English Literature: Week 7: Romanticism

When  you see the word, “Romanticism”, what springs to mind? If you see roses, boxes of chocolates, wedding rings, and the like, you’re off track. Romanticism and Romantic with a capital ‘R’ has very little to do with romance, per se. It’s really about individuality and the cultural rebellion against the Enlightenment.

The age of Enlightenment, as it is sometimes referred to, was defined by the belief that reason was the principle source of understanding; understanding the natural world and human kind’s place therein depended on the application of reason; logical thought was more important than religious belief.

The period between the 17th and 18th centuries was described by Thomas Paine as the Age of Reason. This was the period in which Newton and Newtonian science exerted a particular hold upon European thought. In philosophy, for example, laws similar to those found to be applicable to the physical universe were applied to facilitate understanding of human affairs. Individual feeling and patronage were largely ignored and the focus in the arts was primarily upon technical proficiency rather than any element of self-expression.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744) is perhaps the best known of the English writers of the Enlightenment period and one of his most famous works, An Essay on Man, is a good example of the type of writing preferred at this time. Its focus is upon the optimism and respect of reason, and the essay is used to describe elements of the Newtonian universe:

All are but parts of one stupendous whole,

Whose body nature is, and God the soul …

All nature is but art, unknown to thee;

All chance, direction, which thou cannot see.

All discord, harmony not understood;

All partial evil, universal good

And, spite of pride, in erring reason’s spite,

One truth is clear: Whatever is, is right.

The Countess of Winchelsea (1661-1720), is another popular English voice of the period, writing about reason and feminine equality. In France, Candide (1759), by Voltaire (1694-1778), also exemplified the period.

Satire, in fact, was very popular. In Gulliver’s Travels,  Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) used satire to ridicule the pettiness of human concerns. Likewise, Robinson Crusoe (1719), by Daniel Defoe (1659-1731), Pamela (1740-1741) by Samuel Richardson (1689-1761), and Tom Jones (1749) by Henry Fielding (1707-1754) offered straight prose, clarity, and simplicity to explore a diverse range of issues and, ultimately, to defined a natural human morality.

After the French Revolution, however, there was a dramatic and powerful rebellion against this rational and reasonable focus. Political upheaval, social chaos, and the phenomenal bloodshed and tyranny of that period in France caused many artists, writers, and philosophers to react and rebel against the ideas of the Enlightenment and the rules and regulations that had been used to constrain society as part of this cultural movement.

The Romantic movement was the first and principle result of this cultural rebellion (the Gothic movement was both a continuation of the rebellion and a development of the Romantic movement).  It began, primarily, in Germany (then Prussia) where poets such as Goethe and Schiller developed a movement called Strum and Drang, Storm and  Stress, which concentrated on  individuality and emotion rather than the rational modes of logical thinking preferred by the Enlightenment.

The characteristics of the Romantic movement have been debated at some length by academics, who haven’t exactly decided on the various components. The key elements, however, relate to individuality and intuition, to nature and personal freedom, and to personal choice. Not without foundation, some academics look to Romanticism as the foundation of our modern consumer culture.

Prominent romantic authors and poets include Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne, the Scottish poet James Macpherson, Scott, Byron, Goethe,  and Schiller.

How to Stay Sane As A Single Parent

Read A Sample Chapter of My New Ebook

-Sample-

According to Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2005, released by the U.S. Census Bureau in August, 2007, there are approximately 13.6 million single parents in the United States today, and those parents are responsible for raising 21.2 million children (approximately 26% of children under 21 in the U.S. today). According to the U.S. Census Bureau…

  • Approximately 84% of custodial parents are mothers, and

Of the mothers who are custodial parents:

  • 44% are currently divorced or separated
  • 33% have never been married
  • 22% are married (In most cases, these numbers represent women who have remarried.)
  • 1% were widowed

Of the fathers who are custodial parents:

  • 57% are divorced or separated
  • 24% are currently married
  • 18% have never married
  • 1% were widowed

About 79% of custodial single mothers are gainfully employed; 50% work full time, year round and 29% work part-time or part-year. About 92% of custodial single fathers are gainfully employed; 74% work full time, year round and 18% work part-time or part-year I may not be a single mom in the most technical sense but I do fall into the category of ‘married’ single parents.  I am married, but my husband and I don’t technically live together. We’re not ‘separated’, we are a couple, and with my kids, we’re a family, but he maintains a separate residence and travels a lot for his work. Meanwhile, I am at home with the kids, working fulltime as a writer. For these reasons (and a ton of others I’ll think of later) I consider myself a single parent. I am the parent who spends virtually all-day every day with my children. Why did I write this book? Well, I admit it freely; my 26 month old son drives me totally insane much of the time. The problem – the insanity, that is – seems a pretty common one among stay-at-home moms and dads. It seems particularly common, however, among the handful of us who not only stay at home with our kids, but do most of the parenting alone. I’m lucky. My husband, Jason and Olivia’s father, is still in the picture. On the other hand, my husband was living in New York when I started this book; we were in Vermont. Olivia was born in Vermont, in fact, on very cold January morning. These days, I am living back in New York with the kids, but Brian is still working away from home most of the time. Raising the kids is – 95% of the time – down to me. But even though I’m mostly alone with my children, I consider myself lucky. I considered myself luck in Vermont: a five hour drive was nothing compared to a six and a half hour plane ride; that’s how far away my husband used to be, in December 2006, when Jason and I traveled out to California to spend some time with the in-laws. Regardless of where we’re living, though, it’s fairly clear that taking care of my son and daughter is as much, if not more of a priority as taking care of my business – my writing business – which takes up about 80 hours of my time ever week. Of course, many people wonder why in the world I don’t revel in play dates and playgroups. When he was little, Jason had bags of energy and yes, he loved to be with other kids. But honestly, folks, I couldn’t find the time. It just wasn’t there. And now, with two kids, it’s hopeless most of the time. Don’t get me wrong, though, I love kids and I certainly love my kids. We spend as much time as possible at the park and they love to play with other kids there. That’s fine for me, too. It’s great to see them interacting and engaging with other ‘little people’. On the other hand, I can’t bear the idea of having to spend hour upon hour in some sterile environment, watching kids fuss and fumble as their mothers gather around them like a flock of birds. I’ve done it once or twice but I quickly decided it wasn’t for me. And then there’s the work thing. Of course, I’ve been at my wits-end a couple of times. Jason was in the terrible twos and it was starting to show, about the time  I started writing  this book. Whenever I’ve met with other people, parents and non-parents and the discussion has turned to kids, well, the subject of “play dates” has certainly come up. “Why don’t you get Jason a play date?” “Why don’t you go to the library for the reading sessions? Olivia would love it.” The answer to these questions is very simple: I’m a working mom. If I’m not at my desk during the day, writing, editing, and proofreading, well, I won’t have money for rent and food, let alone play dates. I know I’m not alone in this, which is why and how this book came into being. The purpose of this collection of ramblings and heart-felt advice is to provide a no-nonsense guide for single-parents and single-parents-in-practice, the unconventional people out there who happen to have kids, who need an outlet, and who occasionally need a bit of help to make quality time with their kids. If you’re the kind of person who likes going to play dates and structured activities with your kids, this book is not for you. This book is for the men and women out there who enjoy being parents but don’t necessarily enjoy or have the means to sustain the conventional approach to parenting. Above all, I hope this book will remind you (and me as well!) that at the end of the day, nothing matters more than seeing a smile on your kid’s face!

-Sample  Chapter- Buy the ebook online

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