ROMANTICISM
WHEN & WHERE?
WHAT IS IT?
Mid/Late18th century in Western Europe
A new way of thinking and feeling but was never unified as a movement
VOCABULARY
(1) movement from "society follows religion" to "society follows men's rules"
period between French Revolution (1789) and the coronation of Queen Victoria (1837)
The word "Romantic" was adopted in the late 18th century
(2) dal verbo "to arise": sorgere
ideas created by a sense of dissatisfaction (3) with the ideals of the Enlightenment, with the society that produced them and with civilization as a corruptive agent
(3) insoddisfazione, malcontento
VALUED
IMAGINATION
NATURE
LOVE
For Romantics love isn't easy, it is often troubled
(4) dolori
(5) non ce la faceva più
They put passion and spontaneity before anything else but they are killed by their own feelings
At the end of the love story written by Goethe, "Sorrows(4) of Young Werther", because of his feelings about a married lady, the protagonist kills himself: he can't take it anymore (5)
A symbol of the power of nature, for the Romantics, are, for example, the Niagara Falls
For Romantics, Nature is a religious experience, a spiritual fulfilment(6) in wide(7), open spaces
(6) appagamento
(7) ampio, vasto
It creates a feeling of awe(8)
It reminds man of his real importance and place in the world
It allows relief(10) from city life
Romantics are overwhelmed(9) by nature
Source of inspiration and sensation
A counter part for the spiritual corruption of modern society
THE FAR-AWAY
THE PAST
Revival of the Middle-Ages
(9) sopraffatto
(8) timore reverenziale: paura,timore ma con ammirazione
(12) mancante di qualcosa
(11) desiderio
(10) sollievo
Opposed to reason
The Romantic looks at the irrational aspects of reality
Interested in the humble and ignorant
THE INDIVIDUAL
One that doesn't conform to the strict rules of society
The subjective and irrational part of human nature
The rebel, the outcast
passion, spontaneity & feelings
Is considered as opposed to institutionalised practices of thought
Is seen as a substitute for traditional religion
a vehicle for self-consciousness: Nature allows people to discover what they truly are
A provocation to a state of imagination and division
CHILD
Playfulness and lack (12) of practicality
For Romantics, the child is the symbol of the "uncorrupted " by civilisation
Centre of everything
Represents freedom, spontaneity, innocence, sweetness & irrationality
He's the image of creativity & imagination
FLANEUR (13)
Word adopted by Baudelaire in 1863
someone who is not busy and spends his time experiencing life
In UK is used the word "stroller" (13)
He represents someone who doesn't follow society's rules, so he's uncorrupted
A pure creative genius
He isn't somebody that must be educated, on the contrary, he must be copied
The same principle applies to the savage
EXOTICISM
a kind of attraction for the exotic, the savage
An example was the French impressionist Gauguin
He moved to Thaiti (in the Pacific Ocean(14)) because he wanted to find a more real, savage and uncivilised environment
(13) "camminatore"; negli USA significa anche "passeggino"
(14) "Pacific" si usa solo con "Ocean"
Neo-Gothic architecture: Pugin defended the Medieval-style
Copies the forms of Gothic
Romantics feel a mix of fascination and fear for the unknown / the mysterious
MPORTANT POETS
This conception starts with the "Emile" by Rousseau
WILLIAM WORDSWORTH
He wanted to write poetry but he wasn't receiving any recognition and his parents wanted him to become a lawyer
He preferred to die rather than following the rules, so in 1770 he killed himself
EMBLEM OF THE DOOMED ARTIST
someone who will have a terrible ending
Sensitive artist who is rejected by our cruel word
Secularised version of a Christ-like figure
Enthusiasm for the democratic ideals of the French revolution
Pantheistic view of nature
He saw nature everywhere
for him Nature has the powers of God
Man is inside the Nature
Man can't be separated from Nature
Wordsworth wasn't interested in Nature's beauty but in the feelings he felt when he experienced it
It recalled a time before the country became obsessed by money, industralisation and technology
He detested industrialisation
he encouraged the idea of people to go to Lake District
He was the first to have the idea of natural parks to save the beauty of that place from industrialisation
Like Goethe's protagonist in The Sorrows of Young Werther
Ruins are a testimony of the past, better than the present
Regularity of the forms
Revisitation of medieval stories and legends
Every capital and spire is identical (unlike Gothic, when they were all different, respecting the asymmetry of nature)