The Literary Movement Quest

Cheyanne Wescott

Romanticism

• Originating in England and Germany circa 1798 and ending in 1832.

• Came about in the “age of revolutions” (the American revolution in 1776, the French in 1798)

• Focuses highly on:– Imagination; we don’t just live in our world, we create

our world – Wadsworth– Nature; a work of art, a healing power, refuge from

civilization – not just as “organic matter”– Symbols/myths; expresses the inexpressible– Individuality/emotion

The wanderer above the sea of fog

The Wanderer in the Sea of Fog

This picture exemplifies the emphasis on the individual and nature in romanticism. The lone figure is simply gazing upon the endless expanse of fog and cloud. He, though human and a master of the Earth, is decidedly dwarfed by the majesty of the scene in front of him. He is not a master of nature, just a passing spectator of its beauty.

Realism• Usually defined as a “faithful representation

of reality”• Came about after romanticism (also after

wars – the revolution, the civil war, etc.) when illusions had been shattered

• Focuses on:– Paints the picture/writes the story as close to reality as

possible civilization – Natural vernacular, no heightened poetic language– Events are generally plausible– Class is important– Characters’ actions/temperament/reactions are plausible

A criminal case

A Criminal Case

It gives an accurate depiction of two people in a court room in muted colours, with no unnecessary frills beyond what the judge or lawyer is wearing already. There is no intricate scene or flashy court case, but just an every day event: two men talking to each other. There is no romance (not the lovey-dovey kind) in this picture at all.

Naturalism

• A type of writing/art that attempts to apply a detached, scientific view of “organic” things like humans/animals/nature.

• Writers used a modified scientific method to pen novels.

• Focuses on:– A philosophical point– Human nature/character can be studied based on

their relationship to their surroundings– “Virtue and vice are products”

Fallen monarchs

Fallen Monarchs

This painting exemplifies naturalism in that it focuses closely on fine details in the scene, and makes it seem as real as possible. Beyond that, it gives the feeling of tying everything together – the sun, the trees, the leaves, the water – it all has a purpose for being there and you get a sense of how the place truly is based on the relationships between those things.

Transcendentalism

• Immanuel Kant is a major player in transcendentalism.

• Started around 1836 and ended circa 1860 • Harps on the connection that humans and other

organisms have with each other and the universe as a whole – where everything is in the bigger picture.

• Began as a religious movement, a sort of renovation of romanticism.

• Division between “reason” and “senses”

from Paradise Lost

So from the root Springs lighter the green stalk, from thence the leaves

More aery, last the bright consummate flow'r Spirits odorous breathes: flowr's and thir fruit Man's nourishment, by gradual scale sublim'd

To vital spirits aspire, to animal, To intellectual, give both life and sense

Fancy and understanding, whence the Soul Reason receives, and reason is her being,

Discursive, or intuitive; discourse Is oftest yours, the latter most is ours

Differing but in degree, of kind the same.

Paradise Lost

This passage focuses heavily on the distinction between what is divine and what is finite. It made a point to say that things were “difference but in degree, of kind the same” which is a transcendentalist ideal, that you’ll reach the same place through understanding with your sense and understanding through reason, but that reason (the divine) is on a higher plane.

Citations

• "Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 29 Jan. 2012. Web. 21 Feb. 2012.

• "Romanticism." Web. 21 Feb. 2012. • "A Criminal Case (Getty Museum)." The Getty. Web. 21

Feb. 2012.  • "Realism in American Literature." Washington State

University. Web. 21 Feb. 2012.  • "Naturalism in American Literature." Washington State

University. Web. 24 Feb. 2012. • "American Transcendentalism." Washington State

University. Web. 24 Feb. 2012.