The Romantic era's emphasis on emotion, nature, and individual experience in literature

Romantic era marked a movement away from the foregoing Enlightenment period. Literature of this period was characterized by moving away from all aspects of the latter: aristocratic, social and political norms were abandoned, as was rationalization in favor of a reverence for deep and extreme emotions. These emotions could be positive or negative, and result in tragedy or joy, particularly in the fiction genre. Similarly, Romantic era poetry relied on strong emotion to convey ideas. As such, poetry from this era often focused on nature and the individual experience of life.

The Romantic novel often reflected upon the society of the time, with the elements of emotion and often the supernatural to explicate the points made in the novel. Mary Wollstoncraft Shelley's Valperga for example include frequent references to prophesies, omens and cryptic signs. These were used to depict the general uncertainty in the society of the time period the novel focuses upon. The uncertainty factor culminates in tragedy and death at the end of the novel.

Jane Austin's Sense and Sensibility, while including no supernatural references, focuses on the more positive side of extreme emotion of romantic love. Similarly to Shelley's work, this side of emotion is also used to reflect upon the society of the time. The hypocrisy often associated with marriage ties are for example exposed.