Romanticism

Romanticism is an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate period from 1800 to 1850. Romanticism was characterized by its emphasis on emotion and individualism as well as glorification of all the past and nature, preferring the medieval rather than the classical.

Origins

The French Revolution was an especially important influence on the political thinking of many Romanticists. Its ideas of the power of the imagination, the great importance of the individual and the potential for the transcendence of the human spirit were all foundational to the Romantic ethos.

Characteristics

Romanticism emphasized emotion and individualism and glorified the past and nature. It elevated folk art, language, and custom, as well as arguing for an epistemology based on nature, which included human activity conditioned by nature in the form of language, custom and usage.

Romantic Literature

In literature, Romanticism found recurrent themes in the evocation or criticism of the past, the cult of "sensibility" with its emphasis on women and children, the heroic isolation of the artist or narrator, and respect for a new, wilder, untrammeled and "pure" nature.

Romantic Music

Romantic music developed a deepened interest in nature, a fascination with the past and the supernatural, an interest in the mystical and the subconscious, and a search for the exotic.

Romantic Visual Arts

In the visual arts, Romanticism first showed itself in landscape painting, where from as early as the 1760s British artists began to turn to wilder landscapes and storms, and Gothic architecture, even if they had to make them up.

Criticism and Decline

The period of Romanticism had its detractors. The decline of Romanticism during this time was associated with multiple processes, including social and political changes and the spread of nationalism.

See Also

• Romantic literature in English
• Romanticism in science
• Romantic nationalism

References

Romanticism Resources
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