American literature before 1855

¶ … American Romanticism

The period known as American Romanticism began in the late 18th century. During the late 18th century and the 19th century it became more creative and more imaginative. Three of the writers that contributed most to the development were Nathaniel Hawthorne, Washington Irving, and Edgar Allan Poe.

Nathaniel Hawthorne's short stories included creative and imaginative storylines. These included a short story titled "The Birth-Mark," which tells the story of a doctor who removes a birth-mark from his wife's face, with the operation causing her death. In telling this story, Hawthorne is exploring and commenting on accepting the flaws of others. The interesting thing that Hawthorne did was to develop an imaginative storyline as a way of creatively exploring a common issue. In this case, the birth-mark on the wife's face represents her flaw, with the disgust that her husband shows towards it representing his desire to see her as perfect. In the end, it is shown that everyone is flawed, since removing the wife's scar causes her death. Hawthorne took the imaginative element to a new level in "Young Goodman Brown." In this story, he describes Goodman Brown leaving his family and traveling into the woods, where he meets with the devil. In this story, Hawthorne is using a physical journey to represent an emotional and physical one. In this way, he explores issues of good and evil. Once again, this story shows how Hawthorne finds creative ways to comment and explore common themes.

Washington Irving is another author who added a new creative element to American Romanticism. Irving had a unique style that depended on satire to make his points. In doing this, Irving expanded methods of writing and broke free from the short story genre. Irving also showed that every writer is free to develop their own style and present their writing in their own unique way. In Irving's case, he expanded on his background of writing historical works, with his satirical approach individual and distinctive. This developed the genre partly by introducing satire as an effective element. At the same time, it also showed that literature could be expanded to suit any style.

Edgar Allan Poe is the third writer who contributed significantly to the development of American Romanticism. Poe added an element of horror and wrote short stories that were both disturbing and haunting. One of the interesting things about Poe is that the effectiveness of his stories did not rely only on the storyline. For example, the short story "The Fall of the House of Usher" is the narrator's account of his visit to a haunted house and his encounters with the strange brother and sister that live there. In this case, it is not the actual storyline that makes the story effective. Instead, it is the haunting atmosphere that draws the reader into the story. Poe does not have to state that the house is haunted for the reader to be engaged by the foreboding atmosphere he creates. This is also seen in other short stories including "The Black Cat" and "The Tell-Tale Heart." In all of these stories, Poe presents a scenario that is beyond what is realistic. However, he presents it in such an effective way that it seems real to the reader. This added a new imaginative element to literature and expanded the genre. Poe's expansion of the genre into horror was so impressive that he continues to be referred to as the father of horror.