FREE ESSAY ON ROMANTICISM

ROMANTICISM

When you hear the term Romanticism, wouldn't you think of something that has to do with
romance? That is what I thought when I first heard the word, but I was foolishly
mistaken. Romanticism dealt with placing central importance upon the emotions and upon
the individual. This time period only lasted about thirty years but greatly changed the
and influenced the country in which we live in today. In the following composition, I
will discuss the ideas of Romanticism and three famous writers of this time and their
distinct subjects.The United States condensed as a nation during the major cultural
change distinguished by the shift from classicism to Romanticism. This change had an
impact on every aspect of culture including arts, philosophy, education and
science.Before all this even happened, an earlier belief known as Classicism was around.
This unhealthy culture put reason as their dominating characteristic of nature and were
also bound by strict unchanging laws by the government. Now, who would want to live under
this dull inexpressible culture? Well, the early Puritans were part of this Age of Reason
and many a good man came out of this era. Anyway, it was time for change. People wanted
to start believing in themselves more and having a greater sense or nationalism. This is
where Romanticism came in and replaced classicism. It was the beginning of a new era and
initiated a whole new way of thinking. 
Romanticism basically dealt with three attitudes: Nature, the past, and the inner world
of human nature. Although the early Romantic writers varied widely in the forms that they
chose, these certain subjects were characteristics or Romantic attitudes.The writer who
mainly told about nature was William Cullen Bryant. He became the first national
spokesperson for a new religion of nature in which nature serves as a source of moral and
spiritual lessons.One of his famous poems, To a Waterfowl, tells of the journey of a
waterfowl during migration and relates that to the path in which we as humans take in our
lives. He also incorporates some religious attitudes in his works 
as well and you can see this at the end of To a Waterfowl when he tells you that God will
lead your steps aright Washington Irving was a fine example of telling about the past. He
wrote many a folk tales.In the short story The Devil and Tom Walker he Americanizes the
devil and gives him qualities that are carried on with him for generations. The last
writer that I will discuss is Edgar Allen Poe. Now, he is considered to be the most
influential writer/poet of this time period. Unique as they were, his thoughts and
powerful writings came from his inner self. No other writer had anywhere near the
imagination as this poet did. He used his dark gothic mind to create horrifying stories
and poems such as The Raven. This is his most famous poem and tells of a man torturing
himself on purpose by asking a raven questions he already knows the answers to. If you
follow Poe's writings closely, you will see how he uses his technique to create a whole
single effect, and this is what he does so great and is known for.When I now think of
Romanticism, it gives me the feeling of freedom, and this is what the whole purpose of
the Romantic period was. It changed the way people wrote from then on and also changed
the whole lifestyle of man in my eyes. Maybe another revolution of such beauty as this
will one day cross our eyes and we will be able to experience the radical changes and
feelings as the people of this period once did.