Romantic Movement in Literature - An Introductory Note

The Romantic Movement in literature started atpoets from Britain. Nature, religious fervor,
the end of the 18th century in Western Europe. Itemotional response to beauty, and Ancient Greek
was a revolt against the Enlightenment of theaesthetics, are some of the common themes in
preceding century and the focus was on rationaltheir work.
and scientific thought.Romantic novels were much popular in 19th
The characteristics of Romantic literature involvecentury Britain. Romanticism was well present in
emphasizing on passion, emotion, and the naturalthe form of the Gothic novel, which exploited
world. Nationalism was one of the crucial factors inemotions like romantic love and fear. Mary
the Romantic Movement, and as a result, manyShelley's Frankenstein (1818), Charlotte Bronte's
authors turned towards native mythologies andJane Eyre (1847), and Emily Bronte's Wuthering
folk tales as their source material. They wentHeights (1847) are some of the well known
back to aesthetics and tried to emphasized ethosexamples.
of the medieval age.In the young United States, Romantic literature
The earliest examples of Romantic literatureflourished remarkably. You can see the work of
started in Germany and the most crucial andWashington Irving, Edgar Allen Poe, and Nathaniel
remarkable literary figure was Goethe. His novel,Hawthorne written in the Gothic vein. Moreover,
The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774), about aRalph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau
young and a sensitive artist was much popularput greater emphasis on the natural beauty and
throughout Europe. He used local folklore andman's identity as a natural being. Later on, such
myth as subjects for his poetry. He became anthemes echoed in the work of poets like Walt
inspirational source for a sense of GermanWhitman.
nationalism in the decades prior to a unifiedThe literature of other countries also got
Germany. After that, the French Revolution in theinfluenced by Romanticism. In France, the novels
late 18th century brought about romantic idealsof Stendhal and Victor Hugo are often
such as liberty, freedom, and national pride.characterized as part of the Realist movement
Throughout the 19th century, Romanticismbut they certainly have some Romantic influence.
dominated English literature and romantic poetry,If we talk about Eastern Europe, Russian writers
in particular, became the most significant work ofMikhail Lermontov, and Alexander Pushkin were
the period. William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylorsome of the practitioners of the Romantic
Coleridge, William Blake, Lord Byron, Percy ByssheMovement.
Shelley, and John Keats are notable Romantic