AP European History

Peterson's

Romanticism

Unlike some of the other nineteenth-century ideologies, Romanticism tended to be more of an artistic and literary movement. Romanticism involved a new outlook on life and a new way of looking at the world. Inspired by Rousseau, the emotion of the Romantic Movement appeared in stark contrast to the cold, rational Enlightenment. Generally, the Romantic Movement celebrated Europe’s medieval past, whereas the Enlightenment looked down upon the Middle Ages. This fascination with the Middle Ages was nowhere more apparent than in Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe (1820) and Victor Hugo’s Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831). The Romantics developed a deep appreciation for nature, unlike the thinkers of the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment, who merely studied it. Romantic writers broke with tradition and encouraged free thinking, emotions, and imagination. William Wordsworth (1770-1850) and Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) were the first Romantic poets. When they published Lyrical Ballads in 1798, they introduced the world to emotional poetry about nature. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) wrote in a style called Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress) that was both romantic and tragic. Germaine de Staël (1766-1817), a French Romantic, followed Rousseau’s example and wrote about a child’s proper education that should be centered on the emotional needs and development of the child. Romanticism affected all areas of art, including music and painting. Frederic Chopin (1810-1849) and Franz Liszt (1811-1886) were the musical geniuses of the Romantic period. J.M.W. Turner (1861-1932) painted emotional landscapes in rich, vibrant colors. Eugene Delacroix (1798-1863) showed an experimental use of color and expression of spirit in such paintings as Liberty Leading the People (1830). The Romanticism of the nineteenth century is perhaps best characterized by its intense passion and emotion in an, music, and literature.