Romanticism and Dark Romanticism

Edgar Allen Poe

Traits of Dark Romanticism

Took place in the early 19th Century Writers of this genre generally

believed that humans were prone to sin and self-destruction

For dark romantics, the world is dark, decaying, and mysterious

Valued intuition and emotions over logic and reason

More about Dark Romanticism

Dark romantic beliefs are brought to the page through the supernatural: ghosts, devils, vampires, werewolves

Took its cues and was highly influenced by the gothic movement in Europe

European practitioners of dark romanticism include Mary Shelley (Frankenstein)

Romanticism

Like dark romanticism, romanticism is characterized by the choice of valuing intuition and emotion over reason

Romanticism explored the relationship between the imagination and nature

Its roots are in the late 18th Century, which also happened to be a period of revolution (French and American)

The practitioners of romanticism set out to change the way people see the world

Other Traits of Romanticism

Belief in the individual hero Movement probably occurred as a

reaction to the scientific advances and the unraveling of the mysteries of nature as well as the labor-intensive environment of the Industrial Revolution.

Edgar Allen Poe

Along with Nathaniel Hawthorne (The Scarlet Letter) and Herman Melville (Moby Dick and Billy Budd), Edgar Allen Poe typifies the dark romantic genre.

Poe (1809-1849) Known as the father of the short story Critics are split on Poe’s work, but most

recognize the contributions he made to the short story and his use of vivid imagery and portrayal of the dark side of human nature.