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1800-1860. We will walk on our feet; We will work with our own hands; We will speak our own minds. Ralph Waldo Emerson Is this an American Ideal that is alive and well today? *Thinking point for this unit. Intro – Historical Overview. The Louisiana Purchase – 1803
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We will walk on our feet; We will work with our own hands; We will speak our own minds. • Ralph Waldo Emerson • Is this an American Ideal that is alive and well today? *Thinking point for this unit
Intro – Historical Overview The Louisiana Purchase – 1803 Settled between France and the U.S. Pres. Jefferson negotiated the purchase of all the land between the Mississippi River, the Rocky Mountains, The Gulf of Mexico, and Canada for 15 million dollars (4 cents an acre) The area of the U.S. was immediately doubled. Westward expansion was launched. The Gold Rush – 1849 Gold was discovered in CA. Tens of thousands of Americans travelled west, hoping to get rich. Resulted in broken lives and broken dreams Also led to the founding of new towns and cities Led to the building of the first transcontinental railroads Education and Reform – 1826 … Lyceum movement began in Millbury, Massachusetts Goals: educating adults, training teachers, establishing museums, instituting social reforms (utopian projects: plans for creating a more perfect society) Ralph Waldo Emerson – popular speaker for this movement
Overall…by the beginning of the 19th century… • Americans had built an independent nation. • Although, Americans had not created their own cultural identity. • A new generation of writers came along… • Romantics • Subgroups: Fireside Poets, Transcendentalists, and Dark Romantics • Groups, like these, took the first steps in the direction of creating their own cultural identity.
Romanticism: Name given to those schools of thought that value feeling and intuition over reason. • Intuition = capacity to know things spontaneously and immediately through emotions rather than reasoning • First seen in Germany • Had a strong influence on literature, music, and art in Europe and England. • Came late to America & took different forms
Developed as part of the reaction against rationalism. • As part of the Industrial Revolution, people began to realize the limits of “reason”. • The Romantics believed that the imagination was able to discover truths that the rational mind could not reach. • Truths = usually accompanied by powerful emotion and associated with natural, unspoiled beauty.
Major Characteristics of Romanticism: • Imagination, individual feelings, intuition, and nature were of greater value than reason and logic. • The urban, industrial world does not offer the beauty that unspoiled nature does. • Reflects on nature’s beauty as a path to spiritual and moral development. • Prefers youthful innocence to educated sophistication. • Values individual freedom / worth of the individual • Distrusts progress – looks to the past for wisdom. • Finds beauty and truth in exotic locales, the supernatural realm, and the inner world of the imagination. • Sees poetry as the highest expression of the imagination (over science).
They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night. • Edgar Allen Poe • What did Poe mean by distinguishing “they who dream by day” from “those who dream only by night”?
The development of the American novel coincided with the westward expansion and the development of Romanticism. • Growth of a nationalist spirit • Rapid spread of cities • Reinforced idea of the frontier life • This subject matter (meaning limitless frontiers) was not available in Europe, giving the American novel an advantage.
The creation of the Romantic hero coincided with the westward expansion and the Romanticism movement as well. • Characteristics of a Romantic hero: • Young / youthful qualities • Innocent and pure in purpose • Sense of honor based on higher principle (not society’s rules) • Knowledge of people and life based on deep, intuitive understanding, not formal learning • Loves nature / avoids town life • Quests for some higher truth in the natural world
The first American hero --- Natty Bumppo • Created by James Fenimore Cooper (famous Romantic author) • Bumppo = heroic, virtuous, skillful frontiersman • simple morality, love of nature, distrust of town life, and almost superhuman resourcefulness • Makes him a true Romantic hero • Most Europeans had an image of an American as unsophisticated and uncivilized. • Creations of heroes like Bumppo made this a false rumor.
Romantic Hero • Youthful • Innocent • Intuitive • Close to nature • Hopelessly uneasy with women • Ex. Of modern Romantic heroes: Superman, Luke Skywalker, Indiana Jones, Lone Ranger • Rationalist Hero • Exemplified by a real-life figure such as Ben Franklin • Worldly • Educated • Sophisticated • Focused on making a place for himself in civilization
Three Romantic Groups: • Fireside Poets • Transcendentalists • Dark Romantics Romantic Groups
Fireside Poets (Boston) • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow • John Greenleaf Whittier • Oliver Wendell Holmes • James Russell Lowell
Fireside Poets • First group of American poets to rival British poets in popularity. • Notable for their scholarship and the resilience of their lines and themes. • Preferred conventional forms over experimentation. *They were unable to recognize poetry of the future, because of their literary conservatism • Often used American legends and scenes of American life as their subject matter. • They took on causes in their poetry, such as the abolition of slavery, which brought the issues to the forefront in a palatable way. • Through their scholarship and editorial efforts, they paved the way for later Romantic writers like Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Walt Whitman. • Poems were read aloud at fireside as family entertainment
Transcendentalists • Led by Ralph Waldo Emerson • Beliefs: • Everything in the world is a reflection of the Divine Soul • Human perfectibility (worked to achieve this goal) • All people were connected to a divine source • Direct contemplation of nature as a source of spiritual knowledge and inspiration. • A flower found by a stream / bird flying overhead • Brings the speaker to some important, deeply felt insight, which is then recorded in the literature (often, a poem). • Similar to the way the Puritans drew moral lessons from nature. • However…. the Puritans lessons were defined as their religion. (God) • The Romantics, on the other hand, found a less clearly defined divinity in nature. Their contemplation of nature led to a more generalized emotional and intellectual awakening.
Ralph Waldo Emerson • Believed in intuitive thought • Saw nature as a source of a Divine Soul • Believed we could find God directly in nature • Tragic events (death, disease, etc.) could be explained on a spiritual level • Benjamin Franklin • Believed in rational thought • Did not gaze on nature and feel the presence of a Divine Soul • Looked at nature and saw something to be examined scientifically and used to help humanity
Dark Romantics • Had much in common with the Transcendentalist • Didn’t disagree with Emerson’s belief that spiritual facts lie behind the appearances of nature; they just didn’t think those facts were necessarily good or harmless. • Felt that Emerson had ignored the “dark side” • Sin / innate wickedness of humans • Came along to “correct the balance” • In their works, they explored… • Conflict between good and evil • Psychological effects of guilt and sin • Madness • Other human failings • Examples of a Dark Romantics – Edgar Allen Poe & Nathaniel Hawthorne
1804 – 1864 Born in Salem, Massachusetts Attended schools in Salem and college at Bowdoin in Maine Upon leaving college, he wrote to his sister, “I shall never make a distinguished figure in the world, and all I hope or wish is to plot along with the multitude.” This has been deemed an ironic statement, with a clear desire and ambition to be a successful writer. Added the “W” to the family name to ensure a broad “a” in its pronunciation The year of his birth – his family lost its wealth His father (a sea captain) died during a voyage, leaving his wife with three children to raise and few resources beyond the charity of relatives The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne
His literature is fueled by an awareness of the guilt that accompanies a Puritan conscience. However, his dark insights into the human heart had cast gloom into his own life. He became increasingly dissatisfied, remote, and disappointing to his friends. The source of this darkness, which fascinates him, seems to stem from his ancestors. Ex. A relative played a role in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, sentencing nineteen of the accused to death. Novel Background: Genre: Romantic / Historical Fiction in a historical setting Published in 1850 Set in 17th century Puritan Boston during the years 1642-1649 The story centers around Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter through an adulterous affair, and is publically punished. The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Custom House – Introductory – pg. 7-43 Ch. 1 (The Prison Door) – pg. 45-46 Ch. 2 (The Market Place) – pg. 47-55 Bring textbooks starting on Monday! The Scarlet LetterFirst Reading Assignment – Due Mon.
