Romanticism Movement: Art, Literature, and Philosophy

Posted on Dec 10, 2025 in English and Spanish Studies

Romanticism: Artistic and Intellectual Movement

Romanticism (also the Romantic era or the Romantic period) was an artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe toward the end of the 18th century. In most areas, it peaked approximately from 1800 to 1850.

Romanticism was characterized by its emphasis on emotion and individualism, as well as the glorification of the past and nature, preferring the medieval over the classical. It was partly a reaction to:

• The Industrial Revolution.
• The aristocratic social and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment.
• The scientific rationalization of nature.

Romanticism is considered a reaction against neoclassical poetry (Augustan). In the 18th century, literature often followed strict rules; Romanticism opposed this, seeking freedom in writing.

Romantics were interested in rural people and landscapes, focusing on individual experiences and giving expression to the individual self, even while recognizing themselves as a group (the Romantics). The most important feelings and emotions were often caused by nature. Romantic writers are known for the role of the artist connected with prophetic ability.

Generations of Romantic Poets

First Generation: The Lake School

These poets were born before the French Revolution and started their careers during it. Initially, they held radical (liberal) ideas and were sympathetic to the Revolution. However, after France invaded Switzerland, they began to adopt more conservative ideas, rejecting their radical views and favoring war against France.

The chief writers of the first generation were: Wordsworth, Coleridge, Scott, Southey, Blake, Lamb, and Hazlitt.

Second Generation

Their poetry shared many elements with the first generation, but they are sometimes criticized for not being radical enough. They died at a very young age.

Keats and Shelley belong to the second generation, along with Byron, who was slightly older. All three were influenced by the first generation writers. Ironically, the careers of all three were cut short by death, meaning the first-generation writers were still active on the literary scene after the second generation had disappeared.

Differences Between Generations

The major writers of the second Romantic generation were primarily poets, producing little prose outside of their letters. Another striking difference is that the first-generation writers (with the exception of Blake) all gained literary reputations during their lifetime. Of the second generation, only Byron enjoyed fame while alive—perhaps more fame than any other Romantic writer, with the possible exception of Scott. However, Keats and Shelley had relatively few readers while they were alive; they only became recognized as major Romantic poets during the Victorian era.

Romantic Prose and Novel Forms

Essay Writers

Essay writers tried to innovate the literary genre. Concerning style, their impressionistic style sought to avoid formal structures. Regarding content, while earlier focus was on the middle class and leisure, the focus shifted to lower social classes and their economic problems.

Topics covered many areas: aristocracy, primitive perspective, female perspective, the present, the past, and national concerns.

Novels of Ideas

These tried to express political concerns:

• Jacobin novels: Defended more radical ideas. An individual, pure and good, suffers oppression from the political system.
• Anti-Jacobin novels: Expressed more traditional and conservative ideas.

Other novel types included:

• Courtship and marriage novel: Exemplified by Jane Austen (though she is not considered entirely Romantic).
• Regional Concerns: Walter Scott, who emphasized historical events within his characters’ lives.

Interpreting Romanticism: American vs. British

Romanticism can be interpreted in many ways, and historians still debate a single meaning. The movement marked a shift from Enlightenment thinking to emphasizing inspiration, subjectivity, and individuality, profoundly impacting both American and British literature.

American Romanticism Characteristics

A movement of the 18th and 19th centuries reacting against the neoclassicism and formal orthodoxy of the preceding period in literature, art, philosophy, religion, and politics.

• Characters and settings were often set apart from society; characters were not of the common kind.
• Static characters (little development shown).
• Characterization was proven by the work itself, supporting the narrator’s statements.
• The universe was mysterious (irrational, incomprehensible), with gaps in causality.
• Formal language was used.
• Good received justice (nature could also punish or reward).
• Silences in the text suggested universal rather than learned truths.
• Plot was arranged around crisis moments and demonstrated romantic love, honor, integrity, and idealism of self.
• Supernatural foreshadowing (dreams, visions) was common.
• Description aimed to provide a “feeling” of the scene.

British Romanticism Characteristics

British and American Romanticism share definitions. Romantics tended to define and present imagination as our ultimate “shaping” or creative power—the human equivalent of nature’s or deity’s creative powers. It is an active, dynamic power with many functions.

“Nature” meant many things; it was often presented as a work of art constructed by a divine imagination, using emblematic language. Symbolism and myth were given great prominence. Symbols were seen as the human aesthetic correlatives of nature’s emblematic language. Emphasis on imagination was accompanied by greater emphasis on intuition, instincts, and feelings, seen as necessary supplements to purely logical reason.

Contrast: Enlightenment vs. Romanticism

The contrast between the two eras is stark:

American Romanticism developed later than British Romanticism and had a stronger emphasis on humanitarianism and reformation. Due to America’s democratic government, it embodied more egalitarian ideals than British Romanticism.

Key Texts and Authors

Washington Irving: “English Writers on America”

Published in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. (1819–1820), this essay addresses the animosity between England and America, particularly in the literary scene. Irving notes that too many English travelers criticize America in the English press, suggesting the English should be more objective, especially since America is a classless society where most Englishmen might prosper.

Irving argues that Americans should not express antipathy toward the English, as they share too much. He concedes that English travelers are stellar at presenting philosophical views but become prejudiced when defending their country’s reputation, abandoning integrity and sincerity in their accounts of America. English travelers often have high, unfulfilled expectations.

While Irving suggests America may be perceived as a ‘young nation,’ he believes it is one of promise. He never explicitly states anger over the prejudice but argues English travel writers are beset by it, often heading for remote regions.

Ralph Waldo Emerson: “The American Scholar”

Originally “An Oration Delivered before the Phi Beta Kappa Society” (August 31, 1837), Emerson intended to explore the scholar as one function of the whole human being: “Man Thinking.” The essay is organized around the influence of nature, the past/books, and action on the thinking man’s education, concluding with the scholar’s duties and views on contemporary America.

Emerson references an ancient fable where “One Man” was divided for societal efficiency. Society has now subdivided so much that it no longer serves its citizens, and the scholar has degenerated from “Man Thinking” to “a mere thinker.”

Key tenets include:

• Greater knowledge of nature leads to greater self-understanding; “Know thyself” and “Study nature” are equivalent maxims.
• Excessive respect for past thinkers discourages new, individualized truths.
• Action is the natural duty of a thinking person; labor is valuable in itself as material for the scholar.
• The noblest ambition is to improve human nature by fulfilling individual natures.

Edmund Burke: A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin Of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful

Burke attempts to explain experiences of beauty and the sublime outside the operations of reason, categorizing objects by how they impact the senses. For Burke, the sublime and the beautiful work almost in opposition; the sublime is not part of the beautiful.

His aesthetics emphasize the centrality of the sublime, showing how his innovative conceptualization allowed him to identify a natural, instinctive “delight” humans take in their subordination, inscribing this passion into human subjectivity. Burke’s early theory of the sublime acts as an affective device for naturalizing order and rank in society.

Burke primarily offers two kinds of evidence: anecdotal (personal or friends’ experiences) and literary. The Enquiry was influential on his political speeches and provides a case study for broadening concepts of 18th-century reading practices.

William Blake: America: A Prophecy

This poem, written in two parts (“Preludium” and “A Prophecy”), was inspired by the American Revolution, emphasizing the glory of the revolutionary spirit rather than rewriting history. It examines controversies between the Angel of Albion (England) and aspects dealing with the American Colonies.

To Blake, the American Revolution represented humanity’s first positive step toward freedom from tyranny—a cosmic struggle between oppression and revolt, represented by the Guardian Prince of Albion and Orc.

Major themes:

• Oppositional Pairs: Clear tension between Orc and Albion, though both are sometimes portrayed similarly and associated with reptiles.
• Rebirth of Christ: Orc frequently predicts Christ’s rebirth, associating earthly revolution with resurrection.

Blake clearly considers Orc the ‘good’ character supporting freedom, and Albion’s Angel the representation of tyranny. Blake had high expectations for the revolution but was disappointed when slavery was not immediately ended and sensual liberation did not occur. He continued to believe in an apocalyptic state but distrusted hero worship, believing God could only exist in men.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge: The Pains of Sleep

Biographical context is crucial, as this poem connects Coleridge to opium use. He feels weak while observing eternal strength and wisdom around him. It is one of his ‘conversational poems,’ with Coleridge as the speaker.

Coleridge suffered from unrequited love (for Sara Hutchison), physical ailments, and depression, making sleep difficult. The poem has three stanzas, each detailing a progressively more restless night.

• Stanza 1: Describes preparation for sleep, an atmosphere of quietness and calmness, where he prefers to ‘compose’ his spirit rather than pray.
• Stanza 2: Expresses ‘anguish’ and ‘agony.’ Pain and horror disturb the quietness. He feels wronged, desires revenge, and feels guilty—results attributed to his opium addiction and efforts to quit.
• End: He seems to recover the calm from the first stanza.

The poem has a circular structure. Inspired by opium, it deals with nightmares rather than utopian fantasies. We believe this poem exemplifies Coleridge’s view that men must understand themselves before understanding their relationship with nature.

John Keats: The Eve of St. Agnes

This poem by John Keats remains a significant work of the Romantic period.