Romanticism. The word might inspire thoughts of roses and candlelight. Long walks in the countryside or lyrical prose. Perhaps it puts you in mind of someone who is out of touch with reality or who caves in to their emotions too readily.
Romanticism was an intellectual movement at the beginning of the nineteenth century that has greatly impacted our literature and media. It is often associated with idealism and “softening” harsh truths, but true romanticism invites us to embrace darkness right along with the light. It is a philosophy that seeks beauty and depth in all experiences and encourages us to embrace life with complete abandon.
Romanticism was birthed at the beginning of the nineteenth century right at the onset of the industrial revolution. Rural life, which had remained more or less the same for centuries, was turned upside down as people moved to cities for jobs in factories. The familiar world of tending the land gave way to standardized time and machines. People who were used to spending large amounts of time outside were now cooped up indoors for long hours completing repetitive tasks. Philosophies such as utilitarianism gained popularity as things -and people-were valued based on their usefulness and efficiency.
Romanticism was a counter culture to this new way of life. It emphasized nature and emotions and doing things for the sake of doing them rather than for a practical purpose.
The romantic poets, who were the major forerunners of the movement along with painters and musicians, were like rock stars in their time. Most of them died early deaths from their passionate, aimless lifestyle but they were able to capture the intensity of the human spirit in their work and inspire not only the people of their own time but generations of people after their deaths.
There are several components to their philosophy that allowed them to capture this spirit. One of which was the celebration of nature.
Gothic novels from the romantic era, paintings, and romantic poems are littered with rich, elaborate depictions of lakes and trees and birds. The romantics believed that nature was a soothing and therapeutic source but they also celebrated the darker components of nature. Earlier generations often saw nature as a dangerous reality that must be conquered but to the romantics a deadly storm or hungry beast could still be beautiful.
Caspar David Friedrich’s “Wanderer above the Fog” is a perfect example of how the romantics depicted dangerous pieces of nature as beautiful and awe inspiring.
Monster’s, both real and supernatural, were also depicted as fascinating, awe inspiring, and sometimes even sympathetic. Both Dracula from Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula and Frankenstein’s monster from Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein are described in fascinating and tantalizing detail. Frankenstein’s monster (or Frankenstein Jr.) is even described with sympathy. He is not monstrous by nature but a tragic hero who is pushed into murder and terror by an ostrosizing society.
This idea of romanticizing darkness is often misunderstood by today’s generation. Our minds are so trained to label things as “good” or “bad” that the idea of seeing beauty in something harmful is hard for us to comprehend. It is, however, the very act of embracing things that we fear that gives us the power to overcome them.
This is illustrated when Van Helsing, the man who studies vampires, is the only one with enough knowledge to defeat Dracula. Similarly, depicting Frankenstein’s monster as a tragic hero does not condone his murderous deeds. Rather it serves as a caution for us to consider the pain we inflict when we osterosize and be more aware of what path we may be heading down when we find ourselves ruminating against those who have harmed us.
It is in our nature to be drawn to frightening things. Romanticism acknowledges this. This is not the same as calling them “good” or pretending that these things are safe. On the contrary, the acknowledgement of the allure of darkness allows us to explore ourselves and our world with more depth so that we can understand them more. With understanding comes the tools we need to overcome.
Another way the romantics explore this need for acknowledging the darkness is through their emphasis on emotions. William Woodsworth called poetry an “overflow of powerful feeling.” (Lyrical Ballads) Some such contemplations feature happy, listless feelings but many feature dark emotions or, more frequently, a combination of dark and light emotions that more accurately represent the human experience.
Keats’ “Ode to a Nightingale” is one such poem in which Keats – who lived much of his short life knowing that he was dying of consumption- lauds the beauty of a bird’s song in comparison to his painful and fading life. The beauty of the song reminds him of his plight and serves as a wake up call to reality.
Forlorn! the very word is like a bell
To toll me back from thee to my sole self!
And yet the beauty of the song also reminds him of his own spirit. The piece of him that recognizes the beauty of the song and fills him with longing.
Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird!
No hungry generations tread thee down
Emotion is not something that is regulated in romanticism. It is not controlled or fought against. It is embraced. Experienced. Chased. It is let loose in passionate declarations of love, perilous journeys through storms, and dark laments of despair. Emotion cannot be harnessed or manufactured by a machine in a factory. Rather it is a wild and beautiful part of the human experience that cannot and should not be tamed.
This belief in intense emotions was one of the ways the romantics manifested their belief in keeping the human spirit alive. Particularly the spirit of the “common man”. They were hearty supporters of the French Revolution because of their admiration of commoners who stood up to the aristocracy. This is depicted most clearly in Robbie Burns’ “A Man for A that”, a poem written in beautiful Scottish vernacular declaring that any man, no matter how poor, is still a man.
Is there for honest Poverty
That hings his head, an’ a’ that;
The coward slave – we pass him by,
We dare be poor for a’ that!
This unapologetic celebration of the common man is in direct opposition to one concept that is often mistakenly associated with romanticism: Idealism.
We often associate the word “romantic” as being out of touch with reality or imposing unrealistic expectations on a person or situation. In actuality the idea that there is a perfect mean that should be conformed to has more to do with classicism than romanticism.
While the Greeks and Romans sought perfection and symmetry in their art the romantics sought to depict what is. To the romantics imperfections are beautiful because they are a part of the truth and truth, not appearance, is most valued. The reality of what is, not the ideal of what should be, is what they strive to embrace and understand.
This is most succinctly expressed in Keats’ poem “Ode on a Grecian Urn”. In the ode he admires an ancient Urn from Greece. His admiration, however, is not for its perfect shape and pure white color but for how it cannot be altered by time. This unalterability is reverent to him in a world that is constantly changing. He ends the ode with the line
“Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”
The romantic ideal is to embrace reality, to revel in it and see the beauty in it. This is why they write so seductively of darkness and savor even their most brooding thoughts and emotions. Romanticism is not a glorification of darkness nor is it a blind belief in pretty ideals. Romanticism is to chase life with complete abandon, to embrace every moment of it and revel in the irrepressible fire of the human spirit.
At the onset of the 21st century we find ourselves once again at a crossroads in how we live our lives. The digital age, like the industrial revolution, has greatly altered the ways in which we earn a living and how we interact with each other on a daily basis. Bars and public houses have given way to social media and online forums as sources of gossip, information, and social interaction. Large portions of our days are now filled with spreadsheets, org charts, statistics, averages, templates, and autocorrect. So much that cold, detached words like “longevity” are now used to describe our relationships with friends and family while we are constantly encouraged to look for ways to “optimize” our lives as if it were a computer program.
For all the conveniences and mobility this digital world has given us it can leave us feeling detached or even deficient for not adhering to the statistics we read or being able to perform with the uniform precision of a computer. We stare at our devices, not living out the promise of possibility and connection, but out of touch with the reality around us. Numb. Strangers to ourselves and to each other and unable to face or acknowledge the inevitable darkness in our lives.
It is time for a new romantic era. Don’t let statistics and averages shape who you are. Chase the things that scare you. Explore your emotions without judgement. Look around you and appreciate, savor, and embrace the things that are. Find the beauty in each moment. Because you -the common man, woman, or anything in between-matter and your spirit deserves to be kept alive.
Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird!
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