上海交通大学：《英语文学导论 An Introduction to English Literature》课程教学资源（阅读资料）Romanticism

Romanticism Romanticism was an artistic,literary,and intellectual movement that originated in Europe toward the end of the 18th century and was at its peak from 1800 to 1850.It was partly a reaction to the Industrial Revolution,Enlightenment,and the scientific rationalization of nature. The movement emphasized intense emotion as an authentic source of aesthetic experience,placing new emphasis on such emotions as apprehension,horror and terror,and awe-especially that experienced in confronting the new aesthetic categories of the sublimity and beauty of nature.Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne were American representatives of Romanticism, Romanticism attached primary importance to the free expression of the feelings of the artist.The importance the Romantics placed on emotion is summed up in the remark of William Wordsworth,that is,poetry should begin as "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings,"which the poet then "recollect[s]in tranquility," evoking a new but corresponding emotion the poet can then mould into art.To express these feelings,it was considered that the content of the art had to come from the imagination of the artist,with as little interference as possible from "artificial"rules that dictated what a work should consist of.Samuel Taylor Coleridge and others believed there were natural laws that the imagination-at least of a good creative artist-would unconsciously follow through artistic inspiration if left alone. In the second half of the 19th century,Realism was offered as a polar opposite to Romanticism.The decline of Romanticism during this time was associated with multiple processes,including social and political changes and the spread of nationalism

Romanticism Romanticism was an artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe toward the end of the 18th century and was at its peak from 1800 to 1850. It was partly a reaction to the Industrial Revolution, Enlightenment, and the scientific rationalization of nature. The movement emphasized intense emotion as an authentic source of aesthetic experience, placing new emphasis on such emotions as apprehension, horror and terror, and awe—especially that experienced in confronting the new aesthetic categories of the sublimity and beauty of nature. Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne were American representatives of Romanticism, Romanticism attached primary importance to the free expression of the feelings of the artist. The importance the Romantics placed on emotion is summed up in the remark of William Wordsworth, that is, poetry should begin as "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings," which the poet then "recollect[s] in tranquility," evoking a new but corresponding emotion the poet can then mould into art. To express these feelings, it was considered that the content of the art had to come from the imagination of the artist, with as little interference as possible from "artificial" rules that dictated what a work should consist of. Samuel Taylor Coleridge and others believed there were natural laws that the imagination—at least of a good creative artist—would unconsciously follow through artistic inspiration if left alone. In the second half of the 19th century, Realism was offered as a polar opposite to Romanticism. The decline of Romanticism during this time was associated with multiple processes, including social and political changes and the spread of nationalism