Characteristics of American Romanticism

o Values feeling and intuition over reason

o Values the imagination over reality
o Civilization is bad Nature is good
o Educated sophistication is bad Youthful innocence is good
o Individual freedom is important
o Nature is the way to find God
o Progress is bad
o Most settings are in exotic locales or the supernatural
o Poetry is the highest expression of the imagination
o Lots of inspiration from myths and legends

Characteristics of the American Romantic Hero

o Young (or at least acts young)

o Innocent and pure
o Sense of honor higher than society’s honor
o Has knowledge of people and life based on a deep understanding, not based on
education
o Loves nature
o Quests for a higher truth

The Transcendentalist view of the world

o Everything in the world (including humans) is the reflection of the Divine Soul
(God)
o Nature is a doorway to the spiritual world
o People can see God’s spirit looking at nature or at their own souls
o Self-reliance and individualism is more important than outside authority and
conformity
o Spontaneous actions are better than planned ones