Romanticism Explained 💘

The Age of Enlightenment 💡

Before diving into Romanticism, it's helpful to understand the intellectual movement that preceded it: The Age of Enlightenment, which occurred in the 1700s (the 18th century). During this time, people gathered in European salons to challenge:

Superstition
Absolute monarchies

They championed:

Reason
Science
Classical traditions of Ancient Rome and Greece

The US Constitution and Declaration of Independence were products of this era. Enlightenment thinkers believed that intellect could create a perfect, free society.

Romanticism: A Reaction 🎭

Romanticism emerged as a reaction to the Enlightenment.

Romanticism was an artistic movement in Europe and the US in the 1800s (the 19th century), that valued feelings over intellectual thoughts, the personal over the public, the purity of childhood over the corruption of adulthood, the country over the city, and the natural world over the man-made.

It emphasized:

Feelings over intellectual thoughts
The personal over the public
The purity of childhood over the corruption of adulthood
The country over the city
The natural world over the man-made

Romanticism lives on today in sentiments like "follow your heart" and the desire to "escape the rat race" for a simpler life in the country. Romantics believed that real truth was found through the "tortured and turbulent heart," not the "cool serenity of the intellect."

Key Figures in Romanticism 🧑‍🎨

Category	Figures	Works
Writers	William Wordsworth, Lord Byron, John Keats, Charlotte Brontë, Victor Hugo, Walt Whitman	Jane Eyre, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Leaves of Grass
Painters	J.M.W. Turner, Francisco Goya, Théodore Géricault	The Raft of the Medusa
Composers	Hector Berlioz, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky	Sleeping Beauty

Core Beliefs 🧠

Romantics believed that the Enlightenment had created a society filled with arbitrary rules that ignored people's true desires and feelings. They valued intense, even desperate, feelings over neat and orderly design.

Social Critique ✍

Many Romantics opposed the enslavement of Black Africans, viewing it as an example of exploitation, oppression, and the worship of money.

Blind Spots 🙈

Despite their progressive ideas, the Romantics:

Were mostly privileged men from intellectual centers like London, Paris, and Berlin.
Often idealized the lives of poor, rural people as being "happier" due to their closeness to nature and distance from society's rules.
Romanticized Medieval times, ignoring the harsh realities of life for the poor.