of Enlightenment / Reason  

•  Around the turn of the 19th century, a shift began to take place in thinking, writing, and philosophy.

•  Having defeated the British, established the constitution, and unifying the colonies, America was hungry to break away from the conventions, customs, and traditions of Britain and European influence.

•  America was it search of “its voice,” “its style,” and “its signature.”

Introduction: ���American Romanticism  

•  To a large degree, Romanticism was a reaction against the Enlightenment or Age of Reason.

•  Although we usually associate love, romance, and exaggerated emotion with Romanticism, the American Romantic Age brought about concepts of the individual and his/her relationship to the world/society that we still largely subscribe to and even champion today.

Introduction: ���American Romanticism  

•  Romanticism is the cult of the individual--the cultural and psychological birth of the I--the Self

•  Reaction against rationalism •  Value feeling and intuition over reason •  “A journey away from the corruption of civilization and

the limits of rational thought and toward the integrity of nature and the freedom of the imagination”

•  Art = intuitive, “felt” experience •  Poetry = highest and most sublime embodiment of the

imagination •  Attacked science

American Romanticism: A Definition  

•  Values feeling and intuition over reason

•  Places faith in inner experiences and the power of the imagination

•  Shuns the artificiality of civilization and seeks unspoiled nature

•  Prefers youthful innocence to educated sophistication

•  Champions individual freedom & the worth of the individual over the needs of the collective / society

•  Heralds individuality and isolation •  Contemplates nature’s beauty as a

path to spiritual and moral development

American Romanticism: Key Characteristics  

Asher Durand, Kindred Spirits (1848)

•  Looks backward to the wisdom of the past and distrusts progress

•  Finds beauty and truth in exotic locales, the supernatural realm, and the inner world of the imagination

•  Sees poetry as the highest expression of the imagination

•  Finds inspiration in myth, legend, and folk culture

American Romanticism: Key Characteristics (con.)  

Frederic Edwin Church, Niagara Falls (1857)

•  Poets: William Cullen Bryant, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Greenleaf Whittier, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson

•  Prose Writers: Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Herman Melville.

American Romanticism: Key Writers  

•  Romantic writers tended to develop protagonists and heroes that embodied some of the key qualities of Romantic thought: 1.  Young, or possesses youthful qualities

2.  Is innocent and pure of purpose

3.  Has a sense of honor based not on society’s rules but on some higher principle (usually connected to nature and spirituality)

4.  Has a knowledge of people and of life based on deep, intuitive understanding, not on formal learning

5.  Loves nature and avoids town life

6.  Quests for some higher truth in the natural world

American Romanticism: Romantic Hero  

•  Value feeling and intuition over reasoning •  Journey away from corruption of civilization and limits of

rational thought toward the integrity of nature and freedom of the imagination

•  Allowed people to re-imagine the American past •  Romanticism is characterized by the 5 “I”s –  Imagination versus Reason –  Intuition versus Logic –  Idealism –  Inspiration –  Individuality versus Collective / Society

American Romanticism: Overall Key Points