Classicism vs Romanticism

The Romantic Movement
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Classicism = reason (order /
balance) and social concerns over
personal focus:
the Romantics stressed the
individual, imagination, and emotions
Romantic Movement
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Born in Europe in the 18th century as
a response to neoclassicism
In the U.S. in the 19th century
(1800’s)
American Literature – wanted to break
away from European style – create
American style
Classicism (Age of Reason)
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Definition:
Believed that reason is the dominating
characteristic of both nature and human
nature, and both are governed by fixed,
unchanging laws
Classicism
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18th C (1700’s)
Nature= a self-contained machine, whose
laws could be rationally understood
Valued clarity, order, balance
Imagination had to be restrained by
reason and common sense
Classicism
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Upheld tradition
Resisted change
Human limitations
Reason over
Social over
Common over
Imagination
Personal
Individual
all emphasized
by Romanticism
Romanticism
Definition:
Emphasized the emotions, an individual,
intuition
Move beyond the limits of reason:
explore imagination and the
supernatural
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Romanticism
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1800 – 1830
Imagination gives expression to that
which marks each person’s unique being
All art is the imaginative expression of the
inner essence of the individual/claim for
individual freedom.
Romantic writers tried to express their
own intuitive experiences.
Common Romantic Subjects
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Nature
The Past
Inner World of Human Nature
Topics: Settlers, Native Americans,
madness, sin, and guilt (gothic)
Nature
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Emphasized beauty, strangeness, mystery
of (not rational laws)
Saw as an organic process, constantly
developing and changing
Connection between human imagination
and the natural world
The Past
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Later Romantic poets used dramatic
incidents from early American history
Inner World of Human Nature
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The exploration and expression of the
writer’s most private inner being.
Belief that this interior world of intense
feeling is not ruled by reason.
Interested in the irrational depths of
human nature.
A Quick Comparison
Age of Reason
Reason
Social (society)
Common
Common sense
Tradition
Rational law of nature
Human limitations
Romanticism
Imagination
Personal
Individual freedom
Intuition
Social reforms, spiritual
growth (change)
Nature as mystery
Supernatural
Six Primary Elements of
Romance
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Love of Nature (looked to nature for
inspiration)
Focus on the self and individual
Supernatural and Gothic tales – the
irrational side of the imagination
Romanticized the past (picturesque and
exotic past – wrote about past times
and places)
Idealism and Optimism
Nationalism
Preview – the Devil and Tom
Walker
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The German legend of Faust is the origin
for stories that include deals with the
Devil.
Generally, what happens in stories that
involve a character making a deal with the
Devil?