Romantic Period Essays (Examples)

They brought a new sense of "free experimentation" to composition, while advancing realistic techniques that emphasized the use of "local color" in literature.

This style in the literary world helps to define the Romantic Era and has shaped writing to this day.

Science:

Of equal importance to literary pursuits during the Romantic era were achievements in science. By the 1830's, activity in science and technology was rapidly increasing and becoming a source of pride for nations.

The term "scientist" was coined during this time, and there was a movement away from spiritual and theological studies. The advancement of the discipline into more systemized categories led "men of science from all over Europe into developing new ways of conceptualizing the world."

Many scientific accomplishments occurred during this time period, including vaccinations, economic botany, and magnetism. At the same time, science was being brought out of the laboratory and into the home.…

Nature is the vehicle that leads him to awareness on a physical and emotional plane, expressed when he realizes that "each faculty of sense... keep[s] the heart/Awake to Love and Beauty" (62-3). Here we see that the poet is open to whatever his experience with nature will teach him.

Another poet that demonstrates the mood and tone of the Romantic era is Percy Shelley. In "Ode to the est ind," the poet attempts to reach for an experience that is beyond the material world. The poet is aware that the winds of "Autumn's being" (Shelley 1) are ushering in a change, representing the new season. e can see an appreciation for nature when the poet affirms that the winds, "Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing" (4) and the poet's thoughts are like "winged seeds" (7) of each passing season. The winds indicate change in the unalterable change in…

Music-omantic Period

'OMANTICISM' is a concept that can be easily recognized but is probably just as difficult to define. Like all other movements, omanticism also emerged as a reaction to general idea, practices, social norms and political problems of the time. The general concept of romanticism sees music as an expression of intimate and sublime emotions. The period that can be categorized as romantic varies but generally covers the decades from early 18th century to early nineteenth centuries. omantic influence on music was recognized as early as 1773 when Wyzewa and Saint-Foix thought they had seen 'grande crise romantique' in Mozart's symphonies. Abert felt he had also noticed 'ein romantischer Zug' in quartets K. 136-8. omantic influences were also evident in Haydn's minor-key symphonies of the 1770s and in Bach's compositions. omanticism was present in almost all of Beethoven's compositions but it is generally believed that the period 1830-90 was…

life of a "free artist" during the romantic period and with the artist's life in earlier periods

The life of a "free artist" during the early 19th century Romantic period of literature, art and music was conceptualized in terms of the artist as a free person, an artist outside of society, often beset upon by his or her inner demons. In contrast, the Classical period that immediately preceded the Romantic period during the 18th century valued wit and repartee rather than inner self-expression. Romantic literature favored lyric poetry, for example, often used by ordsworth, Shelley, and Keats to express their inner feelings, away from society while the artist was in repose. In contrast, the previous Classical period of literature favored the use of heroic couplets, as deployed by Alexander Pope to satirize contemporary events with great literary style. Romanticism conceived of the free artist as writing or composing for his…

Romantic Period, writers shared an appreciation for nature. Capturing the essence of enjoying nature in writing became of utmost importance for these writers as they focused on emotion and imagination to help them create pleasing literature. e can see these characteristics in Percy Shelley's "Ode to the est ind," John Keats' "Ode to a Nightingale," and illiam ordsworth's "Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey." These poets capture the essence of the Romantic era because they bring attention to nature, pointing toward exploration of human emotion. This combination allowed them to raise awareness of the mind through literature and while literature became the vehicle through which they explored.

In "Ode to a Nightingale," the poet uses his imagination as he begins to dwell on the nightingale's song. He experiences powerful emotions as he considers the bird's song and he feels as though he is losing his identity as he…

Romantic Era

The Romantic period and the attendant rise of the novel in England as the preeminent literary form saw the emergence of the first truly popular literature, and with it denunciations of the degradation of culture at the hands of frivolous entertainments and occupations. Fretting critics lamented the idea that the fashion for new and exciting works of literature was crowding out more "important" texts, and the fashionability of knowledge was met not with excitement at the prospect of a public hungry for education, but rather concern based on the belief that a little bit of knowledge was more dangerous than none at all (Revolutions in Romantic Literature 104). Even a cursory survey of the last three hundred years shows that this kind of response has greeted the emergence of nearly every new medium, whether it be novels, radio, television, or videogames. hile it might be tempting to simply…

British and German Romanticism:

Revolutionary art, counterrevolutionary politics

The Romantic Movement has become part of our cultural consciousness to such a degree that its assumptions regarding the centrality of the individual, its elegiac idealization of the pastoral, and its belief in human spirituality that could not be understood with pure rationality have become associated with the essence of art itself. hile the birth of the Romantic movement is associated with the French Enlightenment philosopher Rousseau's novel, The New Heloisie, Romanticism had a distinct spirit of anti-rationality, mysticism, and belief in the spiritual realm that neo-Classical Enlightenment philosophy lacked, although there was a great deal of cross-pollination between the two ideologies at first. "The Enlightenment believed in the unity of all humanity, in the universal rights of men, and the uniformity, if not the equality of all rational beings" (Cranston 22).

Romanticism was both a reaction to the Enlightenment as well…

The woodwind and brass sections, with instruments parts being produced in factories, were significantly expanded. (Miller) Tchaikovsky's music is exemplary of the Romantic period styles in many ways. "Tchaikovsky's music was marked by its sensuously rhythmic pulse, which enabled him to create the world's greatest ballet music. The music shows a mixture of playful classicism and romantic verve. That he should incorporate such melodies into his symphonies prompted critics to attack." (NPRN) His work included orchestral pieces, ballets, operas, and chamber music. It became popular because the melodies were so beautiful, and the orchestrations were innovative and enjoyable, and the style of his work helped to define what Romantic period music was to be known as. (Daum)

One of the significant historical events that inspired the composers of the Romantic era were the recent wars and many revolutions that were uprising throughout Europe. A lot of Romantic music reflected war…

Faust believes she is condemned, but a voice from heaven says she is redeemed. She is to die, and Faust flees from her cell and leaves her to her fate.

In this regard, the female is seen as weaker than the male and as more subject to the vicissitudes of existence. Faust and Gretchen have similar ideas in the beginning, and she is destroyed while he continues his pursuit. The way Gretchen is used in this story is complex, for she represents the power of love that is not really recognized as a power by Mephistopheles. It is not powerful enough to divert Faust from his pursuit of knowledge, as it happens, Gretchen is also a gateway of sorts, linking Faust to the wonders of Nature in a way he would have missed on his own. The feminine is associated with Nature as a beneficial force through their love, at…

ideological and aesthetic differences between the Romantic and the Enlightenment Period

Perhaps the clearest aesthetic distinction between the Romantic and Enlightenment periods can be found in a comparison and contrast of the poetry of Alexander Pope and William Wordsworth. Alexander Pope, who wrote "The Rape of the Lock," was an Enlightenment Classicist. He wrote in highly formulized couplets, parodying the ancient epic style of Homer, with a rigid, logical format of poetic expression. His style is opposed to the looser, more personal and reflective style of the early Romantic poet William Wordsworth. Thus, the distinctions between Romanticism and the Enlightenment may be categorized as follows:

Distinction 1: Art vs. nature

The earlier Enlightenment period valued the aesthetic of artifice and the self-consciously artificial style of constructed rhymes and poetic and artistic systems of rigid, logical expression. Nature was approached as something to be tamed, not apprehended with delight. Romanticism stressed…

The work expresses with clear honesty the need to express, reality and pain, in ordworthian values. The expression of the work is poignant and clear, as the washerwoman goes through the process of noticing nature, as a guide for time rather than as something she is able to explore at leisure. The woman and the poet explored leisure, in only those available times when she was not otherwise needed for work. There is a clear sense that even in the poet's golden years her sentiments changed little as she so effectively expressed the condition of her life, through the clear and present reality of necessity, better than many of her time. The romantic poet was given license to express pain, through individual self-expression, and this working class woman was not only not an exception but probably even more committed to the ideals of the period than many of the classic…

omantic era began in the late eighteenth century as a reaction against the Age of Enlightenment and was a period of great change and emancipation. The movement started as an artistic and intellectual reaction against aristocratic social and political norms of the Enlightenment and against the scientific rationalization of nature. During the Enlightenment literature and art were primarily created for the elite, upper classes and educated, and the language incorporated in these works was highly poetic, completely different from that spoken by the masses. Artists of the omantic era accessed the ballads and folklore that was familiar to commoners, rather than from the literary works popular with the aristocracy. This shift in emphasis was most strongly manifested in the visual arts, music, and literature. This was the beginning of a period of artistic freedom, experimentation, and creativity. The movement stressed strong emotion, imagination, freedom from classical correctness in art forms,…

This film depicts the life of a woman who has not lived up to her cultural expectations and by the time she is thirty, she realizes that she is getting too old to find love. She then meets a man whom she falls in love with, but the problem lies in his not being from her same ethnic and cultural background. This creates turmoil among her extremely traditional family. Her father refuses to accept her new fiance, but insisting that she is in love, she gets her family to accept a non-Greek individual into their family. Unlike It Happened One Night (1934), My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002) shows how culture influences love in our civilization.

The relationship between these two individuals, demonstrates how much love means in our society. The underlying concern in this case is how two different cultures could unite to form a mutual one where everyone…

Romantic and Modern Design Styles

Comparing the Ornate and the Natural: A Study of Two Theories of Design

History often dictates societal mentality more so than current climate, yet in times of peace, it seems that the beautiful and the artful flourish. This very concept is debatable, especially in interior design, where the fashions of the time very often have a much-felt impact upon design theories and the way in which they are carried out. Yet it is in history that one finds inspiration, or the contradiction thereof. For instance, during the mid to late 19th century, it was against history that romanticism was born. Yet in the early 20th century, immediately following this period of romanticism, it was out of a societal need for simplicity prior to the two Great ars that a more natural aesthetic was born, expressed so perfectly by the architect Frank Lloyd right. The following…

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.

Romantic poetry is not so much concerned with the anxieties or evils in society. Instead, the concern of this poetry is depicting the human relationship with nature as a part of it, rather than separated from it. As such, there is a departure from the image of socially imposed order towards a free, untamed image of nature. Similarly to romantic fiction, poetry also focuses on the strength of emotions related to this. These are entirely individualized, with the connection of the individual to nature often central to the work.

Romantic Lit

Romantic notions in Blake's "The Chimney Sweeper"

Romanticism was an artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that occurred during the second half of the 18th century. During this time, a shift from previously established Enlightenment ideals to more natural, emotional, and personal themes was seen. Opposing forces within Romantic literature were Nature and the Self; Nature was seen as the source of goodness and it was through society and civilization that innocence of what was natural, and the natural order of things, was lost. One of the Romantic poets that best exemplified this concept was illiam Blake.

illiam Blake's Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience can be used to demonstrate how society and civilization have corrupted the inherent innocence of children. In Reading Between the Lines: A Christian Guide to Literature, Veith (1990) writes that "civilization was seen as corrupting the natural innocence of human beings; more primitive…

The exoticism and escapism of Romantic Art is manifest by the focus in the features of Napoleon on the bright or the wider scenes of the battlefield. However, it is the works of Francisco Goya that perhaps most perfectly epitomizes the intense individualism and emotion of Romantic art. Even the titles of Goya's works like "Yo lo Vi (This I saw)" and "Para Eso Yo Nacido (for this I was born) places the artist's individual consciousness squarely in the center of the meaning of the painting. There is no attempt at objectivity, and no apology for the subjective nature of the representation.

The Third of May" although a political work, is not of a noble or significant figure, or a beautiful human body like "Marat." Most of the painting has a hazy quality, as if seen through the night, except for the illumination of the victims. It shows the ugliness…

Fashion

Romantic Era Fashion

In Europe, the Romantic Period lasted from approximately 1820-1835 and had very distinctive flavor. People were disenchanted with writing and paintings that followed dour religious subject matter for the main part and took away humanity. The Romantic Era can be seen as the birth of the humanist period that continues to this day. People wanted to express themselves as individuals with passion and emotion. This was reflected in the art of the day, in the literature from such great poets and novelists as Edgar Allen Poe and Jane Austen, and in the fashion that became popular for a brief time and then faded away. This was a fashion that was tempered with diversity due to the class of the people wearing it and the utility of the garments. This research paper discusses the fashions of the day and how they were influenced, especially in England by…

Victor Hugo

Romantic ritings of Victor Hugo

The romantic period was partly in reaction to the impact that the industrial revolution had on the psyches of artists of all stripes. The move toward an industrial culture had moved many people from the pastoral scenes of the country into the grungy hearts of the cities. Many of the people worked in the factories six days a week for many hours a day, or they worked in mines and other industries to support the industry in the cities. The response from the artistic community was to remind the public of two things. They wanted people to remember where they came from and they wanted to help people see the true emotion of life.

One of the most influential writers of the period was a young Frenchman who was known for his poetry early in his career (Halsall x), but who gained international…

Romantic Era

The years in which the Romantic Era had its great impact -- roughly 1789 through 1832 -- were years in which there were "intense political, social, and cultural upheavals," according to Professor Shannon Heath at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville (Heath, 2009). The beginning of the Romantic Era actually is traced to the French Revolution, and though that tumultuous event was not in England, illiam ordsworth and others sympathized with the French Revolution -- at least at the beginning of the Revolution.

The demands for democracy in the Era were manifested through poems that reflected solidarity with principles of "equality and individuality," Heath explains. The principles of fairness and equality were needed in England as well as in France, and Heath suggests that poets were not just responding to revolutions but rather were critiquing English government. According to Giovanni Pellegrino the struggles for democracy and the "political…

Orient West

Minoan and omantic movements

Describe the earlier historical art period, characteristics of the style, and social conditions that may have contributed to the advent of this style.

Within the history of the Ancients, the story of Classical Greek art and architecture is prefaced by the earliest epoch of the seafaring Cretan civilization, Minos. The Palace of King Minosis is a magical structure reflective of this early world of classical lyricism. It is in fact, Homer's reference to the island, and its legendary king, in Book XIX of the Odyssey, that has informed us of Aegean cultures, and our fascination with all things Minoan. The central locus of exchange for communique with other civilizations of antiquity such as the nearby lands of Pharonic Ancient Egypt, the Palace of King Minos is our greatest resource for inquiry into the roots of ancient classical civilization.

obust in economy and in cultural…

This is one of the major aspects of Romanticism, a notion that was entirely missing from raising children up to this point.
ook II of Emile describes the educational framework of a child's formative years, most likely from the approximate ages of seven to eleven or twelve, within Rousseau's philosophy. In this theory, education in this stage should take place within the context of personal experiences and interactions with the outside world. The emphasis should be on developing the senses and drawing inferences from them. ook III has the child successfully integrated with the physical world and ready to make a decision regarding his trade, which Rousseau believed was necessary in order for him to search out the appropriate role models and focus on the necessary skills.
ook IV is the section that interests this writer the most. The child is now physically strong and able to carefully observe and…

The winds are "driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing" (4) and the poet's thoughts are like "winged seeds" (7) of each passing season. The poet writes, "ild Spirit, which art moving everywhere; / Destroyer and preserver; hear, oh, hear!" (13-4). Critic Jeanine Johnson notes that "Ode to the est ind" "returns to the idea that human development and nature follow parallel cycles. If the seasons correspond to the ages of human life, spring being a time of new birth is childhood, summer is young adulthood, autumn is middle age, and winter being the time nearest death is old age" (Johnson). Each stanza represents a stage of life that is seen as if it were an aspect of nature and when examining the stages of life, one cannot overlook death. Johnson contends, "Human death is permanent. The poet tries to counter his sadness at the thought of dying with an…

The urn is a symbol to him of all great works of art which, picturing beauty, will always reflect truth to those who behold them. To Keats "beauty is truth, truth beauty," and art is the balm which soothes his fevered soul. He died at the age of 25 from tuberculosis.

ordsworth, who lived longer than the other poets, dying at the age of 80, was the leading poet of the nineteenth century. His work, with exquisitely turned phrasing, accurately depict both nature and his emotions. Nature was his inspiration and solace. He believed that nature could heal and commune both the elemental and divine through its natural forces. Like Coleridge, he believed that transcendental meditation was possible and that one could rise to a plane above that of the merely human with contemplation of nature and beauty. His verses rose to new heights in rhythm and meter, unlike the…

Thompson "Disenchantment or Default?: A Lay Sermon," The Romantics.

In the article "Disenchantment or Default?: A Lay Sermon," author E.P. Thompson explores the restoration of literary works by Wordsworth and Coleridge. Specifically, Thompson is interested in the moment when the poet became politically aware and disenchanted with the environs around him, turning his distaste into pieces of literature. While making his argument, Thompson delves heavily into the possible psychological profile of the author and his break with Godwinism. By doing this however, Thompson makes a critical mistake which all literary scholars and critics are meant to watch out for: that is confusing the narrator of the literature with the author himself.

Remarkably, Thompson determines that the change in Wordsworth's writings came at a time when he stopped writing towards an ideal and instead directed his writings at a real person. He writes, "It signaled also -- a central theme of…

Enlightenment-era, Neo-Classical works with Romantic overtones 'Tartuffe," Candide, and Frankenstein all use unnatural forms of character representation to question the common conceptions of what is natural and of human and environmental 'nature.' Moliere uses highly artificial ways of representing characters in dramatic forms to show the unnatural nature of an older man becoming attracted to a younger woman. Voltaire uses unnatural and absurd situations to question the unnatural belief of Professor Pangloss that this is the best of all possible worlds. Mary Shelley creates a fantastic or unnatural scenario to show the unnatural nature of a human scientist's attempt to turn himself into a kind of God-like creator through the use of reason and science alone.

"Tartuffe" is the most obviously unnatural of the three works in terms of its style. It is a play, and the characters do not really develop as human beings because of the compressed nature…

Eliza Haywood and Her Romantic Novel The History Of Miss Betsy Thoughtless

The fascinating intrigues that surround the fictionalized search for love, both legitimate and otherwise have oft been the topic of titillating drama. Eliza Haywood in The History of Betsy Thoughtless (1720-1805) is nothing less than a compilation of the wanderings of a young fictional character trying to assert a very culturally limited level of control over the decisions surrounding her love life and that of her friends. The reasons for the creation of this work are no doubt countless and yet the historical representation of the work traditionally has been a work created for the sole purpose of the earning of a living. Even in 1720 "sex sells." More recent scholarship has been focused on the idea that Haywood and her literary partners were not just selling books but giving life to a whole new genre, that of…

In the tracks, one sees the plants and rocks that help make the tracks part of the environment, rather than having it stand out from the environment. Miro even makes the blades of grass stand out in the painting, helping demonstrate that they are equally important with the other features. One of the elements of the painting that is most interesting is that it displays the sun without depicting the sun. The entire painting is highly illuminated, which clearly references the sun, but there is no image of the sun in the painting. This detail highlights how detailism is romantic realism; in the mid-day, no sun is actually visible, so that artist depictions of the sun at that point during the day are necessarily a departure from reality.

Miro, the aggon Tracks. 1918.

The next painting examined is Mont-roig, Village and Church, which was painted in 1919. One of the…

Romanticism

There are many way to approach the concept (or movement) known as romanticism, and over the many years romanticism has been perceived and defined in wildly different ways. Scholars and historians have spent tens of thousands of words dissecting, describing, and trying to come to terms with what romanticism really means. The truth is there are many ways to approach romanticism, and this paper looks into scholarly approaches to romanticism in 1925, 1949, and 1990. How is the approach to romanticism in 1925 different -- but also similar -- to another approach in 1990? That question and others that are germane to this topic will be presented in this paper. The three scholarly articles that will be critiqued in this paper are: Paul Kaufman's "Defining Romanticism" (1925); Morse Peckham's "Theory of Romanticism" (1951); and David Perkins' "The Romantic Movement" (1990).

Three scholarly articles from three periods in the twentieth…

art is changed by the changes that occur in political culture. The writer presents examples and contrasts two of the following areas Baroque, ococo, Neoclassicism, and omanticism and argues the point of how the eras drive changes in artwork. In addition the writer devotes two pages to comparing three works of famous artists.

Art has always been influenced by the masses. Political culture, and change have been driving forces behind the changes in art that history has witnessed. When political and cultural changes occur it is generally because of changing attitudes of those who live in the era and drive those changes. This extrapolates to changes in many things including taste in artwork. Two periods in history provide classic examples of such change occurring and being directly related to political and cultural changes that were taking place in society during the time.

The Neoclassical period and the omantic era are…

Most individuals fail to appreciate life to the fullest because they concentrate on being remembered as some of the greatest humans who ever lives. This makes it difficult for them to enjoy the simple pleasures in life, considering that they waste most of their time trying to put across ideas that are appealing to the masses. While many did not manage to produce ideas that survived more than them, others succeeded and actually produced thinking that remained in society for a long period of time consequent to their death.

Creativity is generally regarded as one of the most important concepts in society, considering that it generally induces intense feelings in individuals. It is responsible for progress and for the fact that humanity managed to produce a series of ideas that dominated society's thinking through time. In order for someone to create a concept that will live longer than him or…

The Monster's suffering was the root of all his murders, and Victor the cause of all his pain. It was at this point that the monstrosity of Victor's character is understood better, making Victor the greater monster in the story.

2.)

The poem "Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey" encompasses everything that the Romantic period had to offer. The physical aspect that the poem can portray, and the feeling that reading invokes makes this one of great substance and significance. The deep connection with Nature, is one that makes this poem a part of the Romantic Era's history, encapsulating a part of history in its lines.

The poem provides very rich description that invokes feeling; that is what the Romantic Period is all about. "Here, under this dark sycamore, and view / These plots of cottage ground, these orchard tufts, / Which at this season, with their unripe…

Art has always been used as a means of expression and of confirmation of events and movements that take place in the society in that respective period of time. The Neo-Classical and Romanticist art makes no exception to this rule and the two periods have been considered in the history of artistic art as two of the most representative for the expressivity they brought to the world of the arts as well as through the painters they inspired. Jacques-Louis David and Eugene Delacroix are two of the most representative painters of the New Classical period and the Romanticist art and their paintings are significant for the symbols and ideals these two periods provided for the artistic world.

Neo-classical art must be seen in the wider context of the 18th century and the era of Enlightenment when the new perceptions on the role of reason were redefined against the concepts of…

Art

Please take a close look at two paintings of storms: Watteau's the Storm

painting comparison

Watteau's the Storm and Delacroix's the Sea of Galilee

The two paintings in question refer to different time periods in art history and more importantly, to different views about art and life. These views are also reflected in the style and the technique of the two paintings. Art is often a reflection of the times in which it is created. The social values and perceptions as well as the dominant religious and philosophical ideas of the time tend to be represented in art during a certain period. The following two paintings will be compared and contrasted in terms of their unique qualities, as well as in terms of the way they reflect the era and the dominant ethos of the time period in which they were created.

Comparison of Two Paintings

The development in…

Your answer should be at least five sentences long.

The Legend of Arthur

Lesson 1 Journal Entry # 9 of 16

Journal Exercise 1.7A: Honor and Loyalty

1. Consider how Arthur's actions and personality agree with or challenge your definition of honor. Write a few sentences comparing your definition (from Journal 1.6A) with Arthur's actions and personality.

2. Write a brief paragraph explaining the importance or unimportance of loyalty in being honorable.

Lesson 1 Journal Entry # 10 of 16

Journal Exercise 1.7B: Combining Sentences

Complete the Practice Activity on page 202 of your text. After completing this activity, read over your Essay Assessment or another journal activity you've completed.

* Identify three passages that could be improved by combining two or more sentences with coordinating or subordinating conjunctions. Below the practice activity in your journal, write the original passages and the revised sentences you've created.

* Be sure to…

In the future, this helps to give everyone a greater appreciation for the emotions and challenges that were endured. (Henry, n.d., pp. 522- 535) (Legett, n.d., pp. 802 -- 818) (Gray, n.d., pp. 678 -- 697)

In the Victorian Period, there is focus on showing the impact of the industrial revolution on society. In the poem Dover Beach, there is discussion about how this is creating vast disparities. Evidence of this can be seen with the passage that says, "Ah, love, let us be true

To one another! For the world, which seems. To lie before us like a land of dreams, So various, so beautiful) so new, Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light, nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain; and we are here as on a darkling plain. Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight, Where ignorant armies clash by night." (Arnold, n.d.) This…

Everywhere there is the drumbeat of the natives, and the ominous reminder of the presence of untamed native life. Blackness is the dominant image of the Congo in Heart of Darkness -- whirls of black limbs, the black water -- all of which suggest that the environment is anathema and destructive to white civilization, as manifest in the persona of Kurtz. The natural beauty of the land, its colors, and the nuances of local cultures of tribes that would be perceptible to an Africa blur into a singular image of darkness in Conrad's prose.

Q4. Some critics argue that you can only fully understand a piece of literature if you understand the historical events that were ongoing when it was being written. Others argue that each piece of literature is independent of its historical context and you should not have to look for information outside the text to understand it.…

The harmony is used for particularly dramatic effect in Bar 4, where four eight notes can be heard under beats 3 (the second half of a half-note) and 4. Schumann again creates movement in a similar way in Bars 8, 12, 14, and 20, where there is much more movement for the left hand than for the right. Schumann keeps most of his chords in the register below middle C; to do otherwise would create an overly dramatic darkness that would not be appropriate for the childhood memories this piece tries to call to mind for its listeners. He uses C3 on beat 1 for the harmony in Bar 13; it is the lowest note in the piece and adds to the sense of climax in Bar 14.

Schumann also made Traumerei emotional with his use of tempo. It is a slow piece, slowing even further with the ritard ("slower")…

(Gioachino Rossini Biography 2)

Ewen (1962) also notes the importance and influence of some of his major works. "As regards French opera, Rossini's great influence can scarcely be questioned. illiam Tell has been described as the foundation stone of French grand opera." (Ewen 202) it is also noteworthy that critics consider his influence to extend further than only his freshness and vital style; for example, he "… may have the credit of having grafted onto opera seria many of the more elastic conventions of opera buffa, the employment of an important bass soloist being one notable instance…" (Ewen 202)

Conclusion

In conclusion, there is little doubt that Rossini produced works that are not only part of our culture and operatic repertoire, but that he was a formidable influence on music and opera in his time. As has also been suggested in the above discussion, while he was not an 'artistic…

Russian composer Piotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) was that of his Romeo and Juliet Fantasy (first composed in 1869 and subsequently revised 1870 and 1880). In this composition, Tchaikovsky adapted Shakespeare's tragedy of thwarted adolescent love into the sonata form. (Grout & Palisca 584) Although the play that inspired this musical work is often called tragic rather than Romantic in its orientation, Tchaikovksy's interpretation of the tale is a clear example of the Romantic style of 19th century orchestral music. Five elements must be analyzed to understand and underline the Romantic nature of this composer's work. Firstly, one must consider the 'storytelling' use of the sonata form of the Fantasy. Secondly, one must consider the way in which the sonata was considered by the composer to be an Overture, a work that gives a 'summary' or a miniature of a larger story or musical work. Thirdly, the tone color of the…

role of religion in the history of European society is a tumultuous one. Christianity, from its obscure beginnings in the classical age, eventually took the reins as the centerpiece of philosophical, literary, and scientific thought. It is true that religion, often, tends to justify actions that might objectively be perceived as incongruous to the established faith. It has historically been the case that when traditional forms of worship become threatened, morally questionable methods are undertaken to strengthen the order. This is certainly the case with Christianity. Since the birth of the Catholic Church in the Roman Empire, Church officials have actively attempted to make their privileged positions in society impervious to assault -- this process has progressed for centuries and, indeed, tens of centuries. For many years this single faith dominated nearly every aspect of European society and was a strong force in maintaining the status quo. However, the many…

(Eliot, 1971).

The Subjective over the Objective

Modernism was a reaction against Realism and its focus on objective depiction of life as it was actually lived. Modernist writers derived little artistic pleasure from describing the concrete details of the material world and the various human doings in it. They derived only a little more pleasure from describing the thoughts of those humans inhabiting the material world. Their greatest pleasure, however, was in expressing the angst, confusion, and frustration of the individual who has to live in that world. (Merriam-Webster, p. 1236).

Modernist writers used novel means for expressing these newly intense emotions. They did not always express the individual's confusion and frustration by relating the inner discourse of the individual. Instead, they manipulated the structure, style, and content of their works to cultivate a certain effect on the reader. (aym, Vol. D, p. 17). They wanted to convey the experience…

British Lit. Romanticism to Present

Following the liberating Age of Reason, the Enlightenment, the age when humanity was triumphing through literature and Rousseau's philosophy was inspiring revolutions, the age of Romanticism saw the birth of some genius writers of its own. Among them, Lord Byron, a man who lived his thirty-six years with the intensity of one who wants to know it all and do it all, was a prolific writer whose works were the expression of his time.

Lord Byron was the restless soul who burnt every resource he had in his inquiries about the meaning of life. He traveled extensively and, like most of his fellow artists, was enchanted with the exotic of the East. Byron was both blessed and haunted by his genius. His image on the seashore, watching the fire lit to burn Shelly's body at Via Reggio, in Italy, is one of those images most…

A certain feeling toward propriety and morality is stamped upon our sex, which does not allow us to appear alone in public, nor without an escort. Thus how can I present my musical work, to the public with anything other than timidity. The work of any lady…can indeed arouse a degree of pity in the eyes of some experts." (owers and Tick, 1987)

owers and Tick state that many composers of this time "Reichardt, Hensel, and Schumann -- published lieder under male authorship. A few of Reichardt's early songs were included in a collection of her father's lieder, 'Duetsche Lieder' and three of Hensel's early songs "appear in each of Felix's Opus 8 and Opus 9; the 'Allegemeine musikalische Zeitung' claimed that 'An des lust'gen runnenes Rand' a duet composed by Fanny, is the best song in the collection" of Opus 8. Additionally three of Schumann's lieder were "included in…

Keats and Hemingway

Although the literary texture John Keats' poem "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" and Ernest Hemingway's "A Very Short Story," have profoundly different tones, given that one was written during the Romantic period of the 19th century in England, and the other during the modernist period of 20th century American literature, both works have similar tales and attitudes towards love -- a military man seeks beauty and solace in the arms of a woman. Yet the man's love comes to naught because of a woman's faithlessness.

The Keats has a distinctly 'unreal' or crafted poetic tone, in contrast to the Hemingway attempt to have the quality of ordinary speech and life. Keats' poem is a ballad in the modern style. Hemingway's reads almost like a newspaper story in its quiet, factual description of its characters. Keats' poem is about a fairy queen, rather than an attempt at capturing…

For instance, Sylvy could have decided to go with the man and leave her rural life. She could have left the life of poverty and gone back to the city. Had she made this choice she knew that she would never have to worry about money again. However, having come from the city originally, she also knew the personal freedom that she would be giving up. She felt that if she went away with the guest, she could learn to serve, follow, and love him, "as a dog loves" (Jewett, a White Heron, Harper Series, p. 1646). This line summarizes the oppression of the urban woman in the late 1880s.

Jewett tells her readers much about her feelings about social class and the political position of women during her time. She portrays women as "followers" of men. She alludes to the position of women as "servants" of man. She compares…

The piano plays quick octaves and the urgent bass motive portrays an intense wild ride. This strong galloping is also being formulated by the piano's triplet rhythm which allows for the development of the dramatic storyline's urgency.

5. ) There are four different characters in this piece: the Narrator, the father, the son, and the Erlkonig. Although Schubert uses one singer to portray and sing all of the four parts of the characters, the listener is able to quite clearly differentiate them from one another. The son is sung in the high register in a minor key with dissonant harmonies. On the other hand, the father is sung in low register while the Erlkonig is sung in a coy with pleasant and soft melodies in the major key.

6. ) There are two ways that Schubert builds momentum in his piece. The first way is by using the bass as…

People generally focus on appearance when coming across a particular individual. This is perfectly exemplified by the meeting between the old member of the De Lacey family and the monster. The man initially welcomes the creature, as he is no longer able to see and is unacquainted with the monster's facial features and body.

Victor Frankenstein can be considered to contrast the monster through his behavior, his background, and because of the goals that he has. The scientist virtually had everything that the monster longed for, considering his family, his reputation, and the fact that he was generally seen as one of society's leading members. Instead of valuing what he had, however, Frankenstein gave it all away in favor of gaining reputation, as this was apparently the thing that he appreciated the most in life. hile most readers are likely to blame Frankenstein for most unfortunate events in the book,…

"O Sylvan ye! thou wanderer thro' the woods, / How often has my spirit turned to thee!" (http://www.uoregon.edu/~rbear/ballads.html) Now, the poet wishes to "transfer" the healing powers of nature that he himself has experienced to his sister. By stating."..Nature never did betray / the heart that loved her" (http://www.uoregon.edu/~rbear/ballads.html) ordsworth assures his sister that she will also find peace in the middle of nature if she believes in the communion with nature. This prediction is an artifice of the poem and is not simple. "ordsworth's ability to look to the future to predict memories of events that are happening in the present is ingenious and complicated. But ordsworth beautifully clarifies this concept by using nature as the ideal link between recollection, foresight, and his relationship with another."(Eilenberg, Susan. Strange power of Speech: ordsworth, Coleridge, and Literary Possession. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992).

Moreover, by imagining the future of his…

Sir Walter Scott was a writer a part of the romantic era, roughly 1797 -- 1837. Scott was born slightly before the beginning of this era, in 1771, and died nearly at the same time the period changed in 1832. Scott is known as a novelist, playwright, and poet of Scottish descent. The beginning of the omantic period is typically attributed to the publication of Wordworth's and Coleridge's Lyrical Ballads, and closed with the rise into power of Queen Victoria. This is a period in literature that produced outstanding lyrical poetry, a few dramas, and several novelists that were popular, including Scott. Scott was known for the ability to blend European history into entertaining narratives. Scott happened to have mass appeal during this period, able to reach readers of various classes and places within the Victorian era. At the time of the omantic Era, authors such as Jane Austen were…

In his novels he focused on characters, motivations, and reactions to the forces around his characters. He realistically examined Spanish politics, economy, religion, and family through the eyes of the middle class, addressing the cruelty of human beings against each another in his novels Miau and Misericordia. Galdos was called the conscience of Spain for his realistic observations of society with all its ills. (Columbia 2005) His plays were less successful than his novels.

In 1907 he became deputy of the Republican Party in Madrid. He went blind in 1912, but overcoming this tragedy, he continued to dictate his books until his death. Other works translated into English are Tristana (tr. 1961) and Compassion (tr. 1962) Outside Spain his Novelas Espanolas Contemporaneas are the most popular. Perez Galdos was elected to the "Real Academia Espanola" Real Academia Espanola (Royal Spanish Academy) in 1897. A statue of him was raised in…

uthering Heights

Emily Bronte is an author who was born in 1818. She is known for publishing her only novel, uthering Heights, in 1847 under the name of Ellis Bell, a year before her death. Her stellar work of art, uthering Heights, narrates her experience with both the Romantic periods, which lasted from years 1785 to 1830, to that early Victorian era, from 1830 to 1848 (Landers).

The Theme of Love in uthering Heights

The uthering Heights is a passionate story of a love triangle involving two family generations that intermarry. These families are the Earnshaws and the Lintons. The love tale includes a technique of a story within a story, and is narrated by two different characters. It is of importance to note that the two characters also happen to have different knowledge about the two families. One character has a profound knowledge of the families. Her name is…

Underground

The books that emerged during the first half of the 19th century and some a little later as well belonged to the romantic age of literature that demonstrated a deep fascination for the dark side of human nature. Starting with such books as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, this age is known for some of the unique characters it gave us including the protagonist of Notes from Underground. This book despite its theme of natural vs. unnatural is essentially romantic in its views and characterization style. This is clear from the fact that while Romantic period was known for its intense appreciation of nature, it also exhibited a heightened interest in the occult, the gothic and the strange phenomena. The non-adherence to classic rules and norms had given rise to creativity freedom that led to the development of strange new themes such as the one we encounter in the Frankenstein. In…

Greek legend of Prometheus, the god that defied Zeus and brought fire to humans, is one that figures largely in the imagery of the later Romantic poets. There's Byron's Prometheus, Percy Shelley's Prometheus Unbound, and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus. For Percy Shelley and Lord Byron, Prometheus embodied the revolutionary, creative, and daringly original spirit, and a "courage and majesty and firm and patient opposition to omnipotent force" (Prometheus Unbound, Norton Anthology 734). Prometheus was the "champion of humanity" persecuted for his selfless desire to bring good to the world. Considering both men's hate for tyranny and zeal for social justice such a reading is not surprising.

However, Paul Cantor points out in Creature and Creator that, "the Romantics made a hero out of Prometheus by glossing over those aspects of the original legends which cast him in a bad light"(77). Mary Shelley's use of the Promethean legend,…

SENSIBILITY AND PAUL DE MAN "CONCLUSIONS"

Despite the fact that De man was not a trained philosopher his post war theoretical work is majorly concerned with the nature of the subject and the language in addition to the role played by language and subject in the larger epistemological question of how and what one can claim to know. As a scholar in the field of literature, however, he often took his departure from, and kept returning to, the problems that mostly affect literature in terms of language and criticism. De man did some work in literary theory and criticism dating back to 1950s, although this work cannot be associated with any previous school of criticism that were flourishing during that era. (De man 567)

esearch questions

What major theme does Austen bring about in her book 'sense and sensibility'

What styles does she use to build on the major theme?…

Neoclassicism:

Oath of the Horatii (1784) by Jacques-Louis David

Romanticism:

The Plagues of Egypt (1800) by Joseph Turner

Style Guide

Representing the Neoclassicist period of art is the French painter Jacques-Louis David's (1784) Oath of the Horatii, painted for the French government (prior to the Revolution) in Rome. It conveys a Republican sentiment, both in form and in function (as the story of the Horatii was an old one from ancient Roman history that told the story of two brothers who banded together to fight oppression within the city-state). This same theme of taking a stand against oppression would be important in the coming years in France and especially in Paris, where the revolution would break out in force. This painting thus delivers up a theme that is in full support of the classical ideals represented by the Horatii as they take arms and prepare themselves to fight the corrupt…

And the goal of Impressionist painting is always just that -- to given an impression, rather than to suggest a coherent, linear picture of experience. Impressionists depicted emotions and subjective concepts, rather than attempted to convey a singular view. There is no 'point' to Monet's paintings of water lilies; there is merely the artist's reflection on color. The story goes nowhere in "Prelude to the afternoon of a faun," but the atmospheric canvas of light, shade, and sound creates a scene. Backdrops rather than plot; emotions and desires and dreams rather than clear movements characterize this Impressionistic work of art.

The original inspiration of the work was a poem by the French poet Mallmarme. However, the poem's uncertainty and daydream-like quality is not a literal 'synthesis' of the poem (Lloyd 154). Instead, Debussy created something entirely new in his work. The music allows for a greater ambiguity in its composition…

Ideology in France 1848-1849: eflections on Nationalism and Liberalism

The ideology adopted in France between 1848-1849 has been described in many different ways by historians and theorists. The predominant body of research available however suggests that a liberal and nationalistic ideology reigned supreme during this time, where the middle class became much more influential. The idealisms of the romantic era are also evident in France during this period of time, and may have influenced the nationalistic state of affairs in France at the time.

The liberal and nationalistic idealisms adopted by the middle class led many people to experience struggles and hardships, but a majority of these were in the process of discovering their own form of leadership and sense of pride. These ideas are explored in greater detail below.

Ideology in France

Karl Marx describes the France of 1848-1849 as filled with Class struggles. From primary accounts of the…

Live Concert April 8, 2016: Carnegie Hall Presents Dover Quartet in the eill Recital Hall

The performers in this concert consisted of the Dover string quartet: Joel Link on violin, Bryan Lee on violin, Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt on viola, and Camden Shaw on cello. The program consisted of the String Quartet No. 12 in F Major, Op. 96 "American" by Dvorak, the String Quartet, Op. 3 by Berg, and the String Quartet in F Major, Op. 59, No. 1 "Razumovsky" by Beethoven.

The three works were very different, which is not surprising considering that each was written in a different time period. Beethoven's quartet was composed in 1806 in for the Russian Count Andrey Razumovsky; Dvorak's quartet was composed in the 1890s during the artist's say in New York; and Berg's quartet was composed in 1910 (but not debuted for another 13 years) ("At a Glance"). So each piece…

Modernist literature refers to a literary period from the first half of the 20th century, one that reacted to the external influences of an increasingly industrialized society, and one that was becoming more and more globalized. This was a population of people who had been hardened and drained by two world wars. This was a population of people who were pondering the future of humanity, human existence, the human condition and their place in the world. When compared to the romantic period, modernism appears edgier and less serene. The romantic period had more of a focus on the natural world and the experience of being; modernism focused more on the inner self, seeing more of a decline and fraught fragmentation with the external world. From a literary perspective, the period meant a subversion of typical norms: modernist prose and poetry played with structure and form in ways that readers weren’t…