Key Characteristics of the Romanticism Movement

Romanticism movement is over a period that lasted from the late 18th to the mid-19th century. With the political revolution on the Continent and the industrial revolution underway, the period witnessed the breakdown of rigid thoughts about the shape and purpose of society and the recognized world. ​ During this period, the emphasis shifted to the significance of the individual’s experience inside the international and one’s subjective interpretation of that experience, in place of interpretations exceeded with the aid of the church or tradition. ​

Romantic literature is characterized by numerous features. It emphasized the dream, or inner world of the individual and visionary, imagery. One of the characteristics of the Romantic Movement is the beauty of nature. ​It has become an important subject. It mainly does not deal with the nature everyone knows. The writers of the Romantic movement are concerned with central human experiences and problems. We can give an example of William Wordsworth’s works. He mainly writes about his feelings towards nature.  

The other characteristic of the Romantic period is powerful feelings. As William Wordsworth says good poetry is “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”. Poetry is not mainly a mirror of a human. Romanticism accepts the kind of knowledge that can be gained through human senses. For them, what one senses is the truth.

Another characteristic of the Romantic Movement is imagination. Many writers considered a person as endowed with the infinite aspiration toward the endless good envisioned by the faculty of imagination. Romantics legitimized the individual imagination as an essential authority.

Another characteristic of the romantic movement is individualism and solitude. Romanticism appears to be individualism. For example, Mary Shelley’s book “Frankenstein”. Frankenstein symbolizes individuality. He is a romantic hero. Even if he lives in solitude, readers see him as a true illustration of humankind. Romantic authors valued impartial thinking, creativity, and self-reliance.

The last characteristic of the Romantic Movement is romantic love. In these times, romantic love is aspirant and lustful. For example, Heathcliff, the male protagonist in "Wuthering Heights" by way of Emily Bronte, tears open his deceased lover's casket so he can lie beside her. 

Romanticism | Essay | The Metropolitan Museum of Art | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History