Part III-1：Early Romantics.ppt

1. Background Study Preview Question: what’s the difference between literary school/trend and movement? A. Romantic Vs. the Classic; a term first used by Friedrich Schlegel B. Neoclassicism: objectivity, harmony, rationality, dignity, proportion, and moderation C. Publication of Lyrical Ballads in England: creative imagination by which to see beyond reality and into an ideal world 2. Characteristics (1)Subjectivity of inward feelings Vs. objectivity of rationalism (2) Feelings, intuitions and emotions Vs. reason and common sense head thinking Vs. heart feeling; About Truth: Romantics Vs. Rationalists (3) View of God: the world as a ticking watch made by God; God Vs. Nature (4) Individualism vs. Authority: individual at the very center of life (5) Inner life and self-expression (6) Strong interest in the past, the wild , the remote and the mysterious: treatment of the American Indians as noble savage (7) Variety in forms Main Subjects: A. Nature : wild, irregular, mysterious by energetic B. Beauty C. Past: primitive literature – translation of Iliad and Odyssey by William Cullen Bryant 3. American Romanticism Background A. striving for political, economic, and cultural independence from Britain and calling for a new literary expression B. European influences  C. magazines : a new playground for Romantics Distinct Features Tend to moralize, to edify rather than to entertain Present new experience alien to European culture: the exotic landscape, the frontier life, the westward expansion, the myth of a New Garden of Eden Produce a sense of “newness” which inspired the romantic imagination The New England Poets Represented the elite educated society in New England society; conventional, wealthy, highly cultured, interested in the advanced European arts and forms but writing about American experiences and subjects; showing strong sense of morality *Also known as the Fireside Poets or Schoolroom Poets, outstanding figures of New Engl