- "Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) is an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century."
The study of the cultural movement that emphasized emotion and the individual over reason and society in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Literary Characteristics: The style of writing by romantic writers, including emphasis on emotion, individualism, imagination, and a rejection of Enlightenment ideals.
Artistic Expression: The visual arts of the romantic period, including painting, sculpture, and architecture, characterized by an emphasis on passion, mystery, the sublime, and nature.
Music: The musical styles and composers of the romantic era, characterized by a departure from classical forms, increased emphasis on emotion and individual expression, and the emergence of new genres such as the symphonic poem and the art song.
Philosophy: The philosophical ideas that influenced romanticism, such as the emphasis on individualism, emotion, imagination, and the sublime, as well as the rejection of Enlightenment ideals such as reason and order.
Politics: The political climate of the romantic period, including the impact of the French Revolution, the rise of democracy, and the struggle for individual rights and freedoms.
Gender Roles: The changing attitudes toward gender roles during the romantic period, including the emergence of new models of femininity and masculinity, as well as the role of women in the arts and society.
Nature: The importance of nature and the natural world in romanticism, as a source of inspiration, beauty, and spiritual renewal, as well as a refuge from the industrialization and urbanization of modern life.
- "Romanticism was characterized by its emphasis on emotion and individualism as well as glorification of the past and nature, preferring the medieval to the classical."
- "Romanticism was partly a reaction to the Industrial Revolution, and the prevailing ideology of the Age of Enlightenment, especially the scientific rationalization of Nature."
- "It was embodied most strongly in the visual arts, music, and literature; it also had a major impact on historiography, education, chess, social sciences, and the natural sciences."
- "Romantic thinking influenced conservatism, liberalism, radicalism, and nationalism."
- "The movement emphasized intense emotion as an authentic source of aesthetic experience."
- "It granted a new importance to experiences of sympathy, awe, wonder, and terror."
- "Romantics stressed the nobility of folk art and ancient cultural practices, but also championed radical politics, unconventional behavior, and authentic spontaneity."
- "In contrast to the rationalism and classicism of the Enlightenment, Romanticism revived medievalism and juxtaposed a pastoral conception of a more 'authentic' European past with a highly critical view of recent social changes, including urbanization, brought about by the Industrial Revolution."
- "Many Romantic ideals were first articulated by German thinkers in the Sturm und Drang movement, which elevated intuition and emotion above Enlightenment rationalism."
- "The events and ideologies of the French Revolution were also direct influences on the movement; many early Romantics throughout Europe sympathized with the ideals and achievements of French revolutionaries."
- "Romanticism lionized the achievements of 'heroic' individuals – especially artists, who began to be represented as cultural leaders."
- "Romanticism also prioritized the artist's unique, individual imagination above the strictures of classical form."
- "In the second half of the 19th century, Realism emerged as a response to Romanticism, and was in some ways a reaction against it."
- "Romanticism suffered an overall decline during this period, as it was overshadowed by new cultural, social, and political movements, many of them hostile to the perceived illusions and preoccupations of the Romantics."
- "However, it has had a lasting impact on Western civilization."
- "Many 'Romantic', 'neo-Romantic', and 'post-Romantic' artists and thinkers created their most enduring works after the end of the Romantic Era as such."