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American Roman,c Period
11A
Historical Context (1800-1860)
1803- Louisiana Purchase § France sold it for 4 cents an acre! § Double American Territory 1810-Mexico fought
for Independence against Spain
Historical Context continued
§ 1812- War of 1812 (British tried to take back America.)
§ 1815- Napoleon defeated @ Waterloo § 1820-1821- Missouri Compromise
§ free state/slave state § 1830- Underground Railroad begins § 1837- Queen Victoria rules England § 1845- United States annexes Texas
§ leads to war with Mexico in 1846
Historical Context end
1848- California/Alaska Gold Rush § Helped develop West § Led to building railroads 1854- Republican Party § Formed-opposed
extension of slavery 1858- England rules India
Romanticism is NOT!
about love!
Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night. -Edgar Allan Poe
Romanticism is…
§ Romanticism, especially in Europe, developed as part of a reaction against rationalism.
§ It is an intellectual and artistic movement.
Characteristics of Romanticism
• the imagination, individual feelings, and wild nature were of greater value than reason and logic
§ Civilization/Progress is
bad- Nature is good/God.
Characteristics conti…
§ Educated sophistication is bad - Youthful innocence is good.
§ Individual freedom is important § Poetry is the highest
expression of the imagination
Romantic Escapism: From Dull Realities to Higher Truths
§ The Romantics wanted to rise above the “dull realities” to a realm of higher truth.
§ searched for exotic settings
§ more “natural” past § far from the grimy and noisy
industrial age § supernatural realm or in old
legends and folklore.
§ Tried to reflect natural world § Underlying truth and beauty
The American Novel and the Wilderness Experience § The development of the American novel
coincided with westward expansion, with the growth of nationalist spirit, and with the rapid spread of cities.
§ James Fenimore Cooper (1789–1851). § Cooper explored uniquely American
settings and characters: frontier communities, American Indians, and the wilderness of western New York and Pennsylvania.
§ Created the first American heroic figure: Natty Bumppo, a skilled frontiersman whose simple morality and almost superhuman resourcefulness mark him as a true Romantic hero.
The American Hero
§ Young- or at least acts young § Innocent and pure § Sense of honor higher than
society’s honor § Has knowledge of people and
life based on a deep understand’g, not based on education
§ Loves nature § Quests for a higher truth
Washington Irving (1783-1859)
§ Pioneer of the short story § “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of
Sleepy Hollow” § Quit writing after his novel received
criticism. § Buried in New York’s Sleepy Hollow
cemetery.
American Romantic Poetry: Read at Every Fireside § AR novelists looked for new subject matter and
new themes, but AR poets attempted to prove their sophistication by working solidly within European literary traditions rather than crafting a unique American voice.
§ Even when they constructed
poems with American settings and subject matter, the AR poets used typically English themes, meter, and imagery.
The Fireside Poets
§ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
§ John Greenleaf Whittier
§ Oliver Wendell Holmes § James Russell Lowell Emphasized: social reform, individualism, and nature
American Romantic Poetry: § Considered most
popular of poets, but they were unable to recognize the poetry of the future, which was being written right under their noses.