Enlightenment and Romanticism: Comparison

Introduction

Neoclassical and Romantic activities cover the epoch of 1750 to 1850. Neoclassicism demonstrates life to be additionally balanced than it was. The Romantics special an interest in scenery, picturesque, aggressive, inspirational. Unlike Neoclassicism, which locations for the arrange, reason, convention, society, cleverness, and resolute communication, Impracticality acceptable everyday society in the passageway of realizing not in stature close to introduction the not representative independent visions of continuance and consider on a moving and over-romantic side of humankind. In this association, the importance was on feeling, obsession, imagination, human being, and usual enunciation. Ensuing infractions from the freedom and democratic principles of the French uprising, the idealistic Movement had in ordinary only a rebellion alongside the system of classicism (Arthur Lovejoy, 2004, 229-53).

Intellectual And Philosophical Origins

Neoclassicism was a creative and thinker movement, commencement in the mid-17th century in England, jointly progressive and usual in its object of contestants the imaginary and original activities of Augustus Caesar’s daylight hours and the traditional epoch in universal.

The historicist analysis’s of Romanticism, which mainly organized one thread of Romanticism next to one more, supplied an enlivening detachment sandwiched flanked by thought through us and a deceives them, an unbreachable opening stuck between at the moment and then, consequently produce minutes of approaching into the pastness of the history yet as well an additional description of the Enlightenment topic whose basis happens to objectified command, right away as in that Enlightenment account of “false notion,” the legend of Frankenstein. Jerome McGann’s Romantic viewpoint (1983) tartan this dialectic of Enlightenment with romanticizing countermovements, intended for which discrepancy Marc Redfield amongst numerous others has disapproved of him (Anne Mellor, 1993).

Defining characteristics

This pressure group could be distinguished as a “belief of the head.” On the different, Romanticism was a creative and scholarly group that spread crossways Europe in the not on time 18th and near the beginning 19th century. This association was a response in direct resistance to the Age of Motive in its sympathetic of human contentment and the earnings to attain it. This fictional rebellion could be differentiating as a “faith of the compassion.”

The Mind and Reality

Little can be in use for decided in Romantic learned. The standard has been increasing because the 1990s, and come again? is familiar–the Big Six poets–has been variously reconfigured. “Romantic-era writing” more often than not designates the script in the fifty existences from 1780 to 1830, but the present is also the extended eighteenth century that included Romanticism inside non-Romantic literary-historical narratives, and a figure of periodizations lay maintain to an Idealistic century, 1750 to 1850, take possession of both the period of Johnson and the near the beginning, Victorian epoch. recognized something identified Romanticism, forever a dangerous venture is no a smaller amount dangerous but has not stopped up the building of manifold Romanticisms, from Anne Mellor’s feminine Romanticism to Jerome McGann’s verse of deep feeling. “Romanticism” is the interpretive intelligence we create of Romantic-era writing by means of diachronic and synchronic narratives. That there are manifold narratives does not cause to be the thought ineffective, but Romanticism has to be unspoken in the plural. In the wake up of the feminist and historicist takes to pieces of the older Romanticism, particularly Bloom’s “creative thinker corporation” and the Wordsworth-centered verse of consciousness and the natural world, one has to inquire whether one of the goals of the novel interpreters has been attaining: are we still interpretation Romanticism by the income of its possess buildings, or have we so distant detached ourselves from the suppositions of Romantic passages that we are in conclusion exterior of Romanticism? Do we want to be exterior of Romanticism? Is it probable to get the exterior of Romanticism? Are we, lastly, free of Romantic philosophy?

Romanticism and Enlightenment

Neoclassical writers reproduce great poetry of the history since of the conviction that men had decided on convinced, fixed ways of script crossways the centuries. System for countrified verse, the send-up, and the marathon were deferentially going rafters. British Romantic writers on the entire still experiential convinced meetings in writing as a self-imposed regulation and spoken innovative thoughts somewhat than captivating uncontrolled, fundamental proceedings. Neoclassical writers were positive in the personal authority of motive to attain development in this “new day” or explanation. Human faculty was competent in creation sense and arranged out of the cosmos. Romantic writers were intensely and self-consciously paying attention to emotion and the mind’s eye. Writer’s strugglers to idolize the daring boundaries of feeling, the hopeful reader to trust their emotions, intuitions, and instincts over balanced thought. The mind’s eye was considered to be the majority precious of all person abilities. As Schubert affirmed: “Oh, imagination, thou highest gemstone of creation… Preserve us on or after that supposed Enlightenment, that unattractive frame without soft tissue or blood.” (Clifford Siskin, 1998)

God and religion

The conviction that persons are rational animals, collected of a middle, the particular human natural world, is the focal point of convinced Neo _classical works. Many writers unspecified that humans might overcome human being peculiarities and find harmony; thus, they extrapolated that all citizens could narrate to the thoughts, feelings, and appearance of their inscription.

In romanticism, feelings material; touching human responses are genuine and are an essential fraction of our lives. Qualities of “realism,” the heavenly, or theologies may be reproduced in nature in Impracticality, and we can intelligence God or the gods from surface to surface our sensing of the natural world. While in Neo_classicism, there is an anxiety for the “natural world”–or the method belongings are (and should be). This narrates back to the disbelieve of modernism and intrinsic conservatism of Neoclassicism (Duke University Press, 2003, 203-4).

The creative rules of the elderly, for example, Pope describes as contains been “discovered, not plan” and are “Natural World methodized”; so too, “Nature and Homer” are “the similar” (Essay on Disapproval 88ff. 135). This conviction in “nature” implies confidence that there is an enduring, worldwide way belonging are (and should be), which obviously need fundamental following and moral promises. The center on natural emotion over conservative system led to importance on the self over the previous neoclassical stress on civilization. The person turns out to be the basis of wisdom and principles, displace the received set of systems and norms known by civilization. As a consequence, importance is placed on sympathetic the person’s slanted state, particularly as it relates to the exterior world. Because romantics see the person’s family member to the exterior world as the foundation of ethics and wisdom, the significance of nature turns out to be a major anxiety. Unlike urban surroundings that distort and hold back one’s intelligence of family member to the planet, natural locations leave the idealistic individual gratis to appreciate her or his possess as Keats describes it, with things occurrences or with the not-self. The personnel’s original family member with the object world located a premium on the sense of the mind’s eye, which is a highlight for two chief motives. Romantics also put huge amass in the lively and original role that we engage in leisure in relations with the earth, an earth which every one of us, because Wordsworth writes, generated and half-perceives (David Simpson, 1982).

Conclusion

By considering all the skin tones of both epochs above, we can approach keen on the termination that the leader stress on idealism was upon the liberty of the person, self look, sincerity, impulsiveness, and innovation. These main beliefs become the new principles in writing, replace the decorous simulation of traditional models favored by the 18th century Neo_classisicm, in which we contain the importance of linked consideration over linear or rational illustration and to the leaving behind of customary plot forms. So Romanticism was a response alongside cold intelligence (an intellect exposed from emotion) and neoclassical principles of cause and reason. Romanticists establish that the arranged, mechanical cosmos that the discipline thrived beneath was too thin-minded in terms of sentiment or the mind’s eye. I think we can find a lot of (never all) of idealistic fundamentals in a great deal of art and a great deal of the consideration we term idealistic. And I consider the obtainable list supplies us with an intelligence of the dissimilarities flanked by idealistic verse and neoclassical poems which head it (Routledge, Kegan, and Paul, 1987).

References

  1. Arthur Lovejoy, “On the Discrimination of Romanticisms,” PMLA 39 (1924): 229-53: Irving Massey, “Romanticism: Fact or Phrase?” Dalhousie Review 44 (1964): 396-412.
  2. Anne Mellor, Romanticism, and Gender (New York: Routledge, 1993); Jerome McGann The Poetics of Sensibility: A Revolution in Literary Style (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996).
  3. Clifford Siskin, The Work of Writing: Literature and Social Change in Britain, 1700-1830 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998).
  4. David Simpson, Words worth and the Figurings of the Real (Atlantic Highlands, N.J.: Humanities Press, 1982): idem, Wordsworth’s Historical Imagination: The Poetry of Displacement (London: Routledge, Kegan, and Paul, 1987).
  5. Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan, Literary Theory: An Anthology (Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, 1998). Daniel T. O’Hara criticizes Rivkin and Ryan’s treatment of de Man in Empire Burlesque: The Fate of Critical Culture in Global America (Durham: Duke University Press, 2003), 203-4.
  6. David B. Ruderman, Jewish Enlightenment in an English Key: Anglo-Jewry’s Construction of Modern Jewish Thought (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000).
  7. Susan J. Wolfson, Formal Charges: The Shaping of Poetry in British Romanticism (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1997), 195-206.
  8. Jurgen Habermas, Moral Consciousness and Communicative Action, trans. Christian Lenhardt and Sherry Weber Nicholsen (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1990), 1-20.

Romanticizing Literature, Visual Arts and Music During Romanticism 1800-1850

Introduction

As an attitude or intellectual attitude that began in England and Germany and spawned over in Europe and America in the 19th century, Romanticism (1800-1850) can be viewed “as a rejection of the precepts of order, calm, harmony, balance, idealization, and rationality that typified Classicism in general and late 18th-century Neoclassicism in particular”. Also, romanticism is considered “to some extent a reaction against the Enlightenment and 18th-century rationalism and physical materialism in general”. As “it emphasized the individual, the subjective, the irrational, the imaginative, the personal, the spontaneous, the emotional, the visionary, and the transcendental”, the Romanticism period inspired many artists in the field of literature, painting, music, architecture, criticism, and historiography by rooting artistic vision in spontaneity and endorsing a concept of creativity based on the supremacy of human freedom (Encyclopædia Britannica Online, 2007).

A common view of the world

Despite variations, romantics shared similar beliefs and a common view of the world. Among the first romantics were the English poets William Wordsworth (1770-1850) and Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834), whose collaborative Lyrical Ballads (1798) exemplified the iconoclastic romantic idea that poetry was the result of “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”, rather than a formal and highly disciplined intellectual exercise. Romantics, in general, rebelled against the confinement of classical forms and refused to accept the supremacy of reason over emotions.

As the common attitude in Romanticism was supremacy over emotions and supremacy over human freedom, every artistic venture was valued in a new way as a genius through whose insight and intuition great art was created. Intuition, as opposed to scientific learning, was endorsed as a valid means of knowing. Building on the work of the eighteenth-century philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), romanticism embraced subjective knowledge. Inspiration and intuition took the place of reason and science in the values of Romantic artists.

Beauty and freedom

In literature, many poets and writers emerged where different writers sought beauty and freedom from the shackles of industrialization and even nationalism. Writers and poets delved on issues that promote the creative perception of meaning in the world. Wellek (1963) pointed out that if we examine the characteristics of the actual literature which called were “romantic”, all of the writings during those times has “the same conceptions of poetry and the workings and nature of poetic imagination, the same conception of nature and its relation to man; and the same poetic style, with a use of imagery, symbolism, and myth which is distinct from that of eighteenth-century neoclassicism”. According to Wellek (1963), these Romantic poets and writer “all see the implication of imagination, symbol, myth, and organic nature, and see it as part of the great endeavor to overcome the split between subject and object, the self and the world, the conscious and the unconscious. This is the central creed of the great romantic poets in England, Germany, and France. It is a closely coherent body of thought and feeling” (p. 160-162). For instance, Madame Germaine de Staël (1766-1817), whose writings influenced French political theory after 1815, is often hailed as the founder of French romanticism. She wrote histories, novels, literary criticism, and political tracts that opposed the tyranny of Napoleonic rule. Like many other romantics, she was greatly influenced by the writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and through him, she discovered that “the soul’s elevation is born of self-consciousness.” The recognition of the subjective meant for De Staël that women’s vision was as essential as men’s for the flowering of European culture. Other writers who gained prominence in the Romantic Era were William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge in England, Victor Hugo in France, and Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Edgar Allan Poe in the United States.

Visual arts

In visual arts, artists usually used themes of landscapes that seem like visions of a fairyland far removed from reality, such as J. M. W. Turner (1775-1851), an English landscape painter who applied expressive technique in depicting his view of the natural world in his masterpieces. Also, most painters tackled tragic themes and some took interest in themes that pictured classical history and mythology to medieval subjects. Visual artists like Salvator Rosa gained fame in the Romantic Era because he initiated romantic painting with his “Enchanted Castle”. Then, in the 18th century, the romantic sense of life was embodied in the glades and gardens of Jean-Antoine Watteau and Jean-Honoré Fragonard, haunts of happy lovers, and in the sensuous figures of Prud’hon, “French Correggio”. Next, Francisco Goya came on the scene, and in his “Caprichos”, where he was the first to dwell with passionate intensity on the pre-eminently romantic themes of love, insanity, and violent death. With the revival of Shakespeare, plays like The Tempest and A Midsummer Night’s Dream proved particularly congenial to the romantic imagination, while unsophisticated readers of Bernardin de Saint-Pierre were thrilled by his word-pictures of the tropics, and François-René de Chateaubriand’s public took the “noble savage” to their hearts (Courthion, 1961, p. 7). More French painters gained prominence like Eugène Delacroix and the German Philipp Otto Runge, who both explored the implications of musical analogies and applying them on visual terms via their paintings.

A field of music

In the field of music, the political and social changes which were a part of the Romantic Movement found expression in the growing tendency of composers to free themselves from the bonds of patronage, to take a more independent place in society and a more conscious part in the assertion of national individuality. When Romanticism set the attitude of the supremacy of emotions over reason, the composer found their way into producing works that made them the great romantic composers of the age: Louis Hector Berlioz (1803-1869), the French composer who set Faust’s damnation to music; Polish virtuoso Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849); and Hungarian concert pianist Franz Liszt (1811-1886).

Conclusion

However, after 1850, Romanticism was dubbed as no more than an aesthetic stance in art, letters, and music, a posture that had no particular political intent. Yet, its validation of the individual, as opposed to the social status or the country, was a revolutionary doctrine that helped to define a unique political consciousness of its own.

References

Courthion, Pierre. Romanticism. Geneva: Skira, 1961.

Encyclopædia Britannica. “Romanticism.” 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Web.

Wellek, René. “The Concept of Romanticism in Literary History”, in Nichols, Stephen G. (Ed.), Concepts of Criticism, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1963.

British Romanticism and Its Origins

Introduction

Romanticism is a multifaceted artistic, fictional, and intellectual association that initiated in the second half of the 18th century in Western Europe, and increased power during the Industrial Revolution. It was partially a rebellion against aristocratic social and political standards of the Age of Enlightenment and a response against the scientific explanation of nature and was exemplified most powerfully in the visual arts, music, and literature.

Origins

Key political and social transformations at the end of the eighteenth century, chiefly the French Revolution, prompted a new strain of writing now known as Romanticism. William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge started the trend for taking emotionalism and introspection to English literature, with an innovative focus on the personal and the common man. The response to urbanism and industrialization prompted lyricists to discover nature, for instance, the Lake Poets.

At around the same time, the iconoclastic painter William Blake, mainly disconnected from the central watercourses of privileged literature of the time, was creating his own highly personal poetic creations, while the Scottish nationalist poet Robert Burns was gathering and adapting the folk songs of Scotland into a corpse of nationwide poetry for his motherland.

The key “second generation” Romantic bards entailed George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron. They flouted communal conferences and often used verse as a supporting voice. Responding to the innovative political, financial, common, theoretical, and spiritual movements of the epoch, Romantic writers required in new ways just what human beings could recognize, be, and perform. Their examinations of awareness, realization, and invention confronted particularly the notions of current science and progress.

In their examinations of dreams, dreams, and the function of the unconscious in the original procedure, Romantic authors not only disproved Locke, Hartley, and other Empiricists who observed the operations of the mind simply as chemical and mechanical retorts to sensory stimuli but also expected the theories of Freud and Jung, particularly Jung’s theories of the collective unconscious and archetypal prototypes.

Featured by the liberty of the mind and an unrealistic view of human origin, Romanticism gradually crept out of Neoclassicism to turn to be one of the most powerful periods of British literature. It is the appearance of this new literary period regarded Romanticism that blended an interest in those who were starving for a new form of writing and consideration. This notion, although comparatively short-lived and lasting only from 1798-1832, had massive effects on the viewpoint and literature of the time while leaving its step on the history of England.

Conclusion

It is, essentially, a condition of mind, a meticulous viewpoint on life, in which the human sentiments and the human thoughts act upon facts, either taking them or leaving them alone since the romanticist is attracted chiefly in regarding things as he would like them to be rather than as they essentially are.

Although featured by freedom of the mind and unrealistic regard of human origin, the Romantic period, while appearing to be the shortest of any time epoch in the history of Europe, is regarded as being one of the most powerful epochs of British literature and viewpoint.

References

McGraw-Hill. Grade 12 British Literature. Glencoe/McGraw-Hill publisher, 2001.

Neo-Classicism, Romanticism, and Rococo

The architecture of the eighteenth century is extremely complex and diverse. Moreover, the architecture of this century has given the world several significant styles and magnificent works of art. Thus, in the second half of the eighteenth century, the neoclassical style was widely popular in Europe (Gontar, 2003). The effects of the Renaissance prompted a renewed interest in concepts such as antiquity, harmony, and simplicity. In this context, it becomes important to note the traditional architectural works of this style. The Church of Saint-Geneviève is a prime example of an eighteenth-century neoclassical building. In this style, its simplicity and a certain flatness are important. Thus, the Church of Saint-Geneviève and all the other works of this time are extremely simple. The projections, bas-reliefs, and forms are made more flatly than in the other styles of this century.

If neoclassicism in its works refers to the origins of ancient art, Romanticism reinterprets it. Romanticism in architecture meant the reinterpretation of medieval and ancient styles and their expression in new forms (Galitz, 2003). However, initially romanticism arose within the framework of the literature. Only closer to the 19th century, Romanticism began to manifest itself in architecture, continuing to refer to romantic poems and novels (Harris et al., 2015).

In this vein, it becomes important to note the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, England, created by John Nash (Partington, 2015). It is this work of architecture that expresses the whole meaning of the Romanticism of England of that era. Finally, the Brighton Pavilion has found its inspiration in the literary works of such writers as Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Beckford, and many others.

Finally, the Rococo style is some late variation of the Borocco and is similar in some details to it. The Rococo architectural style appeared in Europe in the eighteenth century, beginning in France during the regency of Philip of Orleans. This style contradicted the coldness and simplicity of neoclassicism. Moreover, Rococo tries to combine playfulness, lightness, and elegance in architecture. Finally, for Rococo, correctness and clarity of forms are unprincipled, as well as expediency and symmetry. Thus, despite the fact that Rococo is considered to be a continuation of Borocco, it still managed to become an independent style.

Works Cited

Harris, Dr. Beth, and Zucker, Dr. Steven. “Smarthistory, 2015. Web.

Galitz, Kathryn Calley. “.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2004. Web.

Gontar, Cybele. “Neoclassicism.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2003. Web.

Partington, Michael, J. “John Nash, Royal Pavilion, Brighton.” Smarthistory, 2015. Web.

Romanticism as an Ideological and Artistic Trend

Romanticism is a large-scale ideological and artistic trend in the culture and art of the 19th century, which replaced the cold rationalism of neoclassicism and Enlightenment. Romantics have elevated the importance of fantasy, emotions, feelings, and mental tossing (Steiner & Foster, 2020). The era of heroes with robust, bold, contradictory, and sometimes rebellious characters has begun in literature and art. These are figures like Byron and Prometheus, who either proclaim man’s greatness or become vulnerable in the hands of fate while passions overcome them. They embark on wanderings, climb the barricades, raise the banner of freedom, and do not know peace.

Romanticism in painting rejected the rationalism of classicism and reflected the attention to the depths of the human personality characteristic of the philosophy of the Romantics. It grew up on the emotional soil of sentimentalism, but while preserving lyricism and poetry, it replaced sentimental sensitivity with dramatic manifestations of nature. Therefore, it is not necessary to associate this direction with religious motives – instead, with the romance of distant wanderings, travels, mysterious discoveries, and even revolutionary struggle. Unlike sentimentalism, there is no tenderness and tearfulness in Romanticism – it is the philosophy of the brave and strong.

The characters in the paintings of romantic artists are similar to the heroes of literary novels: sensitive, often enigmatic, sometimes riotous, sometimes cruel, and often lonely. Many creators were immersed in studying the dark sides of human nature (Steiner & Foster, 2020). Hence, there was the interest of artists in the night, thunderstorms, and mysticism. To some extent, the romantic masters even returned to Baroque aesthetics with its dramatic intensity, passion, dynamism, chaos, and mysticism.

The main feature of Romanticism as a direction in literature lies in the main conflicts and ideas. The main idea of almost every work is the constant movement of the literary hero in physical space. This fact reflects the confusion of the hero’s soul, his flowing, continuous reflections, and at the same time, changes in the surrounding reality.

As in any artistic direction, Romanticism has its conflicts. The whole concept in this direction is based on the complex relationship of the protagonist of the work with the outside world. The main character is egocentric, but at the same time, they rebel against the vulgar, base, material components of reality (Steiner & Foster, 2020). This is manifested both in the actions and in the thoughts and ideas of a literary character. The most striking examples are the following characters of Romanticism – Childe Harold, the main character of Byron’s work Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, and Pechorin – the main character of Lermontov’s work The Hero of Our Time. Thus, at the heart of any piece of the direction of Romanticism lies the gap between reality and the idealized world, and this gap has rather sharp edges.

An example of contemporary romanticism is the film “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.” The main focus is on the 16-year-old boy Charlie, who is surrounded by typical problems for his age: school parties, cool friends, relationships, unrequited love, drugs and alcohol, and teenage depression. Like any romantic character, Charlie struggles with the outer reality that he is not willing to accept. The major romantic idea of the movie is that the protagonist is that Charlie matures, and his view of the world, experience, and environment changes. Therefore, despite the fact that modern films can hardly be viewed from the point of view of romanticism, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” is a worthy example of a romantic work of art.

Reference

Steiner, L., & Foster, M. (Eds.). (2020). Romanticism, philosophy, and literature. Springer International Publishing.

Tristan and Isolde Opera Romanticism

Introduction

Opera is a performance involving chorus and musical groups in a theater form. It is like spoken acting with classical music. It includes many of the basics of vocal drama and occasionally comprises dance. Opera started in the 16th century in Europe with dominance in Italy.

The terminology of an opera is identified as a little book, and many composers have used this to write down a script. The original opera has two styles in performance. Narrated, they are plot pouring scripts where the actor articulates feelings in the non-melodic and prescribed song where a prepared piece of music is used. Assemblies of actors frequently occurred using choruses to comment on the act. Opera did not linger in the restrictions of palaces but went to open festivals. (Matthew et al 1997)

The history of opera

Opera was growing in Europe and dominated most countries in the 19th and 20th centuries. More styles were adopted and with the advent of recording saw an increase in the fan base. Recordings were done for media stations to play on air. This exposed the opera as a type of music creating an industry that employed many. (Schmidt-Jones 2008)

The Opera wave continued to grow and engulfed the whole of Europe. In Germany, a composer by the name of Richard Wagner worked on the piece Tristan and Isolde among other works. Wagner changed Opera by eliminating more or less all differences to produce an endless piece of music. Tristan and Isolde were melodious acting with three performances based on affection which influenced many composers.

Wagner was motivated by Mathilde the wife of a wealthy silk trader and fan of Wagner, Otto Wesendonck. Tristan and Isolde is a prototypical romance affair of the middle ages that Wagner used to write his opera inspired by the theme writings of Gottfried von Strassburg. Many people had written about Tristan and Isolde but he chose the latter for its detailed storyline. (Simon & Henry 1946)

Romanticism and opera of Tristan and Isolde

Romanticism in classical music has basic rules of melody, synchronization, tempo, vocal progression, fine-tuning, and performance. Composers use varieties, tunes, and accords that provide a clear composition for the music. Music is influenced by many things going on in society; thoughts, feelings, sightings, designs, and chronological actions (Schmidt-Jones 2008).

The Tristan and Isolde drama is influenced by a wide range of things. The drama is composed in the middle ages and this has a consequence on its production. During the middle ages, wars were fought and a lot of knights got injured. Tristan was a knight and he got injured while at war. It was Isolde who took care of him. Isolde was an Irish princess accomplished in enchantment and herbs. In the opera, she is taken to marry King Marke and she develops feelings for her escort Tristan. Musical tones are used in the opera to represent characters. Isolde is represented by soprano, Tristan by tenor, and King Marke by bass. Brangane and Kurwenal were represented by mezzo-soprano and baritone respectively. (Metropolitan Opera 1886)

Isolde’s soprano is considered dramatic as it’s an incredibly huge voice that can affirm itself. The voice is extensive and incredibly commanding. Isolde who is symbolized by the soprano voice allows her to express her feelings in the drama. She is taken away unwillingly to be married off which makes her unhappy. Her attendant Brangane is represented by mezzo-soprano which also has a similar character. Wagner uses the voices to show what is in the thoughts of Isolde and her attendant. Tristan symbolized by the tenor voice shows heroism. (Simon & Henry 1946) Tenor’s voice has immense endurance and is complete with theatrical suspension.

The tone gives Tristan a commanding role that shows his knight-like traits. In the drama, Tristan plays the role of protecting Isolde. Together with his fellow knight Kurwenal, they show bravery. This is also shown in the baritone voice of Kurwenal. King Marke symbolized with the bass voice showing majesty. It is a voice used for rulers and triumphant commanders in drama. The bass voice shows how King Marke felt about his rule. His authority and kingship are expressed to the listener by the heavy bass voice. (Scott 2009)

The drama depicts romance in the story by the use of voice. The characters have specialized voices that speak to the listeners. The music gives a feeling of romance in the voices as they are expressed. Soprano and tenor voices have a character that fits Isolde and Tristan respectively. The king stands out as a conqueror and the bass in the opera shows his authority as well as sorrow and happiness. (Scott 2009) The two supporting characters that help in the play also complement the voices.

Brangane’s voice goes together with Isolde while Kurwenal’s voice goes together with Tristan. This combination gives the play harmony and continuity. The harmony is expanded and even suspended. The suspension keeps the audience wanting more with expectations especially towards the end. The romantic opera ends with the two lovers being buried side by side as ordered by the king. The end shows a happy end to a rather moving opera filled with intrigue. (Scott 2009)

Wagner had gone through a similar circumstance where he lost his love. Minna his first wife used malice to sideline Mathilde which made Wagner lose both women. Minna accused Mathilde of causing them to separate in their marriage. This inspired Wagner to compose the opera for the world to know how it feels to lose a lover. Tristan and Isolde’s drama shows how opera music can be romantic and can end in tragedy.

Wagner’s use of different musical voices which have meaning in theater is magnificent. It gives the whole story a musical feel that is pleasing to the audience and it shows a storyline that can be followed. The play has been shown in many opera venues and showed much success. Since its inception, the opera piece has shown great appeal from the audience and other composers. Many composers have used Wagner’s work as a template for their compositions.

Conclusion

An opera is a form of art that can be used to pass information to society. Art has been used as a medium of exchange of ideas and people tend to remember pictures more than plain words. Drama has helped opera grow and people like Wagner are credited for their contribution. More composers continue with the trade and are growing coming up with new ways that appeal to the masses. Places like the Metropolitan Theater have staged the opera showing the casts. This shows that the work was well received.

Work Cited

Metropolitan Opera 1886, Cast and characters. Web.

Matthew, B.et al (1997), Opera the Rough Guide, 672 pages, ISBN 1-85828-138-5.

Scott, M 2009, samuelramey. Web.

Schmidt-Jones, C 2008, The Music of the Romantic Era. Web.

Simon, Henry, W (1946), A Treasury of Grand Opera. Simon and Schuster, New York.

Romanticism: Paintings by Francisco Goya

Romantic art is a composite style of art that spans its origin from the European and American society. Romantic art such as paintings are normally portrayed as visionary and imaginative having some emotional feelings as opposed to Neo-classic art which posses a single style or attitude. Although the Romantic art is deemed as dealing with things that are “romantic”, it has very little to do with love and romantic relationships because this subject is only applied occasionally. Whereas Neo-classical art is deemed as tranquil and confined in emotion and very open and complete in its expression, Romantic art strategically attempts to depict by implication states sensation too intense, elusive, or even mystical to be defined literally (Brooklyn). Thus, artists like Francisco Goya (1746-1828, displayed their love of nature in their choice of theme, mainly the mystifying aspects of nature which are likely to probe the wonders or passions in humans. In this light, the following paragraphs discuss the various works of Goya that made him fit into romanticism.

Goya was an artist who started his work as a court painter for the Spanish Crown. His paintings were predominantly sarcastic and thus raised social commentary on the evolution of realism movement. He was commissioned to paint the royal family of the then Charles IV of Spain. His main themes were concentrated on cartoons, war scenarios, and corpses. One of his works is The Maja – 1804, which comprises of The Nude Maja and The Clothed Maja. The printings show a lady in the same pose although naked and dressed respectively. The first painting depicted a nude woman in the Western art and the second painting was painted after controversial thoughts from the Spanish society over the meaning of The Nude Maja. (Deviant Art).These paintings visualize the unattainable power, beyond the limits of society anticipations and human adaptability, thus romanticism.

In his work, The Third May – 1808, Goya recorded the unprecedented shooting of Spanish citizens who were suspected of complexity. The painting depicts Spaniards as praying with covered eyes and eyes, hence a Romanticism touch. Although, Goya did not witness the incident, the work was used as a commentary to give expression of one of the most triumphant moments of the country’s struggle. It served as a commemoration of the Spanish resistance to the armies of Napoleon in the year 1808. In essence, this painting’s presentation and emotional touch preserved its status as an extraordinary image of the disasters of war (The Art World). In this context, Romantic art is seen as representing the mind’s attitude rather than a set of certain traits in styles and thus entails the expression of an idea that seems to posses a verbal origin as opposed to a visual one.

Another most ground taking work of Goya is A Dog (1820 – 1823). It is one of the Black Paintings series and thus the work can be analyzed as his vision to the end of an error and a start or rather prediction of another. In this painting, all the elements of the universe or matter are dissolved, leaving a dog’s head. In addition, the painting is divided into two sections: an upper, dirty sky and a lower dark brown section. At the lower section, there is a dog’s head and this tends to bring about different interpretations. One of such interpretation is that it depicts the way humans struggle against supernatural forces, without success; they then seek divine intervention. As represented in A Dog, Romantic art is essentially serious, defies ordinary probability, changes the meaning of classical precedent as a myth of origin and is skeptic about ordinary alienated human language.

Therefore, the works of Goya has raised many interpretations since they depict many aspects of Romanticism including emotions, love, and supernatural power. Consequently, his paintings such as The Maja, The Third May, and A Dog have redefined how people have come to visualize and perceive themselves in the world because of the imaginative and emotional nature.

Works Cited

Brooklyn. Romanticism. 2009. Web.

The Art World. Art Movement in Art History: Romanticism. 2009. Web.

Deviant Art. Goya: A Romantic Artist. 2009. Web.

Revolution and Romanticism in Europe and America

Introduction

Romanticism is referred to the form of intellectual and artistic movement rooted from the 18th century. This period was formed in accordance with such concepts as classical correctness freedom in art, rejection of social conventions, and strong imagination. It should be noted that Jean-Jacques Rousseau is considered to be the father of Romanticism; the philosopher’s considerations were based on balance and harmony, rationality and idealization, combining the features of Neoclassicism.

Main Text

The analysis of romanticism presentation on the basis of Rousseau’s theory is to be reflected through the atmosphere of French revolution period. The thinker supported the idea of individual self-fulfillment; special stress was given to authority system opposition allowing individual rights freedom. Rousseau highlighted the causes of human evil; according to his ideas, evil comes from personal selfish interests developed by people, rather than from the very sin. Rousseau touched the aspect of Christianity form, stating that Protestant Deism seeks ‘simple and pure religion of the Gospel’. (Lawall, and Mack, 654)

Romanticism of Rousseau appeared to be close to the approach of ‘primitivism’, characterizing the period of 18th century. It is necessary to stress that this irrational system was merely promoted by Communists; Rousseau followed its ideas under the impact of environmental movements. The disclosure of Romanticism views was demonstrated through the desire of democratic absolutism promotion.

The thinker strived to demonstrate his rejection against physical materialism and rationalism which characterized the period of the 18th century. It is necessary to stress that Rousseau managed to emphasize the imaginative, irrational, spontaneous, visionary and subjective; special stress was given to the exaltation of the reason over the intellect. It is necessary to highlight the idea that Rousseau strived to outline the role of creative spirit, both in art and politics. The thinker stressed the importance of church in social life; he could not find complete coincidence of his personal considerations with the views of the Enlightenment period. (Lawall, and Mack, 654)

The epoch of Romanticism reflected the importance of inner struggles within the person; the philosopher underlined the imagination concept as the key gateway to the experience and internal development of the individual. Much stress was given to political development of the state, especially after the period of revolution. The promotion of democratical view appeared to be mixed with philosophical freedom characterizing the epoch. Rousseau stressed the place of romantic primitivism which was closer to his romanticism presentation; despite the fact that this movement was followed by the thinker only from the beginning of the 20th century. Nevertheless, the ideas developed by the thinker appeared to be the significant contribution to philosophical views of other scholars.

Conclusion

The analysis of romanticism through Rousseau’s theory disclosed the main featured of this movement and characteristics of the 18th century. Besides, the analysis reflected the elements of primitivism; the views developed by Rousseau were not similar to those of the period, though the central idea of democratic freedom remained in the history as the start to human liberalization. (Lawall, and Mack, 655)

References

Lawall, S. N. and Mack, M. The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Volume E: 1800 to 1900. 2nd Edition. 2001. 651-658.

Renaissance and Romanticism: Concepts of Beauty

The intellectual art of the Renaissance and the emotional aspects of Romanticism present clear differences. The Renaissance is characterized by the era of the victory of reason over prejudices and feelings, which is clearly expressed in paintings with the correct perspective, shadows and living faces (Ames-Lewis and Rogers 5). At the same time, romanticism, which came to art several centuries later, focuses on the elevation of feelings and emotions. To compare and distinguish between these two eras, the painting by Titian Beauty and the work of Francisco Goya The Naked Maja were chosen.

Both paintings depict beautiful girls who correspond to the spirit of their era. Titian, as a representative of the Renaissance, depicted a portrait of a girl in compliance with all the canons of his time. The dark background is designed to draw attention and focus on the face and clothes depicted. Both paintings depict beautiful girls who correspond to the spirit of their era. Titian, as a representative of the Renaissance, depicted a portrait of a girl in compliance with all the canons of his time (Adams 43). The dark background is designed to draw attention and focus on the face and clothes depicted. Titian depicts the standard female beauty of the renaissance period. The girl is distinguished by a proud fit of her head, gracefully folded hands and a majestic posture.

The depicted girl at the work of Francisco Goya is very different from the beautiful Titian. First of all, unlike the girls of the Renaissance, the naked Maja sensually collapsed on the couch, resting her head on her arms thrown up. In her whole pose, one feels the lightness and openness inherent in the time of romanticism (Burns-Dans 11). Renaissance girls are reminiscent of ancient goddesses, proud and puffy, as in the work of Titian. Goya portrays a living woman who, although graceful, has her flaws. The beauty in the painting by Titian is ideal, there is not even a hint of flaws in her.

Maja’s pose is a little awkward, but at the same time, she exudes the seductiveness of the female body. Her blush was too bright to be real, and her sensitive mouth was twisted into a slight smile. The girl directly and confidently looks into the face of the viewer, while the images of naked women of the Renaissance era tried to lower their eyes. Moreover, the artist does not try to cover up her nakedness, leaving the girl completely exposed.

Nevertheless, there are obvious similarities in the works of two artists of different times. First of all, the faces of both girls froze in a half smile. The image of Titian is touching and sublime, however, the girl is not just a copy of the ancient Greek goddesses, a slight sadness is read in her eyes. Thus, it can be said that in both paintings they are depicted with a difference in liveliness and ardor of the heart. The dark tones of the clothes and the background of the Beauty create a dazzling contrast with the light skin of the face and shoulders, involuntarily attracting the eye precisely to the expression of the face, the inner beauty depicted by the great master.

In conclusion, it should be said that the artists of the Renaissance and Romanticism are distinguished by a fundamentally different approach to depicting girls. The image of the Beauty of Titian is focused on the correct posture and the rounded shape of the head. The artist depicts the ideal female appearance of his era. At the same time, Goya is an innovator and a prominent representative of romanticism. The girl in his picture is naked and self-confident, her pose is open.

Works Cited

Adams, Laurie Schneider. Italian renaissance art. Routledge, 2018.

Ames-Lewis, Francis, and Mary Rogers, eds. Concepts of beauty in Renaissance art. Routledge, 2019.

Burns-Dans, Elizabeth. “The shadow in the light: The dark romanticism of Francisco de Goya, 2018.

The Age of Romanticism: Dances Articles Analysis

There are many powerful attempts to write about dance and its importance in human life. Among the existing variety of authors, it is hard to define which work is the best or the most helpful project. Still, it is always interesting to compare their worth, the authors’ intentions, and their possible impact on readers’ intentions. In this paper, two works from the Age of Romanticism will be discussed: Bournonville’s La Sylphide and Alice’s An Account of the Principles of Our Traditions. On the one hand, it seems that these two writings have nothing in common except the intentions of the authors to make contributions to the field of dance and choose the theme of ballet for discussions. Bournonville’s story is a narrative with several main characters, a setting, and an idea that it is so easy to lose everything in several seconds. On the other hand, a detailed analysis of the articles helps to discover several common and powerful issues about how dance should look like. This paper is developed to describe how the analysis of Bournonville’s and Alice’s articles may improve a personal understanding of the concept of dance and its role in personal experience.

I believe that both authors under consideration have the same intentions which are to introduce their visions of ballet, to explain the essence and peculiarities of this form of dance, and to prove that it is wrong to come to a certain conclusion after having one or two definitions only. The peculiar feature of the analysis of these two articles at the same time is the possibility to observe the nature of ballet from different perspectives.

Advice explains ballet as a combination of rules which cannot be neglected by those involved in ballet. The goal of Advice is to describe a ballet class that is based on the Blasis’ lesson and explain how to use energy and enthusiasm by every dancer. From the very first lines, several terms and explanations may be observed: petits and grand battements, attitudes, ronds de jambe sur terr and en l’air. The presence of such words and the necessity to comprehend each of them may intimidate the reader and create the image of ballet as something too strict, definite, and full of rules and instructions. Still, this is one of the best approaches for people to understand the basics of ballet. They are crucial in case a person wants to achieve the results, which are perfectly described by Bournonville.

In La Sylphide, ballet turns out to be the manner of speaking and acting. Bournonville introduces ballet as a powerful narration with its beginning and ending. There are no complicated terms or rules for people. La Sylphide is the story of life translated with the help of ballet. In those several pages of narration, no character said a word, but the reader is lucky to observe an interesting and educative story. Human actions and movements are what matter, and ballet, like nothing else, discovers the beauty of human decisions and life.

In general, Alice’s and Bournonville’s articles influence my understanding of dance and ballet, in particular, considerably. They provide me with a guide on how several rules and too complicated terms turn into a powerful story on stage. These articles show me the way how people should learn dance concepts and forms. It is wrong to believe that dance is a story with a captivating plot and movements. Dance is a whole theory with rules and obligations, and people should not neglect the fact that a person could hardly observe the beauty of dance without grasping certain theories and norms.