Romanticism and Realism

Romanticism and Realism are two very different periods in literary and art history. Although both periods completely disagreed with each other they were a result of the social and economic revolt.

Romanticism was an artistic, literary and social movement that originated in the second half of the eighteenth century in Western Europe. The French revolution laid the background for this era as people wanted to get an escape from the confines of daily life. This late era gained momentum in reaction to the Industrial Revolution. Many revolted against higher society and the political aspect of the time.

The movement put a new outlook on difficult emotions such as fear and terror. Romanticism was known as a new revival of the medievalism as certain elements of the era are seen as a way to escape the new bustling world and ever populating cities in Europe. This era also attempted to embrace the exotic and the unfamiliar by using the imagination to escape. Although Romanticism began in Germany its effects were seen through the world. This influential era reached America in the early nineteenth century and was just as diverse as the movement that was quickly transitioning in the Western Europe. A modern characteristic of romanticism could be considered misunderstood and anything that may differentiate from the trends of life.

Many scholars have different opinions on the characteristics of Romanticism as some believe it is a beginning of a tradition of resistance to the enlightenment and other believe it is a direct result of the French Revolution. Charles Baudelaire was quoted as characterizing romanticism as "precisely situated neither in choice of subject nor exact truth but in the way of feeling" This era emphasized intuition and imagination that has led many to believe that romantic thinking is simply irrational and crosses the line of what is acceptable thinking