Study Guide: Characteristics of American Romanticism (1800-1860)

Shared Characteristics of American Romantics:

1. Love of Nature: Romantic writers perceived nature as beautiful, mysterious, and meaningful. They often used nature as a setting or symbol to reflect emotions or ideas.

2. Focus on Emotion and Imagination: Emphasizing feelings, dreams, and intuition over facts and logic was a hallmark of Romantic writing.

3. Celebration of the Individual: Romanticism highlighted the power and importance of the individual, promoting personal freedom and self-expression.

4. The Supernatural and Mysterious: Many Romantic works feature elements of mystery, the gothic, or the supernatural.

5. Criticism of Civilization: Some writers were skeptical of industrialization and urbanization, viewing them as corruptions against the purity of nature, encapsulated in the idea that "society = corruption."

Two Subgenres of American Romanticism:

1. Transcendentalism

   • Key Figures:

     • Ralph Waldo Emerson

       • Notable Works: "Nature", "Self-Reliance"

     • Henry David Thoreau

       • Notable Works: "Walden", "Civil Disobedience"

2. Gothic/Dark Romanticism

   • Key Figures:

     • Edgar Allan Poe

       • Notable Works: "Fall of the House of Usher", "The Raven"

Conclusion

American Romanticism was a complex literary movement characterized by a deep appreciation for nature, an emphasis on individualism and emotion, and a nuanced perspective on society and civilization, enriched by distinctive subgenres such as Transcendentalism and Gothic/Dark Romanticism.