Introduction to Romanticism

Age of Reason (18th century) puts emphasis on the studies, discoveries and social conduct that ruled the century, based on logic and science. (inventions) During the Age of Reason literature was a channel to educate people, through the telling of realistic events, strong criticism to society and the individual. (the aim of Novels) E.g.: Virtue rewarded. French Revolution (1789) a response to the absolute monarchy in France, promoted by the American Revolution and which spread throughout Europe. (people wanted a change)

The Romantic Period (1789-1832) Thanks to the French Revolution everyone had new ideas of freedom and equality, promoted by the Enlightenment (people were all essentially equal and possessed reason to think, they needed to be consider as equal among themselves to the eyes of the government, they were not sheep or ignorant animals) The Church was seen as a source of superstition and ignorance, Deism (God made the world like a watch just to work by itself without him getting involved) was a strong current of the Enlightenment.

Characteristics of the Romantic Period While Enlightenment thinkers emphasized the primacy of reason, the Romantic Movement emphasized feelings, emotions, intuition, and imagination. The Romantic explores psychological and mysterious aspects of human nature and experience. (You may not have much knowledge about science, math, etc. but you still have a heart) It focused on personal experience AGAINST a society that focused on political and economic matters, as a result of the Industrial Revolution (1750-1850) which changed the way people lived (from the country to the cities).

The Romantic Revolt 1. - All mankind is one brotherhood (they all want to be equal and stop Revolutions and problems) 2. Beauty is important and is to be found everywhere (they go back to the past, to the raw, simple and natural)

3. Man can learn much from the past (French Revolution, Enlightenment, Age of Reason, all of these led to Romantic Revolt) 4. Emotions and imagination are more reliable than reason and facts (Man is born good, society corrupts him)

Romantic Literature Focused on emotion such as terror and horror (anticipation n and full realization) Highlighted nature above industrialization and population growth in the cities. Focused on the love for nature, innocence and new birth and the inner goodness of man, only corrupted by society. Defended the adaptation of people to changes without suffering extremely (revolutions)

The Novel Born in the 18th century as a short story meant to be delivered in collections for popular reading (published by newspapers) called novella which stands for a new little thing in Italian. Later the novel evolved into more extensive prose fiction. Predecessors are: short stories, diaries, essays, biographies, and letters, also as a reaction to the events of the 18th century (a call for more knowledge from the people)

Characteristics of the novel It differs from the allegory and the romance. Puts emphasis on character development (it is long so the character evolves and the reader gets to know him/her) It is designed to entertain the reader giving a deeper vision of life (to make people think) Portrays life in a realistic manner, an authentic report of life (the idea is to present real things and not fantastic things) It has believable characters and a plausible structure of plot. Designed for the middle class (more literate than before)