UNIT 2:

AMERICAN ROMANTICISM (1800 – 1870)

AND REALISM (1861-1914)

M.A Nguyen Thi Thuy Dung

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WARMING UP

• Can you guess the differences between Romanticism and Realism?

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OBJECTIVES

After the lesson, the students will:

• Have an understanding of the historical background of two American literature periods: Romanticism and
Realism
• Have an understanding of the styles and characteristics of the two periods
• Have an understanding of the famous authors and their writings
• Be able to compare Romanticism and Realism in American literature

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OVERVIEW

2.1 American Romanticism

2.2 American Realism

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2.1.1. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

• 1800 – 1870 = time of growth and expansion westward

• Unrestrained growth in U.S.
 1803-1853: area of U.S. increases from 846,000 to 2,181,000.
 1800-1850: population of U.S. increases from 5 million to over
23 million
• Technological advancements (i.e. steel plow, telegraph, cotton gin)
• Transportation Improvements (canals, railroads)

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2.1.1. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Growth & expansion = new technologies

• Railroads
• Factories and advanced farming equipment
• Telegraph and Morse code
Troublesome changes
• Factories brought fierce competitions = child labor and unsafe
conditions
• Women’s right gaining a voice
• Opposition to slavery began to grow and gain a voice in abolitionists.

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2.1.2. ROMANTICISM TRAITS

What is Romanticism?
• A literary and artistic movement that placed an emphasis on imagination, emotion, nature and individuality.
• Elevated the imagination over reason and intuition over fact
• Reveled in nature

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2.1.2. ROMANTICISM TRAITS

The Romantics
• Often used American legends and scenes of American life as their subject matter.
• Example: “The Legend of Sleepy Hallow”
• Until about 1870 romanticism influenced the major forms of American prose: transcendentalist writings,
historical fiction, and sentimental fiction
• Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Edgar Allan Poe all incorporated romantic elements in their
fiction.
• Romantic artists, philosophers, and writers saw the limitations of reason and celebrated instead the glories
of the individual spirit, the emotions, and the imagination as basic elements of human nature.

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2.1.2. ROMANTICISM TRAITS

• The splendors of nature inspired the romantics more than the fear of God, and some of them felt a
fascination with the supernatural.
• Romantic works exhibit a preoccupation with atmosphere, sentiment and optimism.
• Most Romantic poets worked within conventional European literary structures
• Most American Romantic poets wrote about the past
2.1.2. ROMANTICISM TRAITS

Characteristics
• Sentimentalism (The Sketch Book – Irving)
• Celebration of natural beauty & the simple life (Cooper, Emerson, Thoreau)
• Introspection (Thoreau, Poe)
• Idealization of the common man, uncorrupted by civilization (Cooper)
• Interest in the picturesque past (Irving, Hawthorne)
• Interest in remote places (Melville)
• Concern with a world of mystery; morbid, melancholy (Poe)
• Individualism (Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman)
• Humanitarianism (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
2.1.3. AUTHORS OF ROMANTICISM MOVEMENT

Washington Irving
• 1st American writer to achieve international reputation
• Travel through Europe and a fascination with its folklore lead
Irving to create his two most famous stories:
 “The Legend of Sleepy Hallow”
 “Rip Van Winkle”
• Wrote “The Devil and Tom Walker” at the same time Puritan
beliefs were being replaced by materialism and the desire for
personal gain.

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2.1.3. AUTHORS OF ROMANTICISM MOVEMENT

James Fenimore Cooper

• James Fenimore Cooper was a master of
historical fiction
• Along with Irving, he was one of the few writers
who could make a living by writing.
• Cooper wrote a series of five novels called the
Leatherstocking Tales, which includes The
Last of the Mohicans, focusing on the
adventures of Natty Bumppo, a white man living
among Native Americans in the forests of the
American Northeast
• Native Americans are portrayed as “noble
savages” in Cooper’s work.
2.2. AMERICAN REALISM

• “Realists center their attention to a remarkable degree on the

immediate, the here and now, the specific action, and the
verifiable consequence.“
• American Realism is a style in art, music and literature that
depicted contemporary social realities and the lives and
everyday activities of ordinary people. The movement began in
literature in the mid-19th century.
• American realism was most commonly practiced between the
years of 1865 to around 1910. It was largely in response to the
romantics of the period who believed that man could overcome
evil, that he was some type of God. The realists differed,
believing a man to be simply a man.

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2.2.1. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

• The term "realism" encompasses the period of time from the Civil War to the turn of the century during which
authors wrote fiction devoted to accurate representation and an exploration of American lives in various
contexts.
• The Civil War divided the nation. It interrupts Transcendentalism.
• It ushered in an age of uncertainty, and people were less optimistic about the future.
• Population of the United States is growing rapidly (1865 -1915)
• Science, industry, and transportation are expanding

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2.2.2. CHARACTERISTICS

• A reaction against Romanticism, an interest in scientific method, the study of documentary history, and the
influence of rational philosophy all affected the rise of realism.
• Character is more important than action and plot and will seem ordinary (representing individualism)
• Settings are usually those familiar to the author and detailed
• Subject matter is drawn from real-life experiences (even local stories).
• Diction is natural speech, not heightened or poetic
• Providing an objective point of view is important
• The realists reject symbolism

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2.2.3. STYLE

• The writer sets down observations impartially and objectively.

• These authors sought to portray life as they saw it, insisting that the ordinary
and local were just as suitable for art as the sublime.
• Captures the commonplace.
• Nature Emphasis (Yes, its beauty, but also its hardship and how it wears the
human spirit down)
• Stories often deal with government, education, man’s purpose in life, and the
American Dream. The conflict often involves a moral dilemma that is
accurately portrayed.

“Nothing more and nothing less than

the truthful treatment of material. “
William Dean Howells

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2.2.4. REALISM AUTHORS

• Stephen Crane • Kate Chopin

 The Red Badge of Courage ▪ “The Story of an Hour”
• Willa Cather • John Steinbeck
 O Pioneers! ▪ Of Mice and Men
 My Antonia • Mark Twain
• Jack London ▪ The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
 The Call of the Wild ▪ The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

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SUMMARY

In summary, the lesson covers 2 main parts:

• American romanticism
 Historical background: Westward expansion, technological advancements
 Romaticism traits: imagination, emotion, nature and individuality
 Popular authors: Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper
• American realism – Historical background, traits and popular authors
 Historical background: Civil war, age of uncertainty
 Realism traits: ordinary people, real-life experiences
 Popular authors: Mark Twain, Jack London

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GLOSSARY

1. Romanticism /rōˈman(t)əˌsizəm/: a movement in the arts and literature that originated in the late 18th
century, emphasizing inspiration, subjectivity, and the primacy of the individual
2. Realism /ˈrɪə.lɪ.zəm/: Realism is an art movement that attempted to paint human subjects as they really
existed in all their flaws, suffering, and imperfections
3. Symbolism /ˈsɪm.bəl.ɪ.zəm/: the use of symbols in art, literature, films, etc. to represent ideas
4. Prose /prəʊz/: written language in its ordinary form rather than poetry
5. Supernatural /ˌsuː.pəˈnætʃ.ər.əl/: caused by forces that cannot be explained by science

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