THE NEW ENGLAND RENAISSANCE (1880-1860)

Romanticism and Transcendentalism

Background Information

• Follows the Enlightenment Thinkers– Stressed objectivity

• Use of the senses• Removal of the “unexplainable• Removal of knowledge based on belief

– Power of Reason to discover laws of the universe– Scientific and Systematic approach to discovery

Literary Timeline

British Romanticism

• Important Elements– Human Emotion– Celebrates Imagination over Rational Thought– Beauty of the Supernatural– A higher form of reason, above ordinary “understanding”

of the physical world of senses– Ability to grasp “metaphysical” truths in nature and life

experiences– Nature was the stimulus for these “truths”– Beginning of focus on the “self”

American Romanticism

American Romantic Writers

• James Fenimore Cooper Emily Dickinson Frederick DouglassMargaret Fuller Nathaniel Hawthorne Washington IrvingHenry Wadsworth Longfellow Herman Melville Edgar Allen Poe Walt Whitman

Transcendentalism“Things are in the saddle/And ride mankind”-Ralph Waldo Emerson

• Distinct American Literary Movement that stemmed from Romanticism

• Critique the ethic of material success and social advancement

• Belief in “transcendent truths”– Humans could find this through contemplation– Influence of natural environs

TRANSCENDENTALISM• Using intuition in nature to help

understand a “higher truth” of life• Science is questioned and criticized• Return to spirituality• Celebrated “the self” and self-

awareness as a way to understand the universe/God

• Reflect on both positive and negative sides of human nature

WALDEN POND-Thoreau

Literary Ideas • Dismissed authority beyond the individual conscience

• Believed understanding the individual would enable a person to understand the universe and God.

• Terms coined-”self-realization,” “self-expression,” and “self-reliance”

• Respect of individual, unique viewpoints

• Focus on “inventing themselves” as writers

• Stories involve nature both as environments and as the “nature of man”

Brook Farm• Transcendentalist Utopia• Founded by George Ripley-Minister (1841)• Notable Resident= Nathaniel Hawthorne• Notable Visitors= Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret

Fuller• "Our objects, as you know, are to ensure a more natural union between

intellectual and manual labor than now exists; to combine the thinker and the worker, as far as possible, in the same individual; to guarantee the highest mental freedom, by providing all with labor, adapted to their tastes and talents, and securing to them the fruits of their industry...to prepare a society of liberal, intelligent, and cultivated person, whose relations with each other would permit a more simple and wholesome life, than can now be led amidst the pressures of our competitive institutions."

“Fireside Poets”

• Ralph Waldo Emerson• John Greenleaf Whittier• James Russell Lowell• Oliver Wendell Holmes• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

• Used Traditional Rhythmic Patterns

• Told American Legends• Represented scenes of

American home life• Covered Contemporary

Politics

Famous Transcendentalist Authors

• Ralph Waldo Emerson– Eternal Optimist– Belief in self

– “Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of our own mind…The only right is what is after my constitution, the only wrong what is against it.”

• Henry David Thoreau– Self-Reliance Experiment– “Walden”– Keen Observation of Nature– “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a

different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.

Transcendentalist Authors, cont.

• William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878)– “Thanatopsis”– Romanticized and personified nature +/-– Championed humanitarian causes– Helped form the Republican party

American Gothic Writers*Fall within transcendentalist time periods/location,

but often incorporate more romantic elements/points of view.

• Louisa May Alcott– Incorporates failed experiments with transcendentalism

• Herman Melville– Explored the forces of evil and obsession in his masterpiece

• Edgar Allen Poe (most Romantic)– Psychology of madness and terror

• Nathaniel Hawthorne-- Darker aspects of human nature-- Sin -- The ways in which humans deal with temptation, guilt, and revenge

HOUSE OF SEVEN GABLES-Inspiration for Hawthorne’s Novel

American Gothicism1. Castle/Castle-like Settings

• Family estates • Large, drafty old houses that have

“been in the family for years”• Elements of large homes such as

doors, wine cellars, towers.

2. An atmosphere of mystery and suspense.3. A ghostly legend4. An unexplainable supernatural-type

event5. A story about a horrible death or

murder that took place at the family estate.

6. Omens, foreshadowing, and dreams that help build the mystery.

7. Extreme emotions for the characters, including:

– Terror --Insanity– Extreme anger --Obsession– An exaggerated feeling of impending

doom8. Supernatural events: ghosts,

doors that open themselves,

unexplained sounds, etc.

9. Damsels in distress.10. Sense of gloom and doom (setting, plot events, and diction choices such as dark, forbidding, ghostly, etc.

11. Romantic themes often involving violent passion, extreme romantic

obsession, excessive grief.

Gothicism—Grotesque and Arabesque Elements of Horror

Emerson

Thoreau

“Old Ironside” by Holmes• Ay, tear her tattered ensign

down! Long has it waved on high, And many an eye has danced to see That banner in the sky; Beneath it rung the battle shout, And burst the cannon's roar; The meteor of the ocean air Shall sweep the clouds no more!

• Her deck, once red with heroes' blood, Where knelt the vanquished foe, When winds were hurrying o'er the flood And waves were white below,

• No more shall feel the victor's tread, Or know the conquered knee; The harpies of the shore shall pluck The eagle of the sea!

Oh, better that her shattered hulk Should sink beneath the wave; Her thunders shook the mighty deep, And there should be her grave; Nail to the mast her holy flag, Set every threadbare sail, And give her to the God of storms, The lightning and the gale!

Realism (1860’s-1900’s)

• Began in America as an active movement in the 1870’s

• Usually written in prose• Wrote about “typical” American experiences• Often wrote about the common man• Presented “objective” and “non-idealized” point of

view.• Presented society’s material philosophy• Many writers incorporated humor and satire

Some Famous Realism Authors“The man who does not read good books has no advantage over

the man who can't read them.” (Twain)• Female Writers

– Kate Chopin– Charlotte P. Gilman– Sarah Orne Jewett– Edith Wharton

• War Writers– Stephen Crane

• Humorists– Mark Twain– Ambrose Bierce– Jack London Kate Chopin

Twain

Gilman

Wharton

Sarah Orne Jewett

Stephen CraneBierce

London

Works Cited

"The American Novel . Literary Timeline . Movements . Realism | PBS." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Web. 21 Feb. 2011. <http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americannovel/timeline/realism.html>.

"American Transcendentalism Web." Virginia Commonwealth University. Web. 21 Feb. 2011. <http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/transcendentalism/>.

"Google Image Result for Http://rlv.zcache.com/legend_of_seven_gables_poster-p228834125103346822trma_400.jpg." House of Seven Gables. Web. 21 Feb. 2011. <http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://rlv.zcache.com/legend_of_seven_gables_poster-p228834125103346822trma_400.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.zazzle.com/legend_of_seven_gables_poster-228834125103346822&usg=__1hC1aeRWQ0xJTTjKLPewypXKFkA=&h=400&w=400&sz=37&hl=en&start=44&zoom=1&tbnid=gzmMAUGkiMrHVM:&tbnh=118&tbnw=161&ei=nNpiTb7bKMaqlAeBpIHlCw&prev=/images?q=house+of+seven+gables&um=1&hl=en&biw=1366&bih=565&tbs=isch:10,831&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=473&oei=ktpiTeHdJoa2tgftlNjbCw&page=3&ndsp=22&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:44&tx=66&ty=57&biw=1366&bih=565>.

"Google Image Result for Http://www.nndb.com/people/929/000031836/jack-london.jpg." Jack London. Google. Web. 21 Feb. 2011. <http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.nndb.com/people/929/000031836/jack-london.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.nndb.com/people/929/000031836/&usg=__DvAug7LdJtlqxTK8dZu5OiN-_kY=&h=286&w=210&sz=11&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=Rkar6Pc7MzwoqM:&tbnh=125&tbnw=92&

"Google Image Result for Http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWhomer.jpg." Winslow Homer. Google. Web. 21 Feb. 2011. <http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWhomer.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWhomer.htm&usg=__ZPZGYpunOqAEcIQaQ36izPwAUAs=&h=410&w=499&sz=58&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=G-sIBRO6w_vCrM:&tbnh=127&tbnw=153&ei=FNpiTe_sHYGglAeFjrWDDA&prev=/images?q=winslow+homer+drawings&um=1&hl=en&sa=G&biw=1366&bih=565&tbs=isch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=303&vpy=84&dur=1461&hovh=203&hovw=248&tx=159&ty=130&oei=69liTa6HHo-btweKrvnxCw&page=1&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0>.

Works Cited

IHAS: Artist/Movement/Ideas." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Web. 21 Feb. 2011. <http://www.pbs.org/wnet/ihas/icon/transcend.html>.

"Literature Timeline." PlaceHolder for Socsdteachers.org. Web. 21 Feb. 2011. <http://www.socsdteachers.org/tzenglish/literature_timeline.htm>.

"Romanticism.Characteristics." MURAL - Student Homepages at University of Valencia. Web. 21 Feb. 2011. <http://mural.uv.es/frando/romancharacts.html>.