Category: Romanticism

When the thought of today, the nineteenth-century writer Edgar Allan Poe is remembered as the master of the short story and the psychological thriller. Born in 1803 to parents who died soon afterward, Poe grew up as a foster child in the home of the Allans, neither of whom were capable of understanding his sensitive and somewhat brooding nature. Upon reaching the majority, Poe struggled to find his niche in life, publishing his first book of poems when he was only 19 and moving to short stories by the time he was 23 (Conklin, 1989). His theory regarding writing was that it should be short enough to be read through at one time. “If any literary work is too long to be read at one sitting, we must be content to dispense with the immensely important effect derivable from unity of impression” (Mowery, 1997). Although he wrote during what is commonly considered the Romantic period in literary circles, it is primarily through his writing that the concept of the Gothic Romantic came to life. An understanding of the various literary ideas that were floating around while Poe was writing one of his most famous works, “The Raven,” reveals how these traditions were synthesized and condensed by Poe to create a new genre in literary fiction.

The prevailing literary tradition in vogue at the time Poe was writing was the Romantic period. Largely recognized as having begun in the late 1700s and persisting well into the mid-1800s, the period is marked especially by vast changes taking place in the social landscape. As a result of such sweeping changes, the literary tradition was highly concerned with discovering liberalism in thought. “Walter Pater thought the addition of estrangement to beauty (the neoclassicists having insisted on the order in beauty) constituted the romantic temper. An interesting schematic explanation calls romanticism the predominance of imagination over reason and formal rules (classicism) and the sense of fact or the actual (realism)” (Holman & Harmon, 2001). Characteristics of the genre identified by Welleck (2003) include a “revolt against the principles of neo-classicism criticism, the rediscovery of older English literature, the turn toward subjectivity and the worship of external nature slowly prepared during the eighteenth century and stated boldly in Wordsworth and Shelley” (196). The development of nature worship was also a side effect of the social changes that were taking place as many of the idyllic country places that had once been considered common property were being fenced in, boarded up, or heavily developed as new cities and towns. The imagination was held to be the highest of human capabilities while nature was highly revered because of its creative power as well as the freedom for imagination nature represented. Within the Romantic movement, it was felt that the world abounded with omen-like symbols and signs that communicated through their similarity to ancient myths and legends.

In America especially, but throughout the world, another movement had a small undercurrent of followers who had pursued the concept of liberal thought a little further than most. The concept of transcendentalism is often difficult to describe because of its very nature. It is typically associated with concepts of spiritual rebellion from organized religion; however, its primary characteristic is an attempt by its followers to discover a more perfect world through a refocus on the true necessities of life. This necessarily required significant questioning of established social customs already being shaped by the consumerism and materialism of the industrial culture. Directly refuting this material world, the Transcendentalists worked to redefine human experience with an emphasis on spirituality and finding one’s interconnectedness with the natural world. Perhaps a natural off-shoot of this exploration was a new interest in the Eastern religions, particularly Buddhism, in which God as a central figure did not exist. Instead, this religion emphasizes many of the things that the transcendentalists revered such as the individual’s close connection with nature and concepts of perfecting oneself in keeping with the timeless rules of nature (Ford, 2007).

Moving even further into the spiritual realm, the tradition of the Gothic was also emerging as a small sub-genre in literary circles. It is widely thought to have been started by Horace Walpole’s novel The Castle of Otranto published in 1764 (Hume, 1969: 282). Within this tradition, imagination and emotion take center stage, pushing the idealism and reason of the Romantic and Transcendental traditions to the side. Gothic literature particularly is characterized by its unique way of combining horror and romance to create a completely new approach to story-telling. This became even more effective following the publication of Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory which demonstrated the power of the mind to terrify itself (Freud, 1966). Common elements found within Gothic literature include terror, the supernatural, ghosts, death, madness, darkness, secrets, hereditary curses, and crumbling architecture. Characters typically fall into stereotypical personas such as the flawed hero, the femme fatale, and supernatural or natural monsters of various types. Typically, three characteristics served to designate a Gothic novel. These included the concept of the presence of darkness, the element of the sublime, and the exploration of psychometry. The presence of darkness seems self-explanatory, but there is also the darkness of the soul that becomes employed particularly in Poe’s works in which the individual is incapable of escaping their situation simply because they are unable to discover their own thoughts within the darkness of their mind. The sublime refers to the presence of something intangible that is felt like a present but cannot be discovered with the human eye. This element can be used in several ways, but within the Gothic novel, it is typically used to illustrate the presence of supernatural evil either disembodied or as an element trapped within the body of a known person. Psychometry is a strange-sounding word that refers to the concept of the eternal conflict between the body and the soul. It was an often-used technique in Gothic novels because of the obvious relationship of this to the concept of madness.

All of these traditions are seen in Poe’s poem “The Raven.” The Romantic is evident even in the title of the poem as the raven is nothing if not an element of nature. The story of the poem is not possible without the symbolism and messages that nature has to bring the speaker of the poem in the form of the raven as well as in the mood set by the timeof the poem, “in bleak December” (7) and evening, thus following the Romantic tradition. The poem is written in longing for a woman, which is a common topic within Romantic literature, while the speaker’s described activity at the opening of the poem, pondering “over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore” (2), fulfills another element of the Romantic genre. It is recalled that one of the characteristics of this genre identified by Wellek (2003) was the rediscovery of old English literature. The excess of imagination that characterizes the Romantic is also found in the speaker’s exaggerated reaction to the knocking at his door, taking an entire stanza to bring himself to address the knock. It is also evident in the way in which the man plays with the bird for a while as a means of amusing himself, until the amusement turns haunting. The Transcendental rejection of religion may be discovered in the raven’s choice to perch upon the bust of Pallas just above the speaker’s chamber door. According to Hallqvist (1998), Pallas is the Greek goddess of wisdom. The speaker’s ability to communicate with the raven, although imperfectly, is also an element of the Transcendental tradition. This communication eventually becomes a sort of blending of the man and the raven toward the end of the poem as the man indicates “my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor / Shall be lifted – nevermore!” (107-108).

However, with this dark blending of dark bird, shadow, time off, and man’s haunted soul, it is easy to distinguish Poe’s development of the Gothic within his stories. Every element of nature pulled into the story as a part of the Romantic tradition is also presented from its darkest or most frightening side. December is bleak rather than cheerful with holiday greetings; the evening is dark, cold, and full of death as “each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor” (8). The raven itself is a traditional symbol of death and decay (Hallqvist, 1998) and it’s entering the house is a sign of darkly supernatural elements, brought more into focus as it lands on the head of wisdom. The speaker tells his listeners “his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming” (106) while the raven’s entrance is also marked by other darkly sublime elements: “Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer / Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor” (79-80). Already haunted in his mind by the ghost of his wife, the speaker becomes further divided, body and soul, by the presence of the raven by the end of the poem, leaving his soul forevermore trapped by the raven’s shadow on his chamber floor.

While the elements of Poe’s poem snugly fit within the same traditional characteristics of the Romantic period, his approach to the subject, flavored slightly with a touch of Transcendentalism and a deeply depressed mindset helped spur the genre of Gothic Romantic literature. Linking the concepts of the Romantic with the concepts of the psychological thriller inextricably in his short but powerful text, Poe helped shape and define this genre of literature, pulling it into the popular realm and giving it life in its consideration of the blending of the real and the unreal. His careful blending of the elements and full concentration on bringing out the dark side of his stories builds up the supernatural element slowly so that, by the end of the story or poem, the reader finds himself completely believing the story despite elements that would ordinarily cause skepticism. Romanticism in its focus on nature and emotion is certainly present, as is Transcendentalism in its focus on spirituality and interconnectivity, but Poe brings the Gothic to the forefront in his focus on the sublime, darkness at various levels, and the psychometry, or division, of the individual.

Works Cited

Conklin, Groff. “Introduction.” Ten Great Mysteries of Edgar Allan Poe. New York and London: Scholastic, Inc., 1989.

Ford, James Ishmael. “The History of UU Engagement with Buddhism and Itsits Growing Significance.” UU World Magazine. Boston: MA, (2007).

Freud, Sigmund. On the History of the Psychoanalytic Movement (Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud). New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1966.

Greenblatt, Stephen (Ed.). “Introduction: The Victorian Age.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Vol. 8. New York: W.W. Norton, 2005.

Hallqvist, Christoffer. “Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Raven.’” Poedecoder. (1998).

Holman, C. Hugh & Harmon, William. “Definitions from A Handbook to Literature, 6^th Ed.” On American Romaticism. (2001).

Hume, Robert D. “Gothic versus Romantic: A Revaluation of the Gothic Novel.” PMLA. Vol. 8, N. 2, (1969).

“Introduction to Romanticism.” A Guide to the Study of Literature: A Companion Text for Core Studies 6, Landmarks of Literature. New York: Brooklyn College, 2001. Web.

Mowery, Carl. “An Overview to ‘The Fall of the House of Usher.’” Short Stories for Students. Gale Research. (1997).

Poe, Edgar Allan. “The Raven.” H. Behme (Ed.). (1845). Web.

Thoreau, Henry David. Walden. New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 1993.

Wellek, Rene. “Romanticism in Literature.” Dictionary of the History of Ideas. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia, (2003). Web.

Introduction

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s literary works are examples of the romantic period in American literature, which started in the early 1800s. One of the most typical traits of romantic literature is the prevalence of emotions, setting the natural world above the created world, and the most important, freedom of an individual. Therefore, most of the main characters of romantic literature are rebels who contrast themselves with the rest of the world. Moreover, the characters in the romantic literature often strive for supernatural or divine powers, paying attention to the purity of their souls and a clear conscience.

Romanticism in Hawthorne’s My Kinsman, Major Molineux

One of the examples of romantic literature is the story by Hawthorne My Kinsman, Major Molineux, with its specific traits, which make it be an excellent example of American romanticism. The main character of the story, Robin, encounters many new aspects of the new life when he travels to Boston, and all of them bring Robin a feeling of danger and strangeness. When the young man arrives at the new environment, he can feel that he is strikingly different from the Bostonians, whose clothes, manners, and behavior contradict Robin’s. Due to his difference from others, Robin is surrounded by social pressure and has to make his own decisions individually.

In spite of being an emotional and passionate young man, Robin tries to avoid conflicts with the locals, either verbal or physical. Robin’s psychological state and the descriptions of the environment around him also refer to the features of the romantic literature. The description of the scenes, where the author emphasizes the presence of dim light, the dreamlike atmosphere, the mention of the weapons of the knights, and kings from the Middle Ages add to romantic elements of this story.

Conclusion

To conclude, all the features such as the desire for personal freedom, the backgrounds, and the inner conflicts of the main character prove that this story belongs to the romantic period of American Literature. Moreover, Robin’s rebellion against the rest of the world makes him a representative of the romantic character. Although the inner contradictions complicate the life of the main character, he has the strength to endure everything, which makes him a typical romantic character.

The current efforts by humans to safeguard the environment, coupled with the onset of ecological literature, not only indicates that romanticism never disappeared but also proves that the romantics were right. Romanticism can be described as an intellectual and artistic movement that took place during industrialization and urbanization (Ibañez 1). The artists were critical of the Neoclassicists because industrialization was associated with the destruction of the environment. Most importantly, the condition of human living was ruined due to poor working conditions and low wages.

Such artists as Thomas Blake produced works that were dominated either by depictions of green or serene landscapes (Khan 106). Today, ecological literature advocates for the position that nature should no longer be taken as a resource for extracting benefits but it has to be kept aesthetic (Ibañez 2). Therefore, these ideals of ecological literature are interpreted to mean that industrialization and its detriments are rejected similar to what the romantics did.

To support the argument that romantics were right, it is critical to relate their principles with those of ecological literature. Opinions and writing of modern scholars should also offer a glimpse of how romanticism is desirable decades after industrialization and urbanization started. For example, green romanticism is a term discussed by Khan about nature poetry, which has been used by poets to express awareness of the drawbacks of the 18th-century industrial revolution (103).

Khan expresses that romantic nature poetry is renowned for the spontaneous expression and love of nature and its beauty (103). Aspects of nature could be peaceful or turbulent, and the artists believe in an ecological balance of biological life. From his arguments, this author’s use of the term ‘romanticism’ while referring to modern ecological literature is true and accurate because the ideas and principles are symmetrical. In other words, all romantics believe in the serenity of the environment and beautiful nature that is not contaminated through industrialization. In this case, ecological literature is seen to mirror the romanticism of the 18th century.

Natural images in modern ecological literature dominated the eco-critical approach where the focus of many artists is the landscape. Ibañez has made an effort to trace the constructs of nature and landscape back to the romanticism era and the second industrial revolution (1). The scholarly works he explores all have a common theme – that humans are embedded in nature. Even though romanticism may have become fragmented into several post-romanticism movements, the basic idea is that the landscape should not be a mere source of benefits for people but also a source of happiness from its aesthetics.

Cultural dynamics across Europe shape the genealogy of romanticism with multiple genres emerging. Recently, ecocriticism is the term used to examine modern artistic work involving the natural world and their application of the ideals of romanticism. Most importantly, ecocriticism theories have emerged to build a consciousness regarding the environment and to build a new ecological ethic. As opposed to traditional romanticism, it can be argued that modern ecological literature does more than merely oppose urbanization and the industrial revolution.

In other words, the artists believe in the restoration and integration of conservative approaches to development. Urban planning is particularly interesting for modern romantics because they believe that even cities should pay attention to the aesthetics of the landscape. The term ‘lungs of the city’ have been metaphorically used by such authors as Jones to refer to the parks built in cities as part of the ongoing efforts toward offering green spaces for people (42).

Examples include New York, Paris, and London, all major global cities offering recreational green parks. The parks are labeled ‘green’, which is the primary theme across ecological literature. As mentioned earlier, the green romantics prefer to depict the aesthetics of the landscape as green and serene without the damage and pollution caused by urbanization and industrialization. Traditionally, parks may have been dedicated to such pursuits as sports, with examples including medieval Europe. With time, most parks became private spaces where naturalistically inclined individuals could build such marvels as fountains and transplanted trees. Today, green spaces have become part of modern urban planning where parks are public and accessible to all people.

Urbanization and the industrial revolution are arguably two paradigms that are focused on modernizing human life. For example, machines are built to make sure people do not do the hard manual labor, and cities are designed such that dwellers can have access to all necessary amenities. If this was the case, then why did the romantics oppose the revolution? S mentioned earlier, the ruined living conditions and poor wages were part of the causes of opposition.

Additionally, the serene environment and landscape were damaged through pollution and the establishment of industrial plants. The classical theories were the key supporters of modernization, which included the urbanization and industrial revolution (Jones 43). However, they also were wary of the fact that green spaces were critical for the health of the citizens. Today, many urban planning practices have incorporated such aspects as clean air. In Renaissance Europe, people established botanical gardens where plants were cultivated. Today, the parks have replaced the gardens and the process of modernization ow adopts the views of green romantics and ecological ecocriticism.

Many of the industrial structures build to aid modernization became tools of destruction, which proves that the romantics were right in their opposition. A discussion of decommissioned and ruined places has been presented by (Dawney), who states that past disasters are evidence of the need for worlding and non-capitalism (34). The tale of the town of Visaginas explains everything to which the romantics and the ecological literature are opposed. For example, the town was only six kilometers from a nuclear power plant, and part of the mono-industrial towns were built around steel, coal, and nuclear power.

The dwelling standards were high but this only lasted until the onset of the collapse of the Soviet Union. The closure of the nuclear plants and decommissioning of the reactors meant that the city became a ruin and the nuclear plants threatened to become another case of Chornobyl or Fukushima (Dawney 36). The history of the city from a thriving forested area to a nuclear-powered city and then to a ruin that offers no benefit to human beings sums up what industrialization was all about.

An argument can be presented that artists of ecological literature are fully aware of the urbanization process and the damage it has done to the environment. Additionally, the lived experiences may have become the foundation of green tendencies and preferences. Additionally, it can be noted that ecological literature presents an idea of nature that resembles that of the romantics. The romantics used nature as a means of escape, and the green romantics are doing something similar. In other words, both classes of artists depict landscapes without urbanization and believe to be beautiful and more desirable. Ruins may have become a central focus for geologists and other experts because of the history they tell regarding a place. However, the idea of Dawney is further evidence that the depiction of the ruins is an articulation of the evocative and sensitive reconstructions of the past (38). In this case, it is rational to feel that ruins in ecological research are further proof that nature should not have been destroyed.

Urbanization is unhealthy for human beings, a position held by both the romantics and ecological literature. The argument that romanticism never disappeared and that the romantics were right has been supported. Therefore, it is time to offer a unified view of what entails nature and landscape and why restorative efforts are necessary. Today, the term ‘green spaces’ is embedded in literature, ethics, medical science, and philosophy (Jones 45). A critical view of green spaces illustrates that the artists are obsessed with proximity to nature and rustic simplicity.

If the artists represent the general attitudes of the urban population, then there is a possibility of arguing that industrialization and urbanization were not the right way to derive benefits from nature and landscape. Additionally, the notion that these revolutions were intended for the capitalists becomes valid because landlords and landowners in cities derive the most benefits from urbanization. Similarly, the industrialists gain the most from industrialization while everyone else becomes a tool to be used in the capitalists’ pursuits. When people became less productive, the capitalists resorted to machines and automation to drive the second wave of the industrial revolution.

The most important feature of ecocriticism and romanticism is their feelings toward the landscapes. Such artists as Blake believed in the greenery of the landscape and not in the urban and industrial structures (Khan 106). The green romantics have adopted a similar approach, which shows similarities regarding their views on materialism. An argument has been presented above that if the ecological literature represents the views of all people then the romantics were right to reject the urban revolution. The world has also seen a second industrial revolution characterized by technology. Therefore, the green romantics have an opportunity to make sure that the new revolution does have similar damage to the landscape.

In conclusion, the current ecological literature proves romanticism right and indicates that the romantics never disappeared. The foundation of the arguments is the similarities in the central themes of the artistic works of the two groups. The traditional romantics believed in nature and opposed industrialization while the green romantics depict nature and landscape as green and serene. Additionally, the emergence of green parks as the lungs of the cities shows that ecological literature is having positive influences on urban planning. Therefore, the bottom line is that industrialization and urbanization offer the most benefits to the capitalists while all other individuals are left with an environment that lacks aesthetics and that could prove harmful to their health.

Works Cited

Dawney, Leila. “Decommissioned Places: Ruins, Endurance and Care at the End of the First Nuclear Age.” Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, vol. 45, no. 1, 2020, pp. 33-49.

Ibañez, Diego. “Romanticism and Landscape: an Eco-Critical Approach to the Natural Image.” International Journal of Arts and Social Science, vol. 2, no. 2, 2019, pp. 1-9.

Jones, Karen. “‘The Lungs of the City’: Green Space, Public Health and Bodily Metaphor in the Landscape of Urban Park History.” Environment and History, vol. 2, no. 1, 2018, pp. 39-58.

Khan, Jalal. “Green Romanic Tradition and Ecocriticism.” International Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Translation, vol. 2, no. 4, 2019, pp. 103-129.

Introduction

Romanticism can be described as a period that was characterized by numerous changes in the works of art.¹ Besides, the period of romanticism is estimated to have existed between 1760 and1870. During this era, numerous changes occurred in the works of art coupled with reactions against the rise of Neoclassicism that was taking shape in most parts of Europe.

History painting artists such as Kauffmann, David, Delacroix and Gros were against what was particularly referred to as the Age of Reason, the Enlightenment, or rather the18th-century materialism. Romanticism was characterized by passion, imagination, autonomy and independence.²

Additionally, it emphasized on favorite historical art subjects, nature, people and landscapes. The Romantic Movement first developed in northern Europe as part of rejecting the new technical standards of art which were fast emerging.³ It is against this scope that this paper aims to explore the aspect of romanticism in the history of painting by considering the works of artists such as Kauffmann, David, Delacroix and Gros.

Kauffmann: It is apparent that Kauffmann was one of the prominent artists who were among the remarkable history painters during 18^th century.⁴ He emerged as an active painter who used figural arrangements of old sculptures, poses and vase paintings. The artist figuratively influenced the stylistic trends of his times. For this reason, she emerges as a lucrative academic painter and thus left a mark in the field of history painting.

Historical records have revealed that Kauffmann made inspirational and editorial paintings that were based on her lovely imaginations. Besides, she had made several fine etchings, friezes and ceilings. Myriad of decorations which she made around 1771-81 can be traced in some of the deluxe houses in Rome. ⁵

During the late 1770s, the artist did history paintings mainly for monetary returns. Shortly after this period, Kauffmann drew her attention on neoclassicism. She produced paintings that were based on historical events that existed in ancient Rome an Athens. During this era, neoclassicism considered the work of art from the esteemed artistic perspective.

Kauffmann participated in the movement. She produced a lot of exhibits mostly nude models that were used to illustrate the anatomy of human body. Moreover, she made historical paintings on landscapes and flowers. Regardless of the fact that painting of nude pictures by women was highly criticized she fairly improved her skill at drawing and painting human forms. To ward off criticism, she painted nude paintings and draped them with clothes

According to research evidences on Kauffmann works; it is evident that she participated on exhibitions at Royal Academy in 1769. She presented four of her history pieces referred to as the iliad and odyssey.⁶ Out of the remarkable praise she received from the paintings, she was motivated to do more entries.

Other remarkable entries include the “Venus showing Aeneas and Achates the way to carthage”.⁷ Evidence has that Kauffman’s history paintings were different from works of other artists of her time because she portrayed women at the center of the events she painted. In addition to this, it is beyond doubt that Kauffman established a gender neutral figure in her works.

In return this became an upcoming image that illustrated her personal understanding of gender parity. As an outstandingly successful female painter, she received privileges that most women were denied. For instance she received a membership in the Royal Academy that positioned her in better ground to exhibit her work.⁸

This position enabled her to bring a new perspective to history painting, particularly rendering the human figure. In producing gender neutral figures she managed to highlight the female role in most of her history painting.

Due to the emergence of romanticism in the 18^th century, Kauffman experienced all of these societal pressures and serious criticism rose against her works. However, she was able to ward off the critics as a woman and understood fully her role as an artist.

During the wave of romanticism, only writers and poets were able to give their initial expression to romantic ideas. In that case, painters remained subject to such ideas and feelings. However, Kauffman acquired her inspirations from the romantic literature of the period. With the romantic movements Kauffmann gained awareness of how various form of arts interacted.

Romantic critics asserted that that experience of insightful inner emotion was the major theme of creation and pleasure of art. For this reason, Kauffman became more determined to make her work pleasurable and insightful irrespective of the critics.⁹ To achieve this, she explored the idea of genders neutrality and incorporated it in her history paintings. Moreover, she emphasized effeminacy, androgyny, cross-dressing and the mother as hero.¹⁰

Therefore, by incorporating cross-dressing and androgynous images, she reinvented the figures in history painting to emphasize on the theme of gender neutrality. It is beyond doubt that Kauffman was a highly privileged female artist who was talented and accepted in the masculine realm.¹¹ Throughout her work, she incorporated all the aspects of romanticism in art such as originality, creativity, heightened sensation, fascination and emotional pleasure. Below is sample of Kauffmann works of art.

Description: Angelica Kauffmann, her own portrait

Source: Description: Angelica Kauffmann, Cornelia Pointing to her Children as Her Treasures, 1785, Oil on Canvas.

Jacques David

David’s art initially embodied the neo-classicism style that was dominant in France during the late 18^th to early 19^th century.¹² During this time, he flourished in styling rigorous contours, polished surfaces, history painting and sculptured forms.

He abandoned the style due to its primacy and hence set a radical redefinition for the history of painting that drew their themes upon ancient events and distant civilization. David s work was grounded on the new found freedom of expressing emotions after countering neoclassicism.¹³

In his new style, he painted nature in it wild state that later stirred up creative imaginations. That’s not withstanding, David became a prominent artist of history and a virtual dictator of art. This artist was perfect in ethical paintings that focused of the moral climate that existed during the ancient periods

Later on, the artist gained interest on romanticism as a student leader in France. He dealt with history paintings that made him to become renown worldwide. He was a landscape artist who achieved dramatic visualization in his pictorial work. Apparently, David had a marvelous mastery of his work as it was depicted on the effect of light and color on his exhibitions.¹⁴

Some of his remarkable works include the Hay wagon, snow storm and steam boat off a harbor mouth.¹⁵ It is apparent that romanticism influenced Jacques to appeal to the human need to appreciate the work of art since his exhibits held standard s of beauty that heightened public sensation.

With the new romantic style, David got an opportunity to adventure in repertoire subjects through painting that made him get exiled to Belgium in 1816.¹⁶ David History painting emerged as the most notable works of art. Several of his collections are still preserved in world renowned museums as exhibits. Below are samples of David’s works of art.¹⁷

1780

Source: Description: Jacques Louis-David, Oath of the Horatii, 1784-1785, Oil on Canvas

Background of Eugene Delacroix

One of the most remarkable aspects of romantic literature and art history that portrayed the natural world and expressed intense emotion and passion in the history of France came from Eugene Delacroix.¹⁸ Rubin describes Delacroix in his earthshaking article Eugene Delacroix as the most influential and greatest French painter and writer in the history of the French Romantic Movement.¹⁹

Delacroix (1798-1863) made astonishing use of colors in his paintings which many art scholars claim were very instrumental in developing the impressionist and post-impressionist activities. It is imperative to point out here that his exotic locale was important for his artistic work as not only entranced him, but also provided inspiration for his art and a source for his high and mundane artistic elements.²⁰

Delacroix works

Wilkin points out in her publication that one of the most defining literary pieces done by Delacroix was the Journal d’Eugene Delacroix which greatly displays his extensive and substantial literacy.²¹ It illuminates and describes his paintings while articulating his view on life, politics and art. As a matter of fact, his artistic beauty as described in the paper has been inspired by writings of Sir Walter Scott, Shakespeare, Goethe and Dante. Additionally, it represents unique contribution to the study of painting history.²²

Liberty Leading the People

Liberty Leading the People is one of the most epochal and monumental paintings made by Delacroix in response to an event in France described by biographers as a political upheaval of 1830 which almost caused the then reigning monarch called Charles X to be overthrown by the opposition.²³

Spitzer describes the painting as a complex one that is weighed down with spectrums of emotions like despair, anger and grand heroism, and which is pregnant with historical references of the political upheaval.²⁴

It is important to note that the painting characterizes French Romanticism which is expressed in complex interaction of colors showing dark shadows and brightly reflective areas. Rubin concurs with Spitzer’s view of the painting and suggests that the complex communication of colors, like rapid-fire brushwork creates vivid contrasts which augments the sense of energy and movement as well as activating the surface of the painting.²⁵

Figure I: A Liberty Leading the People painting by Delacroix

Tim argues that the unique style of painting Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People shows that he did not depend on the subtle and painstaking modulation of colors.²⁶ Tim hinges this argument on the view that the painting has broken away from the tradition of painting and instead applied traces of shocking, brilliant and pure color pigment.²⁷

From the diagram above, a person can clearly observe primary colors like the yellow, blue and the powerful reds which appear in sharp notes. In agreement, Trapp indicates that the effects in the picture are electrifying and vivid especially when observed against broad gray and brown areas.²⁸ He concludes that this style faultlessly corresponds with the event and shows how liberty is advancing over barricades that are made of debris, and signify Parisian rebellion.²⁹

Modern Nike

Another fascinating piece of art history personifying freedom and standing in the tangled streets of France is the Modern Nike which the French refer to as Marianne.³⁰ Scholars of history argue that before the 19^th century, the largely medieval city of Paris and its streets were developed without a plan and this made it to appear chaotic.

Nicholas posits that the warren, tousled and disheveled streets of Paris with narrow alleys presented major social and economic problems as they slowed down the movement of troops, trade and travel.³¹ It is in this crowded area that Delacroix artistic work personifying freedom, democracy and revolution stands.³²

Figure 2: A Modern Nike sculpture in France representing romanticism

Podro describes the piece of art clothed in a drapery circling the hips and which is being spun by wind as a picture that has a touch of classical statuary.³³ It is on the imitation of Delacroix’s Modern Nike work that certain works like the Hellenistic sculpture with spiraling costume of the late ancient Greek and the Samothrace Nike were found.³⁴

Of utmost importance to analysts in the picture in figure I is the idea behind Delacroix exposing Marianne’s breasts, and which analyst posit that since the figure is not a real human being, the exposure indicates an embodiment of an idea. Indeed, Marianne signifies a democracy that was created in ancient Greece.

Delacroix uses partial nudity to refer to that kind of ancient democracy. In addition, the exposed breast depicts the first revolution in France which began in 1798 and created a new democratic state which was seen as an infant which needed to suckle from the breasts of its mother Marianne, and who represented freedom.³⁵

Class distinctions

Delacroix describes the phenomenon of class distinction in the history of France in the portrait below that show a menacing crowd that is partially hidden by a heavy smoke from the raging battle.³⁶ Brown points out that these figures play a pivotal role of representing individuals of very different economic and social positions.³⁷

For instance, the man with a jacket, Waistcoat and a top hat falls in the category of middle class citizens while the second figure in a cap and white shirt represents a laborer and a member belonging to a lower class. Delacroix message in this picture clearly shows how in fighting a ruling aristocracy, a revolution has the power to unite different classes.³⁸

Figure 3: A picture showing class distinction in France

Rebellion and its consequences

The foreground of figure I above shows bodies of two dead people with the one on the left side meant to enrage those who see it. Southgate argues that Delacroix brings the excesses and brutality exhibited by the king’s troops.³⁹ In essence, the impression created by the painting is that of pure propaganda.

The other dead person on the left epitomizes how the royal troops carry out despised practices of terror. The picture shows an individual in a nightshirt who seems to have been dragged from the comfort of his bedroom into the streets into the streets where he ends up being shot.⁴⁰

In addition, there is a dead figure in uniform lying at the right side which Delacroix brings out as a royalist and an enemy who in such instances is vulnerable. At the far right end of the picture there are buildings like the Notre Dame de Paris and the great Gothic Cathedral, which symbolize the power of the king and which in the picture are flying in the tricolor triumphantly.⁴¹

Conclusion

To sum up, the discussion has clearly indicated that the period of romanticism was characterized by flourishing intellectual movement in Europe in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Many artists, composers, writers and philosophers responded to the complexity of that age with pieces of art showing the implications of the period. Besides, in the analysis, it is clear that the romantic thought during this time largely reflected organic conception of interconnections, the society and an individual’s life.

Bibliography

Ann-Marie, Michel. “Delacroix and My Modern Masters”. ARTnews 9, no.8(1999): 160- 168.

Barbara, Gabriel. “Performing theory, performing gender: critical postscript”. Essays on Canadian Writing 54, no.6 (1994) 237-260.

Barkley, Wilson. “JacquesLouis David”. Smithsonian 29, no. 5(1998), 80-91.

Bordes, Philippe. Jacques-Louis David: Empire to Exile, Exhibition catalogue. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005.

Brookner, Anita. Romanticism and Its Discontents. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2000.

Brown, Bronwen. “The Cambridge companion to Delacroix”. Reference Review 16, no.1 (2002): 39.

Crow, Thomas. Emulation: David, Drouais, and Girodet in the Art of Revolutionary France. Rev. ed. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006.

Galitz, Calley. “The Legacy of Jacques-Louis David (1748–1825)”. In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000.

Gibson, Michael. “Indelibly Delacroix”. The World & I 13, no. 9 (1998): 112-117.

Gossman, Lionel. “Painting the Sacred in the Age of Romanticism”. The Catholic Historical Review 97, no.3 (2011): 597-599.

Kaufman, James & Sternberg, Robert. The Cambridge Handbook of Creativity. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006.

Laurent, Annie. “Painting and the Journal of Eugène Delacroix”. Revue de Littérature Comparée 281, no.4 (2007): 107-109.

Nersessian, Anahid. “Romanticism, History, Historicisin: Essays on an Orthodoxy”. Studies in Romanticism 50, no. 2 (2011): 377-386.

Nicholas, Williams. “Romanticism and Popular Culture in Britain and Ireland”. Nineteenth Century Literature 66, no. 1 (2011): 122-139.

Pantazzi, Michael. “Memory in landscape: Corot at the National Gallery”. Queen’s Quarterly 103, no. 2 (1996): 286-297.

Pauly, Rebecca. “Baudelaire and Delacroix on Tasso in Prison: Romantic reflections on a Renaissance martyr”. College Literature 30, no.2 (2003): 120-136.

Podro, Michael. “Wrestling with the Angel: The mystery of Delacroix’s mural”. TLS, the Times Literary Supplement 52, no.21 (2003): 30.

Pollock, Griselda. The Female Hero and the Making of a Feminist Canon.” Differencing the canon: feminist desire and the writing of art’s histories. London: Routledge, 1999.

Pontara, Tobias. “Beethoven Overcome: Romantic and Existentialist Utopia in Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker”. Nineteenth Century Music 34, no.3 (2011): 302-315,356.

Rosenthal, Angela. Angelica Kauffman: Art and Sensibility. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2006.

Rosenthal, Angelica. Angelica Kauffman: Art and Sensibility. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006.

Rubin, James. “Delacroix’s Dante and Virgil as a romantic manifesto”. Art Journal 52, no. 2 (1993): 48.

Rubin, James. “Eugene Delacroix”. ARTnews 97, no.11(1998): 155.

Shelton, Andrew. “Ingres versus Delacroix”. Art History 23, no.5 (2000): 726-742.

Southgate, Therese. “The cover”. JAMA 285, no.4 (2001): 375.

Spitzer, Alan. “Delacroix, Art, and Patrimony in Post-Revolutionary France”. The Journal of Modern History 78, no.2 (2006): 496-498.

Stauffer, Andrew. “Dreaming in Books: The making of the bibliographic imagination in the Romantic Age”. Studies in Romanticism 50, no.1 (2011): 213-216,218.

Tim, Wilson. “Delacroix, art, and patrimony in post-Revolutionary France”. Choice 42, no.4 (2004): 649-650.

Trapp, Ferdinand. “The paintings of Eugene Delacroix: A critical catalogue: Fourth supplement and reprint of third supplement”. Choice 41, no.1(2003): 136-137.

Wilkin Karen. “Art: Drawn to Revolution”. Wall Street Journal. Web.

Footnotes

¹ Anita Brookner. Romanticism and Its Discontents. (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux,

2000), p.88.

² Angelica Rosenthal. Angelica Kauffman: Art and Sensibility. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006), p. 56.

³ See (Romanticism and its discontent), p.101

⁴Angela Rosenthal. Angelica Kauffman: Art and Sensibility. (New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2006), p. 32.

⁵ Ibid 1 p.63

⁶ Angelica Rosenthal. Angelica Kauffman: Art and Sensibility. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006), p. 99

⁷ Ibid 1, p.113

⁸ Ibid 2, pg 117

⁹ Angelica Rosenthal. Angelica Kauffman: Art and Sensibility. (New Haven: Yale Univ Press, 2006), p. 115.

¹⁰ Wilson Barkley. Jacques Louis David. Smithsonian, 29.5(1998) p.83

¹¹ James Kaufman & Sternberg, Robert. The Cambridge Handbook of Creativity. (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006), p.94.

¹² Griselda Pollock. “The Female Hero and the Making of a Feminist Canon.” Differencing the canon: feminist desire and the writing of art’s histories. (London: Routledge, 1999), p.18

¹³ Wilson Barkley. JacquesLouis David. Smithsonian, 29, 5(1998), p.80

¹⁴Calley Galitz. “The Legacy of Jacques-Louis David (1748–1825)”. In Heilbronn Timeline of Art History. (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000), p. 6

¹⁵ Philippe Bordes. Jacques-Louis David: Empire to Exile, Exhibition catalogue. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005).p.77

¹⁶ Ibid 2, p 86

¹⁷ Philippe Bordes. Jacques-Louis David: Empire to Exile, Exhibition catalogue. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005).p 22.

¹⁸ Rebecca Pauly. Baudelaire and Delacroix on Tasso in Prison: Romantic reflections on a Renaissance martyr. College Literature. 30.2 (2003), 120.

¹⁹ James Rubin. Eugene Delacroix. ARTnews, 97,11(1998)155

²⁰ Michael Gibson. Indelibly Delacroix. The World & I, 13.9 (1998): 115.

²¹ Karen Wilkin. “Art: Drawn to Revolution”. Wall Street Journal.

²² Annie Laurent. Painting and the Journal of Eugène Delacroix. Revue de Littérature Comparée, 281, 107.

²³ Michael Pantazzi. Memory in landscape: Corot at the National Gallery. Queen’s Quarterly, 103. 2 (1996)292.

²⁴ Alan Spitzer. Delacroix, art and patrimony in post-revolutionary France. The Journal of Modern History 78, 2(2006): 496-498.

²⁵ See ‘Eugene Delacroix’

²⁶ Wilson Tim. Delacroix, art, and patrimony in post-revolutionary France. Choice, 42.4 (2004) 649-650.

²⁷ Rosenthal Angela. Angelica Kauffman: Art and Sensibility. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2006, p.57

²⁸ Gabriel Barbara. Performing theory, performing gender: critical postscript. Essays on Canadian Writing, 54 (1994) 252.

²⁹ Ferdinand Trapp. The paintings of Eugene Delacroix: A critical catalogue: Fourth supplement and reprint of third supplement. Choice, 41.1(2003) 137.

³⁰ James Rubin. Delacroix’s Dante and Virgil as a romantic manifesto. Art Journal, 52. 2 (1993): 48.

³¹ Williams Nicholas. Romanticism and popular culture in Britain and Ireland. Nineteenth – Century Literature, 66. 1 (2011)126, 139.

³² Anahid Nersessian. Romanticism, History, Historicisin: Essays on Orthodoxy. Studies in Romanticism, 50.2 (2011), 380, 386.

³³ Michael Podro. Wrestling with the Angel: The mystery of Delacroix’s mural. TLS, the Times Literary Supplement, (5221) (2003)30

³⁴ Lionel Gossman. Painting the sacred in the Age of Romanticism. The Catholic Historical Review 97, no.3 (2011): p.597.

³⁵ Andrew Stauffer. Dreaming in Books: The making of the bibliographic imagination in the Romantic Age. Studies in Romanticism, 50, no. 1 (2011), p. 219.

³⁶Thomas Crow. Emulation: David, Drouais, and Girodet in the Art of Revolutionary France. Rev. ed. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006), p. 43.

³⁷ Bronwen Brown. The Cambridge companion to Delacroix. Reference Reviews 16, no.1 (2002), p.39.

³⁸ Michel Ann-Marie. “Delacroix and My Modern Masters”. ARTnews 9, no. 8(1999): p.165.

³⁹ Therese Southgate. The cover. JAMA 285, no.4 (2001): 375.

⁴⁰ Andrew Shelton. Ingres versus Delacroix. Art History 23, no.5 (2000), p.742.

⁴¹ Tobias Pontara. Beethoven overcome: Romantic and existentialist utopia in Andrei Tarkovsky’s stalker. Nineteenth Century Music, 34.3 (2011), 315, 356.

Introduction

Romanticism is a movement in history that went against the established order, status quo, peace, ideologies, and beliefs of the time. Art was used to depict the manner in which individuals thought and believed as well as their orientation towards their surroundings in the olden days (Ferber, 2010). Art dealt mostly with issues of motive and realism while other forms of art dealt with the darkness of the community on one hand and its magnificence on the other. Romanticism was a form of art that strived to detach itself with Neoclassicism which was rife during the enlightenment period. Romanticism brought about a strong and extremely emotive form of art that took over most half of the 19^th century. It became the greatest art movement in most parts of Europe from late 18^th century lasting to mid of 19^th century (Beers, 2010).

The Early Romantic Artists

There are a number of artists who are considered popular during the movement. However they are dichotomized into The Early Romantic Artists and The Later Romantic Artists (Brown, 2001). John constable is one artist who falls under the first category. He is viewed as an expert in Romantic art. He developed art in form of paintings that mostly covered landscapes. His works portrayed an awesome sense of beauty and the greatness of nature. This marked a great difference when compared to the dull garden paintings that came from the Enlightenment period. John gave nature a huge sense of spirituality with the belief that it is obscure and cannot be seen by even the spirits. Another artist called Gericault Theodore considered nature as a great force that went against any motive and plan. He is associated with the world renowned painting called the The Raft of Medusa. This painting shows people who survive a very violent shipwreck. In deed, most painters of the Romantic era associated beauty with their arts. For instance, Eduard Gaertner is popular with the method of combining light and dark when painting Paris streets (Brown, 2001).

The Later Romantic Artists

Some other artists under The Later Romantic Artists are John Everett Millais and Edward Burne-Jones. John painted pictures that carried normal scenes. However, they contained much depth and color. His art, The Black Brunswicker is a tale of lovers and shows an in-depth feeling and nostalgia. Edward is credited with stunning Gothic revitalization pieces. Such forms of art were extremely popular towards the last years of the Romantic era. He accorded great honor to the olden times with the designing of Briar Rose that beautified parks in Oxfordshire.

There are several cultural, political, and/ or social events that may have impacted art from the Romantic period. Culturally, Romanticists got inspired by the change of life from one generation to the next and felt that there was need for change in art too. In addition, the social setup in the early 19^th century played a big role in inspiring artists then (Vaughan, 1994). A surging form of nationalism combined with the recurrence of Christianity and fresh focus on the old times to impact a sense of change in art. Wars experienced in Europe and the revolution that took place in France made individuals reject anything that was associated with the olden times (Berlin, 2011).

Romantic art has a direct effect on 21^st century art. Artists are keen on further improving such art forms. The knowledge of the Romantic Movement makes it easy to improve art forms using such art as reference for improvement.

References

Beers, H. (2010). A History of English Romanticism. London: Nabu Press.

Berlin, I. (2011).The Roots of Romanticism. New York: Princeton University Press.

Brown, D. (2001). Romanticism (Art and Ideas). New York: Phaidon Press.

Ferber, M. (2010).Romanticism: A short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Vaughan, W. (1994). Romanticism and Art. New York: Thames & Hudson.

Factors That Affected Baroque and Romanticism Art Periods

Art is dynamic and changes with fluctuations in the environment. It adapts to the lifestyles of the society and as a result, communal, political, and economic factors are capable of changing its nature and meaning. For instance, social conditions dictate how art is understood by society, economic factors point towards art that has already been produced, while political factors determine how art is produced. I strongly concur with the fact that communal, political, and economic factors can change the nature and implication of art (Jacob, 1995). This paper will discuss the effect of these factors on two art periods, that is, Baroque and Romanticism.

Artists in the Baroque era were influenced by social conditions and religion was the most influential. This is because the era was highly typified by religious actions especially the proliferation of western Christianity following its dramatic fragmentation from Roman Catholic. “The Crucifixion of Saint Andrew” by Michelangelo is a good example of artwork done during the Baroque period. The artwork describes the basics of Christian principles by emphasizing the salvaging power of Jesus Christ (Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1985).

Features such as eccentricity, subjectivism, and beliefs dominate Romanticism art. Art done during the period explicates the efforts of human beings when trying to achieve their passions. “Odalisque with a Slave” by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres is a good example of art done during the period. The painting is full of emotions and the sculpture appears posed in a standard manner. The artist by making the sculpture meant to indicate a woman’s steady awakening from an indolent stupor to a more fervent mood (Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1985).

The above two works of art depict great disparities in art as a result of communal, political, and economic factors of mankind during the periods. These factors are, therefore, influential when it comes to the imagination and cultural demands of artists (Preble & Frank, 2005).

References

Jacob, M. (1995). From art to politics: how artistic creations shape political conceptions. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press

Metropolitan Museum of Art. (1985).The Age of Caravaggio. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Preble, D., & Frank, P. (2005). Preble’ Art forms: An Introduction to the Visual Arts. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Publishers.

Introduction

Gustave’s ideas about liberty radicalized his beliefs in academic institutions, churches, or the dogmatic philosophical subscriptions of his time. His “deviation” from ideology constructs portrayed him as a “revolutionary artist” during the Romanticism era.

The stonebreakers

In an era when the industrial revolution was at its helm, the bourgeoisie was the powerbroker in the society. They controlled most of the productions and economic gateways, thus leaving the low-class indigent and destitute. The emerging class of the rich in the society wielded immense influence; it was unimaginable to ruffle them wrongly. In the painting, The Stonebreakers, Gustave declared unconventional “war” against the bourgeoisie by depicting the peasants as tools for the rich.

The artist showed several peasants working as stonebreakers in mines owned by the opulent. This was quite revolutionary since it was a new thematic expression of the issues in society. In terms of style, the intentional assumption of the predominant use of smooth lines and soft forms as used by the Romanticists pointed to his deviation from the conventional painting style. The work, Stonebreakers, employed the use of very rough texture unusual of the painting style of the epoch.

In an era where religion was a major “windmill” in the social, political, and economic constructs, the painting was limited to the confines of biblical canons. There was a predictable theme in most Romanticist paintings. Most artists limited themselves to highlighting biblical themes. When Gustave painted Burial at Ornans, it was clear that he was poking the church and challenging the authority of the powerful institution. While the clergy is visible from the background of the work, the decision by the painter to focus on the dog in the foreground was even more appalling. It offended the church that the painter pushed biblical issues to the periphery and focused on insignificant issues in the foreground.

Edouard Manet

Manet’s adamancy that art must not be yolked by any conventional “paddock” has been witnessed throughout his works. His beliefs of “free-flowing” art, as opposed to the classical purview that any painting must circumscribe to a given opinion are affirmed in his works.

Luncheon at the grass

This work was first exhibited in 1863 but later condemned to Salon des Refusés where rejected works were kept. The jury, while showing the magnitude of the painter’s radicalism, rejected the work due to the “obscene theme” expressed. The phantasmagorical depictions in the work where nude women comfortably mingled with men of higher social stratum were inexcusable. It was quite absurd to depict such a scene in public when the moral thread in the society was very strong. While the pressures of “modernism” and its implications in art were far from being experienced at the time, Edouardo embraced liberal styles that relegated the predominant Romanticisms into the fringes.

Olympia

Olympia was a quintessential depiction of how Edouardo deviated from the conservative academic tenets of art through style. Other than the depiction of a nude yet wealthy woman receiving flowers from a Blackman, the obvious digression from the prescripts of “academy” in the era was revealed through the styles used by the artist. With a very shallow depth and broad strokes of the brush, the work was clearly out of touch with the common rules of painting as prescribed by art scholars in that era.

In summary, the revolutionary “accent” of Olympia stems from the fact that nudity in public was a foreign affair in days when the church has defined the rubric of morality in the society. Edouardo ignored the church provisions to express himself in Olympia. From the study of the two works, it is palpable that the deviation from the conventional provisions of art was waged on two fronts, from the thematically content and from the stylistic template.

Introduction

It is important to analyze Camille Saint-Saens’s works in the context of French Romanticism because the composer often combined the elements of French Romanticism with features typical of other movements and music styles like habanera. As a result, it is possible to state that Saint-Saens’s music is rich, vivid, and complex. These effects are created with the help of interpreting the typical features of French Romantic music in the composer’s unique way. From this point, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso in A minor are some of the most remarkable of Saint-Saens’s works. Arpeggios, harmonic themes, and chromatic sections attract the listener’s attention immediately, and there is an intention to discuss the use of these elements in Saint-Saens’s work in detail.

Main body

During the era of Romanticism, quick arpeggios were often used to create an additional effect on the music and listener (Flynn 52; Talbot 12). Therefore, this aspect needs to be analyzed with references to Saint-Saens’s music piece. While concentrating on the broad topic of distinctive elements and features making Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso in A minor unique, it is also possible to discuss the music piece from a large perspective and relate it to the era of Romanticism. This approach is interesting because it allows exploring the particular impact of French Romanticism on the composer’s style and vision. Thus, the composer’s manipulation of each element should be assessed (Fuld 112; Ratner 84).

Conclusion

The discussion of this topic is appropriate for concentrating on the particular style of Saint-Saens that was influenced by the tendencies in the music of the nineteenth century. The composer’s piece is unique and aimed at demonstrating virtuosic playing (Sharpe and Koekkoek Stierman 24; Auer 38). Furthermore, the composer accentuates the uniqueness of the piece with the focus on elements of the music popular in the nineteenth century.

Works Cited

Auer, Leopold. Violin Master Works and Their Interpretation. New York: Courier Corporation, 2013. Print.

Flynn, Timothy. Camille Saint-Saëns: A Guide to Research. New York: Routledge, 2004. Print.

Fuld, James. The Book of World-Famous Music: Classical, Popular, and Folk. New York: Courier Corporation, 2000. Print.

Ratner, Sabina Teller. Camille Saint-Saëns, 1835-1921: The Instrumental Works. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. Print.

Sharpe, Roderick, and Jeanne Koekkoek Stierman. Maestros in America: Conductors in the 21st Century. New York: Scarecrow Press, 2008. Print.

Talbot, Michael. The Business of Music. New York: Liverpool University Press, 2002. Print.

Although both Neoclassicism and Romanticism have similar roots and initially developed in parallel, they were opposite in terms of philosophical nature. They were the two poles of architectural thinking – on the side of Neoclassicism was a rational, objective, almost scientific method of thought, which put reason in the first place among human abilities. Romanticism, on the other hand, was dominated by emotions, feelings, and the desire for a refined and natural life. There was a thirst for close communication with nature, which became one of the most characteristic features of this movement.

French artist Jacques-Louis David, who eventually became First Painter of Empire under Napoleon, is considered the father of the neoclassical movement (Kleiner, 2015). His paintings embody the emphasis of Neoclassicism on simple, geometric, closed compositions and educational topics of morality, stoicism, and duty. David’s painting “Oath of the Horatii” is a testament to the victory of a sense of duty over emotions (Kleiner, 2015). The walls of the room create a closed composition, and all directed lines are horizontal and vertical.

Romanticism was the first movement to make landscape painting the primary means of emotional expression. Romanticists believed that spending time with nature could lead to an understanding of the sublime – the greatness of the infinite (Kleiner, 2015). Among the famous Romanticist painters was Caspar David Friedrich, whose “personal experience of nature led to a deeper understanding of God” (Kleiner, 2015).

Therefore, human figures are often portrayed in his paintings despite playing an insignificant role. Other painters, such as John Constable, used landscape paintings as a way to express farmers’ distress during the Industrial Revolution (Kleiner, 2015). Both Constable and Friedrich used delicate brush strokes to capture the details, but Joseph Turner used obscurity and a vast amount of color – his works did not feature detail but unleashed the “emotive power of color” (Kleiner, 2015). Turner’s works were innovative and significantly influenced the future of Romanticism.

Reference

Kleiner, F. S. (2015). Gardner’s art through the ages: A concise global history (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

The purpose of my case study is to investigate the major factors involved in the age of Romanticism. Rather than being full of moon-eyed gentlemen worth little more than spouting flowery phrases all the time, this period in time was actually very concerned with new liberalism in all things, making it a difficult term to pin down. “Walter Pater thought the addition of estrangement to beauty (the neoclassicists having insisted on the order in beauty) constituted the romantic temper. An interesting schematic explanation calls romanticism the predominance of imagination over reason and formal rules (classicism) and over the sense of fact or the actual (realism)” (Holman & Harmon, 2001).

Characteristics of the genre identified by Welleck (2003) include a “revolt against the principles of neo-classicism criticism, the rediscovery of older English literature, the turn toward subjectivity and the worship of external nature slowly prepared during the eighteenth century and stated boldly in Wordsworth and Shelley” (196). The period idolized the imagination as the highest of human capacities due largely in part to its creative abilities and as a means of reacting to sweeping change in every aspect of life. It also esteemed nature not only because of the creative element inherent in it but also because of the manifestation of the imagination that could be found within it in the sense that we create what we see.

The world was full of symbols and signs that would portend future events and actions which were knowable through their relationship to the myths and legends of antiquity. An introduction to the socio-political changes that were occurring in this time period will help to inform the various ways in which the work of William Wordsworth epitomizes this period in the style and content of his writing.

As a literary movement, the Romantic Period is recognized to have begun sometime during the 1770s and extended into the mid-1800s (“Introduction”, 2001). Under the reign of Queen Victoria, the Industrial Revolution came of age, blossomed, and brought sweeping change across the country and the world. Life switched from being primarily dictated by the land one owned to a social structure based on commerce and manufacturing (Greenblatt, 2005). There was also a push to identify exactly what it meant to be ‘English’ in reaction to the great colonization and the challenges faced by an increasingly global public.

In this breakdown of definition, there was a great deal of social upheaval as people living in these changing times began to question the status quo. Social class structures were beginning to break down as common men were able to make fortunes in industry or speculation in a foreign land and landowners found it more and more difficult to keep the idyllic life they’d constructed alive. The countryside was becoming developed and there a sudden reverence for the nostalgic past grew in response. These tremendous upheavals could not help but be reflected in the art and literature of the time.

According to Rene Welleck (2003), discussion of the new type of literature under the term Romantic began in the 1700s with its use by Schiller and the Schlegel brothers. It was the elder Schlegel brother who, in his lectures across Europe into the early 1800s, promoted the use of the term ‘Romantic’ to include “the German heroic poems such as the Nibelungen, the cycle of Arthur, the Charlemagne romances and Spanish literature from El Cid to Don Quixote” (Welleck, 2003: 189).

In terms of the writers who exemplify this style of writing, most did not associate themselves with the Romantic movement but are easily classified within this genre today. “Thomson, Burns, Cowper, Gray, Collins, and Chatterton are honored as precursors, Percy, and the Warton’s as initiators. The trio, Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Southey, are recognized as the founders and, as time progressed, Byron, Shelley, and Keats were added in spite of the fact that this new group of poets denounced the older for political reasons” (Welleck, 2003). These writers, in turn, were heavily influenced by the events that were taking place in their worlds.

A study of Romantic poetry, especially the work of Wordsworth, reveals traces of all of these concerns. In light of the changes occurring around him, many of them recognized as having a dehumanizing effect upon the population and an unnatural effect upon the landscape, many of Wordsworth’s poems demonstrate a concern with the passing of time and the loss that accompanies age. This concept is illustrated in the first stanza of his “Intimations of Immortality” in which he states: “There was a time when meadow, grove and stream, / The earth, and every common sight, / To me did seem / Apparelled in celestial light” (Wordsworth, 1888: 1-4).

Nature informs a great portion of Wordsworth’s work, often linking the surrounding environment to his inner sentiments and exterior observations. The suggestion in this poem is that he has grown beyond such innocent joys and can no longer appreciate them in the same carefree way he had before. In other words, something special has been irrevocably lost through the passage of time and the aging of the poet. This sense of loss of something immensely precious is lamented in a push not only to remember the past and the images it represented but also fostering an attempt to capture something of the present, through lengthy and detailed descriptions of the landscape to the emotional connection such vistas provided to the human spirit to the workings of the human spirit itself.

Wordsworth captured many of these concepts not only in the words he wrote but in the style in which he wrote them. This can be seen in one of his more difficult poems, The Prelude. Within the poem, Wordsworth included several seemingly out-of-place comments, “namely, his frequently interjected expressions of what appear to be the personal emotions or circumstances of the literal William Wordsworth either only shortly before or immediately in the act of writing” (Reed, 1970: 279).

These include personal messages to other writers, statements regarding Wordsworth’s own self-doubts and struggles as he wrote the work, and passing distractions that interrupt or prevent him from working for stretches of time. Reed (1970) indicates that these seeming digressions into the present are instead Wordsworth’s attempts to demonstrate the full development of the poet’s mind, as he understood it. “The baldness that characterizes some of the Lyrical Ballads is the consequence not of carelessness but of an artistic ‘plan’ or ‘experiment.’ It was a man extremely concerned about the techniques by which he spoke to men” (277).

In other words, Wordsworth’s style of writing within this poem demonstrates an attempt to capture the thoughts of the past, the reflections of the mature poet, the changes of time, and the immediacy of the moment as it shapes and informs the work being done.

Through his choice of content and his style of writing, Wordsworth captures a sense of the tremendous changes that were occurring in his world on every level of existence. Definitions were shifting regarding what it meant to be a man, an Englishman, landowning, wealthy, poor, city, or country. Religions were being questioned with sometimes dire consequences should the wrong answer be provided and landscapes were changing with the crowding of factories, people, and pollution. In his attempts to capture a sense of the beauty that was passing away before him and the visible changes occurring within the human psyche, Wordsworth describes his times and contributes to the development of a new form of literature.

References

Greenblatt, Stephen (Ed.). (2005). “Introduction: The Victorian Age.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Vol. 8. New York: W.W. Norton.

Holman, C. Hugh & Harmon, William. (August 18, 2001). “Definitions from A Handbook to Literature, 6^th Ed.” On American Romaticism. Web.

“Introduction to Romanticism.” (2001). A Guide to the Study of Literature: A Companion Text for Core Studies 6, Landmarks of Literature. New York: Brooklyn College. Web.

Reed, Mark. (1970). “The Speaker of the Prelude.” Bicentenary Wordsworth Studies: In Memory of John Allen Finch. Jonathon Wordsworth (Ed.). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Wellek, Rene. (2003). “Romanticism in Literature.” Dictionary of the History of Ideas. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia, (2003). Web.

Wordsworth, William. (1888). “Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood.” The Complete Poetical Works. London: Macmillan and Company. Web.