The emphasis of Romanticism is on the imagination and emotion and it started as reaction against the Industrial Revolution, which emphasized commercial production as well as a response to the disillusionment with the Enlightenment values of reason ND order caused by the ending of the French Revolution (1789). The Romanticism was a period in which certain ideas and attitudes arose; intellect became the dominant mode of expression. Expression was everything to the Romantics; art, music, poetry, drama, literature and philosophy (The History guide).
The Romantics opted for a life of the heart and appreciated diversity in man and nature. Change – The Romantics were liberals and conservatives, revolutionaries and reactionaries. Some were preoccupied with God, others were atheistic to the core. The Romantics saw diversity and uniqueness – those traits created diversity between an and nations. The Romantics exclaimed, “Dare to be! ” (The History guide). The old order politics and the economy seemed to be falling apart and raised the threat of moral disaster. There need to build and reshape new systems of discipline and order grew.
The era was full of innovative ideas and new art forms. Zeitgeist – “Hedge’s idea of the zeitgeist, the “spirit of the age,” the ghostly embodiment of the most important factors that are acting in human history at any given time, was frequently invoked as an idea conveying a vague sense of historical and natural inevitability to whatever the writer favored. Hedge’s concept of the zeitgeist gave thinkers a carte blanches to imagine sweeping historical scenarios manifesting various historical inevitabilities and grand narratives” (rationalism. Com).
The intellectual with ideas always faces problems. Questions of meaning, interpretation and an acceptance of a particular Zeitgeist, or climate of opinion or world view is serious but difficult stuff. Expression – Romantics believed in art that created strong emotions. It encouraged poetry to be freer in technique and effects (rationalism. Com), and finding inspiration in other forms of media and even using it reading their own. The idea of the genius is another thing we owe to Romanticism; it was the cornerstone of the aesthetic philosophy.
