Characteristics of American Romanticism



Characteristics of American Romanticism

o Values feeling and intuition over reason

o Values the imagination over reality

o Civilization is bad Nature is good

o Educated sophistication is bad Youthful innocence is good

o Individual freedom is important

o Nature is the way to find God

o Progress is bad

o Most settings are in exotic locales or the supernatural

o Poetry is the highest expression of the imagination

o Lots of inspiration from myths and legends

Characteristics of the American Romantic Hero

o Young (or at least acts young)

o Innocent and pure

o Sense of honor higher than society’s honor

o Has knowledge of people and life based on a deep understanding, not based on education

o Loves nature

o Quests for a higher truth

The Transcendentalist view of the world

o Everything in the world (including humans) is the reflection of the Divine Soul (God)

o Nature is a doorway to the spiritual world

o People can see God’s spirit looking at nature or at their own souls

o Self-reliance and individualism is more important than outside authority and conformity

o Spontaneous actions are better than planned ones

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