Romanticism
Literary term · say it roh-MAN-tih-siz-um
Romanticism is a literary and artistic movement that puts strong feeling, imagination, nature, and individual experience at the centre of art. It flourished in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, often questioning strict rules and faith in reason alone.
Three features of Romanticism
The power of nature
Nature can offer comfort, stir deep feelings, or make human beings seem small. Mountains, storms, and wild landscapes often inspire both wonder and fear.
In Frankenstein, Victor visits the mountains near Chamonix, where the vast landscape briefly eases his grief. His encounter with the creature on the glacier interrupts that relief.
In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Imagination and the supernatural
Dreams, mysteries, and supernatural events reach beyond what reason can explain. They can give a character's fear, guilt, or wonder a strange and powerful shape.
In The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, a ghostly ship approaches the becalmed vessel. Death and Life-in-Death play dice for the sailors' lives.
In The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Intense personal feeling
An individual's inner life takes centre stage. Love, grief, longing, and resistance to social expectations can matter more than calm judgment or accepted rules.
In The Sorrows of Young Werther, Werther falls in love with Lotte despite knowing that she is engaged to Albert. His letters dwell on the joy and pain of that attachment.
In The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
How to spot Romanticism
- Look for strong feelings that guide a character's choices.
- Notice whether wild nature inspires comfort, wonder, or fear.
- Watch for imagination or individual freedom challenging rules and reason.
Does Romanticism always mean a story about love?
Romanticism does not necessarily involve romantic love. The term names a historical movement concerned with imagination, feeling, nature, and individual freedom. A Romantic work may explore loneliness, rebellion, terror, or spiritual wonder without telling a love story.
What is the difference between Romanticism and Realism?
Romanticism tends to foreground imagination and intense experience, while Realism tends to foreground ordinary life and believable social detail. The boundary is not absolute: a work can describe everyday circumstances closely while also giving great importance to powerful feelings or extraordinary landscapes.
Related terms
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