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The Dark Romantics Challenge to the Transcendentalists A Dark Romantic View I know not how it was—but, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit. I say insufferable; for the feeling was unrelieved by any of that half-pleasurable, because poetic, sentiment, with which the mind usually receives even the sternest natural images of the desolate or terrible. From “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe ? 2003-2004 Who Were the Dark Romantics? The Dark Romantics were a group of nineteenth-century writers who explored the dark side of human nature. Dark Romantic writers explored the human potential for evil, including the psychological effects of guilt, sin, and madness. The Dark Romantic view countered the optimism of the Transcendentalist writers of the time. Who Were the Transcendentalists? The Transcendentalists were a group of nineteenth-century writers and artists who believed in the goodness and ultimate perfectibility of human beings. The Transcendentalists valued self-reliance and individualism over custom and tradition. They saw the natural world as a doorway to a mystical or ideal reality. Differences Between Transcendentalists and Dark Romantics Saw divine goodness and beauty beneath everyday reality Believed spiritual truths may be ugly or frightening Embraced the mystical and idealistic elements of Puritan thought Reintroduced the dark side of Puritan beliefs: the idea of Original Sin and the human potential for evil Transcendentalists Dark Romantics Similarities Between Transcendentalists and Dark Romantics True reality is spiritual. Intuition is superior to logic or reason. Human events contain signs and symbols of spiritual truths. Transcendentalists Dark Romantics Nathaniel Hawthorne(1804–1864) Hawthorne’s short stories and novels reflect Dark Romantic views of humanity. In “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment,” four people drink a magical elixir and choose the foolishness of false youth over the wisdom