Essays

The Romantic Era

Natalia Gibson

Professor Jeffrey Rink

HUM 1020

13 November 2017

The Romantic Era

The Romantic Era was adirect reaction to the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment was a time ofscientific thoughts and putting the mind before the heart, while thethe romantic era was a time when the heart could finally be putfirst. This was perfect for the artists, writers, and musicians ofthe time, who were now more free to do more of what interested themrather than what the churches, society, and those who commissionedworks wanted being the main concern. This led to an era ofwonderfully creative artists being able to be able to find themselvesin their works.

Some of the more well knownliterature of the romantic era were books like Frankenstein, TheScarlet Letter, and various writings by Lord Byron – as well asmany more. The Scarlet Letter specifically is a fantasticrepresentation of a piece of literature from the romantic era. It wasa novel that was highly controversial when first published, and for along time following. Hawthorne, the writer of the piece, didn't carethough, because the novel wasn't really something that was for therest of the world, it was something that he wrote because he hadwanted to. Frankenstein was undoubtedly an uncommon piece, as well asthe fact that the author of it was a woman, which was even moreunlikely. However, in an era that advocates following the heart andputting aside the rest of the world, it was the perfect time for ahuge piece of classic literature to be written by a woman.

Oscar Wilde was born at theend of the romantic era, but was influenced by it greatly, and thatcan very much be seen when looking at his life. He was fantasticallyflamboyant, and not a bit ashamed of who he was. All of his storieshad an air of eccentricity to them that was, and still is, unmatchedto this day. His stories were written for him, his children, andpeople who shared the same open mind that he did, and thus it seemsthat he is a fine example of someone who lived with the romantic erabeing a part of who they were.

Something else that seemsto be prominent in the romantic era is being able to do what you lovedespite things that could normally get in the way of that. That'salready been discussed slightly, with Hawthorne's novel being ascandal yet getting along famously, and Mary Shelly writingFrankenstein and getting so much attention for it while women beingpraised for good work was still not very common, and many things ofthe like, but one of the most astounding examples is that of one ofthe greatest composers to ever live – Ludwig Van Beethoven. Agenius and protege from a very early age, Beethoven wrote many piecesthat blew his audience away. His works are still widely known andwell loved to this day. The thing that makes this so unbelievable andextraordinary is that Beethoven started going deaf in his 20s, makingit harder and harder for him to hear his own work as time went on.Eventually this left him completely deaf, and he was left composinghis symphonies without ever having heard them, relying only onremembering what each instrument sounded like at different tones andpitches, and yet he was still able to create masterpieces. One of hisgreatest pieces, Ode to Joy (Symphony No. 9) was one that he hadnever heard, and yet it remains a favorite of many even now.

The romantic era was theera of people filled with dreams and hope in their hearts, wanting tomake others see the world as they did, in this beautiful and strangeway that was exactly what the world needed when coming out of theenlightenment. While the world has gone through many different eras,the romantic era is undoubtedly one of the most important andinspiring times to look back on.