A Guide to Romanticism in Literature

Manuel Campos

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Romanticism was an artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe toward the end of the 18th century and its a reaction to the Enlightenment.

The Romantic Movement emphasised the importance of emotional sensitivity and individual subjectivity. For the Romantics, imagination, rather than reason, was the most important creative faculty

Characteristics of Romanticism

These ares some of the main characteristics of romanticism

  1. The romantics have no interest in objective rationality and that’s a big reaction to the age of the enlightment.
  2. The romantics trust their hearts over their heads.
  3. The romantics believed that knowledge is gained through intuition rather than deduction.
  4. The romantics were interested in the supernatural.
  5. The romantics see the common man as a hero.
  6. The romantics see nature as a source of spirituality.
  7. The romantic rely on imaginantion and escapism, escapism refers to the  beautiful places where you mind takes you to escape from the harsh conditions.

Romanticism: Authors and their Literary Works

These are some of the most important authors and some of their literary works

Nathaniel Howthorne was an American novelist, dark romantic, and short story writer.is fiction works are considered part of the Romantic movement and, more specifically, dark romanticism. He wrote the Scarlet Letter

Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is widely regarded as a central figure of Romanticism in the United States and American literature as a whole, and he was one of the country’s earliest practitioners of the short story. He wrote the Raven

Jane Austin was an English novelist  With the publications of Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1815), she achieved success as a published writer

James Fenimore Cooper was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. Among his most famous works is the Romantic novel The Last of the Mohicans, often regarded as his masterpiece.

Mary Shelley was an English novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus (1818).

History of Romanticism

Romanticism is a historical movement that still hugely colours how we tend to feel and look at the world: it’s responsible for the way we approach love, nature, business and children. This is its history.

More about Literary Movements

I hope that you have found everything that you were looking for about the romanticism in Literature

If you want to learn more about literary periods and movements, consider visiting some of these posts:

Manuel Campos, Docente de Inglés

About manuel Campos

I am Jose Manuel, English professor and creator of EnglishPost.org, a blog whose mission is to share lessons for those who want to learn and improve their English

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